Jess4219

Hello Everyone Planning Their Wedding at Riu Palace, I can't believe it's almost going to be a year already since I got married there in August 2012. I remember around this time last year reading all the great forums and using all the great information to plan my wedding. My husband and I read a lot and we did our homework. Future brides....You are going to love the Riu Palace. Do not panic!!! Be patient with the wedding coordinators. They are really busy planning and organizing all the current weddings. They will respond and they are really helpful. Our WC Kylene was awesome. I thought we picked a great time in August. They don't seem to be as busy as we did what we wanted because we were the only ones to get married that day. Marco the minister was awesome. Go ahead and read our short review "when we got back from our honeymoon". There's also some pictures we posted from our wedding. We loved it and so did all of our guests. Yes, early August is really hot and humid but it didn't bother us since we knew ahead of time. DO NOT HAVE YOUR RECEPTION INDOORS!! The disco is really dark. We did our homework. Trust me. We looked at ALL options and what we decided on was the best. The outside views are awesome for dinner and reception ( the steakhouse upstairs for dinner, mexican restaurant terrace, or Baja Norte will work best). Our travel agent was awesome. We found her through this website. Teresa Sterling with Vacation For Less. She's based out of Los Angeles. Overall, we all had a blast!!! Read our review. Congratulations MRuiz2013, I am hoping that the WC has contacted you by now. It's been a week since your last post. I too, was freaking out when I wouldn't hear from the WC but overall we had good communication through email. We were making changes and switches up until the week we left for Cabo. We did our homework though after reading all the forums and studying pictures. Read our review under one of the forums under my name JESS4219. I also recently posted some updates on other recent forums under "Destination Weddings in Cabo" and then under the Riu Palace Comments. There's really no way around the DJ price. We got the DJ and lighting package. But we ended up taking our own music list on Ipods and he played the music for us. It would cost about the same if we just asked for speakers and iPod stations. Might as well get the DJ with the lighting package. It was worth it. Lights made a difference. Having the reception outdoors is the best choice. It's too hot to be indoors and the view outside is awesome in evening and the night breeze is the best. We had a BLAST at the Baja Norte.

Hello Everyone Planning Their Wedding at Riu Palace, I can't believe it's almost going to be a year already since I got married there in August 2012. I remember around this time last year reading all the great forums and using all the great information to plan my wedding. My husband and I read a lot and we did our homework. Future brides....You are going to love the Riu Palace. Do not panic!!! Be patient with the wedding coordinators. They are really busy planning and organizing all the current weddings. They will respond and they are really helpful. Our WC kylene was great. Our travel agent, Teresa Sterlingfrom Vacation For Less was awesome.READ OUR REVIEW on one of the forums under our account. There's some pictures on there too. Congratulation Houstonnlh, Your wedding came out great!!! That's awesome!! You look outstanding!!! Sounds like everyone had a BLAST!! Guess what....so did we. Our guests and us are still talking about it almost a year later. Sounds like we have similar tastes: Rev Marco was so cool and he did a great job for us (in English and Spanish), the Baja Norte is the perfect location, great choice on the flowers (see some orange fusia in there), the DJ and lighting package was perfect. We like nice things Houstonnlh. Everyone planning their wedding at the Riu........listen to Houstonnlh. I couldn't agree more with her. We did a lot of similar things and our weddings came out great. We also had a lively group and rented the same cruise ship as a Welcoming Party for all our guests and had a blast. The resort is awesome. I also believe the Riu is underrated. High Five Houstonnlh. I am really happy for you. Our weddings were the BOMB!!! Good luck to future Riu brides.

