80% rule at Riu

Hi everyone,

Well, I thought we had made our decision on where to have our wedding. It's been a toss up between the Riu Palace and Dreams since the beginning, however in the end, we said Riu seems to be a bit cheaper for our guests so we'll go with that one.

I emailed the resort to see if guests could stay at the Santa Fe and still be included in the 80% rule (ie. 80% of the guests must be staying at the hotel where the wedding will be performed or the wedding is cancelled). I was told there are absolutely no exceptions to this rule and guests must stay at the Palace if that is where the wedding will be.

So, my question is ....how can I let guests know that, basically, if they are coming to our wedding they must stay at the Riu Palace.... without sounding pushy or snobby?

We may just end up choosing Dreams because of this rule and because the quote that I got shows only a $120 difference between the two resorts.

Let me know your thoughts!

Thanks!

I would be honest with your guests and tell them that unfortunately if you want to be included in the wedding they will have to stay at the Riu.

My personal opinion is that you should go with Dreams. The people there are friendlier and i love it there!!!!!

A lot of people are not aware that resorts have many different sections. I would just send out your information with Riu Palace as the place you are staying and getting married at. Also if you have a travel agent you can let them know to only give pricing information for the Riu Palace for your guests.

I would recommend that you go with the hotel that is most cost effective so your guests can be able to stay there. Are you prepared to pay guest passes for those that stay elsewhere instead of the hotel where your wedding will be?

I am undecided as to whether I'd pay for guest passes. If it was a few people, then yes at $80 - $100 per person, I imagine that will get pretty pricey. Also, if more than 20% decide to stay elsewhere, our wedding would be cancelled anyways!! This is my dilemma!!!

Our wedding is at Riu Santa Fe and when we sent out the information for our guests we just didn't send out any other info on other resorts. We gave them our wedding date and travel dates and the quote for the stay and then gave them our travel agent's info. Honestly, no one even brought up the subject of staying at another resort and wanted to be altogether anyways!

I think I would do the same. I just know some of our guests have actually stayed at the Santa Fe and know the difference!

rules, rules, rules That's so Riu Nice place, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrideToBe2010 Hi everyone,   Well, I thought we had made our decision on where to have our wedding. It's been a toss up between the Riu Palace and Dreams since the beginning, however in the end, we said Riu seems to be a bit cheaper for our guests so we'll go with that one.   I emailed the resort to see if guests could stay at the Santa Fe and still be included in the 80% rule (ie. 80% of the guests must be staying at the hotel where the wedding will be performed or the wedding is cancelled). I was told there are absolutely no exceptions to this rule and guests must stay at the Palace if that is where the wedding will be.   So, my question is ....how can I let guests know that, basically, if they are coming to our wedding they must stay at the Riu Palace.... without sounding pushy or snobby?   We may just end up choosing Dreams because of this rule and because the quote that I got shows only a $120 difference between the two resorts.   Let me know your thoughts!   Thanks!

I'm having the same issue. I'm also having my wedding at the Riu Palace and I was also thinking about Dreams. I ended up going with Riu because it is cheaper for everyone including ourselves and that's what we were looking for; to save money. If you have the wedding at Dreams people may still choose to stay elsewhere and 1) it's already more expensive and 2) they may still choose to stay elsewhere and now they may have to pay the day pass as well...so all in all I think they would be better off just staying at the one hotel which is already cheaper; Riu!

I'm going to be sending out my invites which will have the Riu Palace info and nothing else. I'm also going to send out the quote received from my TA and just tell people...these are the prices...let me know if you want to come - no other options. If they ask then I will let them know about the rule. If they choose not to come because of this I'm okay with it!

I am getting married at the RIU Santa Fe - we were actually on our site visit, planning on getting married at the Palace but we stayed at the Santa Fe during this time (since it was cheaper & it was only a few months old). Once we stayed at the Santa Fe, we decided we would get married there instead. We would rather have more guests attend our wedding, since the difference in price is about $1000 per couple. The rooms at the Santa Fe are exactly the same as the Palace. The only thing I like more about the Palace are the gazebos & the location of the gazebos - but I couldn't justify $1000 per couple just for the gazebo!! The Santa Fe resort seems to be much larger too.

We did the same as the other brides on here - we sent out our invitations with information on the Santa Fe only. Our guests staying at a different resort wasn't even an issue - everyone wants to be with us!! I wouldn't worry about it - you shouldn't have any problems no matter where you decide to stay.

Good luck with your planning!!!