Excellence Riviera Cancun Brides?

[correak0723]

Hi correak, I wish I could help you with your answers but I can't because our wedding date is 6-12-14. With 50 people did you choose the Gold package? What locations did you choose and have you picked out your flowers yet? I am so confused by Jessica on centerpieces. Any help on that would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Kari

 

Hi Kari,

We are doing the Silver package because we didn't need any of the extras of the Gold package.  We're doing a Welcome cocktail hour the night before at the X lounge, the ceremony on the pier, and the reception at the Lobster House.  We're not doing cocktail hour as there will only be a half hour between the ceremony end and the reception.  We are doing a longer reception so we asked for the cocktail hour apps included in the package to be brought out later in the night and chose heavier apps for "munchies".  Just last week, I sent Gloria an email confirming all of these details that she and I had discussed since we confirmed the ERC in March of last year.  I am waiting on her to confirm all the details and will let you know if anything changes.

 

We're not having a bridal party so it's just a bouquet for me.  I sent Gloria a picture of something I liked and asked her if she could create something similar in the same price range as the bouquet choices I would have gotten with my package.  All of this is in the one big spreadsheet of details, questions and prices I sent to her so she asked for a few days to go through it all and respond.  I have not seen a catalog of bridal flowers from the ERC.

 

Regarding centerpieces, I received a catalog of centerpieces to choose from.  The Silver package has one centerpiece included.  I am upgrading that one from the Silver menu to the Gold for $10-$15.  I am using the centerpiece for the ceremony and then having them move it to our table for the reception.  Centerpieces for the other tables were quoted as $60-$70 for the Silver and Gold ones respectively.  To be honest, I'm not a big wedding person so instead of spending $60 per table (we have 6 not including ours), I'm renting one hurricane per table from them for $5 each.  I am buying colored sand and seashells and am going to fill the hurricanes with sand at the bottom, the seashells and water and add a floating candle on top.  After dinner, we're going down to three tables for guests so each table will have two hurricanes.  We're also doing the DJ package with lights so I think we'll have sufficient ambience to make up for not having too much bling on the tables.  Also, the advantage of the Lobster House is that you have a view of the ocean and light reflecting from the pool, so the venue does not need as much dressing up as say a ballroom would.

 

Here's the website where I am buying the sand and shells.  They have some great stuff for decorations: http://www.save-on-crafts.com/ so defintiely look through it for ideas. 

 

Hope this helps.  Please let me know if you need additional information.

 

P.S.: Could you do me a favor?  Whenever you chat with Jessica next, can you inquire what bars are open between 8pm and 1am at night?  I' ve gotten three different answers (from Gloria and twice from calling the 1800 #) and I need to confirm our pocket schedules soon.

[TealMarie]

Hello karijean,

 

Nothing has settled yet. For flower, I want peonies and still waiting for their reply.

Menu - They sent tme some choices.

Location - I will have ceremony at pier by the beach, cocktail at Las Olas and reception at Barcelona.

 

I am just afraid it may rain since my wedding is in July so I picked covered place.

 

What about you ?Did you pick yours?

For all brides who has done recepiton at Foyer. Even though I leaning towards Barcelona since it has A/C.  Is it really hot in Foyer?

Is it a private room or a jsut a hallway ? I can't really tell from pictures.

I am going to have one long table with aout 20 people.

Should I set up near the window so there will be breeze~ ?

 

Any comments are welcome!

 

JessT.

 

I had my reception at the Foyer. It is a private room that's very pretty. It's kind of shaped like a T, with the post of the T wide and short, if that makes sense. Yes, it's very hot. Our wedding was in November and everyone was dripping in sweat during the meal and especially after a little bit of dancing. In terms of space, you could place your table by the window, as it was a bit breezy but you would have to rely on several fans. I've said it before but if it were me I'd have the reception at Barcelona or the Lobster House, especially if it were in July.

 

Hello everyone, I am getting married at the Erc on May 2, 2014.  We are creating a schedule for our guests since we have 50 and we want people to know where we will be in the evenings given that everyone is arriving and leaving on different dates.  I'm having a tough time getting confirmation on what bars at open at night.  So far, I have been told Martini (lobby bar), Stars (by the theatre) and Alegria are open until 1am.  Is this accurate information?  What about the Sports bar?

