riviera

Congratulations!!!! I am so glad everything was great! I can't wait till 12.12.08! AND ur PHOTOS! I am in search for an awesome photographer and I would love to see more photos from him! When did you fly in? I am also having a friday wedding and I was planning in flying in on Wedesday.. Is it too late? Did you have to do a lot of co-ordination on site before the wedding? What kind of music did you have? Did you have a DJ? Do you have a wedding program you can share with me? Sorry! Too many questions!!! CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN! anna.

Quote: Originally Posted by JennyK omg her wedding is in 2 days! I can't wait to hear all about it!! IPOD Girl's wedding is TODAY! WoW! I can not wait to hear all about it!!!!! By the way... IT IS FINALIZED!!!!!!! I SIGNED AND SENT DEPOSIT!!! 12.12.08 here I come!

Quote: Originally Posted by JennyK hey gals! Any updates on wedding plans? Jenny~ good to hear from you again! This contract process is kind of taking forever... A lot of changes, modifications, negotiations.... BUT! the good news is, I may just be at the final round and am READY TO SIGN~! Also, they have 12.12.08 available, so I am sooo excited!!! Finally, I can put together the STD (which I am thinking of just making it into invitation..... looking at how many months I got left.), and move onto doing some fun stuff. How are you doing?? Everything going well? I wonder how Ipod girl is doing. Wasn't her wedding on 08.08.08? Anyway, I am really happy with everything! one question for you, are you doing open bar option or corkage fee option? I am still confused by what option I should go for. anna.

Quote: Originally Posted by nde062010 thanks riviera. Do you know if the civil ceremony can be in english? I believe so. I am doing a symbolic wedding (trying save on the cost of the civil wedding...) in English, and any ceremonies you want, it can be done in English.

Quote: Originally Posted by nde062010 Oh I mean in general .. not wedding food. I'm just curious how much people will be spending throughout the day for food and drink ... to compare to my AI choices I think I know what your dilema is.. I went through the same thing for a very very long agonizing time... Well, for myself, I am going in the non AI direction. After my little research, I figured it will cost around $100 per person per day. Of course it differs from hotel to hotel, restaurant to restaurant, but for a nice restaurant, it will cost around that per day. And of course, there are options to eat outside of the resort, where food tends to be cheaper. After a little calculation combining group room rates (min.10 rooms)and etc, the cost came out pretty similar. But! keep in mind, if your guests like to drink quite a bit, it is probably better idea to go for AI. My guests are not that big on drinks.... I hope this helps.

Quote: Originally Posted by JennyK Yea it is a bummer when they cant make it. You're officially in the club. It's happened to almost all of us here (I've only had 1 BM bail). I think a Friday would be more convenient for your guests but it's totally up to you! but WOW you really are putting some thought into it huh? lol I know! I am putting way too much thought into this date thing...hehehe... Jesica got back to be finally with the contract and I think we are almost there. She says 12.12 (friday) might not be available (some company party..) but has not been confirmed yet.. 12.08 (monday) is available but I agree with you.. I don't think monday is as convenient for the guests.. SO! it is either 12.13 or 12.12 I am crossing my finger for 12.12!!!

Hi Jenny~ Thanks for asking... A lot has been going on lately and it seems that I can't get my head around things!!! Work has been insane, and one of my two bride maids just told me she can't make it to the wedding, cuz she got pregnant and she is due a month after my wedding date. So, I need to re-organize some things, and I admit, I did get a little sad.. cuz you know.. you want all of your good friends to be there. Anyhow, I got the STD materials!! the martha stewart luggage bag favor boxes, some stickers, paper, ribbons.. I think it is going to be cute! (thanks to you again Jenny~*) I will post the picture once I am done. Jesica hasn't wrote me back regards to the contract. Getting a bit nervous, but what can I do... I am kind of re-thinking the date. the fact that it is on the 13th, kinda bothers me.. it really shouldn't but you know.... So, I wrote to Jesica to see if 8th or the 12th is open. It is going to be either Friday or Monday.. Do you think having it on Friday or Monday is a bad idea? I mean, idealy, I would like Saturday, but I kind of like the 12.12.08, or 12.08.08 I think my FI is right.. the word insanity comes to my mind....

