Hilton Vallarta Riviera:

Wedding Event Coordinator: Hernan Arenas & Alfonso



Even months later it is difficult to put into words the love and joy that we experienced during our wedding week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico from May 22 - 26(and celebrating on May 24). So just know that words cannot do justice the amount of dedication, thoughtfulness and care that everyone involved in our wedding week put into to make it the most amazing time ever for my husband and I.

We are a queer couple from Pittsburgh, PA that currently reside in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. While the area is known to be one of the most queer friendly areas in the United States- it is not financially feasible unless you are willing to sign a contract a for 30K from the jump for nearly 100 guests. Eventually, we decided to start looking into a destination wedding in a queer friendly area in Mexico since we figured a lot that a lot of our family/friends would be traveling from the East Coast to the West Coast- why not make it a big vacation week for everyone?



We checked out several venues(via internet) and while they were accommodating, responsive and budget-friendly they were not offering the what we had in mind for our wedding without making a lot of compromises. After months of researching we came across Hilton Vallarta Riviera located in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico through this video. https://youtube.com/shorts/-KLa_zQkCnM?si=N9_4AVqNrMttkj3n featuring Hernan Arenas, the wedding coordinator of the venue. We just knew this was the place we wanted to have our wedding at.



This is probably around April-May 2023(not sure to be exact) Within days of contact, my (now)husband spoke with Hernan via zoom for their initial meeting while I was at work. He was so excited and within a few weeks we chose a package, signed that contract and started to survey potential guests on whether or not they would be interested in attending our wedding in Mexico. (The contract only required 30 guests, but we had a list of about 130 people to invite. Of this total, 81 friends and family met us the following May at the Hilton Vallarta Riviera for an extraordinary time.



Flash-forward to May 19, 2024. We decided to fly in early to prepare and do walkthrough of the space with our planner(shoutout Citlalli from The Green Planner Events- 10/10 would recommend their services for being responsive, acknowledgeable of not only PV, but the Hilton, as well. I will tag and post recommendations for vendors in the post-comments as this ultimately was a group effort and I would 10000000% recommend every vendor again, but being that this is a review for the Hilton Vallarta Riviera- I will proceed with that.)



So, upon arrival and our first time traveling out of the country of the USA. We finally reached our destination. We were pleasantly greeted by every staff member we encountered throughout the checking-in process to concierge for making reservations for dinner and spa treatments to exceptional service over the course of our 3 day last-hurrah before our 81 guests arrived and the wedding festivities would commence.



Days leading up to the wedding: Our planner met us at the resort, we did a walkthrough of the event spaces with Hernan and Alfonso and discussed certain timelines of the wedding. They planned a lovely rehearsal on the sky bar and dinner at La Luce. We chose to have our ceremony on the Sky Bar and reception in the Beach club area. 10/10 would recommend both during that time of the year(bring hand-fans)!

The ceremony and reception at the Beach Club were perfect venues.

Hernan- wedding event supervisor

Alfonso- wedding event coordinator

Alejandra- room dining manager

Alaejandra - concierge

Sandra - waiter

Olaya- waiter

Eduardo - pool waiter

Eduardo - beach waiter

Antonio- hotel lobby bartender

Gustavo- bartender

Jair- bartender (makes lovely signature cocktail suggestions)

Yami- Pool staff

Gabriella - Spa

Gina - Spa

Diana - Spa

Josslyn- Sunan waitress

Juan - hotel staff

Juan - waiter/room service

Alan - Bingo Alan Entertainment

Libny - waitress

Blanca - waitress

Saul - waiter

Lucas-waiter

Jaime - waiter

Daniel - waiter

Erick- Barman

Antonio - bellman

Antonio - room service

Andre Rodrigo Julio - La Luce rehearsal dinner

Chef David Martinez - La Luce rehearsal dinner

Carlos - sunan asian

Bastaría - sunan Asian

Gabriela - spa

Aaron- spa

Gabriel- spa

Diana - spa

Gerardo - bellman

and many more staff that was so amazingly helpful during our special week. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Hilton Vallarta Riviera:

Wedding Event Coordinator: Hernan Arenas & Alfonso



Even months later it is difficult to put into words the love and joy that we experienced during our wedding week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico from May 22 - 26(and celebrating on May 24). So just know that words cannot do justice the amount of dedication, thoughtfulness and care that everyone involved in our wedding week put into to make it the most amazing time ever for my husband and I.



