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

[LuckyGal4]

SparksFly-- Including my FI and I there are 40 of us... Just think that there will be more room on the dance floor for you and your guests to get down!! OMG I have alot too, Trey said that he will be lucky if he gets enough room to pack his swim trunks and some underwear lol. We will be there for 10 days and I am planning on getting everything into 4 suitcases. Im actually gonna put all my wedding stuff in a suitcase tonight and see if it will all fit into 1 (fingers crossed!!) Oh geez my planning thread is all sorts of scattered!! I kinda wish that I would have waited so that it would flow nice but oh well at least I got all the info on there (guess that is the most important thing) Cant wait to see your pics!!

 

SO SO SO Excited too

[ralexa2]

Originally Posted by missbizzybee 

 

Hello, Fellow Brides!  

 

First of all, congratulations to everyone who got married in May!  I browsed through some photos, and you ladies look absolutely stunning!!!  

 

I just returned from our INCREDIBLE wedding at The Royal PDC on May 12th and honeymoon around the Riviera Maya and feel like I have SO much to report on!  If I could relive our wedding in Playa ten times over again, I would!  There was so much love, happy tears, laughter, hugs, kisses, dancing, partying, meaningful exchanges of well-wishes, etc.  We had a huge audience for both the ceremony at the Gazebo and at the reception at Pelicanos Beach; it was so nice to have strangers come up to us, telling us how touched they were by our wedding vows (some even re-telling the story of how we met in high school) and what a ball we were having at the reception.  For all the future brides, I can't stress how important it is to take a step back with your husband during the reception to soak it all in because time sure does fly!

 

In summary, we had the following:

• Wednesday - Dinner at Maria Marie, Cocktails at the Tequileria & Cigar Bar, Dancing in Downtown PDC at Mandala
• Thursday - Private Catamaran for 26 people including half-day of Snorkeling, Dinner at Spice, Cocktails at the Tequileria & Cigar Bar, Dancing in Downtown PDC at Coco Maya (here are pictures of the catamaran/snorkeling tour: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.178323835630675.36469.100003591791826&type=3)
• Friday - Welcome/Rehearsal Cocktail Hour for 70 guests at the Sol and Mar Ballrooms (international open bar, hot & cold hors d'oeuvres), Dinner at Asiana, Dancing in Downtown PDC at Blue Parrot (also watched the fire show)
• Saturday - Wedding Ceremony at the Gazebo, Cocktail Hour at the Gazebo Garden, Reception at Pelicanos Beach, After-Party at Coco Bongo
• Sunday - Farewell Brunch at Pelicanos Restaurant

 

If you call ahead of time, the restaurants will section off a part of the restaurant to accommodate your guests.  I think since we had a pretty big guest list, the resort was VERY accommodating to us and made sure we were well-taken care of and that our guests were happy.  I can help answer any questions on this and get more specific.  

 

In order to help our guests communicate, we invited everyone to a Facebook Group Page for our wedding and added each event to the page.  It served as a great forum for everyone (who left wifi on their phones while turning cellular data off) to follow what we were up to, any changes to scheduling, for guests to get in touch with one another, to ask questions, etc.  As our guests arrived, they simply logged onto the page to see what the latest and greatest was...could see the latest status update as "We are currently at Pelicanos Restaurant - come and meet us, and we'll be drinking at the pool after!" or "Come to Room 991 to pick up your Welcome Bag & Brochure!"  Finally, I had custom drawstring bags made with a design I created in Adobe Illustrator (says "I partied like a pinata and got smashed!") filled with various travel goodies I get for free at my job at Johnson & Johnson (i.e. Aveeno sunblock, Neutrogena face wash, Clean & Clear body wash, Korres makeup, Bandaids, Neosporin, Benadryl, etc.).  I also made welcome brochures outlining the wedding week timeline (among other things) to help guests navigate their way through the week. Our guests mentioned the Facebook Page and Brochures were a HUGE help (not to mention they loved the bags & goodies and used them at the beach)!

 

I will definitely share our professional photos and video when those come in, but my uncle/godfather sent our family a pretty good summary of our wedding along with some photos from family/friends' cameras/phones (see attached).  One of the many highlights of our wedding was when my husband, Mark, did the garter removal (and a ridiculously-inappropriate accompanying dance) to his song-of-choice: Rick James' "Super Freak"...I just love that someone captured this on video because this is what I have to live with every night!

