DreamingofSunshine

when we were there there were 2 weddings in one day -- both very small. i also wouldnt worry about the private dinner/ semi-private. we had our dinner at chilli.s (27 people) on the top floor and it was like we had the whole place to ourselves even though there was a HUGE group below us having their own party..... it didnt make a difference to us .

vlvetter 7 You can take a 5min cab ride and go shopping on 5th ave. i believe they pretty much have everything you need there me and my family/friends stayed in Tulum for about 4 days before we went to the RIU. it was awesome. hands down one of my favorite beaches in the WORLD. yes i said it. we stayed at cabanas tulum. while its not an all inclusive or super lux. resort it had everything we needed for a great price. whats really great about the place was the customer service and the beach in front of the resort.... to die for. me and my friend are planning to go back later this year....you could rent a car and drive to tulum yourself -- its about an hour down the only highway there. SO NICE.. highly recommend it!

Jen - great review i couldnt agree more!!!! I’m not great with reviews or anything but here are the key things I have to say. We told nancy up front that we didn’t want any bible verses during our ceremony but that we were spiritual and were happy to have the ministry talk about God and family which he did. We had 2 readers and he called them both up and everything worked out fine. We had brought our own cd for the ceremony and that went well though a little loud. The walk to the ceremony site from the meeting place was kind of “far†for a short song like we had so we just moved ourselves closer to the ceremony area. I also got the royal package and LOVED my bouquet. We got single lilys for the girls in the party and nothing for the men….since we didn’t have a flower girl the rose petals were put on the table for decoration at the reception dinner along with the flowers from the gazebo. We had brought our own chair bows and fans and they set these all up for us. We got the fans back but not the chair bows. Oops… I was too lazy to track them down so it wasn’t that big of a deal. If you want them back though I would make sure that nancy knows this. Overall she was great to work with and very responsive once you get in touch with her via email. We only had to pay 100$ each for our 2 photographers day of. No issue was made of this. We also had our semi-private reception (total of 27 guests)at chillis but got great service (though like you mentioned our other guests got their food last, and the wedding party was already done eating!). they also brought us champaign and beer constantly. We were also told we could bring our own sound system but I forgot to and this wasn’t a problem. We got the same cake as jen and they put our wedding cake topper on it (however it kinda got broken, it was 2 lobsters, and the male lobsters hat had broken off so they just put it besides him.. not a big deal). The cake was awesome! I wish I could have brought some back to the room (I’m sure they would have let me but I didn’t ask because I forgot….) Room service was awesome. My girls threw an impromptu bachelorette party for me and they kept bringing us water, beer and champaign . i think one of the calls we made actually went like this "what is the most amount of beer and champaign you can bring up for us?â€) -- answer was 4 bottles of champaign and a case of beer. = awesome. We did get a noise complaint though at 1:30am – half an hour after everyone had already left so I’m kind of confused about that ( why did it take them that long??) anyways I felt really bad. I think my only complaint would be the musky smell in the room – you didn’t really notice it while you were there but when I got home I had to wash everything in my suitcase even if I didn’t wear it. Not a big deal to any of my guest but I’m super sensitive to smells. But as I said you didn’t really notice it while you were there. As for the specialty restaurants – my favorite was the Mexican one. If you are huge sushi fan I would not go to the Japanese one, their sushi was very disappointing; however the entrees were good. Also make sure all your men have long pants for evening dinners. They wouldn’t let one of my guests fathers in to the buffet dinner (the more casual place) because he had shorts on (though formal looking) so they were forced to have room service for dinner. We spent some of our nights upstairs in the lobby bar since it was cold outside; service was great though!. Also if you want the good liquor be sure to ask for it. The front desk was super helpful. Guests were able to leave notes to each other there. OH and the water aerobics can get awkward at the end when they make you get into a circle and massage each other faces….. nothing like getting to know your neighbor!!! We also arranged for a private tour to chitchen itza. The private van for 17 picked us up at 7:30am. It was 45$ a person and this included the entrance fee to chitchen itza, fee for a huge cenote you can jump into (it was pretty cool), private tour guide at chitchen itza, lunch at an awesome yucantan buffet place and a stop at a craft /souvenir outlet store. We didn’t get back to the hotel till 8 but it was SO worth it. Contact me if you want the company’s information. My parents did a separate tour through the hotel to Coba, it was a half day and didn’t include lunch and was about 60$ so as you can see we got a great deal. Overall though the place really is awesome and so is the service. I guess I had more to say than I thought I did. Definitely will be going back!!!

