evonut

Quote: Originally Posted by akh I am so happy to hear other people that like her - some people on The Knot weren't nearly as agreeable. I do want to hear honest opinions, and will go what what I feel is right - but they were a little negative a feel. Sorry to any Knotties reading this - nothing personal! I guess when you really like something, you just want to hear opinions that agree with yours! I also loved Sol Tamargo (not available for my date) and Juan Carlos Tapia. Juan wasn't available for me either, but he recomended Elizabeth to me! So I feel pretty good about my decision. Elizabeth did send me a couple links to other weddings - here they are from an email ... First, a "honeymoon session" on the beach with a local couple (they were married in a church and had a hotel reception, we did this the week after): www.elizabethmedina.com/aurora_jc_playa Here is a link to a gallery from a fun destination wedding: tia_shawn And to a couple of the albums I have designed with my photographs: album_g_l Albúm Elizabeth Medina Photography I was in the same situation--wanted Sol but she wasn't available and booked Elizabeth instead. I booked her for my wedding at Riu Palace Riviera Maya on Nov 2007. My price package of $3250 includes: - 8 hours (broken up into two sessions: ceremony+ reception and post-wedding pics the next morning) - unlimited B&W, Color, Sepia pics - Web gallery - Web slide show - 4X6 proofs - digital negatives (on CD) She requested one night's stay at the hotel for her and her assistant, which is fine with me.

Quote: Originally Posted by cariandnick did she give you an estimate for how much her travel costs would be? and since she's in mexico (although i dont think she's local, i could be wrong) can she just pay the "day guest" fee at your resort or do you have to pay for a hotel night for her and her assistant? I booked her for my wedding at Riu Palace Riviera Maya on Nov 2007. My price package of $3250 includes: - 8 hours (broken up into two sessions: ceremony+ reception and post-wedding pics the next morning) - unlimited B&W, Color, Sepia pics - Web gallery - Web slide show - 4X6 proofs - digital negatives (on CD) She requested one night's stay at the hotel for her and her assistant, which is fine with me.

Hello, fellow brides My wedding is booked with Riu Palace Riviera Maya. I know that the bride and groom need to be in Mexico three days prior. Question: Do our witnesses also need to be there three days prior too?

Quote: Originally Posted by EDYTA I still haven't decided if I'm going to get a mariachi band it still seems really really high pricing for me I'm quite the sucker for live music, lol. Might need them for two hours.

I thought they were gouging me when they quoted $390 per hour but by the sounds of some of you gals' prices, I'm getting them at a fair price!

Quote: Originally Posted by starchild ...P.S. As a side bonus, there were a few "courtesy invites" that took forever to respond, and when they did it was after the deadline, so because of my disclaimer, I was able to tell them it was too late as my WC in Mexico already made arrangements for the number of people I gave her by the deadline. But yes, I did secretly extend that deadline for people I WANTED to be there. A bride's gotta do what a bride's gotta do Smart! I like this tactic. I'll be using this. re: invites, I agree with the ladies here--invite everyone you want. Then it's their call.

Quote: Originally Posted by Nrvsbride Will you tell people to RSVP on your site as well? My friend sent out e-invites and it actually worked out really well. People are so busy nowadays that they do everything from the Internet/hand held thingiemagingies. People got back to her much quicker than my friends who had traditional wedding invites (which believe it or not most people misplace it and/or lose it. Good luck with this I hope it works. Are you using e-invite or just sending out a general e-mail created by you? -Glenda Yup, invitation and eRSVP all on the website. I decided evite is a little informal and that personal email is better, addressed to each guests individually. The reason I went with this route is because I've seen many people, including members of my family lose the fancy invitations (some of them hand-crafted!)before the wedding and actually have to call up their friends for the wedding info. At least with the website, they know to go there anytime. Also, if there are any updates as there surely will be, they can get it all from the website. Works for me and saves money.

Wow, that's good research! I'm getting married in RIU Palace Riviera Maya in Nov 2007...puts it in the same category as RIU Palace Mexico...'EXPENSIVE'! :-(

I'm going out on a limb here...I'm sending email invites! LOL. Seriously, I am. The email will have a URL link to our wedding blog which has the 'invitation' on the page. Sure cuts down our stationary costs but we still pay the hosting costs (aprox $100 for a year.)

Aw lawd, I don't even want to think about budget! Money stresses me out. Here goes in $CAD: Wedding Package @ RIU Palace Riviera Maya: $2781 Bridal and Bridesmaid Attire: $1240 Groom and Groomsmen Attire: $450 Photographer: $3850 Videographer: $1416 Invitation & Blog: $60 Wedding Rings: $1000 Flight & Hotel: $4600 TOTAL: $15,380 I'm praying we can keep within the budget.

