bridetobe1515

We just bought the FI suit, here is the link: Men's Calvin Klein Tan Suit Separates Coat - Men's Wearhouse It's gorgeous!

Have any of you ladies given this a try or heard of it? Riviera Maya Vipsmartcard I know they have them for Vegas, but this looks pretty interesting. If nothing else they actually list some of the stores on 5th avenue with links to their websites!

Quote: Originally Posted by 2mckee Good info. Does anyone happen to remember the price range of the maracas on 5th Ave if you have seen them there? Thanks! I remember reading somewhere on this forum that some are sold for just a dollar. Plus I think you can haggle with them there!

The ladies who run this forum are destination wedding specialists. They are TA's. I didn't use them, only because I had no clue this site exhisted until after I was all booked up, but I have heard fantastic things about them from other brides.

Quote: Originally Posted by ~Stephanie~ I have a couple of questions... 1. Does anyone have the menus for the Luxury package? Email is [email protected] 2. Does anyone know, if there is a minimum number of people you HAVE TO have for a private reception, what happens if you are short 1 or 2? Like say its 20 (like we think) and we show up with 18? I don't see why they would care if I am paying $1500 more to them for the higher package? 3. If I don't have enough people and I am stuck with a semi-private reception, does anyone know what restruants you can choose from and if you still get a dance floor or sound system or anything?! I really want my first dance And do they do a sepreate menu or do you chose off the restruant menu? Just sent you the menus.

Quote: Originally Posted by jcooper79 Could anyone please e-mail me the list of the hot hor d'houves, as I just decided to add the cocktail reception and was never provided a copy of them. My e-mail address is [email protected]. Thank you so much in advance! me too if anyone has them. just pm me.

Quote: Originally Posted by dianep what decorations for the ceremony/reception are you ladies bringing with you to mexico? Chair sashes, table runners, fake rose petals, all of my centerpieces, cake topper, glowing orbs (for the main table), wicker fans, and pashminas. Maracas and cigars will be purchased in Mexico.

Quote: Originally Posted by astreit I know what you mean! I just got a box of 40 maracas and am wondering how I am going to get them down there. I was hoping to just carry everything down in bags, but this is a little extreme. I'm thinking they are going to have to be shipped. Could you tell me where you ordered your real-touch flowers from? I've been going back and forth and can't decide what to do. I haven't been able to find any real-touch place that is affordable that are taking orders still for May weddings. Thank you! I'm using wedideas. Their site is Realistic Silk Wedding Flowers, Natural Touch and Silk Bridal Bouquets. They will do custom orders though and their deposit is 40%. The rest you pay after you approve the design they send you. Lady Di, I actually quoted that person on etsy out and she was very cheap, but she couldn't do any of the bouquets I wanted unless I paid outrageous shipping charges to get them from foreign countries. She seemed a bit limited in what she could work with so I moved on. I just saw a bouquet online that I absolutely fell in love with and had to have. So nothing against her, it was all me.

I only have 78 more days until I leave for Mexico...yikes! Yesterday I emailed Zulma to ask if she could book out Maria's at the Gran for my dinner rehearsal...still haven't heard back. No surprise there. I hear she is great to work with but I can't really get a response from her when I email her. I also decided enough was enough with these stupid flowers and went ahead and ordered real touch flowers that I am bringing down with me. The cost was only $450 for 10 bouts, 7 bridesmaid bouquets, 1 bride bouquet and 4 corsages w/wristlets. I'm so excited to see them finished. I wish I could post a pic for you guys of the ones I picked out. Anyway....i'm just going to use my "free" bouquet from the resort as the toss bouquet with the same color flowers. I'm getting so excited, but the more I look at my closet filled with wedding supplies I need to bring down I'm starting to wonder if I have enough suitcases =)

I'm having mine at the Royal in Playa Del Carmen. It is literally a 5 minute walk to the strip. 5 star, adults only.

Lady Di, I also have 7 bridesmaids and I seriously do not want to spend over $400 for flowers for them. I saw the real touch bouquets in multiple spots, but how are you getting them there? I'm afraid they will be too fragile to throw into a suitcase. I guess I could ship them. What is your plan?