Hello Everyone Planning Their Wedding at Riu Palace, I can't believe it's almost going to be a year already since I got married there in August 2012. I remember around this time last year reading all the great forums and using all the great information to plan my wedding. My husband and I read a lot and we did our homework. Future brides....You are going to love the Riu Palace. Do not panic!!! Be patient with the wedding coordinators. They are really busy planning and organizing all the current weddings. They will respond and they are really helpful. Our WC was awesome. I thought we picked a great time in August. They don't seem to be as busy and we did what we wanted because we were the only ones to get married that day. Marco the minister was awesome. Read our short review when we got back from our honeymoon. There's also some pictures we posted from our wedding. We loved it and so did all of our guests. Yes, early August is really hot and humid but it didn't bother us since we knew ahead of time. DO NOT HAVE YOUR RECEPTION INDOORS!! The disco is really dark. We did our homework. Trust me. We looked at ALL options and what we decided on was the best. The outside views are awesome for dinner and reception ( the steakhouse upstairs for dinner, mexican restaurant terrace, or Baja Norte will work best). Our travel agent was awesome. We found her through this website. Teresa Sterling with Vacation For Less. She's based out of Los Angeles. Overall, we all had a blast!!! Read our review. Shayt2412, I got the chair sashes locally in Los Angeles at a party supply store. The lady let me rent them for a whole week. I packed them and took them with me along with the table covers, napkins, etc.. They don't have many colors to pick from at Riu. The colors and me packing them was worth it.

Terbear, Rain or Shine, You are now married to your best friend and that's the most important thing. Congratulations! P.S. Rain is a sign of abundance, a lucky omen

Hello Ladies, here are my answers to your questions. I bought the paper fans at Asian ideas.com Gift bags: travel size items like, Advil, Alka-Seltzer packets, a welcome letter and Itinerary of wedding week events. Also sunscreen bottle, lotion, gum, pedicure kit, emergen-C packets, Chapstik, etc. We choose to have the dinner at the Steakhouse and move to Baja Norte for reception to use the semi-private dinner included in the wedding packet, instead of paying $32.00Plus per person for each plate. I didn’t like the RIU photographer(s), but I knew this before I booked them, this is why I only booked them for one hour, all of my family/friends had professional cameras but I knew they wouldn’t capture enough pictures during the ceremony. I paid $500.00 for one-hour of pictures on a CD. Regarding table linens and chair sashes, I brought all of my stuff to Cabo, even cloth napkins. They do not have many colors to choose from.