Hey ladies, I just got back from mexico and let me tell you it was amazing!!! We had the royal package with 27 guests and I couldn’t really ask for more. My one recommendation is that if you have chair bows and want them back make sure you have someone to collect them after the ceremony or they will get lost! They set up a rehearsal dinner for us the night before and the reception was semi-private at Chilies. We were told if we have had our own ipod/speakers we could bring it to the reception but we forgot.. oh well. Overall everything was great! Please let me know if you have any specific questions! Lynn

SCarp == your dress is so pretty!!! well everyone, i leave this sunday to spend some time in Tulum, before i head over to the RPRM on Dec. 1st. I'll let you know how everything goes when i get back!!! Lynn

we have had the same problem with our family and friends. THose who are most scared are those who do not travel often. My FI explained to them as this: The violence in Mexico at this point is a solely motivated by Cartels struggling for power. Their only concern is protecting their territory, drug stashes and smuggling routes through the border. Eliminating their competition means increasi...ng their market share of drugs going over the border. In the past violence against tourists in South/Central America has been caused by rebel groups who felt their interests were not being upheld by the government. Examples are the Shining Path in Peru, FARC in Columbia, and the EZLN in Southern Mexco. These groups purposefully target tourists and innnocent civilians because they wanted to make the government look powerless and cripple the economy by reducing tourism and foreign investment. All this aimed at toppling the current governments so they could rebuild and better represent their own interests That being said the current situation in Mexico differs from these movement because the motivation of the cartels is money. Therefore they will target other drug cartels and anyone else that tries to stop them ie. police, politicians, and the military. In Mexico tourism accounts for more than 14 billion dollars annually and employs millions of people. If the cartels start injuring tourists that puts a lot of money at stake and in turn puts more pressure on them from the United States and the Mexican Government. The last thing in the world that the Mexican Drug Cartels want right now is the United States getting more involved in their Drug war. As long as people avoid border towns, stay in touristy areas, and don't speak out against Mexican Cartels it is my opinion that its as safe as anywhere else. I work in the 5 th most dangerous city in the United States but i have had no problems because I avoid the bad areas. So YES! Im traveling to Mexico just not border towns and im not borrowing money from anyone in a back alley, or taking packages from strangers in airports.

Hi Everyone! I cant believe i will be leaving in 2 weeks. UNREAL! even though we have 27 people we will have the 1st seating time at Chilies which is perfect since thats the place that has the upstairs seatting and well my parents are old and need their early bird meal. Havent decided yet where to have the cocktail hour, i'm thinking at the outside bar, the same one as Dana. Other than that everything is pretty much set up. I have arranged for a day trip to Chichen Itza for the day after the wedding and me and my guest are very excited for that. The only thing i am having an issue with is trying to figure out if i really want to do a "first look" or not. any of you brides have any thoughts on this??? for me i think it would just be nice to be able to cry it out then (i know i will cry there is no way around that) and hopefully be more held together during the ceremony. Also, i'm trying to figure out the songs for the ceremony. so far this is what i'm thinking: 1.- Entrance of bridesmaids and groomsmen : all i want is you -- from the Juno soundtrack 2.- Entrance of Bride: Feels like home 3.- Signing of symbolic certificate: eye of the tiger?? I dont know... do we need a song for this? 4.- Ending: You and I by dave matthews or something by jack johnson because i am obsessed with him. AH so crazy! hope you are all doing well!!!! happy monday! Lynn

When does Dana get back? i would love to hear about her trip! I am starting to get super nervous and trying to decide everything. i dont know where to have the dinner at, chillies or boto fogo? we have only 27 people so its going to be a semi private reception. i seem to remember someone saying they also had a small group and they were seated upstairs so it was practically like a private reception. do any of you remember which resturant this was at? AH... so soon. man does time fly by! i also finally got my order in for the OOT bags. we have a large plastic cup, a mexican themed rubber duckie, little maracas key chains, some advil, shout wipes and a welcome letter.... i think that should be enough right? maybe i'll put a football in one of they guys bags so they can throw that around....... SO EXCITED!!! Where are you other ladies doing your honeymoon? i wont be having one but will be in tulum with my parents for a couple of days before heading to the RIU. Happy monday everyone!!!!

AH! so i just realized i'm about a month away! i JUST heard from the WC today, and i guess they have changed the max number of people that woudl allow you for the 1st dinner seating time of 6:30 to only 25 people. i have 27 people going so i'm praying they will let us have the 6:30 seating time.... fingers crossed. is this really happening? AH Jen - have you heard from the WC yet? i think your wedding will be the next one up after mine Dana - hope you are having a GREAT time. ps. does anyone remember where people had their cocktail hour and if there was one place preferred over another?? Lynn

So i have a couple of my guest reconsidering their trip to mexico due to the violence. sigh. Dana -- please let us know how amazying your tirp is so i can let my guest know they will be fine!!! SCarp -- i have 30, we can arrange something i'm sure just PM me! Also whats the WCs email address? i should have it here somewhere...... HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!