When my travel agent called the Gran to find out about the day passes, after the $60 promotion was over, they said it was $150/day!!! My dad is booked there and I'm really worried they are going to have to pay a fortune. I can't even book a rehearsal dinner in fear that we will spend a fortune on the day passes. So, I just emailed Zulma and she said that the bridal flowers are $90 and the bridesmaid flowers are $70. I'm confused because mine should be free with the luxury package, and I was quoted $60 for the bridesmaids. I also asked if there was a cheaper option on the bridesmaids flowers and she didn't answer that question =( I'm starting to get frustrated with the lack of communication and misinformation. I mean how are you supposed to budget correctly if you get 10 different answers from everyone? It also takes forever for anyone to get back to you. I know they are overwhelmed and I honestly wouldn't care about the wait if once they did email you back it was the answer to the question you asked!!!! I'm 3 months away from my wedding and I feel like nothing is planned. It scares me that you don't pick out flowers or anything until the day before the wedding! I mean nobody from the resort will help me on this or give me any difinitive answer on anything.

Quote: Originally Posted by louise_pernell I have been quoted $100 (multiple times) per outside vendor. I think it depends on when you booked. The rates changed at some point to $300/vendor now. If you were quoted the $100 keep those emails and use them! At some point they may try to go back and tell you it is $300. Treat those emails like gold!

Quote: Originally Posted by jesmcan Hi yes the pricing varies. I hate to say this but with each place everything is negotiable. I know some people just do not want to have to go back and forth. Even still though you would be looking at 45 per person with food and open bar. Each place let us customize our menu and have a priate room. You def pay for that. We are doing a cocktail theme with serving stations of ceviche shooters, sliders, parmesan truffle fries and finger food of that nature. For something like that it will be between 60 and 85 per person for food and open bar for three hours. Thank you for the info, it does help!

Quote: Originally Posted by jesmcan Hi Ladies we also wanted to do something different for the rehearsal dinner Here are some restaurnats that we checked out that we love and are in walking distance: SUR Steak House Casa Del Agua Wickys La Cueva Del cahngo is awsome! Blue Parrot La Tortuga Hotel and Spa El Bistro Restaurant- loan mao just got back from here wedding at the Royal and had a welcome evening here. We got engaged at this hotel and love it! We are also doing a cocktail style evening and want fire dancers. The only loace right on the beach is Wickys. However they are really expensive but we are still negotiating so I will let you ladies know. Did you happen to get pricing for any of these? Are they more expensive than the $15 of doing it at the hotel?

Quote: Originally Posted by Jennybell1 I am sorry it has come down to this, but unfortunately I have been left with no other choice. I am posting this thread to warn all of you to avoid what myself and another BDW bride to be have gone through. We both purchased items from Lulucarmen back on Oct 3, 2009. I purchased the first aid kits, and the other bride purchased the bridesmaid kits. Both of us made arrangements for payment. We bot paid Lulucarmen promptly. After a couple of weeks, we both emailed Lulucarmen separtely to find out the ETA on the packages, along with tracking numbers, etc as we never rec'd any sort of response from her about receiving payment, nor about the packages being mailed. We never rec'd a response from those emails. The other BDW bride opened a claim with paypal and I spoke with my bank and the cheque had been cashed. Once the claim was made with paypal, Lulucarmen contacted the other BDW bride and said she mailed the package, and would get back to her as she didnt have a tracking number, but that was only after the claim was made. Since then, we both have again emailed her numerous times, and not response whatsoever. The other bride has upgraded her claim to see what paypal can do to help her. I have spoken via PM with Tammy (host) and unfortunately there is nothing they can really do as they try not to get involved in these sort of issues. So my only recourse at this time is to warn ALL of you to stay away from Lulucarmen. Please do not let this happen to you. I gave her the benefit of the doubt early on in this whole purchase debacle, thinking maybe she was sick or something had happened to someone in her family (bc this is flu season), but once I had heard that she has also been avoiding another bride on here and she is having the same problems as me, well I now no longer am giving her that sympathy. I want my items that I paid for. Its so hard in this world to trust people now adays, never would have thought in a forum such as this, where we are all in the same boat...planning and meeting some great people, that we have to deal with that on here too. That someone would take adavantage of a fellow BDW bride / groom. So please take note, I cant say this enough, please do not put yourself in the same situation as we are in right now. And always pay through paypal, bc atleast that way you have sort of recourse and gettingyour money back. Me on the other hand, am out of luck I think. I will be checking into this further by my bank to see what if anything I can do. I by no means wanted to do this, but she has left me no other choice and I did check with Tammy (host) ahead of time to make sure I wasnt crossing any lines by doing this. Im sure the other bride this involves will post on this thread to make you also aware of her situation so that no one thinks this is a bogus thread or that we didnt give her the time or benefit of the doubt to make this right. DO NOT PURCHASE FROM LULUCARMEN UNLESS YOU LIKE GIVING YOUR MONEY AWAY!!!! Wow, I'm so sorry that this happened to you! That is really horrible. This is such a great forum and so helpful, it really stinks when someone comes in like this and has to ruin it. I have faith that the people who run this site will take action. They know how to run things successfully!

