Valentin Imperial Maya Brides?

[soon2bePowers]

mrseddy,

I think there were some pictures of the gazebo om JLRJEN website, the link is in post #92. It looks very nice.

[mrseddy]

Thanks soon2bepowers!

 

Can I ask where you're going to be having your ceremony and reception at?

 

Also, what made you decide to go with Valentin? We are deciding between that and Secrets Capri. Our travel agent is really pushing for this resort telling us that she's only heard great things and that people have raved about it but I see mixed reviews on Tripadvisor. I do love the terrace location (outside of the Mexican restaurant?) for the reception site. I still need more information regarding the gazebo and how many people it will fit. It's hard to tell by the picture. Are you doing a beach ceremony? I've emailed the wedding coordinator so we'll see what she comes back with!

 

Thanks again!

[soon2bePowers]

mrseddy,

 

We are probably have a beach ceremony and we haven't decided on our reception. We are going to make all final decisions when we arrive because I feel I need to see things in person.

 

We decided on Valentin because our travel agent and several other travel agents said they had only heard great things about it (any negative things had to do with the fact that they were new and were working kinks out). I did see mixed reviews on Tripadvisor but I think everywhere gets mixed review on the site. I now like the fact that it is adult only, it was not really a determining factor but I love it now.

 

I will tell you that since starting to plan with them in October I would say I have worked with 3 wedding planners. I would definitely say they still have some kinks to work out in their wedding department. I don't think they are used to dealing with American brides yet. Meaning we like answers and we like them pretty quick.

 

I do take into consideration that they are still fairly new in resort terms, 3-4 years? And I think they are still establishing themselves.

 

Hope this helps!

[JLRJEN]

Hi ladies,

 

Glad you liked the pictures. I know how much i pour over any pix that I can find of VIM, so I'm glad they were helpful for you...I'm sure your wedding days are going to be wonderful. I can't wait to see pictures and hear how they went. I don't have any info about ministers or even the ceremony yet since we are so far away from our Dec 12 date, but if I hear anything, I will certainly share...

 

Question - I LOVE the spaces and feel of VIM, but does anyone know of any special/unique services for hire during the reception that the resort offers? For instance, some places I had considered had cigar rolling services or fireworks or (for the rehearsal dinner) a donkey with beers? I don't want to be corny (maybe the donkey is too much) but I would like to do something that would be unique/memorable (other than to be at a beautiful resort) that makes the wedding different from a wedding reception that I could have in the U.S....any thoughts?

 

mrseddy - I have some information to offer on Secrets Capri and the gazebos at both VIM and SC (soon2bpowers is correct - there is a pic of VIM's gazebo on my website. I think that I even have a pic of the SC gazebo that I could dig up if you haven't seen it). I did a site visit last year to both SC and VIM. I stayed at SC for 2 nights with my fiance, my MOH, and my parents. Before leaving for the site visit, we were set that the wedding would be at SC. While we were there, we enjoyed our time: the food was good (we liked the outdoor grill for lunch) and they had this cute outdoor movie event that they did at night, the gym was nice, the property was beautiful and everything was elegant, but the resort was MUCH smaller than we expected. There was only one pool and really no place else to go and the beach was nice but not very wide. We wanted a beach ceremony and at the place where they do the beach ceremony there is a big green plastic (?) wall. Not very pretty. The gazebo was nice but it is right by the pool and the restaurants, which affords no privacy and means you are getting married infront of everyone at the pool. After 2 days, we did a pro and con list and decided that SC was not the place for us. My fiance and I went to check out Secrets Maroma and Royal Hideaway and my parents and MOH went to VIM. We loved the service and property at RH and loved the property at SM but for a variety of reasons (which I can go into if you want) we decided they were not the place. On the way to the airport, my fiance and I picked up my fam at the VIM and did a 2 hour site visit. We were so impressed with the drive into the property, the beautiful lobby, the rooms, the beach, and the resort itself. The biggest draw for us was the staff: Lupita (the first wedding coordinator who is now on maternity leave and will be back this summer) bent over backward to make us feel welcomed. My whole family got the impression that she and VIM would be THRILLED to host us. Other than RH, it was the warmest, most wonderful impression that we got from any of the resorts we visited. We sampled the food at the buffet - decent, good (but we are huge foodies and like the best of the best). The only downside (for us) was the lagoon - we are not nature people and thought it looked like a mud pit. But it is avoidable. The gazebo (if I remember correctly) is in the middle of the property near the gym. It was big, but I'm not sure how much seating there was around it. It was definitely more private than at SC but it was still on the way from the pool back to the main part of the resort.

 

Hope that helps!

 

JLRJEN

[colby2277]

WOW!! Great post, thank you for all of the helpful information and great idea about an "event" at dinner....I will look into it and let you know!

[mrseddy]

Thanks for everyone's help! That was very informative.

 

I agree with you regarding Secrets Capri, JLRJEN. My fiance and I don't have the luxury of doing a site visit which has made this process that much tougher but I once I found out Secrets had our date available, I thought it would be a slam dunk! After reading through the threads and looking at every picture I could find on the resort, I decided it wasn't for us. I certainly didn't like the gazebo location and for me a beach ceremony was a second option to a gazebo ceremony. I didn't like that off the bat we were down to one option and I'd read that their indoor alternative, in the event of inclement weather, was not a nice one. Futhermore, their WC is not only slow in responding (which I'm accepting goes with the nature of doing a destination wedding), but has also mixed up weddings and in fact double booked a wedding! With those strikes against it, we decided not to go with it.

 

We were torn with the adults-only option. We thought we'd resort to it (and tell my aunt that she couldn't bring her two daughters) if we exhausted all of the other all-inclusive resorts. When it came down to it, I was convinced it would either be VIM or SC but with the size of our party and the fact that it's a diverse group (young, old, drinkers, non-drinkers, beach-goers, shoppers) we decided to go with the Moon Palace. We haven't signed our contract yet but it's just about a sealed deal. We had passed on it very early on in our research based soley on its size but after coming back to it we realized that it really did have everything we're looking for. The resort will offer our guests options and as I said, with the differing interests I think it'll be a good choice for us.

 

With that said, I have only heard positives about Valentin. I actually got an email back from the WC-Guadalope, and she said that the gazebo fits about 80 people! She sent me a map of the resort ( i didn't see one posted on the thread so I will attempt to do so) but, unless I totally missed it, I couldn't see where the gazebo was located (#26).

 

At any rate, thank you again ladies for all of your help and good luck with all of your planning!! I plan on checking back on this thread and I'm looking forward to seeing reviews on your weddings!

 

mrseddy

[mrseddy]

When I attemptted to attach the file it tells me that my file is invalid. The jpg isn't large and I tried opening it in word and saving it that way. Am I missing something? Sorry, I'm relatively new to all of this!

[soon2bePowers]

Hey Girls,

The clock is ticking for several of us!

 

Has anyone heard/seen anything about the standard table decor or centerpieces?

[soon2bePowers]

Double Post

[colby2277]

I haven't...yes the clock is ticking....75 days to go! My bridal shower is in 2 weeks, and should be fun and get me more excited