Paradisus Riviera Brides - POST HERE!

[MissyR]

Hi girls! I feel so out of the loop since we have been at the cottage all weekend with no internet connection! Welcome back Michelle - cannot wait to read your review and see pics - glad to hear everything went amazing!

 

In terms of price - we went with a TA for a number of reasons - convenience, a guaranteed rate with direct flights (not always the case with expedia) and other perks associated with package deals. All in all it was a much better decision for us.

 

Grand Palladium was an option for us as well - in all honesty - we loved it but the thought of being one of 5 or 6 weddings in a single day was not appealing to us at all - we found that the resort was just too big ... It is a beautiful resort and it's got a really nice gazebo - it just wasn't the feeling we wanted..

[kimkeathley]

hi Girls! I don't have too long to write, but I will try to do a recap of our FABULOUS wedding soon! We were married June 21, and truly, there is NOT A THING I would change!! We had 60 guests, and everyone had a fantastic time. You know how they say "expect something to go wrong with your wedding?"... well, NOTHING went wrong!! I have some pictures, but can't seem to attach them (too big!!) ... but I must say I am SO GLAD I went with the Paradisus!! I didn't even do a site visit... and we were sooo pleased. Perla was AMAZING to work with, and she made all of our dreams a reality!! We didn't even use a TA... I just called/ emailed with Ana (group reservation manager at the paradisus) and got a good rate ($140pp/ night, based on double occ. for the garden view suite) and then we arranged for transportation to/from the airport (Cancun Valet... can't say enough good things about them, either!!) If everyone is coming in around the same time, it's great, because the charge per shuttle, not per person... so it's the same rate if 1 person or 15 people are on the shuttle. Feel free to PM me or email me (kimkeathley@hotmail.com) if you have any questions or if I can help with anything at all!! Congrats on your upcoming wedding, and most of all HAVE FUN!!

 

Kim

 

Oh, and Finally, if you need a wedding photographer, JOE COGLIANDRO is the BEST!!! I can't say enough good things about him. A-MA-ZING!!! Houston Wedding Photography | Destination Wedding Photography | International Award Winning Photographers | J Cogliandro Photographers

[MissyR]

Welcome back kim! Glad to hear that everything was fabulous! Of course we all want to see pics - if you cannot upload can you email them to me? Let me know and I will PM my email address!

 

Cannot wait to hear details on the food, music etc.!

[yamille]

We were planning on just having a meet and greet in the lobby area by the bar and no "rehearsal dinner" but now I am rethinking. I guess I was just thinking the sit down thing 2 nights in a row may be too much and there is no real rehearsal.

 

What are you girls planning? We are prob going to be having around 50 guests. Will it seem like I'm being cheapo though if we don't have a dinner thing? I don't think so- but I would love some input.

thanks!

[JackieK]

Hey girls! My travel agent just informed me that there is a surcharge per guest over 20 guests. Is this correct? If so, anyone know how much? Now I'm feeling panicked! Also, how did you go about your guests booking? Did you ask who was and was not going so you could get a general number? How do you get a group discount if everyone is deciding at different times whether they are attending or not? I'm kinda confused on this process.

[yamille]

Hi Jackie-

Do you mean an airfare surcharge or a fee for over $20 ppl at your reception? I know with each package it is based on a certain amount of ppl and then you add on after that. Right now we are booked with the fantasy package and it's up to 20 but we are anticipating between 40-50 so it's an extra per person but can't tell you exactly how much right now. I forgot. It may be $20-$25..

 

As far as guests booking-I just sent out my STD's so that hasn't started yet. They will book thorugh our travel agent or on their own. We are budgeting with that estimated number of ppl (40-50) and will have everything figured out when we do RSVP's from formal invites. (I haven't even started that yet) We got that general number form the people that say that they will be there no matter what. Our real close fam and best friends. But the reality is that you just don't know until they actually book. It could only end up being 20 ppl!

