May12

Hi Ladies!

I had to jump on here to see what was going on at ERC. I am getting married at Excellence Playa Mujeres on May 19th and after 4, yes 4 wedding planners in the last year and a half, just got Nayeli...I LOVE her! Some of the brides on the EPM thread are still being shuffled around so I wanted to see if the same thing was happening here. Sounds like EPM needed Nayeli!

What a great idea about the chair sashes! I had decided against them due to cost, but I need to rethink that if we can bring them into the resort!

Also in the same boat about my OOT bag stash...bottles of Excedrin, tums, Imodium etc. I'm sucking it up and getting the sparklers at the resort because of the possible "contraband" situation at the airport, but didn't even think about the meds! Just an FYI for time purposes if anyone is thinking of sending a package...We had sent an invitation down to show them our colors, and it took a month to get there. 

Congratulations and happy planning to all of you!!

Sheryl

Wow! What a crazy week on the forum! ....I had my heart in my throat when I saw that Lciz posted about the change in wedding planners...again. Hang in there....it's going to beautiful and perfect! 

I heard from Nayeli this weekend so I feel better, but geeeeez...I don't know if I can handle another one at this stage of the game! Deep breaths...deep breaths...

As for the flowers....that's outrageous! When we ran into this a couple of months ago, they were able to honor the original price that was quoted., kind of. We wanted orange cala lillis for the bridesmaids and thought they'd be in the $45-$75 range based on the conversation with Gustavo. They ended up being $230!! WHAT!? We compromised, got different flowers but at least got the price to $50 each instead of $110 each. If you have an email about it I'm sure they can at least get close to the price! Fingers crossed for you!

What have you guys decided on the ceremony music...guitarist or ipod?? I'm still on the fence with this. Nayeli says they have big speakers and someone to que everything, but I'm still not sure it will sound right...

With the cake, we found a cake we fell in love with(see below...burgundy ribbon instead of green) and sent her the pic. She asked the chef and it was a YES, they can do it...no additional charge! If there's something you like or an idea you have, they can usually work with you on it.

I would still go with EPM, hands down! When we were "scouting" for locations, I did a lot of research and emailing back and forth, and the bottom line is, most people down there do have a slow response time. When we went to look at the resorts of our final picks, we couldn't even get some of the wedding coordinators to meet with us! (On that note, ME by Melia was the worst offender!) We found that there were so many "up" charges with many of the places that it started to not make sense....$5000 for premium bar, double or triple the cost for florists, DJ, lighting etc, etc...

With Nayeli, I found the best communication so far was to also put everything in 1 email under headings and sub headings. Each time we respond we have a new color we use so it's easy to see the most recent. I also attach pictures of ideas for her and try to get as specific as possible and ALWAYS ask about price. This way it's all in writing wrapped up and ready for when we're there. She is very thorough in responses this way and I have had by far the best experience with her versus the other 3 WC's we dealt with. It DOES take her a week to get back to us, usually every Friday or Saturday night we'll get her reply...but she answers all of our questions! I feel like we're winding down to very specific details at this point(Should we cut the ribbon that will be going around the napkins or will you? type of questions.) We are all set with flowers, DJ, Spa services,type of cake, Menu, Ceremony and reception details...it feels good!

Something that is helpful too, I've sent her an excel file of our guests with when they are staying, who's rooming with who, wedding party, and meal choices (just waiting on final seating arrangements in case a few more guest decide to go.) She is now ensuring they're booked and has a handle on the group. Our TA will then be giving the final list to her about 2 weeks before the wedding so when they assign rooms, all the guests will be in the same area.

For the OOT bags, we decided to have a name tag made for each of them. This way when we give the bags to Nayeli, all she has to do is match them up with their room number and have the bell boys deliver them. Our bridal party has nicer bags with different time-lines and gifts in there, so it will make it easier to not confuse it with another guest.

