This will be very long and detailed, because the reviews I read helped me so much. I started planning the wedding back in April of 2011. We were undecided which resort to choose and this forum helped a lot. After we battled the guests, travel agent and each other, we chose The Royal in Playa del Carmen. We originally chose it because it had a family resort next to it, and some of the wedding party was going to need to bring their kids. That changed later, we still loved the Royal PDC.

 

I was obsessive about this whole process and tried to cut costs everywhere. We didn’t have time or money to make a site visit before, but I really wish we had. Looking back it would have made many decisions easier. We had an amazing and gorgeous wedding that we won’t ever forget. Everyone loved the resort and Playa. I do have some tips and things I wish I would have changed so here is my review.

 

Arrival in Cancun

We got through customs with no issues or delays it went fast and overall very smoothly. Just remember not to lose the paper they give you on the flight (your visa), you have to have it on the way home.

 

Transfer company (Lomas) -A

We opted to get a private transfer it was an extra $40 I think and highly recommend this. Otherwise we would have been stuck waiting for close to an hour plus stopping at other hotels to drop off guests or pick up guests. We also did this to go to Xel-ha one day because we only wanted to go for half a day. They booked us a private transfer back to hotel. They were very nice and decent drivers (which can be scary in Mexico sometimes). They also gave us a warning about the time-share vendors in the front of the hotel.

 

Playa del Carmen – A++

I really loved Playa. The ocean was beautiful and the beach had great sand. Even 5th avenue was well kept, the shop owners are a pushy and you have to really be careful with the prices that they quote. I recommend taking pesos to shop they were always trying to rip us off in US dollars.

 

Weather A++

I worried because the weather forecast was rain and thunderstorms all week. It dripped about 5 drops on me one day at the pool and had a 20 minute downpour on our way from the resort to our flight home. Otherwise we enjoyed perfect weather. It is very humid, so you will want humidity proof hairspray and you need sunscreen all the time (even when its cloudy). It is also very windy, luckily someone told me to test which way the wind came from so that I would not stand where the wind constantly blew my hair in my face.  This helped with pictures a ton!!

 

Transfer company(Lomas) A

We opted to get a private transfer it was an extra $40 I think and highly recommend this. Otherwise we would have been stuck waiting for close to an hour plus stopping at other hotels. We also did this to go to Xel-ha one day because we only wanted to go for half a day so we took a private transfer back to hotel. They were very nice and good drivers even in the pouring rain on the way to the airport. They also gave us advice about skipping by the time-share vendors in the front of the hotel.

 

 

Beach - A+++

The beach was gorgeous!!! Be sure to pay attention to the flags so you know what areas you can swim in. You have to go a little ways away from the pier to go in but the ocean. The sand was soft, and we had a lot of fun playing in the waves (words of wisdom: wear a top that ties around your neck or has straps, not a halter. I jumped above a wave but my top didn’t luckily only my husband noticed because I immediately went under to fix it). The beach was beautiful for wedding pics and the ocean was so blue and clear. We never had a hard time getting beach chairs, the beds have to be reserved but the chairs were great. The waitstaff was better at the pool.

 

Hotel – A +

The Royal is amazing! We absolutely loved the resort. It was our first time in Playa and we were really impressed. It was cleanly kept and the staff was friendly. Once we walked in, we were greeted with cold towels and champagne. Stephanie was our romance concierge who did our Check in and she was awesome. I had read that a lot of brides did not get the upgrade out of package, but we did get ours on Friday. We had an ocean view jr suite for 2 nights and we were upgraded to ocean front suite for 5 nights. I think that coming in on the Wednesday before the wedding (Saturday) helped because the resort was not too busy and we got first pick of rooms.

 

The Oceanfront level room also gives you access to Chef’s Plate free of charge (which is awesome) and the view was unbelievable. Our first room was over the pool with an ocean view and was good.

