The Now Riviera Cancun

[jacqjade]

I did print out programs for my guests...but it was mainly to show the names of all the guests so they all knew each other. I did a "day of" schedule for the wedding day..but it was literally...ceremony, cocktail and dinner reception time and location..that was it. I just did it on my computer.
 

Originally Posted by kitkat863 

So glad that you asked this!! Also, have you printed programs for the guests with your timeline? Have fun at your wedding!! It is sooooo close

 

 

[FutureMrsBrew]

Does anybody have the weddingbook that they can send me with the options? Also does anyone have a budget sheet that they would mind sharing with me, I read somewhere that the WC can send you a budget sheet but Pilar had no clue what I was talking about when I asked for one. My email is sarahcarl12@yahoo.com. Any info that I can get would be super helpful!!

[all the love]

Hi ladies,

I just got home last night from our wedding and it was fabulous! I'll post my review shortly and I'm also putting together a 'Things I Wish I Had Known" list that I will share with you.

 

I want to let you all know that I left with Pilar our bubble machine so it can be used for other weddings. You'll just need to take bubble juice for it. I honestly didn't even see it, but apparently my niece quite enjoyed it. We had them turn it on for the recessional.

[chrisdior]

Yay!! Congratulations I can't wait to see ur review aNd hear all the details!!!

Originally Posted by all the love 

Hi ladies,

I just got home last night from our wedding and it was fabulous! I'll post my review shortly and I'm also putting together a 'Things I Wish I Had Known" list that I will share with you.

 

I want to let you all know that I left with Pilar our bubble machine so it can be used for other weddings. You'll just need to take bubble juice for it. I honestly didn't even see it, but apparently my niece quite enjoyed it. We had them turn it on for the recessional.

 

 

[jmac]

Im also really excited to hear all about it! That list sounds very handy
 

Originally Posted by all the love 

Hi ladies,

I just got home last night from our wedding and it was fabulous! I'll post my review shortly and I'm also putting together a 'Things I Wish I Had Known" list that I will share with you.

 

I want to let you all know that I left with Pilar our bubble machine so it can be used for other weddings. You'll just need to take bubble juice for it. I honestly didn't even see it, but apparently my niece quite enjoyed it. We had them turn it on for the recessional.

 

 

[Chantal 1979]

 

 

Originally Posted by all the love 

 

Hi ladies,

I just got home last night from our wedding and it was fabulous! I'll post my review shortly and I'm also putting together a 'Things I Wish I Had Known" list that I will share with you.

 

I want to let you all know that I left with Pilar our bubble machine so it can be used for other weddings. You'll just need to take bubble juice for it. I honestly didn't even see it, but apparently my niece quite enjoyed it. We had them turn it on for the recessional.

 

Congrats! Can't wait to read your review and see the list

[all the love]

Hi ladies, here is what I'm calling "thing I wish I had known about Jade." I hope some of you find some of it helpful. Sorry it's so long!

 

Airport & Travel

• Read the customs form carefully. We got detained for two hours and fined for not declaring our wedding party gifts (Burberry sunglasses). You are allowed to bring in $300 per person of goods not for personal use (this includes all gifts, all OOT bag contents, etc). If we could do it again, we would give our wedding party their gifts before we left.
• If you are bringing in stuff you will have to pay taxes on, make sure you have the receipts!
• Your bags all go through an x-ray machine before you can enter Mexico. I had never seen this process before.
• We were late arriving and our private transfer had already left, so we got suckered into a private sedan for $80. If you don’t have a shuttle waiting for you, be wary about how much you pay. The resort has set posted rates for taxi, and a taxi from the resort to the airport is a fixed cost of $360 pesos (about $30).
• The resort is not right on the highway. You will leave the highway and drive about 5 minutes into the town of Puerto Morelos and then you will drive out of town down a windy road for a further 5 minutes before reaching the resort. If you arrive after dark, it totally feels like they’re driving you out to the middle of nowhere.

 

The Resort

• The front desk staff will provide you with change (for tipping). We used mostly $20p notes for tipping.
• Ana and Pilar’s office is located in the same building as the photo desk and spa. It is on the main floor behind the photo desk.
• The resort can send your dress out for cleaning! Pilar offered this the day after our trash-the-dress session, and it hadn’t even occurred to me. It was $40 and they did an amazing job. I was quoted $300-$500 at home!
• The housekeeping service was inconsistent at best. They often forgot to leave new towels or bathmats or replenish the soap, and we never once got the nightly turn-down service (except for the wedding night, with rose petals and a bath drawn!)
• Your room should have robes and slippers. Call the concierge if they are missing, because they are quite nice to have. We didn’t even know we were missing the slippers until almost the end of our vacation. =(
• The resort means it when they say the adults-only pool is adults only. Children are evicted very quickly.
• Keep your patio door shut or you will have geckos in your room. My new husband performed the heroic act of evicting one by catching it by the tail with a face cloth. The resort kills them rather than catching them, so best to keep them out in the first place.