We are a queer couple from Pittsburgh, PA that currently reside in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. While the area is known to be one of the most queer friendly areas in the United States- it is not financially feasible unless you are willing to sign a contract a for 30K from the jump for nearly 100 guests. Eventually, we decided to start looking into a destination wedding in a queer friendly area in Mexico since we figured a lot that a lot of our family/friends would be traveling from the East Coast to the West Coast- why not make it a big vacation week for everyone?



We checked out several venues(via internet) and while they were accommodating, responsive and budget-friendly they were not offering the what we had in mind for our wedding without making a lot of compromises. After months of researching we came across Hilton Vallarta Riviera located in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico through this video. https://youtube.com/shorts/-KLa_zQkCnM?si=N9_4AVqNrMttkj3n featuring Hernan Arenas, the wedding coordinator of the venue. We just knew this was the place we wanted to have our wedding at.



This is probably around April-May 2023(not sure to be exact) Within days of contact, my (now)husband spoke with Hernan via zoom for their initial meeting while I was at work. He was so excited and within a few weeks we chose a package, signed that contract and started to survey potential guests on whether or not they would be interested in attending our wedding in Mexico. (The contract only required 30 guests, but we had a list of about 130 people to invite. Of this total, 81 friends and family met us the following May at the Hilton Vallarta Riviera for an extraordinary time.



Flash-forward to May 19, 2024. We decided to fly in early to prepare and do walkthrough of the space with our planner(shoutout Citlalli from The Green Planner Events- 10/10 would recommend their services for being responsive, acknowledgeable of not only PV, but the Hilton, as well. I will tag and post recommendations for vendors in the post-comments as this ultimately was a group effort and I would 10000000% recommend every vendor again, but being that this is a review for the Hilton Vallarta Riviera- I will proceed with that.)



So, upon arrival and our first time traveling out of the country of the USA. We finally reached our destination. We were pleasantly greeted by every staff member we encountered throughout the checking-in process to concierge for making reservations for dinner and spa treatments to exceptional service over the course of our 3 day last-hurrah before our 81 guests arrived and the wedding festivities would commence.



Days leading up to the wedding: Our planner met us at the resort, we did a walkthrough of the event spaces with Hernan and Alfonso and discussed certain timelines of the wedding. They planned a lovely rehearsal on the sky bar and dinner at La Luce. We chose to have our ceremony on the Sky Bar and reception in the Beach club area. 10/10 would recommend both during that time of the year(bring hand-fans)!

Don't miss out on the opportuinity to have the most amazing wedding at Hilton Vallarta Riviera All-Inclusive!






Hernan- wedding event supervisor

Alfonso- wedding event coordinator

Alejandra- room dining manager

Alaejandra - concierge

Sandra - waiter

Olaya- waiter

Eduardo - pool waiter

Eduardo - beach waiter

Antonio- hotel lobby bartender

Gustavo- bartender

Jair- bartender (makes lovely signature cocktail suggestions)

Yami- Pool staff

Gabriella - Spa

Gina - Spa

Diana - Spa

Josslyn- Sunan waitress

Juan - hotel staff

Juan - waiter/room service

Alan - Bingo Alan Entertainment

Libny - waitress

Blanca - waitress

Saul - waiter

Lucas-waiter

Jaime - waiter

Daniel - waiter

Erick- Barman

Antonio - bellman

Antonio - room service

Andre Rodrigo Julio - La Luce rehearsal dinner

Chef David Martinez - La Luce rehearsal dinner

Carlos - sunan asian

Bastaría - sunan Asian

Gabriela - spa

Aaron- spa

Gabriel- spa

Diana - spa

Gerardo - bellman