Kellykm7

Also, here is our review on TripAdvisor for Secrets Maroma: “We could not have asked for a better experience to get married!!!” Oct 22, 2009 - JblakeHouston Secrets Maroma Beach Riviera Cancun My wife and I decided in early 2009 to get married at Secrets Maroma Beach. We did a lot of research on all inclusive resorts in the Cancun/Playa Del Carmen area and we decided on Secrets Maroma. We initially had some hesitation when we first selected it because it had only been open 4 or 5 months at that time and there were some mixed reviews. We figured this was likely kinks being worked out as they were brand new and that by the time our wedding hit 9 months later everything would be fine. We were more than right!!! The resort was gorgeous, the pools were fabulous, the rooms outstanding, food high quality (the best of any all inclusive I have stayed at) and the service was top notch. The staff goes out of their way to be friendly and helpful with whatever your needs are and since we had a group of 45, our needs were many. It all started with Cecilia, the wedding coordinator for the resort. Yes, you actually get your own wedding coordinator provided by the resort. She was responsive, attentive to our inquiries and even went above and beyond by suggesting things we never thought of that made our wedding truly memorable. All of our guests that I have talked to since getting back have all said they want to go back to Secrets Maroma in the near future. I'd say that's a pretty good indicator that not only did the bride and groom get first rate attention and an enjoyable experience, but our guests did as well. A lot of them were very impressed with the food and the service. They all have said they were shocked at how good the food was for an all-inclusive resort. With 7 restaurants to choose from, they got a wide variety of options. They also loved the attentive service around the pool for drinks and also the staff walking around with trays of succulent snacks that you would expect from the appetizer menu of a upscale restaurant. This resort had it all for us. The beach was gorgeous with the teal green waters and the fish that come up to you and eat bread crumbs from your hands. Their spa was a tranquil and enjoyable getaway from the sun. The entertainment and dance club gave us all some great times in the evenings. My wife and I are already planning our trip back for our anniversary. Be couldn't have been any happier with our choice of Secrets Maroma Beach. Traveled with Other--Age group 35-49 Date of stay: October 2009 Traveled with: Spouse/Partner Note: We got married on the beach (In Oct) a/r 5 pm, held cocktail hr on the beach right after, and our reception was in the spa courtyard (I think you need 40 or more guest to try to do that).

If you guys want an outside photographer for your Secrets Maroma wedding, I highly recommend Dennis from Blue Lens Photography (Playa del Carmen Wedding Photographer in Riviera Maya | Bluelenscaribe). He was awesome. Amazing pics, and we never felt like Dennis and his team were intrusive at our wedding. (We had 45 guests). We also really liked the Juan, the resort photgrapher from Secrets. His work was great as well. We had just already hired and paid for an outside photographer, otherwise we were really impressed with his work. We also used DJ Mannia and highly recommend them. Nice and fun!

Here are some pics from my wedding at Secrets Maroma Beach. I hope you guys can open them. Email privately if not, and I can email pics to an email address. Kelly wed pics.doc

I was recently married at Secrets Maroma Beach and the wedding was AMAZING! We had 45 guests and got married on the beach with cocktail hour following on the beach. We actually held the reception in the Spa courtyard. The weather held out, my pictures came out amazing, and Cecilia, the wedding coordinator, was wonderful. I thought she was very organized and she even went through the sequence of events with us 2 times prior to the wedding to double check everything. I would highly recommend this resort to anyone for a classy, fun wedding. All of our guests had fun and loved the resort. The service was amazing, too. My hair and makeup turned out great and all the flowers were awesome as well. I know Cecilia has gotten mixed reviews from people, but we had no issues whatsoever. Though, we are a very laid back couple and did not have a lot of demands, if any really. We had a few things we asked her to set up for the reception (table decorations) and some vases for the ceremony itself, and we had no issues-everything looked great and was right where it was supposted to be. If you are super-anal or want to be a very hands-on bride, I would not recommend a destination wedding in the first place, because you leave a lot of the details up to the resort. I personally liked that better b/c I got to hang out and have fun right up until the wedding!

