Am i getting ripped off??

[FredKar]

I am not quite sure if this is standard at every resort, but at the Riviera Grand Sunset Princess, if you reserve a portion of the restaurant you only have 1hr 30 min to stay at the restaurant. An alternative is to have a private reception which is for 40 or more people only, and the min rate per plate is $40 per person. You also have to pay to have an open bar which is 38 for 2 hours.

 

If 40 guests are booking an all inclusive at ther resort, shouldn't you just be paying for the wedding package, and not additional costs for a private reception?

 

I mean if you are already paying for a all inclusive, that is a lot you are contributing to the hotel. They should be able to give a better deal than that. 

 

Does anyone have any other suggestions? or is this how every resort does it?

 

Thanks.Karolina. 

[jenngene2011]

Well I believe it depends on the resort and how big the resort is.  For example I am renting out one of the restaurants from my resort for 1,260 with an option to order from the restaurant menu or upgrade to a silver or gold menu at an additional cost.  Even though a resort is AI the extra that you are paying for is the extra food they will need to buy or have available for wedding also additional staff. 

With that being said I do think the pricing you are getting is very pricey.  I mean especially if you are not having 40 guests and you are limited to only an 1 1/2.  I think you should try to bargain with them and see if they would be willing to give you extra time or something.

[heartbeat]

Through my research I learned that staying at an A.I did not mean that you got a private reception included in the cost of your wedding... I do agree that they should charge you a fee because they will have to do some extra preparations which they do not normal do for all of their A.I guest.

 

For my wedding we opted not to have it at an A.I for this reason and because we are having guest from JA attend which will not be staying at the resort. If you are already booked at the hotel you can just ask for a discount the worst that they can do is object.

 

Good Luck,

[SKing24]

I'm having mine at an all inclusive and my FI flipped when he found out all the extras they are charging us for.  We actually get 25 people included in our package but we're having 70 guests so we have to pay $67/per person for those extra 45 people. I think it's pretty standard.

[mimi73]

I shudder every time I find out about another 'hidden charge'. I just keep reminding myself that it is costing us SO much less to have a destination wedding as opposed to a huge event in our hometown. It still kinda sucks though!

[Princess402]

This has been discussed at length on many threads on this forum and as others have mentioned, this is actually pretty standard. There is some variation in the charge, but all resorts will charge you for a private gathering. This is because (in a nutshell) you are requiring extra staff and services just for your group that is not available to other guests, and you are also taking away space/facilities from other paying guests to use. Moreover, there is a significant amount of preparation and set-up/tear-down involved in planning and executing your event. That being said, yup I totally think that some of the costs are a bit much, especially considering it's an AI and considering all the business you are bringing to the resort. Sometimes you can negotiate a bit, but in the end if you want a nice private event for your group you are going to have to pay for it!

[taylorwd]

 

 

Originally Posted by Princess402 

 

This has been discussed at length on many threads on this forum and as others have mentioned, this is actually pretty standard. There is some variation in the charge, but all resorts will charge you for a private gathering. This is because (in a nutshell) you are requiring extra staff and services just for your group that is not available to other guests, and you are also taking away space/facilities from other paying guests to use. Moreover, there is a significant amount of preparation and set-up/tear-down involved in planning and executing your event. That being said, yup I totally think that some of the costs are a bit much, especially considering it's an AI and considering all the business you are bringing to the resort. Sometimes you can negotiate a bit, but in the end if you want a nice private event for your group you are going to have to pay for it!

 

Yup, I agree with this completely.  This is a very good explanation of why they charge for private events.  I too was caught of guard since ours was AI, but in the end it made sense to me.  Just keep in mind the bright side: even at $40 per person, that's still way cheaper than a traditional wedding that can run over $100 per person for food!  Not much I know, but it's something

 

[adales]

I am getting married at Aventura Cove palace and their rate is the same unless we have 75 room nights booked then we get unlimited private functions. We are already over half way there and that is with only a small fraction of our guests officially booked. May be you can work something like this out with your resort also.

[sunshine2413]

I agree with your feelings, as it feels like we are paying for the AI so why not get free drinks and free food. But I do understand if it is going to a private event then it will cost extra, as they are going out of their way to do something special for us. My resort, offered us to have our reception in on of the restaurants, semi-private at no cost. The WC mentioned that if we made it on the earlier end they may even be able to block out the reservation times for other guest for no additional cost. But if we request completely private then it will be an additional cost. You should try and work them to come up with something that may be able to accommodate you. Good luck!

[JayKay]

At first my parents were wondering why we would have to pay for a wedding dinner when we were at an All inclusive resort.  However, after explaining to them that it was basically a surcharge for extra staff needed to accomodate a larger group they understood.  I think every resort is different but most seem to have some kind of a charge.