DW Cancun Oct 2015

cassiadams22

Hi! Just got engaged on Saturday. My boyfriend, Nick, proposed right before we crossed the finish line of our 3rd Tough Mudder Race. It was muddy, but absolutely perfect Knew all along a beach wedding in Cancun is what we wanted. Oct 2015 sounds like a perfect time for us and our families so now I just need some help. We have a family friend travel agent who is going to help us out and she has great ideas already but I wanted to get some insight on what other couples are doing. I like the idea of an all inclusive resort for our guests and perhaps adults only. We made our invitation list and it came out to 144 guests but we are thinking 70ish will attend. I also want to arrange some sort of excursion for our guests the day before, or maybe a cocktail hour once everyone arrives? Anyways, I'm open to all suggestions/advice, etc!! Can't wait to hear from you all

Latillo

Congrats @cassiadams22 !! How exciting Sounds like a great proposal!

We are getting married in September 2015 and are getting married in the Riveriai Maya/Playa del carmen area but flying into Cancun obviously. We chose the Secrets Maroma Beach for our wedding and are very excited! We have heard great things and have family that have been and loved it. The rooms are running around $230 a day AI for room/food/drinks/taxes/airport transfers. A bit on the pricey side but hopefully worth it! We invited 70 guests but will most likely have around 40-50.

They have many options to customize your wedding and we are having a welcome bonfire 2 nights before our wedding for everyone so that is always an option.

Good luck deciding!!

Latillo

Excuse my bad spelling...Riveria Maya lol

weddingcactus

I just got engaged in the Rivera Maya while staying with my now-fiance at Valentin Imperial Maya. It was a stunning resort. I don't know what sort of wedding offerings they have, but it was a very luxurious adults all-inclusive that I would definitely recommend investigating.

msuprincess04

I just got married in Cozumel. Everyone stayed at a all inclusive resort, but our wedding and reception were at a private beach club as we wanted a private event. We held a welcome party, a rehearsal dinner open to all, and the wedding. Three days of events for anyone who wanted to participate. It was a blast.

 

Many resorts will have options for welcome parties if you have the wedding at the resort. The area is beautiful and between Cancun and Playa del Carmen, there's a million things to do. Have fun planning!

cassiadams22

I have read several things about how amazing Valentin and Secrets Maroma Beach are!! I will for sure be checking those out! Besides resorts, I have so many other questions. Im almost positive we are going to get legally married here in Chicago before the DW. What are you all thinking? Also, how far in advance should save the dates and invitations be sent? How about different options for the guest, ie 4day or 7 day stay? 

Can you tell I'm anxious already and it's still over a year away?  

msuprincess04

Why have a destination wedding if you aren't getting married there? That seems ridiculous. Get married there or don't do it. I signed the papers in Mexico, so my wedding date, legally, celebrated, and otherwise, is the date I stood in front of my friends and family and said "I do."

Save the dates go out 8-12 months before the wedding, and the invitations still go out at the normal 6-8 weeks before the wedding. 

What do you mean by different options for length of stay? Wouldn't the guests be planning their own trip, even if they use your planner, so they get to decide how long or how short to stay. 

WinstonsGirl

We did Hawaii, so I can't help you on Mexico specific things.  STD's, about 1 year in advance, invites 6-8 weeks.  We did 10 weeks, but half of our invites were going to Chile, so we wanted some extra time for the long distance of mail.  

Guests can plan their own vacations.  We didn't do anything in terms of bookings, allotted time, etc.  DH's brother spent the weekend, as his wife couldn't make the trip, others turned it into a 3 week vacation in California and Hawaii.  Let your guests decide and make their own travel plans.  

On a personal note, I'd recommend getting married in Mexico.  I wouldn't use my vacation time to go for a DW unless I was actually seeing the couple getting married.  My vacation time is quite specific as to when I can take it, and it costs me quite a bit to take it at other times.  If I'm spending the extra time and cash, I want to see a wedding.  

As for pre/post wedding events, we did a couple of firework nights on the beach (free) and then hit up a local bar for drinks after.  We also did a beach day as well as a snorkelling trip one day that we paid for.  All of these were optional, but gave those guests who were in town some options of getting together other than the wedding.  Those who weren't in town yet or who wanted to do their own thing on vacation did.  

saric83

We had our wedding at an AI in Cancun (Beach Palace), and we thought about having more coordinated events, but to be kind to people's schedules, we opted to just do a welcome cocktail party the day before the wedding.  

We had people who stayed anywhere from two to 10 nights, so especially for the folks staying the shorter time, we didn't want to monopolize all of their time as this was probably the only vacation time they had all year. 

BreMR

We are getting married at Dreams Puerto Aventuras in the marina town Puerto Aventuras which is between playa del Carmen and tulum! Our legal ceremony will be in Mexico because like previous posters mentioned I would hate for people to pay to watch a reenactment. This is a great debate though and some people will fight to the death about why its acceptable. We plan on staying for ten days and have no expectation as to what others will choose for their length of stay, but would welcome everyone staying the entire duration. Also I had hoped for a small wedding (20-30) and we've already sent save the dates to 50 :-/ because my fiancé felt bad about leaving people out! I hope to get declines!!