RIU los cabos 10/14/06

[WFARRENS]

Well I'm back and married! I can't believe it's over! I was there for 8 days and it feels like it's all a big blur. It was the best time of our lives! For all you future brides cherish every moment. If you have any questions please feel free to ask me.

 

RIU-

We arrived on Sunday the 8th and our wedding wasn't until the Saturday the 14th. All I can say is thank god we did this. It gave us enough time to figure out everything before our guests arrived and before some other brides too.

 

My experience with the RIU hasn't been that great up to that point. I have been dealing with 2 wedding coordinators Veronica and Jaira. Veronica quit and Jaira took her place. Which was very frustrating because I had to go over every detail again with Jaira because she knew nothing of my wedding. So when I checked in and tried to confirm my 10am appointment with Jaira you can imagine my frustration when they told me she had quit! There really wasn't much I could do at this point so I fluffed it off until the next day.

 

We of course didn't get upgraded to the suite which I don't think I have heard of 1 bride getting this. I suggest if this is important to you book it now and try and have them reimburse you when you arrive. This was important to me because I wanted all my bridesmaids to get ready together. It was a slip up by my travel agent not getting this because I knew the RIU wouldn't.

 

We got into our rooms and everything was fine, it worked out nice because I was a room away from my sister and close to the lobby. FYI the beds are hard! I guess you can order some kind of matress pad, but we never did. Also be very careful getting in and out of the showers. It gets slippery!

 

Monday I met with the new wedding planner Adriana. She was super nice and I felt really bad for her because they threw everything in her lap for that week since Jaira quit. This is the kicker ladies. THEY DIDN'T HAVE ME SCHEDULED FOR A WEDDING! Yes here I was after a year of planning and emails and having 75 guest about to arrive and they didn't even have me scheduled. She quickly assured me that this was not an issue and I should have no worries. No worries?? There were 3 other wedding scheduled for that day and mine was not one of them! Not sure what to do we continued on with the wedding details. LADIES BRING YOUR EMAILS!! I printed all my emails with the RIU and thank god I did because everything I was promised they did without question. We picked my flowers, cake, location, time, food. Everything! After our meeting I felt better, but still not sure of what just happend.

 

After lunch my sister and I decided to wait in line to make dinner reservations(these are a huge pain) I would inform all you guests to make these the day they arrive if they can for the whole week. They fill up quickly! While in line I was telling my sister how disappointed I have been with the RIU, no congratulation when we checked in, no special something in our room, the whole drama with the wedding and we couldn't get a reservation for dinner that night because they were booked! My awesome sister then marched up to the lobby and asked to speak with the hotel manager! She did talk to her and since that moment everything went perfectly!

 

Thursday we had our rehersal dinner on the beach which was fantastic! It was the bonfire in the pictures and buffet style food. The food was great and the bonfire was awesome. We had a DJ and open bar, for the DJ we had made a playlist on our Ipod and just had him play it. Time consuming to make but worth it for us. (We did the same for the wedding). This hole set up is something they don't do, the photo was for a wedding. This is where my email quote came in handy so they had to do it. Adriana and the hotel manager were there to make sure everything was perfect and that we were happy.

Saturday, Wedding Day! They still didn't produce a suite for me to get ready in but gave us another room instead, which worked out fine. The funny thing is my Aunt who checked in Friday was upgraded to a suite without even asking, but they told us they were all booked. Very weird! The ceremony was at the gazebo(the one to the left if your looking at the ocean. The one on the right is nice too but they are doing construction next to it for the other bigger RIU. My minister was 1/2 hour late(he thought it started at 6pm) I hired them on my own, through Baja Weddings. They were great thought except for that. We had a cocktail hour at the theater bar with a marachi band and appetizers. Then the reception was on the beach! It was beautiful! Everything went perfectly, the food was the best we had the entire week. We ordered the chicken. All the staff was excellent! They even cooked up the fish my father-in-law caught Friday and passed it out to everyone! Adriana really pulled through for us and we couldn't have been happier.

 

This is a great resort for what we wanted. Close to town, all inclusive, fun pool bar. It was affordable for our guests and they had a great time, which is all that mattered to us.

I guess it was a blessing in disguise to not of had been scheduled. I did here the other brides that day were not to happy. They made one change there time because they were scheduled at the same time and location as me. I felt bad for her.

