The Now Riviera Cancun

[kitkat863]

Caroline - I am using Wendy as my travel agent and she has been awesome! I am not having too many people attending the wedding but those that are and that have been in touch with Wendy all agree that she is great.

[kimmysue]

Thanks! I think I was a DJ in my former life! We got the eternity package and the draping for the pergola was included! Outside the package, I think it is fairly pricey, so I made sure it was included! If you want a color other than white, I think there may be a charge. Have fun!

[kimmysue]

Thanks so much....it really was perfect! I requested the draping and walkway. I had seen it in othe photos and knew I wanted  it so I confirmed that it came with my package and it did. We got the Eternity package and it was included.

 

For the reception, we had our tables in a straight line. We had 50 people and Ana said that the only way 50 would fit is in a straight line. I struggled w/ this a bit, but after looking at lots of photos, I realized that rectangle tables in a straight line was the better way to go instead of round tables. Now that I've seen it in person, rectangle tables really are the only way to go....it worked very well for us. No way round tables would have worked w/ our big group....especially with a dance floor. Hope that helps!

[khunt29]

Hi Kimmy Sue,

 

Can I ask- the Eternity & Divine pkgs all include meals for 25 ppl...how  much extra did you have to pay for the full 50?  We are booking the Divine and I am looking at a guest count of approx 50-60, and am trying to wrap my head around the overall cost!  Your wedding was BEAUTIFUL, by the way!!

 

Cheers,

Kristen

[kimmysue]

Hi Kristen,

 

Thanks so much!

 

Unfortunately, the food is the only thing they are unwilling to exchange anything for! We brought our own photographer and minister and wouldn't allow us to use any of that towards food. We paid $48/per person over the incuded 25 for the dinner. OUCH! They did let us select items from the Divine menu, though. We had the beef filet and shrimp and scallops and mahi mahi. I can't remember if they charged us for the extra people for the hors d'oeuvres or not. I know they didn't charge us extra for cake or champaigne.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Kim

[jacqjade]

I had my dinner reception at Pergola and my guests TOTALLY thanked me for having it in an A/C environment. Originally when we arrived and we saw other wedding parties on the terrace partying they thought that would be a cool idea..but when it came time to dancing..they were so thankful!
 

Originally Posted by jmac 

Hi! Im getting married on April 17th... and right now I have the ceremony scheduled for 530pm, the cocktail at 6pm and the reception at 7pm (ish...) Was also looking for some feedback on timelines for April!

 

Im doing the pergola, the blue beach bar and then I have the bamboo room for the reception. I originally wanted the terrace but accidentally booked the wrong place and now can't change. However - Im thinking the air conditioning after people being outside all day would be welcoming.

 

I have approx 30 people right now coming.

 

[kimmysue]

Hi Girls,

 

Here's a link to my full review!

 

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/products/now-riviera-cancun-resort-spa-all-inclusive/reviews/5316

[jacqjade]

Hi Ladies,

 

I recently got married on Nov. 20th and I will 100% agree with the past brides that none of you have anything to worry about!! Ana was my WC and she did a fab job! Here are some details and my review!

 

Hotel

-Excellent value for the price you pay! I if you book a group of 5 people, you get the 6th room for free which I of course used for myself. If your guests keep checking the website, they can catch a good deal on a package..or even just a deal on the rooms only.

-All the restaurants were quite good. I honestly don't have high standards with all inclusive resorts, but I was pleasantly surprised..especially with the French restaurant.

-If you have a big group for dinner, I suggest you go at 6pm..put in your table request...have a drink..and u should be seated by 7pm for dinner!

-The regular rooms are HUGE and all my guests were very pleased!

 

Spa

-Angel did my hair and make-up and was fantastic! He also did my bridesmaids and we all complimented each other

 

DJ

-My dinner reception started at 7pm, but because of speeches, I opted to start the DJ services at 8 and he went until 11, which meant I only had to pay for an extra hour of DJ with the Divine pkg. THey played everything i requested.

-They did offer some lighting, which I didn't ask for so i'm not sure if that was a bonus or if they provide that to everyone since it says no lighting in the pkg.

-Its $350 if you want a projector screen for a slideshow. I thought that was pretty pricey for a 10 min. presentation..but it was always my dream to have a slideshow!

 

Food

- Overall very good! Highly recommend the lobster bisque and beef fillet. I was a bit disappointed with chocolate souffle. They actually serve the exact same thing in 2 of the restaurants..and if you ask me..its more like a chocolate brownie without nuts. But it was still good.

