RIU RM Palace Brides??

Hi Girls,

I had a slight freak out moment yesterday! My TA called to tell us that a lot of our guests have been price shopping on their own (which I fully support) but when they email her to see if she can match, they have quoted the price for the RIU Palace Mexico, which we all know looks exactly the same, and is only a few minutes away! Now I'm desperately trying to spread the word to everyone that the wedding is at the RIU RM and not RIU Mexico! Of course I'm worried that some people won't check with the TA and will book at RIU Mexico, and you know we need 90% of our guests at the resort to have the wedding. I originally put it everywhere I could think of, It's on the "Save the Dates" and the website, etc...

Has anyone encountered this problem? If so, how did you resolve it? I just don't want people to spend hundreds/thousands to come and end up at the wrong resort! My main issue is that my mom is italian and I initally only wanted to invite like 75 people, our guest list ended up over 200, because we figured most of them wouldn't come anyway.

Now I'm trying to contact 200 (most of which are my moms random people) to clarify the resort!

And on a random side note, a few of my guests have found airfare from Chicago direct to cancun w/ American Airlines, for $250 round trip! Alot of the guests will be spending under 1K so I'm VERY excited about that!! Sorry this is so long

Oh no! I never even thought of that happening! Since I haven't sent out my STD's yet, I haven't come across that...now that I know it might become an issue, I will have to make a point to STRESS that it's RPRM and not Mexico! Even though all of your guests might not have access to your website (I know a lot of my older guests don't), you should put a pop-up message or update just clarifying! I'm sure it will all work out fine, but I can definitely see how this is a hassle now, trying to get in contact with all 200 guests!

That same thing happened to me. A lot of people were confused-and some still are!!! We had an engagement party and handed out a flyer thing with our wedding website information on there. It helped a ton of people. Also, we just spread it word of mouth. I would send out an email to anyone that you can and just let them know about your website and mention RIU Palace Riviera Maya anywhere you can.

I contacted the RIU the other day to see if they would give me all the information about my wedding (cake choices, reception location, etc), but sadly they said they would contact me 1-2 months before the wedding I am ready now! I hate waiting, haha

Josie - That sucks! Maybe you guys could divide and conquer? Your mom could get in touch with all her random people and you and FI could split up the rest. It seems so simple to us, but for some reason people just don't seem to understand that there's a difference. I had a client a couple weeks ago who insisted he had been to the Riu Palace Riviera Maya in 2000. I tried to tell him it was built pretty recently and that he was most likely at the Riu Palace Mexico, but he just didn't get it. Unfortunately, this will probably happen to us too. We have a lot of people coming who will be on their first trip out of the country and a friend that really prides himself on his ability to find super deals on his own. I just keep telling people it will be better for everyone if we all book through the same person for the group rate.

tylersgirl - That's pretty lame that they won't let you pick your location and flowers, etc. Do they change the options all the time? Or are they just too busy to deal with it? I feel your pain, I want to know everything now, and my wedding isn't for 10 months. So, when you get to choose everything 1-2 months before, do they send you photos of the flowers and cakes to choose from? I've seen what people have ended up with in their reviews, but it would be nice to have some idea of what the options look like before you get there.

On a side note, I'm really excited to hear about msbettybernier's trip down to the RPRM! This photographer situation is really stressing me out.

Hey Chloe-Yeah, it is lame...I think they are just too busy to deal with it. I am the type of person that needs to know everything way ahead. I am a planner, haha. I don't know if they send pictures. I think that they send you the cake flavors and stuff and you pick the flavor and icing. I have seen pics of the wedding cakes there and I have heard don't expect much. I heard it is really small and not real good. I don't care we will probably be drinking rather than eating cake As for the flowers, I think that we choose that when we get to the resort. I have no idea. When I get the email from them I will let y'all know what it said.

I am excited to hear about msbettybernier's trip as well. I don't care about the photography, but I want to hear what she thought about it. We never did a site visit so it will be our first time there. I feel like I have already been there though because I have seen so many pics on here and tripadvisor.com.

I'm a planner too! Which is funny because part of the reason I wanted a DW was so I didn't have to plan very much. Now I want more stuff to plan. I guess I'm complicated.

I heard all those things about the cake as well, which doesn't bother me at all. I've never had a piece of wedding cake that I've liked. For our AHR, we're actually having a giant tiered creme brulee thing made by a friend that is a pastry chef. That should be interesting, she said there will be innertubes involved in the baking process. I hear you on the drinking rather than eating this as well! I wish we could see the flowers though. It looks like the options are roses or a tropical mix.

The photography is actually the most important thing to me. Our grandmothers will not be coming to the wedding because of health reasons, and I'm very close to my grandmother. I really want her to feel like she was there with us when she sees the pictures. I really want a lot of pictures of all the things we do outside of the actual wedding and reception, and I don't think the resort photographer would be available for that kind of thing. So, thats why I'm so crazy about the photographer thing. I am dying to hear what she thought of the place overall though. I've been to the Riu Palace Las Americas before and it was really beautiful, the staff was great, and the rooms were really nice. That's a big part of why we chose the RPRM, but it is a little nerve racking to not have been to the place we're getting married.

Thanks Girls, I pretty much took all of your advice! I did put a pop up on my website (of course when i went to check it, it was blocked by a pop-up blocker)! I also sent a mass email to all my people, and forwarded it to jason and my mom so they could send it out to their people and I told everyone to spread the word by mouth! Thanks for the advice & I'm glad others have encountered it or now know to address it!

I totally agree with Katie, fine if you don't want to allow us to make the choices right now, but at least let us see what the options are! Tylersgirl- at least you only have like 1 month to go! Maybe any other brides out there can post the options they were given recently, if their wedding is approaching!!

That is what I am thinking Josie! I will let y'all know when the wedding department emails me and I can just email it to whoever is interested. Glad to hear that you did all of that to prevent the guests staying at the Mexico. All of my guests are staying at the RPRM, but a few of them were questioning which hotel to choose, but luckily they called or emailed me to ask before booking. It is really confusing the whole riu palace mexico and riu palace riviera maya thing...