Large wedding parties,,,what do I do??

[wrldtrvlr87]

I've been reading reviews from folks on this motherboard and elsewhere. It has been mentioned that the resort
really caters to the wedding parties, which is great, but at the expense of the "couples" guest. This concerns me.
We'll be spending a large sum of money (by our standards) for our 25th (important) and I would hate to hear
on the flight home how maybe we should have considered staying elsewhere. I realize the percentage of people
posting vs. actual guest is smaller, but this is something that has my attention. Is this how the resort staff treats
their guests, or is it really an isolated incident?

[Chris]

We've been to SweptAway when there have been large wedding parties (the largest group was around 100 people... nearly half the resort for a very well connected couple), and have never had an issue. We've never noticed it other than that you would see the same folks huddled together all week.

[yookster]

I think the information you received could not be further from the truth. We have never seen the staff treat any guests differently no matter what size their group is. They cater to EVERYONE and treat everyone equal. That is one of the many reasons the resort is unique and special compared to other resorts that treat you based on your "category". I'm not sure of the circumstances behind what you heard but I can promise you that is not how any of the Couples Resorts do business. We would not be the repeaters that we are if it was like that. Hopefully you give them a chance.

[dank120]

Not sure what incident you're referring to, but we've seen 4 weddings taking place at CN and there was 2-16 people at each one. Of course they cater to the wedding party. For that special day, they deserve it. Not sure what "expense" this is to any other guests, though. All of the wedding events take place in designated areas, away from the other main resort areas. Weddings are fun to see (especially when you're not in them!), and, if anything, it would be romantic for your 25th to be lucky enough to see a new marriage beginning. We've had a lot of fun with people that were down there for their weddings.

[smroot]

I don't know where you read that, or even if I am reading it correctly, but I would not say that they cater to wedding parties anymore then they cater to all the guests. In 3 trips I have witnessed a lot of weddings at the resort (CN), small, medium, and large, but I never ever felt they received any better service because they were there for a wedding. They may get different things during the wedding event itself, but they have arranged that. Me thinks there is some tom foolery going on here.

[rjammin]

I'm not sure I understand your question in the last couple of sentences.
If your question was whether or not the staff caters more to wedding party guests vs. a couple, the answer is definitely.... no way.
We've been to CSA, CN and CSS and all had weddings while there. I'm sure there has never been a week at any of the Couples that there were not any weddings. It's unavoidable since it is the perfect resort chain to have a wedding IMO. We have seen large and small weddings throughout the week at all of them and the staff was fantastic to all guests equally.
You really can never know how many weddings there will be when you visit but, rest assured, you will be getting the first class treatment Couples is noted for.
It may have been just the week we visited CSA but I think CSA may be the most popular resort of all the Couples for weddings. We saw at least 2 a day in April 2010.
Believe me, unless you are on the staff that handles the weddings, the rest of the staff at Couples has no idea who is there for a wedding or just there as a couple. Relax, you will love Couples and realize on the flight home how you fretted for nothing. You'll probably be planning your return trip!

[Bearso]

I really can't tell what you are asking....

[ORV]

Where? Which posts? Got a link? Don't read more into posts than what is there. They've always had wedding parties and they are really non intrusive to other guest's experience.

[redinthehead]

Good news, the staff at Couples really caters to everyone not just wedding parties, congrats on 25 years.

The only problem with a large groups is because of size of resort; couples is on the smaller size compared to the mega resorts. And only if they all want to stay together the whole time. Example, a Group of 30 could every easily take over the swim up bar and because everyone knows each other they aren't as welcoming to others Couples guest, and like any large group of people having a good time tend to get loud.

But Couples knows what they are doing and as long as everyone is respectful of each other its all irie.

[softail19]

I don't think CSA caters to large parties. I just think alot of them end up going there as it is the largest of the resorts. In 4 trips to CSA , I have never had any problem with a large party. I won't stay anywhere else. No worries!!

[Sue and Randy]

in our 8 trips we only had one that was affected by large groups. in 2007, i believe, there were four large groups there when we were. two of the groups were not noticed at all. the other two were horrible. i know now that these groups , while welcome, are reigned in now as all guests are due their own experience. we quickly learned who these folks were and when we saw them we moved away.

you can look at the weddings page to see how many will be happening while you are there and if you see a group getting out of hand feel free to contact management about it.

while i know it has happened in the past we haven't seen it since 2007.