 

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=3206432476591&set=o.224700187636439&type=3&theater

 

We also had an incredibly meaningful ending to the night with our last song ("We Are Young" by Fun):

 

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=3205231406565&set=t.100003591791826&type=3&theater

 

Anyway, more to report on later, but just wanted to check in and let all the future brides know that everything will be wonderful!!!  You are getting married at a beautiful venue (all of our guests were so impressed with the venue selection) where fun is absolutely guaranteed.  My biggest word of advice is to have your day-of timeline buttoned up and to meet with your DJ, wedding coordinator, photographer, videographer to go through every last detail of the timeline.  If you ladies need any help with anything or would like me to send over any files, I would be more than happy to help!!!

 

Enjoy all the planning because life will seem so suddenly incomplete when it ends! 

 

Jenn

 

Thank you so much! This is all so helpful. I am stressing, as we have 80 people coming and not much figured out. But we are doing a 2 hour welcome reception at pelecanos, ceremony at the Gazebo and reception on the beach.

I love the Facebook idea. I debated doing the Catamaran and haven't booked it because I was worried it would be a lot of things planned for such a short time. How did you go about planning it and was it worth it? I cant wait to see your photos. Also, how many other weddings were on your wedding day? There are going to be two there's besides mine and it worries me.

One more thing, did you use one of the packages, or do a-la-cart? We have 80 ppl and dont care about chocolate/massages so we are going a-la-cart, but I wonder it it saves money at all with larger groups.

 

thanks again!

Rachel

[rsosadpt]

Originally Posted by mae1564 

 

Hey Ladies,

 

I'm looking for some ideas and need help! Since we are doing our reception at an outside restaurant (Wickys) and it will be more of a dinner than a reception, I was thinking of doing a slideshow/video for our guests. I was thinking of starting with baby pictures of us and show us growing up to the time we met. I don't really know where to start and would love any ideas you want to share!

 

 

 

Hi!

 

We have created a slide show to play during the reception when guests are eating or until the DJ makes us switch the mode. Also, we plan on bringing our digital frame to place at the the sign-in table with the same slide show. We've put everything just like you have in mind without focusing on too many solo pictures, instead including all 94 guests as group pictures we have taken throughout the years. I used some pictures family and friends have on facebook, some I had, and requested guests to email me pictures. I can't remember exactly what the projector rent fee is, maybe $250, but I know there is a fee. However, guess this fee doesn't really pertain to your case, but just helpful info for other brides. We are taking our own projector and Ipad (and laptop as back up) and will be using a wall in the ballroom since our reception will be inside. If you don't have a projector you may want to price them and see if buying one is more cost effective than renting one anywhere. Another option is purchasing a large digital frame which also cost a couple 100usd I think. So if the whole projector idea is wiped out I will have the digital frame and/or vice versa. Hope this is helpful!

[mae1564]

Originally Posted by rsosadpt 

 

 

 

 

Hi!

 

We have created a slide show to play during the reception when guests are eating or until the DJ makes us switch the mode. Also, we plan on bringing our digital frame to place at the the sign-in table with the same slide show. We've put everything just like you have in mind without focusing on too many solo pictures, instead including all 94 guests as group pictures we have taken throughout the years. I used some pictures family and friends have on facebook, some I had, and requested guests to email me pictures. I can't remember exactly what the projector rent fee is, maybe $250, but I know there is a fee. However, guess this fee doesn't really pertain to your case, but just helpful info for other brides. We are taking our own projector and Ipad (and laptop as back up) and will be using a wall in the ballroom since our reception will be inside. If you don't have a projector you may want to price them and see if buying one is more cost effective than renting one anywhere. Another option is purchasing a large digital frame which also cost a couple 100usd I think. So if the whole projector idea is wiped out I will have the digital frame and/or vice versa. Hope this is helpful!

 

Would you be willing to let me see your slideshow for ideas? If not it's okay, I've seen them before its just been a looooong time. 94 guests? Wow, that is so awesome that many people are coming with you! We have 9 I was thinking today of showing pictures of me with my MOH and him with his BM as we are growing up. The only other people coming with us are parents and an aunt and uncle, so it won't be too hard to incorporate pictures of everyone. My email is mae1564 at hotmail if you don't want to post it anywhere on here, thanks!

[rsosadpt]

Originally Posted by LibbyU21 

 

Hi guys!

 

For those of you that have already had your weddings (congrats!) what entrees did you choose and do you have any photos of them?  I'm thinking of choosing the beef fillet w/ Dijon mustard and Provencal herbs and the chicken Casablanca stuffed with seafood.  We're definitely going to have the beef as an option, but I'm only 50% sure we should go with the chicken.  I kind of just feel like you need to have a chicken option...

 

I have to make the decision asap since I'm working on the proof for my invites!

 

Hope I am not too late! I have not had my wedding yet, 25 days and counting, but did a site inspection and food tasting for my reception dinner in January with my Mom and Aunt. My FI and I jumped on printing invitations and RSVPs for Beef and Salmon before tasting the food which was a mistake. Not because the Salmon did not taste good but because the Chicken was amazing! As soon as I got home, I had the RSVPs re-printed and was so worth it!

