Royalton Riviera Cancun Brides 2016/2017

[melanderic2017]

Is travel including in your pricing? Although it's definitely the cheaper route instead of having a wedding here in the States lol! I definitely don't want to spend an insane amount of money on a destination wedding either because we are traveling with our three kids as well! I am having a chapel ceremony with the included cocktail hour package right after, and then a 3 hour reception with open bar and family style dinner, dj.  I wanted to do my centerpieces with them but since now we are looking at more potential guests it just is killing our budget on flowers :/ we are doing their photo package since family will be coming and 2 of them are photographers and will assist in taking pictures.. I am more focused on having a great time with my family and friends than posing for pictures the entire night so it doesn't bother me too much...but all of this is becoming overwhelming as you can imagine! lol @@melanderic2017

 

We haven't factored in travel to that cost, but we did get a discount for having a certain number of rooms booked, and applied some of it to our trips. The rest was given to our siblings. We're looking at about $1400 CAD each for our all-inclusive travel & resort stay, with our discount (That's roughly $1100 USD).

 

I've always wanted some dreamy pictures, as they will be the memories that last forever. To me it's the most important part of my day, as I want it to be remembered in the best way possible! I ended up spending about $3500USD on the photographer, for 6 hours. This includes I believe about 800 pictures too, so way more than what the resort offered with their packages!

 

Thankfully I feel like the hardest parts are over for me and I can just sit back and relax  

[Laur114]

Hey!

 

I had my wedding in January. It was amazing! Please excuse any name mispellings (honestly I cant remember some names of locations/people) this is going to be a long post....

 

My wedding coordinators were Branda and Maite. They were very attentive and helpful. We arrived 3 days before the wedding at about 6pm and Brenda was waiting for us in the lobby. We were upgraded to a presidential suite from a standard room (forgot the name but it was the cheapest choice), We got settled in and then met with both girls the next morning. They had a print out of our wedding details and we went through every detail. I brought a lot of decorations, my own wedding napkins (cloth) and table numbers. I even had wooden names for each guest as a place setting and tooth pick place cards for shots. All of these things were set up by them for free.

During this meeting I was dissapointed to learn that they no longer allow the use of sparklers or cold fireworkers. I was charged $600 for the cold fireworks and was looking forward to it during my first dance. Instead I was able to use the credit towards a photo booth which turned out great becuase I was originally quoted $800 for the photo booth and they gave it to me for the $600 because I was not informed about the cold fireworks before my arrival.

 

I used the semi private dinner,  included in my wedding package, for my rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding. I had no decorations for this and the girls set this up beautifully using some decorations they had, FOR FREE. This took place in the Buffet. We had the cesar salad and filet mignon...it was awful. The steak and mash potatoes were cold and dry. We were surprised because the resort food is pretty good and always hot and fresh. My wedding party ended up getting some food from the buffet, it was that bad. Besides this, the service was great.

We had a drink meet up with all of our guests afterwards at the main lobby bar and everyone ended up going to the Sports bar. Every night we ended up at the Sports bar. It was always a great time.

 

Wedding day

 

My ceremony was scheduled for 5:15pm on the sky terrace. Brenda met me at my room at about 4:15. We were ready by 5:00, did our first look in the hallway by a small terrace. Not ideal, but we were way behind on time. Bless my phtographer, he made everything look amazing. We took some group shots. Brenda held us back until 5:30 because most of my guests were late! They didn't want me to walk into the ceremony with half my guests late. I was worried because I scheduled a guitarist for my wedding processional and he was only supposed to play till 5:30pm. Brenda assured me not to worry, they kept him there until the processional was over, free of charge. 

 

I upgraded the free floral bouquet to a medium, and it was HUGE. Beautiful but heavy. My bridesmaids had small rose and carnation bouquets and they were a perfect size for them.

 

The processional was great. When I stepped up on the alter, the wind nearly took my fake lashes off. It wasn't even that windy, but the structure of the alter acts as a wind tunnel just an FYI! Ceremony was lovely besides the wind. Brenda set up the ceremony space exactly as I requested. I had flower baskets on the aisles which I later used as my centerpieces. We had flower petals which were released on the aisle as I walked in because it was windy. She set up my maracas on each chair to shake at the kiss.

The DJ played our recessional song on time.