Quote: Originally Posted by host 95% of the time it is more expensive to book through the resort than through a TA. ex. dreams cabo was offering a bride $400 per night, the rate i got was $349 per night el dorado was offering $420 to the bride direct but we negotiated it down to $334 per night Moon Palace cheaper rate AND we negotiated all of private events at no charge to the guests who booked through the room block negotiated by me Thanks, I agree. When I said it was less expensive to book through the resort, I meant the wedding package, not the room rates.

Hello, I'm a NEWBIE! 1. name = evonut 2. wedding date = Nov 22, 2007 3. wedding location = Riu Palace Maya Riviera, Playa Del Carmen, Mexico I'm so excited to come across this forum! Looking forward to chatting with you all and exchanging ideas and info.

Quote: Originally Posted by TAMMYM I actually told Cain "no" at first.. He asked me in front of his family at a Martini club and didn't get down on one knee.. LOL.. I said "no, your suppose to be on one knee" and he just looked at me, and I said " of course I will, but you were suppose to be on one knee you big jerk" SO after a week of me giving him a hard time (all for the fun of it) he asked me again, on one knee.. LOL LOL! Mine didn't get on one knee either. I didn't say 'YES', words got caught in my throat, so I just went over and kissed him. He asked, "Is that a 'Yes'?" I nodded. Would have preferred it if he got down on one knee, but alas, the moment was gone.

Quote: Originally Posted by jdweinbe I'm getting married in May, 2007 at RIU Palace Las Americas. I am so excited (and new to the board). I am looking forward to meeting new friends and exchanging experiences/ideas. Question/Survey: Are you holding a coctail hour before the reception? I get the feeling the "reception" is a seculded area of one of the specialty restaurants...Is that what you think too? I would like to have a little more fun before the sit down dinner...any thoughts? Jennifer Hmmm...I didn't plan on it since the guests can do what ever they want until the reception (which is a "secluded area of one of the specialty restaurants".) This might be a good idea.

Quote: Originally Posted by soon2bmrsbyers We are having our wedding at palace las americas, and the lady who I booked and confirmed with said that 80% of the guest must be staying at the RIU... Do you know if that means that it can be at any of the riu resorts and still count as the 80%? I have not gotten assigned a WC yet... Its only been 3 days, but of course still makes me nervous... How long after you confirmed did you get to talk to your WC? It means that 80% of your guests must be booked at Palace Las Americas and 20% can be from other hotels, including other RIU hotels. That's my understanding.

Quote: Originally Posted by mexicobride I went to the Mexican consulate today to get our birth certificates translated. After waiting for over an hour, they told me they don't do translating there and to go to a private notary. I'm not sure that this will be ok. I emailed the Riu today to find out what documents we need. They are now telling me we don't need our birth certificates at all and that we just need our passports, tourist cards and witnesses. They also said they will be sending some documents about a month in advance that we will need to fill out. So now I'm completely confused. I sent an email to the US consulate in Mexico today to find out their version of what we need (since everyone seems to have a different answer.) Still waiting to hear back from them. The good news is that the Riu answered my email promptly. The bad is that they keep saying it's too soon to be discussing the wedding and that we will be hearing from them a month before. Plus, I still don't know what we need to make the marriage legal. Anyone else having these difficulties? That's pretty much the message I got from RIU too re: marriage documentations and that it's too soon to discuss the wedding. I decided not to worry until then and focus on my BMs dresses etc.

Hello all! I'm a new member here at bestdestinationwedding because of mexicobride's forum. I got engaged in June 2006 and we've booked our wedding date November 22, 2007 at the RIU Palace Maya Riviera in Playa Del Carmen. I booked directly with the resort through their online website because I heard it's less expensive this way and I've found that communication is pretty OK with the sales coordinator there. We've called and emailed many times and she has always been able to get back to us by phone/email within a couple of days. Initially, I was indecisive between RIU Palace Mexico and Riviera Maya. Because of the rave reviews from Tripadvisor plus the fact that RPRM is pretty new (just opened last February), we ended up going with RPRM. We got the 4:00pm slot (we originally wanted 5:00pm slot as optioned on the website but realistically, we've been told the judge do not do ceremonies later than 4:00pm slot). In hindsight, this is probably better--I've heard the judges can be late sometimes and if they are, the ceremony will be pushed into the sunset, which is fine with me. LOL, like Sparklz224, my fiance and I are also long-distance couple, him an American from Chicago; me a Canadian from Vancouver. So the planning is a little more complex since we have two different gateways the guests are coming from. So far, I've booked my photographer and videographer. Note that RIU does not allow outside vendors so if you want to bring them in, you'll have to make them 'paying guests'. I'm booking one night's stay for the videographer, photograher and her assistant. :-( Oh well, cheaper than flying a Vancouver photographer in. How far along is everyone's planning?