 

Restaurants and Food

• Remind your guests that they do not need to make dinner reservations at any of the restaurants. Many of our guests did buffet the first night because they assumed they would not get a reservation.
• If you eat outside at the buffet during the day, watch out for birds. The ceiling canopy is open and we saw people get pooped on.
• Two of the restaurants require men to have long pants, collared shirts and closed toe shoes, and they enforce the dress code pretty firmly. We saw a few groups denied entrance.
• We did dinner around 6 every night and never had to wait for a table. Restaurants all filled up by about 7pm and were full until well after 9.
• Any guests with food allergies or other dietary restrictions (in our group it was Celiac) should chat with the concierge early in the week. They are more than willing to accommodate these things but need to know ahead of time where you plan to eat each night.
• The food is never hot, anywhere. It was usually lukewarm.
• The room service takes a LONG time at night. When you are drinking in your room and think “hey, a late night snack would be awesome!†it will likely take 1.5 hours to arrive, and everyone will have left or passed out by then.
• The bartenders –especially at the Mix and in the preferred lounge - make the drinks very strong.

 

The Beach

• The beach is quite rocky, and I would recommend water shoes, especially for children. There is a small sandy section at each end of the resort, but it is mostly rocks.
• There are bugs, especially at night, we think they were on the beach. Many in our group ended up with lots of bites on their legs, and they are itchy for days. Not sure if bug spray helps, we didn’t have any.
• We didn’t go, but the snorkelling is apparently amazing, either on your own or with a tour through the reef.
• You are not allowed to climb the lifeguard tower, even in your wedding dress.
• The ‘romantic dinner on the beach’: I recommend pants (that was the night I got all my bug bites). Also, ours was only lit by 3 candles and the server had to use his cell phone to show us the food we were eating.

 

The Wedding

• Take super-strong eye makeup remover – the black eyeliner that Angel used took me 5 days to get it all off.
• You can have round tables on the Festival Terrace, I saw it! We were supposed to have that too but there was some sort of communication error.
• The sun sets FAST! I couldn’t believe how quickly it was absolutely pitch black out after the sun went down. It was nice to hear the waves from the festival terrace but there was no view.
• The outside eating area for the buffet during the day is the Festival Terrace for weddings. They pull down most of the blinds between you and the buffet, but we had a few people cut through our reception to get to the buffet.
• We found the beach very loud, between the waves and the wind, and during the rehearsal we chose to move our ceremony onto the grass off to the side of the fountain. 

 

Other

• If your FI is wearing shorts for the wedding, don’t let him ride the mechanical bull before your wedding. The bruises last for days (I believe the mechanical bull is out every Saturday)
• Book your couples massage ahead of time by email (ours was included in the Divine wedding package). It was wonderful. The spa has some great facilities so plan time before or after your massage for the whirlpool and steam shower.

[Chantal 1979]

Thanks 'all the love'!

That list is great and will definitely help with planning (especially declaring gifts!)

Can't wait to read your review and hopefully see some pics too

[khunt29]

I'm not sure how accurate this is, but check this out:  http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/61656/now-jade-riviera-cancun-wedding/30

 

10 boutenierres, 3 wrist corsages, 4 bridesmaid bouquets, 1 bridal bouquet and 2 centerpieces and the rental of 9 vases and a basket for only $200 USD!!  NOW Jade wanted $65 for one bridesmaid bouquet?! In the end we saved close to $800 using Juliana and the flowers were so beautiful, my bridesmaids are still talking about them!!   NOW Jade's florist did not like that we ventured out to get our own florist, but there is no clause saying you can't. Also, when I told Pilar the price she said "I don't blame you". Perhaps now, NOW Jade will re-evaluate their prices for flowers. Highly recommend Juliana:  floreria_paraiso@hotmail.com  

 

Worth a shot anyway, no?

[irishdonna]

Thanks for all the info! when you say it gets dark fast, what time do you mean?

Originally Posted by all the love 

Hi ladies, here is what I'm calling "thing I wish I had known about Jade." I hope some of you find some of it helpful. Sorry it's so long!

