dilenka

Our wedding group was a total of 15 people and we had Royal Wedding package 2008 and added extra staff to it.

Hello, All! We just got married in Riu Palace Las Americas on November 22. I thought it would be helpful for RIU Brides if I post a review. Hotel: Truely beautiful place! Gorgeous architecture, very plush! The rooms are nice and clean, although some of our guests found bugs in their rooms. The ocean view is to die for... There are 2 infinity pools and a very big pool area. Beach: If you are a beach person, this place is not for you. The beach is very small, most of the sand got washed off... You have to get up early to get a chair... You could also go to Riu Cancun hotel right next door - they have a better beach. Food: There are 5 specialty restaurants and 1 buffet. You have to make a reservation in order to eat at specialty restaurants. We had a very hard time making reservations for our wedding group for the whole week. We practically had to fight with hotel management to make it happen. I would suggest contacting hotel via email prior to your arrival and making those reservations. Once you get into those restaurants, the food is worth the fight. It's amazing. Our favorite restaurants were: Japaneese and Krystal (French). Wedding Planner: We had Pamela as out wedding planer. She was realy nice. Dispite some of the other negative reviews on this website, I thought she was very professionaland helpful. Maybe it's because I'm generally not a drama person and a very easy going Bride. I didn't really care about tiny little details that some other Brides care about. We met with her on 2nd day of our arrival. She showed us the catalog of flowers to choose from, suggested a photographer with portfolio, talked about minister, music (we could bring our own music for ceremony), made restaurant reservations for wedding reception. Wedding Day: Everything was great! I was not nervous at all. We had a women as a minister and she was AMAZING. We had a religious ceremony and she was one of the best minsters I've ever met! The ceremony was about 25-30 minutes, then we had a champagne tost and a long photo session :0) I'm glad we bought an extra photo package because I love our beach photoes better than ceremony. Photographer does an amazing job. Dinner reception: Well, the only option hotel gives you is Steak house and Brazilian restaurants. But we realy wanted "Krystal" just because it's the most beautiful, sophisticated, royal restaurant there. You just have to have your special wedding dinner there. We had to fight with hotel AGAIN to the point where I had to speak with director of hotel. We made some noise but had it our way at the end. The restaurant was wondeful! Overall, we all had a great time. I would recommend it to everybody. It's the best way to get married. I didn't stress out about anything and everything turned out beautiful! My only advice on all-inclusive wedding packages would be: always ask for what you want and you'll get it. Don't just take "no" for an aswer. You are bringing your wedding to their hotel, which brings them so much business. You have all the right to be treated like a VIP guests. Good luck and feel free to ask me any questions!