ChicagoBride2011

I think Lady Di used Norma.

I think we are saving around $1000, we are not factoring in room cost in our budget though. We are not taking a honeymoon so decided to splurge and do 8 nights in an Oceanfront Master Suite. I believe you have to stay in Master Suite or higher to qualify for Free Package. Â I would suggest doing a spreadsheet, it's a little grueling but it's worth doing! Take what you need from the pacakge and go from there. Â We are doing a private reception on Pelicanos beach. The best part about the Free pkg is the we are getting exactly what we want by doing everything ala carte AND saving money. It's great! Â I agree it could be worse! Some resorts don't even allow outside vendors even photographers! Â Â Definitly ask, get everything is writing girl! LOL Â It seems that SpaAzul has pretty good reviews. When I was planning on using them I was thinking about brining in my own makeup and just having them put it on for me, only because I wanted higher quality makeup in the heat and everything water proof, haha. Any pictures that I've seen the brides that have used them looked great, I don't think there is too much to worry about! Â Â Fernando is $350 for bride hair and makeup, that is what he quoted me a couple months back so it could have changed. I like the idea of him coming to us and I'm sitting in the A/C in my room and not running around. He isn't cheap and either is the vendor fee, I'm hoping the day off he's able to come without me getting charged the vendor fee like other brides. I can only hope, haha.

If you booked your wedding awhile back then $100 but for the more recent brides $350. I agree ridiculous! If the vendor is a guest then no fees or time restrictions that I know of. My videographer is staying at the Gran the night of the wedding I was told no fee. Â I'm going to be using Fernando Fuentes. The $350 is killing me, but we went from Luxury Pkg, which the Spazul hair/makeup is included to Free pkg and even with the $350 fee we are saving money. Granted we are spending more on our room, haha.

I asked my WC about the no charge if less than 3 hours and she said that the $350 vendor fee will be charged if the vendor is not a guest of the resort. I was told that white linens and lights under the tables are standard. Keep in mind though that the lights won't show on top of the table only the sides (wood top). If you want the lights underneath to show on top you would have to use a vendor to bring in acrylic tables, I don't think The Royal offers them but I could be wrong (I haven't asked about it). Â

I don't think 5th Ave is ever dead. We went for 5 nights in April and would walk through 5th after dinner everynight, and it was always busy! I'm using Vincent from Del Sol for photography, his pictures are great and Del Sol havebeen great to work with so far.

Yeah that's great news! I knew she'd come through for you! I was emailing her today about my wedding and she said that she felt horrible for one of her brides that is having Mexicana issues, I bet that was you! Â I would have freaked out too, I'm glad everything is working out for you!

Ohhh no, I have the same TA as you, she's been really great so far. I'm shocked that this isn't being handled appropriately. Circumstances like this is where having a TA is suppose to be beneficial.

 I am so sorry that you are going through this. I can't imagine how you feel right now. Keep us posted, I hope everything works out for you.  I've been keeping an eye on airfare for my date and it continies to increase. I was also considering going back down to Playa in October and surprising my fiance with a trip for his 30th and the airfare is outrageous right now, I got got quoted $1700 for 2 tickets (nonstop flights). Last October airfare was $200 each, it really is crazy.

What a great letter! I may have to use it!

Yes, we have two spreadsheets one for Luxury Pkg one for Free, I took whatever we "needed" from the Luxury and added to Free Pkg, I'm also getting some things that I wanted such as outside hair/makeup and it's still slightly cheaper. Yippee! I'm hoping I didn't miss anything . Â

Hey ladies, I'm in the process of booking Christian Pinto for my videographer and he said he's doing a wedding at The Royal on Nov. 20th, is it anybody on here?!!?!? Â I love his work, amazing. His Nov 20th wedding will be his first at The Royal and I cannot wait to see it!

  The Free Wedding Package includes: • Professional services of an onsite Wedding Specialist • Special decoration of the couple’s suite with rose petals • Marriage ceremony performed by a Non-Denominational Christian Minister or Justice of the Peace • Witnesses (if required) • Decorated oceanfront wedding gazebo or beachfront location • Sound system for the ceremony (bring your favorite music on CD’s, iPod or MP3) • Champagne toast after the ceremony • Real Resort’s Signature Royal wedding cake for two • Late check-out for the couple up to 6 P.M. (subject to availability  Â

 I think it has to be one of the Master Sutes. We're staying in a Oceanfront Master Suite for 8 ngihts so decided to take the Free Package instead of doing the Luxury as planned, it's actually turning out slightly cheaper for us so far. Â

Hi, I'm doing individual booking with a TA as well, and it's been working out great! You'll still get stressed simply because people read/hear only what they want to, however finanacially there is no obligation from you. From talking to other brides and TA I wouldn't recommend Group bookings unless you're only inviting a few people and you know that they are all coming. We invited 240 people so it wasn't a good option for us. Â

I just asked my WC about outside makeup artists coming to the room and she said that I have to pay the outside vendor fee if they are not guests of the resort I'm hoping that the day of I wont' get charged. I was really hoping to hear a different answer.

Hi ladies, Â Has anyone used or is going to use a live band instead of a DJ? Is this even do-able for a beach reception? I emailed my WC asking her but you ladies are always so helpful, any feedback would be great. Â msgalve I feel your frustration, however keep in mind that all weddings have turned out amazing! I don't think I've read a negative thing from recent brides. Also, before deciding on The Royal we were in contact with many many other resorts and believe it or not their communication was even worse and some didn't even speak English, we would get Spang-lish responses and have to de-code them, it was ridiculous! Â I'm still 8 months from my date so I havn't been contacting them too much lately, but I hope they get their act together for all of us. Keep us updated!!

What a great thread, I've been contemplating doing OOT bags and this is so helpful. Keep the ideas coming ladies!

I asked my WC about this a couple weeks back and she said the standard dance floor is the wood one. I emailed her last night with a list of questions regarding cocktail hour, chairs, etc. So I'll you you ladies posted when I heat back.

Congrats Jennie, you are a few days before me, we might be there at the same time.

I briefly saw their lounge furniture when I was at my site visit, it wasn't set-up yet so it was hard to tell how it looked. I'm going to contact an outside company and compare prices.

Welcome Heidi, there is so much information on here and the ladies are fabulous.

Quote: Originally Posted by Augustbride2011 Man, this forum has been really slow the last few days... where have you guys all been?? I was thinking the same thing!

I'm getting married at The Royal-PDC next May. We did a site visit this past April and I do not have one bad thing to say about the place! The food was delicious and I'm a fairly picky eater. The service was AMAZING! A couple things to keep in mind when comparing the two resorts: 1. The Royal is a block from 5th Ave and not as secluded as other resorts. We liked that because it allows our guests to freely do what they want and not be "stuck" at the resort or having to hire a car/taxi to get into town. The town is adorable and so much fun 2. The RPDC is beautiful but not has scenic as the more secluded resorts Hope this helps you!