 

Photographer- Juan Carlos A++

Juan was great! Super professional and super nice. I haven't seen the pictures yet, but I know they will be fantastic! He is very detailed and organized. All you ladies who have booked him should feel very lucky! He was the one thing I knew I could count on that day.

 

Cigar Roller- Alajandro A+

My husband went down with a few friends to his shop to meet him on Monday. They loved him, super nice guy and great cigars. We had him at the wedding and he was a huge hit! Everyone loved the cigars and thought it was so cool to see them being rolled right there for them. We didn't splurge on much but I'm so happy we did on this.

 

Flowers-A+

We got these through the RIU and they were beautiful! I wouldn't hire an outside company

 

Cake-B

The RIU made this too. I brought a picture and the made it the best could. I really wasn't that big into the cake anyways so I was happy to see that it turned out better than I thought. Taste wise, not so good, but Mexico it different in there desserts than we are.

 

I would have to say the RIU deserves and A+ after Monday. They really came together and made my wedding happen the way I wanted to. I couldn't have ask for anything better. We are married and that's all that matters!

 

Sorry this is so long, hope it help some of you. Let me know if I can answer anyones questions or concerns.

Take care,

Wendy

[Jackie]

Thanks Wendy,

I'm so glad to hear that you had a good time. Welcome home.

[deleted]

Wendy, let me just say you are one patient woman!!! I am so glad that everything worked out in the end and that you are a happy married gal. It seems like you made the best of every little situation and ended up with a fabulous wedding -- oh the irony!!

 

Can't wait for pics! Juan got on the board and said he was working on them but that he had thousands! holy moly!

 

CONGRATS!!! and thanks for the review I bet the RUI brides here want to kiss your feet for providing all those details!

[TammyWright]

wendy, i am so happy that everything turned out perfectly for you and so glad that riu pulled through...maybe it was a blessing you had the new WC...i can't wait to see pics! great review!

[A10CalGal]

Wendy - congrats! I am so glad things worked out in the long run -and glad you didn't let all of the mishaps get to you. I think your comment about bringing all email correspondence with you is key. Can't wait to see photos!

[LISVITAL]

WOW. Great review. I am glad everything worked out so well. Not sure I would have handled it as gracefully. Do you have the name or email address of the cigar roller you used. If you don't mind prices too. I have tried to contact the roller on this site but I haven't heard back.

thanks,

Lisa

[TammyB]

Great review and like everyone else stated, it seems you with everything that was going on you still managed to pull it though and have a very nice wedding.

 

We hired Juan as well for our photographs and I can't tell you how excited I' am to have do our pictures. I can't wait to see your pictures..

[BEACHBRIDEMA]

Hi Wendy

Thanks for the review. I am glad everthing worked out for you. I am getting married in May at Riu, so I cant wait to see your pictures! I just have a question about certerpieces, did you provide your own or where they from the hotel? How did you arrange the appetizers at the bar? Was this extra? I am trying to think of something for my guests to do while we are having pictures taken and appetizers and the band would be a great idea.

Thanks for your help and I cant wait to see the pictures!

Sarah

[WFARRENS]

Hi Sarah, I'm glad you liked the review, I hope it helps you for you upcoming wedding. As for the centerpieces they don't have much to choose from so if you really want something I would bring it yourself. We didn't have anything I don't think. Just the table #'s. We were going to do flowers but it's so beautiful there we didn't really want to spend the extra cost. Honestly I thought I would be all over this but in the end I didn't even notice. The tables are set up nicely with the glasses and silverware and Adriana printed out a menu of our dinner with our names on it for each place setting. Which was a nice surprise.

 

As far as the appetizers go our location was in the theater bar(you'll see when you get there) They charge a $500.00 fee for private use and 8$per person for appetizers. Negotiate this! I believe everything can be and was. The are set up in a line on a table covered in those heat things and people just go up and get what they want. I didn't have any because we were doing pictures, but I heard they were good.

[WFARRENS]

Hi Lisa,

We used Alajandro who post here. Try him again or email him of the forum. He was great. I think our price was $350.00 for 40 cigars and 2 hours of show? Maybe plus he gave my husband and friends free cigars on Monday & a tequila shot! He was fun, and easy to talk to. Let me know if he doesn't get back to you and I will send him and email.