ROYAL PLAYA DEL CARMEN BRIDES: were kids allowed for the day? ...and other questions

[kellygrrrl]

I told our guests to anticipate spending ~$2000/couple including airfare (from most US cities), transfers and 3 nts at the Royal. if you book through the wedding coordinator, they offer an additional ~10% off the room rates with one night's deposit. Booking.com's rates used to be comparable, but now they're high. If you call them, they'll match the Royal prices, and the best part is there's no deposit and no cancellation fee if you cancel at least 48 hours in advance. we've having everyone book individually, mainly because our wedding group is fairly small (~15?) and easy for me and FI to communicate with.

 

unfortunately, prices have only gone up since this time last year. rooms used to start at $320 (now it's $344+) and airfare from Texas went from $442 to $470. it's absurd. I keep hoping everything will drop, but I've been watching for a looooooong time without any downward movement.  

 

airport transfers are discussed at the bottom of this page on our wedding website - I pulled the info from my own searches and on this site:

 

http://jdandkellyswedding.weebly.com/booking-info.html
 

Originally Posted by MrsJohns2be 

HI Brides,

 

I finally decided on The Royal-Playa Del Carmen and my wedding date is May 28th 2012! I am so excited! I was wondering how your guests booked their flights and rooms. I have been looking online for deals but the airfare is so high right now. I have contacted a few travel agents but havent seen much more of a deal for my guests. What do you guys recommend? Book online or go through a travel agent for only flights or flights + hotel. Also what have you been quoted for jr. suite? The quote I received seems a little high. Right now its going to cost over $2000 for 2 people. Also do you guys recommend a specific company for airport taxi?

 

Thanks so much! This site is great!!!!
 

~MrsJohns2be

 

[Lisa DSO]

 

 

Originally Posted by ChicagoBride2011 

 

Hi ladies, I like to sneak on here every once in a while to see what's new.  I miss wedding planning SOOOOO bad!

 

I hope everyone's planning is going good and to the new brides... welcome!!  I don't know what I woud have done without this forum!

 

I'm going to post my review hopefully in the next day or two, better late than never!

 

 

Haha I just did the same too!

 

Hi girls!

 

[kellygrrrl]

hi lisa!! we've missed you. : ) any advice for us? what to do/what not to do now that you have perspective on the whole thing? : )

 

Originally Posted by Lisa DSO 

Haha I just did the same too!

 

Hi girls!

 

 

[missbizzybee]

Hi, Brides!  Believe it or not, my fiance told me I should take a look at this site for some tips; joined about 5 minutes ago and am already hooked!  We are getting married at The Royal Playa del Carmen on May 12, 2012 and are expecting 70-110 guests!

 

While getting married is certainly exciting, I feel like I am SO behind in planning because between managing my health, my demanding job, my 3 hour commute each day...it's so hard!  So I can definitely use all the help you can offer.  I have a pretty definitive idea of what I want, but it takes a bit long to get concrete answers from the wedding coordinator.  Anyone else have this experience? 

 

I'm looking for a specific look to our wedding, which means I may have to bring my own decorations (i.e. table runners, candle holders, etc.) in addition to guest welcome bags, guest wedding favors, wedding party gifts, etc.  The Royal mentioned they do not allow you to send anything before your wedding (due to customs, things getting lost, not having space).  Anyone else checking in a lot of stuff?

 

We booked our photographer (Claudia at Claudia Studio) and are planning on also having a live photo booth at our Pelicanos Beach reception (lovethebooth.com).  Still looking for a videographer (can't believe how things are quickly adding up)!  

 

I sent out save-the-dates and have asked for a "pre-RSVP" by December 1st since the wedding is coming up quickly (and again, I'm way behind). I also wanted to give guests the opportunity to utilize our group rate at the resort; we booked a block of 50 rooms through our travel agent.  My guests probably think I'm pretty rude at this point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyone have any invitation or dress ideas?  The bridesmaids have already ordered or received their dresses, and I haven't even looked!

 

Anyway, just thought I'd introduce myself and am looking forward to sharing ideas!!!

 

- Jenn

[kellygrrrl]

hi jenn - congratulations and welcome!! we're getting married around the same time (mine is may 5), so we'll probably see each other at the resort!

 

on here, you'll find entire threads dedicated to dresses, centerpieces, etc. unfortunately, it will take time to go through them, but it's sort of a rite of passage. just pour a nice glass of wine and look back through the past hundred pages or so. that will give you a great summary. 

 

to address a few of your questions:

* yes, it often takes awhile to get answers from the off-site wedding coordinator. however, many of your questions have probably been posted here before.

* yes, brides who are bringing their own decorations usually check a lot of baggage. they also often split up the load between their family and wedding party.

* my fav videographer is http://www.playaweddings.com/

* the STD's look great - very professional!!

* re dresses, there's a forum on here with a few hundred pages (show us your dress), but you're probably better off just going to try them on. especially because you're running pretty close to the 6 month mark. (don't panic, lots of stores like David's still sell off the rack. others, however, need 6 - 8 months to order one).
 

pls message me if you'd like the royal FAQ I've assembled, and welcome again!!

