Mexico Fall 2010?? Overwhelmed already!

Hello brides! Congratulations on your upcoming weddings! I am Rachael and my finance and I are really hoping to do a destination wedding next year in the Cancun/Rivera Maya area for about 40-45 people. So far we are feeling a little defeated.

Likes some other brides who I have read about on here I fell into the destinationwedding.com trap. I paid my $50 and the assigned planner didn't really seem to listen to me and made me feel that with my budget I didn't have many options. She kept sending me links to hotels that we either not in the area we were looking, out of our budget or specifically not something we were interested in. When I asked her questions about resorts she had not suggested I received rather gruff emails as to why "her brides" don't want that. We then put the whole idea aside for a while thinking we just couldn't make it work.

I found this forum a few days ago and it really got me excited about the whole idea again! Based on everyone's really helpful messages I feel this is something we could do!

Here is what we are trying to find:

-4 star all-inclusive resort on the Yucatan peninsula

-we don't want our guests to have to pay more than $300 a night

-lots of food options, hopefully some of which can be healthy (I have seen some locations that only have 3 or 4 places and don't seem that nice)

-the jury is still out on adults only vs. kids. We are hoping to do without, but we do have a special needs child in the immediate family so that is making this decision harder

Things I don't care about:

-flowers/decorations (these locations seem beautiful enough with the sun and sea!)

-DJ (we will use an ipod)

-no bridal party (We will just be happy if our closest friends can be there)

Things I am concerned about:

-good quality photos

-not feeding my guests crappy fried food

-not getting too stressed out!

Would love to hear any thoughts people have!

My FI and I have decided to have our Wedding at Sun Palace in Sept 2010. We have been ther before and LOVED it! It is adults only, we decided our children will not be involved. My son is 22 and old enough to come if he can, but I have received some comments from people. We feel we are marrying each other and not the children - we are raising them to leave us. We will however share the day with them when we get home and have a celebration with just them. We want a simple wedding on the beach and we think maybe 10 - 15 people may come. (I am having a hard time with invites!) I am very overwhelmed and on a budget. Sun Palace is 4 star and we negotiated our rooms, we feel we got a great price especially since we get all the free excursions! I am freaking out about OOT bags (how to pack them) and any kind of itinerary. I just do not want the stress, but I feel I owe my guests something. I really dont want to plan and entire vacation for them. Maybe a welcome dinner. I am just so unsure. I really want to keep it simple.

Welcome! My suggestion is to take some time and read through some of the posts in the area you are looking at- read some of the reviews, usually most questions have been asked so you just have to do a little digging for the answer. As far as the photos- are you wanting to hire an outside photographer, or use the resorts- if you hire outside, that opens you up to many hotels/resorts, but there is the additional expense. If you have questions, just ask, everyone here is very helpful!

Happy Planning!

I would definitely check out Dreams. My fiance and I are both medical students and on a tight budget and we think this is our best option. It will be a vacation for us and our guests. We are only getting the free package that is included if you book 5 rooms at any category. If a private reception is not important to you you can just eat at the restaurants on site and just not sit all together with your guests. Plus there is a nightclub on site that I have read is usually pretty empty to get some dancing going with your group. You can upgrade to a package that does include a private reception and is still not too expensive. It can be done cheaply on the Yucatan Peninsula so don't worry about what the planner told you.

Dreams is also under $300 per night and from what I have read the food sounds excellent. If you do want to have adult only you can look into Secrets which is from the same company as Dreams just a little more expensive (which is why I decided on Dreams).

Good luck and welcome to the forum. It has helped me a TON just from reading posts from other people.

Thanks so much Emma! From the hours of reading posts so far I am really liking what I hear about Dreams Cancun so far! Can't wait to find out more and hopefully make some decisions soon!

Happy Planning!

Congratulations on your engagement! Welcome to the forum.

Unfortunately our wedding is on the other side of Mexico, so I don't have a ton of info to help you regarding choosing a hotel. However, just keep reading this forum and you will find tons of options. That is how I found my wedding location!!

Good luck and happy planning!

Hi Rachael! Welcome to the forum!!!

Do not stress! You will find everything you are looking for, No worries!

Hi and welcome... I would say as far as the planning goes there are a ton of options and the best way to get the best deal is go during low season. We are doing high season and its costing an arm and a leg-- should be an interesting first dance!

Congrats and welcome to the forum Rachel! I would suggest to start reading through some reviews of different places here on the forum to help out. What I did to help choose a location was to go through on expedia and tripadvisor and read reviews and get as much information as I could about the different resorts. It also helped to give me an estimated idea of what it would costs for guests (a little more difficult for me as my wedding is in 2011). I'm also trying to make sure we have a place that is not over $300 a night for our guests. After I made a list of my possibilities I then read many reviews from other brides who had their weddings at that location. Good luck with all the planning!

Thanks guys! There seem to be so many great options. I'm so nervous about picking one! The list sounds like a great idea. I am having trouble keeping all the resorts straight in my mind!