Wedding Date 2/2/22
Hi Ladies (and possibly some gentlemen)! Our wedding was 2/2 and I know testimonies from other brides were extremely helpful and reassuring for me so here’s mine! First and foremost our week at Hotel Xcaret Mexico was the most magical ever!! Now, that’s not to say everything was 100% smooth 100% of the time, but in the grand scheme of it all, we had an absolutely amazing week. Now for the good stuff:
Number of guests: 60
Wedding package: Deluxe
Prior to arrival: We were assigned our coordinator (Yessica) on 12/1, so 60 days away from the wedding. We initially discussed all details via email and as we got closer to the wedding switched our communication to WhatsApp. She helped finalize the dj (we used the Xcaret dj) and decor (Cantiero). These vendor services were invoiced and paid with the coordinator. I’m not sure if this next point was just an issue we had but may be worth mentioning to save some headache but call your bank or financial institution to notify them of the payments you’ll be making to Xcaret for everything. Our bank (BofA) kept rejecting and blocking our last few payments and flagging them for fraud We spent a lot of time on the phone with them trying to get it all sorted out .
Another bride in here suggested using WhatsApp for all of the guests to communicate so that’s what we decided to do as well. We created the group about 1 month before the wedding and used it to send guests reminders and updates, it really worked perfectly!
Arrival: We arrived on Sunday 1/30 around 8:30 or 9am. Check in was pretty easy and smooth. I do want to point out that they asked for a card to place on file for incidentals and said they’d put a $200 hold on the card. I found out later that one of my guests refused to give them a card and they didn’t make a fuss about it so that may be something to keep in mind. If you don’t feel comfortable giving them a card, stand firm, tell them no, and you won’t have to . I also want to add that although they told me the hold was going to be $200, they actually held $500
We booked the junior suite and asked about the room upgrade, they said they could not do it since the next category would be the presidential. I do wish I would have pushed more on that because I think we could have gotten it . If you have a higher room category, try to get the upgrade anyways even if they say no at first. Our room was ready around 12:30pm so in the meantime we walked around, had breakfast, got lost , had some drinks, got lost again (I’m not kidding, the resort is HUGE and very easy to get lost in I didn’t find the map they provide to be helpful at all) we eventually got sleepy and tired of walking around so we found some chairs in a quiet little nook and took a nap on the beach until our room was ready
Monday 1/31 : This was the day that most of our guests arrived. We did Xenotes that day which was from about 8am – 5pm. Once we got back we used the WhatsApp group to communicate and see where everyone was so we could say our hellos. Then we got changed for dinner at Las Cuevas (probably one of the best places to have dinner, food is amazing and the ambiance is gorgeous!)We had dinner with about 17 people that evening. After dinner we headed up to La Cantina for the remainder of the night (until about 2am). La cantina is very loud fyi, you’re pretty much yelling to have a conversation
Tuesday 2/1: We did trash the dress photos with Pixan Photography (I bought a separate dress for this) at a private Cenote early this morning. An absolutely unforgettable experience. Once we got back we had lunch with a few guests at Las playas before heading up to get dressed . We did a ceremony walkthrough with our coordinator at 4 immediately followed by our welcome cocktail hour at 5 at casa grande terrace . The cocktail hour was nice, they made signature drinks (don’t remember what was in it, sorry), but they were good! We used this time to hand out shirts we had made for the guests to avoid the $8 room delivery fee. Immediately after the cocktail hour we had dinner reservations at Xin Gao with our immediate family (13 people total). The food was really good here too!
After dinner we changed and told our guests to meet us in the lobby at 8pm to head to Xplor fuego, I would not recommend going that late. About 40 people went and by the time everyone got checked in and got their gear we only had time to do 2 activities. Everyone had a great time and it was a ton of fun, I just wish we had time to do more.
