15 replies to this topic

[Jen & Josh]

Okay gals.....I am trying to pick between Dreams and Riu. I have seen tons of pics of dreams but I want to see more of Riu. What is the difference between Riu Palace and Santa Fe?
I mainly want to see pics of the gazebo. If anyone has been married at either Riu. I want to know how it went.


Thanks

[Nanner431]

Hello Jen - I was just married at the Riu in November. I personally think everything went awesome. One thing that did have me stressed was the minimal communication from Daniela but I found out in the end that there is a reason and that's because she has her crap together. We were married on the beach at 4:00pm - it was absolutely beautiful. I had no issues whatsoever with the Riu - they even moved my hubby's parents because they were older and having a hard time with the walking distance so they moved them right by the main restuarant. I guess that might be a negative depending on the age range of your group - the size of the resort is insane. One thing that steered me away from Dreams was that the distance was further than the Riu Palace to downtown which was a good thing because I found there was always a group of people headed to town. We had 52 people attend the wedding so there was always people on the move.

[Jen & Josh]

Thanks so much for the info. Did you book yourself or go through a TA? Also who was your photographer?

[cdc0427]

Hi Jen,
In doing my homework, I found that a wedding at the RIU is less expensive than Dreams if you have more than I think 20 people.

[Jen & Josh]

Did you book your wedding yourself or go through a TA. I am having a hard time finding out if the Riu has openings on the dates that we want. Any ideas??

[YoursTruly]

I know of the bat that RIU Palace in comparison with the other regular RIU chains are supposed to be on a more luxurious scale. But RIU seems to have more perks than Dreams so depends on what you are looking for.

[*Heather*]

Hey Jen - I chose the Riu for my guests to stay at instead of Dreams because a) it is cheaper, and I was trying to get the best rate for my guests, and it is a bit more of a "party" atmosphere. Dreams is a bit smaller and I would feel like my group was disrupting everything (we're going to have probably 60-70 people and a lot of them are party animals) but at the Riu I think we would fit in better. Plus like nanner431 mentioned, the Riu is really close to downtown which is always a plus for guests.

I think Dreams is beautiful though and every wedding I've seen there is absolutely gorgeous. If you have a more tame group and if you are OK with them spending $300-500 or so more per person, Dreams is a great choice too!

[Jen & Josh]

Did you book through a TA or through the resort? I have choosen Riu Palace.

[missdanelle]

We are getting married at the Riu Palace Riviera Maya as well. Personally I chose this resort because they were one of the only resorts that offered wedding packages for up to 50 people. Most resorts only have them up to 20 people and you have to pay per person after that. We are planning on much more than 20 so it made sense. There are alot of great reviews on this forum about the Riu with pictures so I am happy with our choice.

[Erika J]

I am getting married at Dreams but as far as your TA question, I used Tammy Wright for my TA (from this forum) and she was able to secure my wedding date and then got me a room block for my guests.

I just PM'd her to get started.