With tables...We are doing round tables but Gustavo did say they have rectangular ones...can't see how they wouldn't! With the round tables, 10 people can fit around them but Nayeli said 8 is better so it's not so crowded. I asked her about centerpieces and what's included, and with the gold package, 2 centerpieces are included, and whatever flowers you have at the ceremony they'll bring over to the reception.     

Question for you all....Is anyone bringing sparklers??? I saw some really cool pictures taken at night with the sparklers and would LOVE to have them! My only concern is if we can get them into the country! I can only imagine getting stuck at customs with 900(it's starting to feel like that many!) bags of luggage filled with contraband!

Another question....Is anyone doing the sand ceremony?? If so, are you bringing your own glass container or using theirs??

2 and a half months to go and I'm starting to get anxiety!! How are you ladies who are having your wedding in April holding up??? And PLEASE don't forget to tell the rest of us all about it and send pics!!

Sheryl

Did you book your room at Excellence yet? When I was going through this they could only give me a tentative time until we booked. When are you getting married??

We're having the ceremony at the gazebo, Cocktail hour at X-Lounge and the reception at the CECO (Convention Center) Terrace. This way if we want to make noise and extend the DJ we can!

Sorry...no dress pics with me in it yet...still waiting on the 1st fitting...but I am going simple yet elegant wearing Nicole Miller "Veronique". It's a stretch jacquard fabric with a cool pattern on it and VERY comfortable! I found a necklace in Mexico last time we were there that is silver with different sized shapes and cuts of Mother of pearl...it's a total statement piece...might actually upstage the dress!

How bout you??    

Originally Posted by Jass7 

Thanks ladies! I'm super excited, but I'm getting super inpatient to hear back from Nayeli. I need to confirm date and time, so that we can book our honeymoon. It's been over 48 hours so I'll try to stay more patient.
Where is everyone having their ceremony? And reception?
And I would love to se your dresses!

Oh No!  I would have totally gone the route you did if everyone wanted to charge me! Our TA is free and just gets a kickback for what she books. How many people are you having, Laura? Where are you having the reception? I'll be there a couple of weeks after you and it sounds like we have a similar guest count!

Can't wait to hear how everything turned out for everyone!!!

 

Originally Posted by LauraR597 

We chose not to use a TA for our 30-40 guests because the few travel agents I spoke with quoted ridiculously expensive prices as compared to booking on your own with the resort or some internet sites like expedia. We haven't had too much trouble and encouraged our guest to use one if they felt more comfortable. We have 32 guests booked and no one has had any problems so far. I, however, did not want my guests to pay an extra $300-$400 just for using a travel agent I chose. After speaking to a few TAs, I just gave up. Sounds like the ladies on here had better luck than I did, though.

To Tip or not to Tip.... this is giving me a headache!

I found some info on other forums online an on this site, but the consensus is this....If they go above and beyond, tip. If "services" is outlined in the invoice, they already charged you for a tip. Anything I've read on Martha Stewart or the knot is really for "local" weddings with a million different vendors for things, all with high expectations for tipping....and outrageous in my book!

Some of the comments from actual vendors in Mexico, do not expect a tip at all! One Photographer said that he never expects it and is paid quite well but the most someone ever gave him was $50. No one seems to be tipping the florist or DJ unless they are fantastic and going above and beyond. The musicians range from no tip to $25. Everyone seems to agree that the waitstaff should be tipped about $20 each, but depends how many people are there waiting on you. The wedding coordinator is ranging from nothing to $150, with $50 or $100 being average. One idea was to have thank you cards filled out with $ in them and hand them out only if you feel they deserved the tip. Someone got a gift for the wedding coordinator and her family as well as cash. What I'm understanding, unfortunately, is that a lot of people seem to be very confused on this AI destination wedding tipping situation!

I'm thinking of this:  

Nayeli- I'll give her a thank you card and more than likely, she'll get a tip...probably $100 or more depending on how things come out...and how much tequila I've had!

For everyone else, I think I'll be handing out pesos. I don't want to carry a ton of US $ around and Pesos may be easier for them...

