Riu Palace Cabo San Lucas 2011 Wedding

[kary]

Thanks Michey!!!!

Soooooo exciting, 2 weeks!!! I really appreciate your commitment to get the pics up, and especially for the set up of things too.  I am really excited to see and hear about how your wedding turns out Enjoy your special day!!!

 

Thanks!!

Kary

[kary]

Hi Jen!

 

I see your wedding is getting close too!!! Only 3 more weeks!  Please Please Please come back on and post pics and your review after you get back from your fabulous vacation in Cabo!

 

Enjoy your day!!

 

Thanks,

Kary

[kary]

Hey Jen,

 

Question- I see that you are having your rehearsal dinner on the Mexican terrace.  How many people are you inviting to the dinner?  I ask because I really want my rehearsal dinner there as well, and the WC told me that since I will have over 50 people that we will have to have the rehearsal dinner at the Buffet. 

Also, I see that you have 65 people coming, does that mean that you rented out the entire inside of the steakhouse from 6-11?

 

Thanks so much!!

Kary

[JenK]

I will for sure do that! I can't promise how speedy I will be, but I will try my best!!!!!
 

Originally Posted by kary 

Hi Jen!

 

I see your wedding is getting close too!!! Only 3 more weeks!  Please Please Please come back on and post pics and your review after you get back from your fabulous vacation in Cabo!

 

Enjoy your day!!

 

Thanks,

Kary

 

[JenK]

I have having the rehearsal dinner on the Mexican terrace-they told me only 20 (did they tell you up to 50??!), so I am just having it as bridal party/some family members.

 

We debated between renting out the steakhouse vs sem-private steakhouse and renting out the disco. We are quite the dancing group. We decided to go with the included semi-private, so we didn't have to pay per person for the menu. The disco was 500 and it included open bar, dj-so we decided that worked best for us. I think the look of the steakhouse would be much better though (i've been in the Riu disco's before and they are quite dark). But we figured that we would enjoy it from 6:45-8:45, and then by then-everyone will be drunk anyways and won't notice the dark disco. hahaha!

 

Originally Posted by kary 

Hey Jen,

 

Question- I see that you are having your rehearsal dinner on the Mexican terrace.  How many people are you inviting to the dinner?  I ask because I really want my rehearsal dinner there as well, and the WC told me that since I will have over 50 people that we will have to have the rehearsal dinner at the Buffet. 

Also, I see that you have 65 people coming, does that mean that you rented out the entire inside of the steakhouse from 6-11?

 

Thanks so much!!

Kary

 

[kary]

Hey Jen!

 

Adriana (WC) said:    "As you are more than 50 pax it needs to be in the Medano Restaurant (Main Buffet), or you can just have a rehearsal with the wedding party, maybe 20 pax and you can do it in Steak House or San José Restaurant."

 

I took that as since I had more than 50 people it had to be in the buffet.  I ended up e-mailing her back to ask her if I have 49 or less people if i could have it in the a specialty rest. and she has yet to write me back....However after re-thinking this, she must have meant that over 20 is too many.  I really wanted to use the rehearsal dinner as a means of a welcome dinner where I could invite everyone (est. 50 or so people) and thank them all for coming.  Also, I feel bad only inviting the wedding party, and not their dates.  The issue is we have 9 people standing up on each side, so 20 including us, and 4 more with our parents.  Oh well..... I am going to try to get my TA to get us the dinner instead.  It is free correct?  You just requested to be on the terrace of the MX rest?  That is exactly where I want my dinner.

 

Renting the disco was a good idea.  That way you save the open bar, cost of dj and only pay one fee.  Can you give a play list/I pod to the dj, or does he play whatever he wishes?  Its great how its an AI resort, yet you have to pay for everything!! UGH!

 

So, question-Since you have so many people attending (65 correct?) would you automatically have to select a per person menu if you made your event private?  There are way too many confusing rules for me to follow.  Could you have selected the private $1,000.00 option for both seatings and still only had the regular menu?

 

Thanks Jen!

 

[JenK]

Yes, the San jose mexican terrace was free for me, and I am pretty sure she said it is on the terrace, I should double check on that. It is possible it is just in the restaurant.

 

We are creating our own playlist and giving the DJ our IPOD to play. Our wedding coordinator also said we could give the names of the songs to him, but we have quite a few, and we are particular on our versions for certain dance songs so we thought the IPOD was the best option!

