Iberostar Riviera Maya Site Visit

Okay, so my fiancee, Colin, and I just returned from a wedding at the Iberostar Maya Resort. While we were there we had the opportunity to check things out for our wedding next June.

 

We had a meeting with Reyna that was awesome!! She is SOOOO sweet and was very helpful. I know that some people have had difficulty working with her through email, but trust me she is great in person. While I was in her office I saw the wedding schedule for the month of July and there were at least 3 weddings per week. Therefore, she is really busy. So just be patient, she and her assistant Karla are definitely organized and have their stuff together.

 

I had a 3 page list of questions and Reyna answered all of them. I had everything categorized so I'll summarize for all of you the information that I got:

 

Resort

 

YES you are allowed to stay at one of the other resorts (Maya/Lindo/Grand) and still get married at the Del Mar/Beach. We have decided to stay at the Lindo because it will give us access to more, but it is right next to the Del Mar/Beach.

 

If you stay at another resort but your wedding party is staying at the Del Mar/Beach it is possible for them to come to your room to get ready before the wedding. Reyna will just need to get approval from the other resort's manager.

 

Your guest staying at the Del Mar/Beach will be given dinner coupons for the a la carte restaurants depending on the number of nights they stay (7=3 coupons, 6,5,4 = 2 coupons, 3 or less = 1 coupon). You guests will have to use a coupon for the rehearsal dinner or a welcome dinner if you have one. They will not need to use one for the wedding because you have paid for them with your package.

 

If your guests do want to visit the Maya/Lindo/Grand properties they would need to buy a day pass in order to use their facilities and restaurants.

 

 

Welcome Dinner/Rehearsal

 

You may have a welcome dinner or rehearsal dinner at any of the restaurants at the Del Mar/Beach. Reyna can make these reservations for you and your party in advance.

 

In addition, she told us that because we are having a wedding there she would be able to make all of our reservations for us in advance. So if you wanted to have dinner at a restaurant with a group of your guests you can make that for them in advance. The one thing to consider is that they would have to use a coupon so you might want to make sure they are okay with using one to have dinner with you. But really who wouldn't want to spend time with the bride and groom =)

 

You will not be able to use a microphone during the rehearsal dinner because you will be sharing the restaurant with others. However, I'm assuming that won't be a big problem.

 

 

Ceremony

 

We really wanted to do a religious AND legal ceremony. Reyna told us that you CAN do that. The way it works is you will pay for the Legal ceremony and then pay extra for the minister. The minister will do the actual ceremony (which is a traditional christian ceremony) and then the judge will just come in for the legal part of signing the paperwork. We were SOOO happy to hear this because we definitely wanted to have both aspects as part of our wedding. I am waiting to hear if it is possible to bring your own minister so I'll let you all know.

 

The minister that they work with is a male and can be contacted through email (haven't done that yet) and is apparently flexible to adjusting the ceremony script.

 

The back up rain location (which Reyna said don't even think about) is the chapel in the shopping plaza. It is very beautiful, although it is not air conditioned which I originally thought it would be. However, she said they are working that so who knows.

 

You can request how you would like the ceremony site decorated. They seem to be very flexible and Reyna highly recommended sending pictures if you have any.

 

You can have a white or red runner and the chair ribbons are either silver or white.

 

 

Reception

 

You can have your reception at any of the restaurants. If you would like a private reception you can use the Tropical Restaurant. However, Reyna did say that if there is another restaurant you are really set on for a private reception she can discuss that with the manager. This is something that she does not have control over and I imagine depends on the time of year and the capacity of the resort. But, don't be afraid to ask. She did mention that it could be more expensive then the $800 for the Tropical.

 

You could also have a reception in the convention center, but unless you have a huge group I don't think I would recommend it. It is a HUGE room and costs $50 per person. But hey, it is an option.

 

We wanted to know if we could adjust the time frame of our private reception at the Tropical restaurant since the standard is 7-11. She said unfortunately you can not go later than 11 because there are rooms right next to the restaurant and they have to stop the music so people can sleep. Makes sense. But, she said if you don't want to start until 7:30 because you are doing pictures or something that is fine.

 

There is a DJ you can use at the resort for $50/hour. She claims he is very good but does not speak English. She suggests creating a play list and then she can communicate with him. You do have to pay him in cash if you use him.

 

Decorations are very standard but classy. White chair covers with white or silver ribbons, white table cloths and white napkins. You can bring things to decorate the table with or you can purchase floral centerpieces from the resort. They will set this all up for you so don't worry. Our friend that got married on Friday had brought her own decorations for the table and they set it up for her and broke it down afterwards.

 

 

Flowers

 

Basically, send her a picture of what you would like and they will try and do it. If you have a particular flower you would really like (I really like peonies) you can let her know and she can talk to the florist. Be understanding though that if they have to import flowers (like peonies) you may have to pay a little more for them. But, they are definitely willing to accommodate you the best they can.

 

They flower stems are wrapped in ribbon and if you would like to add a charm or anything they can do that for you.

 

 

Transportation

 

You and your wedding party will get picked up by a golf cart and taken to the ceremony site. Depending on where you get married you still may have to walk a little (ex: bridge to the beach) because the golf cart cannot make it all the way there.

