Iberostar Paraiso Wedding Roll Call

[Scarma]

Originally Posted by MommyBride14 

 

Hi ladies!  I am planning a November 2013 wedding and am very interested in the Iberostar Resorts!  I have a million questions!

 

How did you ladies decide on your resort choice?

Where will you hold your ceremony?

How many guests?

Will you be doing a semi-private dinner/ or private dinner (beach or restaurant)?

Did you hire dj services for dancing or rent sound system equipment for the reception?

 

I have signed up with destinationweddings.com and my wedding consultant is amazing! Her name is Terri Smith and I love her!  My problem is deciding on a resort that has the best wedding/reception options without killing our budget.  We want to keep it on the lower end because we are both finishing our schooling and have a 17 month-old daughter.  I would love any of your suggestions and further input!

I found if you read Tammy's email closely starting with the Newbie section, it really helps you start in the forums. It looks overwhelming but you get the hang of it and its the best for any answers to anything! 

[bambaleo]

Aww hehe, good choice!! Something to keep in mind is the time that the sunsets... its tempting to think that it's summer so it sets late, but no it's not summer there So it goes down around 5pm and is dark at 6pm - keep that in mind for beach ceremony and pictures.

[bambaleo]

Yes, good point, once a day weddings were a very important aspect for us, as well.

Most of my party stayed at del Mar/beach and Lindo/Maya...we may have had 2 guests stay at the Grand, and there are so many restaurants to choose from at the first 2 categories that you don't really need to worry about access to the Grand. That's the only differentiator in "Access"...anyone in the first category can walk around and swim or hang out in the 2nd category's amenities. Restaruant reservations get to be a pain b/c they ask for your room number and if you're a lower category you have to pay a cover charge at a higher level hotel's restaurant but ...there are ways to get around that

Also the buffets are really good so you can eat there all together w/no reservation.

The Grand is really incredible (you can ask for a tour), but it's really on a whole other level.

[Scarma]

Originally Posted by bambaleo 

 

Aww hehe, good choice!! Something to keep in mind is the time that the sunsets... its tempting to think that it's summer so it sets late, but no it's not summer there So it goes down around 5pm and is dark at 6pm - keep that in mind for beach ceremony and pictures.

We have a 3:00pm ceremony? Do you think thats enough time?

[Scarma]

Originally Posted by bambaleo 

 

Yes, good point, once a day weddings were a very important aspect for us, as well.

Most of my party stayed at del Mar/beach and Lindo/Maya...we may have had 2 guests stay at the Grand, and there are so many restaurants to choose from at the first 2 categories that you don't really need to worry about access to the Grand. That's the only differentiator in "Access"...anyone in the first category can walk around and swim or hang out in the 2nd category's amenities. Restaruant reservations get to be a pain b/c they ask for your room number and if you're a lower category you have to pay a cover charge at a higher level hotel's restaurant but ...there are ways to get around that

Also the buffets are really good so you can eat there all together w/no reservation.

The Grand is really incredible (you can ask for a tour), but it's really on a whole other level.

Is that where the wedding night suite is?

[bambaleo]

I think the wedding night suite is in the hotel that you're staying at ...so for us we stayed at Lindo and our wedding night suite was in the Presidential Room at Lindo (AMAZING!!!!!).

[Scarma]

Originally Posted by bambaleo 

 

I think the wedding night suite is in the hotel that you're staying at ...so for us we stayed at Lindo and our wedding night suite was in the Presidential Room at Lindo (AMAZING!!!!!).

im so excited to see it!! what made it so amazing??!! Also did you have a beach wedding there? If so, is there alot of traffic  around for the ceremony?

[bambaleo]

For sunset? more than enough time...the ceremony is like 30 minutes on average (of course this depends on how you're doing your ceremony)...we had our ceremony scheduled for 4pm and I think we started like 20 minutes late and done by 5pm. Then we had a 1 hour cocktail ceremony (part of the package) with champagne and cold hors d'ouvres and then reception from 6-11.

 

You can ask to rent tiki torches for additional light and ambience, they're about $10 each.

 

Sunset makes for really pretty pictures (And no one is squinting their eyes), but around that time it gets a bit chilly when the sun goes down so just make sure to tell ppl to bring a coverup.

 

Also note that the sun will not set behind you in the ocean, it sets over the land (I think there's only a few places in Riviera Maya/Cancun that catch the sun setting on the ocean).

 

Regarding 3pm, it might be a bit early -- keep in mind you'll have to wake up early to get your and everyone else's hair and makeup done and pictures plus buffer time between everything in case of lateness (which is inevitable but not a big deal haha). The formal pictures take a long time so I wouldn't recommend cramming it into your cocktail hour, that time is better for pictures with guests on the beach.

[bambaleo]

There is a lot of traffic but they have security making sure they don't walk into your wedding... having said that... they don't do a great job...I had a very out of shape middle aged woman standing behind the wedding canopy in her bathing suit as I was walking down the aisle and one of my bridesmaids shoo'd her away...something the wedding coordinator should have been totally on top of. Pretty much everyone on the beach will be watching from the side, which I thought was kinda exciting....until they whip their iPads out and take pix of you LOL!! Bottom line, it's not super private, but just make sure ppl are aware that strangers might be in your shot and someone needs to tell them to get the hell away

[MommyBride14]

Awesome!  I will definitely look over the email more thoroughly from Tammy .  I am so indecisive and have been stressed that I haven't decided on a resort yet!  I will for sure make my decision this week! Thanks ladies!