Just Returned From RIU Palace Wedding

[BPG027]

Thanks for the details. $7,000 is not bad at all. If I decided to have my wedding here in NYC it would be well over that.

Great I'm excited again to plan my wedding :-)  Again thank you for all your help and great info :-)

[kary]

Hi WedCabo!

Thank you so much for giving us feedback! I am getting married at the Baja Norte on 5-12-12... I am a little worried about it-My WC Adriana quit and now I have Jatziri and she doesn't get back to me very quickly.

I had thought about having my reception at the San Jose, but I thought that the Baja Norte seemed so much more intimate. Did you feel it was nice to have it pool side, where you could see the beach and the stars? I was nervous to have the dinner at the San Jose as well, because it didn't seem like there was much room for dancing on the terrace (we will have 53 people).

I wondered if you could tell me who your dj was? We booked the one through the RIU with the lighting for $540.00. I am really hoping its not the same guy! I know Crys really liked her dj so now I am nervous! Did you tell your wedding coordinator that you were not happy with him?

So when do you pay your wedding bill? Is it the day after the reception or is it before? Do they break all of the charges down for you to make sure that they are correct? Did you WC give you an idea of what your costs were going to be after you gave her your wedding checklist?

I am wondering how much more they charged you for the wedding cake. I also got the Royal Wedding package and I see it says "15 of your wedding guests" Did they really charge you $8.00 per person to feed the other 15 people cake? ( thats whats on the wedding checklist) If so...they are crazy!

What about the sparkling wine? I know that says its for 15 people as well...Did they end up passing out enough for everyone?

Did you bring any decorations down?

Sorry about the million questions, but it is so helpful to talk to someone who has been through this!
 
 

[mrscantatore]

kary-

 

so it seems were in the same boat! my wedding is set for june 2  and i too, have 53 people, and have reserved Baja Norte.  I like that area more for sure.  We originially wanted to use the mexican restaurant, but we didnt meet the criteria for the room (60 people).  Were super happy with the selection we made.  The area is gorgeous.  My fiance and i went to the RIU last summer and thought that area was best for a view of the beach, the rocks and the sunset.  you wont regret that area.

 

I also have booked the DJ and hope and pray he is amazing...im sure he will be...and im not worried because to be safe, I am going to set up an iPod with some appropriate play lists just in case all else fails.  Its a safe back up plan in case he's terrible!

 

When it comes to the cake and wine, i booked the Caprice Package and we will be past the alotted maximum amount of 40.... I hope they dont "make" us buy the difference. That would just be silly.  Were assuming that most people wouldnt care about cake because you do get a dessert with your plated dinner and when it comes to the sparking wine, people will have drinks so im not so worried. I just dont think it makes sense to charge so much...

 

I was also planning to take about 3 shots of tequila before i swipe those charges...if they add them all together and have to be charged at once (im assuming with an itemized bill), i may pass out lol. Tequila will surely be needed to smooth the nerves!

 

I plan to bring decorations with me for sure.  It's nice to add a personal touch.

 

Its getting close!!

[Mufin1785]

Congrats on your wedding, Last August we stay a weekend at the RIU Santa Fe, which is the less expensive property but it would have been worth it to upgrade to the Palace.  The Santa Fe did not have great food abd the beds were too firm.  Palace guest get to go over to the Santa and some did. 

 

I would love to see pictures from your wedding

[WedCabo33]

Hi there

 

I do not know the name of my DJ....I never even saw him until the wedding day. I was charged $640 for DJ and lighting pkg?? I did not tell my WC about the DJ bc she was no where to be found! In fact I didnt see her after the photographer left or maybe even before that. Intresting huh?   You have to pay for the whole thing when you meet with the WC the day before the wedding. You pay in one whole sum, they do break it down for you but no I was not given an estimate before hand. I did my own based on checklist and I was pretty close.

 

 I liked the Baja Norte alot dont get me wrong...it is beautiful at night. I would stay there with your reception since a large group. Plus the food at San Jose is Mexican and you get enough of that. I wanna say I pd $5 per person for extra cake but I only did it for 20 pp and we had 30 pp. Not everyone will eat cake. THey did pass out champange for everyone but the bar is right there near the Baja Norte (kinda like your own private bar) and pp hardly drank the sparkling wine.

