melanderic2017

Here's my wedding & Resort Review. We got married on May 9, 2017 The Wedding Day: The wedding day was incredible. I couldn’t have asked for a better day! We had a total of 30 guests for our big day (including us). It started in the spa where my mom and I got our hair and makeup done. The service at the front desk of the spa seemed a bit lacking (no smiles at all) but once we sat down to get our hair done, the ladies were great! My hair and makeup stayed in place for the entire wedding day, I can’t believe it! A huge shout-out to Laura. Our day couldn’t have gone the way it did without her. Thank you so much for everything you did to make sure that we were on-time even when we were running late, and making sure that every step of the way went well. The flowers were delivered to us, and were beautiful. Almost exactly what I envisioned. The ceremony was perfect. We had this on the beach. Everything was set-up as I wanted, except for the cocktail table that my groom took care of moving (I didn’t want it under the bamboo arch, but that was an easy fix). The only note I had was that the lanterns lining the walkway were much smaller than I expected, from the pictures I sent in advance. The dinner was done perfectly at the Nautica Beach Bar. We had our backs facing the water so that the water was in the background. Laura checked in on me throughout with any little details that may need to be tweaked! We had two allergies we weren’t aware of before the big day, and they were accommodated! The only note I had was that the flowers in the cylinders were also not the colour I requested, so I was a bit disappointed there, but it still worked great. Thank you for your on-the-fly thinking Laura, and the whole team, for making sure everything went well! Francisco, was also great! He was the resort designated MC, however my uncle did the MC job. So he made sure that everyone signed our guestbook puzzle pieces and date-night cards, and made sure that all loose-ends were tied while Laura was away doing something else. To the DJ, he played all of my requested songs, and made sure that everyone was up and dancing all night. For someone who plans events for a living, the Royalton team managed to turn my event-focused brain off, and make me rest assured that the entire day went off without a hitch. Something that I didn’t think would be possible, became a reality. Thank you again for everything. Photography: We went with Moments That Matter Photography. From beginning to end, work with MTM Photography was a breeze! E-mails were very quickly tended to before the wedding date, and the planning process was very easy. On the day of the wedding, our main photographer was Lincoln and his lovely wife Silvina. We had an amazing day with them both. They sure aren't afraid of getting dirty, and getting so many different creative shots. We would work with them again in a heartbeat, and will be sure to recommend to anyone getting married in the Mayan Riviera We got our pictures, and they're so great that it's hard to pick which ones to print, and which ones to get enlarged. Thanks again for everything you have done to make our wedding day that much more memorable. The pictures will last a lifetime, and make our dream day go on. Here's our wedding picture teasers: https://www.momentsthatmatterphotography.com/single-post/2017/05/09/The-Royalton-Riviera-Cancun-a-wedding-day-for-a-King-Queen Event Planning Company: We went with Luxe Destination weddings based out of Toronto to take care of the travel planning and event planning for our wedding. This way we were able to start planning from day 1, and weren't restricted to the 4-month timeline that most brides seem to complain about. I have everything pre-planned almost a year out, with tweaking based on the budget as we got closer to the date. My travel planner was Christy, and Wedding Planner was Alexandra. They both were amazing! www.luxedestinationweddings.com Food: Breakfast: We ate most of our breakfasts at the Carribbean Restaurant, which has a picturesque view of the ocean and beach! The patio is nicest as there is a breeze, and it’s quite warm in the restaurant. The service can be a little slow, but if you’re up for a little wait and enjoying a morning coffee with a great view, this is the place for you. The best breakfast experience was the Agave Restaurant. We had great service here, but only ate there once for breakfast, as we preferred the ocean view! I can’t remember our server’s name, but I believe it was Alfonso? It would have been Monday, May 8th on the Patio. The buffet is plentiful for breakfast and every option imaginable is available. We opted against it for the most part as we wanted to enjoy the ocean in the morning, and the Carribean restaurant was closer to our room. We also loved our server (his name starts with an S... Sansergio I think??) Very happy to serve us and even remembered my partner’s order! Lunch: The Italian restaurant was a great option for lunch, with smaller yet delicious portions. The Wood Oven pizza was divine, as well as a the calamari! The Carribean Grill has some decent lunch options. We ate here once for lunch. The Buffet again has a wide selection, but we preferred outdoor options for our lunches! Dinner: Our favorite dinner was by far the Zen restaurant for sushi. The sushi selection was divine and by far the best sushi I have ever had at an all-inclusive resort! We also had Tappenyaki at Zen which was a great show, but the food was just average for us. Agave’s menu was slightly disappointing. I was expecting more than just tacos. There were a few other options other than tacos, but to me that’s not the only Mexican type of food out there. The desserts were also pretty disappointing. The dinner service was also the worst we had all week. We waited over 30 mins as the first on the waiting list. About 30 people left the restaurant before we were seated. A little bit ridiculous. The restaurant was more than half empty when we were seated! The Buffet’s selection was always plentiful, but the service wasn’t the same as the a la carte restaurants. I think there was only 1 meal we had here where the server actually seemed happy working! Rehearsal Dinner – We had a semi-private dinner included with our wedding package, and opted to use it as a rehearsal dinner in a section of the buffet. The meal was fabulous. We had a tortilla soup, followed by a chicken with tomato sauce (a bit bland, but the chicken was soooo juicy!) and a tres leche cake which everyone loved! It was beautifully set up, and the flaming show drinks at the end were an unexpected yet awesome touch! Would love to know what the flaming tower shot was actually called. Hunter’s Steak House – The steak here was divine, though if you like your meat well done, make sure to specify as they tend to undercook. My pork was very tough, so I would choose something else if I was ever back here. Raoul was a great server! The Facilities: We loved the resort as a whole. Incredibly well-kept grounds, and very well manicured! The pools are all beautiful, and temperatures were reasonable. Our friend’s swim up pool was the coolest temperature but it was extremely refreshing in the hot sun! Beach & Beach Service: The beach did have some seaweed, but that can’t be avoided. It was still very swimmable, and the first few days were clear waters! We noticed that there are mini sting-rays at the bottom of the shallow water, and lots of fish around too. It’s too bad I didn’t get to snorkel while it was clear. Would have been amazing! The service on the far end of the beach (near building 9) for drinks was hit and miss. It is the farthest away from the beach bar, so it would take a long time to get drinks, but we did have the best service from Marco, who was very pleasant, and even surprised us with some drinks we had yet to try. The Room: We were upgraded to the Presidential Suite in room 9201, which had a fantastic private view of the beach and mangrove, right at the end of the resort. It was absolutely perfect. I didn’t expect such a lovely upgrade, but it was great for the wedding day and getting ready with the girls!! A big thank you to Alonso that cleaned our room every day. I did have to call on the wedding day to have the room cleaned, as it was 1 hr before the wedding, and nobody had come to clean the room yet, but after the call, it was cleaned! The fridge was also always stocked with delicious beverages! Our Guests feedback: We had nothing but positive remarks from our guests for the wedding day and their week stay. They thanked us numerous times saying that we couldn’t have picked a better resort!