Wednesday 2/2 Wedding Day – Spent the early part of the morning alone to have some quiet “me time “ before the day got crazy. My coordinator came to my room to pick up my seating chart, card box, table numbers, place cards, guest book, and favors that I all brought from home. At 11am my friends, sisters, aunts, mother and mother in law started arriving to help me get ready and spend some time together. Room service was delivered (champagne, mimosas, sandwiches, quesadillas, fruit) and it was all very good. I tried not to overdo it and eat too much before getting in my dress. I decided to get ready in my room since we had the large suite, it worked out just fine. The photographers arrived around 2:45pm and started getting detailed shots of me getting ready, dress, accessories etc. my sister did my hair while my best friend and I did my makeup (I’m very particular with both my hair and makeup and had a hard time trusting anyone else/a “professional” to do it ) . My groom got ready in a garden suite room and wished he had more space, maybe something to keep in mind as well. we did start to run out of time as 4pm approached and it got a little crazy but we were still able to get everything in we did a first look in the suite with my dad and then headed down to the Las Cuevas area to do a first touch with my husband () after that we headed over to Bio bar for the ceremony. The ceremony was scheduled for 5, we probably started about 5:10. The gazebo (although it was still beautiful) wasn’t the one my coordinator and I discussed during the planning (I’m currently in communication with her about this to figure out what happened and what concessions will be offered as a result) there were also no flowers for the ceremony table although that was also discussed in planning. My suggestion here is to double, triple , and quadruple check that you and your coordinator are on the same page about every single detail. Again, it was all still very beautiful…Just not what I was expecting.
The cocktail hour was nice, we didn’t get to enjoy much of it since we had to go take pictures before we lost too much light but we were told the food was great and the saxophonist did a great job!
The reception was absolutely phenomenal. The decor was magical. The DJ nailed it. The food was delicious. There was ALWAYS a drink in my hand. I cannot say enough about the reception and can’t imagine it being any better, it was spot on. After the reception ended those of us that were still able to walk headed up to la cantina to finish the after party . When we got back to our room there was a very sweet surprise waiting for us I don’t want to spoil it for anyone but it was a very nice touch
Thursday 2/3: We slept in because we were absolutely exhausted. Room service brought us a romantic breakfast. Afterwards we spent the early part of the afternoon hanging out with friends and family by
The pool before heading to Xoximilco at 3.
Xoximilco was a complete blast and was definitely one of the biggest highlights of everyone’s trip (we had 49 people go to Xoximilco). When we arrived back at the hotel everyone went their separate ways for dinner and met back up for our last night at la cantina.
Friday 2/4: guests depart
Wedding planner: Yessica- so sweet and patient with all of the last minute changes and requests . From wedding detail changes, last minute guest changes, reservation changes, everything! She was always so ready and willing to help and was very responsive via WhatsApp, even after we left the resort!! Again there were a few details that were off but as I mentioned earlier, in the grand scheme of everything, it all turned out so amazing
Butlers: Magaly and Jesus – extremely helpful with anything and everything we needed while there. Between these 2 and our coordinator we were always taken care of.
Photo and video: Pixan Photography Vincent did our trash the dress photos the day before the wedding and unfortunately sent me a text message the day of the wedding that he hurt his foot/ankle and would need to send his assistant in his place to do the wedding I am waiting to see how to photos come out to decide if I want to make a big deal about it or not
DJ : Again, we used the Xcaret dj and are so happy we did, we don’t regret it one bit! I couldn’t get off the dance floor for most of the night and I’m usually not even a dancer all the songs were spot on
Flowers- Cantiero . The first invoice they sent me had prices that were double and triple what they initially quoted when I reached out to them (I reached out to them to compare Cantiero vs Corazon vs Varasova months in advance). I showed this to them and they honored the original prices. Everything was beautiful. My advice, be very specific and very clear with what you want, even have reference pictures . They asked me my color scheme but then none of the flowers we got were in the color scheme. Not the bouquet , none of them
Tips: I used this group for advice on tipping all the vendors, wedding planner, etc which was so helpful. Get cash ahead of time and labeled envelopes for each person so its easy to hand out at the end of the night.
Travel agent: Yellow Umbrella Events – Shea and Cheryl were so helpful and knowledgeable especially in the early stages of planning everything. They were able to work with all of our guests on accommodations and made the booking process super easy. We appreciate all of their help. If you use them and want to take advantage of their perks (i.e. flight credits) make sure to read the instructions or be clear on how to properly book through them to take advantage of this. Unfortunately we were unable to take advantage of it and missed out
Extra info: I am not telling anyone to do this but here’s what I did to get some of my flowers back home for preservation…I broke off a few stems and took some petals and put them in a ziplock back. I kept them refrigerated until it was time to pack and go. I then wrapped the ziplock in a pair of pants and put them in the inside zipper of my checked bag. If you want to take home the entire bouquet this would not work but I just wanted some of it to preserve so that’s what I did and there was no problem again, use your own discretion with this
If there’s anything that I left out that you’d like to know PLEASE feel free to ask away. If you’re on the fence about getting married here, please do it. If you’re nervous about an upcoming wedding, BREATHE and trust that it will all turn out absolutely amazing. I vividly remember all of those feelings and I’m telling you it will all be 1000000% worth it !! Congratulations !!