 

We are not getting any sort of group discount aside form what our TA can get. Maybe we could save some $$ if we booked through the Paradisus (not sure) but I can't be in charge of all that. My year is too crazy with school/internship/other wedding planning stuff and I didn't want to be in charge of everyones vacation basically- or charged a fee if people changed their minds!

 

I don't know if I was much help to you but there it is.

[KLC77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackieK Hey girls! My travel agent just informed me that there is a surcharge per guest over 20 guests. Is this correct? If so, anyone know how much? Now I'm feeling panicked! Also, how did you go about your guests booking? Did you ask who was and was not going so you could get a general number? How do you get a group discount if everyone is deciding at different times whether they are attending or not? I'm kinda confused on this process.

Jackie, I'm pretty sure that all of the wedding packages are for 20 ppl and any more ppl would be an extra charge. The amount of the charge will depend on the choices you've made for your package and dinner. We sent out our STD's and had a travel agent for everyone to contact. They are in charge of their own trips because trying to get 20-30 ppl to fly on the same flights is too much work! lol So, no group discount (which for airfare I think you need 10 people on the same round-trip flights), but our package pricing was pretty damn good anyway. I followed up with an email to everyone invited so they could access our webpage for any questions. Check out my page here Kelly & Ron - wedding website by mywedding.com This page was super easy to make and my guests are loving that they can access it whenever they want. Its a great way to get info to your guests. We are sending out invitations to everyone in September so any last minute ppl can book. Once you pick the resort, you will have to answer some questions from guests, but if you have a good TA they will be able to take alot of pressure off of you when it comes to travel questions. Let's face it- we have enough crap to deal with! lol

[JackieK]

Hey girls! Okay so here's the deal.....we are pretty close (like within the week) to committing to the Paradisus to mid-January. I have gotten different TA's to give me some price quotes for the guests and the one with the lowest price quote (by far) is also asking me to get legal names and credit card numbers of all guests attending to we can get a group discount on airfare and book a block of rooms at the resort. I understand her reasoning and I really would like to give the guests the group discount but I also feel like she's trying to put a lot of the work off on me. Does this sound odd to you? Should I ask HER to take care of all of this? I don't understand if you send out the STD's and then people call her throughout the next few months to book how you are getting everyone to stay together? Or maybe you are not doing a block of rooms??

 

Thanks for the answers to my questions. That definitely does clarify quite a bit. I have not contacted the Paradisus yet to book a date for the wedding but I will do that this week. Is the contact information just on the Paradisus resort's website. You ladies have been great! Thanks for all of your information!!

[KLC77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackieK the one with the lowest price quote (by far) is also asking me to get legal names and credit card numbers of all guests attending

I probably wouldn't feel comfortable giving the TA my guest's credit card numbers and would leave it up to the guests to contact the TA directly. That's just me tho... IMO part of the reason why you have a TA is so you don't have to deal with that stuff. Let us know when you book a date. I'm getting married there January 10th! and will be at Paradisus from the 5th to the 17th.

We did not book a block of rooms. I don't think the resort is that big that people need to be that close to each other. When I looked at how it was set up it didn't look like you could be that far away from each other even if you wanted to be, but I guess it depends on your group and how many people you have. We are expecting only 25-30 guests to book.

[MissyR]

Hey ladies. The packages are indeed for 20 ppl with the exception of the WISH (which is only for 6). A number of us have found that pricing it out with the WISH and just having the things you want ends up being slightly cheaper.

 

In terms of resort layout - it is certainly not huge but rooms may not be within super close vicinity of one another. THey are within a five min walk - we were there in November and got a tour which didn't take all that long.

 

In terms of using a TA - our TA got us a group rate through Air Canada Vacations - that information was provided to our guests through our STDs and wedding website - we had to pay deposits for 10 people to guarantee the rate (Which was fine for us!) and then everyone else books through the TA. When they book they pay $250 each deposit with their full legal name (on their passport) and the balance is due in Oct.