There are a number of reasons why we wanted to have the wedding offsite.
First, I think the guests really enjoyed going to another resort and experiencing being on the cliffs and trying food from another resort besides ours.
Also, we wanted something a bit more private. Although the weddings at Riu were very beautiful, there were a lot of other Riu guests just standing around watching and probably ended up in the wedding party's pictures. Even when the wedding party would go to the bar, we saw other Riu guests run up behind them while they are taking photos.
What some couples did that we saw was they had their wedding at Riu, then went to Rick's cafe by boat for the reception. Or I think someone else went to a restaurant outside Riu for the reception. There are so many great restaurants outside of Riu in Negril that will host receptions as well.
Also, I think we were a bit more flexible with what vendors we can bring.
We had fire dancers which the guests loved. I'm not sure if Riu would be able to do that but I assume if they do, they'll be other hotel guests watching around as well.
It really comes down to what you want for your wedding.
There is definitely a price difference with doing it at Riu and doing it somewhere else. Because then you end up paying for 2 of the most expensive things, food and alcohol.
Even though doing the wedding on the beach is super beautiful, the scenery on the cliffs is just amazing, it really takes your breath away.
There's a lot of small hotels on the cliffs that do weddings.