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

[sarah_prieb]

Okay, I have things to say/ questions about a lot of the recent posts. Who is Laura? Is she new to the group, or did she replace somebody? I've never heard of her and I got married 8-14-08.

 

Shay2679- I want to say that I loved Elizabeth Medina and I am more than thrilled that I picked her. I thought she was the only one out there that was THAT good. I looked at your link and that photographer was very artistic. I had never heard that name before so I never checked it out. If you got a good deal, then you are one lucky girl! Congrats on the good find! I would also like to say that we decided to get married at home as well. It was the best idea we had. It took the pressure off and we got to have people do whatever readings we chose and everything flowed beautifully. It wasn't chopped up because of what we were allowed to do during the actual ceremony itself, and then just kind of attach the other stuff at the end.

 

TO EVERYONE: I thought destination weddings were supposed to be stress free!?!?!? I too am a planner. I too had issues with contacting the Royal for final details. When I finally got a hold of them, they told me that we would discuss all the details when I got there. Just like all of you. As everything you have read before has said, things went off without a hitch. Things were better than I had imagined. All of a sudden, I realized how much time I wasted worrying. One of these days I'll learn how to let go.

 

I guess that is it for now.

[Marianna]

thanks sarah_prieb for coming all us future royal brides down. can you explain one thing to me. you come there and show them pictures of the flowers that you wanted and they were done the following day or did you send them pictures before? also, did you have your menu picked out before you got there? i didnt even get ceremony or reception options. i know there is the beach, gazebo, garden and the ballroom where the events take place...but that it. i guess i should just take a deep breathe and go with the flow.

also, i wanted elizabeth medina but she is taken that day. we are really considering with going with cecilia dumas. any thoughts?

[violetmal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by khowell15 Actually, Angie is who I've been communicating with the most too. I've asked a ton of random questions and she always gets and answer for me and pretty timely. If she doesn't know the answer she emails the WC's and finds out or speaks with the head of the WC department. I also wanted to ask if anyone on here has (previous Royal brides) or plans to get a DJ for their reception. If so, who have you or do you plan to use? We are planning on having a mariachi band for the ceremony/cocktail hour but wanted some fun dance music for the evening. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I'm not sure if the Royal has someone they typically use either.

We are planning on using a DJ for the reception. We are just getting whoever the hotel uses - it is $900.

[Shay2679]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarah_prieb Okay, I have things to say/ questions about a lot of the recent posts. Who is Laura? Is she new to the group, or did she replace somebody? I've never heard of her and I got married 8-14-08.

I've never heard of Laura either. Just wanted to toss that out there!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarah_prieb Shay2679- I want to say that I loved Elizabeth Medina and I am more than thrilled that I picked her. I thought she was the only one out there that was THAT good. I looked at your link and that photographer was very artistic. I had never heard that name before so I never checked it out. If you got a good deal, then you are one lucky girl! Congrats on the good find!

First off...thank you! Hearing you say that you think the work Rachel has displayed is even near the artistry of Elizabeth...makes me KNOW I made the right choice!! That is what I love about Elizabeth's work!! She captures such lovely, artsy shots...I really think Rachel is THAT good! I can't wait to see what she is able to come up with. I heard about Paul & Rachel through reading one of Matt & Sol's threads. Matt & Sol photographed Paul & Rachel's wedding, and they are friends. I watched some of Paul's wedding videography, and was SO excited to find out Rachel had just started to delve into the world of wedding photography, and that they were now offering that as a service. Playaweddings is actually going to be updating the photo section soon...and I can't wait. They've done two other weddings recently, so that is really exciting. Plus...I DID get an amazing rate!! I'm so excited to meet her!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarah_prieb TO EVERYONE: I thought destination weddings were supposed to be stress free!?!?!? I too am a planner. I too had issues with contacting the Royal for final details. When I finally got a hold of them, they told me that we would discuss all the details when I got there. Just like all of you. As everything you have read before has said, things went off without a hitch. Things were better than I had imagined. All of a sudden, I realized how much time I wasted worrying. One of these days I'll learn how to let go. I guess that is it for now.

I'm very TYPE A also...a planner, a list maker! I like to know everything WAY before it happens...but surprisingly (though in the beginning this wasn't the case)...I've really mellowed out! Ok...a little bit. Well, I don't email every week now!

haha...