Seeing that I really HATE his work, I will happily get an outside photog. Do you know how much the resort charges for an outside photographer, and more importantly, who loved their photog, and has contact info!?!?! Has anyone used Del Sol at this resort? Any advice from a previous SMB bride would be so helpful in this area. Bringing a phtgr from the states is not something I want to do, i'd rather use someone local if at all possible! QUOTE] I am using the photos from the wedding package we bought for some group shots, but we also hired an outside photographer from Mexico. We also wanted to bring a guy from Dallas, but the costs were adding up. I found this one through a friend--her pics were awesome. Caribbean Blue Weddings Email Irene: [email protected] Prices were reasonable (I thought) also: They don't do books. CD's only, which saves $$ --One hour with 150 pictures high res in a CD $500 --4 hours with 250 pictures high res. In a CD $750 --6 hours with 350 pic. $900 We chose the $900 package, b/c we figured for $150 we get 100 extra pics. That's not a bad deal. Kelly

Quote: Originally Posted by MartynKennyinMX Hello July SMB brides! I have glass centerpieces that I will be shipping to MX. It is a big bowl, and inside I will put a pillar candle, sand, and shells around and a ribbon around the base of bowl. If any brides that are getting married after me are interested in seeing them and want to buy them from me, let me know! I can leave them there for you to use. Alright! Talk to you ladies later! -Marty Marty, I may be interested in buying your centerpieces. I would love to see pics first. We are getting married in Oct. and have about the same # of guests, so I assume the same # of tables. Feel free to email offline and send pictures and prices and we can discuss! Kelly

Quote: Originally Posted by Kits55 Kellykm it would be so beautiful to have a solo guitarist for the ceremony. I will say though that if you are doing group pictures AFTER the ceremony then your guitarist may not stick around for the beginning of the cocktail hour. We used the videographer, photographer, and Mexican trio in the Ultimate package. They all only stayed for 60 minutes exactly. It might be different if you are paying for an outside vendor but our group pictures took like 45 minutes! So by the time I was able to get up to the cocktail hour our trio only played like 3 songs and they were already done Are you guys having your reception by the pool? The gazebo there is gorgeous! We are def. doing any group pictures BEFORE the ceremony. I am not missing cocktail hr!! So, we will go straight from the ceremony to the cocktail hr. Yea, they said the package music (Trio, guitarist, etc) was for the cocktail hr, but we asked to have it for the ceremony instead and I think they said that was ok. When he is done, then the DJ can just take over. I think we have the DJ 4 hrs which should be plenty for cocktail hr and dinner. I think we will get married on the beach but have cocktail hr and dinner by the pool. I've heard you get better service there, b/c they are closer to the kitchen(s) and now you are telling me the gazebo is gorgeous, so I like that!!! Kelly

Quote: Originally Posted by airampz So am I!!! I am taking this wedding with such ease and relax. That was the reason why I chose to do just a bride and groom only wedding so that I wouldnt have to stress over things like this. I just need a simple, white dress and it doesn't even have to be a wedding dress by the way that's why I haven't been too proactive on it. And I'm just like you, I really don't have any particular or special requests, thats the whole idea behing bride-groom only right? Yes, you are doing it the right way! We do have about 40-50 people coming. Mainly family and a few close friends. Jamie and I think people can enjoy the natural scenary and the package we paid for (the wedding package) and if they are expecting some fancy wedding, then they can get over it! One of the best weddings I went was in Mexico and the bride didn't do anything..no decorations for dinner, no DJ, no chair decorations and we had a BLAST!!!

For music, we were thinking of having a solo guitarist do the ceremony and maybe the beginning part of the cocktail hr (whatever we can squeeze out of him!). And then thinking we want the DJ to start after that. Maybe play low key music for the rest of the cocktail hr and dinner and then fun stuff after that. Not sure though. Most of our group is family or friends over 30, so I doubt there will be much dancing going on... Kelly Quote: Originally Posted by DeBooCL My fiance and I are planing to have the violinist play during our ceremony and the mexican trio band in our package for the cocktail hour. Cecilia sent me a few files of their music. I will try to post them now... If I can figure it out Ok,i tried to upload the wma file and apparently, you can not upload music files on this site. Or I might be doing something wrong . anyway. I have a list of songs the violinist can play attached in a word document. If you want the music files PM me or let me know if I can upload them here.