 

I was trying to get similar information, i.e., days when restaurants are closed but was not able to get a response from them. 

Thank you in advance!

 

I believe these are the correct bars that are open until midnight or 1am. Alegria is the dance club and it's....not very nice I'd say and not very busy, although this depends on what groups decide to go out what night. The martini bar has a lot of neat drinks and a great atmosphere but it gets busy, especially to have 50 people meet you there. There's really only seating along the bar (maybe 35 seats along the bar and another 10 in chairs off to the side) and it's more of a place that people would go to have a drink before or after dinner. If you're organizing this for 50 people I'd go with Stars. It's the bar next to the stage where they put on different shows every night. There's a lot of seating around there and there are servers to bring you drinks. You could meet people there, enjoy the show (which are really fun) and then decide whether to stay or move on to the club. Our group tended to meet at Cafe Kafe, have a few drinks and then decide where to go afterwards.

 

Hi correak, I wish I could help you with your answers but I can't because our wedding date is 6-12-14. With 50 people did you choose the Gold package? What locations did you choose and have you picked out your flowers yet? I am so confused by Jessica on centerpieces. Any help on that would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Kari

 

I'm not sure what your questions about centerpieces are. I didn't like most of the centerpieces offered in the catalogue but if you just give them a picture or two, they can make anything for you. I did that with my bouquet and centerpiece and they turned out exactly how I wanted. I also rented a few vases and had my bridesmaids bouquets in them on each table. It turned out fantastic! Also know that a lot of flowers that are affordable for us in the US or Canada, are much more expensive there because they have to import them. I was interested in peonies and hydrangeas, but these were very expensive, so I stuck with roses (they had the shades I asked for) and local (cheaper) white and green fillers. 

[correak0723]

I had my reception at the Foyer. It is a private room that's very pretty. It's kind of shaped like a T, with the post of the T wide and short, if that makes sense. Yes, it's very hot. Our wedding was in November and everyone was dripping in sweat during the meal and especially after a little bit of dancing. In terms of space, you could place your table by the window, as it was a bit breezy but you would have to rely on several fans. I've said it before but if it were me I'd have the reception at Barcelona or the Lobster House, especially if it were in July.

 

 

I believe these are the correct bars that are open until midnight or 1am. Alegria is the dance club and it's....not very nice I'd say and not very busy, although this depends on what groups decide to go out what night. The martini bar has a lot of neat drinks and a great atmosphere but it gets busy, especially to have 50 people meet you there. There's really only seating along the bar (maybe 35 seats along the bar and another 10 in chairs off to the side) and it's more of a place that people would go to have a drink before or after dinner. If you're organizing this for 50 people I'd go with Stars. It's the bar next to the stage where they put on different shows every night. There's a lot of seating around there and there are servers to bring you drinks. You could meet people there, enjoy the show (which are really fun) and then decide whether to stay or move on to the club. Our group tended to meet at Cafe Kafe, have a few drinks and then decide where to go afterwards.

 

 

I'm not sure what your questions about centerpieces are. I didn't like most of the centerpieces offered in the catalogue but if you just give them a picture or two, they can make anything for you. I did that with my bouquet and centerpiece and they turned out exactly how I wanted. I also rented a few vases and had my bridesmaids bouquets in them on each table. It turned out fantastic! Also know that a lot of flowers that are affordable for us in the US or Canada, are much more expensive there because they have to import them. I was interested in peonies and hydrangeas, but these were very expensive, so I stuck with roses (they had the shades I asked for) and local (cheaper) white and green fillers. 

 

 

Hi TealMarie,

 

Thank you for your response. 

 

For each day that we're there, we're letting our guests know where we will be for cocktails before dinner, dinner and then after dinner drinks.  It is optional for our guests to join us but at least they know where to find us.

 

Do you know if the Sports Bar is open late?  I thought that Cafe Kafe closes early - around 6pm pr 7pm, is that correct?  What are some fun bars to grab drinks before dinner, say around 6pm or 7pm?

 

Karen

[TealMarie]

Hi TealMarie,

 

Thank you for your response. 

 

For each day that we're there, we're letting our guests know where we will be for cocktails before dinner, dinner and then after dinner drinks.  It is optional for our guests to join us but at least they know where to find us.

