MSPOKRAN

Flowers: I ordered real touch flowers from Bloom Bridal.com. I ordered only my bouquet and the grooms mothers corsage. Since I wasn't sure if I wanted real flowers I went ahead and the resort prepare a yellow boquet. My bridesmaid also had a yellow boquet. I couldn't decide until last minute, but my photographer took pics of both boquets wit the dress and the real touch won! It has pins of diamonds and pearls in it. I used the real yellow boquet for my TTD the next day! The groom had a yellow corsage. Cocktail Hour: We sprung for the mariachi trio. It was worth it and our guests loved it. It made great pictures too! The Royal did a great job with the food presentation!!

My wedding at the Royal could not have played out better in my dreams! I am a bit hard to please, especially with something this important so I can tell you this is true and from the heart and not at all an exaggeration it was PERFECT.  I picked the Classic Wedding Package and we had 21 guests. Ana was my wedding coordinator online up until Lorena at the resort onsite. They both were marvelous. I held my ceremony at the gazebo, cocktail hour at the gazebo and reception at the beach. I wouldn't change a thing! The beach is busy up until around mid evening hours. Our ceremony was at 5:30 and things had died down but still a lot of commotion. The gazebo gives you the ability to have the ocean feel but allows for privacy and.....heels  Dress: I purchased my first dress back in Nov last year but wasn't married until My. I was 20 pounds heavier. This turned out to be a big mistake. I had to drive back and forth about 100 miles from where I live to get fitted for this dress once it came in. When it came in I kept trying to continue alterations but it never turned out as I had hoped. $3500 later I decided to go shopping elsewhere than Alfred Angelo. My experience in Alfred Angelo in Tulsa OK was bad. I would not return there. They are short staffed and the service is poor. They are not knowledgeable about the business they are in and they are about 25 years too outdated to be doing this work. At the end of it all they even sold me a dirty bra to go under the dress which I cant even get my money back on.  2 weeks before the wedding I went to David's Bridal and found the perfect dress for $450. The service at DB is better I believe because they are better staffed, and  they have a huge selection of dresses and sizes. You can buy off the rack and really see what the dress looks like on you with the right size or at least close to the right size. Ladies beware as you loose weight- your tastes change. This dress fit me like a glove and I love how it kept the girls in without any cleavage showing. It was classy and simple and leight weight which was great for the beach and the TTD. I loved the veil as well, such a simple classic touch! Another shout out to David's Bridal about my veil. Along the way to Mexico somehow my dress bag zipper broke- and the veil fell out. I still have no idea how this happened but one day before the wedding I realized it was missing. I sent my Dad down to DB and explained what happened and they gave my Dad a replacement to bring down to me for free. I was so happy for a million reasons, one being that my Dad could not afford anything else with the trip, and I was worried he would have to pay and couldn't use my credit card.    OOT Bags: I spent way too much time on these! They became an obsession! I decided to go with bags from The Welcome Bag Company. You can customize the bags to your colors, and in my case I added our names. I didn't want any of our guests to feel obligated to carry bags around which I gave out so I thought this would be a better option. Here is a pic:  I know a lot of girls put together the survival kit with all of the labels and inserts. I went the easy route and purchased cheap zippered plastic bags from Wal-Mart and just put some contents inside this bag. Here is what it contained: - Advil -Tums -Woolite Travel - Hand sanitizer -Sunscreen -Lip gloss from Sephora for the girls -Blistex for the guys   For the rest of the items I did purchase the starfish bottle openers and personalized koozies from Totally Promotional.com. These were a hit! I also had some Ikea bags and Jack Daniels shot glasses. I enclosed yellow maracas which went with my color theme of yellow and gray.  Since there has been so much in the news lately I also included a few rules about Mexico Safety:  Mexico Safety I took some safety travel tips off of government websites that I wanted to share with all of you and just from reading travelers trips. The resort areas of PDC should be fine but it is important to follow these simple guidelines for staying safe: 1.Do not travel alone outside of the resort. Do not wander off from your group. 2.Do not carry any valuables or extra money with you while outside the resort. Take only with you what you need. Leave extra money, credit cards and valuable jewelry in the safe deposit box in the room. 3.Do not give the appearance of wealth while outside the resort; try to keep a low profile. 4.Do not enter into any secluded areas without proper lighting or crowds- especially roads. Take toll ways if traveling. 5.My recommendation would be to only take organized group transportation. Holger and I have rented a car before here and we were ok. But do this at your own risk. The roads to some sites, particularly Chichen- Itza are isolated and along the way there are several stops with armed officials who could or could not be legitimate. If you do choose to take your own transportation try to stay on major roads and highways. 6.Avoid public transportation if possible (bus), taxis are ok.     I also created some super cute MiniBooks from The Minted.com. The file is too large to load the pdf here but it included a Thank You note for attending, a Schedule of Events and several pics of us. It was sort of a pre-program. I also used this book for getting the word out about communication and social media. I asked everyone to download Viber or Whats App for communication methods since Royal offers free Wi-Fi. This was a lifesaver! I also asked that no one post pictures of the wedding day events on social media, but instead later to a shared space on shutterfly. In retrospect Shutterfly did not work out and I don't recommend it. It's difficult to load pics to shared pages and SLOOOOW and times out. Difficult to download. Just all around disappointed. Instead I am going to use Wal-Mart.com to share pics.      Welcome Dinner: The night before the wedding we had a welcome dinner at Wicky's Seaside Buffet which is 3 blocks from the Royal. I had heard such great reviews and had high expectations but we were disappointed and it did not live up. The restaurant was empty besides us. They were fully staffed. However they were just completely disinterested in providing good service. The waiter complained to the table about our tab being all separate checks, and it was clear that this was annoying to him. We had to ask for drinks, and for orders to be taken. Half of my table had finished meals while some had not received a meal yet. There was a soccer game on and all of the staff huddled around the tv. I'm not sure if he wanted a tip under the table or what. To top it off at the end, the waiter gave us an already filled out rating card. Here is a pic for proof:   We told one of the waiters, and he thought it was funny and said he didn't do that. This place was overpriced, the food was lousy, and the service the worst. All of the good reviews you see- probably written by them. I have asked Linda with Marketing for an explanation on the event, she said she would speak with them but has yet to get back to me. Trip Advisor it is!!  Reception Table: For our guest book, I had an Etsy seller(shaunnac73) create a custom thumbprint art in my colors of gray and yellow. I purchased acrylic paint from hobby lobby and out guests put their thumbprint and initial on! So cute and we can hang it later! The yellow sign in a frame says "Ink Your Finger and Sign Your Name to Leaf Your Mark on Our Wedding Tree Art". Then my fiance and I did ink thumbprints below it in the shape of a heart.      For the escort cards, I used starfish in a gray serving tray I purchased from crate and barrel. It was expensive but the color scheme worked awesome. I hand made the tags with a silver pen and ties yellow ribbon around them.     I brought pashima scarves and had them laid out on the table, but it was not cold or even windy enough to need them. The weather was perfect.  I also set up a picture of me and fiancé. This table turned out marvelous and really set the mood as guests came in. I have to credit the Royal for putting it together so beautifully!   Â

