i am furious...

[MrsMcs]

so I WAS getting married in Feb. @ the RIU Palace Mexico resort...the invitations have been printed out, I was going to mail them out by the end of this month..I also thought now would be a good time to book my photographer. I wanted Sol Tamargo from Del Sol Photography to shoot my wedding & TTD session (she's awesome..i love her work). Anyways, before booking her I figured it was best to check with my wedding coordinator @ RIU what their policy is on outside vendors. I was thinking I'll just have to pay for a day pass, no big deal...it turns out that they DON'T allow any outside vendors. I am so upset, I guess I should have checked on this sooner but I've seen that Del Sol shot a couple of weddings at Riu Palace so I assumed it would be no problem to book them for my wedding. I guess this must be a new policy...I am extremely dissapointed with RIU (first they have this guest policy where 80% of the guests have to stay at the same resort where the wedding will take place and now this!!) I'm so upset that I'm considering canceling my reservation & booking another hotel....the photo package RIU offers is a joke! see below:
What about pictures ?
We have different photo packages, please notice that the prices are for 2008 and subject to change without prior notification:

All the pictures are taken digitally with high resolution (6 Mega Pixel).-Are they joking!? My personal camera is over 10megapixels!!
The size of the printed pictures is 6 x 8 inches (15 x 21 cm) in color or in B&W and includes a basic album.
The minimum quantity of pictures in a package is 24 pictures.
Pictures included in the wedding package are taken just at the ceremony

PACKAGES

1) 24 pictures $ 280.00 usd
2) 24 pictures with negatives on a CD $ 380.00 usd

3) 36 pictures $ 360.00 usd
4) 36 pictures with negatives on a CD $ 460.00 usd

5) 50 pictures $ 400.00 usd
6) 50 pictures with negatives on a CD $ 500.00 usd

7) CD with 70 JPG files (no prints) $ 495.00 usd

DVD slide show of 120 JPG files with menus and music $ 700.00 usd

9) DVD slide show of JPG files with menus and music, CD with
negatives, 1 leather album and 50 (15x21”) 25 (20x25”) printed
pictures $ 1,300.00 usd


48 hr delivery or 5-7 days shipping address (UPS or FEDex) with no charge.
Photo Packages will be delivered to the photo shop located at the RIU Yucatan
Visa and Master Card accepted
5% Off cash payment

Am i completely overreacting?? I just feel like the pictures were the one thing I really wanted to splurge on...I sent a very angry email to the wedding coordinator but i doubt that's going to help any. Can anyone suggest another resort in the Riviera Maya area that's more accommodating, in terms of choices and allowing the bride to have the wedding day she dreams of?? Do you think I should go ahead and get married at RIU in spite of their crappy policies or should I book something else FAST?!

[kate.com]

Sorry, I don't know! I had to change my resort too and it sucks. But, I am completely happy now, even though I am paying an arm and a leg.
I would tell them that they are going to lose your business unless you can work something out.
If not, maybe you could have your ceremony somewhere else? I think it is very unreasonable and I wouldn't put up with it!

[DWandMJ]

The Moon Palace, where we've booked, has the same policies, however there are loop holes. They will not allow any Mexican vendors on site with a day pass, although if you purchase a night's stay for the photographer and have them there as your guest, you're good to go. Check to see if thats an option before completely changing things.

[katrina]

i was married at the riu a few months ago. i can pretty much vouch that threatening to take your business elsewhere will not do anything.. between the 4 resorts they are almost always booked with weddings. as for the photographer, i used the resort photog. he was good but he was definately light years away from sol or any other high end photog so that doesn't sound like something you'd be interested in. i guess my advice is if this is a make or break situation for you, i would just cut your losses and book a new place. it's a shame though because our wedding was really wonderful so i'm sure yours would come together as well. but.. pictures are forever i guess :)

[katrina]

oh and that line about the pictures only being taken at the ceremony- that's not true

[hanna]

That is so frustrating, especially because you have come so far had had your invitations printed already. That is a really challenging situation, however I would be pretty dissapointed not having the photag that I dreamed of. You can consider doing a TTD with Del Sol offsite?? Or, what if you book their minimum package, and supplement it with your own photag? I would say try to figure out all options before you switch, but if you can't work anything out, consider switching. We are getting married at the Grand Palladium, Riviera Maya, and they allow outside photags, so I can only imagine how frustrated you are.

[jennyFTB]

That is a tough one....when hotels have policies like that it really pisses me off because all it is is a money grab for them to make sure you HAVE to use their photog....if this is a deal breaker for you then you should change resorts....i had to redo my save the dates over again....which was really annoying but in the end...much happier...

[kate.com]

That is a good point. There are some really good photographers that you can bring in from the states and if they are a guest at the hotel they can't say much. See if that's the deal.
If you had the budget for Sol, then this could be very realistic for you. I looked into this extensively and had to deal with a vendor policy and ended up with what I wanted... am paying more but it's worth it to me.
PM me if you want details.

[Carolyn]

I would mention who the vendor is. The Gran Caribe said the same thing to me about the DJ but they made an exception because he has been at all of there resorts before. Call Sol they may also know the loop holes. Good Luck to you. I will be using a photographer from the states and told them it was my family member that would be taking pictures onces I mention that they stop brothering me about it outside vendor stuff. (the photographer is not family member but he was very good about it and will say he is a cousin)

[RosieM]

If this is a new policy could you be grandfathered in under the old one?