Alobaidis

Hi all, My fiancée and I want to have a destination wedding in Rivera Maya, Mexico or Jamaica. So far we have changed our minds few times before we decided on El Dorado Royale. But with a little intervention from my future mother-in-law, we had to change the place and we fell in love with Secrets Maroma Beach resort and decided to pick that place. We were really excited because SMB looks breathtaking from the pictures and the reviews were awesome until we found out how much everything will really cost. So, we’re nervous that SMB might be too expensive for us. From the looks of it our trip PLUS the wedding “stuff†is going to run us almost $10K. I think $42 / person for dinner for our reception is a little bit too much for an “All Inclusive Resortâ€. We emailed the wedding coordinator to ask if we could just have the same food that is being served at the restaurant to bring cost down (i.e., no special menu) but she hasn’t answered yet. If we need to look to another option, we think Iberostar Grand Rose Hall would be the next best option. It’s also smaller (under 300 rooms) and according to trip advisor, is rated the #1 all inclusive resort in all of Jamaica! The wedding prices are MUCH more reasonable – from what the website shows it’ll only cost us about $400 out of pocket ($18 per guest over 8). I wanted to get your input on how much you think you’re wedding is going to cost. I know that the estimates might be somewhat rough now and what is “expensive†is very subjective from one couple to another. I also want to know if any of you have looked at the cost of the having a wedding in any other resorts and what you didn’t like about them. Is it worth spending the extra $$$ and Have the wedding at SMB? And How can we (or how do you think you’re going to) cut the cost as much as possible. Some information about our wedding details: we are planning to have 20-30 people, the resort has to be Adults only-All inclusive resort (No kids). We also have to have a beautiful beach for everyone to enjoy and actually go in the water (some beaches are too rocky to swim in) and the size of the resort is very important to us too. We don’t want a crowded place (over 450 rooms) because we don’t like the idea of being crammed in a place with a lot of people. We also don’t want a very small place. Thank you for reading my long post but we are in desperate need of any input/advice. I really appreciate any ideas, thoughts, experiences, and comments on our concerns. Planning this wedding has not been easy and we are a little behind schedule. Thanks again. Salam