 

Do you know if the Sports Bar is open late?  I thought that Cafe Kafe closes early - around 6pm pr 7pm, is that correct?  What are some fun bars to grab drinks before dinner, say around 6pm or 7pm?

 

Karen

Hi Karen,

 

That's a great idea to let people know where you'll be going. We did something similar and we usually ended up back at Cafe Kafe after dinner where we'd let people know what we were doing for the night, if they were interested in joining.

 

I have to admit I never went to the Sports Bar and don't even know where it is on the property, so I have no idea about it's hours or atmosphere. Cafe Kafe was open until 11pm or 12am, if I remember correctly. It had a great atmosphere where a lot of people would gather before dinner and they'd have a live band playing often or sometimes salsa dance lessons that you could join in or watch. As I said before, the Martini bar is really fun, feels a bit more dressy and has some great martinis, but it's busy. Not meaning you shouldn't go, it's just you might be standing while you drink, which isn't a big deal if you've been lounging and suntanning all day  Also, most of these bars are about 30ft from each other, so not that hard to jump ship and move to another one.

 

Random tip: We had people download the app, 'What's App' to their phones and it was a great way to text people to let them know what the plan was if we hadn't run into them that day. Very handy as there's wifi pretty much everywhere on the resort.

[karijean]

Hi Kari,

We are doing the Silver package because we didn't need any of the extras of the Gold package.  We're doing a Welcome cocktail hour the night before at the X lounge, the ceremony on the pier, and the reception at the Lobster House.  We're not doing cocktail hour as there will only be a half hour between the ceremony end and the reception.  We are doing a longer reception so we asked for the cocktail hour apps included in the package to be brought out later in the night and chose heavier apps for "munchies".  Just last week, I sent Gloria an email confirming all of these details that she and I had discussed since we confirmed the ERC in March of last year.  I am waiting on her to confirm all the details and will let you know if anything changes.

 

We're not having a bridal party so it's just a bouquet for me.  I sent Gloria a picture of something I liked and asked her if she could create something similar in the same price range as the bouquet choices I would have gotten with my package.  All of this is in the one big spreadsheet of details, questions and prices I sent to her so she asked for a few days to go through it all and respond.  I have not seen a catalog of bridal flowers from the ERC.

 

Regarding centerpieces, I received a catalog of centerpieces to choose from.  The Silver package has one centerpiece included.  I am upgrading that one from the Silver menu to the Gold for $10-$15.  I am using the centerpiece for the ceremony and then having them move it to our table for the reception.  Centerpieces for the other tables were quoted as $60-$70 for the Silver and Gold ones respectively.  To be honest, I'm not a big wedding person so instead of spending $60 per table (we have 6 not including ours), I'm renting one hurricane per table from them for $5 each.  I am buying colored sand and seashells and am going to fill the hurricanes with sand at the bottom, the seashells and water and add a floating candle on top.  After dinner, we're going down to three tables for guests so each table will have two hurricanes.  We're also doing the DJ package with lights so I think we'll have sufficient ambience to make up for not having too much bling on the tables.  Also, the advantage of the Lobster House is that you have a view of the ocean and light reflecting from the pool, so the venue does not need as much dressing up as say a ballroom would.

 

Here's the website where I am buying the sand and shells.  They have some great stuff for decorations: http://www.save-on-crafts.com/ so defintiely look through it for ideas. 

 

Hope this helps.  Please let me know if you need additional information.

 

P.S.: Could you do me a favor?  Whenever you chat with Jessica next, can you inquire what bars are open between 8pm and 1am at night?  I' ve gotten three different answers (from Gloria and twice from calling the 1800 #) and I need to confirm our pocket schedules soon.

 

Hi Correak,

 

Yes I can definitely ask Jessica what bars are open late, did TealMarie's answers match up with any of Gloria's answers? How did you know  you could rent stuff from ERC? Is there a sheet they sent you that you could look at? I Just now got the beach gazebo decorations one and we are 3 months out! I have literally had to ask for all of the catalogues (flowers, decorations, price list, food, etc) not a problem but if I didn't have this website I would be lost! When you sent her a bouquet to choose from, was it a random one you found or a ERC one you had seen? Are you getting legally married there? Thanks!

