rob4ever

We have a 1 yr subscription to ewedding.com for $79 and LOVE IT!!! I looked at a lot of sites beforehand and this one was definitely the best for what we were looking for.

Riu Palace Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen MEXICO!!!

This is the dress I picked out for my girls! The material is gorgeous and it's going to really comfortable. I want them to be able to eat! Bridesmaids.zip

That's very pretty! This is the dress I am wearing for my Rehearsal Dinner. Someone had posted it as a bridesmaid dress and I LOVED it! My bridesmaids are too buxom for it though so I decided to buy it for myself (I don't have that problem!) Dress.zip

My fiancé chose to get married at the Riu Palace Riviera Maya because of the following: 1. It's all-inclusive 2. It's within walking distance to the town of Playa del Carmen (so fun at night and a great option for those who want to leave the resort and check out the area) 3. It's not too far from the airport (it's about a 45 min cab ride from the airport which is as long as we were willing to have our guests trek) 4. It's kid friendly (we may not have many kids, but we needed that to be an option) 5. The resort is big, but not too overwhelming (there are @ 400 rooms and it is not too spread out) 6. They had good reception options (we'll be able to have a private welcome cocktail hour the night before by the pool, a private section for the rehearsal dinner, a cocktail hour with passed apps before the reception, a private reception with dancing and a DJ) 7. I love the ceremony area and gazebo (we didn't want to get married on the beach in front of everyone) 8. The lobby is amazing (all these resorts are beautiful...but this one blew me away as soon as we checked in) 9. The food is very good Those are the things that set it apart from the others for us. However, all the resorts down there are gorgeous and as long as your family and friends are there, I can't imagine anyone not having a fabulous wedding!

I went on a site visit to the Riu Palace Riviera Maya in Playa del Carmen 2 weeks ago and made sure to make an appointment at the spa to check it out. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed with what I found I just got a regular manicure and pedicure (of course, when it was time to pay, they called it a spa manicure and pedicure) and it cost $80 + tip! Not only was it expensive, but the room that I had it done in was tiny with no windows, music or special massage chairs (like all the salons have now). The woman was VERY nice, but she took a long time (I was there for well over an hour) and it really wasn't that good. I was thinking of doing a spa day with my bridal party the day before the wedding and I don't know how you could fit more than 2 people in that room! HOWEVER, there is hope! Although you cannot go to other Riu's spas (each Riu has it's own spa and you can only go to the one of the hotel your are staying at...I don't know why they have this rule) there is a FABULOUS spa right across the street from the Riu Palace Riviera Maya that is open to the public. It's called the Playacar Spa & Gold Club so I figure the boys can go golfing while the girls enjoy the spa! They have a whole list of services and a pedi/mani is @ $50. This is definitely where I'm taking my girls instead!

We went on a site visit 2 weeks ago and loved the Riu Palace Riviera Maya. It's kid friendly and there are 6 Riu hotels that you have access to that are all nearby. We also visited the Iberostar Lindo and Maya which are very nice as well. Good luck with your trip!

Rob and I are inviting @ 150 people, but figure at most half will make the trek. A helpful hint that worked for me, since I'm trying to do a room block, when I made my invite list, I put people into rooms. I'm more concerned with how many rooms I will need than actually how many people will come since my wedding is at and AI. Good luck!

Riu Palace Riviera Maya in Playa del Carmen, Mexico February 8, 2008

One more question...where did you buy the paper for the cover and inside pages?

These are so awesome Natasha!!! Thanks so much for sharing

Hi Sophie! Congratulations on your engagement! I'm getting married 2/8/08 in Riviera Maya so please let me know if you have any questions.

Bienvenidos! I am getting married in Playa del Carmen and have researched a lot of resorts in the Riviera Maya. Please let me know if you have any questions.

So fun! It looks like you girls are going to have a wild time...starting at 9 AM and all!!!

I was just at the Moon Palace Resort (closer to Cancun than PDC) in February and they have a full filtration system. You can see it...it's huge! I was there with almost 15 family members and we had no problems at all and we used lots of ice and ate veggies! If you are nervous though, there are bottles of water everywhere.

Hi there, I'm getting married at the Riu Palace Riviera Maya as well and am wondering if the Riu Palace Mexico and the Riu Palace Riviera Maya use the same photographer?

Thanks for clarifying MikkiStreak! I must have been confused. I'm glad to know it is not that expensive to block rooms! I'm still trying to get my arms around this whole process!

I am getting married at the Riu in PDC next February and it will cost @ $200 to block each room in advance! I'm trying to figure out if it is worth it or not since my guests may be able to book package deals for less. However, if they wait to long to book, like next winter, the hotel may be sold out since February is high season. It's definitely a tricky decision!

Quote: Originally Posted by akh yea, right - no skin off my back! and since we ended up not doing a room block, we really didn't care who people booked through. Ann, I'm wondering why you didn't do a room block? I'm trying to decide on doing that or not right now and would love to hear why you chose not to!

Thanks for all of the advice! I am going to talk to Rob's sister and another couple who I know that had an inter-faith ceremony. I will let you know when I find out more!

Like I said, I am not the expert here since I'm not Jewish, but is that the case? I thought you could...

Hi There, My fiance is Jewish and I am not. We are trying to plan a Jewish wedding ceremony in PDC Mexico and I was wondering how difficult it is to find a Rabbi? We would be getting married on Friday before sundown, but since I am not converting, I am not sure if this will cause a problem finding someone to marry us. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks for bringing us together! I'm "hoping" to be a Riu bride...it's not official yet I am looking at the Riu resorts in PDC. I appreciate the information as the Riu website does not have much information. My sister's friend got married at the Rui in Puerto Vallarta and loved it! I'll be sure to let you all know if I have anymore information.

Natasha, thanks for sharing. We were already tossing around the idea of making it legal in the states, but I just never thought of doing it after the wedding in Mexico. That's definitely an interesting point that I'm definitely going to consider. Thanks!

Thanks for the info!