jaxsebridetobe

Quote: Originally Posted by randi.renstrom did you get any kind of discount for bringing in an outside photographer? I am planning on using the resorts videographer and bringing my own photographer This may have been answered already....We brought in our own photographer too, and so we let the resort photographer come as well to just the wedding ceremony and then picked out 24 of his photos to use that they printed and put in a wedding album for us before we left...we weren't able to extend our videographer for the wedding. It was a little confusing have our photographer and the resort photographer and the video guy there though... but I let everyone know who our main photographer was and to make sure they were looking more at him. It was nice to get some pics right away...although I'm not sure they were the best. they are nice quality but I find he didn't work on them at ...no cropping other people out or anything. I would hope that he would work on it more if he was the only photographer...but I'm guessing not...? I still haven't seen the video!! It wasn't ready for us when we left so my inlaws picked it up for us (they stayed a second week we didn't) and they haven't gotten it to us yet!! Hope that helps you out a bit...

I actually didn't get to go there... One night some people in our group went to the Italian place and said it was really good. But they said they were told that was the only one worth checking out since the Royals would be better. I can't remember what the Italian one was called...but maybe the place to go for a big group dinner?

Thanks for sharing! It looked beautiful!! Sorry to hear you were there during the hurricane!! But good to see it didn't seem to dissrupt you to bad. You were totally gorgeous! I loved your hair and earrings!! And your dress!! Congrats!

Yes!! We actually did have issues getting dinners together. I forgot about that lol. A few nights all of us wanted to eat together, but we would have to divide up into 2 groups. They wouldn't sit more than 6-8 people together which was pretty annoying. If you want everyone together, it was $10 per person and a set menu. LAME. I can't believe i forgot that lol. The first few nights we tried...after that more of us were doing our own thing anyways...

Thanks girls for the compliments. The dress was actual really ok after the TTD session. Jumping into the pool actually seemed to clean the dirt and sand off it lol. That being said...I still do need to take it to a dry cleaner!! But it seems ok just by looking at it. I didn't mind doing it - I got my dress on sale for $199 - and as much as I loved it, I thought worse case scenario if it did get wrecked, I didn't pay a fortune for it.

oh no - all the beach area is great!! Just over by the pier is pretty close to where the pool is and it just seems so much more open than over by the gazeabo. It's all good though...not too many people are really out and about later anyways.

I was dealing with Michel Madrid and she was pretty good at getting back to my emails in a timely fashion.

Hi Royal girls!! WOW!! My time has come and gone already!! I haven't been on much but wanted to let you know I posted my review and have some pics. I have quite a few more pics and if you have questions feel free to email me. Heres the link to my post and pics. http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...3/#post1101366