The cocktail hour followed afterwards. There was more than enough space for 60 people. The  hors d'oeuvres  were cold because we were scheduled for cocktail hour at 5:45 and it was held upstairs the whole time on the deck the whole time during the ceremony. No one complained though, they were still tasty and the drinks were plenty.

 

My reception was scheduled for 7pm on the beach bar. I left the cocktail hour at 6:30pm to take pictures with my husband. The groomsmen and bridesmaids left also to help get more decorations from my room to set up the reception. My MOH said that most of the set up was done by Brenda and Maite (once again, they're AWSOME). I got back around 7:30pm. and did my grand entrance. I was floored by the set up, it was beautiful and exactly what I envisioned. 

 

We chose the Mexican Family Style dinner. Our selections were delicious, but cold! I noticed they had all the food prepared in carts when we arrived for the grand entrance. I guess it got cold because it was just sitting there. That was the only complaint I had. 

 

Everything else turned out great, We partied the night away. I flew in my own phtographer and DJ so I already knew they were going to do a great job.

 

I guess the only other hiccup we encountered was the resort visit credit. Back in May 2016 we took advantage of a promotion for a site visit. We stood 4 nights and were told $500 would be credited back to us if we returned for our wedding. I had everything saved, the receipts, confirmation from the wedding coordinator and copy of the promotion. Brenda and Maite said we were the first couple to bring the promotion to their attention and ask for the credit. They had no idea who authorized the promotion and said they weren't sure if we were going to get the credit. We argued and they went to the manager. We were given the credit on the last day of our wedding vacation, and were able to use it for our room charges (we bought two couples' massages, one for us and for my parents).

 

I'm writing this from my desk top. I will try to include some pictures later. If you have any questions please don't hesitate t ask.

[Tori2017]

Hello ladies!

 

I'm getting married October 21,2017. We have booked the sky terrace for the wedding, and reception will be at the beach bar. We are having anywhere from 50-80 people.

 

So few pictures of a simple beach bar reception, I'm dying to know if anyone has anything they can send me. I plan I. Doing just white linens (to save money), and maybe bringing something with color to add. Any pictures will be so appreciated.

 

I'm also nervous about prices...after I sign my contract into thousand 16, they said prices could change into 2017 and the vendor prices I was quoted aren't guaranteed. They said just the package prices are guaranteed. So confusing and frustrating. Anyone else experience this?

Edited March 26, 2017 by Tori2017

[Shakdaniel]

Hi guys, me and my partner are interested in booking our wedding here for July next year after visiting last year and falling in love with the resort, we invisige around 30 guest maybe less and would like to have the ceremony on the sky terrace via royalton side and a private dinner. Cut a long story short, I was wondering if anyone could give me an idea on cost as we only know how much the packages are and sky terrace cost, but we don't want to book them realise we haven't enough money :-( coming from the UK when we request information they ask us to go through Thomson who only then tells us they can't give us an idea till we book. We was looking at a budget of 8,000 to 10,000, so any help or feedback would be helpful to know if our budget is realistic or just perfetic lol and also when do they request full payment by?

 

Thank you so much in advance for the help

[melanderic2017]

Hi guys, me and my partner are interested in booking our wedding here for July next year after visiting last year and falling in love with the resort, we invisige around 30 guest maybe less and would like to have the ceremony on the sky terrace via royalton side and a private dinner. Cut a long story short, I was wondering if anyone could give me an idea on cost as we only know how much the packages are and sky terrace cost, but we don't want to book them realise we haven't enough money :-( coming from the UK when we request information they ask us to go through Thomson who only then tells us they can't give us an idea till we book. We was looking at a budget of 8,000 to 10,000, so any help or feedback would be helpful to know if our budget is realistic or just perfetic lol and also when do they request full payment by?

 

Thank you so much in advance for the help

Hi Shakdaniel! 

I think your budget would be realistic if you brought a lot of your decor from home. The decor and flowers are the most expensive part at the resort. You're looking at paying I believe it was $1500-$2000 for the Sky Terrace (Can't remember exactly).... Plus which ever wedding package you include. Private Dinners are about $30-$40 per person for a 3 course set meal. The DJ is expensive, at $315 per hour. We opted for outside photography. It's an $850 charge, plus the photography. 

