Playacar Palace 2009 & 2010 Brides - POST HERE!

[Tanya Marie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KelleynEric Tanya Marie, your website is awesome! I found this blog when googling Playacar Resort, and so happy I came across this thread! My Fiance and I are looking at the Palace Resorts in MX, but more specifically Playacar or Aventura Spa Palace, for our Oct 2010 wedding! We are interested in Oct 9th, 16th or 30th, not sure yet. But the MAIN reason we are looking at the Palace resorts is their AMAZING group deal going on, I am eager to see if any of you other brides are taking advantage of it!? The deal is if we can book 25 rooms, for at least three nights (so 75 room nights or more) then the Palace will offer FREE UNLIMITED Private functions, as well as 7 free nights for the bride and groom! I mean, can this offer be any more insane!? I'd love to be able to have 60-75 guests at our destiantion wedding so I definitely think we can hit this mark. Is this too good to be true or what? Anyone else taking advantage? We have to book before lke Dec 23rd I think, 50% down. I want to fly down asap for a site inspection though, my FH is worried all this free talk means the quality of food etc will be compromised. I'd love any feed back on this! Thanks ladies!

HI Kelley!
Thank you!! That website took me FOREVER to get together!!!!

O Fun, if have your wedding at the PP, your wedding will be the day before mine!!! Ours is set for OCt 10th!!
We too had chosen the PP bc of the incentives for us. I chose the free wedding package and will add what I want as needed, I didn't go through the hotel bc I didn't want to put that much money down at once, so I used Tammy (the BDW owner) I did have to give a deposit but it was minimal, less than 2000.00, i believe that it is based on how many rooms you will be blocking. So I highly recommend you contact Tammy or any of the BDW travel agents.
We did go for a site visit in September, I can assure you the food is not compromised, my FI is a "SNOB" if you will when it comes to food, has been in the restaurant business for years as well as MANY of our guests in addition to that, we are Italian, so...food was prob the most important to us next was Alcohol! LOL
Anyway, we had lunch at the international Buffet when we were there it was great! Wide selection and tastes for all!
To be honest, I am not sure how they can offer such a great deal, bc there really is no catch!! My contracts are signed and ready and I too was waiting for the catch. I am assuming that they make the money with decorations, music etc. in addition to all the business that you are giving them.

If you are going to go down for a site visit, make sure you contact the wedding department in Miami to set up an appointment bc the Wedding planner works between a few of the palace properties.
I have gotten a ton of info to date, so if you are looking for something specific, please let me know.

~Tanya

[Tanya Marie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by greshle Hi Tanya, Thanks so much for letting me use material from your site, I know it's going to come in very handy. Also, I loved your idea of the all white theme for the dinner the night before the wedding. This sounds so fun! About a week ago I received the name of an on-site WC, Lorena Herrasti. Do you happen to know her? It's been a week since I sent an initial message to Lorena and I haven't heard back yet. I sent a follow up message today and hope that helps get things moving. I just wanted to get your thoughts on whether a week response time is normal and if you happened to have met Lorena during our site visit. Your WC seems to be pretty responsive, do you think it would be worthwhile for me to reach out to him also? Thanks (again!) Jen

Hi Jen~
Yes Lorena is the Wedding Manager, a week is def. about right, I will tell you this, ALWAYS send a follow up bc it triggers something in their minds and then they get right back to you. Gilberto is who I met with, he is very nice and very knowledgeable. He will give you all the info that you need, and please do not hesitate to ask me as I have gotten so much from them already!

~Tanya

[Tanya Marie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by greshle Hi KellynEric, Wow! You're right, that is an amazing promotion through the Palace. I hadn't heard about this deal but our wedding group is pretty small. If you plan to have 75 guests, I'd say go for it. The Palace offers awesome service and I can't imagine that they'd skimp on the quality of anything. Remember, you'll be bringing them tons of revenue so it sounds like a win-win deal for everyone. Good luck! Jen

Jen,

How small is your group?? Bc you should still get something as an incentive, below is what is right on the Palace website:

10 to 19 rooms – complimentary cocktail for guests after ceremony *
20 to 24 rooms – complimentary private function + 4 free nights for bride & groom *
25 or more rooms – unlimited private functions + 7 free nights for bride & groom*

~Tanya

[GracieLR]

Hi everyone,

PP is on my list but I am having a hard time deciding. Just wondering what your plans are for the spa on your wedding day. I know its off site and that makes me a little nervous. And the trouble of bringing in an outside photographer. Thanks you are all so helpful.