 

Originally Posted by missbizzybee 

Hi, Brides!  Believe it or not, my fiance told me I should take a look at this site for some tips; joined about 5 minutes ago and am already hooked!  We are getting married at The Royal Playa del Carmen on May 12, 2012 and are expecting 70-110 guests!

 

While getting married is certainly exciting, I feel like I am SO behind in planning because between managing my health, my demanding job, my 3 hour commute each day...it's so hard!  So I can definitely use all the help you can offer.  I have a pretty definitive idea of what I want, but it takes a bit long to get concrete answers from the wedding coordinator.  Anyone else have this experience? 

 

I'm looking for a specific look to our wedding, which means I may have to bring my own decorations (i.e. table runners, candle holders, etc.) in addition to guest welcome bags, guest wedding favors, wedding party gifts, etc.  The Royal mentioned they do not allow you to send anything before your wedding (due to customs, things getting lost, not having space).  Anyone else checking in a lot of stuff?

 

We booked our photographer (Claudia at Claudia Studio) and are planning on also having a live photo booth at our Pelicanos Beach reception (lovethebooth.com).  Still looking for a videographer (can't believe how things are quickly adding up)!  

 

I sent out save-the-dates and have asked for a "pre-RSVP" by December 1st since the wedding is coming up quickly (and again, I'm way behind). I also wanted to give guests the opportunity to utilize our group rate at the resort; we booked a block of 50 rooms through our travel agent.  My guests probably think I'm pretty rude at this point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyone have any invitation or dress ideas?  The bridesmaids have already ordered or received their dresses, and I haven't even looked!

 

Anyway, just thought I'd introduce myself and am looking forward to sharing ideas!!!

 

- Jenn

 

[Lisa DSO]

 

 

Originally Posted by kellygrrrl 

 

hi lisa!! we've missed you. : ) any advice for us? what to do/what not to do now that you have perspective on the whole thing? : )

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi kel! <3

 

• I wish I would have had my photographer take pics of just me (i dont have any ).
• Delegate family members to carry different things in their suitcases so that you are not bogged down with all of your decorations and such.
• Definitely steal your new husband away during the reception to have a quiet moment together to take everything in (I pulled him away toward the water and we watched all of our loved ones laughing and dancing)
• If you can get an oceanfront room, I HIGHLY recommend-especially the 5th floor corner above gazebo (see my review in my sig for more on this)
• I do wish they had better lighting under the tables for outside. I had seen pics where they were very obvious and lit up, mine were not.
• Buy more rose petals than you think (if you want to cover the walkway up to gazebo or alter- I bought 4 bags of each color and it wasn't nearly enough!)
• You will not be sorry hiring DJ Doremixx
• Try your hardest to do a TTD session- it's so unique and people will be blown away by it (most don't even know they exist)
• definitely do the IN-SUITE couples massage!
• I would recommend at least looking at the resort photographer photos (especially if you get free frames in your package), because they are so used to taking pics at this resort, they know how to capture some really good shots- especially at gazebo
• get the light up dance floor
• if you can afford him, get Fernando Fuentes (make up pros)...it was so nice having makeup/hair done in room

 

That's all I can think of for now. It really was a dream wedding for us and went better than we could have imagined. The resort itself is incredible (get chef's plate if you can). Zulma is so sweet and attentive

 

Everyone has made the right choice!

 

 

[kshows03]

Hey!  I got married at the Royal PDC last February and we will be going back the last week of May.  I will get to check your wedding out!  =)  For the girls who are stressing....I promise things get easier as soon as you get that on-sit coordinator.  They have more authority and just get it done.  Seriously...I was skeptical that mine had a clue what she was doing...but in the end, after a 30 minutes meeting upon arrival...it ALL went PERFECTLY.

[deniden]

Hi ladies!

 

Just checking in to see how everyone is doing!

 

My planning is kind of "stalled" until we get a bit closer. I'm trying to make a "to-do" list so I can keep track of everything. I'm patiently waiting to hear when my dress comes in so I can go see it!!!

 

- Get guys' measured and order their suits in December

- Go dress shopping for my MOH (we are only doing 1 & 1)

- Order my veil

- OOT bags

- Vistaprint projects

- Photograph list for wedding day

- Favors

- Placecards (order luminarias from Etsy, buy votive candle holders & LED lights)

- Guestbook

 

Hope everyone is doing well!!!

 

Denielle

[Matt Adcock]

We recently shot a wedding at the Royal in PDC that included a VERY SPECIAL element, one that makes it so unique that I have personally never witnessed it in my career.   After the Vanessa & Greg got married, Her mom and dad walked down the isle to do a Vow Renewal...  WOW, this has to be one of the most emotional families and the photos tell their story. 

Don't miss this one, it may even make you emotional... Here is their slideshow and we feature images plus her testimonial that gave me goose bumps on our blog post at del Sol.

 

Here are a few of my favorites from Vanessa & Greg's wedding:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hope you enjoy   This one gave me goosebumps, totally...

 

[Andrea434]

Looking at those beautiful pictures just made me so excited and grateful that I will soon be having my wedding there