gemstone

Delmarbride- Thanks so much Our pics are from the gazebo on the Del Mar/Beach side. Gail- A few of our guests stayed on the Lindo/Maya side and we visited them. I thought the Maya rooms were nicer. I liked the decor better and they were bigger.

OMG. It worked:) YAH!!!! K. That was a generic pic from the WC. Here are a couple from my wedding so you get the idea.

Hi Leah, Trying this for the first time. If it doesn't work, I'll e-mail you some pics of the gazebo:)

Beautiful Kristy. Loved your dress. I have the link to my pics on Pictage of the pre-ceremony, ceremony, reception, and TTD. If you would like the link, pls PM me and I will send to you. Otherwise, I'll post a couple pics in a few days on the forum. Lisa, I'm so glad your day is almost here. Sometimes it feels like "Will it ever come" and then next thing you know it's "OMG. It's already here".

Oh Stina, I'm sooo glad your wedding went well. It is really beautiful at the gazebo. We upgraded to the Grand too for our honeymoon and absolutely loved it!!! They bend over backwards for you there. Really awesome food and decor too. We're going to go back there for our anniversary. As for Ivan, I'm sooo glad to hear that someone has the same opinion of him as me. I started to think I was being unreasonable or crazy but now I know I'm not. He is a total A-@#@$. This guy should not be in Public Relations at all. I've already sent an e-mail to the resort and head office. (gorls, this has nothing to do with the wedding...just an incident that happened on another night) The WC's at the Beach are awesome once you get there, Reyna and Yanin. So nice and accommadating. Loved them!!!!!!!!!!

Oh Stina. I'm so glad everything went well on your wedding at the Iberostar. Reyna and Yanin did a great job of mine when I was there in April. And I totally agree with you..... I think the media is sensationalizing the Swine Flu so much that people are not traveling and Mexican workers are losing their jobs and livliehood. It is so sad.... I was on the World Health's website and they have in no way recommended people not to travel. They advised there is no statistics to prove that travel will decrease the spread of a virus or disease. They are correct. There are more cases of Swine Flu from where I live then in the Mayan Riviera. .....I think I would be safer there..Darn...If I had the money, I'd be back in a flash. My girlfriend returned from Cancun 3 days ago and she said the same as you, no worries of Swine Flu there. It's all just hyped right now on the news. Future Brides, hang in there. It feels like things are starting to die down. Hopefully all will be well soon. Gen

Hi Jennifer, I think tables of 6 people would be the most comfortable. I think if your limited though then you can probably get 8 pp to a table. Do you have the pic of the Tropical with the tables all set-up? The pic is showing 7 chairs around the table and they look just about right. You probably don't want your guests too crowded. If Gabriela or Reyna never sent you the pic, PM me your e-mail addrees and I'll send you the PDF image. Gen

The most important thing I wanted in a dress was something that would be light and not too much material. I really wanted a dress with an open back as well. We got married in April in Mexico and it is hot, hot, hot that time of year. After trying on 4 DW dresses, I found the perfect one. It was slim fitting, light, and in my budget, $425 after tax. I found it at the 2nd Bridal store I went to. I was sooo happy to find something so quick and that I liked so much. Just remember to find something comfortable. You will be in the dress for much of the day and want to also feel relaxed and comfortable on your special day. Good luck!

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding Lori. Having a great beach is always nice when on vacation. Like most others comments, Dominican has had the best beaches I've seen to date; and Ouha of course:) I recently planned my DW and if the beach was the most important and only aspect I considered, I would have chosen that the Dominican Republic. Unfortunately, the other aspects that were important to us, Dominican did not meet our standards. We also wanted our guests to be at a place that offered excursions and many activities off the resort. For this, nothing compares to Riviera Maya. There is so much to see and do in this area. As well, the food quality has always been better at the resorts we've stayed at in Riviera Maya compared to the food at the resorts we've been to in Dominican. Unfortunately many of the travelers we were with on our Dominican vacations became quite sick. It's funny....everytime we go away, we all end up hanging out at the pool all the time anyway:) The beach in Riviera Maya and Domincan tend to be quite windy so we spend our time lounging in the pool and at the swim-up bar where it is more comfortable. In Riviera Maya, we've been to Dreams Tulum, Grand Palladium, and NH Riviera and needed water shoes at all these locations due to the rocks. We recently returned from our DW at Iberostar Paraiso in Riviera Maya and were quite surprised and pleased that we did not need water shoes here. It was very sandy and not rocky. I hear Anguilla and St.Maarten have wonderful beaches too. Not sure how many AI options they have though. Hope all goes well.

