Simistar's Secrets Maroma Wedding Review, Dec. 7/08

[Simistar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by julielynn Hair- Okay, it sounds like they love curling hair. My sister-in-law got the tight curl updo and they tried to do my mother’s hair the same.. My hair style had the pinned curls so I was okay, but that does seem to be their specialty! Flowers- I got the complimentary flowers for the bouquet and centerpiece. Both were VERY beautiful!!

Hey Julielynn!

That's really funny...I think you're right...they LOVE to curl hair:-)
And I think I remember your flowers and they were REALLY nice... Like I said, I should have just stuck with what was included :-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by julielynn Cake- We had the cheesy flowers too. Not sure what to suggest on the cake. I had a picture of the cake I wanted to use and still got the cheesy flowers. You could ask if they have an alternative to the edible flowers for the cake, I am not sure what they have..

Haha, well, at least I wasn't alone :-)

[Simistar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jodylynn007 As for the other spa services, I had a wrap, massage, and facial (Welcome to Secrets package), and a couples massage, and all of those were amazing.

Yes -- I would agree... Although we never got a chance to go for a massage, other people at the resort raved about the massages there... I guess this is their forte... as nails, make-up and hair certainly aren't :-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by jodylynn007 With regard to the cocktail hour, I think that the problems Simistar may have had was due to her location of it. .

True -- but I thought it was weird how we had amazing service for our bonfire party which was on the beach, but terrible service at our cocktail hour! I think once again, it comes down to inconsistency at the resort...?

For us, we didn't have much of a choice for where to have our cocktail party, and other girls may have this issue as well... B/c we had a band playing during our ceremony and cocktail hour, we didn't want to make them pack up their gear and move it somewhere else for the cocktail hour...so we kept it on the beach...

But HOPEFULLY, this inconsistency in service will be worked out... I don't see why they CAN'T have good service on the beach?! Anywaaaaay..

Quote:

Originally Posted by jodylynn007 I'd recommend that you don't pay for an upgrade to ocean front (unless you are the wedding couple which of course you should then, tee hee) and don't pay more for a swim up or a higher floor "ocean view" as all the rooms are the same and you really don't spend much time in the swim up pool or on the deck of your room.

Really?? I LOVED being in an ocean-front room!!! We didn't hang out on our balcony very much, BUT I loved waking up in the morning, and opening the shutter-doors and being able to see and hear the ocean... It was also really nice to look out at the ocean at night... But maybe that's just me :-) Also, having access to the preferred club lounge is pretty sweet!

We were in a third-floor room... The swim-outs are on the first/ground floor...
So, if you get one of these in the ocean-front buildings there are advantages and disadvantages... A plus is that you have your own area to swim and float around (especially if you're trying to avoid certain family members, haha :-))... As well, the swim-outs in the ocean-front buildings are more private than the ones at the rest of the resort...
A negative is that you b/c you're on the ground floor, you don't have a view...

BTW, Jody -- what the heck is with all this snow in Vancouver?? :-) REALLY makes me wish I was back in Mexico :-)

[jodylynn007]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simistar For us, we didn't have much of a choice for where to have our cocktail party, and other girls may have this issue as well... B/c we had a band playing during our ceremony and cocktail hour, we didn't want to make them pack up their gear and move it somewhere else for the cocktail hour...so we kept it on the beach... But HOPEFULLY, this inconsistency in service will be worked out... I don't see why they CAN'T have good service on the beach?!

Whoa... interesting! I must have read it wrong, didn't realize you had great service for the bonfire, freakin' crazy! Inconsistency is certainly an issue there... definitely the major thing that needs work. I think in time they will be good but since they have been open for 4 months now already, you'd have figured they'd be getting the swing of things by now! Doh!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simistar Really?? I LOVED being in an ocean-front room!!! We didn't hang out on our balcony very much, BUT I loved waking up in the morning, and opening the shutter-doors and being able to see and hear the ocean... It was also really nice to look out at the ocean at night... But maybe that's just me :-) Also, having access to the preferred club lounge is pretty sweet! We were in a third-floor room... The swim-outs are on the first/ground floor... So, if you get one of these in the ocean-front buildings there are advantages and disadvantages... A plus is that you have your own area to swim and float around (especially if you're trying to avoid certain family members, haha :-))... As well, the swim-outs in the ocean-front buildings are more private than the ones at the rest of the resort... A negative is that you b/c you're on the ground floor, you don't have a view...