Waitstaff/bartenders-depends how many there are and how they do but $200ish Pesos each

Mariachi Trio-$300-400 pesos-If we see them!

Guitarist-$150-200 Pesos-if we have one

DJ, Photographer and Florist-probably nothing unless they really go above and beyond.

We may end up tacking on an extra hour or so with the reception so if that's the case then we will tip the DJ and a bit more for the bartender.

Hair and make-up stylist- 20%

Nails/Spa services-15-20%

I really don't want to be "cheap" and generally I am EXTREMELY generous, but I really believe that they are already being paid for a service, and above and beyond will warrant something as a token of appreciation.

Here are the links for the forums I was looking at...

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...or-gift-48794/
http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...iquette-26560/
http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...vendors-37452/

 

Any thoughts?? PLEASE tell me if I'm making sense or if I'm way off! Again, I want to be reasonable and not blow my budget on tips just for the sake of tipping! I'm sure my bridesmaids would rather have coach coin purses!

 

Hello Ladies!

Not sure if I missed an answer to this in all of our postings, but I remember someone asking about tipping... I too am LOST on this subject and want to make sure we are tipping appropriately without doing it unnecessarily... What are you all planning on doing??  

Thanks!!

Sheryl

PS. FYI.. I asked Nayeli about payment and here is our correspondence on that- (we are also using Moments that Matter as our photographer as they are based out of the resort) Her answers are in RED and GREEN....

Deposits and Payments:

When are deposits and payments due to you, and what is the method of payment that you require. Will the florist, DJ and Photographer be through you as well?

Yes, you are going to pay for everything with us, you can pay at your check out and you can pay with cash, credit card (American Express, Master Card or Visa) and traveler checks

Fantastic! Will you be providing us with an invoice or detailed estimate before the wedding?

Absolutely, I will be sending you a planner with all your choices and charges so you can have a better idea on your budget.

 P.P.S. The mugs are awesome!

Welcome!

I would definitely go with a TA! Our almost final guest count is 30. Dealing with all of the guest and coordinating when they'll be there, any events we want to do and just plain keeping track of them is MUCH easier with a travel agent. PLUS they usually are less expensive than the resort with "perks" for booking with them....discounts, room upgrades, etc. We are with Laura Sangster. She is based out of Atlanta (we're in NJ) but we found her because of a recommendation from Yamina, our first wedding coordinator at EPM. She has been working with EPM for years now and knows the resort well...AND Nayeli our new wedding coordinator! With all of the changes we've had with wedding coordinators over the last 2 years, I'm glad our travel agent is telling us we're in good hands! We at first did not go with a block of rooms, and Laura was still able to get a better rate than booking through the resort directly.  When rates at the resort started to go up(and before the majority of our guests booked) we decided to go with the block of rooms to "secure" the price. It was a $500 deposit on our part as long as they booked and gave their $150 deposit within 2 weeks. It was a little hectic getting everyone to put their deposit down within 2 weeks after that(my friends are procrastinators), but it all worked out and Laura keep us in the loop sometimes several times a day to make sure we knew what was going on...she's very patient and flexible! She booked out trip to Cancun/Excellence last Sept and literally was emailing us and called the resort to make sure we liked it and they were treating us well! How nice is that! We are going to Zoetry for our honeymoon and she's booking and working with that hotel for us as well as providing other accommodations and transfers for our guests who want to stay in Cancun longer but not the entire time at EPM.  If you are interested in getting more info from her here's her info... [email protected] or  866-236-1924

Good luck and happy planning!

Sheryl   

Originally Posted by 2012BeachBride 

Hi Ladies!

 

I have been reading this forum and there is just so much helpful info on here for brides to be!  My FI and I are getting married November 17, 2012 at EPM and seriously you girls are my source to the most updated resort info.  We have been planning the wedding since July-ish and I just want to contribute any info I have so far to you girls. 

