ShannonLeigh

I am getting married in April as well, the 23rd to be exact. I have also been communicating with Ramon, he seems to be pretty responsive. I was planning on bringing some of my own decorations. I purchased 2 large nautilus shells for a sand ceremony and i also purchased white starfish for decoration at the reception. I am most likely going to bring my own candles but also have centerpieces through the resort. We are going to have 28 or so guests (4-5 tables) so we planned on using the ceremony centerpiece which is included in the gold wedding package, plus one reception centerpiece which is also included. That way we will only have to pay for 2-3 centerpieces. According to Ramon, the gold wedding package also includes additional ceremony decoration, which we are having the chair sashes and also the starfish and conch shells lining the aisle. We have also purchased our "guest book", we are having a "Message in a Bottle" guest book using a 1 gallon wine jug and paper in our wedding colors, aqua, white and sand. We are also purchasing luggage tag wedding favors from Etsy which will double as place cards for the reception. I was thinking of buying paper lanterns but it all depends on where we are having the reception. We will either have it in the foyer (where most of the receptions are held) or at the Lobster House restaurant as it is closed on Friday nights. The Lobster House has the thatched roof and a beachy feel but I think it may ending up being too large for a reception of 28 people. We are still undecided though. Is anyone else thinking of having their reception somewhere other than the Foyer?

I sent a message to DJ Mannia through their website 3 weeks ago and still have not received a reply. I am interested in having them DJ my wedding at Excellence Riviera Cancun. Has anyone else had similar difficulty in contacting them? Does anyone have a direct email address to contact them?

If you search "excellence riviera" there is a post by a bride that just had her wedding at Excellence Riviera and she gives a full review.

What a great review. I just have a couple of questions. First, I had no idea that Veronica was out! I had sent an email and wondered why I didn't hear back because she is usually really good about responding. I am curious about the chair ribbons, I thought Veronica had said that they were an extra cost, $5 a piece, is that not the case anymore? Also, Veronica had said that there were no exchanges for any of the services in the wedding package and I saw that you were able to take the money you would have spent on the photographer and put it towards the DJ. Did you discuss this with Nayeli before you got down there? With the ceremony at 5pm, did you have enough day light for pictures after the ceremony? Thank you so much for posting a review.

Hi Lindsey- I LOVE your pictures from your wedding. I am also going to have Vincent photograph our wedding. I was wondering what time you had your ceremony? I really liked the use of the natural day light in your pictures so I wanted to have my wedding around the same time to take advantage of it.

@BeachGirl---I also am not a fan of the long tables, but I know that they do offer round tables to either seat 6 or 8 people. We are also planning for 30-40 guests and I am curious if the space will be too big for that many people. I wanted to ask Veronica what the dimensions of that space are because you can't really tell online. I also have not seen any pictures from receptions held in there, that's another question that I wanted to ask Veronica. Maybe she has pics of a reception there, it would be helpful!! I also wanted to see about stringing round lanterns across the space. ANother bride who got married at ERC (but in the foyer) said that Veronica set up her lanterns and didn't charge anything for the set-up. As far as the tea lights go, I was thinking of doing the battery powered ones as well, but since we are not right on the beach and its an enclosed outdoor area (from what I can tell) I think I am going to bring regular tealights. We are going with the gold package and it only includes one table decoration for the reception. I am thinking about taking the BM bouquets and the ceremony table decoration and using those for the reception tables, to try and save money. Otherwise, veronica said that they are $100 per table for the centerpieces! I also found online these really cool lights that are meant to sit on the bottom of vases to light up flower arrangements. My thought was to buy a bunch and put them in the fountain to light it up a little bit, thought it would be a really nice focal point for the reception. I have not heard anything about the hair and make-up except that the wedding package does not include a trial run. I am not sure if I am going to go with them or not, but also not sure what the other options are. We are staying at the resort from the Monday before the wedding until the Sunday after it. We are then going down to Secrets Maroma Beach for another 7 days for our honeymoon! I can't wait, only 9 more months to go. We live in Arlington, VA right now. I used to live in DC (Capitol Hill)for a while until I moved in with my fiancee. Where in NoVA did you live before you moved? @mich&adam----I am not sure what nights the other restaurants will be closed. I only heard about Agave on Friday nights because another bride posted that she was upset she couldn't have her welcome reception there on a Friday night because it was closed. Then I just asked Veronica what the deal was with receptions there. I would just send her an email to find out, but I think there is at least one restaurant closed every night of the week. At least that's how it was when we stayed at Excellence Playa Mujeres. Veronica did say that we can use candles, there's no problem with having the open flame. I know (from a friend who got married there) that it does get really breezy in thre foyer too and they were not able to keep the candles lit, something to keep in mind. It is definitely going to be a busy month for weddings! I am just nervous that someone else will get married on the same day. :-( I know they allow two weddings a day there, but at least the first person to book a wedding on that date gets first choice for cermony time and reception location! @Dimenzi-----I know that Agave is open on Tursday nights so I don't know if that could be an option, I would check with Veronica though. I also want to ask her about the size of the outdoor space at Agave to see if its a good size for the reception.

