We were married at the Now Jade Riviera Cancun in November 2013. Ceremony (Pergola): 4pm - it was moved to a 'corridor' at the front of the building due to rain Cocktail hour (Orange Lounge): 6pm Reception (Castaways): 7-11pm We had 42 guests.

Wedding Package: Divine Before I begin, I want to say that our wedding week was awesome because for us, it was all about the experience and quality time we spent with our guests. We had a blast, as did all of our guests! I've pointed out my concerns for the benefit of future brides (because I found these reviews helpful) but I don't want to make anyone fret - the DW experience is awesome (even with hiccups!). The extent of our decor/wedding things we packed is as follows: -Wedding favors (turquoise flip-flop shaped bottle openers) -Thank you cards for each person (with multiple engagement photos on them - placed next to the wedding favor) -A map of Cancun - we had our guests sign the border as our 'guest book' -Paper lanterns (coral, white, and turquoise) -Table Numbers and Seating Charts (made with scrapbook paper) -Paper fans We didn't want to pack centrepieces, table runners, bows, etc.

Check-in: The check-in experience was awful for our guests - it was lengthy and there were too few staff members working. The resort staff claimed it was the busiest day they've experienced...we waited at least 40 minutes to check-in at the 'personal lobby area' and our guests waited even longer.

Communication: Our original contact/wedding coordinator quit/was fired at some point in the months leading up to our wedding. We continued to email her at the address provided, not realizing she had been fired and not realizing that her email address was left unchecked/unforwarded. We were 'patient' in waiting for her response, as we'd read they can be very busy and take awhile to respond. We eventually reached the WC by emailing the resort's concierge...it was very stressful. I finally received a call from the *new* wedding coordinator on the Friday before we left for Mexico (we left on the Sunday) to confirm 'last-minute' details (which was pretty much everything, as we had reached out to our original contact 45 days prior to our wedding). We feel as though the first WC provided incorrect information considering the new WC didn't know what we were talking about re. some issues.

Accommodation value: Overall, we/our guests were pleased with what we paid for given the facilities. We also booked almost 18 months in advance so we paid approx. $1440/person/week based on double occupancy. I wouldn't want to pay more than that though. The food served in the various restaurants was very tasty - although everyone felt as it was loaded with too much salt. Overall though, we were satisfied. The buffet also provided a great selection of foods/dishes. Our room was clean and very nice. Sometimes, housekeeping took forever to come in and clean (3-4pm), which many guests complained about.

Overall, everyone was pleased with their rooms. We enjoyed the privacy of having been upgraded to the preferred suite area. General location: The resort is in a great location - it was a quick stop after the airport, which cuts down on travel time. It was also great because you could take a quick trip into Puerto Morelos (we went there for a few hours one day and also took wedding photos there) and you could safely swim in front of the resort (we even snorkelled). Wedding value: They charge A LOT for add-ons ($5/bow, etc. - see resort pamphlets/documents), which I assume is where they make their money. I don't think the overall cost of our wedding reflects the value we received that day with particular reference to the terrible dinner we were served, my poor make-up application, the sub-par photos we received from Adventure Photos, and the less-than-ideal ceremony location (more on these issues to follow). Wedding sites:

Our ceremony was relocated from the Pergola to a lengthy corridor at the front of the resort. The corridor was long and the colour of the walls didn't make for the best photos. The 'stand' that they used to hold the flowers looks like it's tipping to the side in our photos...We were really hoping to be at the Pergola and despite the fact it had stopped raining 20-30 mins before the ceremony, they moved us to the new location. The Orange Lounge isn't private for cocktail hour...I'd definitely recommend the Mix Bar/Beach Bar. While it wasn't a huge 'issue' for us, if you want privacy, the Orange Lounge isn't your best bet. Castaways was VERY hot - we/our guests were dripping with sweat (there's no A/C and it's open to outside). We had purchased hand-held paper fans for our guests but those could only do so much. Meeting with the wedding coordinator: We met with our WC the day after we arrived. The process of selecting flowers, etc. was very simple and they had the colour of bows we wanted. Isela was very nice and helpful. Flowers: We had bright pink roses for the boutonnieres, my bouquet, and the corsages. The BM had hot pink gerber daisies. All of the flowers turned out very nicely (and look fantastic in our photos). We also decided not to pay for flowers for our cake and yet our cake was covered in roses (they looked awful!)...