Quote: Originally Posted by LynnieS Ok, I finally got confirmation that my wedding with be at 2pm (phew!) and reception at 6pm. Other than the cocktail hour does anyone have any suggestions of what to do for the three hours in between for my guests. I don't want them just hanging around confused!! I think I have one hour in between. I decided to have my photographer use some of this time for group pictures so it doesn't interupt the cocktail hour. Another idea, I think another bride on her said, was to have the parents host something at one of the bars. Like the cigar bar. Other guests who don't want to do that can go and freshen up. You have to think that if you were doing a normal wedding at home, a big chunck of time is given between the wedding and reception due to pictures, etc. So this is really no different. I would set up a host party or something like that. Plus it will make your parents feel important the day of.

Quote: Originally Posted by celine Hi ladies, Do any of you know if the outside vendor fee applies to each outside vendor you bring or does one fee cover all It was $100/vendor for us. We already put down the money for all of them. Also, if you are doing a legal wedding, keep in mind that there is a $75 blood test fee. I forgot about it, but noticed it on our bill.

Quote: Originally Posted by cancunbride ASHLEED.... I just PMd you back. I do have some left still. Do you want me to paypal you? I would need 6 of the necklaces, do you have that available? Also, one of the cufflinks.

Quote: Originally Posted by jesmcan Hi Lisa not at all I am flattered So just un update on the Royal I'm sorry but I have to vent So I have been trying to cancel my reception and get someone to confirm this for me. It has been over three months that I have been trying to do this. I want something and writing and to make sure that I dont get charged for it. Never heard from Angie ever. Than I got passed on to a woman named Carol Cohen. Not only was she so rude on the phone but she proceeded to tell me that Angie has been so busy and everyone has so much to do since Kimberly quit. I wanted to say if I worked with you I would have quit to. Anyways I finally contacted my TA Jill and told her I am going to cancel the entire thing unless I get someone who knows what they are doing. Thank god for Jill she really keeps me sane. Well now I am working with only Zulma who I feel bad got passed all my stuff just because the US office can't do their job. I know she is so busy there, every day there are weddings. This is what I wrote to Carol verbatum "Hi Carol, We just spoke on the phone. See the e-mail below I sent last Wednesday. Also I would like to know if there is someone higher up in your office? I can find out from my Travel Agent but I thought I would check with you first. At this point we are really considering canceling. I would like to speak with someone about this and someone that can help me. I understand you guys are very busy and it seems over whelmed. However I am really appalled at the level of customer service. We have 100 plus guests coming and I am no longer confident that the Royal can meet our needs. There is no excuse for sending six e-mails and leaving four voice mails and still not having anyone get back to me. In addition there have been several changes in fees and the rates. I have asked several times to get something in writing to confirm that I am locked in. I have never received a contract or anything in writing." Do you guys know she had the nerve to pass my e-mail onto Zulma and said this (I am copying and pasting this), "can someone take this over. we have answered 1000 questions and they are still coming and she is now not happy with our not answering fast enough.pls contact her and answer this lot of questions." She can't even spell or write correctly - and here are my 1000's of questions lol Since we are changing to the Free wedding would the only charge be the $10 per person for real guests for the cocktail hour? How many food choices are included in the cocktail hour and does the $10 per person also include open bar? What is the price for kids for the cocktail hour? How long does a legal ceremony last? We have our own photographer and before it was $100 fee for him. Do we still have to pay this fee to have him at the resort for just the ceremony and cocktail hour? What level room do we need to stay in for 5 night or more in order to have the judge included for our ceremony? Right after the cocktail hour we will be going next door to Kool Beach Club with all our guests for our reception. Since we are already paying for the mariachi band can we have them walk with us over to our reception location? After we put a deposit and made our selections last July we still have never received a contract or anything in writing from your office. Now that we have 100% solidified our plans I would really appreciate it if I could get all this in writing from your office and a formal contract. Ok so maybe it was a lot of questions but 1,000's and isn't this what your job is?? I'm so sorry ladies to vent like this but I just had to. I don't even know what to do anymore. At this point I wish that we did not have people booked at this resort including ourselves because I would have never stayed And now reading the latest review of a wedding there about the issues with the prices. Who wants to deal with that on their wedding week? Let me tell you I don't. On a postive note I am getting my dress this weekend sorry again to vent like this but thank god for you ladies. Thanks for listening and all your support. Wow, this is insane! I can't believe they are being this way. That past review worried me a bit too. I also read on a different site that a honeymoon couple went down and they booked out two beds instead of one too. I just emailed my TA to see if there is anything she can do to help with that. I'm not sure how it all works, but I would like to avoid it if at all possible. I can tell you that when I spoke to Angie on the phone a while back she told me the legal ceremony was about 15-30 minutes depending on if you wanted to say your own vows and if you wanted to do a sand cermony or something like it. But without those things she said it was only about 15 minutes long. Hope that helps

