soon2bevalentine

Hello ladies, My husband and I were married at the Catalonia Riviera Maya last November. If you're interested in pictures, please check out the photo album on our website at Mike and Liana's Page. We booked a private reception for our group of 18 guests at the Pure Chill Out Bar and it was well worth the extra money. For our group of 18, we had 5 staff waiting on us. The food was great (and there was way too much) and it was nice to be right on the beach. We used Erick Rodriguez from Claudia Rodriguez Wedding Photography and he did an amazing job. I don't know if Cora is still working at the resort but she did a fabulous job of organizing our wedding. She's a real sweetheart and was very quick to respond to any of our requests. I was fully expecting some hiccups with having planned everything from home but I was surprised that everything went so smoothly. We're heading back to the CRM in a few weeks just to kick back and relive the beautiful memories. Happy planning! Liana

Now that we're in the final countdown, I'm starting to think about all the little details. Has anyone used the hairdresser and/or make up person provided by the hotel? We're going to have a private reception at the Pure Chill Out Bar with a slightly modified Grill Menu - we were quoted $62US per person for the private reception. Also, did you prepare your own vows? Was Elena the one to read the vows? Only 4 weeks to go and so much still to do!

The Pure Chill Out Bar was formerly called the Looky bar. We haven't finalized all the reception details yet because, apparently, the banquets coordinator is away until September 15th. We haven't done a group booking - mostly because it was too much of a headache to try to get everyone organized. Besides, we have guests coming from across Canada, some from the US, some are staying for a week while others are just flying in and out. We should end up with the requisite equivalent of 50 nights stay to get the "renewal of vows" package for free but I'm not sure how the resort counts the rooms. I guess once I have a confirmed guest list, I'll provide that to Elena and see if it qualifies. We booked a suite as a result of some of the resort reviews on trip advisor. As I understand it, the free room upgrade is on a space permitting basis when you check in at the hotel. We booked our room through Vacation Express : Value-Priced Vacation Packages to Mexico, Costa Rica and the Caribbean and the suite really wasn't that much more than a standard or deluxe room. I agree that the banquet menus do seem a bit pricey, especially as you point out it is an all-inclusive resort. Originally, I thought that you had to pay for the banquet charge per person and the $500/hour charge to use the Pure Chill Out Bar but the use of the bar is included as are drinks. If you have cocktails at the wedding site immediately following the ceremony, they charge 10 pp. We'll probably have 20-26 people so $1500 or so for a wedding reception including all food, drinks, and decorations seemed reasonable to us. When the banquet coordinator is back, I'm going to ask if we can modify the menus at all so I'll let you know what I learn. We had considered just having the reception in one of the a la carte restaurants, as Morgan had, but we wanted dancing. You could just have the dancing at the Pure Chill Out bar after the dinner but if you want the place to yourself, that's when the $500/hour charge comes in to play plus $100/hour for a DJ. So, really the banquet cost didn't seem too bad. Although, I know how quickly it all adds up! One of the reasons that the Catalonia RM appealed to us was its proximity to Puerto Aventuras. It's a nice village and, not being huge fans of all-inclusive resorts, we like the idea of being able to easily get out of the 'compound'. We're planning to organize a rehearsal dinner away from the resort, so if you know of any restaurants that would be appropriate, please let me know. Good luck and stay in touch.

Hi Karen, Welcome to the forum. It looks like our paths will cross at the Catalonia Riviera Maya. My fiance and I are getting married there on November 25th so we'll be just days before your son and daughter-in-law-to-be. We've decided to have a private reception at the Pure Chill Out Bar - Morgan has posted some great pictures of the set up there. We're going to pick the grill dinner menu (on the banquet information that Morgan posted) and we've been told that the dinner price includes the exclusive use of the Pure Chill Out bar, bar service, decoration of the bar and buffet set up. A DJ and/or background music is extra. Good luck with your planning and feel free to compare notes with me since we'll both be planning at the same time. Liana