Hello girls, I haven't spent too much time on here in the last bit, but I did find it VERY helpful when I was first starting out, so I wanted to make sure I got back on and gave my review for our PERFECT wedding at the Royal PDC. The resort is beautiful!! I loved how classy it was. And very clean. I didn't see any bugs...did get bit by a few mosquitos but didn't really notice any out, and saw a couple small geckos... but that was it. We didn't get an upgraded room. I would probably suggest just booking the regular jr suite and you would most likely get upgraded to the Royal Jr Suite as they have a LOT of these rooms but not as many up past that. They did say we could do an ocenfront walk out room on our second day there, but we would have had to move on our last night... so we really didn't want all the moving around. Although we took a peek at the room and wow -the view was incredible!! But our room was on the third floor (room 39 overlooked the pool and we did have a great view of the beach when we were on the balcony. *also if we would have taken the upgrade it still would have been an extra $30/night - so not free...but it was discounted since we were the wedding couple... I also love that the resort isn't huge! I've been to the big ones where you have to shuttle around because everything is so spread out. This was perfect. ALthough they don't have any kind of disco area (probably not really needed since its so close to 5th ave) and the shows are pretty small compared to some I've seen...all done in the lobby area from about 9:30-11:00. We got in on a Sunday and had the wedding on Wednesday. The weather was really nice - hot but not unbearable...with the sun out most of the time. I didn't have much time for sun up till the wedding...but when I was out, I was staying under the umbrellas to avoid burning (i don't really tan) On the Monday we met with our wedding coordinator - Michel Madrid. She is FABULOUS!! She was great leading up to the wedding - answering my questions in a timely matter. And she was really nice and helpful there too. She even went to town for us to get us some ribbon that my mom couldn't seem to find on our own. We had the Luxury Package and it was SOO great! I didn't really do anything extra for the wedding like some people seem to do. I didn't want to stress and I've never wanted to plan this big event, so I was good with just going with what I got at the resort. Included was the wedding in the Gazebo overlooking the beach (ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!) and picked the violinist to play during the wedding, cocktail hour with lots of really good appy's and drinks. We did this right after the wedding - right in front of the gazebo and had the mariachi band playing for the hour. We stayed with our guests and did pics and ate with everyone. Also included was the resort photographer (Mario I think) and 24 printed pics and a video guy for a 1/2 hour video. I found the video guy got in the way a lot... wrecking picture opportunitys. We actually brought our own photographer with us Myles from KLICKS PHOTOGRAPHY and so only used the resorts guy for the actual wedding ceremony pictures. Also included in our package was Couples massage for 50 min in the room. OMG SOOOO GOOD!!! mani/pedi for me which I did the day before the wedding, hair/makeup for me, and a face saver shave for my groom. The hair and makeup went well...although I have to say for the make up she didn't have a lot of selection to choose from and she didn't have water proof mascara...! A little odd for a wedding no? AND When my FI got his shave, his girl CUT HIS FRICKEN LIP!! The day of the wedding!!!! WTF?! It was a small cut right on his lip!! She felt SO bad...and he didn't say anything to anyone cause she was talking about getting fired. It healed well and I could barely see it when I did see him. Phew. that could have been worse!! Our reception was on the beach for up to 35 people. We had 18 in total. We did the wedding at 2 and the reception at 5 on the beach right in front of the gazeabo. It is definately more private on that side. I wanted to start at 5 since it gets dark early at this time and I wanted everyone to come to the reception while we had a bit of light. It was perfect. WE even had a full moon! The only thing I regret was only going for 3 hours. We didn't have plans on doing speeches but they ended up happening and taking up some time. We didn't think many people would get up and dance but we did and it was SO Much fun!! (we didn't have the light up dance floor but still good. and just used our own music but it was all perfect!) So I just wished we had paid for the extra hour. Michel was there the whole time in case we needed anything... we didn't really. It was perfect!!! the food was good...the weather was great! It was probably the windiest day that day...but the hairspray they put in our hair held everything in place and the wind kept it cool enough for the boys not to sweat all day/night. One of the reasons I picked the Royal was because of the ability to do the reception on the beach. I'm so glad we did it. It really was absolutely perfect. My best day ever!! Here is a link of our photographers favorites. It was his first destination wedding (he's done work at weddings and does a lot of fashion photography as well) Klicks Photography | Facebook I'm sure I'm missing some stuff...but feel free to ask me any questions. Probably email me as I don't really get online here much anymore. [email protected]

Hi fellow Royal brides, It's been a while since I've been on the website...I'm one of those brides that isn't doing a whole lot of extra planning and just enjoying the stress free easiness that comes with a destination wedding. That being said...it is now Nov 7th, and my big day is coming FAST! (DEC 2). I've got some questions I'm hoping all you experienced BDW forum girls can answer... I'm going with the Luxury Package and was wondering if anyone that has already done this or some of you girls that might have the answers can help... 1) How much is it for day pass? Back when I first got on this site, I thought it was $100 - now it looks like it is $195 for the full day!! Seems steep..just wondering if anyone else got quoted less recently. I'm flying in a photographer, but he is staying at another hotel. 2) For the hairstyle and makeup included at the spa - do they have a lot of good make up to use or should I be bringing in my own? And for my hair, if I want a flower in it, do they supply that? 3) What is the Men's Face Saver?... 4) Did you find you needed extra decorations for the Gazebo or the beach reception? If so...does it cost quite a bit more to add to it? 5) Has anyone used the harpist during the wedding? I'm trying to decide if i want that or maybe the violin or saxiphone - any feedback? Also on this - how long do they play? Is it at the beginning of the wedding and then we use our own music for the actual wedding? I know I probably have SO many more questions!! But guess I will go with this for now. Thanks girls!!!

