Riu Palace Mexico Wedding Help

leeannes1 · March 8, 2015

Thanks everyone for the help and replies everything is going great and would love some prices for photography for the big day. My email is wjastraw@googlemail.com if anyone would be up to taking on our big day. Cheers all leeanne

drdavis · May 18, 2015

My husband and I just returned from our wedding at the Riu Palace Mexico last week.

I thought I would summarize the process because I had a very hard time finding information on this particular resort. (There is a ton for the Riviera Maya Palace)

3 months to the day my wedding coordinator emailed us with almost all of the information we would need.

We were given price lists for music, private receptions, flowers etc.

we were given a time and date when we would meet the coordinator after we arrived.

They required that we send them a complete guest list 30 days before we arrived and that 80% be staying at the resort which we already knew. We had 31 guests and all but 4 stayed at our resort. It sells out fast and that is why 4 guests stayed across the street at the Riu Tequila.

For guests staying at another Riu resort, it is $45 for the day of the wedding and for those staying elsewhere it is $65. To be honest we found that they didn't really check the wristbands. One of our guests walked onto the resort with a chunky bracket and didn't pay for one and nobody questioned her. Keep in mind they will cut off the bridal parties wristband on the day of the wedding as well.

We chose the classic package because I didn't need a lot of the extras and it was cheaper to add. We had to pay $25 for each guest.

This allowed for the cake, cocktail reception on the section floor of the lobby bar and a semi private dinner at the Mexican restaurant.

Keep in mind, if you are doing a semi private dinner they will only allow you in the early dinner seating if you have 20 or less guests. In my original information they had said 30 so when they told me I had to have dinner at 8:30 I was not happy. They said they had limited seating and could not accommodate us. I said I would be taking my reception offsite and they suddenly could help us out.

We ended up havin the entire restaurant to ourselves. The Mexican restaurant is very small, but the food is amazing!

The cake was vanilla with strawberry filling and it was incredible. They also poured champagne for toasts and had a tequila bar set up.

We asked for a small table for a guestbook and cards and they set that up for us as well.

Speeches were done throughout dinner and a microphone was not needed.

We met with Paola 3 days before the ceremony to finalize everything. She had all of our correspondence printed and ready and knew exactly what was going on. I had emailed her photos of the bouquets and boutonnières we wanted a couple of months prior and she reconfirmed what I wanted.

I would suggest emailing in samples of the flowers you want (I didn't really like any of the samples she sent me) an she will tell you if there is an additional charge.

She gave us an itinerary for the day and a printout of all of the costs which we paid to her the following morning.

The wedding coordinators work out of the Riu Palace Riviera Maya which is about a 10 minute walk from the Palace Mexico.

It was at this time that we chose our photography package as well. We used the onsite photographer from Adventure photos and we couldn't have been happier with the pictures.

On the day of the wedding the flowers were delivered when they said they would be and they were absolutely perfect..exactly like the pictures I provided. We provided our iPod with the music for the ceremony and they played it exactly how we wanted. After photos on the beach everyone gathered in the lobby for a drink and then we ate at the buffet for lunch. People went off and did what they wanted for the afternoon and gathered back at 6:30 for dinner.

After dinner we gathered in the lobby bar for more cocktails and mingling and then those who wanted to continue on went over to the disco accros the street at the Tequila.

All in all it was a beautiful wedding on an exquisite resort. Everyone who came had nothing but great things to say about it. This particular resort is very calm and good for all age groups. If people want a more lively scene they can go across the street or 5th ave is a10 minute cab ride.

I have price lists for pretty much everything so let me know if anyone wants me to email this.

Oh and one last thing... We got married on the beach, and it is a public beach so there will be onlookers in their bathing suites... I am Telling you now, you don't even notice them in the moment and pictures can be cropped. It will be beautiful!

Edited May 18, 2015 by drdavis

KatieMcBride · May 20, 2015

Thank you for your review!! I am getting married at Riu Caribe (not the same resort obviously, but same wedding packages, options, etc) so it was helpful to read that!
Congrats on your big day

Edited May 20, 2015 by KatieMcBride