 

With regard to photography, we were told there is that $500 vendor fee per day that a vendor is present; however, with the exception of whether the vendor/photographer is staying at the resort.  (Then it would only be what $261 for a room for one person and the photographer can eat and relax/enjoy the resort while she is not working.)  We are actually going w this option to have our photographer stay at EPM for 2 nights so she can shoot most of the wedding day and our TTD shoot the morning after, before check-out.  Her name is Daniela Garza and from the reviews I've heard, we are very excited to have her shoot our wedding. 

 

As of now, we do not have a TA and I'm starting to wonder if we should.  We don't plan on doing a group booking and instead are directing our guests to book themselves (to avoid us having to front all the money & risk ppl not coming etc).  We are inviting 60 people & are realistically expecting around 20, and no more than 30.  I feel like if the group isnt too large then there is no need for a TA.  But IDK, what are some reasons that brides chose to use a TA??

So good that we all seem to be back on track!

Question for you all...Does anyone know when the deposit and final payment is due for everything "wedding" related?? I've asked this a few times but never got a firm response.

Thanks Ladies!

-Sheryl  

I GOT THROUGH TO SOMEONE!!!

OK... I just spoke with Nayeli Ugarte who is the new Ileana aka weddings manager. Apparently she is the one who has been emailing back when we thought we were emailing Gustavo and Ileana. So the scoop is this... Gustavo left because his fiance is pregnant and he needed more time to be with her. I can only imagine how many hours they work with this job! Ileana left because she moved to Canada!! Both of them left on good terms and had all of our information detailed for her. Nayeli has been with Excellence for 4 years and doing this for 7 and "loves her job"! She assured me that she's got everything under control and wanted me to let everyone on the blog know that she understands why we're upset and nervous and will be as responsive as possible to ease our stress!(I told her I heard about everyone leaving through this blog)  Honestly, I feel a lot better after speaking with her and she was on point with all of the details I had been emailing about! Whew! I just wish she or someone would have filled us all in...

As for shopping downtown, we'll be staying in Cancun (hotel zone) the first 3 nights we're there and then heading to EPM for the week. Our plan is to shop before we get to EPM. Last time we did this it was about 250-ish pesos to get downtown from the hotel zone. Mercado 28 is closer to EPM so it shouldn't be too expensive if you want to leave the resort. What's nice also, is that many of the cab drivers want to wait for you and you can negotiate a price with them for the round trip....definitely won't be $100.

Holy crap! Ileana just sent us an email at 5:45pm on Friday confirming our flowers....unless it was someone else using her email, like she did when I thought I was emailing Gustavo. This is getting VERY frustrating! How did you find out Ileana was gone? I'm going to call the resort today to see if I can get any answers...I'll keep you all posted!

As for the bottle openers...BRILLIANT! We are so on board with that...my fiance is looking for personalized cork screw/bottle openers online now...I'll let you know if he finds something good! I remember trying to open a corona in the door jam and then found the bottle opener in the bathroom the next day. 

In our OOT bags we are bringing down with us mint tins, excedrin, tums, sunscreen, shout wipes, bug spray and now a bottle opener. We are actually going to be doing a ton of shopping while we're down there. We found "Mexico" or "Cancun" beach bags at Mercado 28 for about $4 each! We'll fill them with the things we're bringing down but also picking up Mexican chocolate, little bottles of kahlua and tequila, a lime,(along with our favorite margarita recipe) and  possibly a throw blanket(those woven ones that they handmake). We'll also have to get (probably at the resort) a map of the area with things to do. Our favors at the reception will be handpainted blown margarita glasses and of course maracas! Last time we were down there we ran around pricing things and found that buying most of it there will make our lives a lot easier from a packing perspective and it's also authentic and way less expensive! We still have to lug down the bridal party's bags and buri fans for the ceremony...we'll have a suitcase just full of that stuff.

As for the ceremony music, we have music picked out, but I too am nervous about it not sounding right. It's a REALLY long walk from the convention center and I'm wondering if I'll even be able to hear it! Great call with the guitarist...I think it's the way we're leaning now. YOU LADIES ARE AWESOME! I am so glad I came across this website and found you! THANK YOU!

Sheryl

Hi Sharon!

