Cancun/RM Brides~ POST HERE!

Hi everyone - I've been reading everyone's posts for the last couple of weeks and this is really my first response. I have also decided on Riviera Maya (finally) but have two back-ups in Cancun, just in case I can't get my date reserved at our top choices. We are getting married November 17th, 2007 and have chosen El Dorado, Riu Palace, Aventura, and Omni Hotel & Villas, as our top picks - and all this after reviewing over 100 possible resorts, and the details of the surrounding area. The wedding itself will undoubtedly be beautiful no matter where we go - mother nature at her finest in the Riviera Maya!! - so what becomes important to us is the responsiveness and friendly service of the staff, how accommodating the wedding coordinator will be with special requests and changes outside of their packages, how affordable it will be for all our guests, and how many activities are offered either through the resort or in the general area.

We decided to do a destination wedding as a fun and affordable alternative after my non-stop search for a viable location in Phoenix came up way short of our needs and completely blew our budget. After doing a general search for airfare and hotel deals all around the carribbean including the bahamas, puerto rico, turks & caicos, u.s.v.i., jamaica, etc., we found cancun to be the most affordable, and easily accessible for guests traveling from all over the U.S.

I have LOVED all the posts and especially the slide show images of past weddings. I can only hope to secure such wonderful photography for our wedding, as I will love to look back on our special day having each moment captured perfectly. My main concern right now is getting a photographer that the hotel will allow - most of these places won't let other vendors provide services, and make you use their in-house staff - much of which I have not been impressed with having seen those photos on the internet. (

My quest continues......thanks again to everyone for all the info. I will try to do the same myself.

Destinationbride33, this is a big concern of mine also. For some reasons many of the resorts will not allow outside photographers. But I am determined even if it means I have to pay for the photographer to spend the night at the resort and be a "guest" therefor they can photograph us. I to am not impressed at all with the resorts photographers. Good luck and let us know how it turns out. Stand your ground remind them of how much money you and your guests will be paying to host your wedding there and insist on your photographer shooting your wedding!

Riviera Maya Brides,

I need your input. In the past week I have tried to narrow down my choices of an AI in Cancun or the Riviera Maya area. After much research I have decided on the Riviera Maya. I have about 50 people who will be attending the wedding with kids so I need a family resort. I would like the resort to be close to Playa del Carmen so we can go into town a couple of nights. I am pretty flexible on the dates (I can marry any day but wed in June & July) We are looking at a budget of 900 to 1200 per person for 5 nights including airfare. So airfare alone will be about $400.00 leaving about $500 - 800 to spend on the AI resort for 5 nights. I am looking at the RIU Palace Riviera Maya, RIU palace Mexico, and Iberostar Tucan. (I would love the Occidental, but my neices and nephews want the ocean to connect to the hotel so they can play in the big waves) : )

Are there any other AI family resorts that you can think of that are close to Playa del Carmen besides these three?

What are your thoughts on these 3 places?

Do you think I can stay at these places for $500-800 (per person) for five nights?

Do they give discounts for kids to stay?

Let me know your thoughts! Thanks : )

I don't really know too much about those resorts, but I'm getting married at dreams-cancun and I know we did get a discounted rate for our daughter. I think for the hotel for 5 nights she was 250, and then whatever her airfare costs. I think most hotels offer discounts for children.

I changed my date... now 10/20 at Catalonia Maroma.

Why the change? That must be nice, now you have all sorts of time to get everything just right!

Thanks girls for the input! : ) I actually considered the Dreams Tulum, but I read a lot of things on Trip Advisor that talked about mold problems and funky smells in the rooms. I really like the RiU palaces & Iberostar Tucan/Quitzel but it will probably come down to a date...We'll see!

We are booked at the Riu Palace Mexico for April 23 for a variety of reasons: kids, proximity to PDC, beach, price for guests, beauty of resort, amenities, options for people to stay at less expensive Riu Yucatan if they want, etc. It was not my first choice (I wanted the Azul Beach Hotel), but it was in the top 5. It really came down to what our guests could afford. I am excited about having it there! One thing though: we went about choosing a resort based on the fact that we believed people wanted to bring their kids, including our 5 nephews from our 3 siblings. But once it came down to booking it, everyone decided not to bring their kids so that they could have an adult vacation. So we could have looked at different resorts altogether. Oh well!