Cancun - Riviera Maya: Selecting Venue... Help Please!

[Moments That Matter]

Congrats on your engagement, CaroV and welcome to our forum community!!! 

 

As you've already discovered, there are lots of amazing options to choose from in our incomparable Mayan Riviera - each one with it's own unique beauty, so Exhale......whichever one you choose ~ will be gorgeous!

 

Surrounded by loving friends + family, the ambiance of a white sandy beach under swaying palms lulled by the ocean sounds....marrying the love of your life - it'll be a dream come true!!! 

 

Here are some visuals to show you what I'm talking about.....taken from the Grand Palladium White Sands Wedding Album......enjoy

 

 

 

 

Happy research, and all the best with your plans - cheers! team MTM

[JenniferH114]

@CaroV - We were impressed with ERC during our site visit, but I haven't been to EPM so I can't comment much on it other than saying I've heard it's awesome and people have their preference for various reasons. I am rather picky and we have traveled quite a bit, so I have plenty to compare to. There is seagrass at the beach from what I've heard, but it's cleaned frequently and I'm not concerned one bit in terms of pictures. In doing research on the resort, I googled lots of professional wedding photographers' portfolios for weddings at different resorts, particularly ERC. I think it gives a much more realistic expectation of what to expect on your day. I've never noticed seagrass in any of their pictures, especially because of where the beach ceremony gazebo is located. Overall, I think the beach area is very nice and quite large. The wedding gazebo is at the end of the resort, which I really like. It's not right in the middle of the beach where all the traffic is. I haven't heard anything significant regarding the resort being dated. It's definitely not resort with super modern decor, though.  They also just did a number of improvements starting this past September and finished more recently. Everyone has their own preferences in terms of resorts. We liked the style of the ERC, but that's not to say that EPM isn't awesome either. I've heard and continue to hear wonderful things about both. I still actually read reviews of ERC from time to time just to keep myself in the loop.

 

We are doing the Gold package, which is the best option available, and it's $45 per additional guest over 20 people, but that covers everything included (ceremony, cocktail hour with hors d'oeuvres and four hour reception with five course meal). We also added a DJ, hired a private fire and percussion show, and hired an outside photographer. Even with all of that, I think we are getting a lot for the price. ERC (and I'm sure EPM) really includes a lot in their packages in my opinion, and as compared to what I've heard from other brides (being charged for chairs and napkins?!?! crazy!).

 

There is no nightlight nearby. Playa del Carmen and Cancun are both car rides away (about 30 mins). That wasn't a concern for us, though. The dance club did turn into a sports bar, but it is still open until 1am.

 

Of course, everyone has different wants and needs so it's important to know what things are most important to you. We knew we wanted a higher end, adults only resort in a location that our guests could fly to non-stop from Chicago. Price was also important. Some of our guests are paying $2500 for three nights per couple, and that was the most we felt comfortable asking people to pay. (We have a number of other guests staying longer but that was their choice - six nights was in the $3200 range.)

[CaroV]

@@JenniferH114 Thank you for taking the time to describe the reasons why you chose ERC. It is honestly all very helpful

 

Is it really only $45 per additional guest and it includes everything??? That's crazy! You are right, I've seen a few price lists and they charge for napkins, chairs, candles, flowers etc + setting up costs + food + alcohol.... I haven't added it all up because I might just decide to elope!

 

Have you received detailed information regarding prices for additional services: music, decor, flowers, etc.? Do they offer any perks such as additional nights / upgrades or events depending on how many guests join you?

 

How have they been in terms of communication? I have yet to hear back from them (or any one else for that matter) and it is starting to get very frustrating   Thank God you gals are here to answer all my questions! 

@@Moments That Matter & @@Matt Adcock thank you for your suggestions!

 

Since you seem to be experts on the matter I though I would ask you a couple of questions. As I mentioned before I want pictures on the beach with the beautiful blue and turquoise waters as the background. However, in some of the pictures I've seen the colors don't translate quite as bright on the pictures and they turn up with the colors being a bit dull. I'm just wondering if there are any factors that have an impact on the color of the water. Is it the lighting? The location? I just don't understand why some pictures look kind of meh and others look amazing even when taken at the same spot.

 

Also, how important is the actual beach in getting those amazing pictures? Is it really worth it to go to a place with a better / nicer beach in order to get better pictures? Or do I just need a very talented and experienced photographer?

 

Thanks in advance, I hope my questions make sense and they are not to silly 

Edited March 19, 2015 by CaroV

[Matt Adcock]

@@JenniferH114 Thank you for taking the time to describe the reasons why you chose ERC. It is honestly all very helpful

 

Is it really only $45 per additional guest and it includes everything??? That's crazy! You are right, I've seen a few price lists and they charge for napkins, chairs, candles, flowers etc + setting up costs + food + alcohol.... I haven't added it all up because I might just decide to elope!

 

Have you received detailed information regarding prices for additional services: music, decor, flowers, etc.? Do they offer any perks such as additional nights / upgrades or events depending on how many guests join you?

 

How have they been in terms of communication? I have yet to hear back from them (or any one else for that matter) and it is starting to get very frustrating   Thank God you gals are here to answer all my questions! 

@@Moments That Matter & @@Matt Adcock thank you for your suggestions!

