El Dorado Maroma

[GCSC212]

Hi All!

I just set a wedding date for next fall at the El Dorado Maroma. I haven't seen much postings on that resort, anyone out there have any experience with planning a wedding at this location?? I stayed there about 2 years ago and fell in love with the resort, but would love any advice on planning a private reception at this small resort. Thanks!!!

[Karla1975]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GCSC212 Hi All! I just set a wedding date for next fall at the El Dorado Maroma. I haven't seen much postings on that resort, anyone out there have any experience with planning a wedding at this location?? I stayed there about 2 years ago and fell in love with the resort, but would love any advice on planning a private reception at this small resort. Thanks!!!

Hi Noob,

I am also getting married at El Dorado Maroma in October 2010. My fiance and I visited for the first time in October 2009 and LOVED the place. You and I made a great choice. I am having a Catholic ceremony at the beachfront chapel and we are having the reception outside in one of the big Palapas (huts) since we will have a small number of kids and kids under 16 are not allowed anywhere on the grounds unless it is in the Marina. Have you chosen a photographer?

[Karla1975]

I am just dense today. I said "Hi Noob", please disregard LOL!!

[GCSC212]

Hi Karla!

Congratulations! El Dorado Maroma is the perfect place for a wedding. We are getting married in October too, on the 30th. I havn't picked the photographer yet.. The wedding coordinator from lomas just sent me the website with the extra amentities, photos, flowers, music ect. Are you having the reception at one of the palapas at the marina or on the resort? When we were there in 2008 it looked like they were building a large one right on the resorts beach. it looked perfect for a reception! I have asked our wedding coordinator what our options are for a reception site, but she said it depended on the resorts availability. I hope I don't have too wait too long to know what's available. Are you having a DJ for music for your reception?

[Karla1975]

Hi GCSC212 (what's your name?),

 

Thanks! I haven't picked the photographer yet either. Are you dealing with Valeria, that's mine. She's so far so good! We are having our reception at the Palapa Arrecife, one of the bigger ones with tile floors as we didn't want sand for dancing. I will also have a DJ but haven't chosen one yet. When i asked the WC if we get to meet the DJ and photographer a day or two before the wedding, she said their schedules are too hectic and we wouldn't meet them until the day off. I don't think I feel comfortable with that but it seems like this is the way they work, what are your thoughts on that?

[GCSC212]

HI Karla,

Valarie is my wedding coordinator as well. She has been pretty good so far, I'm just having a hard time trying to get concrete and descriptive answers to my questions, especially on setting up the reception location. The Sabores restaurant is only available if we have 40 or more guests and if the resort has the availability to close it down for a night, so we won't know that until we have all the guests confirmed. Our other option is the beach, but like you said dancing in the sand isn't exactly ideal in heals! And if it rains I still haven't gotten an answer of if a back-up space is available. So i'm trying to find out what the other options are for a private reception.....still waiting to hear back. Is the Palapa Arrecife located at the Marina?

I'm concerned about picking a DJ and photographer too without have some sort of contact before hand. I was hoping once I got to selecting one I could hopefully get an e-mail or something to contact them. For the DJ at least to give him a playlist of what we wanted. I guess I need to make sure we have the space to have a reception first!

 

Gail

[Karla1975]

Hi Gail,

 

Correct. The Sabores restaurant is only available if you have 40 or more guests. That's what Valeria told me a few months back because Sabores is technically open to all hotel guests, so you have a choice to have your reception there with other hotel guests or close down the restaurant by having the 40 minimum for just your guests.

 

Yes, the Palapa Arrecife is located at the Marina and this is the "hut" I will be using for my reception. The reason we chose to have our reception at the Marina is because some of our guests (not many) will bring children under 16 years of age. Karisma doesn't own the Marina which is why they allow children. Otherwise, we would have had it Sabores, it is a very nice space. But to your point, we would still be waiting on selecting a reception place since we haven't received all RSVPs yet.

 

I am going to talk to Valeria about at least speaking to the DJ and photographer beforehand if we can't meet them. It doesn't make sense that we can't meet them until the day off, but I'd like to be positive and rely on their wedding planning expertise since they do this all the time.

 

Gail, I'd love the keep exchanging notes, the more we know, the less they can take advantage of us!! But overall, am feeling very good about my decision.

 

Cheers,

Karla

[GCSC212]

Hi Karla!

It's been forever since I have checked back on the forum! I would love to keep exchanging planning updates, it's so helpful having someone else to talk through these things to make sure we're not being led in the totally wrong direction! How's your planning coming? I've been back and forth with Valeria to finalize some of the details for the private dinner. I had to order my invitation last week and needed some of the details for dinner, time ect. My ceremony is set for 4 pm, so i have this pretty big gap of time to fill between that and dinner. I went with the "pick and choose dinner option" which seemed to be the most reasonably priced option considering it is an all inclusive resort. About $35-40 per person plus 20% off with the promotion. still hurts the budget a bit, but a better price than a reception at home will cost. I have read on other forums there is a "set menu option" that is more reasonably priced but was told this was the closest thing to it. Valeria confirmed Sobores could be used for our dinner reception, but they will need to re-evaluate if we can reserve it in a few months to see if the resort capacity goes up. Also talked to her about a sunset catermeran cruise for our guests. It's an hour and a half sunset cruise out of Marina Maroma for up to 100 people , completely private. Include drinks, appetizers, a mariachi band and a welcome cocktail. Waiting on the price for 40 people. Still gathering info on DJ and Photographer, it looks like there is only a few that they allow you to choose from regarding photographers, but I can't seem to find any reviews on any of them. For the DJ they give you only one option at $1500 for 4 hours. But I think Maroma is the perfect place for a wedding and even if all these details fall apart it would still be amazing. I don't think we could have picked a better resort!

[lnf_munchkin]

I wanted to bump this thread . . . I'm not getting married here (don't allow kids, so we're going to Dreams Riviera Cancun) but i am honeymooning here. We got engaged on Maroma Beach and wanted to come back and explore for our Honeymoon! We'll be here at the end of Nov/Begining of Dec 2010.

[Karla1975]

Hi all,

 

I have been MIA from this forum but I am back.

 

I am not crazy about the make-up artists photos available on the Karisma site. Does anyone have any recommendations for a great local Cancun make-up artist that can come to El Dorado Maroma, and can I get around the $500 outside vendor fee by claiming this person is a guest?

 

Thanks,

karla