I’m back from my honeymoon and here’s my review of the RIU Palace and Our Wedding Reception/Check-in Horrible, it’s a circus. Their way of doing things is so old; they need computers. The staff works off print-out paper and there’s always guest at the counter complaining about something. Two of our guest, got double booked (meaning someone else walked into their rooms) they are a true mess, LOL but onnce you get passed that, the resort itself is Beautiful and the food is okay/good. The dinner system were you have to wake-up early to make dinner reservations at their specialty restaurants… .sucks! We didn’t even bother! The Medano Buffet, is huge and has a variety of food selection. The staff is amazing and sweet, the entertainment staff and nightly shows are fun. The beds, not the most comfy and the sheets are hard. The showers are narrow, small and slippery. The grounds clean and tidy. Wedding Coordinator Kylene…she was great over emails (I did carry out all communication with her in Spanish) that might have helped. She always got back to me, with my many questions and during our wedding she met all of my request and expectations. She didn’t miss one detail. Welcome Bags Each morning I gave the front desk labeled bags (they prefer you write the person’s first and last name) to give everyone. We had 35 guests. No problems there. “Welcome dinner†We had a semi-private dinner at the San Jose Mexican restaurant and invited everyone to come. It was out on the terrace overlooking the ocean. That was beautiful, the staff was amazing! This was included thru our travel agent (Vacations for Less/Wright Travel agency) we worked with Teresa Stauring ([email protected]) she was amazing and took care of our entire guest, booking their rooms and flights. She blocks the rooms and works together with the RIU, thru going that route we got some complimentary services/credit (one being the semi-private rehearsal dinner) No extra money was paid to Teresa, nor for the dinner. Reverend Marco Arechiga is extraordinary, I knew from my research and from seeing him on youtube that I wanted him to marry us. He is funny, but knows when to be meaningful; he’s inspirational and knows how to make each ceremony memorable. Loved him! Photography We choose to book the RIU photographer for one-hour, during the ceremony. We had plenty of family and friends with video cameras and professional cameras. We even did our own, “trash the dress†photo shoot the next day, jumping into the pool and at Lover’s beach. The pictures are awesome, I hope I can share (if I can figure out how to download them) Ceremony Set up I brought my own chair sashes in orange and fuchsia, fans, ribbon wands and ceremony music. Kylene did an awesome job with the set-up. Dinner At Mar de Cortes, Steakhouse Restaurant, it was lovely. I had custom menus and votive candles, flower petals and starfish as decor. We cut the cake here too. Reception At Baja Norte, with open bar. Set-up just like a normal reception with round tables, table linens I provided and all of my decorations. We had a DJ, that mixed songs from our IPODS. Our guest danced non-stop and had a great time. Flowers I ordered centerpieces, 3 extra boutonnieres, 2 wrist corsages and the matron of honor’s bouquet. I was happy with the flowers; however the wrist corsages were VERY CHEAP and wouldn’t stay in place. The boutonnieres too were not the best ( I don’t know if anyone else had this problem). My bouquet was beautiful and so were the 2 medallions that decorated the Gazebo. Well I hope this helps. I know we did a ton of homework on the resort, and on every single detail. We have a 2-inch “wedding†binder with all of our notes, print-outs of every email, schedules, maps, vouchers, transportation info, blog reviews, pictures, and checklist but it was all worth it, our wedding couldn’t have been better! J We used a lot of everyone’s advice and tips from this website. “Thank you†to previous brides, and happy planning to future brides. Jess

Hello Ladies & Gentleman I'm packing and getting ready to leave in 2 days. My fiance and I were vacationing in cabo this exact week last year 2011 and little did I know I would return in a year to get married there. LOL, wow life is crazy. We know exactly what type of weather to expect; HOT & HUMID!! This is why I opted for two dressed: a formal lace for ceremony and a fun strapless short one to get down on the dance floor. I am packing, linens, table runners, starfish, welcome bags, menus, ribbon wands, sashes, etc. I have 35 guest and my wedding coordinator is Kylene, she has been great replying to all of my questions thru email. We're not having a private menu but I am having my reception at the Baja Norte. I'm taking a different approach and will tell you all about it once I get back. Wish me luck. Asta pronto, Jess4219

My wedding is in 20 days, I'm having the reception at the baja norte, without the private menu. I want to know if anyone knows what time the pool bar closes; we want to cut cost and not pay $500 for an open bar. Thanks.

Question Ladies, Is an open bar necessary at the baja norte? Isn't there a bar near by? I think I read that somewhere. Thanks

Brittani I want to hear how your wedding turned out!! Please tell.

Erika, Thanks for answering all of my questions, it helps tremendously with my planning

Erika, Congratulations!!! Your wedding was so beautiful. I love the bridesmaid dresses, the origami flowers, the colors, the hair do's and the sticks with strings (so cute) Everything look great, we have similar taste Questions: 1. Did you have a cake? 2. How much did you pay for each centerpiece? they are beautiful, and I'm afraid my budget is too tight for them. 3. Did you have live music or a DJ? How did that workout? 4. Who did you use for photography? Sorry for the hundred questions. . . lol Thanks for your time. P.S. Thanks for the information about Renova Spa

Kary, Congratulations! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, tips and pictures with us. We really appreciate it!!!!!! Everything about your wedding looked fun, well organized and beautiful. Can you tell me more about the old riu florist your parents ventured to and also how you froze and smuggled the rose petals. . . LOL Thanks.

Unbelieveable!! I would be furious. This makes me very nervous for my upcoming wedding. I also wish I would have done more reasearch on other resorts. The Riu, has too many stupid rules.