Hi Shakdaniel! I think your budget would be realistic if you brought a lot of your decor from home. The decor and flowers are the most expensive part at the resort. You're looking at paying I believe it was $1500-$2000 for the Sky Terrace (Can't remember exactly).... Plus which ever wedding package you include. Private Dinners are about $30-$40 per person for a 3 course set meal. The DJ is expensive, at $315 per hour. We opted for outside photography. It's an $850 charge, plus the photography. All-in-all though, my wedding is costing me about $10,000 USD for 32 people. (We opted for the beach ceremony, followed by the Nautica Beach Bar).

I don't think it'll be the covered area but I'm not sure yet I went with one of their basic DJ packages without the lights. Didn't feel I needed a lighting package for dancing As long as there's good music, I'm ready to go!

We're actually doing large pillar candles around the beach bar (fake ones) instead of the string lights! We want to keep it more romantic You should look into these! No dance floor for us, we're going to use the space in front of the bar on the wood floor as a dance floor!

No way - I'm May 9th I get to the resort on the 6th. Can't wait to see your setup at the beach bar - my reception is there too! What are you doing for Decorations, centrepieces, etc.... Did you go with the string lights?

When's your wedding in May??

We haven't factored in travel to that cost, but we did get a discount for having a certain number of rooms booked, and applied some of it to our trips. The rest was given to our siblings. We're looking at about $1400 CAD each for our all-inclusive travel & resort stay, with our discount (That's roughly $1100 USD). I've always wanted some dreamy pictures, as they will be the memories that last forever. To me it's the most important part of my day, as I want it to be remembered in the best way possible! I ended up spending about $3500USD on the photographer, for 6 hours. This includes I believe about 800 pictures too, so way more than what the resort offered with their packages! Thankfully I feel like the hardest parts are over for me and I can just sit back and relax

We decided to have them make them for us! With 33 people, all-inclusive, including DJ, outside photographer, flowers, and the whole wedding, I'm looking at about $15,000 CAD (So about $11,000USD)

We're doing 3 vases with electronic lights at the bottom, rocks at the bottom, filled with water and some tropical flowers. One of the vases will have starfish accents in each centrepiece.

I think they're much larger pillar candles than normal, and different heights. I would just be putting them around the perimeter for the most part I believe. Plus we get free tiki torches! So the combination will be really pretty

Hi there! I don't know about the setup fee, but My planner recommended pillar candles that were way cheaper than the string lights! The beach bar is pretty lit up on it's own from the picture's I've seen so you may want to look into that option?

Congrats Valerie!!! I found that working with a destination wedding planning company, I was able to get all of my details and pricing in advance, which is a blessing in disguise! I know that I ended up asking for a custom menu in regards to wanting the Mexican Family Style menu, served as a plated, and they were able to give me pricing. So I imagine if it's something they already have or make, that you may be able to incorporate it into your menu. It may not be the same price obviously, since an hors d'oeuvre size is totally different than a starter course for a meal Hopefully that helps!

Congrats on your big day!! My last day at the resort is May 13th, but who knows we might cross paths! Looks like there's a ton of brides that week, let's all say hi to each other on our wedding days My wedding date is May 9th - Beach ceremony, followed by the Nautica beach bar!

Sending you a quick e-mail with the quote my destination wedding planner sent to me

Hi Tina! Let me know if there's anything I might be able to help with. I've been working on my wedding there for a while with Luxe Destination Weddings, and they've been super helpful to give me a full quote in advance So I have the full breakdown in my pricing! Good luck, it's right around the corner now!! Melanie