 

I THINK you have to pay a private menu option for a private event, but the rules change so often that I'm not sure. Our biggest priority was dancing, so we didn't look closely into the $1000 renting out option, since you would have had to pay for the DJ on top of that. Can any other brides comment on this? I'm not absolutely sure if you must pay per person for a private event at the steakhouse....
 

Originally Posted by kary 

Hey Jen!

 

Adriana (WC) said:    "As you are more than 50 pax it needs to be in the Medano Restaurant (Main Buffet), or you can just have a rehearsal with the wedding party, maybe 20 pax and you can do it in Steak House or San José Restaurant."

 

I took that as since I had more than 50 people it had to be in the buffet.  I ended up e-mailing her back to ask her if I have 49 or less people if i could have it in the a specialty rest. and she has yet to write me back....However after re-thinking this, she must have meant that over 20 is too many.  I really wanted to use the rehearsal dinner as a means of a welcome dinner where I could invite everyone (est. 50 or so people) and thank them all for coming.  Also, I feel bad only inviting the wedding party, and not their dates.  The issue is we have 9 people standing up on each side, so 20 including us, and 4 more with our parents.  Oh well..... I am going to try to get my TA to get us the dinner instead.  It is free correct?  You just requested to be on the terrace of the MX rest?  That is exactly where I want my dinner.

 

Renting the disco was a good idea.  That way you save the open bar, cost of dj and only pay one fee.  Can you give a play list/I pod to the dj, or does he play whatever he wishes?  Its great how its an AI resort, yet you have to pay for everything!! UGH!

 

So, question-Since you have so many people attending (65 correct?) would you automatically have to select a per person menu if you made your event private?  There are way too many confusing rules for me to follow.  Could you have selected the private $1,000.00 option for both seatings and still only had the regular menu?

 

Thanks Jen! 

 

[Crys]

Hi everyone,

 

So sorry it has taken so long to post since the wedding.  Did I tell you I also have a 8 month old baby girl. So you can see I have been busy with that as well. Still...My apologies.

 

Everything turned out beautifully despite some bumps along the way getting it organized.  I want to answer some of those questions we all have been trying to find out about the RIU. Palace.  Where do I start?

 

FYI...To both Michelle's and Jenn, who have been emailing back and forth with me and my mom...if I leave anything out, please feel free to email me.  Either my mom or I will get back to you sooner through email than on here. (I don't seem to find the time to get back on here lately...but I check my emails always)

 

We had the Caprice wedding pkg.

Brides Bq: all Casablanca Lilies and greens (included)

Grooms Bout: small white lily to match (included)

purchased BM bq's $60.00 ea. (MH was to have 7 lilies, BM were to have 5 lilies...all ended up with only 4 large casablanca which we didn't know till they were brought to us 1hr before the wedding. too late to do anything about it so just breath...LOL) wanted hand tied with blue ribbon we brought, no container. They put them in a cylinder and wrapped the cylinder with the ribbon   (did not like it but can see why they did it. It was a very hot day and they lasted longer this way. Just would have been nice for them to tell us first and not just do it.

GM Bout: my mom made real touch silk combo of lily petal, cherry blossom with agreen leaf from silk lily.  I wanted to incorporate cherry blossom into the theme. They turned out great and were much better than paying 5x $30 ea from the resort florist.

 

 

Lets start with the ceremony ...46 in total attended incl wedding party.  Everyone gathered on the grass prior to the wedding starting. We had a basket of silk fans that my dad handed out while he visited with everyone before the ceremony started.

We decided to have the guests seat themselves where they liked.  Because the ramp we walked down to the ceremony was a little steep we opted to have the groomsmen escort the bridemaids down. My groom carried our daughter and I walked beside them. 

The ceremony is about 20 minutes long, 25 minutes with the sand ceremony.  Judge speaks in spanish and the WC translates.  The signing of papers is long and you get finger printed (bring something to clean the ink off)

 

 

San Jose Gazebo:  Awesome choice to have the ceremony. Over looks the ocean, background of the Arch (although the angle you cannot see the actual arch but it is there) and on our day (Wednesday) there were cruise ships (some got in some photos which turned out kind of cool).  There was a table set up to the left side of gazebo with champange and water on ice. Champange glasses (not plastic) and a server (all included in pkg). To the right of the gazebo was another table set up for the sand ceremony. There is also a very large grass garden area for picture taking.   Chairs were covered in a white cloth chair cover with a blue bow tied around it.  On the front of the gazebo arch were 2 very large flower arrangements (incl. in pkg) that matched my bouquet. Casablanca lilies smell awesome and can bother some with allergies but since it was all outside there were no problems.

