Jaime

tylersgirl- The bouquet was standard, they let you choose from 4 different options. I wanted some color so that is the one I chose, also we got to pick the color of Garrett's rose. I did have to pay extra for the flowers for my hair and my flower girls hair. Travel mugs we got online (discountmugs.com) but in trying to save space we re-packed them and it was not good. 25 of them were broke when we got there, the airlines really beat up the luggage. Lucky for us we packed enough extras and it worked out fine. Garrett's mom designed the logo for us and we put on it, a palm treen and then the saying I got from the forum " To have and to hold and to keep your drink cold". Yes it is a very large king bed in the suite, with two jacuzzi tubs (one inside and one on the second balcony), walk in closet, sitting area, it is so nice! You are going to love it, congrats and I'm getting excited for you! Jaime

I got the sun dresses at JC Penny, oddly enough we looked all over and we liked those the best and they were on sale for $60 each. The guys shirts we ordered from banana republic online store- they also were on sale lucky for us $30 each, the guys pants including Garrett's we found at Macy's for $20 each on the sale rack. Overall we got super lucky with all of it and finding the right sizes. I think Garrett got his shirt at Macy's too. FYI...The Kiosk area is right where everyone walks in and out of the main lobby, bar, restaurants, etc. So depending on the time of your wedding and the size of your group ( I think it only accomadates 20 or less) there are lots of people walking through that area. Jaime

Nessa- They only extra money I spent was on the mariachi band and the flowers for my hair and my flowergirls hair. Other then that they give you lots of options to spend more, but I didn't need anything else. The package really does cover everything it says it does, no worries. We did also purchase a private snorkeling trip for the guys the morning of the wedding (12people) through scuba caribe. And as a gift to my bridesmaids I bought them a spa treatment and we all went to the spa that morning. but you will get an email from the lady at the spa about a month before your wedding to book all of those things and you get 5% off if you book them through email and she also offers special spa packages for around $120-140. The only other thing I was thinking to make sure to tell future brides is don't make your hair appointment to early. I had mine at 11am just in case I didn't like it so I had time to re-do but I loved it and then I just had to sit in my room for the next 3 hours watching everyone at the pool enjoying the day. If I had it to do over I would have my hair apt at 2pm then go right into the wedding at 4pm. Happy Planning- Jaime

Yes we did a welcome dinner for all of our guests the night before the wedding at the Buffett restaurant. They had three long tables set for us and we had our own servers and it was set apart from the main area of the dinning room. It was perfect, the food was excellent and it was a good opportunity for everyone at the wedding to spend some time together over dinner, and it was free! You can pick your time I think we ate at 7pm. Actually on the restaurant info the buffett always had good choices and good food. I really liked the Krystal fusion specialty restaurant the best, Chilis and Bogo Foto were good, I didn't get a chance to try the sushi restaurant and the Mexican was ok. They had a good appetizer buffett to start but the main courses where average. Anyhow hope that helps. Jaime

http://www.fototime.com/inv/1B73F07FA798B4E Here is the other link to our friends pictures of the wedding.

Ok my wedding was AWESOME!! Don't stress, it's not worth it and everything will turn out great. The wedding staff and hotel staff was on top of everything and helped so much. Garrett and I got married on Feb. 5th 2009 at the RIU RM Palace. Here is my quick review and a link to some of the pictures his mom took while we where there. Also the page that says RIU wedding was the photographer from the resort. We had the new girl and we found 24 pics we liked but not any more than that. She didn't use a flash so some of them had big shadows on our faces, but we were very lucky to have Garrett's mom and her friend Eric take some pics for us. We got the caprice package- spa was good and the lady who did my hair and nails was excellent. I have very thin and fine hair and she did it great! Sorry after a 2 week honeymoon I forget names. Chair covers (white) are included in the package- no bows- but for 20-25min ceremony I didn't feel they were needed. My brother did our ceremony as he is a pastor in the states and we just did symbolic because we didn't want the hassle when we were there. The wedding was at 4pm the reception at BogoFoto at 8:45pm, at first I was worried about having so much time between the dinner and the wedding but it worked out very well. The happy hour in the bar was nice and all of our guests had time to visit and the mariachi band was very good entertainment. Note: I did not pay for the private dinner but still got one. I had 58 guests and they gave us the restaurant for our dinner private. I didn't do the DJ opted for the mariachi band instead during happy hour. We did get the suite and I would recommend it for any wedding couple- the view and the outdoor jacuzzi was excellent, ask for 2115 if you can I think that was the number to our room and it was the closest to the beach and pool, we got some great pictures and really enjoyed having the private balcony x2. My flowers were beautiful- see pictures. The cake had mixed reviews we didn't pay extra for it or for decorations. Some loved it some didn't but overall the dessert bar was more then enough. We purchased maracas for everyone at the reception dinner and had them pre-placed at each seat. (they cost ~$1 each in playa del carmen) the best we could negotiate was 10% off when we bought 60. It worked great for a substitute for clanking the glassware to get us to kiss and our guests really liked that they got to take them home as a gift. I had typed an itinerary prior to going and had the front dest hand them out with a travel mug to each guest so that we could cut down on the plastic cups used and also keep our drinks cold when poolside. With the mugs we also got bigger drinks and didn't have to take as many trips to the bar They went over well and everyone used them the whole week. It went so well, I am so happy I picked the RIU RM Palace. If you guys have other questions feel freel to ask I'll try to make sure I check this every few days. Here is the link to some of the pictures- it will be growing each few days as my mom in law adds pictures. http://www.fototime.com/inv/223866DE291E4D3 Good luck to all of you and really don't stress I didn't plan much and felt like I was unprepared and it went so well. Jaime