We slept with the sliding door open and listened to the waves when we moved to the OceanFront.  I thought that room choice was not a very important factor overall, I am glad he did, because the view from your room really does make those special moments feel even more special. We ate on our balcony and watched the ocean, and even set out there and read for a little quiet time. If he hadn’t done so much homework into the rooms who knows what room we would have got stuck in. I loved the towel creatures each day they were really cute and the rose petals were a nice touch

 

Pool – A+

The pool was awesome! There are two pools -- a quiet pool on one side of resort and then the main pool. Estella was our waitress at the main pool and she was awesome, she picked all my drinks, my favorites were the Superman, Mango Tango, and Happy Monkey. We tipped her well and she would come back regularly and even bring us more than one a piece if she thought we may want it. Also she would recommend water as well to our more toasted guests. WEAR SUNSCREEN and be sure to apply it evenly, I thought for sure I got completely covered and ended up getting a little burned on my chest. A few guests were scorched. A few drinks and any clouds and you forget about sunscreen but you will regret it, trust me. We went down there around 9-10 am and never had problems getting chairs together, but you really only need a few as most guests stay in the water.

 

 

Restaurants -

ROYAL COFFEE HOUSE: We did not try this.

24 HR. ALL INCLUSIVE VIP LOUNGE: We only went in here at the end of our trip and just tried a little piece of cake but it was good, and the snacks in there looked great. It was your usual appetizers, salsa, queso, guacamole etc.

EL MEDITERRÁNEO C: We ate here before the wedding so I could look at the space since we had our reception here. The food was just okay. Their steak is closer to pot roast. My fiancé had salmon and didn’t like it. (I will give more information in the reception review)

TAPAS & PINTXOS A+: We read some negative reviews but We LOVED this place. Plates are small so we would order more than one they are meant to be appetizer size. Chan was our favorite waiter. Even after just one visit, he remembered my husband’s drink preference. Props to Chan. They also have daily specials so be sure to ask. We had terrific steak and chicken tacos.

SPICE: did not try

ASIANA C: I thought they were extremely snotty and food was just okay. We had a group of 11 and they would not seat us as one table, even though it would have been very easy to do because it was about 9 pm and they were not busy. The waitestaff was really slow so my husband ended up going to bar to get us drinks. I guess they noticed because we ended up getting a new waiter, but the food took forever.

PELICANOS B: Breakfast was good I loved the painters pallete. We ate lunch here as well and it was also very good. The view in Pelicanos is the best of any restaurant.

MARIA MARIE A: The food was awesome, however we had the same issue of getting a table for everyone, the kitchen was super slow and it was very hot. They sat 4 of us at one table. I can say that the lamb, and fillets were awesome. The fillet everywhere else was too tough.  However the rest of the guests were stuck waiting.

The other 11 guests waited about an hour when there were more than a couple of empty tables. They ended up setting 10 feet from us. We ended up leaving and I was told that a waiter dropped his tray and cut himself, and the manager really got upset yelling in front of everyone. The rest of the group by that time was starving and hot so a couple of guests and left early.

CHEF’S PLATE A+: This is extra cost unless you are in an oceanfront room or higher. It was great. They serve you 7 courses that the chef chooses. I am picky but LOVED all the choices. The meal is served at a slow pace, so set aside a couple of hours to go. I liked that just me and my hubby went as it let us have a romantic dinner alone.

Room service – A

I was not fond of the menu options but started ordering off the menu and they were great. The steak and chicken tacos and guacamole were awesome. Also I highly recommend ordering breakfast the night before. They were quick they were polite and food was good. DON’T be afraid to order things not on the menu, they were very accommodating.

 

Wedding package (Classic)

The Classic Wedding includes couple plus 15 guests:

Professional services of an onsite Wedding Specialist

Complimentary upgrade of suite Ask for this immediately with your romance concierge

Special decoration of the couple's suite with rose petals (cute)

Standard decorated oceanfront wedding gazebo or beach location (this means white chairs with white ties and reddish orange carpet on gazebo, white material around gazebo poles. I chose to remove the carpet and added 12 lanterns they were medium size I wish I would have ordered xtra large ones so you could see them. I also should have had a picture of what I wanted, even though it was just lanterns they still really didn’t put them like I had in mind.)

