melfry66

Quote: Originally Posted by cheerleader1975 Hi Melinda - I love the pics. I hope you don't mind me asking...Did you have to pay extra for your flowers and decorations at the ceremony? What about the decor at the reception? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. We're getting married there in November Hi Cheerleader Thank you and I don't mind at all. We did pay extra for some things. We had the Secrets Ultimate Package but we paid additional for the following: - 2 Bridesmaid bouquets @ $60 each - All of the table centerpieces that show the sandbox, starfish, candles and flowers. (I believe these were about $75 each and we had 5 tables). - The Tiffany chairs @ $5 per chair. - The napkins and the table runners Our cake was the standard cake that came with our package, but I asked Cecilia to dress it up with fresh flowers. That was no additional charge. We had desert as part of our meal, so no one really had the cake though. It was for pictures only for the most part. I brought all the rest of the decor with me (Tulle for the chairs, Fans, Parasols, table rocks, favors) and somehow managed to fit it all into 1 small carry on suitcase!! Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions and best of luck! Melinda

Hi future SM brides! I posted our slideshow here in case you are interested. Our photographer was Dino Gomez and we had him for unlimited time for our rehersal dinner night and the day of the wedding. He's a great guy and I would definitely recommend him. www.dinogomez.com/melinda/wedding.m4v Best of luck! Melinda

Hi Boo, Not sure if you are going with the Ultimate package or not, but the videographer that is used as part of that package is amazing. Reference the name in the review posted by MLYNNEA. We couldn't have been more plesantly surprised by the quality and they delivered it to our room before we left to head back home

Here's a few photo links that one of our guest took, so you can get an idea of our set-up. Hope this helps! I don't have any professional photos to post yet BTW... the last set of files labeled "trash" were when we were actually trashed and jumped into the pool at the end of the evening!! Melinda http://www.ct-designs.com/melanddave_cocktailhr.zip http://www.ct-designs.com/melanddave_dinner.zip http://www.ct-designs.com/melanddave_nitetime1of3.zip http://www.ct-designs.com/melanddave_nttime2of3.zip http://www.ct-designs.com/melanddave_nttime3of3.zip http://www.ct-designs.com/melanddave_trash.zip

We got married on a Friday, versus a Saturday, so that way we were Cecilia's only wedding that day. That worked well. Also, DJ Mannia is one of the vendors that Cecilia can use if you request them. We just purchased their services independently of SMB.

Hi bellajovie, I too used a travel agent I found through destinationweddings.com and my experience was very good overall. I was contacted quickly by a representative in Wisconsin and she helped us with lots of details and all of our guests travel. FYI: we did include the $30.00 price guarantee in our deposit pricing to all of our guests, but not sure it was really wasn't worth it. The price didn't go down. I would strongly recommend you go this route also and let them do all the busy leg work with rates and travel reservations. Melinda

Hi ladies, We just returned from SMB where we were married April 30th. I will work and post my review ASAP, but rest assured that your wedding here will be amazing. The resort is stunning and the service is the bomb. We were married at the poolside gazebo and I wouldn't have done it any other way. The beach was just way to windy. It was actually really cool to see all the guest watching and cheering us on during our vows. Everyone was just so polite and supportive. Also, if you are looking for recommendations for a DJ service, DJ MANNIA was perfect. Super nice group of guys and they just got everything right. Our photographer was Dino Gomez and I loved him. We had so much fun with him. I also received the DVD of our ceremony that was included in the Secrets Ultimate Wedding package and I couldn't be happier with it. I would not spend extra on a wedding videographer if it is part of your wedding package with SMB. My only BIG complaint was that the power to all of the rooms was out the entire day of our wedding and we were not informed by anyone that this was going to happen. When I called Cecilia, she was unaware of the situation as it didn't effect the lobby or the spa. It was a major inconvenience for me and our guests having no air. The resort was not proactive at helping us come up with alternative solutions until we really got pissy with them. I ended up showering and getting ready in the spa since they had air, but it ruined our plans for pictures that day. If you are planning a destination wedding, you just have to be aware going into it that these sort of things can and probably will happen and be prepared to take a proactive approach in coming up with solutions or you will be sadly disappointed. All in all, the service we received made up for the major inconvenience we encountered on the wedding day. Good luck planning and let me know if you have any questions for me!! Melinda

Yep, got the civil ceremony here in Chicago tomorrow, then we leave for Mexico on April 26th. Thanks for the well wishes We sent our Save the Dates out around October of last year and the invites followed and were in the mail by early December. Hope that helps!

