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Cozumel Wedding Planners/Mr. Sancho's


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I'm planning a January 11, 2014 wedding to take place while we're in port in Cozumel (arriving via RCI's Liberty of the Seas). I've looked through the reviews, but I was wondering if anyone had any personal experience with Cozumel Wedding Planners or Mr. Sancho's. The reviews look almost too good to be true..

 

Thanks!!

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Hi!! I'm getting married at Mr Sanchos next April! I have been dealing with CWP since February and they have been great. You will have direct access to all of your options and pricing via your personal checklist tool on their website. I love it! Also, they are always fast to respond to my questions and offer great suggestions. I definitely recommend them!

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Woo hoo! You are just a couple of days before me! We are getting married on Jan 14th! I started out working with CWP, but changed my destination. I highly recommend them though for the short amount of time that I did use them! Happy planning!

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Good deal! Is it a bad idea to get married independently of the cruise line?

 

I personally don't think it is a bad idea. You run a small risk of not making it to your port, as the cruise line can cancel any port for any reason. Political unrest, disease, weather, over booking ports with too many ships, etc. If you don't go through the cruise line, you should make sure that whoever you book through, is able to work with you if you don't make it to the port. I would hate to lose all that money just because of circumstances beyond your control. Make sure it is in writing , in your contract, that there is a provision...just in case. Our planner offers to reschedule within a year, if for some reason we are unable to make it. Of course, then there is another thing you have to ask yourself, if for some reason something does cause you to miss your port...can you deal with that? I know a lot of people would be completely devastated if that happened.

 

I don't have numbers or statistics to support my statement(feel free to correct me if I am wrong), but I would imagine that it is on the rare side that you actually miss your port. You may want to do some research though, on your particular port/ sailing month.

 

Those worries aside, I think it is an excellent idea. I'm getting an amazing price/value, and exactly what I want. Best wishes!

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  • 2 months later...
  • 3 months later...

That's great to hear!! So happy they worked out for you. I still have 3 months to go, so almost time to solidify all of our plans. Right now I just have so many ideas running through my head and they are great at narrowing it down to the best option!

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  • 1 month later...
For anyone who is interested, check out the pro pics from our wedding day at Mr. Sancho's in Cozumel! It was so great! There are a ton of pics, so hopefully anyone who is considering this location can get a good idea of the venue.

 

http://saltandlightphoto.com/blog/?p=1867

 

 

Hi Adventurous Cruiser07,

Congrats!Your wedding photos were amazing!

My fiancé and I are also looking to use Mr. Santo's in Cozumel. Could you give me a ballpark estimate on cost of your wedding/reception? We haven't contacted them yet and are wanting to see if they are outside our price range or on target.

Thanks!:)

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It was somewhere between $5,000-$7,000. I forget where we finally ended up after fine tuning everything. There were things that I splurged on and definitely places where cutting back would be doable. They are really flexible with customization and in my experience would be happy to help you create the wedding that's best for you. Seriously, I couldn't say enough good things.

 

On their website, you can create your package through one of the tabs at the top of the page. This doesn't commit you to anything, and will give you a more precise idea of what it would cost.

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I tried to create a package on their website and I never heard anything back from them. Did you package include your flowers, food and cake? Also, how many guests did you have?

P.S. Does this site have private messages because I have sooo many questions for you! Haha

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@rittercraig15 Yes my package included flowers, food, bar, cake, decorations, chairs, maracas for a souvenir, everything! We had 35 guests.

 

I'm not sure how to send private messages on CC (or if it is possible). But if you're also on WeddingBee my SN there is sweetpea3363.

 

@Lil_One - I can't believe your wedding is almost here! Looking forward to seeing pictures.

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Your pictures are gorgeous! Cozumel location looks so beautiful!

Who were the photographers? From the cruise line?

I am talking to the Wedding Experience people and found out they are very helpful, but still, It is always nice to see pictures. I still afraid of getting there and things will be different.

Any tips? Thank you again for sharing pictures.

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@Lil_One- Thanks for the advice! I e-mailed them and they responded right away. Can't wait to see pics of your upcoming wedding!!

 

@Adventurouscruiser07- I really like the flower arch you had at your wedding! So how was the food? What kind did you serve?