The flight thing is a bummer....last I saw at the least expensive from Philly was $525 on Airtran...not a non stop flight. We looked at Baltimore and found an Airtran flight for $411 non stop and American for $395 but with 1 stop. Depending on where your guests live in the Philly area, a 2 hour road trip to Baltimore may not be a bad idea!

 As for DJ Mannia, we met with them in Sept as well. Fernando was great and very open to what we want to hear. We too are BIG time music people and have a very eclectic mix of music. We're in the process of converting our music from Itunes to an MP3 so he'll have anything that someone may ask for and can then taylor it to our style. Not many DJ's would be that open to doing this. Also, he will send you a sample list of music that he has and will need a list of songs from you for first dance, cake cutting, bouqust throw, etc. If I remember correctly, they are the ones that do the lighting as well. Here's the email... [email protected]   Oh, and they include all sorts of party "accessories"...sombreros, Giant glasses, beads, etc... You'll have to let him know if you want this stuff...

3 months away! How exciting!!!

Hi again!

We are going to miss eachother by 4 days! We're heading down on the 12th staying at Marriott Casa Magna for the first 3 days, going to Excellence for a week and then having our honeymoon at Zoetry Paraiso de la Bonita for the next week. I can't wait!

I believe you need to pick out the menu ahead of time and tell them who is having what. The next step is making a seating chart for them. We had the menu choices on our reply card with the invitations. If you pick one menu then there's no need for a seating chart. We have several fish eating vegitarians so we had to do some adjusting.

Are you seeing crazy high flight prices?? I live close to Philly and most of our guests are coming from PHL or the NY airports. Prices are outrageous right now! I think it's holding some people back from committing. We have an rsvp deadline of Feb 11th and we are still waiting for over half of the guests replies!

Question....how do you feel about their choice of flowers?? When we were there in September, we met with the florist and had everything worked out. Now there's a new vendor....prices higher and NOT the options we chose...I'm getting worried!

Sheryl 

WOW! That's going to be quite a group takeover! How fun! The best place to find videos are on Youtube. There are several travel agents who posted things as well as weddings. Not the "best" but it gives you a bit of an idea....

Good Luck!

Sheryl 

Funny you should ask? I just spent a good portion of my day yesterday researching vans/busses/drivers to do an excursion to Tulum for our wedding party who is getting in earlier. We're planning on leaving at 7:30am and heading down to Tulum then on the way back, stopping at Playa Del Carmen for lunch, shopping and drinks! We thought of going to a cenote instead, but we need to be back to the resrt by 6pm to be ready for Thursday night welcome cocktails for all of the guests. Depending on how many people you have, this trip will cost between $37 and $69. Averaging around $50.   

Our wedding is on May 19th! We've been engaged for 2 years and picked this resort when we visited in Sept '10! We started with Yamina, then worked with Ileana, and since this past fall when we visited again, we have Gustavo. I have to admit, I'm starting to get freaked out now that it's right around the corner! With our meal choices, we decided that hot soup outside in Mexico didn't seem "right" as delicious as it was. We talked with the chef and we're going with a tuna sashimi app, then the hearts of palm/mandarin/grapefruit salad, then either the filet with scallops or the fish option of Baked Sea Bass with a chunky lobster and shitake risoto(depending on what the guest wants) ending it all with the chocolate cake...delish! AND we're doing Tres Leches as our wedding cake! They were GREAT when we did the tasting! We have the gold package but what I love is that you can mix and match it the way you see fit. We were also able to taste 2 hot and 2 cold appetizers...I highly recommend doing a tasting if you have the chance.  How long are you staying down there? Are you honeymooning there as well or going somewhere else?

We're getting married at Excellence Playa Mujeres in May and were there to visit this past Sept. We were able to do a sampling of our dinner choice and some of the apps. What's great is that we were able to change/add what we needed to and also come up with a great seafood option. Who are you working with as your wedding planner? He/she should be able to guide you in the right direction. The food there was fantastic so I can't imagine anything being awful.