RIU PALACE LOS CABOS WEDDING - VALENTINE'S DAY 2012

[lcbarnes]

Hi ladies!

 

We are getting married on Valentines' Day 2012 at the Riu Palace Los Cabos, and I stumbled on this site by accident while surfing wedding stuff. I am thrilled to find fellow brides willing to share their secrets and tips, and hope to be able to do the same. 

 

It's not the first marriage for either my fiancee or myself, so we wanted a simple, fun ceremony and a nice dinner at our favorite resort. We had no idea how many people would come, so we booked the Royal wedding package to start with, as we can always upgrade if we get a huge response from our guests.  We figured for the difference in price between the Caprice and the Royal, we could just pay for my mani, pedi and hair, and still come out ahead.

 

We arranged a group rate with Sue Stiliades at itravel2000.com, and she was able to reserve a decent rate for us, guaranteed for 60 days, with our guests coming from different locations (Vancouver, Edmonton and Regina).  She sets up a booking link, and we just sent it out to all our guests with our invitation, and they take care of the booking themselves with her.  She was fantastic at quickly answering e-mails and telephone calls, and has made the travel arrangements (which I feared would be like trying to herd cats) a breeze.

 

Since our wedding coordinator at the Riu won't likely contact us until 2 months prior, I have a few questions.  I am trying not to stalk her too soon, but as I'm sure you all agree, it's too exciting and important to wait that long.

 

1.  Do you get a choice of flowers for the bouquet?  If not, is what they choose for you nice?  My mom is a florist, but I am determined this time around she is just going to relax and not do any work for my wedding, so I just want the resort florist to take care of it.  That being said, my Mom will die if her daughter has ugly flowers at her wedding.  :-)

 

2.  Is it just a CD player on the beach for the wedding ceremony music, or something more elaborate?  Has anyone hired the mariachi band or trio, and are they good?

 

3.  Has anyone used the hair stylist/makeup artist at the resort, and are they any good? 

 

4.  We think we are going to have the semi-private wedding dinner at the steakhouse.  Has anyone had the set menu, and do you have to have the set menu if you are over a certain number of people?

 

5.  The champagne included in the package is set up at the ceremony, correct?  We want to also have a bottle of good tequila for a celebratory shot  (this being Mexico and all) so I'm hoping they'll let us buy one and have shot glasses available.

 

6.  Any big pitfalls in the planning I should watch out for?

 

Thanks for your input, ladies, I look forward to planning weddings with you!

 

[Prielipp0218]

I am getting married Feb 18th 2012 at the Riu Cabo Palace! You should ask the wedding cooridinator for a price list and flower list too! It gives you lots of options!

[Prielipp0218]

Im getting married there on Feb 18th 2012!

[lcbarnes]

Hi!  I've emailed the wedding coordinators a couple of times, but they haven't responded. I know their practice is to contact us about 2 months prior, but a quick answer to my questions would have been appreciated.  I am confident they know what they're doing, I just am a planner and want to know EVERYTHING.  :-)

 

We will have checked out on the 17th, so we won't get to peek in on your wedding.  We will be on the beach, at 4pm on Valentine's day. It's coming up quick!  My dress just came in, and I ordered some really cute flip-flops to match. 

 

How's your planning going?

 

Leah

 

[Prielipp0218]

They were really good at answering my questions like 4 or 5 months ago when I had emailed them! Let me know when they email for the detials that way I know that I will be next! Where did you get your dress from? Is it a tradtional beach wedding dress or did you go all out? My planning is going along good! I as well am a planner and get anxious too! We are going purple everything! We are doing the Royal package and I dont really plan on adding anything! How many people do you have coming to the wedding if any?

 

kylie

[lcbarnes]

Hi Kylie!

 

I'll let you know when they e-mail me.

 

We've got 21 people coming so far, and I'm betting we get some stragglers as people decide they're sick of winter and want to go somewhere warm. 

 

I got my dress from David's Bridal, in Burlington Washington.  I live close to the border, and they have a good selection of beach wedding dresses, and good prices.  Then I ordered some blingy flip-flops on line.  We're getting married on the beach, so I figured they would be the most comfy.

 

Have you been to the resort before?  We have, and we absolutely loved it.

 

 

[Prielipp0218]

We have stayed at the riu palace in riviera maya. I also got my dress from David's bridal! We have 16 people coming!

[marucka07]

 

 

 

 

 

Hi ladies, this is the e-mail that I got from the wedding coordinator a few months ago. She also sent me a couple of attachments about flowers, cake, songlist, etc. I attached the 'flower selection' one but let me know if you want me to e-mail you the rest. This info is from the Riu Santa Fe, but I don't think there's much of a difference since both Rius work with the same vendors.

Congrats on the wedding everyone!

 

"CAKE

The cake that is included on your package is with soft butter cream icing, on different shapes & color frosting (check the list o see the other color covers for cake).

The number of tiers depends on the number of guest that you have. The cake for 10 or 20 persons is 1 tier; 25 to 35 persons 2 tiers, more than 40 can be 3 tiers or more). If you have more than 1 tier each one can have different flavor.
You can choose your flavor: chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, cheese cake, marble and more-please check the attach: wedding cake- to see your flavors options and cover color options. Inside the cake- Flavor of the cake; center of the cake: the cream Flavor of the cake(the cream that it´s on the middle between the breads. Frosting: the color of the cake.

 Decoration of the cake included on the package is with a couple on the top. In case that you want to bring your own cake topping you can do it, just let me know and give it to me the wedding date.
We can do cakes with fondant the cost is 12.00usd per person (minimum 20 persons) & need to be required at least 10 days prior

(FLOWERS TO DECORATE IT ARE NOT INCLUDED- THESE HAVE AN EXTRA COST: 12.00usd per 2 flowers) 
FLOWERS

On your wedding package you have included the bride bouquet and boutonniere for the groom. These can be with all kind of tropical flowers, all different colors (not tulips, orquids, Dahlias, peonies- these have an extra cost. They need to be required two weeks prior the day of the wedding). You can have roses, white calla lilies, Gerber daisies, bird paradise and more. I have photos of bouquets made by my florist. If you require some pictures let me know the flower that you must like or type of bouquet and I can send you some samples. (from June to September is not season for calla lilies & colorful calla lilies- since they died to fast and get dark quickly for the heat)
The bridal bouquet of you package include (This can not be split on different arrangements):

* Free Package & Classic: 
7 roses (white, red, pink, yellow or orange), Gerber daisies,lilies,stargazer
* Royal & Caprice
20-24 flowers-roses, Gerber daisies,lilies,stargazer
10-15 flowers- calla lilies

In case that you have one photo that you would like to have it (bouquet, centerpiece and other flower options), please send it to me and I can give it to my florist to make it as most similar as he can). In case of flowers, my florist request this time to bring the flowers fresh from other place, because Cabos is a desert area.(The 3 days prior our suppliers don't work on weekends just work half of the time on Saturday).

If you want some extra flowers like bridesmaids bouquets, more boutonniere, petals bags and more please let me know so I can request all on time. Please check the attach of prices of extras to see the cost."

 

 

Flower Selection-2.pdf

[lcbarnes]

Hi there!

 

Thanks so much for the info! Sounds like the flowers will be beautiful.  And helpful to know that if we want any decorations at all on the cake, we have to bring them ourselves.

 

Congratulations on your recent marriage!

 

Leah

[lcbarnes]

Oops, I can't open the attachment.  Would you mind e-mailing me (just the flower one) at lcbarnes.1668@gmail.com ? 

Thanks so much!

Leah