Unworn Alfred Angelo Sapphire, with tags. It has been altered down from a size 8. Bust- 36 Waist- 28 Length - not sure, I am 5'2" Point D'Esprit, Satin Flowers. Re-Embroidered Lace with Metallic Accents. Crystal Beading, Sequins, Rhinestones, Pearls. Lace up back. Ivory. I paid $1700 for this dress with another $800 in alterations. Nothing is wrong with the dress, it's just that the style of dress that I wanted changed. My financial misfortune is certainly your gain as I know I won't get close to what I paid for this dress.

I didn't want to chance the resort photographer - but didn't do my own research so that really isn't fair! I did help 2 of our guests make the trip. If you can afford it--and it's really important to you that those persons be there I don't see anything wrong with monetary help. I just wouldn't expect the money back. I considered it a gift. I have no regrets for helping people out.

I purchased a hair flower on etsy that I didn't wear because I decided to go with a veil. It's simple and beautiful! It's ivory color. I will ship for free.

I think that's a great idea to get a different dress! Just make sure you love it and won't regret it.

Agreed! I have been back a week now I think? The Royal does a phenomenal job!! Review coming soon!!

The day pass is $100 for those at Gran Porto. But you are allowed four guests to come in 3 hours early from a sister resort at no charge as long as they are adults for the ceremony. Children can only come in 30 min before. This is what we did. We had guests at the gran Porto and if we wanted to spend additional time with them we went to their resort because Royal guests can go to any sister resort free of charge. Does that make sense?

I went with bloom bridal and it was worth every penny. I elected for two bouquets. Here is the real touch, and then I used the real flowers from the resort for the TTD. Best of both worlds. I didn't think Bloom Bridal was expensive, but I am sure it depends on how many you need. Consider only ordering your bouquet from them making your unique and different. I am so glad I did!