I had fans and maracas in the chairs. The fans were not necessary because the wind was very strong, however they were used in the restaurants later that week. (highly recommend gazebo, it amazed me how many people were either going to stand directly behind the wedding ceremony or being extremely loud. We got married early in the day which was nice because there were very few people who were out watching us.)

Natural floral centerpiece for the altar at the ceremony (pick something with bright colors, I changed mine at the last minute and was glad I did for pic purposes)

Sound system for the ceremony (we used our iPod with selected songs and they did a great job.)

Standard bride's bouquet (I had already made my own out of vintage brooches and seashells long ago and everyone liked it better. I choose a white bouquet that matched my colors and was not impressed. It fell apart easily and they didn’t even put in a turquoise ribbon or anything.

 

 

I used it to throw to single ladies in the pool. All of our guests were married and my husband thought of this idea and it was really cute for pictures.

Standard groom's boutonnière again choose white to match colors and was not impressed we gave it to the officiant which was a close friend. I made the groom and best mans boutinierres with starfish.

Witnesses (if required) not needed

Champagne toast after the ceremony nice for pictures be sure to have everyone scoot in together to get a good group shot

Real Resort's Signature Royal wedding cake

Semi-private reception after the ceremony 1 1/2 hours at selected restaurants, up to 15 Real Resorts guests

One bottle of sparkling wine and a fruit basket in your suite the night of the wedding- we didn’t get either of these things but that was okay

"Honeymoon" (full) breakfast in bed the morning after the ceremony this was just average, its hard to pick when you have no idea what anything means.

Special wedding gift for the couple this was really a nice silver frame from the lobby price tag still on value 220 pesos.

Late check-out for the couple up to 6 P.M. (subject to availability) not needed since our flight was early.

Your choice of Minister, Justice of the Peace or Catholic Priest: $600 USD will be added to your package price Aforementioned wedding officials are bilingual. We had a friend do our ceremony it was more meaningful plus this is ridiculous.

 

Romance Concierge- A+

Stephanie was great. She was attentive, thorough and followed up with us well after we were in our room. Can’t say enough good things about Stephanie.

Wedding Coordinators – B(Avg)

Anna- A- She was great. She responded to my questions quickly and she even found pics of some things that I could not find online like pictures of the restaurant El Meditteraneo

Lilia- C

Lilia was our resort coordinator I had a ton of questions like what if it rained, how to work the music, etc. She rushed us through the set up questions, and acted like I was kind of dumb for asking questions. You do not get a rehearsal but we had everyone go to the gazebo and do a walk through. She told us that she would come get us at 10:30 to give me my bouquet and 10:45 to meet the groom. So luckily two guests literally had the first oceanfront suite by the gazebo.  We told the photographer to meet us there. He was early we were not because we were waiting on Lilia. After numerous calls to her to find out what the deal was I finally got my bouquet at 10:55 and it was already falling apart. We did not begin walking down the aisle until 11:10 or 11:15 which put me in a panic, plus really made it hard on our photographer. If our guests had not had that suite, I would have been in the hall, waiting in the heat for her for probably 10-15 minutes and this would have been a nightmare.  The guests were all hot and had been waiting for the ceremony to start for 15 mins, and most got there early.

I gave her the stuff that was needed for the ceremony instructions how I wanted it to be set up the night before. She picked up the music that day and they did a great job of setting up the music went perfect luckily. She sent most of the decorations back to our room so we wouldn’t have to go down and get them from her office. We only got 3 out of 12 lanterns. back 

She dropped the ball so much that we chose to take all reception set up to the restaurant ourselves. She never even showed up at the reception. I think she sensed we weren’t going to upgrade everything so gave us very little attention.

