Wedding at the Iberostar Beach but staying at the Iberostar Suites

Collleeen12 · January 31, 2012

Hi everyone,

I'm new here and recently booked my wedding date at Iberostar Rose Hall Beach. I found a travel agent and she told me that we could stay at the Suites without any of the guests incurring a fee. So, I told my guests in their save the dates that they could choose between the Suites and the Beach. All of them chose the Suites. Well, I received the wedding agreement yesterday and it says that anyone staying at the Suites will have to pay an $18 fee to come to the wedding. I showed the travel agent the agreement and now she says everyone will need to pay the fee and on top of that, it says 80% of the guests will need to be staying at the Beach Resort. Ughhh! I don't know what to do! Is there any way to get them to waive the fee and take the part about the 80% out of the agreement? Has anyone else gone through this? Should I just start looking for a new venue?

Leah22 · January 31, 2012

Can you change your wedding to the Suites instead of the Beach resort? Then no one will have to pay a fee. I've been fighting with the Iberostar the last few weeks over their recent fee changes (and new vendor policies). And I haven't gotten anyone to budge. I even contacted the corporate office. Alternatively, you could stay at the Grand and have the wedding there. The Grand waives all day pass fees (for guests at the Suites and Beach resorts) IF you do a private reception (30 people minimum). But it will be more expensive to host a private reception at the Grand. And for the Grand, you need 80 or 90% of the guests just to be staying anywhere on the Iberostar property (at any of the 3 hotels, not just the Grand). It's crazy how all 3 hotels have completely different rules.

Good luck.

Collleeen12 · January 31, 2012

I checked the Suites and they're completely booked up! Oh really? I guess they're so in demand that if you don't want to pay the fees, someone else will. I didn't know that about the Grand! That is so crazy! And I thought having a destination wedding would be less stressful...hahaha!

Leah22 · January 31, 2012

Is the $18 like a day pass separate from the wedding package fees? Or is it part of the wedding package? All of the wedding packages charge an additional $18 per person ($20 at the Grand) when you exceed the number of people in your package. This fee gets added to your wedding bill, so your guests do not pay it (you do).

I agree, I thought a destination wedding would be super easy and not stressful. This thing has been stressing me out like crazy.

The day pass waiver at the Grand is a new rule for 2012. The only positive rule change that they've implemented.

Collleeen12 · January 31, 2012

Oh, you're right! I read it again and it says every extra guest is $18.

Me too! And the communication between the wedding coordinator is horrible. Sometimes I don't get a response for days.

Hmmm.....that's interesting. So, all of my guests could stay at the Suites if I had my wedding at the Grand? Are you getting married at the Grand?

Leah22 · January 31, 2012

Yes, I'm getting married at the Grand. We wanted to do an adult-only hotel, but at least 2 kids will be at the wedding (including my fiance's 2-year old nephew). The Grand worked out perfectly because our guests can choose to stay at any of the 3 hotels, plus they allow kids to come to the wedding and a private reception. As of now most of our guests are staying at the Grand, but we have a few at the Suites, and at least 1 couple at the Beach. I was worried about asking to people to pay an extra day fee to attend the wedding, but then the Grand changed their rules and waived the day fees for the wedding day.

The communication with the WC is really terrible. I understand they're busy, but I can't wait until the last minute to figure out everything. She normally responds to all of my requests, but it can take a while to get an answer and frequently her answers are inconsistent or non-informative. I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping that it will all work out in the end.

Collleeen12 · January 31, 2012

We have a couple kids coming too....flowergirl, ring bearer and some other neices and nephews, so I guess it wouldn't matter if we had the wedding at the Grand. I know most of our guests won't want to pay to stay at the Grand. They've all said they'll be staying at the Suites, some have already booked. I called the Grand and my original date of November 30 isn't available, but December 1 is. I'm just waiting for the wedding coordinator to email me back to discuss everything.

Ughhh! It's the same way with the Beach resort. I write paragraph after paragraph only to get one word answers. It's very frustrating!

Also, we're from Philadelphia too

JamaicaSukie · February 2, 2012

I must agree that communication with the WC at the Suites is horrible. Sometimes it doesn't even seem like she's answering the questions I ask.

Originally Posted by Collleeen12

We have a couple kids coming too....flowergirl, ring bearer and some other neices and nephews, so I guess it wouldn't matter if we had the wedding at the Grand. I know most of our guests won't want to pay to stay at the Grand. They've all said they'll be staying at the Suites, some have already booked. I called the Grand and my original date of November 30 isn't available, but December 1 is. I'm just waiting for the wedding coordinator to email me back to discuss everything.

Ughhh! It's the same way with the Beach resort. I write paragraph after paragraph only to get one word answers. It's very frustrating!

Also, we're from Philadelphia too