Barefoot Bridal helped me plan my rehearsal dinner by Barefoot Bride Sophia Wilder

Planning a destination wedding can be tough, especially when you are not super familiar with the area you’ve selected as your destination. And even if you are somewhat familiar with the area, planning a wedding and the events around it can be even more difficult when you don’t have personal access to contacts who live and work in the chosen destination.

We had been working with Barefoot Bridal ever since we decided to have our wedding in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. We selected this location because as a couple, we love it, and it is a middle ground destination for our family and friends spread across the US and Brazil. 

Barefoot Bridal was a lifesaver when it came to securing a room block at our desired resort and has been a wonderful partner, helping our guests with their questions and providing an easy and simple booking process along the way. However, the help we have received from Barefoot Bridal has gone beyond securing a room block and great customer service. 

One of our biggest hurdles in the wedding planning process was finding a location that fit the needs for our rehearsal dinner. With a large group consisting of family and our bridal party that totals about 60 people, finding a nice location near our resort that fit within our budget was no easy task. Playa del Carmen offers many options when it comes to a rehearsal dinner. Many of these options appear to be within budget but what I came to learn quite quickly is that most places had an additional tax and service charge (totalling around 31%) that would be added to the total charge. With this, it became increasingly difficult to find a good quality, budget-friendly option on my own. But I did a bunch of research and reached out to quite a few places.

Contacting venues and restaurants was hard. Some contacts proved fruitful while other messages went unanswered. I expressed my concern to Sharon and asked if she had any recommendations. She did, and she put me in touch with some of her contacts who she’s previously worked with.

Sharon connected me with venue representatives who have kindly communicated with me to share their rehearsal dinner options. Sharon even shared a contact with me for a local wedding and party planner, Patty Morales, who could further help me if needed. Upon chatting with Patty, I knew I had found a saving grace and we ended up working together to secure the venue that best suited all of our needs.

There are many different options for rehearsal dinners in Playa del Carmen. From stunning beach clubs to local restaurants, many of these locations were great, but we were looking for something more specific. Like I mentioned, we wanted to find a location that was close to the resort our guests were staying at so they could walk to the rehearsal dinner venue. We needed a space that could comfortably fit 60+ guests and we were looking for an option that fit within our budget. And of course, we were hoping to find a venue that felt luxurious and scenic. 

The venue we landed on was the Reef 28 Rooftop on Quinta Avenida. This location offered a reasonable price for a three course menu and bar and had the space to comfortably seat all of our guests. We can’t wait to have our rehearsal dinner, come January, and can’t thank Sharon at Barefoot Bridal and Patty Morales enough for the assistance.