Quote: Originally Posted by JennyK I'm 90% sure I want the Sapphire package as well. I want everything included and even though it's a bit pricey, I WANT IT lol But right now we have it as, if less than 75 people come, then it'll be the Sapphire, if more than that come, then it'll be the next one down which is the Lady Di Ruby. The luggage bag isn't too big.. I just measured mine and they're about 2 1/2" tall x 3 1/2" long Thanks for measuring it! I am having 40 guests (My TOTAL MAX!! ok.. may be 50) Anyway, for this size I thought Sapphire was the best bet for sure. Remember.. DO NOT ORDER THE SALMON! Other than that, other dishes were These are the names of the dishes we had: in case u are curious which picture was for what.. Vine Ripened Tomato and Buffalo Mozzarella Napoleon, Basil Oil and Balsamic Syrup (No surprise there, pleasant dish) Lettuce and Watercress Salad, Mandarin Segment, Citrus and Chive Vinaigrette (very refreshing and nice. Anyone can enjoy) Millefeuille of Goat Cheese and Bell Pepper, Mix of Greens, Lemon Vinaigrette (this was VERY good.. we really enjoyed this one, but as you know, goat cheese isn't for everyone I think..) Roasted Grouper Filet in a Savory Star Anis and Saffron Light “Au Jusâ€, Croustillant of Risotto (this was good! fresh fish) Pan Seared Imported Salmon Filet with a Sesame Crust, Soy Beurre Blanc, Scented with Basil and Ginger (NOT GOOD) Broiled Imported Black Angus Beef Tenderloin, Maturini Style Sauce with Aged Dark Rum, Pine Nut and Raisin (this was pretty good)

Quote: Originally Posted by JennyK We were only going to have a tasting the week of the wedding.. I had heard good things about the food so I wasn't too worried. Did you decide on the package? and thank you hahaha, your welcome!! Well, we are kind of doing a custom package... so to speak... As you know, they are very flexible with whatever you want, so I have been putting in a few special request, like the Korean Traditional tea ceremony, dinner from Aioli, and also I am looking at bringing our own alcohol.. What are you doing with beverage option? Are you having an open bar? Our guests are not a big drinker, so I thought it may be cheaper if I use one of those beverage delivery services, and pay the corking fee instead...... I don't know.. I am still debating on that. For the program, it is pretty standard though.. Ceremony, Cocktail reception, Dinner reception, Korean tea ceremony, dance party afterwards.. I haven't ironed out everything yet, that is basically it for now.. Have you chosen a package? Before I met with Jesica, I was thinking of choosing the Sophia's Sapphire package. We had tasting from that menu. Oh, one question for you! I saw your post about the pop-up sea shell luggage bag! which I TOTALLY LOVE! I am thinking of using them as STD! Could you tell me how big they are? I am going to order it on-line but want to buy paper boxes for them too as soon as possible.. Thanks!! anna

Quote: Originally Posted by nde062010 Riviera ... would you be able to give me some prices (dinner/reception, wedding, flowers) when you get them? I've only been looking at all-inclusives ... I want to see how they compare Sure, no problem. I am attaching the documents I got from Le Meridien. If you can't view them, or can't download them due to lack of points (I had this problem before), just PM me with your e-mail addy and I will forward it to you. Hope this helps! Le Meridien Wedding Packages.doc

Quote: Originally Posted by Kits55 Riveria: Thanks for the great review on Le Meridien. I have been looking different resorts for months and can't believe i didn't find this website until just last night! I do have a question for you that doesn't have to do with the resort. I am Korean, though my fiance is not. I want to incorporate a slightly Korean theme into my wedding (i'm looking around Tulum) but I don't know how to do it. I've only been to Korea once, and only for 5 weeks. Do you have any suggestions for me, also are you using Korean favors for your guests? If so, where are you getting yours? Thanks, Kelly Kelly, welcome to the forum! This website is awesome isn't it?? I learned so much from all the girls (and boys) on this forum and it helped me so much in site decision making! A fellow Korean girl! I am definitely incorporating Korean flare to the wedding along with Mexican theme. I am still in the beginning stage of the planning, so I haven't really gone far on looking for all the details! I don't know what color theme you are having, but for me, I was thinking of multiple colors, which I thought was very ethnic (both Korean and Mexican), so from that, one of idea I had was (other than the Korean tea ceremony I am organizing...) to have Korean dolls on the wedding cake, for example... I think you can also use chopsticks as an added element to the table setting, with a nice case. see picture below, I just downloaded pictures from internet just now.. When are you planning on having your wedding? I am almost there on finalizing my date for Dec.13th this year, and if yours is later than that, I am sure I can feed you more information as my planning progresses a bit more! As far as getting these favors, for me it is not too hard to get items like these because I live in New Jersey (decent size Korean population with a good size Korean town) and work in New York (32nd to 34th street between 5th and 6th is a small korean town), which gives me pretty good korean resources. Also because I have a lot of friends in Los Angeles, (A HUGE Korean town) I have very good access that way as well. I believe you can purchase a lot of the items on-line as well; I haven't started my search yet, but if I come across really good sites, I will let you know. I saw a blog, I believe it was part of theknot site,where a Korean couple posted their wedding at Le Meridien, which can give you an idea on how they used Korean theme into their wedding.. I can't remember the site addy and I can not seem to find it! I will keep on looking, and when I find it I will PM you or post it here for you. anna

