The $26,360.00 Wedding Coordinator...WTH?!!

I know which one you are talking about. They are expensive. I contacted the same one last year. We set a budget for $10000, and we were quoted for the appitizer instead of entries since that our budget wasn't enough to cover the dinner and of course no acohol either. The WC is very good, but charges very high price for that. I think they are good for brides who have a large budget and not wanting to worry about any wedding planning. Let me know if you want any recommandation on the planners. Our wedding is in 1 month, so will let you all know how it went.

She must have quoted you in pesos. That's outrageous for PV.

That sounds really really high to me. I am getting married in Playa del Carmen and using an outside coordinator who is charging me about $5500 for the entire ceremony while reception is going to be another $5000 for 40 guests. This includes everything even my hair, make up, nails, her services, chair rentals, wedding fees, flowers...etc. I always thought Playa was more expensive than PV (maybe I'm wrong) so I would def. look for a better price.

I got an initial quote from The Wedding Lady... and it would have been pushing ten grand just for the ceremony and her fees... we hadn't even gotten to the reception part yet.

 

We ended up deciding on Las Caletas as well. Very excited about that.

I am going to take a wild guess that it was Dazzling Details who gave you that quote. I got a response (and rough estimate of their fees, all WAY under your quote) from every WC I emailed in PV, except DD. I assume that was only because my budget was not high enough for them. I kind of resent the fact that they didnt even bother to get back to me. I read in another thread that DD charged double the price for dinner than what the caterer actually cost - a girl used the same caterer as DD but did not go through DD to book them. I sincerely hope this isnt the case anymore.

I work in the wedding industry. Just a tip: Make sure you are very clear about your budget and expectations from the beginning. Some wedding coordinators charge for every email, phone call, etc. as office hours. As you make changes and continue the planning, request updated estimates...or you might be shocked over the final bill. I have seen it happen!

I don't think this original quote is DD actually...

I'm going to stand up for them here though as I'm using them and they have been nothing short of amazing. Of course they charge more than the per plate fee...they include decorating, flowers, favors, etc in their quotes as they put a lot of detail into your wedding. You can just using the normal resort coordinator if you just want the per plate fee. Now I am surprised they didn't get back to you but after meeting them I highly doubt it was because your budget wasn't large enough. I can only assume they did not get your email or forgot to reply because they are super busy...they are definitely not like that.

Anyway I wish you luck, just wanted to put in my two cents here. They never try to hide costs or anything like that.

We had about 38 people for a wedding at the Riu Vallarta in April. Jessica the wedding coordinator was great to work with, although the conversations with her beforehand left a lot to be desired. Once we got there, she was very accessible and basically did everything we asked. Not counting the cost of the guests to get there, the wedding, reception and dance were less than $5000.This included flowers for the bride, bridesmaids and a boutinierre for the groom, wedding set-up on the beach with chair covers for all the chairs, the minister. The photographer was also included, but it cost an extra $300 for the CD of all the pictures that were taken, which, I might add, were quite good. ( It seems to me that I have heard from other brides that this is no longer included in the packages for 2010). The reception dinner was at the steakhouse and included ordering off the menu and the alcohol. IT was really private and lots of fun. Of course as this is an all inclusive resort, it would have been paid for already anyway, but they had the tables all decorated and we had the entire upstairs at our disposal. This also included the cake. Then we rented the pool bar for the dance. WE also had sound system that they provided and we had the songs we wanted on several CDs to dance to. It was a totally stress free time for all of us, and every one of the guests said it was one of the best weddings they had ever been to. So, to make a long story short, there are very affordable destination weddings out there if you so desire.

I'm using DD and they have been great and worth the extra cost (although I didn't find them very unreasonable anyway for what you get..they put a lot of detail into their weddings). And I agree with Jess that they likely never got your email...they really try to work with you to come up with a budget that works for you and have negotiated vendors down on my behalf when I told them a vendor seemed to be charging too much. All I can say is I am SOOO happy the Canadian dollar is at $.97 now...given PVR weddings are quoted in US dollars..I'm sure most Canadian brides are pretty happy! This is awesome timing

I'd also like to mention that I don't think it's fair for brides to speculate which coordinator a quote is from - this can lead to inaccuracies which can affect vendors and isn't really fair...especially for a company like Dazzling Details that works SO hard.

 

I can say that my wedding with dazzling details is costing no where near that, very reasonable and you really do pay for what you get - if you want a stress free, amazing wedding with fabulous detailing, decor, creativity and uniqueness - DD is awesome and will guarantee you that! That's my two cents and best to all!