 

 

I'm not sure what your questions about centerpieces are. I didn't like most of the centerpieces offered in the catalogue but if you just give them a picture or two, they can make anything for you. I did that with my bouquet and centerpiece and they turned out exactly how I wanted. I also rented a few vases and had my bridesmaids bouquets in them on each table. It turned out fantastic! Also know that a lot of flowers that are affordable for us in the US or Canada, are much more expensive there because they have to import them. I was interested in peonies and hydrangeas, but these were very expensive, so I stuck with roses (they had the shades I asked for) and local (cheaper) white and green fillers. 

 

Hi TealMarie!

 

Glad you are back! Yes I am sooo confused because in the Gold package I am not sure if it is included to choose a ceremony tablepiece (I know you didn't have one) AND reception centerpieces. I don't want to be paying $60-70 a centerpiece if it isn't included. If it is included how many reception centerpieces do you get to have? Did you get them on all of your round tables and did you have to pay for each of them? Were they similar to your bouquets? Jessica and I have gone back and forth 3x and I still do not understand. I should just rent the vases for my 2 bridesmaids, my bouquet and they can move the ceremony centerpiece that I know is included on the table and be done with it! Bahhh! We are going to have just over 30 people so we are going to do 1 long table.

 

Also how did you know that you could rent vases? I really want orchids but they are $20 a flower, so I think I will splurge on my bouquet and then do roses for everything else. Thank you!

[TealMarie]

Hi Correak,

 

Yes I can definitely ask Jessica what bars are open late, did TealMarie's answers match up with any of Gloria's answers? How did you know  you could rent stuff from ERC? Is there a sheet they sent you that you could look at? I Just now got the beach gazebo decorations one and we are 3 months out! I have literally had to ask for all of the catalogues (flowers, decorations, price list, food, etc) not a problem but if I didn't have this website I would be lost! When you sent her a bouquet to choose from, was it a random one you found or a ERC one you had seen? Are you getting legally married there? Thanks!

 

 

Hi TealMarie!

 

Glad you are back! Yes I am sooo confused because in the Gold package I am not sure if it is included to choose a ceremony tablepiece (I know you didn't have one) AND reception centerpieces. I don't want to be paying $60-70 a centerpiece if it isn't included. If it is included how many reception centerpieces do you get to have? Did you get them on all of your round tables and did you have to pay for each of them? Were they similar to your bouquets? Jessica and I have gone back and forth 3x and I still do not understand. I should just rent the vases for my 2 bridesmaids, my bouquet and they can move the ceremony centerpiece that I know is included on the table and be done with it! Bahhh! We are going to have just over 30 people so we are going to do 1 long table.

 

Also how did you know that you could rent vases? I really want orchids but they are $20 a flower, so I think I will splurge on my bouquet and then do roses for everything else. Thank you!

 

Hi KariJean,

 

I believe we had a ceremony centerpiece and a reception centerpiece. Yes, they can move the ceremony one to your reception after the ceremony is over. We had 5 round tables, so we had one centerpiece on one of the tables, and a vase on each of the other tables that we plunked our bouquets into. The second centerpiece that came with our package was next to the cake. I think we got two centerpieces because we had the Gold package. Yes, the centerpieces looked like our bouquets. The pictures I sent as inspiration for our bouquets and the centerpieces were just ones I had found online, not ones I knew were made at ERC.

 

I didn't know I could rent vases. I had emailed Gloria some ideas and she said they could rent us some things if we didn't want to bring them. If that's the route you'd like to go, I would email her pictures of what you're picturing and ask how/if they can make it happen. They have a lot of glassware, decorations, etc that they've either purchased or other brides have left, so I imagine that's why they don't have a catalogue of it.

 

Using our bouquets for the centerpieces turned out great, so I'd ask Gloria/Jessica about getting vases and say you'd like to use the centerpieces that are included for no additional cost in your package as well. About a month before your wedding, ask for an itemized invoice so you can go over everything. That way you'll be sure you're not being charged for centerpieces if you thought they were included. 

[correak0723]

Hi Karen,

 

That's a great idea to let people know where you'll be going. We did something similar and we usually ended up back at Cafe Kafe after dinner where we'd let people know what we were doing for the night, if they were interested in joining.