 

If you are getting married at the chapel or the gazebo they will have a tram for your guests to take them to the beach for pictures.

 

 

Photography

 

You must pay $300 for an outside photographer. This is kind of silly I know, but you pay this basically because you have chosen not to use their photographer. But, I wouldn't worry about it because overall it is probably so worth it.

 

You will need to buy your photographers a day pass as well. That includes any of their assistants too. If you are having your photographers there for a long time 5-8 hours then you should definitely plan on having a meal for them. At our friend's wedding their photographers actually got to the resort early and had lunch right before they began shooting. I thought this was a great idea.

 

 

Payment

 

Everything purchased through the resort can be charged to your room. The only cash expenditure would be the DJ. You can have the charges split as well in case you different people paying for different parts of the wedding.

 

There is NO deposit to secure your date. All you need is a copy of a credit card and passports/ids, the information sheet she will send you, and a copy of your reservation number once you book your room.

 

They can deliver your welcome bags for $1 per room.

 

You can have your dress steamed for $20

 

 

 

I hope all of that information is helpful!! I did take a few videos and if I can figure out to upload them I certainly will. Our camera is brand new though so be patient.

 

If anyone has questions I may or may not be able to help.

 

If you have the opportunity to do a site visit though I HIGHLY recommend it. It was so great to meet Reyna and see the whole resort. It is always so hard trying to read a person through email, so now I feel like I know her and can judge her tone.

 

I think it was especially beneficial for my fiancee. I'm obviously the one doing all the research and looking at pictures online, so for him he was able to finally understand what the heck I have been talking about. Not too mention he asked some questions too and it was entertaining hearing about what was important to him =)

 

Happy Planning!!

P.S. We also met with 2 photographers: Playaweddings and Claudia Rodriguez. Although Claudia is absolutely wonderful and does incredible work, we decided to go with PlayaWeddings.

 

They are a husband/wife who do video/photographer respectively and are just awesome people. I think Colin and I spent more time just chit chatting then actually talking about work. Their prices are great and there work is amazing. Rachel is still fairly new to the photography, but you can tell that she is already becoming an expert. So far I would definitely recommend them!

Great post, thanks for sharing...it will definitely help all future Iberostar brides.

 

Although this doesn't affect me anymore (as I got married already lol) I do want to question this:

 

I'm not sure I believe Reyna about this unless they changed their policy recently. Last November (2008 ), Beachbride08 (Michelle) was supposed to be married at the Iberostar Lindo gazebo above the wave pool. Upon her arrival, she discovered that the wave pool gazebo did not meet her expectations (chipped paint, etc) so she asked if she could have her wedding at the Beach/Del Mar gazebo. They informed her that they were unable to accommodate that as those amenities are for guests staying at that resort only...they were able to compromise and she was able to hold her wedding at the gazebo at the shopping centre (which looked awesome btw ). Also I think it says on their website (I'd have to double check but it used to anyway) that brides can only use the wedding locations specific to the resort they are staying at (with exception of the Grand I believe since those guests pretty much have access to stay in. I'm not saying any of this to discredit what you said but I am saying it/questioning it because that hasn't been their policy in the past and I'm curious. Please let me know what you think of this.

 

Thanks!!

great review!

 

Is there a hierarchy to the Iberostar resorts? i.e. if you stay at resort x you get to go to all, but if you stay at resort y you can only use resort y?

I think the reason beachbride08 wasn't able to marry at the Del Mar was because she had been working with the Lindo/Maya WC all along. Since there WC's treat the resorts as completely different, maybe that is why they would not let her switch. I did get it in writing via email beforehand, so I guess I have that if there is any argument about it in the future. I guess my advice would be ask and document EVERYTHING!!! That way you can CYA if anything comes up.

 

Yes there is hierarchy:

 

Del Mar and Beach Resort share everything. If you stay there you do not have access to the other resorts. The Lindo has access to the Del Mar/Beach and part of the Maya except for 2 restaurants. The Maya has access to everything but the Grand. The Grand has access to everything.

 

Hope that helps.

Interesting! I'm glad you got that in writing in case they try to dispute it with you.

 

There is definitely a hirearchy at the Iberostar...it's kind of a bummer tbh.

Thanks so much. that was very helpful! I am jealous about the photography! I wish I could do an outside photographer but the expenses for our AHR are already more than we thought, and there is no way we can do an outside person- I'm bummed!

Anyway...overall was the resort pretty, neat , clean...? I stayed at the Paraiso beach in 2006 and I loved it..I just hope everything is just as nice now!

One more question....is the Tropical Restaurant the Brazilian Restaurant? and if so do you stick to that menu or is there a special menu?

Thanks!

Girls...this has been so helpful...my fiance and i have been debating between dreams and iberostar. thank you for all the info

Great review...thanks

 

Amy~ The Tropical is NOT the Brazilian, the Brazilian is in AC and near the lobby. I think the menu is steak or fish. Standard buffet for cocktail hour and appetizers.

 

But I would confirm that with a recent bride.

 

 

Thanks again for the review!!!

Oh Ok GOOD! the brazillian is meat, meat, and more meat...not exactly what I want that night. Can't wait to look into the restaurants more!