Another true and honest review from one of our clients, here’s what she had to say:
I got married at XCARET Mexico on 5.01.22! I wanted to leave a review of my vendors and my time throwing a wedding at Xcaret. Sorry in advance for the novel.
Quick Overview
Stayed 6 days
67 guests
Bar Bio Ceremony
Caleta Fuego Reception.
Wedding coordinator Melanie, very sweet, but might be newer
Outside Coordinator: Lorenzo with Pride Maya Weddings
Decor Canteiro/MSM
Entertainment: 360 Booth from La Cabina Mex
Dj: Friends (Equipment rental from UNO Audiovisual)
Dance Floor: MSM
Photographer: Pixan
Video: Pixan
Underwater TTD: Pixan
Makeup and Hair: Friends from Home (Kendra K Beauty)
Bridal party room: Junior Suite
First, I will say that choosing to book with Cheryl and Yellow Umbrella was one of my best decisions! Cheryl and her team are so helpful with things that didn’t even have to do with making a group block. Their knowledge definitely comforted me with the whirlwind of planning a wedding and I can’t thank you guys enough for going above and beyond for us and all of our guests.
Arrival to Mexico was easy. I carried my gown on the plane inside the garment bag provided by the salon I got my dress from and it was plenty sturdy and large enough for my dress. American Airlines was kind enough to hold an entire row of overhead compartment since their closets were full. We didn’t do much DIY but did have 9 suitcases of items, clothes, park equipment (a mermaid tail) and more. All luggage arrived and nothing broke in transit. Finding the bus to the resort was easy and getting signed in was no problem for most – we did have a nephew that was in a room with a guest that couldn’t make it so that was an issue since both were not there and the first name on the reservation was the person that wasn’t there but Cheryl and her team fixed the issue promptly. Shuttle from the airport to the resort was pretty smooth – we did hit about 15 mins of rush hour so it took about an hour to get to the resort on the shuttle provided.
Check in for us was a breeze and got our room in Fuego right away. We got a swim up ocean view and loved it but was sad I didn’t have time to enjoy that pool more. We did have a few guests that got to the resort before check in and ended up not getting a room till about 7. We didn’t plan anything major for the first day as we knew we wanted to explore everything and many were not there yet. The room was beautiful, our butler Rolando was amazing and helped with reservations, escorting some of my lost family and literally EVERYTHING I needed. My husband doesn’t drink corona so he made sure that we were well stoked with Modelo… among so many other things.
Second day we had “guy/girl day” since we were so busy leading up to the wedding we didn’t have much time with our bridal parties (who mostly live in different states). I wanted to let everyone who wanted to get wild do this with a buffer day in between so no one was hung over for the wedding. Later that evening we had a welcome party and i handed out all of our welcome gifts (which were custom tumblers we made personally for everyone. Inside were hangover kits, map of the resort, itinerary for the rest of the week). We had a signature cocktail “Thorntini” and everything was awesome (though I drank a lot… oops) and we had a great time. We also had the rehearsal which I should have requested a full walk through (including the unity ceremony) so that everyone knew where to put things, but it all worked out fine.
Next day was Xenses with anyone who wanted to join and we got there right when the park opened. Highly recommend this because we didn’t have to wait for anything, no lines, and the photos we took didn’t have random people walking in front of the cameras. I do recommend taking some dramamine (even if you don’t get motion sick) because the wonky town will flip your stomach. Don’t forget water shoes. That night we ate at HA. I love dinners like this but it wasn’t for some of our guests who didn’t see the value in the “experience” but everyone enjoyed most of the dining experience.
Wedding Day!
The ladies got ready in my mother’s JR Suite. I wanted to have a swim up and they don’t have a swim up JR suite so my mother got it so that we could all get ready in there. It was plenty big enough for 6 bridesmaids, two stylists, two mothers, the coordinators and all the friends we had popping in and out. Melanie sent some snacks and champagne which was really nice but she didn’t send enough glasses for everyone so we had to use coffee cups for some lol. I spent the night with my mother and sister the night before and when I woke up I was fully relaxed. I took a bath on the balcony hot tub and watched the sun come up. My sister ordered me the french toast and I tried to eat as much as I could (it was delicious). When my glam squad got there they evaluated the girls hair and make up needs and gave them a time to come back to get started. I took this time to write cards for my inlaws, mother and sister and just reflect on everything for the day. I will say that everything was pretty chill for most of the morning and afternoon, then once things were about 2 hours till showtime – everything got hectic.
