BEACHBRIDEMA

Very cute! Thats a great pic you choose for the front Sarah

Welcome, best of luck with the planning! Sarah

Honestly, just enjoy it all and take in every moment, you will want the day to slow down when it comes! Sarah

Oh those are all so pretty! You looked amazing and so happy! Congrats again! When is your AHR?

Thanks girls! I felt so sad leaving my flowers behind. I put them in water and they lasted the entire week we were there. I wanted to walk around the resort with them everyday! Sarah

Quote: Originally Posted by RAENJAY Hi Sarah! I'm so excited you posted your review... It sounds like eveything was wonderful, and you've help to put my mind at ease. Some questions for you ~ along with the ones in color in your quote. 1. Which package did you have? 2. Did you get the extras (breakfast in bed, welcome basket, room upgrade?) We book the big suite with the jacuzzi upstairs so I'm not lookin for the room upgrade, but I want my basket & breakfast. 3. Where you the only wedding on your day That's all for now, but I'm sure there will be more. Congrats again! Yes the left side is the side with the Mexican restaurant, its much quiter. The upgraded room is a jr suite, you have the honeymoom suite which is not included I would reccommend you bring a pic of of the flowers you want b/c they do not have any samples on site, just the pics she email you We got the middle package. We didnt get a welcome basket, but I didnt care b/c they had so much fruit at the buffet I was fruited out. We did get breakfast in bed and a couples exfoliation the next day which was nice! There was 2 weddings on my day. Mine was at 4 and the other was at 7. I didnt even see the other bride. It was actually a busy week for weddings.. There were about 2 per day the first week and the 2nd week we only saw 3 the entire week. For the spa as long as you have your vocher thats all thats important, make sure you bring it with you and call when you get there to confirm it Sarah

Quote: Originally Posted by Jtds2713 Hi Sarah, I loved your pictures! You looked beautiful in your gown, your hair and make-up was simple but classy and you looked so happy! I agree with Glenda about your bouquet. Can I ask you who was your florist? I want roses and some orchids too for my bouquet. Thanks for sharing! My Florist was just through the WC at Riu. Yes the Shark does taste like chicken, but the texture is a bit different! Sarah

Here are some more!

Here are some more pics! Sorry kind of went a little overboard! The boys went fishing before the wedding and cought a shark!!!! The hotel cooked it for them, and served the meat with dinner. It was actually pretty good! This is Ricky's Fav pic!!!!