We hired DJ Mannia for 5 hours and to also handle the music for our actual wedding ceremony. Their cost to us was $1,140.00. We also hired Dino Gomez for our photography. We are having the beach bonfire welcome dinner the night before the wedding and Dino will be there to photograph that, as well as the entire day the day of the wedding. Our contract with him is for an unlimited amount of time. We chose not to do a TTD session. His cost was $3,500.00 all-inclusive with 50% down up-front. Photography was really important to us, so I didn't want to cut any corners there Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions Melinda

Thanks so much! I will be sure to report back when we get home. We are having our ceremony at the Gazebo versus on the actual beach. I thought it would be less windy and I think it's actually more beautiful. People won't be full of sand. We are having the reception dinner there also. We still need to finalize where our cocktail hour will be. We have the Mexican Trio playing during cocktail hour, then we've hired DJ Mannia for the reception. Let me know if you have any questions! I just finished up the last few details today, so now all I have left to do is pack... thank God!!

We are just working with Cecilia. Honestly, she has been very responsive for us. The biggest frustration with her is that she tends to forget what she's quoted us in the past via our e-mail exchanges. I have to keep reminding her. In her defense, I'm sure she is dealing with multiple brides at the same time. I am just printing out all of the e-mail exchanges of relevance that we've had and putting a binder together to take with us. Just in case we get there and there is any question. 2 more weeks and we will be there!!

We are having the Gold dinner selection, but you might want to be aware that there is also a Platinum dinner package and those selections look yummy! Unfortunately, we just didn't have that extra $$ in our budget to upgrade. Good luck Melinda

We hired our own photographer Dino Gomez, but will also have the photographer that is included in the Ultimate Wedding Package, since that is the package we went with.

SDBeachgirl... I am making modifications to the playlist they supplied to me Just adding the "must have" selections from us. Hope that helps. They will send you their playlist if you ask them to.

Too funny! November 19th is my birthday and we are getting married at SMB this April 30th

We are getting married here April 30th. We're using Dino Gomez as our photographer. His information is on this site. He's been a pleasure to consult with and very responsive. We've also booked DJ Mannia to handle the music for both our ceremony and the reception dinner. I've read nothing but rave reviews about them. I've read several reviews about the photographer that is included in their wedding packages and he didn't get rave reviews. Since the pictures are one of the most important spends for the wedding, I didn't want to take that chance. We've booked the Secrets Ultimate Wedding, so I guess we will just have both photographers now. Hope everyone can place nice.

It has always been my understanding that the day passes are $90.00 per person also. Hope that helps. Melinda

We are having our reception at the poolside gazebo area. I'm thinking that around dinner time, most people have vacated the pool area to get ready for dinner at the restaurants, so I'm thinking that would be pretty private and still be outdoors. We also won't have to move all of the music equipment set-up from our ceremony, since we are having that at the poolside gazebo also.