I thought I would let you know about a friend of mine that I am going to be using as our photographer for our wedding at the Royal in Dec this year. I was having a hard time deciding on who to use, as we just didn't have a huge budget left, but really want some good photos!! I started talking to my friend about my wedding, and he let me know that he would be very interested in doing our wedding... So after some chit chat back and forth, I have decided to go ahead with him. And am very excited! He's a graphic designer and photographer and very into coming up with cool, non traditional shots. He's done a lot of work with fashion models, so has experience making the girls look good. And he has done some weddings around town, and is getting a lot more experience on that this summer before he moves to Miami. The good thing with him moving to Miami is that he will be closer to the destination brides in that area...and it only costs about $250ish to fly him in round trip to Cancun! I've found a hotel for him for $40 in Playa! What he has agreed to do for me is to take pics of the wedding but also of our trip for a few days....so we can have him, without any time limitations for about 3-4 days!! And since he doesn't have too much experience yet, he is giving us a great deal! So if any of you are interested in something new you should contact him. His name is Myles, here is a link that will show you some of his work. Let me know if you have any questions...and of course, I will have pics posted, but not until after Dec 6. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Klicks..._fb_noscript=1

Hi there, I'm getting married in Playa Del Carmen on Dec 2, 2009 and I think I have picked out my times now. 2:00 for the wedding and 5:00 for the reception on the beach. For the reception, I'm hoping that timing wise we will get at about 45 minutes of light...be it sunset light... does anyone know when the sun usually sets at that time and if it's around 5... does it happen really quick or will I be ok starting at 5 and having a bit of light before it gets all dark? Thanks!!! My date is coming up and i'm just starting to think about all this stuff again!

Hey everyone... So, my date is slowly creeping up!! December 2!! Getting excited and starting to actually give it some more thought now. I had my wedding booked for 3 and reception on the beach at 6, but am now thinking that is TOO late as I think the sunsets around 5 at this time of year... Can anyone tell me with the Luxury package I believe you get cocktails (or maybe just champagne) and hor'dorves included.... Is that like having a cocktail thing set up? I'm now thinking of having the wedding at 1:30 and the reception to start at 4:30 so we have some time out in the light/sunset instead of having it all in the dark. So I'm hoping that after the wedding - there will be something for people to do while we go get photos done. My other question is do you think 2-4:30 is enough time to take pics? I really want some beach shots with the guests and some alone, and I really want to walk into town as well and get some cool shots over there since it's so close... I am probably using a friend that is a photographer and he if offering me a GREAT flat rate of about $2000 and he is willing to be with us for 3-4 days to take lots of shots...(I'm loving the Catamaran idea as well; bringing him with us to get shots of that day...) so if this isn't enough time during the wedding we can do it the next day in town...but then we have to put on the clothes again and I know my FI won't really be up for too much time spent on taking photos... Sorry this is sooo long!!

Thanks for sharing your pics!! They are beautiful!!!!! I noticed in the gazebo that there was no red carpet...have they stopped using that or did you just not want to use it? I'm wondering if I should or shouldn't...as I think my color scheme might involve pink and it will prob clash...

Hi girls, I was going to use a friend for my wedding but it looks like she probably won't be able to make it so I'm looking at other options now. I like the work of MTM...I saw in a post that they have raised their package rates...i'm wondering if anyone knows what the most recent rates are now? thanks