ROYAL PLAYA DEL CARMEN BRIDES: were kids allowed for the day? ...and other questions

BTW - Antonia your wedding is fast approaching! You must be so excited!

Oh and Stephanie, Zulma has been a bit slow in getting back to me, but seems like a really sweet woman when she does. Becky (the girl w/ the slideshow) said that any fears she had were put to rest when she met Zulma and that she answered all and any of the questions she had when they met.

Let us know when Zulma gets back to you!

Hi girls!! I did just get married on March 1st at The Royal PDC and LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it!!!!!!!!!!! Honestly, there is not one thing that I could say negatively about the resort or my wedding. Everything turned out beautifully - better than I even had imagined. Zulma was wonderful and like Heidi told you, every fear I had disappeared when I arrived. The resort is spectacular and you are treated like absolute royalty. As you can tell from my photos, we were married on the beach at 2pm. We then had a cocktail hour immediately following in the garden are (actually a little longer than an hour b/c we made it until 4pm). We then had some time with our guests for some photos and gave them about 45 minutes to freshen up or relax and have another drink before meeting back on the beach at the ceremony location for our dinner and reception at 5pm. Our cost was $50 per person for Royal guests plus $10 extra per person for the cocktail. I believe the cost was $60 per person for Gran Porto guests. The price of the dinner/reception/cocktail was the same whether it was held on the beach, in the gazebo, in the garden area or in the ballroom. I do know that children are also welcome at wedding events, but we didn't have any children at our wedding. Our wedding was very small with only seven guests, but was wonderful. I know that Heidi was wondering about having a dance floor with only 30 guests and YES YES YES, have the dance floor. It is no extra charge and comes with the reception. No one will feel pressure to dance, but they will! As I said, we only had seven guests, but they ALL danced!! You will also be glad that you have a place for your first dance together (especially if you are on the beach). We did not hire a DJ, but I made CD's for the cocktail hour, the dinner, the first dances and the reception to be played. They had the sound system and large speakers set up (again included in the price and no extra charge) at both the gardens and also on the beach. I labeled the CD's accordingly (cocktail, dinner 1, dinner 2, reception 1, reception 2, first dance, etc) and numbered them in the order they were to be played and someone was there at all events for it to go off without a hitch. We hired a mariachi band (outside of the resort) to play as I walked down the aisle, as we walked back down the aisle as husband and wife and then they finished up their set during the cocktail hour (45 minutes is a set). Let me know if anyone wants their info because that saved me quite a bit of $$. Also, Heidi had a question about how things get set up if you bring your own items for decorations, etc. We brought our wedding favors, raffia fans, menus for the table, candles, centerpiece, etc and all we did was give them to Walter (for the reception) and to Zulma (for the ceremony) and told them what we wanted and it was all taken care of. Every little detail was in place as promised:)

Like I have said, I highly recommend The Royal PDC and really will be glad to answer any questions. I think I covered most of the questions of Heidi (I still can't get your email to work for me!!), but let me know if there is anything else. I have LOTS of photos that we took ourselves of the resort that I can share, also.

Thanks for the info, Becky. That would be great if you could pass along the contact info for the mariachi band... we would love to get one but the resort prices seem a bit high. Thanks and beautiful wedding again!

Becky!! Congratulations!

 

How was your hair and make-up? I see you did it with the spa? Did you to any trials before?

 

It might be too late for me but the mariachi info would be good. I'm sure I'll have more questions.

My hair and makeup went great. I had a little of a difficult time trying to explain how I wanted my hair, but as long as you have a photo of something you like, it will be fine. My makeup was done by the same person and she did an amazing job. I told her I wanted smoky eyes and the rest was up to her and I loved how it looked. I didn't have any trials before - just the day of. I had my hair in the spa and then I had them come back to my room to do my makeup, which I am glad I did because I was more relaxed there.

The mariachi band we hired was with Ajua Weddings (Destination Weddings and Wedding Planning Services in Playa del Carmen) and saved up about $150, so it's a great option if you can still book them.

Let me know if I can help in any other way.

Becky, thanks so much for sharing your amazing story. It made all of us feel that much better about the Royal, I'm sure! Congratulations!!

Becky, I just watched your slideshow, and it is absolutely breath taking. I LOVE Elizabeth Medina's work. Can you please give me her contact info? WHat photography package did you purchase from her? IT looks like she spend a couple hours with you and Brian, which is fantastic. IF you can send me any info on how her packages are broken down, that would be fantastic!

You looked stunning!

She is definitely amazing and so extremely talented. Her contact information is on her website: Mexico Wedding Photography, Yucatan, Mexico, Elizabeth Medina photographer. I can PM you her email address if you have trouble contacting her through the website. Just let me know and I can send it to you. We chose the 6 hour package from her and also added on a TTD session for the next morning. I am not sure of her exact pricing because we booked our date last summer and I don't know if they are the same or if they have gone up from there. So, definitely check with her for pricing. She is so nice and makes you feel so comfortable the entire time. Thank you so much for you compliments on the photographs! Let me know if I can help in any way.

Hi Ladies,

I am also considering a wedding at The Royal next spring. Antonia, you mentioned that you "tentatively" booked your wedding date in May and then officially booked it later in August. How did that work??

I am going for a site visit in May and was planning on booking AFTER that.

If I have certain dates in mind, is it better to book tentatively now?

Just wondering...