 

I have to admit I never went to the Sports Bar and don't even know where it is on the property, so I have no idea about it's hours or atmosphere. Cafe Kafe was open until 11pm or 12am, if I remember correctly. It had a great atmosphere where a lot of people would gather before dinner and they'd have a live band playing often or sometimes salsa dance lessons that you could join in or watch. As I said before, the Martini bar is really fun, feels a bit more dressy and has some great martinis, but it's busy. Not meaning you shouldn't go, it's just you might be standing while you drink, which isn't a big deal if you've been lounging and suntanning all day  Also, most of these bars are about 30ft from each other, so not that hard to jump ship and move to another one.

 

Random tip: We had people download the app, 'What's App' to their phones and it was a great way to text people to let them know what the plan was if we hadn't run into them that day. Very handy as there's wifi pretty much everywhere on the resort.

 

Hi TealMarie,

 

Thank you for the information.  This is very helpful!  I may run my schedule by you, if you don't mind, once I have it put together.

 

Also, great idea about using Whatsapp!  It was my main means of communication when I lived in Mexico City for 2 months but didn't think of it for the wedding.  We're definitely going to include that on our schedule for our guests.

Karen

Hi Correak,

 

Yes I can definitely ask Jessica what bars are open late, did TealMarie's answers match up with any of Gloria's answers? How did you know  you could rent stuff from ERC? Is there a sheet they sent you that you could look at? I Just now got the beach gazebo decorations one and we are 3 months out! I have literally had to ask for all of the catalogues (flowers, decorations, price list, food, etc) not a problem but if I didn't have this website I would be lost! When you sent her a bouquet to choose from, was it a random one you found or a ERC one you had seen? Are you getting legally married there? Thanks!

 

 

Hi TealMarie!

 

Glad you are back! Yes I am sooo confused because in the Gold package I am not sure if it is included to choose a ceremony tablepiece (I know you didn't have one) AND reception centerpieces. I don't want to be paying $60-70 a centerpiece if it isn't included. If it is included how many reception centerpieces do you get to have? Did you get them on all of your round tables and did you have to pay for each of them? Were they similar to your bouquets? Jessica and I have gone back and forth 3x and I still do not understand. I should just rent the vases for my 2 bridesmaids, my bouquet and they can move the ceremony centerpiece that I know is included on the table and be done with it! Bahhh! We are going to have just over 30 people so we are going to do 1 long table.

 

Also how did you know that you could rent vases? I really want orchids but they are $20 a flower, so I think I will splurge on my bouquet and then do roses for everything else. Thank you!

HI KariJean,

 

Gloria missed to mention Cafe Kafe so it was good to know that I have another option. 

 

I think I had read on this forum about being able to rent some things from them.  I asked Gloria about vases in particular and she said I could rent them for $5 a vase.  I had asked her for a catalog of decor options and she said they were working on one for 2014 but she asked me to ask her for prices for anything I had in mind and they would get back to me.  For example, I was curious to see how much glowsticks would cost since I was nervous about them activating in my suitcase if I brought them with me.  She said $3 per glowstick so we nixed that idea

 

The bouquet I sent her was a picture I found on pinterest.  I asked her if I could have something similar in the same price range as the flowers in the Silver package.  I'm still waiting to hear back from Gloria.  She's typically quick to respond but given all the information I had in the spreadsheet, I figured it is taking her longer to review, confirm and get back to me.

 

We are getting married in court before we leave.  Our friend is officiating our ceremony In Mexico and that will be our official weddding date.

 

Please let me know if you need any more information.

 

Regards,

Karen

P.S.: My understanding of the Gold package was that you get a bridal bouquet, a center piece for the ceremony and one for the reception.  So if you moved your ceremony center piece to the reception, you would have two center pieces.  If you want more flowers without having to pay $60-$70, you could rent vases and plop your bridal party's bouquets into those. 

