RIU RM Palace Brides??

[MrsShoreytobe]

Originally Posted by jessd123 

 

I got married at RPRM on May 4th of this year. I will eventually get around to writing a full review, but right now I am still trying to decompress. We have not even picked our pics out yet. That being said, the resort is great, Erika is great, the wedding was great, the semi private cocktail hour was great. We have no complaints at all about the wedding.

 

Or AC in our room was not working well, we never complained. It wasn't that bad. However, getting ready in there was awful!! So, if your AC is not in full function, get that fixed! I thought I was going to pass out from heat stroke!!

 

We were seated at the 8:30 dinner seating because we did a semi private dinner. We were literally the only people in the restaurant, they took great care of us!! With that, came a 3 hour cocktail hour. We have quite a rowdy group of family and friends and the Don Julio was flowing like crazy in celebration so dinner was quite funny! Lol

 

Keep the planning easy and simple, try not to stress. We did not overdue it with decor or anything and we had an amazing time and so did all 38 of our guests!!

Hey Jess thanks for this!!! And congrats on your new marriage yipeee!!

 

I was wondering if I could ask you some q's about the details of your day, can I ask here or in a PM if you are open to it?

 

Thanks

[jessd123]

Which ever you would like! I am willing to help in any way I can!

[slstriednig]

If you don't mind, can you respond here?  Shannon & I are all ears on any tips at all.  

 

Thanks!!

 

Dennis

[sedwards00]

Originally Posted by slstriednig 

 

If you don't mind, can you respond here?  Shannon & I are all ears on any tips at all.  

 

Thanks!!

 

Dennis

we just got married on the 10th of May this year and we sent out our save the dates a year in advance.  This whole process was a good experience for me, but for some reason was very stressful for my husband.  I guess it was due to the online planning and not being able to physically be there.  But when it came to it everything fell in to place and was beautiful.

 

Here's what the days leading up to our wedding was like:

 

May 7th:  we arrived at the airport and my husband and I were given a private transfer to the hotel which was really nice!  When we arrived at the hotel we were given an upgrade due to the number of people we had booked for the week.  Our room number was 0047, though it looked like the rest of the rooms, it was conveniently located near the pool on the first floor which was nice especially if you needed to use the bathroom, it was closer than it was to walk to the restroom at chili's.  That night we got a note to meet with the wedding planner at 930am

 

May 8th:  we met with the wedding planner Erica.  Erica is da bomb-diggity!  She was really nice and very accommodating to our needs.  ADVICE... this meeting is where everything is planned from the flowers to the songs being played at the wedding and wedding package.  Make sure you know exactly how many people are going to be attending where they charge for the private meals/reception per person and also they need a head count for chair on the beach.  They do not however charge for kids which is great!.

 

ALSO YOU MAY WANT TO CHOOSE THE ROYAL WEDDING PACKAGE INSTEAD OF THE CAPRICE..WE INITIALLY PICKED THE CAPRICE AND SWITCHED TO THE ROYAL AND SAVED ALMOST $700 JUST ON THAT...EVEN AFTER PAYING THE EXTRA PER PERSON CHARGE.

 

Here is what we picked for our wedding:

500pm--Beach wedding w/ harpist (who was amaz-ballz. Highly recommend him!)

530-630--semi-private happy hour at the lirico bar with mariachi band

630-830-semi-private dinner (yes semi private at this time) at Chili's--chili's was the only restaurant that was able to accommodate the size of our group.  The food I thought was really good and our guests seemed to like it.

830-1130-private reception w/ DJ at the daiquiri...we initially wanted to do a fire show but cancelled it, however some else had paid for the fire show and we were able to see it from the daiquiri bar.  Initially we were concerned about the DJ, but he was very good and played current music from the US and spoke English well.

 

after meeting with Erica, we decided to go with Adventure Photos for the pictures.  We met with him and picked out our photo package.--I would also recommend Adventure Photos!  The price was reasonable and they did an awesome job.

 

After we met with Sergio from Adventure Photos we were done planning our wedding day.

