TinkerSofi

I was in Cancun last August. We were two girls and we felt pretty safe. Always use common sense just like you would anywhere else. Only once, a car full of guys stopped by and asked us if we needed a ride, of course we said no. We were staying at the Riu Palace las Americas (which is two blocks away from all the nightlife) and we walked to and back from the clubs every night without having any issues. We sometimes even took public transit to get to tours and we felt safe too. The biggest danger you might encounter is getting swindled by a bus driver if you pay with dollars and are not very comfortable with the exchange rate, because they give you change back in pesos. Make sure you tell your guests that if they get drunk to not stir any trouble. Maybe that's when you can find more issues. When my FI went one his friends got kicked out of the hotel, they called the police and they detained him. It ended up being a huge problem because my FI and his other friends had to bail the one friend out and the police wanted bribes, etc. Long story short, make sure people don't get in trouble. Bad things can happen, just like they could whether you're in Mexico, Europe or at home, but as long as you're aware of your surroundings you'll be ok. Long reply, but I hope it helps.

That's really unfortunate. I think at that point I would turn into a total bridezilla and tell them that if they can't come they won't be able to be in the wedding because I just can't afford it. Last time I checked, no one puts a gun to their head to be in the bridal party. Maybe that's a bit mean but I have no tolerance for high maintenance people haha.

I know right! I wish I was a bridesmaid under those conditions haha, I would travel to the end of the world . Don't feel bad though, I'm sure they really appreciated that you did all that for them.

Sometimes I run payments for my mom for our family business and when you don't physically have the card the machine asks you for the security code. I know it feels weird, maybe do a bit more research, but that's my experience at least.

Those flowers are beautiful. I might consider them for boutonnieres and bridesmaid bouquets. Added to my favorites

thanks! Yeah, I think it's such a nice hotel that it's worth the extra money. We're going to do a site visit anyways, I still have lots of time to make my final decision

Good to know. I'm only having one bridesmaid and my fiance is having his two sisters. I'm only planning on giving them a color but letting them chose their own dress, so I think it's fair for them to pay their dress because they have the chance to choose something they can afford. I'll probably pay for their hair though, just as a thank you. I've only been bridesmaid once, but I paid for my dress. I never expected the bride to do so. The good thing was that the bride picked a dress at a really good price. I was still a student back then so I really appreciated it.

Ettiquete is very subjective. Sure, some things you can't get away with, but DW are so new that what is the ettiquete anyways? Do what makes you happy . I'm planning on wearing my dress as many times as I can! I'm having a small party at my house when we come back so I'll probably wear it then, and I'm having a reception in Argentina for my family that can't make it to Mexico so I'll wear the same dress again hahah. Those things are too darn expensive to wear only once so to hell with that rule! Another tradition we're breaking is our bridal party, I'm having a maid of honor (my best friend) and a "man of honor" (my brother) while my fiance is having his two sisters by his side with no groomsmen. Sometimes these "rules" are meant to be broken. I think as long as you're not offending anyone you're good. I remember back for grad (I live in Canada so no proms here) everyone changed to jeans to go to the after party. I conformed and did the same as my friends and I always regretted it. My dress was beautiful, and expensive too, and I only wore it for like 2 hours. I'm never making that same mistake again, so my wedding dress will be worn until I squeeze all the juice out of it hahah. I'm not pretending to be the queen of England. I'm just having fun and doing what makes me happy, tacky or not. Some people are just so judgemental about weddings and they forget that you could have easily left them off your guest list and saved the money. They should be happy for you and happy to be sharing such a special day with you.

Their setup fee is quite ridiculous. They're also kinda vague, they say $150 and up, but I would like to know what counts as "up", just to make sure the set up doesn't cost me more than the decorations haha. I guess there's no getting away from hidden fees for all resorts. I wonder if it's actually that hard to make a sheet with all these extra costs? It wouldn't just reduce bride stress, but it would also save the coordinator many e-mails and headaches.

That's a very nice dress! I'm not a huge fan of ruffles, but your dress looks really nice, or at least you make it look nice

Thanks! So far that's close to the price I've found for May. I really like beach palace, so I might push the envelope there a little bit haha. I was hoping to keep it under $1500 but by the time I get married I think I'll be the only student among my guests haha, they can afford it. I'm also looking at Gran Caribe Real, which is a little bit cheaper for the guests but they don't give you as many perks. Did you book through a travel agent?