[karijean]

_{Hi KariJean,}

 

_{I believe we had a ceremony centerpiece and a reception centerpiece. Yes, they can move the ceremony one to your reception after the ceremony is over. We had 5 round tables, so we had one centerpiece on one of the tables, and a vase on each of the other tables that we plunked our bouquets into. The second centerpiece that came with our package was next to the cake. I think we got two centerpieces because we had the Gold package. Yes, the centerpieces looked like our bouquets. The pictures I sent as inspiration for our bouquets and the centerpieces were just ones I had found online, not ones I knew were made at ERC.}

 

_{I didn't know I could rent vases. I had emailed Gloria some ideas and she said they could rent us some things if we didn't want to bring them. If that's the route you'd like to go, I would email her pictures of what you're picturing and ask how/if they can make it happen. They have a lot of glassware, decorations, etc that they've either purchased or other brides have left, so I imagine that's why they don't have a catalogue of it.}

 

_{Using our bouquets for the centerpieces turned out great, so I'd ask Gloria/Jessica about getting vases and say you'd like to use the centerpieces that are included for no additional cost in your package as well. About a month before your wedding, ask for an itemized invoice so you can go over everything. That way you'll be sure you're not being charged for centerpieces if you thought they were included.} 

 

 

_{HI KariJean,}

 

_{Gloria missed to mention Cafe Kafe so it was good to know that I have another option.} 

 

_{I think I had read on this forum about being able to rent some things from them.  I asked Gloria about vases in particular and she said I could rent them for $5 a vase.  I had asked her for a catalog of decor options and she said they were working on one for 2014 but she asked me to ask her for prices for anything I had in mind and they would get back to me.  For example, I was curious to see how much glowsticks would cost since I was nervous about them activating in my suitcase if I brought them with me.  She said $3 per glowstick so we nixed that idea}

 

_{The bouquet I sent her was a picture I found on pinterest.  I asked her if I could have something similar in the same price range as the flowers in the Silver package.  I'm still waiting to hear back from Gloria.  She's typically quick to respond but given all the information I had in the spreadsheet, I figured it is taking her longer to review, confirm and get back to me.}

 

_{We are getting married in court before we leave.  Our friend is officiating our ceremony In Mexico and that will be our official weddding date.}

 

_{Please let me know if you need any more information.}

 

_Regards,

_Karen

_{P.S.: My understanding of the Gold package was that you get a bridal bouquet, a center piece for the ceremony and one for the reception.  So if you moved your ceremony center piece to the reception, you would have two center pieces.  If you want more flowers without having to pay $60-$70, you could rent vases and plop your bridal party's bouquets into those.} 

 

_{Karen and TealMarie,}

 

_{Thank you both for the advice. I sent in a few options to Jessica yesterday so I'm just waiting for a response from her. We are getting married on thursday so we are having a Meet & Greet at Cafe Kafe on wednesday night to get everyone acquanted! I am happy to hear that you really like Cafe Kafe and you  met up there often. I'm also excited for Martini Bar! Karen are you hiring DJ Mannia?}

[correak0723]

_{Karen and TealMarie,}

 

_{Thank you both for the advice. I sent in a few options to Jessica yesterday so I'm just waiting for a response from her. We are getting married on thursday so we are having a Meet & Greet at Cafe Kafe on wednesday night to get everyone acquanted! I am happy to hear that you really like Cafe Kafe and you  met up there often. I'm also excited for Martini Bar! Karen are you hiring DJ Mannia?}

KariJean,

 

We are; however, we are creating our own music playlist and putting it on a hard drive for the DJ.  We'll hand it over once we get there along with a list of key songs to play  Chris is picky about his music and neither of us want the DJ going off on a tangent

 

Karen

[JessT]

You are right, Jessica is taking over, Gloria is now her boss.

 

Menu - Gold option 1, and picked out all cocktail hour appetizers as well. we just went with what sounded good to us.

Flowers - I have a bouquet picked out, I really want orchids! But they are pricey! The flower pictures they send you are not good! I think it's hard to pick.

Locations - we chose beach gazebo, X-Lounge (but I think I am going to change to Las Olas) and Barcelona for reception.

 

It's a shame that more girls don't check out this forum for ERC. They redid the website many months ago and it's wayyy different, hard to find certain forums I think. It used to be way more active

 

JessT:

Are you getting legally married in Mexico?

How many people are you expecting to come?

I am bringing with me chair sashes, OOT bags for our guests, personalized koozies, maracas, starfish napkin rings I made, so far that's it. I'm using their table linens.

 

Hello,

 

I am just doing symbolic ceremony at Mexico. I think I will have around 15-20 people. I don't know if I want to do any of those. I think the resort have provided some good option to chose from. I am not too picky about the flower or centerpieces.

I may do a OOT bag.

How's your plan coming along?!