bridetobe1515

Quote: Originally Posted by Lady_Di Booo, I can't change my location because other locations are already reserved. I'll try not to think about it considering its a holiday weekend. Well, I could use some speedo in my pictures! That is why it is soooooooooooo great that PhotoShop was invented! You can erase those people right out of your pics like they were never there! And think about it, maybe you will get in a few laughs before you delete them out!

Quote: Originally Posted by jcooper79 Oh you are talking about the US wedding coordinator, not the one from the actual resort. I thought I had read in the thread that Zulma contacted someone, and I had thought Zulma is with the actual resort. Zulma contacted me. I needed to figure out shipping some stuff down there and I got handed off to Zulma. I emailed her on Thursday and still haven't heard back. I'm sure she is swamped. She did email me prior to that with how to ship my stuff down there, but suggested I not do it. I don't really have a choice at this point though!

Quote: Originally Posted by jesmcan Yes there is a bar set-up right on the beach where the reception is. We saw it when we went on our site visit. All the prices do include open bar. The bar is set up beautifully. The one we saw was three tiers and they lit it up. It looked besutiful at night. That is very cool! I can't wait to see it all set up! Not sure if anyone spoke of this but what is everyone getting for their parents gifts? I was thinking of doing something with the spa, but I don't know if that is too little.

Darn, would have liked the matte ring

Quote: Originally Posted by astreit Has anyone used the resort photography? I'm just trying to figure out if it's worth the cost to bring in an outside photographer. Any insight would be great! Thanks. Ashley We priced the resort photographer out and it was pretty high in comparison to other vendors. Now i'm not so sure since they are charging a fortune to bring outside vendors in. At the time it was only $100 extra. We are using Cecilia Dumas.

I just got an email from Zulma!!! YAY I have a coordinator.

Quote: Originally Posted by Lady_Di I am bringing outside photographer because the resort' photographer doesnt exactly do what i want but they are good. ::: Funever Photos ::: So my TA got back to me about availability at the Gran and The Royal. She said there are 7 junior suite rooms, 7 jr suite ocean view rooms, and 3 ocean front rooms are left at both resorts on my wedding weekend. I haven't even sent my invites out. FML. Good thing most of people who were interested going are already booked. I hate trying to nudge rest of my bridesmaids to book already!! It's like pulling teeth. If you happen to be on FB then post a message saying there are only 10 more rooms left. I did that and 5 people called and booked! I think people think that the rates will go down if they hold off, but that isn't always the case. I still have one BM that hasn't booked. It is driving me nuts! We now have 33 booked as of today! I can't imagine we are going to get many more. The invites still haven't gone out for us either. THis is all so frustrating! I thought a beach wedding would be relaxing...boy was I wrong

Quote: Originally Posted by astreit I have my wedding booked for the day after yours! We have 16 rooms booked so far, but I don't expect anymore, 1 at most. I am doing an AHR on May 22, which is just the following weekend as soon as we get back. We are having about 300 for the reception. I am trying to keep it as simple as possible while still making it nice. There is a big building in my hometown that is used for receptions. All the catering and music and alcohol has to be brought in. That is saving us a lot of money rather than using a hotel though. I got lucky and have a friend of the family that is a caterer, so it's only about $7 per person. Speaking of invitations, how are you wording the bottom? Even though our family has already booked the trip I still want to send out formal invitations. I don't know how to word that the wedding is in the gazebo (as of now), and it's at the Royal Playa del Carmen in Playa del Carmen. Do I put Mexico? Or Riviera Maya? Or just call it The Royal, without the PDC afterwards? I have all of the other wording figured out, just not the location part. ~Ashley We are doing passport invitations and on them under location we are putting "The Royal, Playa Del Carmen".