Getting Ready: My BM and I met at 8am to get our hair done (I also had an appointment for make-up - as part of the Divine package). Two of my BM had to fix their hairstyles, as their hairstyles didn't accurately reflect the photos they had picked. Their hair looked good but not 'perfect' (if that makes sense?). I LOVED my hair - I used two photos as examples of what I wanted (one for the front, one for the back) and the stylist did an amazing job. She secured my unruly hair with loads of hairspray, which held up until the dancing started later in the evening (by that point, the style held in place but it was a hot, frizzy mess - to be expected in that humidity, with that amount of dancing!). The make-up on the other hand was....awful. The woman took about 5 minutes to do almost everything. I couldn't see myself in a mirror - they had me sit facing the windows. So it wasn't until my photographer suggested she 'take a photo' of my make-up that I realized how bad it looked! It looked like the artist had used crayon as eyeliner and NOTHING was blended...I wanted to cry. My photographer suggested I do my make-up myself, which was less than ideal, as I hadn't prepared for that...I went back to my room where my BM were and they couldn't believe how bad the make-up looked. I ended up washing off all of the make-up and doing my own. This set us back about 45 minutes and I'm still disappointed with how my make-up looks (it doesn't look like a professional did it...which they didn't. It could've been 'softer'). The groomsmen met at 10am for breakfast and got ready afterwards (with one of our photographers).

Pre-ceremony Photos: My husband and I wanted to do photos ahead of the ceremony to ensure we had time to hang out with our guests before the cocktail hour. We planned to go into Puerto Morelos for photos with our wedding party (on the beach, pier, and with the lighthouse). We planned to do first-look photos at 11am and then head out afterwards. Given the make-up debacle, the first look didn't happen until closer to noon. We still had time to do photos in PM and then in the lobby/around the resort. We highly recommend going to PM ahead of time! The photos were great and the adventure was fun! Ceremony: As I mentioned, our ceremony was relocated to a long corridor at the front of the resort. It was less than ideal, as the set-up was 'meh', the wall colour wasn't great in the background of the photos, and we had our hearts set on the beach breeze/pergola set up. We told the WC we didn't want to use the resort photographer because we had our own photographers with us and yet he showed up. After discussing our concerns with him (namely, that he would be in the way of our own photographers), he promised he wouldn't be but then many of our ceremony pictures were ruined by him blocking their shots...The videographer was also in nearly all of our ceremony photos. It was definitely less than ideal....I wished we would have just sent him away. We received our photobook (part of the Divine package) and our friends/family roar with laughter at some of the photos/can't believe how poor the print quality is/lack of touch-ups, etc. We are SO grateful our friends could attend - who are professional wedding photographers (we paid them for their services). The ceremony itself was great (not too long) and the music was beautiful (we had violins).

Cocktail Hour: As I mentioned, the Orange Lounge isn't private, so if that's a concern of yours, I'd avoid it. We didn't get to sample any of the hors d'oeuvres ahead of time, which would've been nice because it was a shot in the dark. Thankfully - everyone said they were tasty! The resort made our specialty drink (it was turquoise) to match our decor, which was awesome! It tasted yummy, too. Reception: The DJ was fantastic! He played all of the music we requested and had us/our guests dancing all night! The music was really great!!! The WC and co. did a great job of decorating Castaways - our paper lanterns were organized so nicely and look great in the background of our photos. The floor in Castaways is also unreal - it looks so cool in our wedding photos (it's kind of a turquoise hue - in line with our wedding colours). The problem with Castaways is that it's open to the outside air, so it's VERY hot. We could've used A/C... Our other issue with Castaways is that we wanted our party to go longer and we couldn't have it past 11pm. The cake was SO tasty - by far the best food we ate during the meal! (It would've been nice if those roses weren't on it though.) The meal itself was VERY disappointing...the ahi tuna was dark grey, dry, and very overcooked. Multiple guests asked where the cranberry sauce was, as they thought it was turkey...some thought it was pork...it was SO bad. I reported this the following day and there was no indication that they cared about our poor experience (in terms of returning some of our money). Many of our guests didn't even eat it....we felt like we received poor value for money when it came to the food (especially when you consider you pay so much extra for each person over 25). I wouldn't recommend the tuna, or even upgrading to the Divine package if you're only doing it for the different menu. All of the stuff we provided the WC with was returned to us the following day. We ended up giving most of it back though, as we didn't feel the need to bring a bunch of paper lanterns home.

After the Reception: We returned to our room after the reception and we found a beautiful spread of flowers, chocolate-covered strawberries, etc. Unfortunately, our strawberries were COVERED in ants!!! We called the Front Desk to ask for new ones and they never showed up...

Photographers/Videographers: The video we received from the resort was under 20 minutes long (not the 30-minutes promised in the package). It was well done though, which sort of makes up for less content. The photos we received were...kind of awful. It was REALLY hard for us to select photos to put in the wedding album that they printed for us as part of the Divine Package...the quality wasn't great and the photographer took a lot of shots from down low, so there's a lot of weird angles. We really don't like those photos... My primary recommendations to any DW bride/groom: *Consider taking your own photographer/hiring one from outside of the resort *Have a make-up back-up plan *Enjoy the experience...at the end of the day, the issues identified above don't stand out about our wedding day. When we ask our guests about their experience, their first response isn't, "Man, that tuna..." It's, "That was a wicked wedding week! So much fun!" We had a great time with our family and friends, which is ultimately, all that matters/what we wanted! :)