Hi Massagegirl... I'm getting married here April 30th, 2010. I've made a site visit and met with Cecilia already back in September. The resort is beautiful. You won't be disappointed. July will be very hot though. We decided to have our ceremony at the poolside gazebo versus on the beach. Let me know if you have any questions for me Melinda

Hi! I am back finally! My apologies for the delay. We were having internet issues at home, so I'm going to try to post now that I'm back in the office. OK... here are my honest opinions, but I know everyone's taste is different, so it's a hard call. Honestly, I was not impressed with Secrets Silversands. Secrets Maroma was by far, the nicer of the two resorts. Here were my issues with SSS: 1) Service. The greeting when we arrived at the front entrace was far from welcoming. It's also a very "un-impressive" looking resort from the front. We waiting for a very long time for the wedding coordinator Lizette to greet us, even though we had a pre-scheduled appt. with her. When we arrived, she seemed surprised to find out that she had been scheduled to even meet with us. That said, she is very sweet and she really warmed up to us during the tour and was very helpful with any questions or information we requested. 2) Overall, I think the resort was already showing signs of "wear and tear", even though it's only about 1 year old. The guest rooms are pretty nice, but I much preferred the look and feel of Maroma. 3) The beach was VERY disappointing. If you want to get married on the beach, don't do it here. Maroma's beach is much, much nicer and much larger. 4) We were not offered lunch at SSS, so I didn't get an opportunity to taste the food, but we were offerered lunch at Maroma and it was excellent, as was the service. 5) Clientele was a little on the what I would call "questionable" side for a resort of this caliber. Seemed like more of a college party resort than a romantic wedding/honeymoon resort that is selling itself as catering to couples. I had read quite a bit off trip advisor before we took the trip and I have to say that I agree with most of the negative reviews of SSS. I'm glad we went though and it helped confirm our decision to go with Secrets Maroma. A fluke coincedence when we were taking the tour: I ran into a old friend of mine who just happened to be checking out that day from SSS. I haven't had a chance to speak with him yet, but he did mention that they enjoyed the resort. Again, it's really so much on personal taste. I know SSS is a little less expensive than Maroma too, so that may be a deciding factor. If you have the extra in the budget, I would say to switch to Maroma. Hope that helps

Hi! OK... here are my honest opinions, but I know everyone's taste is different, so it's a hard call. Honestly, I was not impressed with Secrets Silversands. Secrets Maroma was by far, the nicer of the two resorts. Here were my issues with SSS: 1) Service. The greeting when we arrived at the front entrace was far from welcoming. It's also a very "un-impressive" looking resort from the front. We waiting for a very long time for the wedding coordinator Lizette to greet us, even though we had a pre-scheduled appt. with her. When we arrived, she seemed surprised to find out that she had been scheduled to even meet with us. That said, she is very sweet and she really warmed up to us during the tour and was very helpful with any questions or information we requested. 2) Overall, I think the resort was already showing signs of "wear and tear", even though it's only about 1 year old. The guest rooms are pretty nice, but I much preferred the look and feel of Maroma. 3) The beach was VERY disappointing. If you want to get married on the beach, don't do it here. Maroma's beach is much, much nicer and much larger. 4) We were not offered lunch at SSS, so I didn't get an opportunity to taste the food, but we were offerered lunch at Maroma and it was excellent, as was the service. 5) Clientele was a little on the what I would call "questionable" side for a resort of this caliber. Seemed like more of a college party resort than a romantic wedding/honeymoon resort that is selling itself as catering to couples. I had read quite a bit off trip advisor before we took the trip and I have to say that I agree with most of the negative reviews of SSS. I'm glad we went though and it helped confirm our decision to go with Secrets Maroma. A fluke coincedence when we were taking the tour: I ran into a old friend of mine who just happened to be checking out that day from SSS. I haven't had a chance to speak with him yet, but he did mention that they enjoyed the resort. Again, it's really so much on personal taste. I know SSS is a little less expensive than Maroma too, so that may be a deciding factor. If you have the extra in the budget, I would say to switch to Maroma. Hope that helps

You got it!

Heading to Cancun on Saturday to check out both Secrets Maroma and Silversands. I have appts on Monday the 21st to meet with planners at both resorts. I will share my thoughts when I return We've pretty much committed to Secrets Maroma though. Melinda

Hi ladies, My name is Melinda and my fiance David and I are to be married in a symbolic ceremony on April 30th, 2010 at Secrets Maroma Beach Riviera Cancun in Playa del Carmen. Looking forward to getting to know you all and picking up some helpful hints along this journey! Congratulations to all Melinda