 

All-in-all though, my wedding is costing me about $10,000 USD for 32 people. (We opted for the beach ceremony, followed by the Nautica Beach Bar).

[xty2018]

Hello Everyone!

 

Hope all is well!  Planning to book my wedding at the Royalton Riviera Cancun for January 2018!   Me and my partner (Logan) have been together for about 8 years and looking forward to finally tie the knot.   We are looking to have about 30-40 guests.    We are thinking of having the Sky Terrace and cocktail hour in early afternoon and then having the reception dinner on the Beach around 7pm.   Just in the process of confirming the flight/hotel and will go from there. 

 

Looks forward to talking and hearing from you all.

 

Cheers,

Carl

Hey Carl,

 

Congrats!! I'm also getting married at RRC in January 2018 and we are also expecting around 40 guests. I have my ceremony on the Sky Terrace and cocktail + reception at Nautica Beach Bar! Which week are you going? =) 

 

Cheers,

Kris

Hi ladies! I booked my wedding for January 2018 and wanted to know if anyone who has had their wedding here already know anything about the set up fee?? I am most likely bringing my own centerpieces and string lights since they are so pricey on certain things and I definitely do not want to pay $800 for 8 string of lights at the beach bar! haha...my WC told me she cannot give me a price on set up fee only when I get there so I am scared to get there and it be an outrageous price for setting up! Thanks

Hi There!

 

I am also having my wedding in Jan 2018, and was thinking of exactly the same thing. Which week are you there for? 

I was thinking of seeing how many people here are having their wedding on the same week, and may be interested in sharing string lights. My wedding is Jan 11 & we are there Jan 8 - Jan 17, 2018.

[WedNov2017]

Hi everybody!!

First off I want to say thank you for creating this post there is a lot of useful information.

With that said... We are getting married November 2017 , which I feel like is right around the corner in wedding time. I need help with organizing myself I feel really overwhelmed by everything I have to do! Did anybody else feel like that? And how do you organize your self? Also I would love to see pictures! I'm having a hard time figuring out what to pick because I don't know how it's going to look. For example did anybody use chargers? Or pick a canopy/ chuppa? I'm thinking of picking the steel frame with fabric and flowers but not sure because I'm not sure how it will look.

As of right now we are having the ceremony at the chapel, reception at the sky deck and cocktail hour at the pool terrace. Thank you guys for sharing!!!!

[emkay]

Hi ladies, 

 

I'm hoping someone who got married at the Royalton can help me out!!  

 

We are planning our wedding here for April 2018. Did anyone have their reception at that Nautica beach bar? If so, could you provide details on how it was? I'm planning to do my ceremony at the Sky terrace so I won't be able to do my reception there.

 

Also how was the beach at this resort? There are a lot of bad and good photos so it is hard to know how it actually is. 

 

Any help would be appreciated! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Taelor1122]

Let me preface this long review by saying, I have never written a review after poor service, I know how devastating it can be to one’s reputation. However, I feel it is my duty to warn other brides.

 

It is with a heavy heart I write this review. I am a newlywed who just got married at this resort on Saturday, July 15, 2017 and was disappointed in the services received throughout my planning and execution process. First, I was assigned a wedding planner by the name of Charlyne, once a deposit was paid. While she did assist in answering a few of my questions in the beginning, I was repeatedly told, that the actual planning process would not take place until four months out from my event. This left me trying to think of everything to plan my event in the months preceding with little guidance. Once, we finally hit my four month mark, I felt I was treated like a number. Every communication whether it was email or phone had to be initiated by me. I felt this was strange because I’ve had other friends do destination weddings and they did not have this problem. Everything was explained in the beginning and the planner was attentive. This was my first red flag. Next, I arrived at property and had a wonderful check in and was greeted by friendly staff. They upgraded us and our room was beautiful! However, I am very sad to say that at least 80% of our guest (and we had 50 people stay on property) had issues with their rooms. Either it smelled of sewer, they paid for an ocean view and did not get it or they received poor service upon arrival. This of course was frustrating for my husband and I as we recommended the hotel to our guest and had raved about it. This was the second red flag. Next, I was assigned a wedding coordinator who would help me execute the details of the wedding day and assured me all would be well. The coordinator was very friendly and tried to help as best she could but there remained a few glaring issues. First, the music for the ceremony was not properly played. I selected several songs for my guest to listen to upon their arrival and gave it to the coordinator over an hour and a half before the ceremony, yet the same song was played on repeat and the DJ did not play the correct recessional song. At this point, I thought no big deal, don’t sweat the small stuff. Next, we get to the reception and finish our first dance songs and I am told the DJ does not have my playlist. I was mortified to say the least. I spent hours creating a playlist and emailed it to both the coordinator and the planner twice. As a result of the sheer incompetence, 1/3 of the reception was messed up. Third red flag. Finally, the icing on the cake was the next day we went to review our pictures and select which pictures we wanted for our book. The pictures came out nice, but needed some editing. As the wedding was on the beach, you could see sweat marks on clothing. I asked the photographer how long it would take to get the edited images back. It was not until this point, that I was told the photos would not be edited. I was livid. We paid for the highest package and my husband paid additional monies so that we can receive all of our pictures, and not one of them was edited. I immediately emailed the coordinator regarding this and explained how disappointed I was to now have to pay another photographer to edit photos, which should have already been edited. I have yet to get a response.