Hey girls- Regarding the TTD pictures, I actually won't be hiring the photographer from the resort b/c my man's mom and one of his friends are both photographers (not professional but excellent with all the good gear and stuff). Lucky me, they are planning to take lots of pics and the TTD pics the day after. Flexibility with the reception is questionable...they are flexible if you have a group of 27 or less, or 100 or more. If you are in between the choices are very limited, and you have to eat at 8:45pm. So make sure to ask before you decide to have a 12pm wedding (depending on your group size). You may have a very long wait if not. I think everything is planned now for me and I will be leaving on Feb 1st YIPPEE! I can't wait to get there and get married! Pictures to come but they will not be here until late Feb early March as we are extending the honeymoon Take Care all and best wishes planning- Jaime

Hey all- 1st to MrsV we are getting married at the gazebo at 4pm on the 5th you are welcome to join us if you want. We will be at the resort welcoming guests or at the pool bar on the 4th. When you arrive leave me a message at the desk or have them call my room. It is cool that we will be there the same time. My friends are tons of fun so you are welcome to join our dinner as well, I'll private send you my email and if you want to be on the guest list let me know. 2nd yes to the last post on the DJ and private dinner go together for $1700. I decided to go semi-private as we are going to have 55 guests and I really dont think it is worth the extra money for a private event when the dinner is the same and included. Our group will take over the main part of the restaurant and that is fine with me. We are going to have the semi-private set up at the lobby bar and hire the mariachi band for 45min session to play prior to dinner. 3rd Here is the FAQ attachment they sent, it covers lots of the questions people have asked previously. Hope it helps. 4th I will keep you all posted after the wedding and let you know how it goes. happy planning- Jaime FAQ_09.doc

I've been emailing with Ael and she has been pretty good (1-3 days) for responding. Although it has been 6 days since I last heard from her and we are still working on booking the dinner reception for my Feb 5th wedding. It is hard to coordinate when they are far away and don't respond. Anyhow I will keep posting as I find things out. Best wishes- Jaime

Ok so far what I have gotten from them is that if you want a private reception and you have less then 100 people then it costs $500 (also you need 60 minimum). Chilis private you need 80 or more, Boga Foto can accomodate 27-60 people semi-private or 60+ private with the extra $500 fee. But be aware that it is only for the second dinner sitting which is 8:45 at Boga Foto and 9:00 for Chilis. That does mean that you have 4+ hours between the wedding and reception dinner. I didn't know this until last week when we finally got into conversation about the plans. I'm still waiting to hear on confirmation of my dinner and restaurant. I ended up having 55 guests so we are right in between the counts- we are hoping for Boga Foto (brazilian) sorry if I spelt it wrong. I am excited that it is only a little over two weeks away.... so much to do.... I will keep everyone posted and hope to post pictures as well after the wedding. Oh on the TTD the day after, the photographer is available if you want to pay for an extra day and extra pictures.. On the idea of appetizers, I think it is wrong to charge for food at an all inclusive resort when 90 - 98% of your guests are staying there for a week or so. So my bridsmaids said they are going to the buffett and getting food for everyone in the bar, we will see if that causes a stir or not... I just don't agree with having to wait for so long between the wedding and reception dinner. I did get an email with the appetizer list I will try to post it for you all. I wish all of you the best with your wedding planning. Jaime Canapes_09.doc

Quote: Originally Posted by MrsV020709 Jaime, we are getting married at the same Riu two days later. ) Best of luck to you on your special day! Maybe I'll see you around. ;o) When do you arrive?? We are there until the 7th then we leave for Argentina-for the honeymoon. If you are there on the 5th make sure you find me and hang out at the wedding if you want, get the full experience so you know if there is anything else you want to change or have for your day. Please if you are there early leave me a message and we can talk. Jaime

Hey all- Archie thanks for the info, we just got an email from our travel agent and she upgraded us to the jacuzzi suite for free, yeah! I was wondering if that means it will be the suite with the spiral staircase, I loved the pictures you had taken there. She said it was the highest room they had available so I'm hoping, but I wasn't sure of how many levels of suites they have? I'm going to check on the Ipod hookup as I don't want to have to travel with speakers and a system to play it. How many hours can you have the space when you do the private reception? Is the DJ for 3 hours for $1000? Also just FYI, I don't think that videography is included in the caprice package at the RIU, unless things have changed from the website posting and the info they sent me. If anyone else knows if it is included please let me know. Happy New Year to all of you- Jaime

We are getting married on Feb 5th, coming up soon Thanks for the info. We too got the Caprice package and are planning for Boto Fogo as the group size shrunk a little with the economy down turn. We are still very excited as it sounds great. Also did you hire the DJ for the dancing part- or was there sound equipment to hook up an Ipod or CD's for music?? Thanks again- reading your review and seeing your pictures puts me as ease and makes me wish it was time to leave now.

Archie510 Your pics are so great, you are a beautiful bride! Thanks for sharing them. I'm gearing up for the big day and if you have any suggestions let me know. I to was looking at restaurants for the reception and since we are going to have about 60 people I think we will do the same as you did at Bogo Foto. Was the food good? Thanks for the unpdate on the cake. If you don't mind what wedding package did you pick and were the services (spa, hair, nails, massage) good? I'm so excited that the wedding is coming up soon. Jaime

How many mugs do you have with the black writing? I have been looking for mugs for our guests. Let me know how many and how much you want for them. Jaime