Secrets Maroma Brides

[saza175]

hey girls, for those who have had a wedding there.....if i chose the secrets ultimate package will they let me substitutue more meals for a sit down reception instead of a cocktail hour? also can we choose something from the regular menu in any of the restaurants for a cheaper price instead of the silver menu?

[jaccat15]

Hii! I'm not sure what the situation is with meals and replacing them and all that but Cecilia seems very open to ideas.

I would actually like to offer my guests 3 options for the sit down dinner so that's a question I will have to work out with her later on.

Also, depending on how many people you have, you can have your reception in one of the restaurants. Bordeaux, Portofino and El Patio are so nice but not really "reception" friendly - would be hard to have a dance floor in there.

 

P.S. the shrimp cocktail in the seaside grill is the best i have ever had! I def want to add that to my reception or cocktail hour somehow.

[saza175]

I'll try to email her. She just sent my contract, which is for the ultimate package for 30 people. thats just an estimate though. we may have more people attend. i'm trying to get this done for $8,000 including travel and accomadations.... am i out of my mind? lol

[jlerv]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaccat15 Hi everyone! I JUST got back from SMB for my site visit I am so excited to have our wedding here on 10/30/10!!! The resort is AMAZING - from the lobby to the beach and everything and everyone in between. We are going to do a welcome bonfire after dinner on Friday night for everyone - but after dinner since the restuarants are amazing and we want our guests to enjoy the resort. Cecilia said we can do cocktails and desserts (s'mores to be exact) and we will bring our own i-pod speakers to play music. For the day of we are getting married under the gazebo at sunset and going to do the cocktail hour on the lawn behind it. We are thinking of doing the reception in the ballroom since we have some older family members and the humidity and heat may be too much. This all depends though on how many people end up coming too. We are Jewish so we have to work on finding a Rabbi to come and do our ceremony from the states since there really isn't one in the area. The morning after the wedding, we are going to have a farewell breakfast in the World Cafe and will have our section for our group. I also met with Mannia and Juan Navvaro (the photog) while I was there. We are definitely using Mannia but not sure about the photographer yet. I wasn't that impressed by their work and the book they give you is a regular photo album with sleeves of pics so we are going to look more into this. Cecilia is so nice. We have a lot to still work out but since we have so much time, we can work on it all gradually. She said they have a lot of weddings in April and May (almost one everyday) so she is getting 2 other people to help her which will be great. She wrote down all of the things we spoke about - but I am keeping fairly simple since I like the white table cloths and place settings and we are going to use Tiffany chairs instead of the white ones. Boo - I know you want to know dimensions of tables and the gazebo but she was unable to give them to me as she didn't have the specs on her. BUT - If you really want to bring your own stuff, I would try and make a site visit before hand so you can take your time to check EVERYTHING out. I went on this trip with my mom and will be back in the area Memorial Day weekend (we have another wedding at the Paradisus - which is gross btw compared to SMB, too bad we booked our rooms for that!) and I'm going to show the resort to my fiance' and plan a few things with Cecilia if we can. I didn't want to make this too long but if you have any other questions, let me know p.s. We got upgraded to a swim out room and it was really nice - except the mosquitos! I guess this time of year they are bad so bring bug spray. The hotel also gives you little repellent towelettes in the bathroom but bring your own too.

Thanks for your post! Have you guys planned any activities for your guests? If so, do you have any recommendations?
Thanks again!

[mlynnea]

Swim out pools are not heated. If you want one of those, I would suggest getting a room on the North side of the property (bldgs 15-1. Those will have South facing pools, and will be warmed by the sun all day long.

The swim-out rooms on the South side of the property (22-27) are mostly North facing, and will be shaded and the water will be much cooler.

 

 

Saza: "hey girls, for those who have had a wedding there.....if i chose the secrets ultimate package will they let me substitutue more meals for a sit down reception instead of a cocktail hour? also can we choose something from the regular menu in any of the restaurants for a cheaper price instead of the silver menu?"

 

As jaccat15 stated, Cecilia is pretty open to adjustments and substitutions. I would definitly send her an email and ask her if she would allow the substitution of the extra meals instead of having a cocktail hour.

As far as choosing something from the restaurant menu instead of from the reception menu, I'm not sure. We ordered everything off of the reception menu and it was all fabulous! Can't hurt to ask her though..

[jaccat15]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlerv Thanks for your post! Have you guys planned any activities for your guests? If so, do you have any recommendations? Thanks again!

hii! the only activities other than the wedding are the welcome party the night before which we are going a beach bonfire but AFTER dinner - since the restuarants are all so amazing, we want everyone to experience the resort and have some time to themselves. We are going to have drinks and desserts though. The day after the wedding we are reserving a section of the World Cafe for the good-bye breakfast and Cecilia said there wouldn't be an additional charge for this.

I think it's important to allow your guests to experience the resort on their own and let them have a mini-vacation without pushing them around to all sorts of activities.

[jaccat15]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saza175 I'll try to email her. She just sent my contract, which is for the ultimate package for 30 people. thats just an estimate though. we may have more people attend. i'm trying to get this done for $8,000 including travel and accomadations.... am i out of my mind? lol

haha ur not out of your mind - just make sure you stick to the package when is your wedding? Make sure you book your air fare early and see what kind of deals your TA can get you for you and your guests.

[saza175]

jacat- my wedding is nov 19 2011. My TA actually gave me a decent quote today, and she assured me as soon as the prices drop (which she definately thinks they will) she will get us that rate. So... we will see!

[Simistar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by newyork6156 I had the bonfire welcome dinner and it was great. The wait staff was really good. Actually running to get anything we needed. You can read about it by clicking on my review below. Let me know if you have any particular questions. We had 26 people and we were allowed to have the full buffet dinner not just apps. They are really good at working with you, all you have to do is ask. The worst they could say is no.

I concur! Our welcome dinner bonfire was GREAT! Great service and good food (buffet)!

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaccat15 Cecilia said we can do cocktails and desserts (s'mores to be exact) and we will bring our own i-pod speakers to play music.

We had s'mores too...we actually had to pay extra for them (not sure if this is still the case)...and while they were good, they weren't really "s'mores" as we know them... the graham crackers weren't really graham crackers and only half of them had chocolate inside? This may have changed. But just a heads-up in case:-) But as I said -- still good!:-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by saza175 hey girls, for those who have had a wedding there.....if i chose the secrets ultimate package will they let me substitutue more meals for a sit down reception instead of a cocktail hour? also can we choose something from the regular menu in any of the restaurants for a cheaper price instead of the silver menu?

I'm probably not the best one to answer this as a LOT seems to have changed since I got married here, but when I did, Cecilia didn't allow ANY substitutions! I'm pretty sure that's changed now though... Plus, it sounds like she's going to have some help during the really busy time, so as NewYork said - ask and the worst they can say is no:-)

[saza175]

does anyone know about the deposit for the wedding? I'm confused, can we use a credit card ?