It takes time, but I have learned that in Mexico...the big hand and the little hand move A LOT slower than they do here... I'm okay with that!

[sarah_prieb]

As far as the flowers go, we looked at there book of flowers when we got there. You didn't have to pick out one of the bouquets that were already pre-made. You could mix and match any of the flowers that you see. I was kind of bummed because i wanted calla lillies but they were not in season while we were there. We could have gotten them, but at a hefty price. I ended up getting white lillies and deep purple irises. You really do get a large selection. I will have my husband post our menu choices when he gets home. I don't know where he has that stored in his laptop. We personally had decided on the menu before we arrived, but the Royal didn't know anything about our choices until 2 days before our wedding. We had a vegetarian with us as well, and it was no problem for them to fix something special for him. Ceremony options....We used the gazebo. I was thrilled with our choice because we had shade, which meant nobody was squinting in the sun for pictures.

[Roahrig]

For any previous brides, how many days in advance did you arrive at the resort before the wedding? I am having some flight scheduling issues, and as of right now, my TA has me arriving the day before the wedding. Is that going to be enough time to get everything done??

 

I tried to get ahold of zulma to find out....but you know how that goes.....

 

Thanks!!

[Shay2679]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roahrig For any previous brides, how many days in advance did you arrive at the resort before the wedding? I am having some flight scheduling issues, and as of right now, my TA has me arriving the day before the wedding. Is that going to be enough time to get everything done?? I tried to get ahold of zulma to find out....but you know how that goes..... Thanks!!

I'm assuming that you are having a symbolic (NON-legal) ceremony, as you legally have to be there well in advance (4 business days) of the big day!

I don't want to alarm you in case I have my information wrong, or the rules have changed...but Micaela told me, even though we too were having a symbolic ceremony, we had to be there 3 full days (including weekend) before the wedding. You will probably want to call and have this confirmed.

Just to answer your question though, our party is arriving Sunday and the wedding is Thursday (departing following Sunday).

Let us know, cause...now I'm curious if that rule has changed at all...

[Shay2679]

Hey girls...

 

I'm also wondering something else...and its probably a silly question to ANYONE out there who has really even travelled before, but...I'm gonna ask anyways.

 

I know that I will forward Micaela/the Royal a 50% payment (not sure how to arrange it...) a few months prior to the wedding (I'm assuming in the New Year)...and then...do I pay the balance when I am at the resort? Is it added to my check-out process/bill? What form of payment should I anticipate having to bring to make sure I'm able to pay the...few thousand for the wedding/room/etc? Did you tip your WC seperatly?

 

I'm lame. I've hardly travelled at all, and not outside of Canada. I have no idea the expectations of the whole paying thing!

 

Any advice or help in that area, would be great...

 

Oh, and anyone who has used the online check-in...I'm going to be in charge of it for my whole group of ten, so ... if you have any advice, or instructions, that would be FABULOUS!

[Roahrig]

I tried calling... no luck. We are also doing the symbolic ceremony. I didn't realize you had to be there at least 3 days in advance though! I may have to try and move the wedding back 2 days to make it work, I don't know if they will do that or not?? If I don't book with my TA soon, I am going to loose the rate I was quoted and have to pay quite a bit more. I know most of you are dealing with the communication problems also, but it is frustrating when you need something and can't get a response.

 

I am feeling like I should have started the planning process earlier....I am hoping things go a bit more smoothly after this is all worked out.

 

 

Oh, Laura is the Wedding Manager. I dealt with her to book my date while Zulma was on vacation.

[sarah_prieb]

We arrived on Saturday and got married on Thursday. That worked out perfectly. Our group left the Saturday after the ceremony and then we stayed another week. It was glorious! The first week went by so fast since we had all of our friends and family there. The second week we just relaxed....no planning dinners with people, etc. We got to eat when we felt hungry! Such a novel idea. As far as the online check in is concerned, the first time we tried, we were having issues. We gave it a break and then tried again and we were successful. We ended up getting room 255. We had a beautiful view of the pool and the ocean. It was also nice because if we wanted to run up to our room for something, it was quite convenient. The bathrooms by the pool aren't bad early on, but later in the day, they get kind of gross. I used our bathroom almost all of the time....especially when I had to....well, you know. Everyone else in our group was having major issues with the online check in. They just gave up on it and did it when they got to the resort.