Marival Resort and Suites

[k032379]

Traci I just returned from Marival Resorts and Suites for my wedding 1/4/13. I hope the Residence and World Spa is different. Although everything worked out in the end, many things went wrong and I would not return to Marival. We had 56 people with us and they had many of our reservations wrong, including my husband and I's. We did not get our correct room until the day after we arrived. The wedding coordinator was very nice but was difficult to get a hold of until a couple of weeks before the wedding. She was not around much during the wedding to help and make sure everything went smoothly. They got our flowers and our cake wrong and forgot the champagne. The resorts photography, Paparazzi, was very rude and continuously bothered us to use them for our wedding. We had an outside photographer so we did not need them. They didn't seem to care and showed up at our wedding! I had to interrupt the ceremony to ask them to leave. The free wedding package was great, we paid extra to have private dance and dinner, which was definitely worth it. Overall we still had fun, our wedding was a blast and our guests enjoyed it but it was not stress free. If you have any questions just let me know. 

Im sorry to hear that. Now im a little scared. We leave in a few days for our wedding at MR&WS. I spoke with just a very few other brides and everyone had great things to say about the resort. My guest are staying at Marival Resort & Suites but I have a very small group. If you have anything you wowouldn't mind sharing to help my day go smooth I would be really appreciative. Please inbox me. Thank you K

[k032379]

Yikes!  I'm so sad to hear your event didn't run as smoothly as it should!!  I've heard the Residence is quite a big different than the Resort so I'll keep my fingers crossed.  Just out of curiosity, do you remember your wedding coordinator's name?  Hopefully it's not the same one I've been issued.  I've been curious if they were the same since you can have your wedding/reception at either location.  Did you get a chance to look at Paparazzi's photos?  I had been wondering if they were any good?  Did you bring a photographer with you, or someone from PV?  I've really been struggling on who to use.  Did you get a dj for your private dance, or did you use an ipod hookup?  Thanks for any info you may have!!!  And congrats on being a Mrs. now :woot:

Great questions Traci. Im curious to what the answrsare to these qquestions as well. Paparazzi has a website with some of their work that Yarina sent me. K

[tariag]

My wedding is on the calendar at Marival for 10.25.13.  What did you ladies have to do to confirm your dates?  The wedding planner said that the date is confirmed, but all I did was send her an email requesting that date.  I'm a bit skeptical because I was told there is no deposit to hold the date.  Any thoughts on this?

[gauxx011]

Yikes!  I'm so sad to hear your event didn't run as smoothly as it should!!  I've heard the Residence is quite a big different than the Resort so I'll keep my fingers crossed.  Just out of curiosity, do you remember your wedding coordinator's name?  Hopefully it's not the same one I've been issued.  I've been curious if they were the same since you can have your wedding/reception at either location.  Did you get a chance to look at Paparazzi's photos?  I had been wondering if they were any good?  Did you bring a photographer with you, or someone from PV?  I've really been struggling on who to use.  Did you get a dj for your private dance, or did you use an ipod hookup?  Thanks for any info you may have!!!  And congrats on being a Mrs. now

 

Thanks! Yanira was my wedding coordinator. Sorry, I did not look at Paparazzi's pictures. Have you looked up reviews online? I have a friend who is a photographer so she took our pictures. We took pictures on a grassy area on the resort two hours before the wedding (make sure to have a photo list of the pictures you would like). I would recommend a 5:30 wedding right before sunset. We had a cocktail hour with a mariachi band on the beach after the wedding so we could take a group picture and some individual and wedding party sunset pictures. Its hard to take pictures on the beach before the wedding because there is a lot of people. They clear the area around the wedding a little bit but there are people that stand around and watch during the ceremony. Random resorts guests were clapping and cheering when I walked down the isle. People may walk in the background of your wedding but most people were respectful. Honestly I hardly noticed the people around me becuase I was so focused on my husband.  We used an ipod hook up and brought our own music. They had a great sound setup and someone to control the volume at both the wedding and reception. I dont think you need a DJ. I can't stress enough how worth it was to have a private reception. We used the Patio which was beautiful. It was only $30 per person for 4 hours which included food and an open bar. The food was really good. Our guests couldn't stop talking about it. They let us use candles for center pieces with no charge. They brought over the flowers from the wedding for decorations at the reception. We had a nice long head table and round tables that sat up to 10 people. After the dance, which had to end by 11pm, we went to the disco and danced more. The bottom of my dress was so dirty by the end of the night, but it was worth it. Just make sure your wedding coordinator writes everything down and sends you a copy. I would double check everything. Also keep in mind that it is Mexico and everything is more laid back so things may not go as planned. Thankfully I had two amazing personal attendants who ran around and made sure the wedding planner was doing everything correctly. If you have any more questions let me know. Good luck!

[gauxx011]

Thanks! Yanira was our wedding planner. We had a rehearsal on the beach and a rehearsal dinner the day before the wedding. They just made dinner reservations for us at one of the restaurant and it was great. I did not look at Paparazzi’s photos, sorry. We have a friend who is a photographer so she took our pictures. We took pictures two hours before the wedding, which was a good amount of time. I would recommend having a photo list ready. We used the resort salon for nails and hair. Our nails turned out great but my bridesmaid and I were not impressed with our hair and had to fix it ourselves. We had pictures to show the stylists but our hair did not look like the pictures when they were done. I would recommend a 5:30 ceremony. They had a great sound setup and someone to control the music and volume at both the wedding and reception so I don’t think you need to hire an actually DJ. We brought our own music playlist and used their ipod hookup. There were people standing around watching our wedding but most stayed at a distance and were respectful. Random guests cheered and clapped as I walked down the isle. I hardly noticed the people around us because I was so focused on my husband and the ceremony.  We had a cocktail hour with a mariachi band after the wedding so we could take sunset pictures.  It was well worth it to have a private reception. The patio was beautiful. They let us use their candles for center pieces with no charge and brought over the flowers from the ceremony for decoration at the reception. It was $30 per person for four hours, which included food, an open bar and the dance. They had a microphone for speeches and turned down the lights for the dance. We went to the disco after the reception and danced some more. The reception had to end by 11pm. I am lucky I had two amazing personal attendants who ran around and made sure everything looked good and the wedding planner was setting everything up.  Make sure the wedding coordinator writes everything down and sends you a copy. I would double check everything. My husband and I travel around Mexico often and things are more laid back so things may not get done the way you want them to. Overall it was beautiful wedding just stressful. Good luck!

[gauxx011]

I did not send in a deposit. They just said they would hold my date for me. I also went though a travel agent who booked all our guests packages. 

[k032379]

My wedding is on the calendar at Marival for 10.25.13.  What did you ladies have to do to confirm your dates?  The wedding planner said that the date is confirmed, but all I did was send her an email requesting that date.  I'm a bit skeptical because I was told there is no deposit to hold the date.  Any thoughts on this?

Don't be. I did the same thing but my travel agent also requested & confirmed it. My wedding went off without a hitch last week. K