Randy

[ChristyCSA]

Huh? I don't really get the question. As long as your guests are respectful to others and not drunk & loudly obnoxious I don't see the problem. We are all paying for the Couples experience and believe it or not (by my hubby & my standards) we are also spending a large sum to have that experience and saved years for it. I think large wedding parties sometimes forget everyone is there to have a good time and some consider that just a quiet time with their loved one. I get that wedding parties or large groups are there to have fun just like everyone else I just think this idea some have of "taking over the resort" goes a bit far and intrudes on others in some ways like someone mentioned about the swim up bars, being loud in the restaurants etc... During our stay at CSA for our own weddingmoon we only experienced that on our last day and yes they were very loud and totally oblivious (plus had unsupervised teens with them) to their drunken actions affecting others. It's not the large groups that's really the problem; it's the bridezilla like mind set some have that "we are spending_________(insert large amount here) and this entitles us to more than others because this is an important moment for us" as in better treatment from the staff or the resort itself. Not talking about you personally so please don't be offended lol and after 25 years I can't imagine you being much of a bridezilla really anymore ha! ha! All staff are polite & friendly to everyone & this is not based on the amount of money you spend to make that happen. We are all there to have a once in a lifetime experience & enjoy ourselves and as long as you & your guests keep that in mind you should have a great time. Enjoy your 25th anniversary, we will be celebrating our 5th with Couples and cannot wait

[jon1963]

We have been to Couples 5 times and others resorts. At Couples it is not about the big short time cash, they want us to come back every year. They do a great Job on making EVERYONE happy if they can.

[me]

I've been to CN twice so far and getting ready to book our 3rd trip. First time there was six of us there together for one couples wedding. The 2nd trip was my wedding and we had 36 or so people. I felt we were treated the same on both trips. My group age range was from early 20's to early 70's. Everyone had a great time and met new friends from around the country and around the world that we still talk to. Great service both times and sure it will be in the future as well.

[Pamela]

We've been to all four Couples Resorts for a total of 19 visits. It has never been my perception that staff members cater to large groups to the exclusion of couples. The biggest problem, in my experience, with large groups is that they can be loud and bothersome and that some of the single members of large groups can behave inappropriately, as if they were at an adults-only resort as opposed to a couples-only resort.

[Heidi&David]

I'm getting married at CTI in March and I have over 40 guests coming with me as well. I'm not concerned with anything other than in the evening at Dinner time. During the day everyone is free to do whatever they'd like but, we thought it'd be nice to at least eat together at Dinner. It has been mentioned to me that it's IMPOSSIBLE to be able to reserve that much space at any of the resturaunts except for the Patio Place because it's huge. Also, I wasn't asking to SIT all together but at least be in the same general area. They said I could have a catered dinner but it would be at an additional expense.

We're having the Private Island Wedding and I am nervous about this not being possible. There's just no way we could take on an additional expense. Can anyone give me your opinion/experience on this????

On another note- 142 days!!!!!! YAAAAAY We can't wait :-)

Thank you,

Heidi

[B & K]

We we married at CN on October 4th and there were a lot of weddings there Oct 1-8. Our wedding was just the two of us but we saw 3 weddings some days. The bigger weddings do take away from the couples experience when the pool fills up with the wedding party and they start screaming and hooting at new arrivals and they walk down from the lobby. However, the location is so awesome many things are overlooked and soon forgotten.

[randi&sherri]

Been to CSA 12times and also to CN once. We never experienced any big groups getting special treatment etc...You have nothing to worry about

[wrldtrvlr87]

To explain more, I was reading TA reviews about CTI and there it was mentioned about how a few of the guest had to go to a different restaurant because it was closed for the wedding party. After reading your comments, it must have been an isolated incident and I have to admit I was kinda stunned when I read it. It goes against pretty much everything I've read the past few months. I do think that it is very cool to hear from so many repeat guest. Thank you for your valued responses, looking forward to our visit.