 

NOTE: ALL PAYMENTS ARE DUE 24 HOURS BEFORE THE WEDDING

 

We paid for the wedding on the 9th...we had contacted our bank to advise them of our travel so we could use our debit card in Mexico..however we didn't tell them we were going to be dropping several thousand dollars in one transaction.  According to our bank for security reasons they only allow 3,000 withdrawal per day.  MAKE SURE YOU LET YOUR BANK KNOW ABOUT THE LARGE TRANSACTION prior to paying the bill...it was slightly embarrassing but they allowed us to use their phone at the front desk to call our bank that's when we found out about the 3,000 dollar amount.

 

Like I said in the beginning when May 10th came around, everything fell in to place and the wedding was perfect!  Erica was awesome and you can tell she works her butt off!!! So the only thing you should be worrying about prior to the wedding is, should you have a mojito or Miami vice at the pool.

 

Congratulations guys!

 

Courtney

[sedwards00]

Originally Posted by sedwards00 

 

we just got married on the 10th of May this year and we sent out our save the dates a year in advance.  This whole process was a good experience for me, but for some reason was very stressful for my husband.  I guess it was due to the online planning and not being able to physically be there.  But when it came to it everything fell in to place and was beautiful.

 

Here's what the days leading up to our wedding was like:

 

May 7th:  we arrived at the airport and my husband and I were given a private transfer to the hotel which was really nice!  When we arrived at the hotel we were given an upgrade due to the number of people we had booked for the week.  Our room number was 0047, though it looked like the rest of the rooms, it was conveniently located near the pool on the first floor which was nice especially if you needed to use the bathroom, it was closer than it was to walk to the restroom at chili's.  That night we got a note to meet with the wedding planner at 930am

 

May 8th:  we met with the wedding planner Erica.  Erica is da bomb-diggity!  She was really nice and very accommodating to our needs.  ADVICE... this meeting is where everything is planned from the flowers to the songs being played at the wedding and wedding package.  Make sure you know exactly how many people are going to be attending where they charge for the private meals/reception per person and also they need a head count for chair on the beach.  They do not however charge for kids which is great!.

 

ALSO YOU MAY WANT TO CHOOSE THE ROYAL WEDDING PACKAGE INSTEAD OF THE CAPRICE..WE INITIALLY PICKED THE CAPRICE AND SWITCHED TO THE ROYAL AND SAVED ALMOST $700 JUST ON THAT...EVEN AFTER PAYING THE EXTRA PER PERSON CHARGE.

 

Here is what we picked for our wedding:

500pm--Beach wedding w/ harpist (who was amaz-ballz. Highly recommend him!)

530-630--semi-private happy hour at the lirico bar with mariachi band

630-830-semi-private dinner (yes semi private at this time) at Chili's--chili's was the only restaurant that was able to accommodate the size of our group.  The food I thought was really good and our guests seemed to like it.

830-1130-private reception w/ DJ at the daiquiri...we initially wanted to do a fire show but cancelled it, however some else had paid for the fire show and we were able to see it from the daiquiri bar.  Initially we were concerned about the DJ, but he was very good and played current music from the US and spoke English well.

 

after meeting with Erica, we decided to go with Adventure Photos for the pictures.  We met with him and picked out our photo package.--I would also recommend Adventure Photos!  The price was reasonable and they did an awesome job.

 

After we met with Sergio from Adventure Photos we were done planning our wedding day.

 

NOTE: ALL PAYMENTS ARE DUE 24 HOURS BEFORE THE WEDDING

 

We paid for the wedding on the 9th...we had contacted our bank to advise them of our travel so we could use our debit card in Mexico..however we didn't tell them we were going to be dropping several thousand dollars in one transaction.  According to our bank for security reasons they only allow 3,000 withdrawal per day.  MAKE SURE YOU LET YOUR BANK KNOW ABOUT THE LARGE TRANSACTION prior to paying the bill...it was slightly embarrassing but they allowed us to use their phone at the front desk to call our bank that's when we found out about the 3,000 dollar amount.

 

Like I said in the beginning when May 10th came around, everything fell in to place and the wedding was perfect!  Erica was awesome and you can tell she works her butt off!!! So the only thing you should be worrying about prior to the wedding is, should you have a mojito or Miami vice at the pool.

 

Congratulations guys!