 

OOT BAGS- What a stress. So I went back and forth on these things, first I painted the bags then I wasn’t happy with them but couldn’t find ones I liked. We ordered waterproof bags on ebay they were awesome, magnets (vistaprint), chapstick, energy drinks, sunblock, my mom and myself made barefoot sandals for the girls, Welcome letters never got put in they were done on vistaprint too, bath fizzys from michaels shaped like shells, notepads michaels, emergency medicine kit and wet ones to clean their hands. I ordered maracas but they were the wrong color so I decide to repaint them. It took about 5 coats of paint and it was a nightmare, finally I gave up and they turned out cute.

Delivering the bags was a whole other issue. We spoke to Anna in the Romance concierge and she agreed to have them picked up from our room and delivered to our guests (this was to be before they arrived in their rooms). It appears that Anna got it right and asked for the bellhops to get this squared away, but they never arrived. We had to call the bellhop service to come and get them, but the guests had already arrived. Turns out that the bellhops had a rush of check-ins and that’s why they weren’t on time. It wasn’t perfect, but everyone but 2 guests got their bags delivered. In hindsight, getting the guest swag to the bellhops should have been done earlier.

Ceremony at Gazebo at 11 am – A++

Our ceremony was in the gazebo at 11 am. I was worried that it would be too hot for our guests and that’s why I had fans for them. It turned out that they weren’t really necessary. It was so windy. It was clear that day, thank god. Lilia set up the ceremony area as what I wanted and it was beautiful! During the ceremony, I was only focused on DH and I didn’t notice anything going on around us such as people walking behind us. If there were people walking then it was at a long distance, not right behind us so that was a good thing. There are no barriers or anything. it is a public beach so people can do whatever they want. The ceremony went beautifully. I wish that we had practiced the ceremony a few times and tried to know where to stand for pictures during the ceremony. The sun glare makes people squint during pictures which is not good, and it went so fast that I think the photographer was really rushe

Photographer – A+++

After researching and comparing photographers and packages we chose Octavio Montes. He was extremely easy to work with and did a great job. He made sure to get a lot of photos for us to choose from and even got there early and left a little late. We had to pay the vendor fee but I feel like it was totally worth it. We’d recommend him highly to anyone looking for a photographer in Playa del Carmen.

We had everyone go to the beach immediately for group pictures instead of cocktail hour and it was an awesome idea. The pics are priceless. It took about 20 minutes and there was still an over an hour and a half until the reception but everyone was hot and wanted to go relax and either change or just chill out afterwards. Me and my Hubby then spent another 45 minutes just me and the groom taking pictures which was exhausting but totally worth it. We did have a few wedding photo crashers. Luckily the photographer had complete control otherwise I would have had to go Bridezilla on him.He took us over to different areas on the beach and I don’t think the resort photographers would have tried to get in so many areas to shoot us

 

Reception – B

Since our wedding was early the reception was limited. I figure if everyone was drunk enough to want a DJ or dance floor at 2pm then we probably didn’t care where we were at. Since the reception was 3 hours after the ceremony we did not have the photographer but that was perfectly fine with me. By that time I was tired of pictures, and needed a break anyways. I wish we had chosen Marie Marie for our reception. Being indoors was nice, it was way too hot outside at that time. As far as other weddings go I will say I saw two things. One reception was all set up with around 8-9 tables a DJ and dancefloor and only around 20 guests if that with maybe 4 dancing. So don’t waste money. There was a beach wedding reception Saturday night that sounded fun but I think it depends on the number of guests you have going and how likely they are to dance. We only had 15 (lots of last minute cancellations) and really am glad to save the money. Even that reception no one was sitting at the tables. Also there was a private candlelight dinner less than 200 ft away while the reception danced to Celebrate not so romantic. None of the reception centerpieces really caught my eye at all, so I think they are a waste of money. They made a little cocktail for everyone to welcome them to the reception. THANK GOD, I changed before going because the cocktail was pinkish colored and the waitress dropped the whole tray behind me. I was drenched and everyone thought I would lose it. But I remained calm, and actually felt very sorry for her. However if I had my dress still on I probably would have lost my cool.

I chose to not add any Extra costs to our reception and don’t regret that. I ended up just pulling a couple of roses off the altar centerpiece and putting them out.

