Secrets Silversands and/or Maroma Beach

[Simistar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ltbscotland Hi wonder if you can help. I was booked to get married in the Azul Fives however I have just found out that it will now not open until November 2009 i am now considering this resort. Please can you clarify for me. The silver and gold wedding package is $2000 and $2750. On their website it says that it include a meal for 20 people, is this meal in one of the restaurants or can you have it as a private dinner party on the beach? If it is a private dinner party do you need to pay extra? thanks for you help!!

Hey there,

The private dinner for 20 that's included in the packages is usually what couples use for their private reception after the ceremony.
Although I suppose if you don't want to have a reception, you could use it another night of your stay...?
(then again, if you're not planning on having a private reception, it's probably better to just pay for your wedding "a la carte" rather than use a package, if you know what I mean...)

So, the dinner for 20 included in the package IS private and can be held wherever you want...the beach, poolside or inside one of the restaurants.

If you have over 20 people, you have to pay extra per person over 20.
If you have fewer than 20, you don't get money back:-)

Hope this helps... hope I didn't make it more confusing:-)

[ltbscotland]

Hi simistar thanks that makes sense. We were planning on having a private wedding reception anyways, so that works out perfectly....this actually works out a whole lot cheaper than Karisma as we needed to pay extra for our guests if we wanted a private party.

 

Did you have your reception on the beach? Was it secluded or did you have people sunbathing right next to you?

 

 

thanks for your help!!!

[Simistar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ltbscotland Did you have your reception on the beach? Was it secluded or did you have people sunbathing right next to you?

Hey there!

So, not sure if you've seen my review, but it will probably answer at least some of your questions...
Here's the link:

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t34046


We had our cocktail hour on the beach and our reception by the pool.
I go into detail in my review, but in a nutshell, the service was TERRIBLE on the beach.

We too really wanted our whole reception to be on the beach, but once we got to the resort, we saw how beautiful the site by the pool is...plus it's more sheltered from the wind AND a lot of our female guests really wanted to wear heels with their dresses, which obviously they couldn't do on the sand, lol:-)

Our cocktail hour was pretty on the beach, with the moon and the waves BUT we just had awful service...one server with not enough drinks or glasses...food was NOT good and there was barely any of it anyway (about four small plates of about eight hors d'oeuvres on each).
Plus the way they set up the tables, there's nowhere to sit, so older guests left after about 20 mins to half an hour....

BUT hopefully the problems with bad service we encountered will be worked out by the time anyone else has their cocktail hour on the beach!

In any case, my recommendation is to have your reception by the pool. It's very pretty and you'll get good service guaranteed:-)

That said, we did have a welcome dinner on the beach as well with a bonfire, and we had EXCELLENT service and food for this. So, not sure what happened with the cocktail hour... (maybe b/c that's included in the package they didn't care as much about service? and we paid $25 /pp for the bonfire party so the service BETTER have been good! :-))

Hope this helps:-)

[ltbscotland]

Hi Simister sorry to bombard you with questions but you have been a godsend to this thread!!!

 

My heart is set on having my ceremony and reception on the beach this - for us is the whole reason for doing a destination wedding.

 

Please can you look at the photos in this link...

 

Playa del Carmen: Secrets Capri Riviera Cancun - Traveler Reviews - Got Married Here and LOVED It - TripAdvisor

 

My ideal wedding reception would be as per the photos in this link, it is secluded on the beach, the set up is lovely and the table is set up underneath some sort of wooden frame. This wedding was done at secrets capri....however I would like this sort of set up at the secrets maroma...do they have these sort of wooden frames at the maroma?? I think I have seen somewhere that you can pay extra to have an exotic gazebo on the beach in the maroma....wot is this like? is it worth the extra money? how much is it?

 

I am so stressed at the moment, it took us about 3 months to settle on the azul fives and now we can no longer go there, I want to book somewhere else asap but I also want to take the time to find the right place for us. I just cant decide where to go. I want everything to be perfect but I am not sure the maroma ticks all the boxes for us (in relation to the beach wedding/ceremony). I am soooo confused

 

Destination weddings are meant to be stressfree not stressful!!

 

again thanks for your help with my questions.

[Simistar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ltbscotland Hi Simister sorry to bombard you with questions

NO PROBLEM!! Just happy to help

Quote:

Originally Posted by ltbscotland Please can you look at the photos in this link... Playa del Carmen: Secrets Capri Riviera Cancun - Traveler Reviews - Got Married Here and LOVED It - TripAdvisor

The link didn't work... maybe try again...?
More than happy to take a look... Once you post a working link, I'll take a look and weigh in:-)

[ltbscotland]

Hi hopefully this link should work now...

 

Secrets Capri - Traveler Reviews - Got Married Here and LOVED It - TripAdvisor

 

Thanks

[Kits55]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ltbscotland Hi Simister sorry to bombard you with questions but you have been a godsend to this thread!!! My heart is set on having my ceremony and reception on the beach this - for us is the whole reason for doing a destination wedding. Please can you look at the photos in this link... Playa del Carmen: Secrets Capri Riviera Cancun - Traveler Reviews - Got Married Here and LOVED It - TripAdvisor I want everything to be perfect but I am not sure the maroma ticks all the boxes for us (in relation to the beach wedding/ceremony). I am soooo confused Destination weddings are meant to be stressfree not stressful!! again thanks for your help with my questions.