- Ana was suppose to print the dinner menu for the tables..but she never did. I think she may have forgotten. Not a huge deal.

- The wedding cake..as other brides may have mentioned was a bit iffy. But by then everyone is full so it wasn't a big deal for me. I had 41 guests and the cake for "25" people was enough for everyone to have a slice. The same thing goes for the canapes during hte cocktail hour. Therefore, i don't think its necessary to pay extra for more people unless you have maybe over 50 people.

-Servers were all fantastic!

 

Flowers/Decor

-The flowers are REALLY overpriced. If i had known there was no extra charge to bring in an outside florist..i would have done it. Mine turned out exactly like the picture I gave to Ana, so at least i was happy. But yes, they were EXPENSIVE!!

- I only paid for the table center pieces that had the sand bowls with a star fish inside + yellow chair sashes. I didn't bring anything else with me and I thought the Bamboo room looked great just like that! So don't worry about bringing all these decor items!

 

Wedding ceremony

- We had Roxana (minister) perform our religious ceremony and I"ll have to admit I was quite disappointed. Apparently, she doesn't normally meet with the couple before the wedding, which I find a bit crazy. How can you not meet the person who is performing your wedding until you're walking down the aisle? Anyways, I felt she was really impersonal..and she just stood there reading from a massive binder. She also read very fast and it felt like anyone could have stood there and read from a book. She also stood where she was behind the pillar at the Pergola so that she shaded...which meant she was standing pretty far away from us. I guess if she does a wedding everyday in the sun..she doesn't appreciate it! But yes..if there is one thing that I was unhappy with..it was this.

- The flowers that come with the divine pkg for the ceremony are beautiful and I didn't think any extra decor was necessary. The setting was beautiful on its own.

-Our ceremony was at 3pm...and yes..timing is of the essence. By 5:15 it was pitch black! So you really need to organize yourself. But of course every time of the year is different.

 

Videography (Mike Cantarell - cancun wedding video)

- I had my own photographer and I was suppose to get an extra hour of video..meaning 1.5 hours...but in the end I only for a 25 min. video! So i'm actually going to have to ask Ana about what went wrong there. I wasn't super happy with the video either..but then again..it did come with the package so I wasn't expecting much. In the 25 min. of video..about 15 min of it was our entire wedding ceremony where the camera was held in 1 place..so really I felt that anyone could have done that!

 

Overall, I was very pleased with how everything went..and Ana did a great job! All my guests felt the same way as well!

 

Hope this is somewhat helpful for some of you future brides!

[khunt29]

eek, $48/pp....well hopefully not all of our invitees can come haha- isn't that terrible?   I wonder if it's worth the initial upgrade to the Divine then anyways....we'll have to really look at & compare the 2 pkgs to see what we reallllly want!  Thanks so much for all of your info, these msg boards are fantastic & are getting me really excited for planning!

 

Kristen

[khunt29]

Are you located in Canada or the US?
 

Originally Posted by Caroline1118 

Kimmy - Your pics are fantastic!  My fiance and I left on Friday from Now Jade, so we actually saw the hotel staff setting up the gazebo for your wedding that day.  Looks like your wedding turned out fabulous!  The weather was perfect! We didn't want to leave back to NYC that day....

 

We stayed at Now Jade for our site visit trip and we really loved the hotel!!!  I will be posting my reviews of Now Jade and of all the other hotels that I visited very soon.  Hopefully it will help any other brides who are still trying to decide what hotel they should choose.  

 

I'm between two choices right now: Now Jade and Barcelo Maya Palace.  They are both very beautiful resorts, but different from each other.  Fortunately, my date: Feb 26, 2013 is available at both! So now I just need to make my decision.

 

Does anyone have recommendations on travel agents that they worked with for travel/room rates at Now Jade????  I would really appreciate any leads.  I really want to contact a few travel agents over the next few days to iron out the travel/hotel contract and send my STD's.  Pilar and Ana told me that once I blocked the rooms thru a travel agent, that my date would be booked.   But they didn't have any contact information.

 

So please, if any recent brides can recommend a travel agent, or if you have any tips on the best way of going about finding one.  I'd really appreciate all your recommendations and advise!  Either post, private message, or you can email me: carolinechirinos@gmail.com.

 

Thanks ladies!!!!