AHello fellow brides! I couldn’t skip writing a review after I desperately trolled the internet for reviews while planning my destination wedding. It turned out to be all that I hoped and more!! I hope you all have an awesome experience as well!! Pre-Planning: C As a person like likes to know that everything is planned and organized, the pre-planning process was very frustrating. We worked with a coordinator in Miami, and were not permitted to contact the onsite coordinator in Cancun until 1 month before the wedding. Fortunately, my local wedding coordinator had previous weddings at the resort when it was the Cancun Palace resort…but it changed names and was completely remodeled during our wedding planning process. (That is a completely different story…for another time). The people in the Miami office tried to be helpful, but it seemed like it took 3 or 4 cycles of conversation to get to the bottom of anything. (Note: If you get married here, I would suggest a site visit if you can afford it. All of my worries were relieved when I stepped into the resort and saw that everything was fabulous. There really are not any bad locations for a wedding or a reception. It is a BEAUTIFUL place :). Location: A+ The Hard Rock Hotel is fabulous. It is really close to the airport and located on the most beautiful beach. As soon as you see the ocean in the daylight, you know that you are about to have an amazing vacation. The renovation looks great! I really think it is the perfect resort for a group that includes a lot of young people and some children. There were plenty of things to do, lots of color and good energy. The resort was a great size, big but not too big. The rooms were gorgeous. We had the presidential suite, but we were also very impressed with the standard accommodations. We had a group of 40 and I did not hear any complaints about the quality of the rooms. I have heard people who are already wanting to go back!! Check in: B- Some of our guests checked in with no problem at all. However, for some guests (including myself and my husband) they did not show record of our deposits. After going back and forth and having them talk to the staff in Miami, they figured out our deposits were still in the Palace Resorts system and they had not transferred them into the Hard Rock system. This was so frustrating for me. When they figured out the problem (the day after we arrived) we thought everything was fine, but when we checked out there were $1200 in extra charges on my bill. Hopefully, we only had that problem because we booked our wedding when they were a palace resort. Value/Resort Dollars: A We really got a great value for our wedding. The resort dollars were certainly not the easiest thing to figure out, but I used mine to pay for my wedding hair, nails and makeup. It also covered wedding makeup for myself and my two bridesmaids. When we arrived at the spa, they had sparkling wine and snacks for us and we had the place to ourselves. My little sisters also came to the spa and used their spa credits for a manicure and pedicure. My mom used hers for a full body massage for her and my aunt. We had an awesome view of the ocean and ordered room service at the spa…it was awesome!! (Note: We booked almost everything in advance.) Staff: B+ We really loved the staff. My only complaint was that our room was not cleaned regularly enough. Sometimes we would go to breakfast and be out until 2 or 3 and come back and the room was not clean. There were also instances where I called to have the room cleaned after a particular event and no one came. I am not sure what the issue was with that. Throughout the resort, everything was very clean and the staff was really friendly and helpful. Restaurants: A- No complaints about the food. We ate a lot! :) My favorite was the Brazilian Steakhouse, but we did not have a chance to eat at the Japanese restaurant (which I have heard is awesome.). Meeting with Coordinator: A Our wedding coordinator, Paola, was very nice. She organized a tasting for us and our wedding coordinator so we could try the buffet menu before the dinner. We found out the roof top was the only location available because the resort had a band by the pool on our wedding night. At first, I was disappointed, but when I saw the roof top…I was in love. It was a really beautiful space with a view of the sunset and the lagoon. We only added an upgraded cake and audio through the resort. We brought our own linens provided by our wedding planner (Timeless Elegance Weddings, Kim Kenny) and electric candles. We used an outside florist, Maya Floral. I used my complimentary bouquet as a toss bouquet and we used the complimentary boutonniere for the minister. Maya Floral: A Our flowers were gorgeous! Highly recommend this company. We paid less than half what the resort would have charged. I brought my photographer, Nakoya Moss, with us. She did an amazing job! [IMG ALT=""]http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/content/type/61/id/175090/width/350/height/700[/IMG] [IMG ALT=""]http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/content/type/61/id/175091/width/350/height/700[/IMG] Rehearsal Dinner: A We made reservations at the International Buffet Restaurant. We practically had the resort to ourselves. It was great! Day of the Wedding: A+ I woke up to the most beautiful sunny day and view of the ocean. My mom and aunt came to my room and we ordered room service while I laid out everything and hung up my dress. Then we all went to the spa. My stylist did an amazing job on my hair and makeup. I had extensions, and she was very comfortable with them. I had to give her very little direction. We stuck with the tradition and did not do before wedding portraits. Looking back, it would not have been a bad idea to take pictures before the wedding because it took a long time after the wedding. It was a very good and relaxing morning, my photographer said we were the most relaxed pre-wedding group she’s had ?. [IMG ALT=""]http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/content/type/61/id/175087/width/350/height/700[/IMG] [IMG ALT=""]http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/content/type/61/id/175088/width/350/height/700[/IMG] [IMG ALT=""]http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/content/type/61/id/175089/width/350/height/700[/IMG] [IMG ALT=""]http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/content/type/61/id/175092/width/350/height/700[/IMG] Ceremony: A+ I really had the wedding of my dreams. Everything was soooo beautiful! I was worried about people watching, but when I came out the entire resort started applauding and cheering…it was really cool experience. People were very respectful, and I was not even thinking about onlookers during the ceremony. We brought our own minister. I was happy we did this because we were able to really design the ceremony that we wanted. We brought our own chair sashes (provided by Timeless Elegance Weddings) and our wedding coordinator tied them in bows on the chairs before the ceremony. Our wedding was at 4 p.m. on the beach. [IMG ALT=""]http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/content/type/61/id/175084/width/350/height/700[/IMG] [IMG ALT=""]http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/content/type/61/id/175085/width/350/height/700[/IMG] [IMG ALT=""]http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/content/type/61/id/175086/width/350/height/700[/IMG] Reception: A+ We had a cocktail hour and I heard the food was great! We had one table set up empire style (which was my dream) and it was perfect. We had an Ipad with preselected music playing. It was really simple but also perfect. I felt like I had the full reception experience. Afterwards, we were going to party, but I ended up in shorts and a tank hanging out with family and friends in the lobby… [IMG ALT=""]http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/content/type/61/id/175081/width/350/height/700[/IMG] [IMG ALT=""]http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/content/type/61/id/175082/width/350/height/700[/IMG] [IMG ALT=""]http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/content/type/61/id/175083/width/350/height/700[/IMG] My mom, God mom and little sister decorated our room with petals in the shape of a heart. It was super cute! Overall Experience: A+ I can honestly say, my wedding was worth all of the stress involved in planning it. I hope they streamline their process some, but if I could go back and do it again…I totally would. I hope this is helpful!! xoxo Shareea