Edited by rittercraig15
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@jusilva Thank you! Are you talking to the Wedding Experience people through the cruiseline? We actually didn't use Royal Caribbean for any of our wedding stuff - we just booked the group rate through them for the 15 rooms. Our group coordinator with RCI was aware it was our wedding cruise, but that was about it. Minus some chocolate covered strawberries that room service surprised us with. Oh and my husband's mom convinced the waitstaff (on the night that they do their big musical number) to sing to us the night we were married.

 

We used the private vendor Cozumel Wedding Planners - Stephanie and Lluvia to coordinate everything - and they did a fantastic job! Our venue was at Mr. Sancho's, just about 15 minutes from port.

 

We actually brought our photographers with us - Rachel & Austin from Salt and Light Photography out of Kansas City. A husband/wife team, they were amazing to work with, and their destination wedding package was incredible. Of course this is subject to change:

 

- full day's coverage including getting ready to getting back to the boat (officially like 6 or 8 hours but they said they'd keep taking pictures since they didn't have anywhere else to go anyway!)

- complimentary engagement session (which you might be able to trade for something else like a session on the boat or something if you're not from KC)

- Photo album

- Rights to all of the images to print and post yourself

 

it was $1000 + travel expenses. Plus, they offered a 10% discount if you paid in full, so it was really $900 + travel expenses. Photography was a priority for us, so it was definitely worth it to bring a photographer whose style we liked. Our cruise was in January, so the travel expenses were pretty low as well - a grand total for our photography including the destination package, the round trip flight to Ft. Lauderdale, and the cruise was $2200. Their typical local package starts at ~$3500 in Kansas City, so we definitely got their talent for a lot less! Plus they got to enjoy a vacation.

 

When we were doing our research, we didn't really like the style of the cruise photographers, plus how much editing could they do in just a day or two to get the full extent? They charge a LOT for their photographs, and it just didn't seem to have the same value for us personally. Obviously the cruise photographers probably wouldn't cost you $2,200 haha but it just depends on your budget. I was very pleased with Salt & Light and it was definitely worth every penny.

 

The only very minor concern to think about is if you use a private vendor for the wedding and the cruise ship misses port for whatever reason. We selected Cozumel partly because it is a stable port of call that is very rarely missed. I would be cautious choosing a port that uses tenders - those seemed to be skipped in cases of rough seas or poor weather.

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@rittercraig15 The flower arch was so beautiful! They have several different options for the ceremony arch but I liked the silhouette of the flower arch and how it framed us. Although some of the shadier options would also be nice!

 

The food was SO GOOD! Our wedding/reception was late morning into early afternoon, so we decided to serve hors d'oeuvres with a full open bar. Priorities right? We figured the majority of our guests would be coming from the cruise ship where they would have been eating to their hearts' content the 2 days prior, as well as would be having a 4 course meal in the Main Dining Room later that evening.

 

We chose the smallest food package - 4 hot & 4 cold appetizers. There was plenty! I would give:

 

Bar: A+

Cake: A+

Food: A

 

4 hot: Coconut shrimp (my fav!), swedish meatballs, mini tacos, jalapeno poppers

4 cold: quiche lorraine, caprice kabobs, salmon crostini, asparagus with bacon

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I almost forgot!! The BIGGEST planning tip I can offer is:

 

Make sure you clarify "Ship Time" and "Island Time"

 

Cozumel is on Central Time.

 

OUR Cruise Ship (RCI's Liberty of the Seas) Departed out of Ft. Lauderdale and STAYED ON EASTERN TIME the entire cruise.

 

Which is always an important distinction when you're in port normally, but even more so when you're dealing with a wedding timeline. We actually had 2 separate timelines side by side - one according to ship time and one according to island time, just to easily refer to.

 

This is hugely important - Our wedding was at 12:30pm "Ship Time" but 11:30 AM "Island Time".

 

Some ships change their time to match their ports of call, others continue to run in the time zone of their departure port no matter what. That's why it's so essential to clarify!

 

I hope this public service announcement helps with your planning!

Edited by AdventurousCruiser07
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Adventurous - I can't believe it either. Time is seriously flying now!

 

Rittercraig - Glad to could help! Have fun planning!

 

I actually had my call with Stephanie today to finalize the plan. She was so friendly and I'm really looking forward to meeting her!

 

Here is a brief overview of what we are planning. We have a total of 58 people including us.

 

-Ceremony on the beach and we decided to hire the Musical Trio for something a little different.

 

-Casual cocktail / hors d'ouvres reception in their open-air restaurant.

 

-Dinner in the MDR back on the ship. We made sure that we are all linked and booked for Late Dining. My PVP just submitted my group dining request to that department today, so at least I know we'll be close together.