Airampz, Don't quote me though on the dress or other stuff! I think I am the most non-bride ride there is. I don't have any particular requests, or things in my mind that I have pcitured a certain way, so I think for me, however things turn out, I will be happy with it. Kelly Quote: Originally Posted by airampz Is it bad that I still don't have my wedding dress? Is it possible that I can find a dress that I do not have to alter?

I think its possible!! Living in Houston, we have a lot of big chain stores like Alfred Angelo and David' Bridal. A lot of people I know buy their dresses there, walk out with them that day, and they need mimimal alterations. I am only buying mine like 3 months out. I know the rule is 6 months plus, but I refuse to do a zillion alterations (and pay for them) with possibly losing or gaining weight before the wedding (obviously, the goal is to lose weight. haha!). Kelly Quote: Originally Posted by airampz Is it bad that I still don't have my wedding dress? Is it possible that I can find a dress that I do not have to alter?

Its a tough scenario-I think most people would support whatever you want to do. I know a lot of people keep the fact that they are already legally married a secret. We are not actively going to go around telling everyone, but if people ask we are not going to lie either. I think some of our people know it is not a legal ceremony, but they don't care-they are coming to Mexico to vacation and celebrate with us!! Laura, I like your idea of doing it at the airport as a kick off to your "wedding". Also, whoever wants to be there, can!! Kelly

did anyone ever post some good ideas for the reception tables? I have about 50 guests, so I assume 4-8 tables? I also want something nice, but want to keep my travelling baggage to a minimum. Kelly Quote: Originally Posted by melmel Hello jody, I too want to thank you for such a wonderful review. my fiance' and I are getting married at secrets in May. It is wonderful to get the opinion of someone who has actually experienced it. After reading your review it has made me reconsider upgrading to the platinum package. We were just planning to do package # 2 (secrets of love). I am assuming from your review that you felt the extra $700 + was well worth it?! I was wanting to get some extra details if you dont mind First, did you pay $150 total for the ipod speaker system that was used during ceremony and dinner reception (or was that per hour). Second, I love the sand ceremony you did, was that provided by the resort or did you bring that? Third, the tulle idea is great, never would have thought of that. How much did you bring? Fourth, I also am wanting to make the reception tables nice and personal but want to keep my travelling baggage to a minimum. If you were to recommend one or two things to bring for the reception tables, what would they be? Thank you so much for your time and efforts! MELMEL

We, too, plan to do a symbolic ceremony at Secrets Maroma Beach Resort in October. I have a friend that legally got married in Mexico and said it was a headache and she wished she had just done a "Symbolic Ceremony". Plus, we wanted to bring our own pastor!! Not sure when we are doing our real wedding here..we might wait, who knows?! We planned a big honeymoon leaving Jan 2010, and we don't want to risk any issues with my passport b/c of the name change!! Kelly

Hi ladies, I have been off this website for a while and decide it was time to get back on! We are getting married at Secrets Maroma on Friday, October 9th. We plan to have about 50 guests and we haven't done much planning at all. We have booked the photographer and requested a DJ, but that's it for the Mexico end. We were told we didn't need to do much until about 1 month out. As for home, we have already sent the Save the dates and are just trying to get everyone booked. My sister-in-law is handling most of the stuff related to Welcome Bags (she loves that stuff), and thats about it. I am not planning to buy as dress till June or July. I have too much other stuff going on before then to worry about it!! As for DJ and photography: I have heard good things about DJ Mannia and that is who the resort uses, so we requested him. As for photographer, we are using the picture package that come in our resort package for our family, posed pictures. We hired an outside vendor to do the wedding itself through the end of the reception. We are using Caribbean Blue Weddings. Playa del Carmen Caribbean Blue Weddings Home Page You can send an email request and Irene willcontact you. Prices are reasonable too. They give you a CD and you can make your own albums. Kelly