Vincent and his team at Pixan were amazing. They knew where all of the best areas of the resort were for photos. On top of the fact that he is an absolutely amazing photographer – his work is stunning – he knows this resort so well that it didn’t take much to get where we needed to be for the best shots. Two of his team were with my husband and the fellas getting ready and two guys were with Vincent to get shots of us getting ready. His team were great at directing everyone and getting everyone’s attention. Additionally, my Husband knows his way around a camera but isn’t that comfortable in front of one – I was personally worried about him not being in the right frame of mind to have so many photos taken of him but Vincent’s crew knew what they were doing and made Jeff and everyone so comfortable and no shots looked forced in any way.
Lining up was almost miserable because there wasn’t much of a breeze where we were standing but i barely noticed. One of my friends was on hand for make-up touch ups and gown fluffing. Somehow in transit, my flash drive of music was deleted so they had to download the music and got one of the songs wrong (it was supposed to be without lyrics). I had a spare but no one asked for it so make sure they know you have a spare… And bring a spare. We took a shot with everyone right after my mother gave me away to relax everyone and set the tone that this was a fun event and not anything uptight or ultra traditional. It was awesome to toast everyone that made the trip. My husband and I wrote our own vows (I couldn’t read mine without losing it so I had a friend of mine read for me and it was so special). My father passed away along with my puppy so I had their photos on my bouquet and my mother gave me away. My father’s favorite flowers were birds of paradise so it was important to me that all flowers with me and for decor were white with only birds of paradise – it was just as I had envisioned. My husband’s father officiated the wedding for us and it was perfect. Lorenzo and Melanie worked hard to make my vision a reality and stay within my budget. I let people take photos and didn’t not request an unplugged ceremony – but i told them i would throw their phones in the water if they got in the way of Pixan
During the cocktail hour we took photos and my guests decided to all sit at tables instead of at the cocktail tables (so don’t waste decor, time, money or stress on cocktail decor). The violinist was very talented and we could hear her from some areas of where we were shooting. I hear the hors d’oeuvres were amazing (only got to try the strawberries and cream). We got done with photos a bit early and decided to enjoy some of the cocktail hour with everyone. Then we left for our entrance through the caves. We got extra long sparklers for the first dance from in-house vendor Hugo.
The reception was a total party, almost every guest stayed the entire time (excluding some of the older couples) and then we partied at the cantina. For the entertainment we got a 360 photo booth from La Cabina and they brought a bubble machine. The bubbles carried over to the dance floor and it was amazing. 360 booth was a huge hit and would totally do it again. We rented the dj equipment from UNO Audiovisual and it was awesome to not have to worry about my DJ getting everything into Mexico ok. We had an extra desert cart set up for late night snacks. Dinner came while guests were making speeches and toasts but it took a really long time for some of the courses to come out so some started dancing before eating the main course (which is kind of ok – it was a party after all). I brought glow sticks that I got from amazon and they were a huge hit too! We had people dancing with us on the bridges that walk past the inlets – it was a full party. When we got back to the room it was beautifully decorated by my friends and our butlers. We were given XCARET robes with our names monogrammed on them as well.
The next morning we went for a trash the dress shoot at a private cenote… It was completely magical. I didn’t trash my own dress, but bought a flowy one off of etsy. Happy to share if anyone is interested. Vincent definitely makes people feel comfortable in the water as well – my fiance isn’t a mermaid.
I am attaching some shots from my sneak peek from Pixan. I love them all and it was so difficult to narrow down the shots. I can’t wait to get the video and drone footage back!
Key Takeaways:
- Don’t look at the weather – it’s almost never right.
- Let your bridesmaids wear whatever dress they feel comfortable in – it will make for better photos if everyone feels comfortable. We just picked the color and let them all choose what they wanted.
- Groomsmen just got linens from Amazon and it worked out awesomely.
- Assign someone to remind you to drink water
- Give someone your phone to get candid shots
- If someone quoted you a stupidly high price – shop around.
- Spend money on what you want and don’t worry about the rest. For me it was dress, location and photography/video
- Stay longer than you think you will want to – it goes by too fast.
- If you have a busy life and can’t wait till 6 weeks to plan with your on site coordinator – get an off site one so you can handle things on your schedule.
- Take time to step back and enjoy it. Be present in every moment.
- Download and use WhatsApp
