BeachBride82

I'm an AB bride (now married) and here's what I had to do: 1. Hired a certified translator (make sure that translator is certified--you will need documentation!) to translate our birth certificates. Got the translator to write and sign an affidavit for the translations ($70 for Translation). 2. Took the translator to our lawyer to raise her hand that translations were done by her. Got our lawyer to Notarize translated copies of the birth certificates and English copies of the birth certificates. You will need the lawyer's registration number to present to the Consulate ($20 for Notarization). 3. Took the 4 copies of birth certificates to Mexican Consulate in Calgary (you will have to find the Consulate in Sask) and got them to legalize the documents (put a gold seal on each of the 4 notarized copies) ($120 for Legalization). When I was trying to contact the Consulate, I phoned the Sask office and I seem to recall them saying that the documents had to be Authenticated before they could be Legalized, if you are from Sask (not necessary for AB and BC residents). If this is the case (please confirm), you will have to send the Notarized docs to Ottawa to be Authenticated beforehand (the authentication process takes 2 weeks and costs ~$50/document). I had a wedding planner coordinate the paperwork once we arrived in Mexico (we handed her the 4 documents, copies of our passports, and information about our parents and witnesses). Our wedding planner coordinated the officiant, the wedding license, the bloodwork appointment, and all of the wedding festivities. I'm not sure how to go about doing all of this without a wedding planner! Good luck! Erin.

We danced to Iris from the Goo Goo Dolls. We took some private dance lessons and learned a modified version of the fox trot, but we forgot all of the steps while infront of our family and friends. The song was a good one to sway side-to-side to! Our family/wedding party dance song was Into the Mystic by Van Morrison (it's the first dance song used in the American Pie Wedding movie). It's a great song too.

Here's a pretty big lesson learned about the sun from my wedding: I have fair complexion. I went tanning 2x/week for a month before our wedding to try and develop a good 'base tan', thinking that I wouldn't burn as easily in Mexico (wearing SPF 30 the entire time). The day before the wedding (6 days into our trip, with a very nice tan), I went on a 6-hour deep sea fishing trip. Covered in sunscreen and wearing a long sleeved swimsuit coverup (looks like a sheer dress). I burned right through the swimsuit coverup because the sun was so hot. I ended up with a painful shoulder that looked like someone had poured acid all over it, and had to hide it in all of my wedding photos (thankfully Citlalli Rico helped make sure that my shoulder was hidden, and my pictures turned out great)! I definitely recommend wearing sunscreen underneath your swimsuit coverups!

I was married last month at the Riu Caribe (approx 10 min away from the Riu Cancun and Las Americas). The three hotels share one wedding planner, Lizette Sanchez. She is absolutely phenomenal and will do everything she can to make your day perfect! The Riu Caribe is the more laid back hotel of the three (older building--originally the Gran Caribe Real, bought by Riu Resorts in 2000, larger beach area, quiet hotel, incredibly friendly staff). It is slightly outside of the bar and restaurant strip (a $0.65 bus will take you there within 5-10 min), but very close to the ferry for Isla Mujeres. I had a beautiful beach ceremony (four post bamboo arch covered in hundreds of bright tropical flowers and tulle, an English-speaking officiant, a mariachi band, etc), a cocktail reception in the gazebo (champagne toasts and cake cutting), and an offsite dinner (sunset lobster cruise). The Riu Cancun and the Las Americas are both very beautiful. The Riu Cancun has a small dance club in the main level of the hotel. We didn't like the fact that the sun goes down quickly at the Riu Cancun, and there is a lot of shade on the beach by early afternoon. You will have a wonderful wedding at any of the three Riu resorts. Lizette will do a wonderful job!! One suggestion that I have is to bring your own photographer. We selected the package for 40 guests and ended up with two photographers--the hotel photographer (for 12 pictures--included in the package), and Citlalli Rico (phenomenal!). The hotel photographer pics are pretty basic (candids, colors and black and whites) and we're happy we brought in Citlalli!

Take the El Embarcadero ferry to Isla Mujeres, rent a golf cart for $40 and tour the island (above-ground grave sites, ruins, villages, shopping) or pay the local fishermen (La Coopertiva) $25 to take you snorkelling for a few hours. Visit the restaurant/museum La Distileria, where you can taste up to 150 different tequillas and have dinner--approx $16. La Casita orphanage-spend the day helping teachers and visiting with the children. Visit Isla Contoy--island just north of Isla Mujeres. Only 200 visitors are allowed daily. Before arriving on the island ask to snorkel in the Ixlache reef.

Hawaiian Tropic has biodegradable sunscreen now. I found it at Walmart for $8. It comes with a smaller detachable bottle that fits perfectly in a purse. We went on several excursions and were never asked about 'biodegradable sunscreen' by the excursion companies, but it definitely is good to plan ahead just in case!