 

San Jose Gazebo Riu Palace

 

The walkway to the right is one choice for the wedding party to enter, or you may enter from the left which has a level ground. We picked the ramp on the right to walk down (it's a little steep, not bad just take your time) I did it in 3 inch heels...and never fell at all...)                                              We did not bring this from home. The sand ceremony was a last minute addition. My mom hunted high and low and finally found a plain vase and colored sand at Walmart. Luckily mom brought some craft supplies and was able to decorate the vase. The colored sand is actually scented sand found in their home decor deptartment. The beige sand in the vase is from the beach. 4 colors: base color represents where we were married the other 3 colors represent our daughter and us.  NOTE: afterward mom stuffed the empty space of the vase neck with kleenex and topped with douple saran wrap put the vase back in the box it came in and gave it to the best man to bring home for us as a carry on. No problems at the airport. Total cost for vase and colored sand $35.00

 

 

sorry...This is a lot of info for one post and I am probably posting in the wrong area. Someone let me know if I am rambling.  I will post next on the reception.

[mishele81]

Thanks Crys!!!!

So happy to hear from you ! Can't wait to hear your next post!

[Crys]

3 tierd cake ...cake topper, silk cherry blossoms and blue ribbon my mom brought and had them add to cake.

yummy cake (one layer choco. one vanila one marble (which ended up being choco) didn't find out til we cut into it...again breath We're married and all is good

 

Mom found a cake topper that match my wedding set...just added the blue stone to be exactly like mine...cool eh?

 

The Reception:

 

Don Julio Terrace with the beach for dancing:

 

Very private

 

46 in total

6 tables of 6 for guests

U shaped head table held 12

table for guest book later for wedding cake

 

Tables were spread out quite nicely. Comfortable room for walking around.  No choice on chairs used but lucky for us the covers are in blue which was what we wanted anyway. The arrangment on the head table at the top of the picture is one of the arrangements that was hanging on the gazebo. The small vases like the one on the left of the picture are what my mom found at the dollar store by Walmart. The resort did not have 10 matching vases for us to use (they had some but were too small and not enough) Mom brought from home silk cherry blossoms and blue gel beads. she put the arrangements together and then put a round water proof light inside (the gels were in water). she also brought from home 36 tea lights in the shape of butterflies, dragonflies and gerber daisies. (They each glowed in and out of 4 colors). These were spreadout on the tables and if you look closely there were also some on the wall inside those stone decorations. Blue and clear plastic diamonds were also spread along the tables.  At night it all glowed so beautifully.

 

Lights above tables and on walls lit the dinner area. After dinner we turned had them turn out the lights above and only had the ones on the wall lit.  Center of picture on the right where guests are standing is a stairway up to the bar. on the left is the entrance to the beach dance floor.  DJ was set up at the to of picture on the sand to the left.

Metal rings on each of the tables is a where they place the appetizer plate... one per couple to share.

 

 

Where the dance floor is the area is usually covered in beach chairs.  This was cleared out for the dance floor.  gazebo on the left of picture is one of the places they give massages during the day. This was closed off to us. Black objects below the trees are spot lights that the DJ supplies. There were 10 of them all glowing blue lights. We had them placed at the base of 6 trees, two at the entrance to the terrace and one at either ind of the terrace.

 

The dance floor was 3 trees deep 2 wide (that probably won't make sense until you're there)

 

Dance floor set up in front of terrace for dancing was wood squares about 4x8 (I'm guessing) Wood was a bit rough, don't know if anyone got a sliver but was possible.  Floor was laid out in a long rectangular shape and was as level as possible with it being placed ontop of sand. careful you don't trip.  was much better than dancing in the sand as it is coarse hard to walk in.

 

To the left of the entrance is where they put the cake.

 

I get too detailed...let  me know if there are questions.

 

BTW we opted to not have the open bar and were very happy about it.  The bar was not too far to go get drinks other than wine and we found out that some of our guests tipped the waiters during the night once in a while and they happily got drinks for us...even the blended ones.  It was no different then you would if you were at the show they have each night.