Quote: Originally Posted by jennieestelle My wedding is next Saturday at The Royal. I know the wc in Michigan have been very busy with all of the new changes of employees, but I still have many questions that have not been answered. Also I have not been contacted by my actual wc at The Royal, ugh. I am trying to not worry and just hope that once I am down there that everything will be taken care of. I would love to know if any past Royal brides just figured out all the last minute details once arriving at The Royal. When reading everyones reviews of weddings at The Royal, it sounds like they meet with the wc when they arrive and figure out the details. I would love any advice from past brides. Thanks! If I were you I would call the hotel ASAP! I think the WC at the resort is capable of handling everythign when you get down there from what I read, but you should at least have contact with them so they know you are coming! Call the resort and ask for the wedding department or Zulma. I did that and they were more than happy to help me. Seeing that your wedding is NEXT SATURDAY I can't imagine they would be upset about you calling. I wouldn't wait much longer on the WC's in Michigan or wherever they are. They seem to be a little flustered.

Quote: Originally Posted by Lisa DSO Ladies (and any gents), Do any of you know if you need any kind of ac plug converter at the Royal, or do american plugs (flat irons, hair dryers, etc) work there? Thanks in advance. I was told Mexico runs on standard US. So no adapters needed. I looked it up online to make sure and it was right.

Quote: Originally Posted by astreit LynnieS, I just noticed that you are also from Omaha and getting married on May 14th! I am getting married on the 16th, so we will be there at the same time. Have you been planning your wedding for a long time? We just got engaged over Thanksgiving so I'm still trying to get everything picked. Hey ladies, I will be there on the 15th getting married!

Quote: Originally Posted by JuneWeddingDreams Thanks ladies...however from what I'm hearing is that the film is no longer being made and the film that is being sold is more than likely expired and won't work. I'm so sad as I really wanted to have one at the reception for people to take pictures...oh well. I guess I will have to come up with another idea. Check ecamerafilms.com I bought from them for a polaroid and the film is not even close to expired. They also have a polaroid camera on there that they sell for only $69.95. They have the film to go with it too, so stock up.

Quote: Originally Posted by astreit Can I ask why she recommended that you not do it? I was seriously planning on doing the same thing! She said that customs is very particular about what is allowed through and what isn't. She said you should definitely not send any sort of sea shells because you will never see them again. She said that if they don't approve of something they will send it back to you and who knows how long that will take. I talked to my shipping coordinator here at work and she said she sends packages to Mexico a lot through work. She said that if you fill out the correct paperwork for customs and detail how much everything in the box is worth then you shouldn't have any problems. I have lik 40lbs in towels here that I just can not bring in a suitcase, so I have no choice. I also want to ship my centerpieces since they are glass and fragile. I'm going to do it anyway and hope for the best. They did say to send everything a month early as long as you contact the wedding coordinator and they know it is coming.