[Tanya Marie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GracieLR Hi everyone, PP is on my list but I am having a hard time deciding. Just wondering what your plans are for the spa on your wedding day. I know its off site and that makes me a little nervous. And the trouble of bringing in an outside photographer. Thanks you are all so helpful.

Hi Gracie,

The spa is a 5 minute ride from the hotel and they provide a shuttle, the photog, maybe someone else can shed the light on that bc I am bringing mine from home...Below are some pics of the spa from my site visit.

[greshle]

Tanya,

 

What would we do without you! These pictures and your information are so helpful. I just booked my salon appointments and had some of the same questions about it being located off site, etc. The prices for hair and make up seem really reasonable so I've scheduled both.

 

I also went and looked at the room incentives you mentioned from the Palace web site. When selecting the PP we decided not to do a group block for a few reasons so it doesn't look like we qualify for these options. But hopefully our guests will just be fine with getting drinks from the bar rather than a complimentary cocktail after the ceremony.

 

Gracie, I also received more information on the photography options offered by PP. They sent me to Weddings to view samples of work from their photographers. I'm still trying to find out more information about the specific photographers and whether we can pick a specific individual who matches our style but in the meantime, we decided the packages weren't completely unreasonable and are going to book the basic package (includes the ceremony, family pictures, bride and groom pictures, 2 hours of reception and a number of printed photos/album) for $950. Hope this helps some with your decision. The photography was definitely something I was a bit concerned about.

 

Tanya, thanks for the great tip to follow up on my emails. So far Gilberto seems pretty responsive but I won't hesitate to email him again if the responses take a bit longer than a few days.

 

Also, you recommended the Solarium for the ceremony. Do you happen to know what decoration options are available for this area? We selected the free package so none of the ceremony decorations are included in our wedding package but I've noticed in photos that PP must offer some type of arbor/fabric decoration for the Solarium.

 

Thanks a ton!

Jen

[greshle]

Hi Tanya,

 

I spent a bunch of time reading some BDW reviews about the Palace photographers and am still considering whether this is the right direction for us. Can you give me more information about bringing your own photographer? Is PP ok with this? Do you just plan for your photographer to be a guest of the wedding?

 

Are you planning to pay for your photographer's travel costs? I've read some comments from other brides about destination wedding photographers being willing to exchange photography for travel costs but I didn't know how realistic this was.

 

Thanks so much (all your help is making sure I sleep at night!)

Jen

[KelleynEric]

Quote:

Originally Posted by burnsey59 Hi Ladies, My name is Mindy and I am planning a wedding for 11/2010 for the PP and am so thankful for all the information you have shared. I have not booked the date yet as I am waiting for flight and hotel pricing. It seems flights are not open until about 330 days out. Did you book your travel through palace resorts online? or did you use a travel agent? I am not sure who I should book with. I have not been to Playa del Carmen but have done extensive research and the PP seems to offer everything I am looking for. I would love it if you could pot pictures after your wedding's. I am looking at booking one of the wedding packages, but have not seen any "real" pictures of what the decorations look like and that makes me nervous to pay the extra $2300. Do you have access to any pictures? I was also wondering if the private function tables have any decorations as well? or do you have to pay extra for that? It is so hard ot look at website pictures and know what will really be there and what it will really look like. Any information and pictures you can give me would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much already:)

Hi Mindy!

I am using destinationwedding.com as my travel agent. They are giving us upgrades and the best part is our guests can make monthly payments instead of having to pay everything upfront. Also, if you've read my previous posts, there are some really great group deals going on, if you book before Dec 23rd!

I would love to see some real time photos from brides as well!

Tanya Marie, could you post some pics of the private function space from your site visit? More specifically, the wedding gazebo (or whatever it is they have) and the terraces/ballrooms?? I'd love to see your pics! Where are you having all your functions again?