Hi Morgan, Thanks for the info. The more I look at the pictures, the more I like the Looky Bar (I think it is now called the Pure Chill Out bar) for the reception. I looked at the banquets information you posted, which gives me a good idea of prices. Do you think they'd be flexible in the menu? The idea of a beach BBQ really appeals to me. I love your photos and video. We might steal that Santana song you used - it's just perfect. I looked at Kristie's website but she's obviously out of the US. Did you fly her down for the wedding? Thanks again for keeping the information flowing, especially since it's after the wedding! Liana

Hello ladies, I can now officially add myself to the Catalonia Riviera Maya bride group! After many persistent emails and telephone calls, we have a non-legal wedding ceremony booked for November 25th, 2008! And now the real fun begins....the schedule of events. The ceremony is scheduled for 4:00 pm. I like the idea of having pictures and cocktails out on the beach immediately following the ceremony. I believe the cost to have cocktails on the beach is $9/pp? I'm thinking we'll just shuffle over to the Looky Bar - I love the photos of it - for a sit and another beverage and give guests the opportunity to return to their rooms if they'd like. From what I've read, the reception dinner has to be at 6:30 in one of the a la carte restaurants? Has anyone had a private reception dinner? I'd love to have it in the Looky bar but we haven't got that far in the planning to know if that's possible. We're a bit nervous about the food quality because we recently got very ill at the Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya resort. Any comments on your experience with the food there would be much appreciated Now that the tough part of selecting and booking a resort are done, I'm started to get excited! All the best to all the CRM brides! Liana

Thanks for the details on the guest passes. I've read so much information on-line I can't keep all the small print details straight. Coming from Canada, we don't have to stay for a week. We've opted to book our airfare and hotel separately because we got a fabulous rate on airfare ($612 pp from the Vancouver area). Because it takes almost a full day to get to the RM, a stay of less than a week doesn't really make sense if we want a chance to get some relaxation time in. It looks like I'll be switching over from the Sensatori thread...even though the Sensatori (or Azul Beach) are my favourite picks, I've decided that it's not worth the hassle of having everyone scattered at different resorts. It defeats the purpose of having an intimate gathering for a destination wedding. So, sadly I've given up on plan A and I'm now looking for more moderately priced resorts where everyone can stay together. I appreciate all your advice. If you have any suggestions for moderately priced resorts, I'd be happy to hear about it. All the best for your wedding. I hope you post pictures after the event.

Thanks for the map! This is really helpful. I think it would be hilarious to recommend that the dissenting family members stay at the nude resort - although it probably wouldn't be fair to the guests there when granny struts her stuff! Besides, the family members don't all share my evil sense of humour. As for the rates at the Azul, I fully agree that you get what you pay for but what can you do when people say it's too expensive? My fiance and I took a quick trip down there two weeks ago and stayed at the Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya. The food was awful and we both got horribly sick. It ended up costing us an extra $400 for a doctor and medication! So for me, paying the bit extra up front is worth it. I heard that the day passes at Sensatori are $99! Yikes. So far, I think we'll have 5 people who will stay at another resort, but we're only expecting 20 or so and one of those wanting to stay at a different resort is my mom. It would be nice to have her close by. I think they've targetted the H10 Ocean Coral and Turquesa. Has anyone heard about wedding packages there? Thanks for the info! Liana

Hello Sensatori brides, My fiance and I have narrowed our wedding resort choice to Azul Beach or Sensatori. Some family members are concerned with the room rates at both resorts and plan to stay at resorts close by. Does anyone know what resorts are immediately next to both Azul hotels? It would be nice if we could still hook up with people on the beach even if they're at a different resort. Thanks, Liana

Thanks, Rebecca. With all the time invested in planning this wedding so far, I think a year is needed to get all the details right! And I thought a destination wedding would be easier to plan... Liana

I've been following the Azul Sensatori brides thread for a few days now and figured it was time to get involved. My fiance and I are shooting for a November 25 or 26 date (yes, this year!). We had originally selected the Gran Porto Real but after a quick jaunt to the resort, we were dismayed to find more sandbags than sandy beach. We've narrowed down the search for a new resort to either Azul Beach, Azul Sensatori, or Xpu-Ha. Although when we asked the reception desk at Xpu-Ha about the wedding packages, they told us they don't do weddings yet I've seen their wedding packages advertised on-line. The hunt continues....