 

In short, while the hotel is good for families and vacationing, I would not recommend getting married here.

 

Signed, a happy newlywed and disappointed bride!

[melanderic2017]

Here's my wedding & Resort Review. We got married on May 9, 2017

 

The Wedding Day:

The wedding day was incredible. I couldn’t have asked for a better day! We had a total of 30 guests for our big day (including us). 
It started in the spa where my mom and I got our hair and makeup done. The service at the front desk of the spa seemed a bit lacking (no smiles at all) but once we sat down to get our hair done, the ladies were great! My hair and makeup stayed in place for the entire wedding day, I can’t believe it! 

A huge shout-out to Laura. Our day couldn’t have gone the way it did without her. Thank you so much for everything you did to make sure that we were on-time even when we were running late, and making sure that every step of the way went well. 
The flowers were delivered to us, and were beautiful. Almost exactly what I envisioned. 

The ceremony was perfect. We had this on the beach. Everything was set-up as I wanted, except for the cocktail table that my groom took care of moving (I didn’t want it under the bamboo arch, but that was an easy fix). The only note I had was that the lanterns lining the walkway were much smaller than I expected, from the pictures I sent in advance. 

The dinner was done perfectly at the Nautica Beach Bar. We had our backs facing the water so that the water was in the background. Laura checked in on me throughout with any little details that may need to be tweaked! We had two allergies we weren’t aware of before the big day, and they were accommodated! The only note I had was that the flowers in the cylinders were also not the colour I requested, so I was a bit disappointed there, but it still worked great. Thank you for your on-the-fly thinking Laura, and the whole team, for making sure everything went well!
Francisco, was also great! He was the resort designated MC, however my uncle did the MC job. So he made sure that everyone signed our guestbook puzzle pieces and date-night cards, and made sure that all loose-ends were tied while Laura was away doing something else. 

To the DJ, he played all of my requested songs, and made sure that everyone was up and dancing all night. 

For someone who plans events for a living, the Royalton team managed to turn my event-focused brain off, and make me rest assured that the entire day went off without a hitch. Something that I didn’t think would be possible, became a reality. Thank you again for everything. 

 

Photography: 

 

We went with Moments That Matter Photography. From beginning to end, work with MTM Photography was a breeze! E-mails were very quickly tended to before the wedding date, and the planning process was very easy.

 

On the day of the wedding, our main photographer was Lincoln and his lovely wife Silvina. We had an amazing day with them both. They sure aren't afraid of getting dirty, and getting so many different creative shots. We would work with them again in a heartbeat, and will be sure to recommend to anyone getting married in the Mayan Riviera

We got our pictures, and they're so great that it's hard to pick which ones to print, and which ones to get enlarged. Thanks again for everything you have done to make our wedding day that much more memorable. The pictures will last a lifetime, and make our dream day go on.