 

I brought down my own vases and then used my BM bouquets for the centerpieces. It worked great. Otherwise it was going to cost me $75 per table!!! I did not want to pay that for just a centerpiece. Two of the vases however broke in travel so I had to rent 2 from the florist (who is great!) and it was only $15 to rent 2. I would suggest doing something like that! Cuts cost! I can send you pictures if you give me your email of gazebo, reception and etc. No worries about questions ...trust me I had tons!  

[kary]

Hi Mrs. Cantature!/ Wed Cabo!

 

Congrats, and yes, it is getting close!  I will have to let you know how my experience goes

I am glad that you have visited the RIU...It will be my first time there for the wedding, and I am hoping all goes well. 

 

As for the decorations- I am bringing down a ton of stuff: paper lanterns, freeze dried rose petals, chair bows, table runners, raffia fans, starfish, parasols luminaries...etc!  I have not yet spoke to the WC about all of this stuff.  Honestly, I have been having such issues with her I don't want to mention anything to her in fear that she will tell me "its not allowed". 

 

WedCabo~ Congrats on your wedding!!!!!!!!  Thank you so much for providing us a review.  I am glad you liked the Baja Norte, that makes me feel better.  I would LOVE to see your pics: [email protected] (underscore btw my first and last name)

 

Good call on the fact that we will have cake and desert...I just won't pay $8.00/pp for cake, its crazy.  Bad enough we are at an all inclusive, and have to pay for everything!  So how close is this Baja Norte bar?  Did they charge you an additional $15.00 pp for the liquor?  I know the package comes with beer, wine, soda, etc...

That is terrible that your WC was no where to be found.  I wonder if she was with another wedding party?  My WC is new, so who knows how helpful she will be. 

 

I am renting the vases from the florist, but they are $15.00 ea...Maybe its because they are bigger or something.  The florist does seem to have it together, that makes me happy.

 

Did you have a rehearsal dinner? I am going back in forth with my WC because I want to invite all 50 of my guests to rehearsal dinner and they tell me it has to be in the buffet...But the sheet that has the private event locations with the Baja Norte on it says" rehearsal dinner applies to all of your guests since the semi-private dinner is included in your package" or something along those lines. 

 

Thanks!

Kary

 

 

[WedCabo33]

We did have a rehearsal dinner but we did it off site. We did a Sunset Dinner Cruise ($70 per person) but the best steak we had there! Tons of fun...dancing, open bar and dinner. We went on the Caboret. Check it out. Good idea to bring decorations..cheaper that way. Also we did not get charged extra for booze it was included in meal price per person.

[kary]

Wow what a great idea for rehearsal dinner! I would love to do that but we are having an AHR and will be broke! I bet your guests loved your idea! Thanks for your info, I really appreciate it. So glad the booze is included. I will prob have more questions for you, so thank you! Can't wait to see your pictures!!

[mrscantatore]

Hey!

So glad to have this thread so i can get some help because the wedding coordinator doesnt really help much.  I, too, am bringing my share of decorations, but i want to clear things w the WC so i can narrow down what I am def. bringing.  I will be there for 10 days total so i need to only bring what i need so i have room for my bushels of decorations!! haha

 

I do love the idea of Baja Norte only because of the location...I’m not going to lie, I am a bit afraid if it gets too cold at night for the ladies…The cabo breeze is gorgeous, though sometimes it has a bite to it. lets just hope it’s a gorgeous and warm evening.

 

PS, before I forget….would you mind posting some photos of the set up at Baja Norte?  I.e., how the tables are and what the area looks like with a wedding set up?  I’d appreciate it a lot…there aren’t as many as I would assume online…theyre pretty scarce actually which is funny because it’s such a popular resort.

 

I’m not sure what I am doing for centerpieces. Ideally, id like to make them myself and somehow ship them there, but im not sure yet.  It’ll come to me soon enough.

 

I don’t know if we’re going to have a formal rehearsal dinner. I really want to spend the entire time with everyone so, I don’t know if we will do anything out of the ordinary.  We are doing something similar to you, WedCabo…we’re hosting a thank you cruise for all of our guests as a gift for making the trek down to Mexico.  Seems to be popular because everyone wants to go and they’re eager!  My fiancé and I did a sunset cruise when we were there and loved it. Brought home some amazing pictures and great memories…we wanted to relay the same thing to our guests J

[jmd5195]

Hey quick question for the Baja Norte did you rent a dance floor or was there somewhere for the dj to setup and guests to dance, as we are having the reception and dancing at this location.

 

Thanks.