[KelleynEric]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tanya Marie HI Kelley! Thank you!! That website took me FOREVER to get together!!!! O Fun, if have your wedding at the PP, your wedding will be the day before mine!!! Ours is set for OCt 10th!! We too had chosen the PP bc of the incentives for us. I chose the free wedding package and will add what I want as needed, I didn't go through the hotel bc I didn't want to put that much money down at once, so I used Tammy (the BDW owner) I did have to give a deposit but it was minimal, less than 2000.00, i believe that it is based on how many rooms you will be blocking. So I highly recommend you contact Tammy or any of the BDW travel agents. We did go for a site visit in September, I can assure you the food is not compromised, my FI is a "SNOB" if you will when it comes to food, has been in the restaurant business for years as well as MANY of our guests in addition to that, we are Italian, so...food was prob the most important to us next was Alcohol! LOL Anyway, we had lunch at the international Buffet when we were there it was great! Wide selection and tastes for all! To be honest, I am not sure how they can offer such a great deal, bc there really is no catch!! My contracts are signed and ready and I too was waiting for the catch. I am assuming that they make the money with decorations, music etc. in addition to all the business that you are giving them. If you are going to go down for a site visit, make sure you contact the wedding department in Miami to set up an appointment bc the Wedding planner works between a few of the palace properties. I have gotten a ton of info to date, so if you are looking for something specific, please let me know. ~Tanya

Tanya! Are you still planning to have approx 75 ppl? Are you qualifying for the group deal offering a complimentary reception(s) or 4-7 night guest room for bride and groom? I read that if you do qualify for the free room then you no longer qualify for the complimentary wedding package. I'm serious about upcovering any fine print! Its all just too good to be true!

I'm thrilled to hear your experience with the food was good, I'm italian too and we own a restaurant, we're all food lovers! And my FH's fam owns a wine store! So we've got a picky group!

Can you please post pics of the North and South Solariums?? Im hoping to have 50+ppl so the wedding area will prob be too small for us. Your advice is appreciated! We are still torn between Playacar and Aventura, but the reviews on Tripadvisor arent very good for Aventura, esp. regarding the food. Did you happen to visit any other palace resorts during your site visit? I wonder if we could primarily stay at Playacar but have the ceremony at Cozumel? do you know if you have to have the wedding at the resort you're staying at??

Also how in the world did you get the "suggest music for our reception" link on your website!? I love that idea!!! Did you put all those songs on there or did other ppl? Ive never seen that but its a great concept!

Thanks!

[Tanya Marie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KelleynEric Tanya! Are you still planning to have approx 75 ppl? Are you qualifying for the group deal offering a complimentary reception(s) or 4-7 night guest room for bride and groom? I read that if you do qualify for the free room then you no longer qualify for the complimentary wedding package. I'm serious about upcovering any fine print! Its all just too good to be true! I'm thrilled to hear your experience with the food was good, I'm italian too and we own a restaurant, we're all food lovers! And my FH's fam owns a wine store! So we've got a picky group! Can you please post pics of the North and South Solariums?? Im hoping to have 50+ppl so the wedding area will prob be too small for us. Your advice is appreciated! We are still torn between Playacar and Aventura, but the reviews on Tripadvisor arent very good for Aventura, esp. regarding the food. Did you happen to visit any other palace resorts during your site visit? I wonder if we could primarily stay at Playacar but have the ceremony at Cozumel? do you know if you have to have the wedding at the resort you're staying at?? Also how in the world did you get the "suggest music for our reception" link on your website!? I love that idea!!! Did you put all those songs on there or did other ppl? Ive never seen that but its a great concept! Thanks!

I am curious to know where you read that you don't qualify for the free wedding package, I have not seen anything that said that, could you forward to me? I didn't visit any other resorts while i was there, I pretty much knew that I was going to have it at the PP.
You don't have to have it where you are staying but in our opinion it was inconvenient to put our guests on a 45 min ferry ride each way @$20.00 r/t for a 1/2 hour ceremony, just our feeling on it though, you could ask the palace weddings dept for insight on that.

The suggest music was an option when i built my website. The songs that are up there, I put there, as people suggest songs they don't play, it just becomes a list.
Hope all that helps!
~Tanya