Cabo Venues

[eirbear0915]

Hi Everyone, 

 

I am newly engaged and already feel overwhelmed.  Do you have pros and cons for going through an all inclusive?  Or would you recommend having guests stay at an all inclusive resort and have the wedding at a different venue?  Do you have any suggestions?  Would it be worth hiring a wedding planner to help me figure out what would be best for us?  We are trying to keep our budget as low as possible.  Any information would be greatly appreciate.  

 

Thank you!

 

Erin

[acw271011]

Congrats on your engagement and welcome to the site!

 

The questions you're asking I think will come down to personal choice and what you find. Cabo has some beautiful resorts that are all inclusive which works well of course for your guests. As to a wedding venue that's going to take some research on your part. You will need to look at the various resorts and see what their wedding packages are, cost and what they include for the number of guests you think you might have. I would highly recommend looking through the resort reviews posted by past brides and see what their feelings have been about their experience. You will absolutely need a travel agent and one that has experience with destination weddings. They can assist with what your expectations are and what you want. You could definitely contact the owners of this site, Wight Travel. They are DW specialists and have special relationships that they have built with various resort chains.

 

Good luck and happy planning!

[flo628]

@@eirbear0915 Congrats! I had the same questions when I first started planning my wedding and was quickly overwhelmed with all the choices. I didn't want to hire a WC at first to cut cost, but ended up hiring one b/c I couldn't decide on a venue, and it was the best decision I made. She showed me that I could get married at a resort I thought was too expensive, and also helped with finding vendors for me and was able to lock down contracts in person, which was more effective since I was in another country. The day of, she organized the vendors and decorations of the restaurant and ceremony, which i thought was invaluable since the day ended up being windy and some adjustments had to be made. The fewer people you have, the less the WC should charge. We had 50 guests and kept our budget under 12k, only 2k more than what we budgeted for, and still had an open bar.

 

We leaned towards a resort and had he wedding there- we thought it would be simpler and wouldn't have to worry about transportation, and had the ease to get ready in our rooms and people were still able to have fun at the resort til the minute they had to get ready. 

 

All inclusive has it's ups- i believe it ends up being cheaper for you, but we opted not to - I didnt like the look of the all inclusives, and wanted my own vendors without a fee, so we got married at Casa Dorada, where the dinner was cheap yet delicious. We also didn't want to get married on the beach, so there aren't any looky-loos.

 

Hope this helped, and happy planning!

[AmorDeMiVida]

@@eirbear0915 I had the same questions as I am newly engaged and set on a Cabo wedding. Thanks for the info @@flo628 and @@acw271011. How long did you have for planning?

[flo628]

@@AmorDeMiVida We had about 11 months to plan, but didnt' really need it. Once you lock your vendors, it's pretty easy. The WC can help guide you what to book first, come vendors get booked well in advance.

[MichelleT]

@@AmorDeMiVida, whether or not to go with an all-inclusive is totally a personal choice.  In November of last year I visited quite a few resorts, looking for a site for our wedding.  In the end I decided to get married at an all-inclusive resort, as I felt the all-inclusive was a good value for me and for my guests.  If you choose an all-inclusive resort, you really have to think about whether or not you want to use all of the resort's preferred vendors and if you want to work outside of the resort's preferred vendors you need to check with each resort to see if and what fees they will charge for outside vendors.  I got very lucky as I signed my contract with our resort in 2014, which was only a few months before my resort started charging fees for outside vendors to the tune of $400 per vendor. You also need to think about the packages the resorts offer and whether or not you will use the services included in the packages.  I hired 6 outside vendors to provide services and If I had to pay $400 per vendor I would not have chosen to get married at an all-inclusive.  I also hired an outside WC to work with the resort's WC which was the best decision I could have made, since my outside WC has been fantastic at meeting and coordinating with all of my outside vendors, setting up appointments for our pre-wedding visit in November, securing contracts and working with the resort's WC.

 

Just look around the forum and do your research prior to making any decisions, planning a wedding in Cabo is very easy once you figure out what your personal preferences are.

Edited October 23, 2014 by MichelleT

[eirbear0915]

@@AmorDeMiVida I have actually found the venue that we are going with.  I found using the forums to be very helpful.  I had narrowed down the venue choices down to 2 and one of the forums helped me to make my final choice.  We decided to go with an all inclusive.  

 

@@MichelleT I completely agree the forum has been very helpful. Thank you for your post. It's also been helpful. 

[AmorDeMiVida]

@@MichelleT and @@eirbear0915 thank you for the information.  I am now addicted to BDW and Pinterest.  This past week I have been doing my research on the forum, online, spoke to co-worker who has been to the resorts and have contacted a TA.  Since my wedding is in 2016, the resorts I'm considering will honor the 2015 rates when securing a room block.  I am really set on Riu Palace but I will need to wait til January to make reservations. 

[eirbear0915]

@@AmorDeMiVida We are in the process of planned our at the Riu Palace! I will keep you updated on how it's going. I did end up reaching out to Devine Destination Weddings Agency to help as well. They have been very helpful.

[AmorDeMiVida]

Thanks @@eirbear0915 I was sent some preliminary information explaining the different packages, reception locations, vendors and banquet menu. I really like the gazebo for the ceremony and Baja Norte for the reception. Have you decided which areas you like best?