Can I bring my own photographer to Generations Riviera Maya?

Outside photographers are allowed, but only with prior approval from the hotel. Each approved vendor must file tax and work documentation and then either book a three night stay at the resort or pay a USD 800 charge.

Venue Guide

Your Wedding at
Generations Riviera Maya

Puerto Morelos

A small all-suite oceanfront resort on the Puerto Morelos stretch of the Riviera Maya, where the signature ceremony site is a rooftop deck above the Caribbean and the guest list can run to 300.

Check your date

We have photographed 3 weddings at Generations Riviera Maya.

Wedding at Generations Riviera Maya photographed by Arch Wedding Studio — Shabina & Zohair 2025, photographed by Arch Wedding Studio

The short answer

What couples ask first

Outside photographer

USD 800.

Outside photographers are allowed, but only with prior approval from the hotel.

Capacity

Up to 300 for a ceremony on the Sky Deck or the beach gazebo and up to 300 seated in the Beach Chapel Area.

Wedding packages

USD 1,399 to 9,999 standard; South Asian package from USD 26,999.

Published rate, confirm with the venue.

Best months

Late November through April is the settled window on this stretch of coast, with drier air and lower humidity than the summer months.

From the airport

Cancun International is roughly 25 to 40 minutes north on the coast highway, one of the shorter airport runs for a Riviera Maya wedding.

Why this venue

What couples choose it for

The Premium Sky Deck is a rooftop ceremony site with open sea views that holds 300 for a ceremony and 200 seated for dinner, which is unusual for a resort this size.
There are eleven distinct event spaces to choose from, including a pier deck built out over the water, a chapel, a beach gazebo, a garden plaza and a cenote ceremony site.
Every suite is oceanfront and the property is built for families, so children are welcome through the day while adults keep exchange privileges at the adjacent El Dorado Royale and Casitas Royale.
Multi-day South Asian weddings are a core part of the calendar, with a dedicated South Asian package priced from 50 guests and published weekends running haldi, sangeet, baraat and reception.
Cancun International is close enough that guests are through the doors within an hour of landing.

The spaces

Where you would actually get married

Ceremony

Premium Sky Deck Rooftop deck with sweeping sea views, the resort's signature ceremony setting, and rooftop dinner and dancing for up to 200 under open sky afterwards.
Premium Pier Deck A deck built out over the water with waves below and a clean, uninterrupted horizon; seated dinner for up to 100 in the same spot.
Beach Gazebo The classic ceremony on the sand beneath a gazebo.
Chapel An enclosed chapel seating 150, for couples who want a Catholic or interfaith ceremony indoors rather than on sand.
Beachfront Palapa Ganesha A thatched beachfront palapa holding 100 for a shaded ceremony open to the sea, with dinner for 100 and cocktails for 120 under the same roof.

Reception

Beach Chapel Area 300 seated for dinner and up to 400 for cocktails, on the sand beside the chapel.
Ballroom An air-conditioned indoor ballroom seating 150, fully controllable for heavy decor and lighting, and the default weather backup for outdoor plans.
Pool Deck Cocktails for up to 180 around the pool with no rental fee attached, which makes it a straightforward welcome-party space.
Casa Dorada Garden A garden setting for cocktails and canapes for up to 80, with no rental fee.

The honest case against

When another venue fits better

Every point below comes from the venue's own published terms and from documented weddings. None of it makes this a bad venue. It makes it the wrong one for some couples, and better to know now.

You want to bring the photographer you have already chosen.An outside photographer needs prior approval from the hotel. Each approved vendor has to file tax and work documentation and then either book a three night stay at the resort or pay a USD 800 charge in place of it.
You want a second shooter or a video team as well.That charge is assessed per vendor rather than per booking, so a second shooter or a separate video team multiplies it, and it sits outside the photography fee itself.
You want the Sky Deck or the Pier Deck.Neither is included in the packages. The Sky Deck carries a USD 499 rental for groups of 75 or more and USD 999 below that, with a stated 80 guest minimum, and the Pier Deck is USD 999 for groups under 75.
You have a large guest list.Generations is small, with published suite counts between 144 and 162. A guest list much beyond that has to take rooms at the adjacent El Dorado properties, a golf cart ride or roughly a 20 minute walk away.
You want adults-only calm.It is a family resort by design, so children and everyday resort guests are part of the scene around your events. The adults-only calm is next door at El Dorado, not here.
You are picturing the sun going down behind the vows.This coast faces east, so the sun rises out of the Caribbean and sets behind the resort. There is no sunset-over-the-ocean frame here, and the warm light on the beach arrives in the late afternoon instead.

Before you book

The honest considerations

An outside photographer needs prior hotel approval, and each approved vendor books a three-night stay or pays USD 800 in its place.
That charge is per vendor, so a second shooter or a video team multiplies it.
The Sky Deck rents at USD 499 for groups of 75 or more and USD 999 below that, the Pier Deck USD 999 under 75.
This coast faces east, so there is no sunset-over-the-ocean frame; the warm beach light arrives late afternoon instead.
The resort is small, 144 to 162 suites, so a bigger guest list overflows to the adjacent El Dorado properties, a golf-cart ride away.
It is a family resort by design, so children and everyday resort guests are part of the scene around your events.

