DeanSanderson

Congrates and welcome to the Forum...

 

do you know that the Royal is right in the city of Playa del Carmen? ... that can be a good thing because you do not have to stay on the resort and guests can go wherever they want for dinner, drinks, dancing, shopping, etc... Also that the beach there is quite busy, so if you are having your wedding and reception out on the beach, there will be a lot of 'locals' and tourists walking by... but this is not necessarily a bad thing. it just is what it is...

 

And the Royal is a beautiful resort. The weddings there look fantastic and if your ok with the above, you will love it there.. i've only heard good things.

 

All the best,

-dean

 

Congrates fellow Canadian..

 

I would love to give you some advice, but I try to stay out of the resort vs resort thing because one couple will love a resort and then next couple will have a less than desirable experience... If your really stuck PM me... (with budget too please) ... the other thing I can do is get you in touch with some great travel agents from Canada that specialize in these... ??

 

best of luck!

 

-dean

 

btw. 3 months, no problem.. the more time, the more you have to fret and worry, so there you go, less worrying ... the only problems are if your guests can make it for the date and the rings... if you want custom rings, go now! .. cause it might take time to find and make those things... .. other than that, your good and have fun..

I totally agree with both Jystar and Elizabeth on this one...  If photography is important to you and you want  great photos, then hire an outside photographer.

 

Three things I would like to add.

 

-Try to talk to them on the phone or skype... you want to make sure you can communicate well with them before you hire them as they will be directing you on a day when you want things to go smoothly...

 

-Ask for references. Good experienced photographers will have them and their clients will be more than happy to say good things about them.

 

-Look in Cancun and the Mayan Riviera for a photographer before bringing someone who wants to 'build their portfolio'... Taking someone who does not have much experience to an area that they have never photographed to shoot something they have never or seldom photographed before is quite the gamble. You are going to have to pay these people at least the cost of their plane ticket and accommodation as well as some extra money in order for them to work on the photos postproduction when they get back (btw. Post production takes 1-3 times the amount of time you shoot.. so a 5 hour day is can mean 5-15 hours of post depending on how experienced the shooter is. The less experienced, the more time. And if you are doing this to save money, you are hiring someone less experienced, right? )  I would rather see couples take that money and look for someone down there…  ok, I’m going to jump off my soap box now  

 

i hope this helps you (and others)...

-dean

Welcome to the Forum... another place to look is the Now Jade Mayan Riviera Resort... It's in the same area and really nice as well.. I'm shooting a wedding there in early April and the clients are very excited about it. There is even a good thread with some very helpful people on it in on this site..

 

good luck!

-dean

There seems to be a few things about photographers in this thread.. one of which I hate reading...

"Photography: I'm working on the name of the photographer. He also was around taking pics by the pool with monkeys lizards ect. There is a fairly tall guy that also takes the pics by the pool it is not him though. Hes a shorter guy. If you have a wedding soon ask Maria because she will definetely know who he is and ask not to have him. I previously posted about this topic so I won't say much more then to not use them if at all possible!!!!! "

 I wish there were more standards in our industry for all you bride and grooms... Unfortunately there aren't any ... but in general, those working at resorts are people that know how to work a camera, they are not photographers. That doesn't mean you won't get photos and that doesn't mean you won't love some of them... it just means that if you want really nice photos and that is very important to you, please hire someone outside the resort.

Good luck out there and I wish you all the best in planning..

Send us photos!...  I LOVe doing TTDs and I hope you were able to find someone

-dean

Hi Amanda

Congratulations and welcome to the Forum!..

I LOVe Playa del Carmen... so if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask...  and if you have the chance, go to the second floor of the Baseco (sp?) hotel on 5th to the restaurant. Best shrimp tacos and they have the best people watching tables in town by far...

Cheers,

-dean

Welcome and Congratulations!

Welcome to the forum Annick!

As for resorts?? It really depends on budgets and so many other factors... I would suggest talking to a travel agent as well... If you want one that specializes in DW Travel, PM me with where you are from and I'll see who I have on my private list..

And I also want to give a shout out to Oriental Mandarin .. Roxanne there is amazing and the resort is awesome (five Diamond)... One couple had everyone stay at one resort and then had the wedding there... anyhow, it is off the beaten path so I thought I would mention it..

good luck!