Here's our wedding picture teasers: 

https://www.momentsthatmatterphotography.com/single-post/2017/05/09/The-Royalton-Riviera-Cancun-a-wedding-day-for-a-King-Queen

 

Event Planning Company:

We went with Luxe Destination weddings based out of Toronto to take care of the travel planning and event planning for our wedding. This way we were able to start planning from day 1, and weren't restricted to the 4-month timeline that most brides seem to complain about. I have everything pre-planned almost a year out, with tweaking based on the budget as we got closer to the date. My travel planner was Christy, and Wedding Planner was Alexandra. They both were amazing! www.luxedestinationweddings.com 

 

Food:

Breakfast:
We ate most of our breakfasts at the Carribbean Restaurant, which has a picturesque view of the ocean and beach! The patio is nicest as there is a breeze, and it’s quite warm in the restaurant. The service can be a little slow, but if you’re up for a little wait and enjoying a morning coffee with a great view, this is the place for you. 

The best breakfast experience was the Agave Restaurant. We had great service here, but only ate there once for breakfast, as we preferred the ocean view! I can’t remember our server’s name, but I believe it was Alfonso? It would have been Monday, May 8th on the Patio.

The buffet is plentiful for breakfast and every option imaginable is available. We opted against it for the most part as we wanted to enjoy the ocean in the morning, and the Carribean restaurant was closer to our room. We also loved our server (his name starts with an S... Sansergio I think??) Very happy to serve us and even remembered my partner’s order! 

Lunch:

The Italian restaurant was a great option for lunch, with smaller yet delicious portions. The Wood Oven pizza was divine, as well as a the calamari!

The Carribean Grill has some decent lunch options. We ate here once for lunch.

The Buffet again has a wide selection, but we preferred outdoor options for our lunches! 

Dinner:

Our favorite dinner was by far the Zen restaurant for sushi. The sushi selection was divine and by far the best sushi I have ever had at an all-inclusive resort! We also had Tappenyaki at Zen which was a great show, but the food was just average for us. 

Agave’s menu was slightly disappointing. I was expecting more than just tacos. There were a few other options other than tacos, but to me that’s not the only Mexican type of food out there. The desserts were also pretty disappointing. The dinner service was also the worst we had all week. We waited over 30 mins as the first on the waiting list. About 30 people left the restaurant before we were seated. A little bit ridiculous. The restaurant was more than half empty when we were seated! 

The Buffet’s selection was always plentiful, but the service wasn’t the same as the a la carte restaurants. I think there was only 1 meal we had here where the server actually seemed happy working! 

Rehearsal Dinner – We had a semi-private dinner included with our wedding package, and opted to use it as a rehearsal dinner in a section of the buffet. The meal was fabulous. We had a tortilla soup, followed by a chicken with tomato sauce (a bit bland, but the chicken was soooo juicy!) and a tres leche cake which everyone loved! It was beautifully set up, and the flaming show drinks at the end were an unexpected yet awesome touch! Would love to know what the flaming tower shot was actually called. 

Hunter’s Steak House – The steak here was divine, though if you like your meat well done, make sure to specify as they tend to undercook. My pork was very tough, so I would choose something else if I was ever back here. Raoul was a great server! 
The Facilities:

We loved the resort as a whole. Incredibly well-kept grounds, and very well manicured! The pools are all beautiful, and temperatures were reasonable. Our friend’s swim up pool was the coolest temperature but it was extremely refreshing in the hot sun!

Beach & Beach Service:
The beach did have some seaweed, but that can’t be avoided. It was still very swimmable, and the first few days were clear waters! We noticed that there are mini sting-rays at the bottom of the shallow water, and lots of fish around too. It’s too bad I didn’t get to snorkel while it was clear. Would have been amazing! The service on the far end of the beach (near building 9) for drinks was hit and miss. It is the farthest away from the beach bar, so it would take a long time to get drinks, but we did have the best service from Marco, who was very pleasant, and even surprised us with some drinks we had yet to try. 

The Room:
We were upgraded to the Presidential Suite in room 9201, which had a fantastic private view of the beach and mangrove, right at the end of the resort. It was absolutely perfect. I didn’t expect such a lovely upgrade, but it was great for the wedding day and getting ready with the girls!! A big thank you to Alonso that cleaned our room every day. I did have to call on the wedding day to have the room cleaned, as it was 1 hr before the wedding, and nobody had come to clean the room yet, but after the call, it was cleaned! The fridge was also always stocked with delicious beverages! 

Our Guests feedback:
We had nothing but positive remarks from our guests for the wedding day and their week stay. They thanked us numerous times saying that we couldn’t have picked a better resort!

Edited July 21, 2017 by melanderic2017