 

Since you seem to be experts on the matter I though I would ask you a couple of questions. As I mentioned before I want pictures on the beach with the beautiful blue and turquoise waters as the background. However, in some of the pictures I've seen the colors don't translate quite as bright on the pictures and they turn up with the colors being a bit dull. I'm just wondering if there are any factors that have an impact on the color of the water. Is it the lighting? The location? I just don't understand why some pictures look kind of meh and others look amazing even when taken at the same spot.

 

Also, how important is the actual beach in getting those amazing pictures? Is it really worth it to go to a place with a better / nicer beach in order to get better pictures? Or do I just need a very talented and experienced photographer?

 

Thanks in advance, I hope my questions make sense and they are not to silly 

 

HI @carov 

No such thing as a silly question, happy to help! The color of the water in photos is affected mostly by time of day, the angle of the sun reflecting on the water will change how it appears. Weddings that start before 3 or 4 will have the turquoise you are thinking of, but you will be quite hot and you will have a longer wait time between ceremony and reception. Sunrise light and or morning light will have a reflection coming from the east until the sun reaches its highest points in the sky and then at sunset hours until dusk, sun passes its highest point in the sky and as it falls, casts a reflection away from the beach and thus, less saturated colors. Sometimes cloudy conditions can cause less saturated colors, depending on the photographers method of making exposures. Water conditions and location play a role as well, if there is a lot of seaweed for example, or in places that have a seabed of grass (turtles love it!).

 

Our Riviera Maya Photography Seasonal Guide has some good advice on picking best times and dates. Hope that helps!

 

[JenniferH114]

@CaroV - I do have the entertainment price list if you want to give me your email address I can send them to you. The general wedding package information is available on the website and it is accurate. The only "perk" they offer is $850 off any wedding package if you book the Excellence Club for 7 nights or if you have 5 rooms of any category booked for at least 7 nights. We booked the Excellence Club. Hopefully these links work...

 

http://www.excellence-resorts.com/weddings-romance/weddings/packages-and-promotions?phpMyAdmin=vexSgyLRpncstaZE74-dT3d-yfe

 

http://www.excellence-resorts.com/media/EG_Fact%20Sheet%20Weddings_3730.pdf

 

Jessica Moreno is our wedding coordinator and she is awesome!! It is typical for responses to take a couple days, but now I am used to it and she has always answered every question and confirmed every request. We locked in most of our decisions in November/December, so we've been pretty set on the resort end of things. I still have questions that come up, though, and she has been really helpful. More recently I asked for our current invoice and everything matched up perfectly to a spreadsheet I have been keeping, so they are on top of things.

 

Flowers are included in the packages and you can pay additional for upgraded bouquets. The gold package includes a band for about an hour, which we are using during our cocktail hour. The DJ is $1300 for four hours. We are bringing all of our own decor, but they do include a couple of things but you would have to ask about specific ideas you have.

[Moments That Matter]

We agree.....the light at different times of the day impact the photo's water colour a lot.

 

Bright sunlight over a white sand bottom shows the azure blue colour that's so famous in ocean photos of our area, like this one:

 

Of course, the editing is also key in getting the amazing results of "journalistic-perfect" quality photos to capture your wedding day love story! 

There are many professionals in our area who can deliver those kind of wonderful images for you that you'll cherish for a lifetime!!!

Wishing you happy research, enjoy your journey - cheers!!! team MTM

[caddiva21]

Hi everyone 

 

This is my first post after lurking for a couple of weeks. My fiance and I got engaged two weeks ago and I'm starting the process of planning our wedding. I think we both share the same vision for our day: Closest friends and family, beach wedding, relaxed feeling.

 

We are hoping to get married April - May 2016 in Cancun / Riviera Maya. Our guest list is at 65 people now. I'm thinking we could have as many as 50 - 60 guests join us. Our guests will be traveling from all over the world (Europe, South America, Canada, U.S) so we needed a place that would be easy to reach and would offer lots of options for our guests.

 

So I've been doing some research online and I can say I'm extremely overwhelmed by the number of options and different elements that play into the decision. Like I'm getting headaches from it LOL! So I thought I would ask you to help me make this decision.

 

The following are some of our priorities:

• Gorgeous beach: We want to get married on the beach and I want stunning pictures, also a lot of our guests will be visiting for the first time and don't want to take them to a meh beach
• Food: My fiance and I are both foodies so good quality food and options are important to us
• Family vs adults only: Honestly, I would prefer an adults only resort. Our guests are mostly young and single (no children) and our parents and rest of our family all have grown up children. Not a deal breaker though
• Location: As I mentioned before, we have several single, young guests so I feel like we should be close to the action so that they can go party if they want to. Or if the resort has a club that would work as well!
• Bang for our buck: Because obviously....

So far I found that the Palace resorts offer great perks while Dreams try to nickel and dime you on everything. Any other suggestions? I would also like to do a site visit but feel like I should narrow it down to 3 options before making arrangements for it. 

 

Thanks in advance!!!

@@CaroV , I am LITERALLY in the same boat as you, I will definitely be following this thread. Our priorities are exactly the same and we also have people flying in from all over the world. I am also torn between Palace and Dreams, with Dreams being my number one choice. I love Dreams but I think it might be out of some our guests' budgets. Especially since they are coming in from not just the US and Canada!

 

Good luck to us all! lol