Paradisus Riviera Maya Review - Part 2

nenamono · July 29, 2008

Wedding Coordinators- A

Perla and Elisa were great!!!!! Aside from being two of the nicest girls they are super helpful across the board. Elisa will be missed but Iâ€™m sure her replacement is top notch. On the day of our arrival we received a letter and phone call welcoming us and directing us to meet them the following day to go over last minute details, blood tests, etc. When we went in to meet with Perla she went over all of the details one by one that we had already agreed upon through email and now was my time to make any last minute changes. She will have a list printed out with descriptions and cost I brought along my own for comparison just in case but everything was exact. She then toured us around the resort again to go over all of the locations we picked for the welcome party, ceremony, wedding. At this time give them any details you want as far as setup, decorations, etc. I felt even better after the walkthroughs and was able to see everything for myself and give our opinions on any changes. Perla and Elisa kept in contact with us throughout the week on various different matters regarding weather, location changes, etc. I never felt like I had to hunt them down for anything they were always on top of things which meant we were able to have a great time all week.

Hair & Nails- B

Our hair and nail appointments were made for us by Perla and she was able to make changes for us two weeks before the wedding with no problems. I apologize but I cannot remember the name of the women who did my hair and nails (it was the same person). A guy did my cousins hair and nails. Everyone at the spa was nice, we were greeted immediately and they knew we were part of the wedding that day. We had our manicures first, I wasnâ€™t thrilled at all with my manicure, she barely shaped my nails I should have asked for them to be cut (that was my fault for not asking), and way too much of my cuticles were cut. I really donâ€™t understand why they donâ€™t have fans to dry your nails with this is just common sense to me. The humidity makes it harder for the polish to dry creating this weird film on top that makes it seem like its permanently wet (who knows maybe it is). Iâ€™ve had several manicures and pedicures in Mexico and itâ€™s been the same every time so Iâ€™m not imagining things. My MOH stayed to get her hair done with was turning out rather nicely but I had to leave to meet with Elisa to discuss alternate locations due to the torrential down pour the day of my wedding. My hair appointment wasnâ€™t for another hour. I have to admit I was kind of nervous having the same women style my hair after me not being thrilled with the manicure. I came prepared for my hair with magazine pictures in tow, hair trail pictures, bobby pins, fake hair, elastics etc. They have most of this stuff I just brought them in case plus I had left overs from the hair trail. I wanted my hair precisely a certain way and to get it done we had to create an invention. We basically bought a sponge that you use in the shower and cut a hole in the middle to create the height and shape I wanted. Let me tell you the salon loved us and had a great time laughing at our creation but kept saying they were going to the store to get one also so they could do it at home. She made sure that I had enough hair spray to keep my hair in place all day (the wind was not forgiving that day I almost blew over in my dress several times), worked like a charm. My hair turned out great, exactly what I wanted and I could not have been happier!!!

Me and my cousins hair.

Flowers- B

My bouquet and the MOH bouquet arrived in my room while we were at the salon. I ended up getting the standard white rose bouquet that comes with the fantasy package and was ready to take it apart if I had to. For the MOH I had ordered a bouquet of white gerbs. I had brought along satin ribbon that I had given Perla earlier in the week that was used to tie both bouquets with (I didnâ€™t like the ribbon that was shown in the photos I was given). I had also brought along a bouquet jewel which I added myself. I was ecstatic to see both bouquets when we arrived in the room. They were lovely and nothing needed changing, my only regret was not being able to take them home to enjoy them longer (luckily my family was staying longer so I let them enjoy it). My fiancÃ© was given his boutonniÃ¨re which was also included in the fantasy package, originally he wasnâ€™t going to use it and we were going to give it to my father but it ended up being really nice and simple so he wore it, go figure. For our ceremony I had requested a rose petal aisle with specific instructions for the petals to be on each side of the aisle not covering the entire aisle. As I mentioned earlier our wedding day was extremely windy and there was no way the rose petals would have stayed put. The wedding coordinators held off putting the petals down to let me know that due to the wind they will not stay put and if I still wanted to use them. I of course said yes and they ended up looking great. We had green and white roses for the reception tables and white and purple irises for our signature table. The arrangements themselves were exactly what I had requested; my only disappointment was the green roses. I had requested chartreuse roses (which I believe are grown in Mexico and South America) but instead received white roses painted green. While I donâ€™t think anyone noticed b/c overall they were still lovely I was a bit disappointed at the amount we spent per arrangement to receive a painted flower and knowing they can be found in the area (maybe itâ€™s not the season for them). That is the only reason I have given them a B instead of an A.

Our bouquets

The boutonierre

Our centerpieces

Photog, Citlalli from Claudia Photo- A

A couple weeks before we left I sent Claudia an email confirming our date, times, etc. She wrote us back letting us know what we should expect and precautions to take with the sun so we arenâ€™t burnt, etc but she had also out of nowhere suddenly informed us that packages with 5 or more hours are required to get food for the photog/assistant. While this was already planned to begin with I was a bit upset that it was not mentioned in the beginning (this should be part of standard business practices to inform your clients of everything beforehand) and felt a bit taken off guard in the way I was asked. Outside of this Claudia was always very informative and answered any questions I had, I just wanted everyone to be aware of my experience.

Citlalli and her sister were a joy to work with!!! They arrived early and called the room to let me know that they would be coming in 15 minutes so I could have time to wrap anything up that I needed to. They were both very friendly and I never felt as if they were in the way. They were both very patient and helpful with me and my family. They knew the hotel very well and knew where to go for pictures. I was a bit nervous b/c I had asked Claudia if we were could give a â€œmust take listâ€ and we were told no they donâ€™t do that. I really wanted detail shots and wasnâ€™t sure what I wanted would be taken but after seeing the photos almost all the shots I would have requested were there. Citlalli let me know that it was their busy season so it would be a month before I would get my photos. I had received an email a month later letting me know that she was working with our photos and would be sending them out shortly. I was very pleased that she kept us updated on what was going on. We finally received our photos 6 weeks later and were so excited to see how our day was captured. I would recommend using Citlalli and her sister they are a great team.