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

[bride2bdebbie]

Congratulations Jenny, your pictures are beautiful... you look so relaxed and happy in every pic!
 

Originally Posted by Jenny310 

Hi Ladies!

 

Sorry I haven't been on in a while, I hope everyone's holidays are going great! I have my church ceremony here next Saturday so I've been busy with that. I'm halfway done with my review so hopefully I'll have it up soon.

 

I wanted to share some good news, I got my pro pictures last week and they are now posted on his blog. I must say that Victor Herrera is amazing and I am soo happy to have hired him. He is super sweet and extremely artistic. If you are looking for a wedding photograher I encourage you to check him out.

 

so here's the link to his blog (we are the post for Dec 30th):

http://www.victorherrera.com.mx/blog/

 

and he has more pics on facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=261931&id=101847417414

 

 

If you want to request me on fb I have a ton of pics on there from the wedding and vacation.

 

Hope you like them! Once I get the video trailer I'll post the link for that too. We used Steve Cantrall for video and they were also amazing to work with!

[MyPaperProposal]

It's so nice to see so many February brides!   I'm getting married on Feb 5th, and also have had Claudy as my planner...I actually paid off my balance last week, and she told me that she'd be introducing me to the new wedding coordinator onsite this week once she has "double checked everything" one more time. 

 

One suggestion for basecamp that may help...Claudy once told me that if you create a new message on the site, they sometimes don't get an alert that you sent anything.  It's best to just keep replying to the same message...I guess they always get an email alerting them to your reply when you do it that way. 

 

~ Sarah

 

2.5.11

The Royal Playa Del Carmen, Mexico

[Kelfrecks]

Thanks Michelle! I think I will call them tomorrow to see what is going on. And you're definitely right about the DIY flower being an added stress on what should be a relaxing day. Luckily my mom and her sisters want to do that part, so I guess I'm ok with that. Plus, I know they'll do a good job! But will definitely keep that in mind. Thanks for the encouragement with the frustrating part of this. I truly believe it will all turn out great (thanks to reading this thread), but my gosh, it's easy to get caught up in the details now!

[msglave]

Hey Ladies! Happy New Year! It's back to work and the world of craziness for me! I wanted to share our photos our photographer's blog with you--

 

http://www.victorherrera.com.mx/blog/?p=2230
 

Also, I read the last couple of pages and am going to address questions/comments I missed:

Originally Posted by kshows03 

According to my wedding coordinator you don't need to pay an outside vendor fee for make up or hair....can anyone else confirm this?

My WC told me that I HAD to pay, but I knew several ladies on the forum did not. I took Jesmcan's advice. I didn't mention it to the WC. I booked the trials/appt. times with the vendors, went downstairs about 30 min. early to let the security know and waited around. I had no problem with this. They take the ID of the vendor and give them some sort of pass that they must return when they leave in order to get their ID back. Piece of cake and best yet, NO EXTRA CHARGE!!!
 

 

Originally Posted by ChicagoBride2011 

Quote:

Originally Posted by kshows03 

According to my wedding coordinator you don't need to pay an outside vendor fee for make up or hair....can anyone else confirm this?

I was told I would have to pay an outside vendor fee, haha.  Ahhhhhh its crazy that we all get different answers.

 

Past brides how did you get away with not paying it????  heeeelllllpppppp

 

YAY!!! How did it turn out? I've emailed them a couple of times requesting corrections, but overall, it's pretty decent.
 

Originally Posted by Lisa DSO 

Happy New Year!

 

 

p.s. I got my wedding video yesterday- yay!

 

Thank you Heid! Congrats on finding your dress!

Originally Posted by Heidi82 

CONGRATS to msglave, araceli and jenny!!!!  You all looked great on your big day!   How wonderful to ring in the new year married!  I am so excited for 2011!!!

 

I went wedding dress shopping on Thursday and found my dress!  I was nervous and sweating when I got there...I don't know why...it ended up being a fun experience!

 

JHarris - I went dress shopping at Venturas near 610 and Yale.  It's pretty close to where I live and I have had a few friends find their dresses there so I figured I would have pretty good luck.  The only thing is that they told me NOT to get my alterations there.  They had issues with them.  So I'm going to ask around and find an alterations person in Houston.  Do you know of anyone or anywhere?

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! 

Thanks! I didn't want to do my own makeup so I booked him. I'm so happy you waited! I know the girls speak very highly of Fernando's makeup. I'm not sure about his experience with AA brides but you could check into it. You could get your correct foundation colors from MAC before you leave home so you know your shade. Jes had suggested that I have them makeup my face at home, take pics and have them complete a face chart of what colors they used and have it reproduced in MX. There's a MAC on 5th or you could use Norma from MAC in Cancun (Di used her). At least you will know your colors are right and you have a solid plan.