 

I'll be sure to post a review and pictures when we return!

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~Lil_One I am SO excited for you! I want to join in on your trip!! It was so amazing - words can't convey.

 

I know what you mean - I was so relieved after that final call to have everything laid out and so clear. They had great suggestions for the little details! Stephanie actually met us at the port - I appreciated that so much.

 

We used the musical trio for an hour after the ceremony and while everyone was settling in and eating - I'm so glad you are too! They were really good and set the mood perfectly. Everyone had a lot of good things to say about them - I think they were worth it! And +1 for the Trio vs. the whole mariachi band for cost/value.

 

Oh! Before I forget - are you having your hair/makeup done in Cozumel at the site or are you doing it on board/yourself? I had the lady from the salon (through CWP) do it and they did a great job and were super nice.. but didn't speak English. Heads up! Just make sure you bring a picture, know spanish, have someone with you who knows spanish, or grab Stephanie or Lluvia to translate any details or changes. My MIL is Peruvian and my SIL is fluent in Spanish... I can understand Spanish pretty easily, but am not a very good communicator.

 

We did casual cocktail/hors d'oeuvres as well - and it was great! Plenty of food. Especially with the big meal in the MDR later. We also did the late seating and it was nice not having to rush to get back in time for dinner. We were sweaty and tired so we actually showered and took a nap before dinner the night of our wedding haha! Everyone wanted me to wear my dress to dinner that night, so I told them if someone wanted to put me back in it I would... so I did! The other cruisers LOVED this. There were so many sweet, kind people that were so happy for us. It was really nice!

 

The Group Dining Request worked well for us - you probably won't have this issue with 50 guests (we had about 25 that cruised with us), but while we were all in the same section, there was one table for 2 which was kind of awkward since everyone wanted to socialize together. You've probably already thought of this, but try to head to the MDR and check with the maitre d' to ensure that your group dining is all set when you first get on board.

 

Oh! Also! I made a contact sheet with everyone's names on the cruise and their room numbers and printed out enough copies for each room so that people could get a hold of each other and leave voice messages. It's difficult without cell phones! Included on this sheet was also the Day Of timeline for each person - for example, a more detailed one for the wedding party, more basic arrival/departure info for the guests.

 

Sorry if you've already thought of all of this/you were the one to give me the ideas in the first place! ;)

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Adventurous -Keep the ideas coming! I can use all the help I can get! I'm making a welcome booklet which will have a cabin listing so everyone knows how to reach each other. I wouldn't have thought of speaking with the maître d' when I get onboard, will definitely do that!

 

What did you do about transporting your guests to/from Mr Sanchos? Did they get there own taxi or did you provide a group shuttle? I can't decide what to do on this one.

 

I'll probably have more questions for you shortly! Haha!

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Lil_One - Originally I was going to have the 12 person limo for the bridal party and then the shuttle for the guests.. But we ended up doing just the limo and taxi cabs. The reason for this was mainly due to how staggered the departure times from the cruise ship were in relation to our total guest count. For example:

 

0800 - Bride, MOB, MOG, Bridesmaids x3, Photog departed in limo (7 people)

0900 - Groom, FOB, FOG, Groomsmen x3, Photog, Photog's brother, BIL departed (9 people)

 

Of the 35 people that were coming to our wedding, 10 flew directly to Cozumel.

 

SO that left us with only 9 people on the cruise ship that needed to get to the wedding over the next 2 hours. 2 of which were going to be in charge of the instant photo guestbook, so they + one of their husbands would be leaving slightly earlier..

 

I think you're starting to get the picture haha. Plus, I didn't want it to look super preferential when it was time to leave the wedding and the 10 people in Cozumel were getting taxis and everyone else was getting in the shuttle. Plus, we were looking at where we could trim our budget and this was an area we identified.

 

You have a lot more people coming to your wedding, so it might be more reasonable to have the shuttle, but taxis were also readily available if you decide to go that route. No one had any issues getting to and from the wedding. One of my turn off's was that the port charged like $2/per person as a fee on top of the shuttle rental.

 

If I had decided to go for the shuttle, I was just going to give everyone the time it would be leaving as a free option for them. For $50 CWP offered to have one of their people there to do a head count, but I honestly think 'you snooze you lose' would apply - if they missed the shuttle, they could taxi it instead! The taxi fare was only $17 per cab that fit 4 people I think.

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  • 6 months later...

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