Quote: Originally Posted by jenconrad Hi! My wedding is in 3 months too! I can't wait! I have also been trying really hard not to be worried aout all the stuff going on down there and sticking with my it'll all work out in the end attitude . So far everything has! My wedding is April 29th and we have 38 ppl booked but I havet heard anything from my TA about it being booked up and people are adding on everyday. We are doing an AHR for 150 ppl at a hall. My maid of honour and I are incharge of decorating which is going to involve lots of DIY and borrowing. Also, the family that is going down south is helping make all the food (we are having a cocktails and appys reception) and the cake . Good luck with everyhting! Jen Just to send an update...I contacted the resort and they said they couldn't give me an exact number of rooms that are left. Some sort of policy they have. But they said that they have a few of the lower grade rooms and a few of the oceanview left. That worried me a bit even though they said I would be fine. I called my TA and she looked it up for me. She said that there were only 12 rooms left!!!! She said that she reserved 4 until the end of January for us. I have more than 4 booking though! We are at about 30 I think now and we should have another 10. Either way she said the other rooms are available but it will be the higher grade rooms which means more $$$. So all of you ladies out there who have some time before your wedding comes, STRESS to your guests that they need to book early because this resort is VERY popular! I decided to do the AHR. It will be somewhere around 200 showing. I am doing it at a picnic ground. We are just going to decorate everything in a vintage style and get a photobooth, etc. It's amazing how fast everything is adding up

I'm starting to worry with all of these changes that are happening at The Royal. I am 3 months away from my wedding and I'm starting to panic and stress. Someone mentioned that there were only 15 rooms left. When is your wedding? I just spoke to my TA and she said that the Royal is almost filled. It looks like there are hardly any rooms left and I have yet to send out the invites. Is anyone on here doing a at home reception when they get back? If so, what are you doing? I find it difficult to come up with ideas that don't cost me a fortune.

Quote: Originally Posted by Lisa DSO Question: What is the usual deposit/retainer percentage (of total package) and process to hire a photographer? ...just wanna get an idea of what is standard We are using Cecilia Dumas and she only asked for 10%

Quote: Originally Posted by Lady_Di At first, she was slow and non-existent. I kindly asked her to follow up and etc...being sweet is the only way to go! Now she gets back to me the same day or next day. If I don't hear from her for a few days then I email her again. Remember, kill them with kindness and always show gratitude. I've learned that it can get you far! Good luck! I couldn't agree more! I joked with my WC about the crazy brides she has to deal with and she instantly started responding to all my questions.

Quote: Originally Posted by KB&JC I was thinking about having a ballroom reception too!! Im going to get married in May and im afraid it will be super hot to have a beach reception!! I'm getting married in May too. I was worried about that, but the beach reception isn't until 5:30pm. I hear it cools down with a light breeze by then. I have seen the ballroom pics though from another bride on this forum who posted her pics and it looked really nice. Is your wedding this May?

Quote: Originally Posted by becks1581 Oh man, I literally laughed out loud at this because it's SO true. The smallest victory and I am THRILLED!!! On another note, I sent a very well thought out, detailed email with numbered questions to Doreen last week and got an email back. She responded to only one of my questions which was in regard to the time of my wedding in May. Her response was: "hi would you like me make the changes to the times of your wedding thanks" Seriously?? Do you guys think that it's worth trying to change coordinators? This is just absurd. I also had Doreen and changed her. I got Angie now. To be completely honest I haven't really sent a whole lot of messages regarding the wedding to Angie. I think we emailed 17 times. It took her a bit to get back to me but I was just patient and waited. She will get back to you eventually. I'm thinking that these US coordinators handle more than just The Royal. I think they handle all of their sites, which is a lot of brides to get straight. I decided to take things into my own hands and just plan everything myself and when I get down there I'm telling them what I want done and where everything should go. Took a lot of stress off of me that way. I do have a ton of info though if you need it just let me know.

Quote: Originally Posted by becks1581 Now, on a fun wedding-planning note...FI and are becoming Save the Date machines today! We're doing boarding passes with a little vistaprint magnet attached to the second pass. I think they're so cute and I can't wait to send them out...plus they take my mind off of price changing and communication problems at the Royal! I'm also going dress shopping on Friday so I'm a happy bride Does anyone else have big wedding planning goals for the week? Yikes, I am only 4 months out from our wedding date and there is sooooo much to do! Sit tight ladies, it flies by in the end! This week my goal is to finish my registry by Saturday and get my passport this weekend. I can't believe I've waited on that for so long! Too much other stuff going on I guess Also, I got an update that we have 32 booked already! I still have at least 10 more that need to book as well. So excited!!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by sirkeen (Noobie post...) Hey all, I know that the topic title is RPDC Brides.... But I hope you all won't mind a groom on here! My fiance (is that what FI stands for?), and I are planning a Royal Playa del Carmen wedding for December 3, 2010. Ours will be a small, (smaller than all I have read about on here) with about 7 of our closest to attend! This website has been a fantastic resource so far, and we are looking forward to planning! Bye for now!! Mike and Lisa Mike and Lisa, WELCOME!!! This site is fantastic and the ladies on here are EXTREMELY knowledgeable about The Royal in Playa Del Carmen. Have fun planning your wedding!!!