Originally Posted by diahr 

OMG MSGLAVE!!!! I am so sorry to hear about what happened with Adriane.  I was waiting for your review before I booked him.  Thank God for your girls! So glad that your quick plan of action worked out.  My wedding is 3 mos out so now we have to fiind a new makeup option that will work.  Me and my bridesmaids are African American as well and we are all different shades.  Again, so sorry about the makeup issues. I am glad it didn't ruin your day!
 

 

The amount of $ for the extended rental is too much. You could have his best man or another groomsmen return his suit when they come back (which will probably be before you guys?) I did find out that is supposed to be the best man's "duty." My husband ordered suits from Studio. He had them lined to prevent sweat marks and being able to see through them and they worked out great. I will say that almost all of the guys had to get their suits altered. We were scared that some of them wouldn't be able to fit. The shirts (that my husband ordered seperately) were too tight and Studio stopped responding to his emails. He bought shirts at home. Luckily, the suits ended up fitting after the alterations and all of the men looked AMAZING!!!!!!
 

Originally Posted by diahr 

Hey Ladies - I am getting married in April and my FI still has not picked out his suit. I am not sure if my FI can rent a suit and bring it to and from Mexico without issue.  He asked me about this and I had no idea.  We live in New Jersey (USA - for my UK / Canadian / Island / and anyone that I missed -brides).  Can the other 2011 brides or past brides shed some light on this?

 

Thanks a bunch!

 

I was the queen of being upset! You should have whatever menus you like etc. If you book a DJ Dorremix is the one they will book for you. You can book him independently and pay no vendor's fee. Also, you can give him a list of songs and he will have it already for you. Choose whatever menu you like and anything else from the forms they sent you (if you don't have them, let one of us know and we'll send them to you) and email them to your WC. They will HONOR whatever you want and turn your day into your dream wedding. It may also be quicker to ask your burning questions here. By the end of the month, your WC will be borderline stalking you for info, lol!

Originally Posted by Kelfrecks 

These discussions are so incredibly helpful to me! We booked our wedding at The Royal PDC last July and are getting married February 19th of this year... it's so soon! At first the slow replies from the wedding team didn't bother me too much, but now its really starting to frustrate me! We have 35 people coming and staying at the Royal and with our wedding less than 50 days away, we still have no other decisions made besides when and where our ceremony and reception are. My WC is Jael. Does anyone else have her and if so, are you able to get a response to your questions in a decent time frame? Or anyone have any suggestions for trying to get some of the other details planned? 

 

I have questions about almost every aspect - from flowers to time frame to DJ to food. HELP! 

 

Also, for flowers, we were thinking of ordering bulk from SAM'S club and then just going to pick them up and wrap the bouquets ourselves while getting ready the morning of the wedding. Has anyone else done this or recommend doing this? Thank you so much!

Kelly

The rest of these, either I already addressed or has similar questions so I'm going to address them in one post.

 

Seriously, I recommend going through Maya Diseno for flowers. I had been emailing the early part of last year and never ordered the flowers from Marvin. My aunt, who is a florist, told me that she would do all of the flowers. Anyway, she came the day before the wedding and basically said it was too late for her to do them (although she had told me not to worry). We ended up going to our WC and ordering 5 bridesmaid boq, 7 bout, and 2 wrist corsages and flowers for our centerpieces the night before the wedding. I thank God they were able to do them, but seriously, we were out of so much extra money.

 

Also, we didn't get to spend a lot of time with our guests because we were out trying to pick up last minute stuff (for centerpieces, etc) and were constantly worried about our flowers. If I had to do it all over again, I will LIMIT the amount of tasks that I had to do when I got there or that I had to assign to other people. I seriously ended up being stressed out at the last minute after spending 2 years planning. I would have EVERYTHING DONE at least 1 month before the wedding and do nothing but lay on the beach after that!!!

 

Good luck 2011 brides. Let me know if you have any other questions I can assist you with!
 

 

Originally Posted by diahr 

Thanks for the feedback about Men's Wearhouse! Of course I got all excited, thinking that I had found a solution.  I know this may sound stupid, but does the linen come in heavier grades of fabric? I am asking because I attended a beach wedding last summer where the guys wore linen. It was hot and they sweated like pigs at a bonfire. The linen color that they wore was light, so they had these huge wet spots in random place where the sweat gathered. I wondered if it was because the linen fabric was cheap????