Getting here

Arrival, and where you get ready

Fly everyone into Cancun InternationalThe resort is on the Puerto Morelos stretch of the Riviera Maya.
Drive south on the coast highwayCancun International is roughly 25 to 40 minutes north on the coast highway, one of the shorter airport runs for a Riviera Maya wedding.
Plan where the overflow sleepsPublished suite counts run between 144 and 162, so guests beyond that take rooms at the adjacent El Dorado properties, a golf cart ride or roughly a 20 minute walk away.
At the airportIgnore anyone offering a ride between the arrivals door and the curb, however official they look. Only pre-arranged and federally authorized transport may pick up at the terminal, and the walk-up offers are where the overcharge stories come from. Ride-hailing apps work for the trip back to the airport but are unreliable for arrivals, so do not plan a pickup around one.
Book the drive before you flyReserve a private transfer in advance: the driver meets you with a name sign, at a fixed price agreed up front, and tracks your flight if it runs late. We use Private Driver Cancun, WhatsApp +52 984 132 3989, mixofcultures.com. USA Transfers and eTransfers are two long-established operators for larger guest lists.

What to ask the wedding office

Send these verbatim. Each one is either unpublished, negotiable, or changes with your date.

The outside photographer fee for our date, in writing: is the USD 800 charge current, and is it per vendor per stay or per vendor per day?
What tax and work documentation must our photographer file for approval, and by when?
Is the Sky Deck available to a group under 80 guests, given the stated minimum?
Can guests staying at the adjacent El Dorado properties attend all of our events, and at what cost?

Where you get ready

Details below come from planners and photographers who have worked the property, not from the venue's own material; confirm with the wedding office.

Bridal area at Naay SpaFor the brideA designated area for bridal groups inside the Naay Spa, alongside the full-service beauty salon. Hair, makeup and the spa circuit in one place on the wedding morning.
Oceanfront Royal SuiteFor both partiesThe room category couples book for the prep morning. A sliding door separates the living room from the bedroom, so hair and makeup can run in one room while the other stays camera-ready; private furnished balcony and an indoor Jacuzzi for two.

The venue genrivieramaya.com · The resort's weddings page is at genrivieramaya.com. The vendor approval terms in circulation come from a travel agency rather than the resort, so have the wedding office reconfirm them in writing. No direct phone or email is published.

From behind the camera

How the light works here

The Premium Sky Deck sits on the roof with open water on one side, so it holds light later than anywhere else on the property and gives an elevated, uncluttered horizon behind the ceremony. The coast here faces east: the sun comes up straight out of the Caribbean and drops behind the resort rather than over the water, which means a genuinely spectacular sunrise window that almost nobody books, soft front light on the beach and the pier through the late afternoon, and an afterglow over the sea once the sun is gone. The Premium Pier Deck reaches out over the water and gives a clean horizon with no buildings in frame, the single best portrait background here. The chapel and the ballroom are the two enclosed rooms, and the ballroom is air conditioned and fully controllable if the design calls for heavy lighting.

The best time to start your ceremony

Arch's own rule for this coast is to begin the ceremony about 90 minutes before sunset, which leaves the vows in soft light and still keeps time for portraits. Start times are rounded to the half hour for these coordinates. Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo. UTC-5 all year: the state left daylight saving in 2015. Times are town level, so they run within a couple of minutes of the property.

Start around	Months	Sunset
4:30 pm	January, October, November, December	around 6:00 pm
5:00 pm	February, March, September	around 6:30 pm
5:30 pm	April, May, June, August	around 7:00 pm
6:00 pm	July	around 7:30 pm

Where each space sits

Premium Sky DeckRooftop, open water on one sideHolds light later than anywhere else on the property and gives an elevated, uncluttered horizon behind the ceremony. Once dark, dinner up here runs on string lights and uplighting rather than ambient light, so plan it as lit work.
Premium Pier DeckEast, built out over the water, clean horizonNo buildings in frame at all, which makes it the single best portrait background here. Soft front light through the late afternoon, then an afterglow over the sea once the sun has dropped behind the resort.
Beach GazeboEast, on the sandSoft front light through the late afternoon rather than glare, because the sun is behind the resort by then. It is also where the spectacular sunrise window sits, straight out of the Caribbean, and almost nobody books it.
Beachfront Palapa GaneshaEast, thatched roof, open to the sea on the water sideShaded overhead while the water side stays open, so the couple is out of direct sun with the bright Caribbean still behind them. The most forgiving beachfront option in the middle of the day.
ChapelCovered, enclosedOne of the two enclosed rooms on the property, so the light is whatever the room gives you. The answer when the ceremony needs to be indoors rather than on sand.
BallroomCovered, air conditioned, no daylightFully controllable, which is the point: if the design calls for heavy lighting, this is the room that takes it. Also the default weather backup for anything planned outdoors.