Trace2013

OH MY. I want to go BACK! haha. You girls are going to have the best time! Although, now seeing the views from the suites at the Tucan the Quetzal suites are a bit better as they are literally right at the ocean. And only one bed! (weird) Anyway, here is the video with my pro pics: by Moments the Matter Photography. He is a DREAM! I have written a review for both he and Sara Tamargo on this site. Also, still can't add the Quetzal as a hotel here to add my review but here is the link to it on Trip Advisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g150812-d154883-r150437366-Iberostar_Quetzal_Playacar-Playa_del_Carmen_Yucatan_Peninsula.html A couple of pics I took of our view from the suite and the Mariachi who were amazing! Also, I noticed that Adventure photo is still plastered all over the photography office, although I didn't see them out taking any pictures at all like you'd normally see at these places. Who knows what is going on there? Jessica, we did our welcome party at the beach bar and we had 95 adults. It was great because they set it up really nice and we got a breeze from the ocean as it was quite muggy and humid at night esp for January. I can only imagine how much hotter it will be in June, it may be super humid and hot in the jungle in the evening? As well, the mosquitoes weren't too bad but we definitely got our fair share of bites. They may be worse in the jungle. The Tropical restaurant is closest to the beach in comparison to the Steakhouse (but not by much!) Both are about the same in terms of decor and size.

OK. So I've been trying to add my review for the Quetzal on this site but it won't let me so I've posted in the help forum. But until then, I did put it up on trip adviser so if you'd like to read it there be my guest! Beach set up photo for you ladies - (no professional ones yet) Just an FYI. I gave Alejandra zero direction for this set up, and was charged not a penny extra for anything you see here.

I've been trying to add my review of the hotel/wedding into the reviews section, however it doesn't look like its been reviewed yet. When I click "add" it tells me I don't have proper authority or something that affect.. Please help! I'd really like to post here as this website was a life saver! Thanks

hey ladies! I'm finally back (and hating being home in the cold). Well, if I can tell you all anything its please please please put your fears to rest about the Tucan/Quetzal. Alejandra is seriously a dream and a true professional to work with, I could not have asked to be treated better!!! So many things to share but just got home yesterday so will update soon

Thanks Jessica... I have no idea whether I'm nervous, excited or just overwhelmed and ready for it all to get going already... HaHa. We are having our wedding party over tonight to do gifts and kickstart our vacation week so I think tonight it will really sink in with everyone around. Actually, we ended up cancelling with Jorge.. He basically stopped responded and I have seriously not heard from him since. So we switched and went with Lincoln from Moments that Matter. And to be honest, I was so surprised his pricing was very competitive to what Jorge had quoted so I decided to switch. Will let you know how that goes but also spy on the new photogs! Next time you hear from me I'll be a Mrs!

Hey Amanda, Sorry to hear that. We are leaving on Sunday so I can update you after our wedding on Wednesday to let you know how it goes as we'll probably have similar days (we have 95 people coming out!) A few things, we did the dreams package there was no rental for restaurant and we are hiring outside DJ (Doremixx) for $900 for 7 hours of service. Will try and give you a quick update on here from the resort after the wedding to hopefully put your mind at ease or help make your decision. Just finalizing the last few details with Alejandra and then we are off at 6am Sunday! Wish me luck!!!

Your pics look so awesome! Can't wait to hear your review, although I'll probably be gone as we are only 9 days to go! Any last minute tips or advice for me? @Amanda - There was no additional charge to us to have the reception in the convention center vs the restaurant. The only reason we moved it was to extend the reception until 1am. We are paying an additional $7/pp per hour for the additional 2.5 hours.

Welcome home Kali! and Congratulations you are officially a Mrs! Eagerly awaiting your thoughts and pictures

No problem, glad I could help!

We used mywedding.com because I found it was so simple to use! Here is ours www.mywedding.com/hewlkowedding

Jessica NO WAY! hahaha. Although I've enjoyed the process somewhat, I'm going to be very happy to have all the planning and decision making over and done with I had asked for pictures of the convention center as this whole discussion was a real sore spot for us. We truly wanted to have everything in the open air restaurant but they are super strict about limiting the reception to 4 hours. No buying your way out of that one! I was not happy to have to essentially end the evening at 10:30, even though we could go to the disco. The idea of rounding up 90 people and making sure everyone knew the party was continuing there was not something I was interested in doing, and just when things would be really getting started! So...We booked the convention center and have the DJ staying until 1am. Here are the pictures Alejandra sent of the convention center, they will do a standard set up and we can bring whatever else we want. To tell you the truth I'm not bringing a ton, I plan on decorating with balloons, adding maracas as favours to the tables and letting the DJ lights and the Mexican fiesta do the rest! Here is my inspiration pic I sent to her (I found those big ass balloons online and they are amazing): : Here are the pics: There were some of the questions I sent off to her once I had seen these pictures: Some additional questions for you: 1 - Will the children be part of the head count for extra charge per person if we extend the night by 2.5 hours past the four hour time limit? Children just pay the half price. 2 - Who is responsible for decorating the convention centre? Is that something that you and your team will take care of? The convention center has a standard decoration and I have some tea candles and standard centerpieces. The main table is decorated with a flower center piece. The tablecloths are white and beige, or white and peach. Color tablecloths could be requested to an external provider if you want something different. 3 - Are there decoration options or would we be responsible for providing all of the decor? Sometimes the bride brings some special decoration and we take care of it. If you want to add balloons, special centerpieces, color table clothes, color saches for the chairs, color lights or extra flowers could be possible. Please note that every extra decoration requested has an extra charge. 4 - Would we still have to choose the menu options that were previously provided? Yes, of course. You can choose a menu of a restaurant. It might be a fixed menu, this is the same meal for everybody. If you have vegetarian or allergic guests let me know and the chef can prepare some special food for them. 5 - We've hired a DJ from the local area, will there be any issue with his set up in the convention centre? There is not issue with the DJ if he has his day pass. Let me know please if he need a table for his set up or any thing you would need for him. Sorry, such a long post but I wish I had other brides to ask questions to when I was first making decisions so I want to be as helpful as possible as we all know there is next to nothing online about weddings this hotel! Tracy