Gail, I agree with everyone. I think you should wait it out. With so many precautions now and awareness, the Swine flu numbers and spread should be reducing. If you are concerned about your and FI health, then move the location. Your wedding day is an important and magical day and week and you shouldn't be stressing about such things. I wouldn't move wedding locations though because you fear some guests may cancel due to this flu. Last I heard, there were still no reported cases of the Swine flu in Quintana Roo. If it were me getting married in June, I would sit tight. I was married at Iberostar Beach on April 15th and same as you, married at the gazebo and had a private reception at the Tropical. It was a fabulous. Beautiful, fun, and the resort did an awesome job. If guests cannot make the trip to Mexico and cancel, you have picked a wonderful photographer who will be capturing your day on film. Maybe if many guests cancel, hire a videographer too so you can share this with guests that could not make it. Your wedding day is about you though so I would make your decisions based on your needs and wants. Maybe talk to a few of your close guests (your MOH, BM, and family) and see how their feeling. They'll probably be very supportative and do whatever you decide. I think you should start distracting yourself a bit from all this swine flu media frenzy. You'll drive yourself crazy soon Maybe work on some last minute details of the wedding (newsletter, gifts, decorations, etc). Even just for a few days so you can get your mind off everything. I have a feeling you are going to have a wonderful wedding day wherever you decide. The moment you and FI are in front of the judge and you look into each others eyes and realize in a few moments you are united and will forever be together, is priceless. At that moment, it could have been -30 degrees and been in the middle of a cow pasture and I still would have been happy:) Hope all goes well. Gen

Hey Gail, Not sure if I can help, but let me know if you think I can. I was just married at Iberostar Beach on April 15th. Though I met with Gabriella at the start of the week, I didn't see her again for the rest of our trip. Only saw and sw Reyna and her assistant Yanin after that. Not sure, but Gabriella may now be gone. Reyna must be swamped. Not really sure how they do it. Even though they only have one wedding a day, it seemed like Reyna and Yanin were on top of everything and were everywhere to make sure everything was great. Not sure how they ever found time to reply to all my e-mails They really should be keeping on top of it though as it can be frustrating for future brides. Really though, Reyna is so sweet and lovely once you meet her, you will love her. If there's anything I can help with let me know. Will be posting review in Review forum in next few days with some pics. Gen

Unfortunately what I learned from my DW planning is that the better rates/prices came when we got closer to our wedding date. We were married April/09 in RM and the prices we were quoted back in April/May 2008 from various travel agents from different tour operators were a bit high. We waited a little longer and got our group rates around Sept/Oct 2008 and they came down and there were more incentives. I think booking too far in advance you will pay more because the tour operators are assuming they will sell out and want to get top dollar. When the dates get closer and they still have a lot of vacancy, then they start to drop the prices. The only risky thing with this is that we needed to secure our wedding date at the actual resort about a year out to make sure we had a spot. Catch 22 If you want some quotes nad pricing, let me know. We were married at Iberostar Paraiso Beach and got quotes for Edmonton, CAlgary, Vancouver, and Toronto departures for April for Iberostar Beach and Maya. With the economy the way it is now, hard to say what is to come for pricing. Especially given the current Conquest situation. If you pick a location/resort you like, reserve the date with the WC at the resort and then wait a few months till Winter brochures/specials at least come out and then call a few TA's to see what pricing is like. Will probably make a difference. Hope all goes well. Gen Happy planning.

Hey All, A slideshow of a few pics of our wedding and TTD are now on Lincoln and Lori's website. It's the Iberostar Paraiso Beach link. We just got the link to the Pictage website and I'm just trying to figure out how to send it to all our friends and family and then I'll need to figure out how to post the link here in the forum. Probably have it figured out by tomorrow:) Oh..and Denise and edssbride09...Great pics. You were both very beautiful brides. It's neat to see all these different Mayan resort locations too. They all seem unique. G

Sorry.....Just got back yesterday and I'm still in vacation mode so just posting a quickie. Lincoln and Lori we're fabulous. All my guests thought they were terrific and a lot of fun. They were very professional and took tons of pics. We booked them all day so I will have pics prior to the ceremony, the ceremony, and the reception. We also booked and shot our TTD with them the following day. It was a blast! It will take a few weeks for the wedding website. I will post the link as soon as they're ready so you can check out the pics. Gen

We have 31 guests for our April/09 wedding and have rented the Tropical restaurant for our private reception. Gabriella didn't make it seem like it was an exception. As long as you are paying the $800 extra, I don't see them minding what your guests numbers are at.