Hi everyone! I cant believe how fast time is flying by. i still havent heard from the RIU WC and its only a little over a month away . i will probably email her on monday if i dont hear from her then. We have about 26-28 people going and i'm super excited. i am a little pissed off though since my FI and i ended up having to pay for his mom and gma to go. paying for his mom fine, but his gma didnt even want to go at first and then they made me put everything on my credit card and i started thinking.. wait dont they have a credit card. mind you a year ago they dropped a lot of money for his sisters wedding and then havent even offered in anyway to help for ours. they also just gave his sister a bunch of money as a delayed wedding gift.. and now we have to pay for his gma to come cuz she has no money??? wtf? and we dont get a wedding gift. UGh just talking about it pisses me off.. especially since she made a whole stink about it to start off with. OH and on top of everything they dont even seem in anyway thankful that we are using our honeymoon money so they can go, kind of like they just expect it. boo. ok enough ranting. i'm excited. just ordered some chair bows - peakcock blue, so if any of you ladies would like to buy them from me afterwards let me know. went in for my final dress fitting and that went well.... and yeah other than that i think everything is all set, besides from hearing back from the WC. hope you all are doing well..... Lynn

Hey Ladies, I was wondering if any of you will be having a videographer? The RIU can provide one starting at 400$ and i'm wondering if i should just pony up the money and go for it. I mean its a lot of money but can you really put a price on memories? i dont know...... Also -- are any of you bringing outside photographers, if so what are you planning to do in terms of price for bringing them in. I heard that they are charging up to 200$ a person when i orgianlly asked they said it would only be 100$ each.. Thanks!!! Lynn

Hi Girls! sorry i have been MIA lately, just been pretty busy. going in for my first dress fitting in 2 weeks so i'm trying to work out too.. though it hasnt happened yet. With all the talk of the legal wedding, well i have a confession to make, last week me and FI went up to Seattle and had our legal wedding at the court house. My grandmother who is 94 wasnt going to be able to make it to Mexico so we thought it would be nice to include her and she was our witness along with 2 of our friends. I wore a simple blue dress i had and the Fi wore some nice pants with a button down shirt and a tie (thats pretty dressed up for him!). I was worried too that the legal ceremony was going to take a way from the "real" wedding in mexico. We orginally didnt want to exchange rings but i had brought them just in case since i didnt know if we needed them and then my grandmother made a big deal about being the one holding the rings so we just went with it. We told the judge that we were having our wedding in mexico and that this was the legal process and that we wanted to include our grandmother in a way. It was a great ceremony and the judge talked about us making this commitment with each other as a prelude to our day in mexico. i actually cried because i was so nervous and happy. it was really great over all, kind of a practice run of what i can expect on our big day in mexico. besides on our big day in mexico i'll be wearing a wedding dress so it definetly wont be the same! . i hope everyone is doing well! Nicyx -- i love the Benjamin Roberts dress.. especially the way it looks on the back. both are great choices though! Dana -- such a pretty dress you look gorgeous! are you doing a veil too? Jen -- have you heard from the RIU yet? i'm like 53 days from getting married and i havent heard from them so i'm kinda freaking out a bit... but then again not really. alright well hope you are all doing well take care!!!!!

HI everyone! Â so i just realized that i'm about 2 and half months away from my wedding. i had my rsvp deadline set for sept 20th and of course today i spent my whole time playing travel agent. Good news though is that we have about 25 people booked!!! i'm getting really excited and i'm freakin out. i have a few questions for all you up coming brides.. Â - are you planning any day trips? i'm hoping to plan a day trip to chitchen itaz with about 15 people so i was wondering if you had a tour company to recommend or know what the average cost is for a person and what does that include. - are you doing chair bows? Â - are you brining center pieces or other decorations because i orginally wasnt going to bring anything or do anything... Â and and i dont know why those statements above a bolded. anyways happy friday everyone!!!

Hi Everyone, Â For the life of me i can not find tour company information/recommendations to trips to Chichen-Itza from Playa del Carmen RPRM. A group of us are hoping to go (about 15 people or so) and i would like to arrange the transportation, entrance fee and food for them. If anyone could direct me to the correct thread or recommend any tour companies i would be so grateful. Thanks! Â