Wow, I can't believe the Royal is being this way! I am seriously stunned. So many brides go on and on about how great their experience was, so I'm hoping that this is all a matter of confusion and misinformation. I am personally very excited about DJ Ivan. I booked him a long time ago and I have had nothing but a great experience to date. I really am not worried about him and I don't care if I have to scream at every last person at The Royal...he will be my DJ that day. Sounds like it won't be a problem though. I am already all paid up to date with the Royal for the whole wedding and all the vendors, so I would hope they don't try to pull any funny business and charge me more. If they do trust me, every single person in that resort will find out about it. I have had great dealings with Angie. She is a bit slow, but I haven't really asked too many questions. I did find out that if you prefer for your bridesmaids to hold only one long stem flower with ribbon it is only $15 each. That is what I decided to do to save some money. I just really hope that the resort doesn't give me the runaround. I'm pretty much waiting until I get my WC from the Royal a few months before. Then I can clarify everything with them.

Hi Sandy, welcome!

It's comforting to know that I'm not the only one pulling my hair out trying to co-mingle the families. My FMI hates me. I'm convinced of that. Every year they volunteer me to host Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. I try to get in good with her so I agree to it. Now my mom is flying off the handle saying that she is sick of always skirting around FI's family plans. I invited her to come since I'm hosting and for the first time she agreed. That may sound great...but it isn't! I can picture the rude remarks and ham flying across the table now! I just pray that it all goes smoothly and everyone keeps their comments to themselves.

Quote: Originally Posted by olsontco Hi Adriana.... I just returned from my wedding at The Royal. I'm going to try and do a review very soon... but, I saw your post and thought I would give you a heads up. So, I ended up shipping ALL of my items to The Royal. I had a total of 6 boxes. It was a bit stressful because about 4 of my boxes got stopped by customs... but, they ended up going through. I had one box that they would not allow and it is because it had shells in the box. Something I did not know - shells are not allowed into Mexico. Who would have thought. It all ended up working out because they shipped the box back to us and we ended up bringing it with us and got through without any problem. What would you be shipping? I have to admit it was awesome having everything there when I arrived, but it was a little stressful making sure it got through customs. Let me know if I can help in anyway. How far in advance did you send it? I'm worried because my TA said that packages typically won't make it to Mexico. I guess they get "lost". I just had a horrific experience with my bridesmaids jewelry getting "lost". It was supposed to be shipped to me and the company my work hires to get our mail apparently misplaced it and now I'm out a ton of money. I got them all Tiffany necklaces...huge bummer! I would hate to have that happen again.

That's actually a really good idea. I thought of it, but I freak out of the thought of not having everything down there with me when I arrive. I think it is a bit of the controlling bride in me coming out =) I'm just worried that it will get lost. Plus someone had told me that I should make sure I carry all of my receipts on me in case customs stops me for what is in my bag. I'm not sure what that is all about, but I would hate to have my bridesmaids get taken down because of me! Ha!

Does anyone here find it difficult to balance out the holidays when it comes to your family and the future in-laws? It seems like everytime I get something planned one of them is unhappy. I dread the holidays now which stinks so bad since I use to always look forward to them. HELP!

Wow, congrats! Your pics look great!!!

Has anyone in here tried the P90X system yet? I just started today and wow does it kick your butt. I would love to hear from someone who tried it and what your thoughts are on it

Oh boy...all of my wedding supplies are starting to come in and I have no idea how I am going to get them all to Mexico. Does anyone else have this problem? What do you suggest?