 

Menu:

Salad: Spring Salad with Goat Cheese & almond oil This was a little unexpected. I loved it but others were a little scared it looked like sushi almost. There was a slice of tomato, slice of lettuce, slice of zucchini with a slice of goat cheese all in a tower.

Main Course:

We had two options

Chicken baked in annatto marinade with lemon cream- Guest thought it was okay, the sauce was more of a bland cream sauce

Beef fillet with Dijon mustard varnished with Provençal- I have no idea where the Dijon mustard came in but this was pretty good, again though they over cook the beef.

Garnish Grilled Vegetables this was half of a potato, a slice of carrot and a couple of other veggies, it was just okay as well.

Dessert: Baked Pear with Almond Mousse. I was scared of this one but I let my husband choose and it turned out to be great. Probably the best part of the meal.

Wedding Cake: I chose to get the tres lecche after hearing so many great reviews. It was okay I didn’t love it. Also we had over ½ left over that went to waste so I would not order any larger size. Everyone was so full they were barely able to try the cake. I used my own cake topper and everyone loved it.

We also chose to do a different style of guestbook we used vistaprint to print an antique map of the Playa area and had everyone sign it. We’ll put a wedding picture in the center and frame it.

Tips:

Know at least the basics of Spanish as it is heavily used both on and off the resort.

Have an emergency wedding kit from the doctor. I went and got something for any issue that could arise and am very glad I did. Many guests got stomach issues, the food in general is just different not to mention you have to avoid water (don’t drink out of the faucet). The bottled water, which is plentiful, is fine.

We asked for an upgrade immediately and were glad we did. Plus the guests that arrived the earliest also got good deals on upgrades Or room choices

Rose petal turndown service and romantic scented bath for two in your in-suite double Jacuzzi – it was so nice coming to the room and seeing the petals on the bed! But we had to ask for the scented oil they forgot all the time. I recommend the orthopedic pillow! We had to call for this a couple of times.

So here are my final tips!!!

Try to get first class upgrade, private transfer and room upgrades, go for all of it and leverage that your entire party is staying there etc.

 

pick bright colors for your flowers even if they do not match your colors they look much better in pictures. I did and the centerpeice was pretty. It was moved to our sweetheart table for the reception. And then to our room so I used it for my own pics and to put rose petals in our Jacuzzi. This is how I got the best photo of our rings.

 

Music. Just make a playlist and remember to walk slowly to allow photo opportunities.

 

Have ideas for what pictures or poses you like (thanks to my MOH for this)

 

Do some funny group pics

 

Practice hair and makeup in sun

Learn posing tricks for pictures: examples, always spread fingers on pictures of hands close up, lift chin and drop shoulders to elongate neck, don’t squint, put tongue on roof of mouth to eliminate double chin, always suck in and straighten spine, but never face camera full on forward unless your rail thin. Typically you want to slightly bend your arms and legs in most photos if your sitting.  A basic, flattering pose would have your subject standing slightly angled to the camera, her foot that is nearest to the camera is toward the camera and her weight is shifted to the back hip. This puts the knees, hips, and shoulders at a pleasing angle. Then have her SLIGHTLY bend forward at the waist to minimize and flatter upper body features and chin area. Most women tend to lean away from the camera instinctively. Educate them to always lean towards, not away from the camera.

Do not be afraid to make your MOH practice a few of these with you and have a list of what you would like to tell the photographer as well as knowing what you like and don’t like about most pictures you have taken before to avoid those things. (I hate for my fat to show)

Find out which way the wind is blowing and make sure to have them put you on the side that blows the wind away from your face

Get GREAT hairspray that is good with humidity

Wear sunblock on the wedding day. I forgot and got a sunburn in the one hour of pictures we took.

Make sure everyone stays hydrated, water is a necessity.

Practice photo smiles

That is everything! I’m sorry this is so long but wanted to give thorough review for future/potential Royal brides. Feel free to ask me anything! Seriously, made the best decision ever to have a destination wedding and have it at the Royal!!