Quote: Originally Posted by DanielleNDerek That's a great site review and pics for any girl looking at LeMeridien. I was watching a show on the travel channel last week "Top 10 Exclusive Resorts in Mexico" and the LeMeridien was #2 it looked gorgeous. Thank you so much for your reply! It is so awesome to hear that!!! The resort is really pretty, and it felt very private, and cozy.. My friend who is from Cancun originally recommended Le Meridien, and that same girl recently got engaged, and she is booking with Le Meridien as well!! We are so excited we will be planning the wedding together! I will try to post as much information I can get out of her! Cancun local girl!

Quote: Originally Posted by JennyK So where is it that they get their food from if not from Aioli's? I am not sure where they get the food from.. We had our tasting at Aioli restaurant, so I do believe the food is prepared on the hotel ground.. possibly at Aioli restaurant kitchen, but with a different chef who is in charge of group events. Are you planning on having a tasting? P.S. I love your photo, you guys look so cute together!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by JennyK The pictures aren't working but the review was great!!! You got a lot more accomplished than I did on my site visit so I'm taking your word on the food. Thanks Jenny for your support and your help on the pictures!! Gosh, it is not easy is it.... As for the food, the food in general was not bad. BUT! I can tell you right now, do not order the salmon. According to Francisco, salmon is imported, and the quality is not good. If you want a seafood option, I would recommend the grouper fish, or shrimp dish. Now if I can fix thoes missing pictures... I will make some modification soon, but for now, I am all set for Le Meridien review..

Part 5. While we were staying at Le Meridien, we were fortunate enough to take a peak at a wedding they were holding that night. It was a Mexican wedding, which consisted of three ceremonies. The legal ceremony with 40 guests (at the small gazebo), The religious ceremony with 60 guests (at a church near by), Reception dinner and party with 250 guests (at the large gazebo). It was a very elaborate wedding, with fire works at night! Check out the photos below! The staff; Bartenders, waiters, Jesica and her team all looked very nice and professional. The civil ceremony at the small gazebo The reception at the large gazebo above Yup. They had fireworks... I don't know how much that cost. I didn't even bother asking Jesica. That's me posing to get the sense of scale. The only concern I have with this hotel is the construction on the next property. Jesica told us that it is concrete structure and noise should not be an issue. The construction is scheduled to go on until next year September. Also, the construction is on the opposite side from the wedding area, so you will hardly get a view of this while your ceremony is going on. We loved the hotel in general. The staff speak English well and very friendly, nice and polite. I am 99% sure that we will be having our wedding at Le Meridien but am still waiting on final numbers and details to come back to us from Jesica. I hope this review helps other brides looking for the perfect location for their weddings! HAPPY PLANNING!

Part 4. Because we are both crazy about food, it was important to have a tasting even at this early of a stage. To be honest, we are very glad we did, because we weren’t too crazy about the dishes we had. We tried the following dishes: Three appetizers; these were all good. Three main courses Beef Filet; My FI said it was fine, but I didn't think it was very good. Salmon dish; not good at all. We could not finish this dish. Grouper; the best out of the three. It used the freshest ingredient, which is the grouper, which is the local produce. It turns out, the chef who prepares for large group event is a different chef from Aioli’s. We expressed our dissapointment to Francisco, who was assisting us on this process, (jesica was overseeing a wedding that night) and asked if it would be possible to have Aioli’s chef to cater our wedding. He went to ask the chef and he said 40 guests are not a problem, but we will have to check with the WC and the hotel to see if this will be allowed. So we asked Francisco to show us the dinner menu and asked him if the restaurant can serve few dishes from dinner menu for us to try at lunch time the next day. Apparently they do not serve dinner dishes at lunch time, but again, the chef agreed to make an exception for us and prepare whatever dish we picked to try for lunch the next day. So we had the following dishes: Two appetizers Foie Gras; to die for. Beef Carpacio; Perfect. Two main courses Shrimp dish; the sauce was amazing and the shrimp was cooked well. Lamb dish; to die for. The Aioli restaurant manager assisted us on the tasting, (whom I can’t remember the name of …) and I have to say the food was REALLY GOOD! We totally loved it! We sent an e-mail to Jesica on this matter, and she told us that they will allow Aioli restaurant to cater our reception. I am SOOO excited, and can’t wait to have their food again!