 

Airport & Travel

• Read the customs form carefully. We got detained for two hours and fined for not declaring our wedding party gifts (Burberry sunglasses). You are allowed to bring in $300 per person of goods not for personal use (this includes all gifts, all OOT bag contents, etc). If we could do it again, we would give our wedding party their gifts before we left.
• If you are bringing in stuff you will have to pay taxes on, make sure you have the receipts!
• Your bags all go through an x-ray machine before you can enter Mexico. I had never seen this process before.
• We were late arriving and our private transfer had already left, so we got suckered into a private sedan for $80. If you don’t have a shuttle waiting for you, be wary about how much you pay. The resort has set posted rates for taxi, and a taxi from the resort to the airport is a fixed cost of $360 pesos (about $30).
• The resort is not right on the highway. You will leave the highway and drive about 5 minutes into the town of Puerto Morelos and then you will drive out of town down a windy road for a further 5 minutes before reaching the resort. If you arrive after dark, it totally feels like they’re driving you out to the middle of nowhere.

 

The Resort

• The front desk staff will provide you with change (for tipping). We used mostly $20p notes for tipping.
• Ana and Pilar’s office is located in the same building as the photo desk and spa. It is on the main floor behind the photo desk.
• The resort can send your dress out for cleaning! Pilar offered this the day after our trash-the-dress session, and it hadn’t even occurred to me. It was $40 and they did an amazing job. I was quoted $300-$500 at home!
• The housekeeping service was inconsistent at best. They often forgot to leave new towels or bathmats or replenish the soap, and we never once got the nightly turn-down service (except for the wedding night, with rose petals and a bath drawn!)
• Your room should have robes and slippers. Call the concierge if they are missing, because they are quite nice to have. We didn’t even know we were missing the slippers until almost the end of our vacation. =(
• The resort means it when they say the adults-only pool is adults only. Children are evicted very quickly.
• Keep your patio door shut or you will have geckos in your room. My new husband performed the heroic act of evicting one by catching it by the tail with a face cloth. The resort kills them rather than catching them, so best to keep them out in the first place.

 

Restaurants and Food

• Remind your guests that they do not need to make dinner reservations at any of the restaurants. Many of our guests did buffet the first night because they assumed they would not get a reservation.
• If you eat outside at the buffet during the day, watch out for birds. The ceiling canopy is open and we saw people get pooped on.
• Two of the restaurants require men to have long pants, collared shirts and closed toe shoes, and they enforce the dress code pretty firmly. We saw a few groups denied entrance.
• We did dinner around 6 every night and never had to wait for a table. Restaurants all filled up by about 7pm and were full until well after 9.
• Any guests with food allergies or other dietary restrictions (in our group it was Celiac) should chat with the concierge early in the week. They are more than willing to accommodate these things but need to know ahead of time where you plan to eat each night.
• The food is never hot, anywhere. It was usually lukewarm.
• The room service takes a LONG time at night. When you are drinking in your room and think “hey, a late night snack would be awesome!†it will likely take 1.5 hours to arrive, and everyone will have left or passed out by then.
• The bartenders –especially at the Mix and in the preferred lounge - make the drinks very strong.

 

The Beach

• The beach is quite rocky, and I would recommend water shoes, especially for children. There is a small sandy section at each end of the resort, but it is mostly rocks.
• There are bugs, especially at night, we think they were on the beach. Many in our group ended up with lots of bites on their legs, and they are itchy for days. Not sure if bug spray helps, we didn’t have any.
• We didn’t go, but the snorkelling is apparently amazing, either on your own or with a tour through the reef.
• You are not allowed to climb the lifeguard tower, even in your wedding dress.
• The ‘romantic dinner on the beach’: I recommend pants (that was the night I got all my bug bites). Also, ours was only lit by 3 candles and the server had to use his cell phone to show us the food we were eating.

 

The Wedding

• Take super-strong eye makeup remover – the black eyeliner that Angel used took me 5 days to get it all off.
• You can have round tables on the Festival Terrace, I saw it! We were supposed to have that too but there was some sort of communication error.
• The sun sets FAST! I couldn’t believe how quickly it was absolutely pitch black out after the sun went down. It was nice to hear the waves from the festival terrace but there was no view.
• The outside eating area for the buffet during the day is the Festival Terrace for weddings. They pull down most of the blinds between you and the buffet, but we had a few people cut through our reception to get to the buffet.
• We found the beach very loud, between the waves and the wind, and during the rehearsal we chose to move our ceremony onto the grass off to the side of the fountain. 

 

Other

• If your FI is wearing shorts for the wedding, don’t let him ride the mechanical bull before your wedding. The bruises last for days (I believe the mechanical bull is out every Saturday)
• Book your couples massage ahead of time by email (ours was included in the Divine wedding package). It was wonderful. The spa has some great facilities so plan time before or after your massage for the whirlpool and steam shower.