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by kshows03 

Diahr - we checked out Men's Wearhouse as well, but for the price to rent for the time frame we needed it (7+ days) it was actually the same as just buying the stupid thing.  Really dumb in my opinion, but most places charge per day.  We actually odered my fiance's suit online from SudioSuits.com.  They have $99 mixed linen suits with a few different options in color.  As long as you measure him properly, its a really good deal.

 

 

Kelfrecks - My wedding is Feb 12th, and we are wrapping up all final payments and have chosen everything that we want.  Sounds like your coordinator is a little behind.  As long as you are pretty decisive on what you want, it shouldn't be a problem, but your coordinator should send you a list of several document attachments for you to look through.  I would really get on her if I were you.

 

 

Originally Posted by diahr 

Hey Kelly,

 

Try not to worry. I didn't know there was a Sam's club in Mexico.  What time is your wedding? That might be a lot of travel for you on the day of your wedding unless the wedding is late.  Have you tried reaching out to Marvin from Mayan Diseno Floral? He's an outside vendor and his prices are way cheaper than the Royal's. A lot of girls on here have used him. Also, you can have someone meet him in the lobby of the Royal to pick up the flowers and avoid the vendor fee.  The only catch is that you have to pay him in cash.  PM me and I will send you his contact info or you may be able to find it by doing a search for "Marvin" in this thread.

 

DJ - A lot people use DOREMIXX.  He is also a Royal vendor you don't have to pay the vendor fee.  That's like $800 and out of my budget, so I think we will be using an Ipod.  The Royal will provide the sound system but you have to pay someone there to operate it.  I think that cost is $80.

 

Decorations - The royal does provide chair sashes for rentals in a variety of colors but they're expensive at $3 USD each.  I bought 50 for half of that from Raza linens (I got them on sale).  PM me if you need the sash colors that the Royal provides.  Are you doing an aisle runner? The Royal provides one in red and burlap I think.  I am doing just rose petals (got those from Marvin to at $10/bag.

 

Also - if you go to the Royal weddings website, you can click on downloads under Packages & Services and it will show you an itemized list of what's available.  Are you on basecamp? That's the site where I email my WC - Andrea. She's very responsive.  WeddingChannel.com has some great checklists for you to look at so you know what's missing and what questions you should be asking.

 

Ask as many questios as you need to here. Everyone is very helpful!

 

Originally Posted by Kelfrecks 

Thanks Michelle! I think I will call them tomorrow to see what is going on. And you're definitely right about the DIY flower being an added stress on what should be a relaxing day. Luckily my mom and her sisters want to do that part, so I guess I'm ok with that. Plus, I know they'll do a good job! But will definitely keep that in mind. Thanks for the encouragement with the frustrating part of this. I truly believe it will all turn out great (thanks to reading this thread), but my gosh, it's easy to get caught up in the details now!

[msglave]

HAHAHA!!!! JENNY, I've been looking at your photos FORRRRRREEEVVVERRRRR and never realized that was you! You looked absolutely gorgeous!

[kshows03]

Kelfrecks - the suit is actually a linen/cotton blend.  It is light, but study enought to not be a big wrinkly mess like pure linen is.  We got his lined as well for an extra 7-10 dollars I think.  The material is very good for the price. There is a whole blog on here for Studio Suits purchases so I would read up on that as well.  My fiance got his altered some too when we got it in so it was perfect as well as we ordered the pants 3 inches longer so we could get the hemmed.  All in all it was about $160-$175 - but you cant beat that in a store unless you get something on clearance.

[Bride2B22]

You looked so beautiful on your wedding day!! wow i love the pics!
 

Originally Posted by msglave 

HAHAHA!!!! JENNY, I've been looking at your photos FORRRRRREEEVVVERRRRR and never realized that was you! You looked absolutely gorgeous!

[diahr]

You looked beautiful Raveyn! Your makeup came out nice. I have alreay been in touch with Norma and I am 99% sure that I will book her. You guys looked like you had so much fun. I liked the guys' suits. Going to studio suits now and will skip right over the shirts. Thanks!

[Lisa DSO]

Did anyone else do a rehearsal dinner at La Tortuga/El Bistro rooftop (besides me and Jess)? We had such a blast there and the manager and waiters were so fun!

[diahr]

I wanted to do it so bad Lisa, but it was out of the budget. Do you mind me asking how much it ended up costing you and how many people you had? Maybe I can sell my car or something to live the dream (lol!)
 

Originally Posted by Lisa DSO 

Did anyone else do a rehearsal dinner at La Tortuga/El Bistro rooftop (besides me and Jess)? We had such a blast there and the manager and waiters were so fun!