Hi BeachGirl! I see where are getting married exactly a week apart, I am getting married on Friday the 23rd! I have been speaking with Veronica and on Friday nights the Agave restaurant is closed which means we are able to have a reception at that location. There is a really awesome outdoor space at the Agave which can be used and it has a beautiful fountain in the middle. I am either going to have the reception here (weather permitting) or the foyer. I have a picture of the space outdoors at Agave but I can't figure out how to upload it! I also want to bring my own vases for floating candles and have just very small floral centerpieces as well in an effort to save money for fun things like the spa! :-) I know it will be hard to carry all of those extra decorations, but I don't mind. So, if you would like to use any of the decorations that I have, I would be more than happy to leave them for you. I just have to figure out exactly what I am bringing. How many people are you having at your wedding?

When I was speaking to Veronica she that another option would be to have the reception in the restaurant that was closed for that day. I wasn't sure if anyone had ever taken advantage of those spaces. Endless love, have you started any planning for your wedding? I see that you are getting married right around the same time I am next year. I am in the process if trying to find a photographer, have you looked at any?

Is there anyone who is not having floral centerpieces? I was thinking about having candles or something decorative in order to save some money. Also, has anyone had their reception somewhere other than the balcony off of the lobby? Any pictures that I have seen from a wedding at ERC has been in that room. My wedding is still 9 1/2 months away, but I am not sure how soon I should start planning for my wedding at ERC? Any suggestions?

Now I definitely cannot wait to see pictures! If you don't mind me asking a couple questions, I was wondering where you found the sashes for the chairs? I have been looking online and haven't been able to find any that are reasonably priced. Also, do you know where your reception is going to be held? I spoke with Veronica and she said that you make that decision once you arrived for the wedding. Were you able to reserve your space earlier? Is Veronica charging you to set-up the Chinese lanterns? You mentioned the table place cards as well. Was Veronica able to give you the table arrangement before hand so you could figure out your seating chart or will that be done once you get there? The rose petals that you are bringing, are those for the ceremony or for decoration at the reception? Are you having your table centerpieces for the reception done through the resort or are you bringing your own? Sorry, for all of the questions, but you seem to have everything in order and I don't even know where to start!!

Thank you for that advice! We are going to end up getting the Gold Wedding Package, because like you said, it has alot of what we need included in it. I see you are getting married in a couple of weeks at ERC. Are you bringing alot of your own decorations or are you just sticking with what the resort provides? How many guests will be attending your wedding? If you write a review when you get back, I would be very interested in reading it since I am getting married at the same time next year at ERC! Best wishes on your upcoming wedding

Loretta- Your pics are amazing. I saw them when I was searching for ERC wedding pics on Sol and Matt's blog. Once I saw those pictures, I knew that I wanted to have my wedding at ERC, so we are!.. on April 23, 2010 and I have already begun looking for decorations for the ceremony and reception. I want to have sashes on the ceremony chairs but was looking into buying them myself. Did you buy your own or did you use the one's at ERC? If you did buy your own, I was hoping that you could share where you got yours. Thanks!

TA Jennifer- I really appreciated reading through your review. I am having my wedding at ERC on April 23, 2010. My only question to you was about the wedding packages and you mentioned that they were willing to swap out certain options in the package in exchange for others and were happy to customize the wedding package. I spoke to Veronica and she said that all items were non-transferrable and non-refundable. Do you know how I can go about changing out the options in the wedding package? Is there any advice you can give for when I talk to the wedding coordinator about this? Much thanks, ShannonLeigh

Your pictures were absolutely gorgeous. It really looks like Cecilia did a great job. I am also getting married at ERC on 4/23/10 and I was wondering how much Veronica charged to have an outside photographer come in for the wedding?

I am trying to decide between Dreams Tulum and Excellence Riviera Cancun. There is so much information out there about weddings at DT but not much for ERC. I was hoping that someone could send me pictures of what the wedding set-up at ERC looks like and also some comments on the experience there and the reception set-up. Thank you!