I wore two garters (one to toss and one to keep) on my right leg--they were Superman (my husband's favorite!). I ordered them from a company in the US called Sew Unique Garters (Sew Unique Wedding Garters). They were $27 including shipping (mine was pretty stretchy, but if need be, they can custom make your garter to fit your thigh size). I wore them for the ceremony and tossed the smaller one during the cocktail reception immediately following the ceremony (didn't have to wear it for more than a few hours). I took the keepsake one off before switching into my second dress for our dinner cruise. We also did the bouquet toss during the cocktail reception, which was a lot of fun. It was hilarious watching my single girlfriends dive for the bouquet! I totally recommend doing the garter toss and the bouquet toss--you will get some great photos!

Be careful about bringing in an outside vendor. The hotel that we picked charged $80US per outside vendor/guest for day passes. It ended up being cheaper for us to pay $850 for 45 minute mariachi band provided by the hotel! Hope this helps!

When I ordered mine through them, they said that they have a lifetime guarantee on the silkscreen. It is supposed to survive anything, including the dishwasher. I would definitely contact them. What type of mug did you order? I've got stainless steel ones, I really hope that the silkscreen lasts!

My wedding is coming up soon!! My fiance and I can't decide on whether or not to have hors d'oerves served at our cocktail/afternoon reception. Our wedding is early in the afternoon, we have a dinner reception planned for the early evening, and we are worried that no one will eat at the cocktail reception, and that the money will go to waste. For those of you who had early afternoon weddings and cocktail receptions, did you have hors d'oerves, and were they consumed? I really appreciate your help!!

The vacation company that we used bumped our arrival and departure dates by one day. They waited until all of our guests paid for their trips in full (two weeks ago and all of the other vacation companies flights are sold out)! I had planned to spend the day after the wedding relaxing with friends and family in Cancun. Now we have to be at the airport at 8am, the morning after the wedding! Plus, all of my guests have to request an additional vacation day from work. There's no way to change our wedding date--we have had all of the vendors and a boat dinner cruise booked for the past year. I feel your pain. I tried to contact the vacation company and they told me that changes to charter flights happen all the time, and all they are legally obligated to do is provide you with a new flight or a full refund. If you can, see if your TA can get you some compensation (i.e., a refund, not gift certificates (we will not be using the company again!)), that's what I did. You are lucky in the sense that you have been given several months notice. Your tickets haven't been released, so there is still time to change to a different vacation provider.

Yes, the Riu Caribe has a gazebo (they are set up to hold up to 120 guests). I have booked the beach location for the ceremony and then the gazebo for the cocktail reception. I recommend that if your guests want to book the Junior Suites (2 balconies), that they book early! There are only 32 in the hotel, the rest are Deluxe Rooms (approx 500) and 2 Presidential Suites. Because of the way the hotel is setup, all rooms have a full or partial view of the ocean. If you do decide to book at the Riu Caribe, get your travel agent to request rooms on the 4th floor or higher (otherwise you have a view of the restaurants and pool, can't see over the roof tops and umbrellas).

Welcome to the forum!! I'm a Riu Caribe bride. I narrowed my choice down to the Riu Caribe and the Riu Cancun. I chose the Riu Caribe because it has a larger beach (the sun goes down quickly at the Riu Cancun, and there is a lot of shaded beach areas early in the afternoon), it is away (not too far) from the bars/restaurant strip, and because the Riu Cancun has a night club in it. The Riu Caribe is supposed to be more laid back than the Riu Cancun and supposedly has a quieter beach (better for a beach wedding). The Riu Caribe was originally owned by the Grand Caribe Real (it converted to a Riu resort about 5 years ago), and so it is different in appearance from most Riu resorts (shaped like Mayan temple/horseshoe). The Riu Caribe is closer to the island Isla Mujeres, where there are lots of inexpensive activities to do. If you stay at either the Riu Caribe or the Riu Cancun, you can use the facilities at either (approximately 2 miles apart). I've kept a fairly close eye on both resorts through TripAdvisor.com, both have really good reviews. Good luck with your choice! Hope this helps!

For the Canadian brides... I had to find a certified translator (make sure they are certified!) to translate our birth certificates into Spanish (I'm sure it would be the same process for the divorce papers). She had to write and sign an affidavit that she was the one who did the work. She charged $35/birth certificate. Then I had to take her to see our lawyer, where she raised her hand in oath that she did the translation. Then the lawyer notarized the docs--certified copies of the birth certificates and the translations (four docs in total). He charged $20 for all of the docs. Then I had to take the docs to the Mexican Consulate in a nearby city for legalization. They charged $35/doc. Hope this helps!

Count me in too!