-dean

Hi Cindy,

Congratulations and welcome to the forum! ... I hope this helps!

As for response times from the Resorts... It is not all that unusual for it to take quite a while for them to get back to you. And feel free to send a few messages. Probably won't affect the response time a lot, but don't worry.. .they will take care of you when you are there..

-dean

Another way to save some money on the photos is to use the resort photographer for the day of the wedding and do a TTD with an off site person... Usually you can also talk the resort into just a regular day pass for the photographer.

For instance, my wedding packages start at $1,500 for three hours.. but my TTD's start at $500 for an hour in the pool.. as a couple bucks for a walk on the beach in your wedding dress before jumping in the pool and you'll have great photos..

One problem.. hair and makeup.... if you're ok doing your own, then it is a great idea ...

-dean

btw. The main reason for the difference in price is the number of photos. For every hour of shooting there is 3-4 hours behind the computer. Good photographers take good photos and make them great after. And your resort photographers, most of them will take the photos directly from the camera.

I hope this helps...
 

Jessiphi, use a travel agent! Some of your guests are going to NEED one, or you will be organizing and hand holding a lot.. and it's your wedding and you should be partying, not making sure your aunt and uncle are in the suite they were promised...Or that they even got out of the bloody airport....  Also when you are with a group at the resorts, you have a lot more pull because they respect that you are there with 10 other rooms and that's a lot more money than the one couple standing at the front desk... -make sense?

They can also make sure those who want to be near each other at the resort are near each other.. (and might I say, those who want to be further away are further away..)

btw. If you use a travel agent, nothing is stopping those who know how to from using a website.

Anyhow, that is my advice, I've been to several DW's .. staying at the resorts, or not and heard a lot of stories ... so my advice, get a travel agent.

Feel free to PM me if you want..

-dean

Sorry to hear so many girls are having problems with your TA's... I actually have a decent list of them and if you would like some names, numbers, email addresses, etc...  to see if you can find a good fit, please PM me or email me and I will try to send it your way.... They are from all over Canada and I don't really think it matters where your travel agent is. So long as they know what to do, that's the important thing...

cheers,

-dean

Amie P603... congratulations on having a date!   a Ring and a Date ... now the real work begins... If there is any way I can be of help, feel free to PM me..  good luck.

-dean

btw. what time is your wedding?

This is my first post on this forum and I want to be helpful and not soliciting... so if you have any suggestions, please PM me... thank you

Honestly, $1500-2000 is a real tight budget for everything you want... and the fact that this friend of a friend will only be making $300 and will likely be spending more than that if he goes out of the resort, basically he is shooting your wedding for the vacation. My concern would be what is he willing to do to the photos after the wedding? Photos do not come out of a professional camera looking great. They need to be edited and when he gets home, he might not feel like he is getting paid enough to put it in front of other work and get your photos finished... so have an honest conversation with him regarding this please..

Also, it sounds like you are taking him on a vacation, but asking him to work the a lot of the time... That's not really a vacation... And if this is his first time doing this, he might not realize this himself....

Finally, weddings are different, they happen in seconds. Clouds come over during a ceremony quickly and you have to notice immediately that the light has changed. To seasoned photographers, it is obvious, but to newbies, they are sometimes too focused on the event to recognize. Also, schedule LOTs and LOTs of time for photos, because he needs it to come up with poses and things to do, don't rush this process..... These would be my main concerns... The reality is you are paying for airfare in his rates and if you can find someone already there, you are likely to get better value.

On the other side of things... your getting what you want for the budget you have... So maybe this is the right thing to do. Just be open and honest, discuss your concerns, and then put it all down on paper...

As for me, I'm generally not in Mexico at that time of year, I'm more of a Feb to May kind of guy.... But we are looking for a place to go to for Christmas, so when in December??? My prices start around $1,600 for the weddings and $500-600 for TTD's.... PM me if you want to know more...

I hope this was helpful

-dean

btw. What Ivan says about back up. He is kind of correct. Just make sure he is able to double back up your photos and have the back up fly separate. (eg. you carry the backup). Hopefully you guy will know these little things...