Hi girls, sorry it has taken so long, but here is my review. If I missed anything or you have any specific questions feel free to ask! Hope this is helpful! RIU PALACE RESORT: A+++++++This resort is amazing! The grounds are beautiful and the hotel is super clean. The staff are amazing, they are totally accomadating and willing to do anything to make your stay enjoyable. The pool areas areas are beautiful and the view of lands end is breath taking! It is a big resort,but it didnt feel overly big to me. The people were super friendly. I didnt find this a "party resort" at all. It could have been the time of year, but there was a big mix of age ranges and the resort was very good to catering to all ages. There is a disco which was really fun if you are with a group of people. They played okay music, but we had a lot of fun when we went. The resort was not overly loud a nightime at all. There was always a quite spot you could find if you just wanted to relax and talk over a drink. The night entertainment was okay, nothing special but still it was fun to watch it everynight. The food was amazing. I have travelled alot and this was by far the best food I have ever had. For it being such a large resort I was surpised we never once had to wait to get a table and had no problem making reservations at the a la carte restuarants There is a Japanese restuarant which was sooo good, I reccomend trying to get a spot in the outdoor zen garden area The Steak house was amazing if you like meat! They do have a chicken and seafood dish for vegaterains. We held our welcome dinner here and were extremely pleased. The service we recieved was amazing, it was like we were the only people in the restaurant The gourment restaurant was very good aswell. They had some different, more fancy foods which I am not really into, but the chicken dish was amazing The Mexican restaurant was our fav! The terrance area is beautiful, it over looks the beach and has a great view The rooms were okay. I would reccomend getting rooms on the left hand side of the resort. Most of the guests were on the right hand side and this is where they are doing construction, so it was loud in the morning and did smell of sewage occasionally SPA: B++The spa was very busy and overall I was very pleased with our hair. The only thing that really made me mad was I had prebooked our appts over 3 months ago, and when I called the night before the wedding they did not have our appts. I had printed the voucher as proof of payment, so luckly they were able to fit us in. The spa manager was not very apolagetic which made me a bit upset. In the end it worked out fine and they ended up finding a another stylest to help out. They had champange and strawberry's for us while we got our hair done, so that was nice. I would recommend bringing a pic. They don't all speak that great of english so it may be difficult to communicate what you want! Also do not pay for the Champagne toast, this is listed as an extra but it is included. They set up a table with glasses and serve it right after the ceremony which was very nice! Adrianna (WC): A++She was amazing! Honestly this girl works so hard and is so busy, so cut her some slack if she doesnt respond to you right away!!! She was very organized and to the point. She gave me lots of helpful pointers and was very accomadating. She would not budge on prices, but she also did not charge me for a couple of things, like the day pass for the photographer. She made sure everything for the ceremony and reception were set up just the way I wanted. Flowers: AAll of the flowers were through Adrianna. I was extremely pleased with my bouquet, It was pale pink roses and orchids. It was exactly what I wanted. This was included in the package. I was also very pleased with the flowers on the arch. I then used these for the centerpieces on the 2 long tables I had for the reception I loved the colours of the roses and she matched them with decorations I had brought for the reception which was very nice of her. They were 120 for both, which I thought was reasonable. I was not overly happy with the BM bouquets. They were 50 each and were not at all like the pic I had given to her. I liked the colour of the roses, but I was expecting something different Ceremony: A++++ We were originally going to do the ceremony at the gazebo and am sooo glad we switched it to the beach. The gazebo we wanted was on the side the construction was on, so that was out of the question ( constuction does not stop until well after 5pm) The other gazebo was not as nice and I really wanted to walk down the isle and there is no isle to walk down. Also in the back ground was some not so pretty horse stall things. Adrianne let us change to the beach, with no problems at all. Juan was very happy we changed to the beach it makes for much nicer pics. The beach was beautiful, it wa hot, but the ceremony is only 15mins so it went fast. I also had my cousin do the translation which I felt added a really nice personal touch, it felt like she married us. The vows the minister said were actually very nice. We just change a few things on the english translation, since nobody knows spanish they had no idea! We also downloaded the music we wanted onto our IPOD. I just wrote down which songs I wanted and the hotel took care of the rest. They played all the music for us and provided the speakers at no extra cost. Adrianna also provided rose petals for the isle at no extra cost. Photographer:A+++++We had Juan Carlos for 4 hrs, which was more then enough time for us. He came 1 hr before and then we did group shots and some family shots right after the ceremony all on the beach. Then he did shots of Ricky and I for 2.5 hrs which was plenty of time. He came for about 1 hr to the reception, which in all honesty I could have done with out. Those pics were not as important to me. He was fantastic. He is such a perfectionist and is so professional yet so friendly. I know they will be great!!! The hotel photographer was included in the package so I had him just do the ceremony. He was really good about staying out of Juans way and he got some great shots. I got all his info for anyone who might want to use him. He said you can deal with him directly rather than through the hotel. He was very nice and had some great ideas, I think he would be fine to use. Reception: A++ We had our reception on the Terrace at the Mexican restaurant. It was beautiful. We hired a Marachi band to play for 1 hour at the beginning of the reception. It was nice, but not really worth the $. They charged $600 per hour and looking back I cant believe we payed that! It was unique I guess and the guests really liked it. Juan got some cute pics of us with them! We played salsa music through out the dinner which went over really well with the guests. We had 3 speaches right after dinner and then did our first dance followed by the father daughter dance. It all ended at about 11pm. We were going to go out afterwards, but we were exhausted!!! We had 2 long tables of 15 and they set us another table for the cake. The provide the speakers, microphone and set up our IPOD for no exta cost. I had my flower arrangements in the centre of the tables and at both ends of the tables I had vases filled with shells. There were tea lights and shells scattered throughout the table. I also made shell napkin ring holders and printed out my own menus to match my colour theme. They did a really nice job of setting everything up, the tables looked beautiful. I also made about 20 luminers out of papers bags and scattered them around which looked nice. Bring your own tea lights and votives, they for some reason do not provide these. DO not pay for the cash bar if you have it at one of the restaurants. We got as much wine, beer, champage, soda and shots as we wanted. The only place where you would have to get a cash bar would be at the beach I guess. IMO the terrace was one of the nicest places for the reception. It fits 50 people comfortably. It has a great view, the food was great and they staff were amazing. You also dont have to pay extra for the bar or menue. The beach reception is also very nice, the only thing is, when we were there is was very very wind at night, so the guests would have frooze. Also for those having your reception on the beach some thing to warn you of is they set up the tables early in the day, so make sure they dont put the glasses/plates and cutlery on the tables until right before it starts. We watched one wedding where they had it all set up by 12 and the dinner was not until 7 and the glasses, and cutlery had sand all over them from the wind. The cake was okay, personally this was not important to me at all. I gave Adrianna a picture of what I wanted and they did an okay job of replicating it. It was a 2 tiered cake, with a chocolate layer and a vanila layer, it had vanila icing and I make chocolate shells and brough fake flowers from home to put on it. Overall, everything was amazing! There were no major hitches and the day went smoothly. The day goes so fast so just relax and enjoy it. I was so excited/nervous that I forgot about all the little details, so dont stress over them, they are so not important. Oh yeah for those getting married on Fridays. The cruise ships come in every Friday and dock right in front of the beautiful view of lands end. I almost had a heart attack when I looked out my window in the morning of our wedding and saw it. I was like great a figgen cruise ship is going to be in all our photos! But dont worry they leave by 3:30! Hope this was helpful! Sarah

Great Review, thanks Edytna Sarah

Great review Karla! My photos with Juan were right after yours and he mentioned how great they turned out! He said he did something a bit different!!! I cant wait to see them! Sarah

Sorry I am here, but I have had to work everyday 12hr shifts since we got home. I am off to my Drs appt now, but I promise to write a reveiw when I get home! The spa was great, they did a a great job on all of our hair. I would recommend going for a trial at home and bring pics, b/c some dont speak the best english so its hard to communicate! Also make your appts in advance they are super busy Sarah

Welcome, best of luck with the planning Sarah

Welcome, best of luck with the planning! Sarah

Yeah congrats! Sarah

Welcome back! Sarah

Welcome, best of luck with the planning! Sarah

Congrats! Sarah

Welcome, you will find lots of great info here! Sarah

Welcome, best of luck with the planning! Sarah

Welcome best of luck with the planning! Sarah

Welcome best of luck with the planning! Sarah

Welcome, best of luck with the planning! Sarah

Congrats and best of luck! Sarah