Congratulations Lacie. I was at NH Riviera in Nov/Dec 2008 when it first opened. Very pretty rooms.

Congrats and happy planning. You will love Cabo. It is very very nice

Congrats and happy planning. You will love Cabo. It is very very nice

Hi Maria, I used a TA in Toronto that runs a DW travel agency, Weddings By Ocean. Megan is the owner and she is absolutely great. She has a website and a toll-free number. We got our pricing in Sept/08 and most our guests booked in Oct and Nov/08 for our April 09 wedding. It is difficult getting pricing too early I found. I think you may need to wait till the tour operators release their Winter pricing if you're looking for Jan/2010 which I think is usually available in May/June. Though you may want to contact a TA to see if they can get anything early pricing. It may be cheaper to wait a bit though, not sure. I too didn't want my guests to pay too much either, given the economy and guests are travelling from all over Canada. Iberostar seemed to have the best rates for what I was looking for in a resort. We originally had chosen Grand Palladium but my FI's brother had a last minute DW there last year so decided we should go else where. We didn't want our guests to have to travel too far from the Cancun airport so we ended up eliminating all resorts south of PDC. We also have a few children coming so we eliminated all Adult Only resorts. By then, we were left with a handleful of resorts. We liked Iberostar because there are 5 resorts there. We are staying at the Beach for one week and then upgrading to the Grand the 2nd week. Also, Iberostar has a Golf course on site and a lot of our guests are golfers:) Including us. Plus, Iberostar is fairly close to PDC and they have a shuttle for I think, $4, that takes you there. PDC is great. If you need anything else, let me know. I will be posting our wedding pics and a review when I return at end of April in the Review section. Gen

Hi Maria, Congratulations!!! I'm from K-W too and I am having my DW in Mayan in April/09. The forum has been a great resource for me. If you need any help. please let me know. gen

Welcome to the forum Danielle. I was exactly where you are now about a year ago. I knew I wanted to get married in the Riviera Mayan but not sure where. I hate to admit this but I had to buy a piece of bristol board and I wrote down the name of every resort in the Mayan. Then me and FI decided on a few details that were important to us in the resort and started crossing off the resorts that didn't fit the few needs. Eg. Want my 9yr niece and bestfriends children there so resort needed to be kid friendly, etc. In the end, we had narrowed the list down to 7 resorts then had to start looking at the wedding details each offered and pricing from our T.A. We have guests coming from B.C, Alberta, and Ontario and had to find a resort with reasonable costs to fit all needs. After many months,we decided on a resort that we really ove and think will also fit our guests budgets and needs. Really though, in the end, it should be the resort you love:)

First and most important; Congrats on your upcoming wedding. Secondy, we had looked into Secrets as our DW location but we are having friends come with kids so had to pass on this location. A few brides though have posted some pics and reviews about Secrets Maroma in the Wedding Review forum and it looks absolutely gorgeous. Enjoy your planning.

I too am getting married at Iberostar Del Mar in the Tropical. It is partially covered but considered open-air. If you are looking for a reception on the Beach and under the stars, Secrets Capri has this option. A bride has a review and some photos posted in the Review section. Secrets is Adult Only though and was a LOT over our guests budget, so for us, Secrets was not an option I could consider. But very lovely. Gen

Hi Steph, I know this doesn't help now but I have booked them for our wedding in Mayan Riviera for April/09 for the ceremony and reception and also for a TTD afterwards. I will definitely post pics in the review section when I return. Gen

I have selected the Iberostar Paraiso Beach in Mayan for all the reasons you have mentioned above. Cost though I have found is very dependent on the month/time of you want to have your wedding. We had originally decided the last week of December (over Christmas) as many of our friends are teachers but found this to be the most expensive and busiest time to travel and at resorts. We then selected March spring break as our wedding date which happens to be about the 2nd most expensive time to travel:) We have now opted for mid April as conditions are nice in the Caribbean during this time and cost is a little less. Unfortunately though, this is not a convenient time for teachers and some cannot come but I have found through planning my DW there is no way to pick a date that is convenient for all. We finally decided on a date that was convenient for us:) I have read in reviews that Iberostar has a good kids club as well.