Newbie: Riviera Maya, Mexico 11-30-13

   Hi everyone, congratulations on the engagements and upcoming weddings.  I have been engaged for a few months now and have been reading this site daily, its perfect!  I meant to post a while ago, but there are so many things going on, I couldn't get my thoughts together. 

I am planning on getting married on 11-30-13 in Riviera Maya, Mexico.  We have narrowed our resorts down to: Now Sapphire, Dreams Riviera Cancun, Azul Sensatori, Moon Palace, or Dreams Tulum.  We are also considering a private venue, away from the resort.  Our main goal is privacy!  I really don't want people to hang out in swimming shorts and be "wedding crashers"! Also, we were considering Barcelo or Iberostar, but not sure if they do a great job with weddings.  Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions? I would love to hear some of your thoughts on these resorts if you have contemplated them as well.

Also, I am planning to fly out to a site visit on 1-18 to 1-23 and have appointments set up at the hotels.  I would be more than happy to take/post pictures.  I was planning on meeting with an outside photographer and an outside florist.  The wedding guides from the resorts have centerpieces running almost $300/each. Does anyone have suggestions on photographers or florists?

Thanks so much ladies, I look forward to sharing thoughts/ideas!

Julia

Hi Julia,

Welcome to BDW!

Those resorts are all great choices for weddings and are some of our top choices but are very different resorts.

Have you thought of doing a site visit?  Karisma Hotels (Azul Sensatori) is offering this great promotion called Karisma Bride's Dress Rehearsal for brides that if you have NOT booked your wedding with them.  You and your fiance can stay at any one of their resorts for $399, meet the wedding department, check out wedding locations, taste the food, meet wedding vendors, etc.  

Then you can expend your stay for a few days to check out the other resorts.

Palace and Karisma hotels offer the most amenities with a group block like private events, etc. but NOW is still offering the 3G promo so for every 5 rooms booked you get the 6th free (max 3 free rooms, must be through group block).

We Specialize in Destination weddings and know all those properties really well.  I am a past Dreams Bride and our agency are GI Wedding Consultants and a Diamond level agency with Karisma, Onyx level Agency with Palace Resorts (that is the highest level) and  we know the wedding departments at those hotels really well.  

We are also holding Wedding webinars with a bunch of resorts this spring.

You can contact us HERE!

You can read some of our reviews here: Wright Travel Agency ~ Destination Wedding Specialist Reviews HERE

there is a villa next to azul beach (karisma), that i believe is called villa carollo or something like that, that is private and is supposed to be awesome for weddings. it probably depends on the size of your party...
 

yes - that's true. the villa looks AMAZING. 

El Dorado Maroma also has an El Dorado Generations right next door. Maroma is a smallish property - about 100 rooms, and Generations is a resort within a resort so to speak. 

we did have some onlookers during our wedding ceremony - people on the beach (but more than a respectful distance) and then up on their balconies too. while this was something I stressed about pre-wedding, on our wedding day, I surprisingly found it very sweet and it made it even more special. All of those "onlookers" were there to witness our wedding, and how special it was for us. They wished us nothing but the best, and weren't intrusive at all.

one of the best memories is actually from two wedding crashers - they jumped right into our reception and started dancing with us towards the end of the reception. they were married in the same ceremony location and had the same reception location we did the year prior!! by that time in the reception it didn't matter, and it was all fun. we've become friends with that couple. 

As you choose your resort, you can also narrow down the locations for your celebrations based on more private venues. but overall, the other guests at the resort wished us well, while still respecting our privacy. just food for thought! 

Originally Posted by karyc 

there is a villa next to azul beach (karisma), that i believe is called villa carollo or something like that, that is private and is supposed to be awesome for weddings. it probably depends on the size of your party...
 

Originally Posted by karyc 

 

there is a villa next to azul beach (karisma), that i believe is called villa carollo or something like that, that is private and is supposed to be awesome for weddings. it probably depends on the size of your party...

 

we got a tour of the villas and they are soooo AMAZING and they do have space for a smaller wedding BUT the stays are a little pricey.

The villas are a great idea!  Is it a private beach area that we can reserve for just our ceremony?  We have definitely heard great things about the Azul Hotels;however, we don't have enough days to devote all 3 days to the Karisma hotels. 

I really like the Palace resorts, but I'm not crazy about the 7 different color scheme options by the Colin Howie collection that we have to use!  Anyone have experiences with this?

Allie H, I love the wedding crashers story, when you mention it like that, it actually sounds like a positive experience to have onlookers!
 

Also, any insight on photographers and florists?  I have looked into Del Sol and Luna for photography. I have also looked into Riviera Maya Florists and Marvin with Maya Floral. 

Congrats 11-30-13-Bride + welcome to the amazing resource of this forum (as you've already seen from previous posts here)

good to hear that you're also choosing a professional photographer to capture your Big Day, as they will give you a truly precious record of it all

There are lots of great photographers in our area, and one way to choose which one would be the best fit for you, is to look at their work and see which style you like best.

Wishing you all the best with your research and planning! enjoy your journey ahead filed with wonderful Good Times! 

team MTM asst, Lynda

Thank you, the pics are gorgeous! We're heading out for our site visit today! Wish me luck! I'll post details and pics when we get back!

Thx so much 11-30-13-Bride - we DO have an awesome team who capture those magical wedding "moments that matter" with pure Gold!

...... wishing you the very Best of LUCK.....have a great site visit! looking forward to seeing your pics! ........Enoy

Hey 11-30-13,

Site visits are the way to go. Hope this weeks cood weather is still better than what you left in Denver (we moved to the Riviera Maya from Colorado more than two years ago).

Not only should you check out web sites for finding the right photographer's style, but we strongly suggest a Skype call so you and your fiance can "meet" with your potential photographer.

There is a lot of talented photographers here, but you should also "click" with the photographer you choose.

Best of luck,

Jennifer