Yep I agree, it would have been nice to see the ocean specifically from our room however having booked and expected an ocean front room and then being downgraded to just a swim up ocean view, we were not disappointed at all. I was just suggesting that in my opinion it wasn't worth the price difference and likely we will just book ocean view for our return trip in a year. As for the private pool, we did have that and I only went in once. I found it easy to get a chair or two at the main pool and there you have bar/food service whereas in the room it takes 35 minutes for food delivery. My parents had the other room with a pool on the deck and they actually didn't go in once because they said that when they ran the tub itself, the water didn't get very warm. I suppose it would be OK for a cool bath but again, not really worth the price increase.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simistar BTW, Jody -- what the heck is with all this snow in Vancouver?? :-) REALLY makes me wish I was back in Mexico :-)

No doubt eh?! You just have to do what hubby and I have done, plan a Spring vacay! (We're heading out on a Carribean cruse mid-March). Have something to look forward to post-wedding and after the rush of Christmas is over. I live in New Westminster and thankfully we have a 4x4 with all the hills here!

Simistar, hope you're enjoying your first bit at home as a married lady!! Let me know if you'd like to meet up for coffee and share some Mexico vs. Vancouver stories!

[arhoyaltres]

Great review...sorry I'm just getting around to reading it. I hate that you experienced so many problems along the way (like we did), but I'm glad your day turned out great in the end!! Everything looked really good even if you had to harass the WC to get things that way

[jodylynn007]

Quote:

Originally Posted by arhoyaltres Great review...sorry I'm just getting around to reading it. I hate that you experienced so many problems along the way (like we did), but I'm glad your day turned out great in the end!! Everything looked really good even if you had to harass the WC to get things that way

Hey!!! It looks like from your photo that you are another bride who was able to use my starfish!!! lol. It looks like the resort is using them a lot to line the aisles... funny that isn't how I used them (tied them to chair bows) but it looks great!

[Simistar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by arhoyaltres Great review...sorry I'm just getting around to reading it. I hate that you experienced so many problems along the way (like we did), but I'm glad your day turned out great in the end!! Everything looked really good even if you had to harass the WC to get things that way

Hey you!
Yes -- I read your review too:-)
And I remember the problems you went through...It was kind of the same with us... had to fight for a lot of things or at least CONSTANTLY keep on them to make it happen!
But hey, we're at least married now... so I can eat again, haha :-)
Congrats to you!

[Simistar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jodylynn007 Simistar, hope you're enjoying your first bit at home as a married lady!! Let me know if you'd like to meet up for coffee and share some Mexico vs. Vancouver stories!

Hey Jody -- that would be fun:)
Just have to find time between writing thank you cards and work

Quote:

Originally Posted by jodylynn007 Hey!!! It looks like from your photo that you are another bride who was able to use my starfish!!! lol. It looks like the resort is using them a lot to line the aisles... funny that isn't how I used them (tied them to chair bows) but it looks great!

I'm pretty sure she got married at Secrets Capri, not Secrets Maroma :-)

[jodylynn007]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simistar Hey Jody -- that would be fun:) Just have to find time between writing thank you cards and work I'm pretty sure she got married at Secrets Capri, not Secrets Maroma :-)

Ahhhh bummer... I was all excited to see other BDW brides using my starfish that I had to smuggle into Mexico (lol).

Well, let me know when your schedule clears up some, at least getting around is easier now with the snow gone!

[Simistar]

****UPDATE (w/pics!)****

 

Hey ladies,

 

There are few things people have asked about or I just thought of since posting my review:-)

 

1. I can't remember who it was who said they had to fight to get the resort to give them the "night-before" suite for their FI...(this is included in the wedding packages)

But I thought I would mention that while we didn't want the suite the night before, Cecilia offered to give my FI a suite in the afternoon, so he could get ready there.

This, of course, never happened b/c we just didn't have time that day to keep bugging Cecilia about it! (Especially since we couldn't even find her until about 2pm).

 

So, if this is important to you, maybe assign someone in your group to keep on Cecilia about it. Otherwise it won't happen :-)

 

2. I am going to attach the checklist I made up for Cecilia. I really do suggest future SMB brides do something similar. Mine is pretty thorough, but obviously having gone through our wedding day, I can see I missed some things.

 

Basically, my advice is this... write out your checklist as if you were writing it for someone who has absolutely no logic!!! Make sure everything is EXPLICITLY written out.

 

For example, we discussed at our meeting where our cake and toast would be held. I didn't have this on the list... Stupid me thought discussing it in person would be enough. It's not!!

Another example -- I didn't say to actually serve the wedding cake after it was cut. So it didn't get served:-)

 

Anyway, hopefully you get the idea... include EVERY detail.

 

***Mine is attached below (after the pics)

 

3. One of our guests just posted some pics of our cocktail hour on our share site, so thought I'd share some here!

 

This should give you an idea of the set-up on the beach:

 

 

 

And for fun:-)

 

 

Once again -- any questions -- just ask!!!

 

 

Cecilia's Checklist.doc

[PaulSchrank]

We also used Victor Espinoza and his band at our wedding. We had them play at the cocktail hour and they ended up being THE PARTY of the night. The energy was really high after our ceremony and when people started dancing they picked up on the vibe and just rocked with a really original Latin dance sound. So much fun and the life of the party. Really, super professional and gracious as well.