 

Courtney

Oh another tip:

If you want to eat anywhere besides the buffet (which is actually delicious!) From noon-3pm you have to go to the lobby of the hotel and in the back corner of the lobby bar, La Habana.  They take reservations for dinner and they're are two seatings 630 & 830.  I was there the whole week and only ate at Chili's, Don Manolo(the buffet ), Yashima, and Botafogo.  All of which was excellent.  My husband loved the buffet and Chili's.  So the earlier you get there to make your reservations the better, especially if you have a large group.  it's first come first serve.

[slstriednig]

This is fantastic information, Courtney!

 

We are still in the planning stages ourselves - our wedding is scheduled for November 9, 2013.  But things are really starting to pick up now!   

 

I will be in contact with Erika soon  to provide our current details/preferences (i.e. number of guests, private dinner/reception preferences, etc).  We would also like a friend to play the Ukulele during our Unity Ceremony.  I think we need permission for outside musicians (even tho he is a wedding guest).  It's good to know Adventure Photo is getting such rave reviews!  Puts my mind at ease. 

 

Thanks for sharing your advice on the packages too.  I saw another post in this thread that mentioned going with the Royal instead of the Caprice saves money since you already have to pay the price per head when you have more than 40 guests.  We will most likely do the same since I have a couple of friends doing my hair and makeup and will probably get my mani/pedi before the trip.  Seems to make the most sense.

 

Not sure if you already mentioned it, but how many guests did you have at your wedding?  Can't wait to see your pictures!

 

Thanks for sharing your experience!

~Shannon & Dennis
 

[sedwards00]

Originally Posted by slstriednig 

 

This is fantastic information, Courtney!

 

We are still in the planning stages ourselves - our wedding is scheduled for November 9, 2013.  But things are really starting to pick up now!   

 

I will be in contact with Erika soon  to provide our current details/preferences (i.e. number of guests, private dinner/reception preferences, etc).  We would also like a friend to play the Ukulele during our Unity Ceremony.  I think we need permission for outside musicians (even tho he is a wedding guest).  It's good to know Adventure Photo is getting such rave reviews!  Puts my mind at ease. 

 

Thanks for sharing your advice on the packages too.  I saw another post in this thread that mentioned going with the Royal instead of the Caprice saves money since you already have to pay the price per head when you have more than 40 guests.  We will most likely do the same since I have a couple of friends doing my hair and makeup and will probably get my mani/pedi before the trip.  Seems to make the most sense.

 

Not sure if you already mentioned it, but how many guests did you have at your wedding?  Can't wait to see your pictures!

 

Thanks for sharing your experience!

~Shannon & Dennis

 

 You can contact Erica now but just be aware they will contact you a month before your wedding date (that's why my husband was stressed).  But don't worry she does enough of these and things will come together. 

 

Trust me when I tell you not to worry if she contacts you a month before, because she does so many of these it's second nature to them and nothing is finalized until you meet with her on your second day there.  I think the prior contact is just for them to get an idea on what is going to happen and you're not obligated to stick with your choices.  You will be slightly worried, but remember to relax!

 

Erica is very flexible..as for outside vendors you may have to pay the $200 fee but Erica may let it slide considering that it is a friend/guest who will be playing the Ukulele and staying at the resort and not  a typical "vendor" that will just show up collect your money and leave.

 

We had 43 people attend our wedding some were kids but mostly adults.  I too had my hair dresser and her daughter come to the wedding, she did the whole bridal party and my mom and mother-in-law's hair and makeup and I got my mani/pedi done before we left for mexico and it held up for the wedding.  If you need anything including the price lists for everything I can send it to you via email.   I'm glad to help especially when I was in the same predicament not that long ago.  I would have to get that info from my husband considering he planned the whole wedding

 

Soooo happy for you guys, slightly jealous because I want to be back there!!

-Court

[Stephanie072007]

Thank you so much for that information sedwards00. We will be leaving in just about two weeks for our wedding. I am looking forward to being able to talk to Erica and put everything together. I have 24 guests coming with us. I would really like to have a private reception with a DJ but I know we don't have enough people and I am not sure if its even worth it with a smaller group. What is the minimum number of people for a private reception? (And how much does it cost per person for a private reception?.) Glad everything went well for your wedding! I can't wait to just be relaxing on the beach!