Hi Itbscotland, I chose SMB specifically for it's beach because the beach is what was the most important deciding factor to me. I love the pictures from Secrets Capri, how gorgeous is the set-up?! I've never seen anything like it. Have you emailed Cecilia (SMB wedding coordinator) and asked her is you can have the set-up at SMB that there was at Capri?

I know what you mean about being stressed out!! I ended up hiring a coordinator because I just wasn't happy with anything that I picked. It took me almost 4 months to pick a place! Now I'm super stressed out about the details because I so badly want to do everything myself but am having problems deciding on what I want exactly! Good luck!

[ltbscotland]

Hi Kits55 I know exactly wot you mean!! I keep changing my mind, I am so indecisive!! The reason I am getting so stressed out is because we were meant to be getting married in the azul fives (took us about 3 months to pick this place) then found out on friday that it will not open in time for our wedding (getting married in June)

 

I have emailed Cecilia to ask if this sort of set up can be done at the maroma and I am waiting to hear back. I will post her response on here once she responds. When are you getting married in the maroma? Are you having the ceremony and the reception on the beach?

[Kits55]

Hi Itbscotland as right now I have the location of our ceremony on the beach which I know I will keep for sure. I have our reception as set by the pool but I would like to change it to the beach. My biggest concern about that is how good the service will be if we're way out on the beach and far away from restaurants. I am also concerned that it will be too dark to be nice, that it'll just be a struggle.

 

We're getting married on April 25 of this year. I'm so excited to get down there but I'm afraid that I won't be able to make a decision until we get there I am very stressed out about DIY stuff too because I want to do a bunch of stuff myself but don't have the time right now. I'm a bit of a control freak and perfectionist at times. At least I'm not as bad as the girls on the show Bridezillas!

[Simistar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ltbscotland My heart is set on having my ceremony and reception on the beach this - for us is the whole reason for doing a destination wedding. Please can you look at the photos in this link... Playa del Carmen: Secrets Capri Riviera Cancun - Traveler Reviews - Got Married Here and LOVED It - TripAdvisor My ideal wedding reception would be as per the photos in this link, it is secluded on the beach, the set up is lovely and the table is set up underneath some sort of wooden frame. This wedding was done at secrets capri....however I would like this sort of set up at the secrets maroma...do they have these sort of wooden frames at the maroma?? I think I have seen somewhere that you can pay extra to have an exotic gazebo on the beach in the maroma....wot is this like? is it worth the extra money? how much is it?

Hey again!

Sorry it took me a bit to post back, work's been nutso this week.
Okay, so I looked at those pics.. looks beautiful!
I really hate to burst any bubbles or anything but I honestly think if you want THIS particular set up...you won't get it at SMB.
They just don't have that number of covered wooden frames...
They have ONE covered wooden frame that's on the beach permanently (used for massages on the beach)....

You can see it here in the foreground of this picture we took:

(If you look in the back of this pic, near the water, you can see the gazebo/archway they set up for weddings on the beach)

You can get married under this massage hut, BUT I don't recommend it.
It is very close to all the sun loungers...as in, it's right in the middle!
So you would have a LOT of people suntanning RIGHT NEXT to you saying your vows!

I don't think this picture shows that very well, but it's taken from the opposite direction as the pic above. This time the wedding arch/gazebo is the foreground, and if you look waaay in the back, you can see the massage hut. There aren't a lot of sun loungers in this pic, but you can see how close it is to the hotel:



The wedding arch/gazebo they set up for you is really very nice and much more "private"...as in, there aren't a whack of sunbathers in your pictures:-)
This isn't our set-up, I took this pic a few days later of another small wedding. But you can see how much more private it is:



I totally understand what you meean about wanting to do everything on the beach, as this is the point of a destination wedding
We felt the same way.
So we kept our ceremony and cocktail hour on the beach, but once we saw how nice the set up was by the pool, we decided to move our reception poolside.
And honestly, after the terrible service we got at our cocktail hour on the beach, we were glad we did!

I just don't think SMB is set up, or experienced enough, to handle receptions on the beach.
That said, we had a beach bonfire welcome dinner that we had GREAT service for!
I think the difference was, it was a buffet for food AND it was set up on the other side of the beach (which is closer to the beach bar, so maybe it was faster and easier for servers to get drinks...?)
If your heart is SET on a reception on the beach, then I suggest having it as a buffet AND requesting it be on the side of the beach that's closer to the beach bbq/food hut (opposite side to where the beach ceremonies are held.)

And lastly (whew, sorry this is turning out to be really long!)... those pictures from Secrets Capri look realy nice...but I just don't think SMB is quite where Secrets Capri is at in terms of level of service... After all, SMB hasn't been open nearly as long.
I'm sure SMB would try to do something similar FOR A PRICE if you request it... I'm just not sure it would quite turn out the way you want it to.
(As I mentioned in my review, Cecilia's super sweet and works hard...but often falls short on the follow through...)

I will say this though...SMB has a GORGEOUS beach:


If you want a nice beach and a beautiful resort but are willing to sacrifice some of the other details (like the exact setup you want on the beach) -- then I think SMB can work for you!:-)

Sorry this was so long
Just trying to make sure I answer all your questions:-)
DOn'T STRESS!! That's what we're all here to help with:-)

Anything else? :-)