Part 3. We had continental breakfast at Aioli restaurant. Their food was excellent. The buffet had a good mix of Mexican and American cuisine, and really good pastry. We met with Jesica at the restaurant and went over the details of what we envision our wedding to be like. She was very attentive and gave us a lot of useful feedbacks. We could tell that she is willing to go above and beyond. For example; My fiancé and I are both Koreans and we wanted to have Korean Traditional tea ceremony, and when we expressed our interest in this, she offered to look into renting appropriate equipments for the ceremony locally so that we don’t have to ship everything over. I originally wanted to have a wedding on the beach but I decided to cross that idea. Jesica told us that usually there is a lot more beach area but due to the heavy rainfall they just had, there wasn't much beach. I really liked the Gazebo in person and I think I am leaning towards the gazebo now! So we decided to do a ceremony at the small gazebo (round structure area). We are anticipating around 40 guests, and the size of the gazebo area is perfect for our size of guests. We will be having our reception dinner at the same site as well. We also looked at the back-up location in case of rain. It is a huge hall which can be sectioned off according to the size of guests you will have. After our meeting with Jesica, we went over to Marriott to meet with WC Yael Rodriguez. Please see my Marriott review if you are interested in this hotel.

Part 2. I checked out the pool area by the beach and it is absolutely gorgeous. There aren't too many people by the pool and there were enough lounging area to find beds at anytime of the day. Mind you, these pictures were taken at 6 in the morning.

Part 1. SO! I am back from Cancun! I have to say, site visit was a really good idea.. At least for me since it really helped me in narrowing the sites down! I learned and gained so much information from everyone on this forum, and I can only hope this review can be as helpful and informative to other brides who are overwhelmed as I was when I first started the search. The night we arrived in Cancun was very humid. We called Le Meridien to see if they can arrange a car for us, and they offered $80 U.S. for two of us. This was a surprise since I knew (from this forum) that the distance between cancun and the hotel was only 20-25min drive! so I did a quick research on internet and found a shuttle service that cost $30 for both of us. They were waiting for us at the door, and got us into their van and went straight to the hotel. The ride was pleasant and fast. We checked into Le Meridien around mid night. The lobby is intimate and clean. There was two singers with guitars performing at the lounge. Drive way into the main entrance Lounge area The room was clean and they had a welcome letter with our names and cookies. PICTURE The next morning, I went to the gym, which was clean and had enough equipments for me to do my full work out. The machines were new and was in good condition. They had towel, water and apples and the staff was very nice. They have spa downstairs with jacuzzi and tennis court upstairs. To access this service, you need to pay $20 per person or $30 per couple per room per day. Small portion of the gym shown here.

HI HI HI Girls~~~ I am back!!! I got lots of photos, did the tasting, and we had SO MUCH FUN!!! sorry I haven't been able to check in for a while... Been in and out of town on work, but I am sort of settled as of today! I will upload bunch of photos, and my reviews soon! I think I am going with Le Meridien. I am 99% sure at this point!!! SO EXCITED! Jenny! So glad you got the phone call from Jesica, FINALLY!! She is super nice. I liked her a lot! anna

Jenny, sorry to hear that! That is awful.. When I see her tomorrow, I will mention it to her! Quick question! What is the best way to get to Le Meridien from the cancun airport? The hotel's car service is $80 US??

Quote: Originally Posted by JennyK do you have her number by any chance? The number I have is JESSICA PANTOJA GERENTE DE VENTAS | SALES MANAGER T: 52-998-881-2225 F: 52-998-881-2246 She responded today to my e-mail regards to tasting this saturday. Wonder why she is not responding to your e-mail.. hmm.....

Quote: Originally Posted by GabyShaf I emailed the address on the website but havent heard back from anyone. Does anyone what their current prices fall in? The following are the items that has been changed from the previous package: New Event Site Fee 3000usd New Coordination services fee: 1500usd All menus have a 15usd extra charge National Open Bar 20usd (each 3 first hours) and from 4th hr. 15usd/hr. International Open Bar 30usd and from 4th hr. 20usd /hr. Final bill is subject to a +10% Mexican tax I.V.A. With these changes I got a quote for 21k for 30 people wedding, 25k for 40 people. This is including $580 discount from renting all four rooms for three nights min. The person I have been in contact with was Donaji, and you can contact her at her e-mail address: [email protected] Hope this helps! anna

YES I DID! 30 min, weights, 1 hr cardio! Yeay~~

Quote: Originally Posted by JennyK I still haven't heard from Jessica.. its been 4 days. Grrrrrrrrrrr Jenny, Last time I heard from her was Monday afternoon. She mentioned she has a big wedding for Saturday afternoon. I suppose she is crazy busy with that wedding? Hopefully she will get back to you soon.......... anna