[slstriednig]

Courtney- I contacted Erika today about all my questions and she got right back to me this afternoon. I was VERY impressed with her quick response and her thorough feedback. She said no problem for our friend to play the ukulele! She did mentioned the outside vendor fee if we decide to use our own photographer instead of adventure photos...makes sense. Anyway, I'm waiting to hear back from her regarding the dj service at our private reception because in my price list it says $1250 but in her email today she said it would be $1500. Not sure if that includes something else for the extra cost or what. Thanks for your feedback...between this blog and Erika's response today, I am feeling really good about everything starting to come together ...at least in my mind:) Stephanie- you must be super excited!! im sure evertthing will be amazing! Our private reception at chilis will be $44 per person. It includes a plated dinner and open bar - it will be from 7-11pm after our ceremony and cocktail hour. You might want to double check to see if there is a min head count to do a private reception. I'm sure they can make anything happen for the right price;) Looking forward to our next chat. Have a great day! -Shannon (& Dennis)

[sedwards00]

Originally Posted by slstriednig 

 

Courtney- I contacted Erika today about all my questions and she got right back to me this afternoon. I was VERY impressed with her quick response and her thorough feedback. She said no problem for our friend to play the ukulele! She did mentioned the outside vendor fee if we decide to use our own photographer instead of adventure photos...makes sense. Anyway, I'm waiting to hear back from her regarding the dj service at our private reception because in my price list it says $1250 but in her email today she said it would be $1500. Not sure if that includes something else for the extra cost or what. Thanks for your feedback...between this blog and Erika's response today, I am feeling really good about everything starting to come together ...at least in my mind:)

 

Stephanie- you must be super excited!! im sure evertthing will be amazing! Our private reception at chilis will be $44 per person. It includes a plated dinner and open bar - it will be from 7-11pm after our ceremony and cocktail hour. You might want to double check to see if there is a min head count to do a private reception. I'm sure they can make anything happen for the right price;)

 

Looking forward to our next chat. Have a great day!

-Shannon (& Dennis)

alright..here's the breakdown cost of our wedding day:

 

harpist-$400

Mariachi band--$640

private cocktail--$600 ($15/person)

DJ for private reception-$560 (we just did the dj you do not need the lights, the lights are extra like 1500 or so!)

royal wedding package--$1660

extra food--$440

Beach tax--$150 (there's no way around it if you want a wedding on the beach)

Adventure Photos-$1150 (for the whole day photography)

oh and rose petals and a basket for the flower girls--$20

 

We saved money by doing the following, we convinced Erica to give us a semi-private dinner at the 630 time only because the wedding was at 5, then the cocktail hour from 530-630 and it only made sense for it all to flow together to have the dinner at 630.  She checked with Chili's coordinator the day we met with her and they were able to do this for us for FREE....HUGE savings! <--SHANNON & DENNIS look in to this when you get there!! Then we dropped down the wedding package to the royal and paid the difference.  We saved by x'in the fireshow ($750) but like I said someone else already paid for it so we were able to see it before the reception.

 

All in all prior to us leaving we were planning to spend on our wedding between $7854-$10250 depending on if we wanted a photographer....and our final bill after speaking to Erica when we got there was $5620!!!  SO needless to say we were stoked! a lot of the savings came from having the early dinner at the semi-private price (FREE!!) which saved us $2730...just in the dinner!

 

But in all actuality I wouldn't of minded if there were other people there...because for the semi-private dinners they put you in the corner of the restaurant  that over looks the ocean and you don't even know other people are there...and if you have enough people you basically can take over the whole restaurant anyways!!!

 

Stephanie...to answer your question, I was looking through my emails and unfortunately there is a minimum for a private dinner and that number is 40.  But like  I told you...where they seat you it's really private and away from the other guests.  I'll be more than happy to share photos with any of you to give you an idea of how things were set up for us (ie wedding, happy hour, dinner and reception).  Just sent me a PM with your email.  I would put it in an attachment on here, but I don't even have enough posts to view these attachments! LOL

 

Oh another thing that we did, we brought our own sashes down, and Erica put them on the chairs for us for free. They were Royal Blue and we actually gave them to Erica afterwards (40 of them)...so if you need Royal Blue sashes for your chairs tell her she should have some from Courtney & Sears' May 10th wedding...I'm sure she'll remember us

 

Once again I'm Jealous of Both of You!!

-Courts