I just don't know how to even start...

[Thipsy]

Hi everyone, I am a bride for November 2011 and we have decided to get married in Cancun/Riviera Maya area. Thats about as far as I got, in terms of decision making. I have looked on countless of hotel and resort pages, and I just don't even know where to start. I can't get prices for November of next year, so I can't tell my guests any type of price.

 

I know you get what you pay for, I want it to be affordable for everyone, but still really nice. I feel like I can't find a good medium. Either its really nice or its ghetto.The Cancun brides page doesn't help much because its more towards resorts that the brides already know there getting married at. I don't know, as a newbie, I feel like I can't get started, which makes me think I should just plan a wedding in my hometown...maybe I just need some tips of encouragement. Thanks everyone.

[~Nicole~]

Hi Thipsy and welcome to the forum!  And please, don't worry, we ALL felt like that lol!! 

 

Your best bet is to a list of must haves vs would be nice or not important.  For example, do you need an amazing beach, a place that allows kids, a gazebo for the wedding, great food, etc.  From there you can REALLY narrow down your choices.  Sometimes its just easier to see it in black and white right in front of you.

 

Have you seen a TA?  They can be helpful in terms of what $$ you're looking to spend. 

 

You also want to research things about the resorts such as vendor rules ie are you allowed to bring a photog or are you restricted to pick from ones they offer, etc.  Those sorts of things could be make it or break it for you.

 

Good luck and don't be afraid to ask questions!  There's tons of info on here so take advantage of that search function!  Whatever obstacle you have, I'm sure someone has gone through it before too!!!

[skadow]

I am a bride in the RM area for 2011 too.

 

First off..Hotel...

 

Check out the Del Sol wiki located here...They are photographer that post on these boards. They have taken thousands of pictures of RM and Cancun. They have all the photos categorized by hotel. It gives you a much better idea of what hotels are in the area and what bridal accommodation they have.

 

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/wiki/del-sol-photography-slideshows-riviera-maya

 

Once you have decided on a hotel...book your date! My first choice was gone and I booked a year ahead. Also start looking into photographers. I am using Del Sol..They were voted as one of the top ten wedding photographers in the world. At lot of the good photographers book up pretty fast for Sat & Sundays.

 

2nd. uhm Pricing.

 

Once you decide on a hotel or a few..look up their threads in here. A lot of girls have pricing for 2011. I know I have all the palace resort price and vendor pricing for makeup/decor and photos. Let me know if you need help!

 

3rd...Send out your save the dates or STD's as soon as you know the date. Will give people time to save money. Post girls send out their STD about a year ahead.

[clgriffi7]

Thipsy -

 

These are the things that swayed me toward my resort, so they might be items for you to think about as well.

 

resort location:  what is more important to you? less crowded, more "authentic", closer to ruins/cenotes = Riviera Maya OR less travel time from the airport for guests, more nightlife options = Cancun

 

ceremony location:  have you always dreamed of getting married on the beach?  would you like to be overlooking the beach/water and not have to worry about a sunbather being too close?  I chose the latter and went on a search for a gazebo that wasn't too close to the pool and such, so that narrowed it down for me.  Whereas if you want a beach ceremony there are resorts that are better able to provide a more secluded location.

 

reception location:  do you require a private reception?  I did, so that ruled out several brands of resorts.

 

child friendly:  yes or no?  this can rule out several brands as well

 

price:  a travel agent can best tell you what to expect price-wise, but if you want to have it narrowed down a bit before working with a travel agent, this is my suggestion: pick a random date ~6months out from now and go to expedia.com and search your location with hotel only.  You won't have an exact price, but you will at least know how the cost at each hotel compares to the next.  There are lots of November 2011 brides on this forum (including myself) that can give you a real price to be the basis of your comparison.

 

DON"T give up on your dream of a destination wedding bc you are feeling overwhelmed!

 

Please PM me if you have any specific questions you think I can help answer.

Courtney

[Jessie]

I felt exactly like that.  I looked around as much as I could on my own, but it was just getting overwhelming because of the amount of choices.

 

I didn't make any headway until I hired a travel agent.  I looked for one that specializes in destination weddings.  I told her what was important to me (and I didn't really have that many specifics other than it needed to be a family resort, all-inclusive, beachy, and something my guests could afford), and she was able to narrow it down quickly for me.  We zeroed in on Riviera Maya, and then she gave me her recommendations.  I had sticker shock for a while, and then got over it.  I just didn't want it to be too expensive for my guests, but I also wanted it to be a nice place where I would be happy having my wedding.

 

Anyway, it doesn't cost anything to get a TA, so I would do that for sure if I were you.  They are a big help as far as finding a place.  Once you have a place, the TA will work out a contract for the discounted room rates, with specific booking timeframe, estimated number of rooms, and then your guests can book directly through them and you won't need to worry about any of the travel arrangements.  Also, if you get with a TA, they get prices for you right now.  I booked my November 2011 wedding in September, so you definitely don't have to wait until after the new year.

 

Anyway, good luck!  Don't give up.....you are in the right place at BDW, the brides here are super helpful!  Feel free to contact me if I can help in any way! 

[Thipsy]

Wow, thanks ladies so much. I better get a move on considering I hear that places book up a year in advance!! This is much more than my travel agent could ever tell me. I only met with her once, and she was somewhat pushy, like I was wasting her time, its like lady I have never done this before?? But thats a great idea--to put our most important things down on paper. I was actually thinking on whether I wanted to do mainland Cancun or down more in less crowded Playa del Carmen. That will be a good start. If I wanted to speak with someone, should I get a calling card to call down to Mexico, somehow emails never really worked for me, well I'll just hope they email me back.

 

Thanks ladies and I will def PM y'all if I run into any problems!!

[skadow]

The good places will email you back. Its just hard to find those. Also it helps if you have a correct contact. If you need a contact for a specific vendor or hotel check out to see if their is a forum on here about that vendor or hotel. A lot of them will tell you who is your best bet to email. I have can give you good contacts for Palace Resorts, Del Sol, Decor and Makup hehe =)

 

But it took me months and months to dig through all the slow vendors to find the good ones.

[Dmitri_Markine]

Welcome to the forum!

Happy planning

 

:)Dmitri

[jlarruda]

Hey!

 

I'm in the same boat as you, I haven't posted on any forums yet but I have been constantly doing research to narrow it down to 2 or 3 resorts and then my fiance and I will choose.  I've gotten a lot of information by looking at reviews/making a list of what is important to us.  My fiance has even gone as far as to say that he is going to put up the resorts on a board and throw a dart and that will be our resort (joking of course).  I just think the hardest part is to find the resort and then everything will come together.  My fiance is in the military (stationed in Georgia, we live in AL), our closest friends and family are all back home in MA.. so we're looking to confirm everything over the holidays and then send out our save the dates.  I know we have to be flexible on our date, but we're pretty set on 11/11/11 - its Veterans Day so it will have meaning for us.. so now that has eliminated some resorts as they are booked.  I guess you can say its an elimination process as you make your list to narrow it down.. hopefully in the next couple of weeks you & I will have more clarity

 

- Jessica

[karyan]

It's overwhelming for all of us in the start, the best advice is to first figure out your budget, and then try to find something that works and has the core of what you want (beach wedding vs garden...etc) good luck!