Riu Santa Fe Wedding Anyone?

[lunapow67]

Hi I was looking to Book Riu Santa Fe in Cabo.  Ive seen a  lot of posts about Palace but I think that resort might be too expensive for my guests.  Has anyone had a wedding in Riu Santa Fe?  Any tips?  Is it possible to o everything for under $10k?  Ill prob. have close to 40 guests.   Ive never done a destination wedding and need all the help I can get!!!

 

Thanks

Luna 

[jenna32schap]

@@lunapow67 Hey Luna! I am getting married at the Riu Santa Fe on July 20! We also chose this resort as it was too expensive for our guests to stay at the Palace. We are having between 65-85 guests. Let me know what questions you have and I would be happy to help you! I would say the wedding is possible for under 10k. It really depends on what package you get and what you want to do for a dinner/reception afterwards.

 

Jenna

[lunapow67]

Did you fly there or do you think I can book everything remotely? Im still waiting to hear back from the Riu staff.  Im still undecided whether I want to do Santa Fe or Palace?  Whats the price difference for your guests?

[jenna32schap]

I actually have never been in Cabo before and we will not be going prior to the wedding. We are just hoping everything turns out well!! The average price our guests are paying is about $1400 (we are from PA so $600-650 is for the flight). For the Palace, it would cost each person about another $300. Also, we are in our mid to late 20s and our family/friends like to party and have a good time. I read a lot of reviews suggesting that the Santa Fe is more of the party place, which I believe fits our crowd perfectly! 

[Denisse]

@@jenna32schap Hi, I'm getting married at the Riu Santa Fe too! May 28

Are you using their photographer?

[jenna32schap]

@@Denisse yes we are! We booked the 5 hour package.

[Denisse]

@@jenna32schap I'm planning on getting that package as well. My wedding is at 4, so I'm wondering how early are they coming for pictures before the wedding and how much time I will have left for the reception. Are you doing photos before the ceremony?

[jenna32schap]

@@Denisse Our ceremony is at 5. Here is the brekadown from the email she sent me...

 

"We can start at your “getting ready” at 4pm
Ceremony 5pm
Group photo, photo session with the wedding party, bride & groom session 5.30 to 6.30
Dinner/Reception (cake, speeches, bouquet, etc) 6.30 to 9"

 

Our dinner is from 630-8 then we are having a reception from 8-11. The only bad part is that she will only be at the reception for one hour. We figured we will just make sure the first dance, garter/bouquet toss, and anything else important happens in that first hour. We also figured that most people will be taking a lot of their own pictures at that point as well!

 

Hope this helps!

[Victoriabride]

Hello ladies! I am also looking at booking the Santa Fe for my Jan, 2016 wedding. I have looked at what seems hundreds of resorts and this one looks like the best bang for your buck!! How much is the 5 hour photographer session? And does anyone know if there is a private spot for the ceremony? We really don't want a lot of strangers watching us get married, or ending up with the man in the speedo in the background of our pics! lol

[jenna32schap]

With taxes and shipping for the photo book, the 5 hour photography package came to $1750. The only places I know of for the ceremony is the gazebo or the beach. However, I'm pretty sure the gazebo can only accommodate 20 guests. Let me know if you have any other questions!