Yeah, I should be thinking of the money and the headaches that I'm saving haha. My fiance 100% sure he did not want to get married here. I didn't really care either way so we're going with what he wants. I'm certainly happy that we went this way. Just thinking about planning a wedding here gives me a headache and stresses me out. I just have to remind myself, those who want to and can come will be there and for those that won't, we'll always see them when we get back. We're planning on having a small party when we get back anyways because our house will be brand new and we'll be moving in together for the first time

That's what I heard too, which is a shame. It seems like they're still the same owner, or at least they have very similar wedding packages.

Yes, so far we've told them that we're having a destination wedding in Mexico and gave them a rough idea of the time of the year. Most of them say they would go. We're also about 2 years away from the wedding, so we want to give people lots of heads up. We're vacationing in Mexico next month so I just wanted to create a shortlist of a couple of hotels to check out and see what they offer. I think I'll also check out that travel agent that someone mentioned above, but I want to do that a bit closer to the wedding, just so I don't feel like I'm wasting their time when my wedding is so far away hahah. Rates can change a lot in 2 years . Thank you ladies for the suggestions.

Ok that's great! Yeah, we want a 4 hr reception so we knew we would have to pay extra for that one hour, but at least I don't have to pay for all 4 . I'm thinking of making and bringing most of my decor and renting out the bigger stuff.

I loved majestic elegance when I went there for a vacation. You made a good choice

Thanks for all the help everyone. I'm still dealing with the guilt of having a destination wedding and I don't want to make my guests pay too much . The fiance has no guilty feelings, he says that all he's doing is just asking people to take their vacation at a specific time and place, that so happens to be our wedding haha. I don't see it that way, but I'm trying. It is my day and I should do what makes me happy. If it was up to me I'd go to beach palace, they have some really nice perks for booking a lot of nights with them, but so far, trips are at around $1700 a head, so again, guilty feelings get the best of me haha.

I'm wondering if anyone is getting or has been married at the Beach Palace Cancun. We're thinking of having a May wedding but before I even go down there to look at hotels I want to know how much my guests would be expected to pay for their trip. I don't want to have my wedding where only a few people can afford it. I'm from Calgary, any brides who were able to keep their guests' trip costs at $1500 or under? Where did you go and what month did you get married?

Do you know if you are you allowed to use your group booking rewards towards a free reception if you get the complimentary package? It just seems too good to be true...

What about offering to pay for half of their trip? I wish I could pay for my grandparents to come from Argentina, but unfortunately we'll also be buying a house at around the same time so it won't be possible . We'll be on a pretty tight budget too. On the other hand, if you can't cut down those costs, how about for example having decor that does not include flowers, or not too many flowers? There's lots of good options out there, and flowers can get expensive quickly. I'm planning on spending on most of my decor budget for for the reception decor. Given that the ceremony is so short, I think it's kind of a waste of money, and the ocean as a backdrop is beautiful anyways. I'll just keep it simple but nice. Also, what about keeping the welcome bags to a minimum? I'm sure your guests wouldn't mind. Shop at your local dollar store, include only practical items that people would actually use, like sunscreen, and cut out all the nice-but-not-so-necessary items. I know a lot of people like to personalize their bags and it adds a nice touch, but maybe you can cut down on that cost too. After all, are people really going to use that bag afterwards? I just hate wasting my money on things that people will never use. I can find a million ways to better spend it Another way we're thinking of cutting down some costs is by sending invites early in advance rather than std and invites. I'm planning on making my own invites, but vistaprint also has some nice ones for budget-minded brides.

Does anyone have any newer reviews now that the re-branding has settled (hopefully). I'm not finding much on this hotel and their weddings.

Haha, I'm letting him choose whatever he wants, after all he's not really getting a say on my dress, and he has good taste so I'm not worried. I just don't want him to be sweating on the pictures and I want him to enjoy himself. We've only gone to tropical places in August so if that was the case I wouldn't let him wear black for his own sake.

These are beautiful. I'm totally going to copy parts of it, but I won't be making save the dates, so they'll be turned into invitations. I also have to make some in Spanish, I think DIY invitations will almost be a bit easier.

These are a great idea! They also look fun to make!

I think it's good to give people a deadline to reduce your stress. Usually when you give people a date they already know if they can come or not. @Melissa. What if you send people a reminder? Like an e-mail or give them a call. Maybe they forgot to RSVP. My FI and I got invited to a wedding and I thought he had RSVP'd because he's closer friends with the groom than I am, but he hadn't. The groom just sent me a text to remind me so I went into their website and did it. I didn't see anything wrong with that, people usually understand that a lot of decisions are based on their response.