Melissa015

Hey Kerri, We just got married about a month ago in Cabo with 60 guests. We planned to have our wedding at the RIU Santa Fe for almost a year. I too wanted to save money. In that year the wedding planner changed 3 times. I was told different info and pricing from each planner. Two months before the wedding they changed the price of the wedding again plus changed our dinner time from 7 to 8. It was so hard to get a hold of the planner and she didn't really seem like she cared about providing good service what so ever. We finally had it and moved our wedding to the Sunset Da Mona Lisa. A little more expensive location but it was so worth it because of how beautiful and private it was. We were having our dinner at the tequila bar which they would not start until 8 PM and our wedding was at 4. It was going to cost me $500 location fee plus $40-65 per person for food plus $22 per person after our package amount for the wedding, toast and cake. Also drinks were I think $13 per person. We still had all of our guests stay at the RIU and we had our rehearsal & rehearsal dinner there also. Since we had our rehearsal at the RIU we had to book a wedding to have the dinner there because even though I had 60 people staying there they would not give me a dinner reservation for 20 people without booking a wedding. I thought that was absurd! Our rehearsal dinner was at the Steak House at 6. One thing brides that have not seen the RIU need to know is where you get married on the beach is not a private location. The pool over looks the wedding location so during our rehearsal drunk people were hanging off the pool yelling comments to us. Also the ceremony space is between the RIU Santa Fe's massage tent and a chain link fence and people trying to sell stuff on the beach. If you have not seen the other locations that Cabo has to offer you should look around. We cut our costs by doing our own flowers and decor. My guests were flying from all over the US to be at my wedding in cabo and I wanted them to have an experience they would love. I am not trying to be too hard on the RIU but to inform brides. I know some brides had a wonderful experience but unfortunately I didn't. Had I know all the details of the RIU I would have switched earlier and saved myself so much stress. If you need more info send me a private message and I can send you pics of my wedding and pics of our rehearsal at the RIU so you can see the wedding location there. -M

I just got back from my wedding in Cabo at the Sunset Da Mona Lisa and we used Pacific Sound, Joaquin Virgilio he did a great job and he was very affordable, I would recommend him to anyone. My group was a fun party group and he kept the energy going all night. His email is below

I just got back from my wedding at the Sunset da monalisa in cabo. We used Joaquin Virgilio and he was great and affordable! He even sent me a couple wedding pics from his cell a couple days after the wedding. Great guy! Our bunch was a party group and he did a fantastic Job and played all the songs we requested ahead of time. His email is [email protected]. The other vendor we had that was a huge hit was a cigar bar. Daniel at [email protected] Congrats!

When I first started my wedding planning, my planner at the Riu was wonderful but they changed planners two times. It did make a big difference.

The Santa Fe, the palace would be a much better location. One thing I forgot to mention was the photographer at the Riu, they were great and I would highly recommend them.

Hey ladies! I just got back from my wedding in Cabo, I have to say I am a little confused on how many ladies were happy with their experience with then RIU because mine was horrible. I booked a wedding there because of how great the prices were but two month before my wedding they changed the pricing and other details of my wedding including moving the dinner from 7 to 8pm. I did not want my guests sitting around for hours so finally after a lot of frustration we moved our wedding to the Sunset Da Mona Lisa only 45 days before our wedding. Yes it was more expensive but it was amazing! Extremely private and with breathtaking views. We had 60 people attend our wedding and I am so happy that we changed locations. We had many guests tell us it was the best wedding they have ever attended. We still stayed at the RIU and had our rehearsal and dinner there. We had the rehearsal on the beach at the RIU where they have all their wedding. We had chairs setup so people at the pool thought we were actually having a wedding. The ceremony space is between a massage tent and a chain link fence. People were yelling from the pool above to my now husband saying "don't do it she'll destroy your life". Tons of drunk people are overlooking the ceremony from the pool watching. Even though it was just my rehearsal i was so mortified. I couldnt wait to show my friends and family where we were actually getting married. People were selling stuff were 15 feet away. I dont mean to be harsh and the Riu might be perfect for some brides but I had to tell my full experience. My husband and I have been together for 7 years and I wanted our wedding to be special, private and amazing. The Riu has up to 3 wedding a day and our location will only allow one. It was an ok place for my guests to stay. I also didn't like how you had to use the RIUs vendors or pay a $300 fee. All of my vendors were also amazing, we had a cigar bar which was a huge hit. My family got their hair done at the Hilton and they had great pricing. They have an amazing spa so they also got full access to that. Our wedding planner was Coca which I found from our flower shop los cabos flowers. We did most of our own flowers and they sold us all the stems. We got hand blown glass vases from Baja glass blown art shop in San Jose. They gave us great pricing and made them custom with the colors of our wedding. We then gave them away to family who loved them! I would be happy to give any bride more information. Thanks!