 

See pictures below. If I would have had my choice without tasting I would have chosen Salmon & Chicken b/c I seldom eat red meat, but had to meet in the middle with the FI. However, I think the Beef my #2 was even amazing followed by the Chicken #1. The presentation of all three choices are well done. In my opinion stuffed Chicken is more delicate to make, but someone may not like seafood at all. The Beef had some pink, like I said I don't eat red meat much but tolerated this taste. Then again, chefs do not cook beef well done but always leave a little bit of red or so I've heard a time or two. Sending it back would only be an insult to the chef.

 

Just so you have an idea we have 50 Chicken requests and 39 Beef requests (excluding children plates) and still pending on some last minute guests. Some of my guests have been to The Royal and tasted both Main courses and 11 want Chicken and 10 want Beef.

 

Hope this helps with outweighing your choices!

 

 

Chicken breast Casablanca stuffed with seafood & covered with almond sauce. The seafood is Salmon, shrimp, & imitation crab. After and Before pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salmon fillet varnished with sauce bearnaise au red chili

 

 

 

Beef fillet with Dijon mustard varnished with Provencal herbs.

[rsosadpt]

Originally Posted by mae1564 

 

 

Would you be willing to let me see your slideshow for ideas? If not it's okay, I've seen them before its just been a looooong time. 94 guests? Wow, that is so awesome that many people are coming with you! We have 9 I was thinking today of showing pictures of me with my MOH and him with his BM as we are growing up. The only other people coming with us are parents and an aunt and uncle, so it won't be too hard to incorporate pictures of everyone. My email is mae1564 at hotmail if you don't want to post it anywhere on here, thanks!

 

I don't mind, just give us about two more weeks. I have my chronological order complete just waiting for FI to do his part, then we plan to "intermingle" them. We think showing the picture for 3 seconds will be sufficient. It won't be anything fancy. I will have to figure out how to share 400 pictures on a slide show with you, I am not that computer savvy. I know it is a lot, but the slide show is going to be running during dinner when people are sitting and can look up if they feel like it. We aren't going to torture anyone to sit still for so long and just stare at the show, besides it takes away from dancing time!

[LuckyGal4]

SparksFly-- Here is my suitcase that I packed last night! This one was supposed to be for my clothes but I guess that is not happening!!! Anyways I got everything but my OOT bags and the ceremony paper fans in here. I think I can get the fans zipped up somewhere in there and hopefully see if my bestie has enough room for the bags! Just thought I would share as I know you said that you had a lot of stuff (there is hope) Oh BTW I used gallon ZIPLOCKS for my OOT bag stuff. It worked really well, seems to not take up as much space!

[mae1564]

Originally Posted by rsosadpt 

 

 

I don't mind, just give us about two more weeks. I have my chronological order complete just waiting for FI to do his part, then we plan to "intermingle" them. We think showing the picture for 3 seconds will be sufficient. It won't be anything fancy. I will have to figure out how to share 400 pictures on a slide show with you, I am not that computer savvy. I know it is a lot, but the slide show is going to be running during dinner when people are sitting and can look up if they feel like it. We aren't going to torture anyone to sit still for so long and just stare at the show, besides it takes away from dancing time!

 

Actually, you probably don't need to send it to me. It sounds like you are doing more of just a slide show, I'm kinda trying to create a storyline to follow. I've come up with a few ideas like I'm trying to find parallels between the sports he played growing up and the sports I played. Trying to find camping pictures and fishing pictures, just things I know we both did so when there is a picture of him fishing as a kid there will be one of me also. The hardest part is really going to be gathering all the pictures together from our parents.

[queenoftheu]

Hi, Ladies!

 

I just posted my review with some pictures! Check it out!

 

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/products/the-royal-in-playa-del-carmen-all-inclusive-spa-resort/reviews/6207
 

[missbizzybee]

WOW!!!  That is some impressive packing!!!  We packed so last-minute, and it was a nightmare!  We ended up having to divide TWELVE 3'x3'x3' boxes among family members...all just wedding decorations!  I think that was honestly THE worst part of the wedding planning process!

Originally Posted by LuckyGal4 

SparksFly-- Here is my suitcase that I packed last night! This one was supposed to be for my clothes but I guess that is not happening!!! Anyways I got everything but my OOT bags and the ceremony paper fans in here. I think I can get the fans zipped up somewhere in there and hopefully see if my bestie has enough room for the bags! Just thought I would share as I know you said that you had a lot of stuff (there is hope) Oh BTW I used gallon ZIPLOCKS for my OOT bag stuff. It worked really well, seems to not take up as much space!