Riu Palace- Cabo San Lucas Wedding 2014

[JanelleMcLeod]

Hi Ladies-

 

We have decided on the Riu Palace in Cabo for our destination wedding next August. We have requested the date and are awaiting confirmation from the hotel.

 

We are getting the Caprice package as we are expecting almost 40 guests to make the trip. From what I'm reading, it looks like in addition to the package price, you still have to pay for a reception site and meals? Do you also have to pay to use the Disco/Club?

 

Any tips/suggestions or helpful information you can give me is much appreciated. I'm not sure exactly where to go from here! And if any of you brides will be there at the same time let's grab a drink!!

[Rochelle1110]

Hi there! I am also getting married at Riu Palace(cabo) in August!!! Have you figured out any details about how it all works? I am still really confused on how the reception part is going to work out. I've seen you can pay the site fee for a private reception and eat off the regular menu with no extra cost per person? Not sure if that is correct. What day is your wedding?

[JanelleMcLeod]

Hi Rochelle!

We are getting married on August 1st.

Once you recieve your packet from the wedding coordinator it will all make sense.

You have the option of a semi-private dinner (which is included in the wedding package price). This means they will section off part of the restaurant so you and your guests can sit together, but it is not a private reception with a DJ or anything like that.

This is the option I have chosen as paying for the extra tables, plates of food, dj, bartender, etc. didn't seem worth the cost when we were already paying for an all-inclusive resort. Plus we wanted to have a fun, casual wedding!

 

You can select the private reception where you can rent out the terrace or pool areas. They will set up round tables and host a private dinner but you have to pay to have an open bar, DJ, lighting, meals, etc. 

 

Hope this helps, I am happy to answer any other questions!

[Rochelle1110]

Thank you for the information! They have sent me an email that cleared most of my questions up. I'm sure when I get my packet it will help with the rest. We are getting married Aug 22. What time did you choose to have your ceremony? I choose 4:00 but am kinda wishing I would have done 5:00.

[RiuAugustBride2014]

I am getting married on August 30, 2014 at Riu Palace. I was wondering about the added costs. Are you guys using the Riu photographer? Do you know pricing and whether they are any good? What are you doing the night before? Can you reserve a restaurant for the rehearsal dinner? Any tips you find on where to have the ceremony, reception, DJ, photos etc. I would love to hear. Thank you!! 

[JanelleMcLeod]

We are getting married at 4pm also, and I think it's a great time. We will have time to get plenty of photos in and have a few drinks at the bar before our dinner at 6:45. I don't want to be rushed so I wanted as much time as possible in between.

 

I chose to bring my own photographer. The minimum for the Riu is $1200 and you only get 3 hours. With how our wedding times are spaced out, we wouldn't get all the photos we need. I want to do a first look with my groom, then the wedding is at 4, then pictures after, then pictures of the dinner, etc. It just didn't seem cost effective.

 

I chose to bring the photographer that did our engagement photos instead. I am paying for her trip of 5 days and 4 nights for $950. That's $250 cheaper than the Riu photographer and I have her the entire time in case we want to do other photos on different days. Plus, the Riu will not charge you a vendor fee of $300 if your photographer is a part of your wedding attendees and is staying at the hotel.  It works out to be much cheaper for much more time. Plus, I can trust her and I know I will get all my photos in a timely manner. She had my engagement photos done in 6 days! 

[AlyssaD21]

hello @@JanelleMcLeod @@RiuAugustBride2014 @@Rochelle1110,

 

How is the planning going?! Seems like I'm going first! lol Riu Palace July 29th Bride. Its coming so quick!!!

 

Does anyone know if Baja Norte has the open bar included? I read somewhere yes, but then I read somewhere no..

 

Were expecting about 60 people!

 

Alyssa

[JanelleMcLeod]

@@AlyssaD21 4 more months for both of us! I'm getting married on August 1st, we fly in on July 29th. I'm so excited. Just waiting on the final RSVP's so we can confirm the guestlist. We will also have about 45-50 people coming.

 

In the packet of info I recieved, this is what it says about Baja Norte:

Baja Norte, English garden, beach, (private areas)$600.00usd (private reception) + menu from $36.00 to $80.00usd per person*open bar included.

 

So it looks like Open Bar is included in each of those private area site fees.

 

Hope this has helped, happy planning! 

 

Janelle

[AlyssaD21]

@@JanelleMcLeod Good to hear! I don't know about you but I still have quite a few "Yes I'm going but I haven't booked" lol. Common people!! I'm just waiting until I can order favors, get a better idea of budget and also book a honeymoon hotel! A swing of 10 people or so can really affect the budget! Are you staying in Cabo for your honeymoon? We're planning to stay at a different hotel Friday-Tuesday but I'm not sure which one. Dreams and Secrets is pretty expensive so I want to make sure if we book there its what we want. I've read a lot of reviews saying that the resorts are beautiful but very quite. While I want a nice resort I don't want to be bored =)

 

The countdown in on! =)

[trishk]

AlyssaD21-

 

Open bar is definitely included in the site fee of $600 for Baja Norte, so the only additional cost you have there is the plated or buffet per person fee.  If you think you want to use Baja Norte as your site, you should email the wedding planner and let them know ahead of time. There can be multiple weddings in one day and so you want to be the first to reserve your site if you know what you want.

 

RiuAugustBride2014-

 

If you are having a private reception, you can reserve a table at a restaurant as your included semi-private dinner in your wedding package.  If you are using the semi-private dinner for your reception, you can easily give one of the waiters at the buffet a tip to set you up a table in the back for all of your guests for a rehearsal dinner so you can all sit together. We did this multiple times on our trip and they were very accommodating.  

 

Your choice for ceremony is the beach or gazebo.  Depends on what you want- the beach is an amazing backdrop for photos, etc.  The gazebo is a little more private.  

 

As for reception sites, our wedding reception was at Baja Norte and I would recommend this- beautiful setting and private.  But if you're having a semi-private reception I think the steakhouse would be good.  We used the resort-selected DJ and he did a great job so I would just go with him.  He looked through my iPod (I had some playlists for the reception and dancing) and used some of my music but mostly his and it was completely in line with things we wanted to listen to.  Our guests danced straight through until 11pm when the reception ended.

 

Finally for photographers, we used Ana and Jerome, who were fabulous, although a little more expensive than the resort-designated photographer.  They ended up paying the vendor fee to get in so we didn't have to.  As I mentioned in a different post, we don't have photos back yet, but I was so happy with how attentive and organized they were, not missing out on any opportunities and really maximizing daylight hours for the best photos.