Sandos Playacar Brides!

[tad515]

Thanks for the information, Amber!!

[SOCCER1615]

My brother got married on June 30th. It was a very windy day. My recommendation to those if the day is extremely windy to try to put your hair out of your face as much as possible because it will blow no matter what. I also pinned my sister in laws veil to the back of her dress so it would not be blowing in her face for the ceremony and pictures.

 

Hair: We did have our hair done by the ladies in the spa. The ladies speak very little english so I recommend bringing pictures of what you want done with you. They also do have a book you can choose from as well. I think the hair was a bit pricey, but unless you have your own hair dresser with you or someone that can do hair there isn't much else you can do. My hair and the brides hair were a hundred each. There were also four children in the wedding their hair was $80 each. The ladies did a nice job. Because we had 6 people getting hair done the appointments started at 11 and llast one starting at 2. Because they ran over an hour on some of the hair it put us behind. The wedding was 4:30, but we had to be out for pics at 3:30. We were a bit rushed because hair ended a little after 3.

 

Flowers: The Brides flowers were pretty, but due to the humidity thanks to hurricane alex they wilted very fast. I recommend that you ask them to keep them in water as long as possible. The bride also wasnt going to get the bridesmaids real flowers. I talked her into doing at least a single flower. They gave the bridesmaids a single lilly that was wilting before we even got them because they didnt have them in water. The price for bridesmaid flowers was more then they wanted to spend so they did the single flowers which were $10 each for a dead flower.

 

Food: We went to the steak house. The tables were set very nice. I bought maraccas from the hotel shop which were 2 sets of 2 for $5.(this was actually cheaper then you could find them downtown) We used them as favors. As the bride and groom came in we shook the maraccas and it was a nice touch to add some mexican flavor to the wedding. We also used them

to get the couple to kiss.(instead of the traditional tapping a spoon to a glass to get the couple to kiss). We had 15 people so they couldn't make one table together, but we did have 3 tables right next to each other. We had brought our own candle holders because we didnt know what they would have but we really didnt need them. The food here was the best of any of the restaurants. The service was also the best of the hotel. The champagne is also very good as well!!

 

 

 

 

Photography: I'm working on the name of the photographer. He also was around taking pics by the pool with monkeys lizards ect. There is a fairly tall guy that also takes the pics by the pool it is not him though. Hes a shorter guy. If you have a wedding soon ask Maria because she will definetely know who he is and ask not to have him. I previously posted about this topic so I won't say much more then to not use them if at all possible!!!!!

 

Hotel itself:

We heard that the hotel recently changed ownership. It did seem that there were a bunch of big wigs walking around the week we were there as well. The hotel was a bit unorganized and Im not sure if it was due to the change over. We waited a long time for rooms to be ready. After they gave us keys we went to check out the room to find that it was still really dirty. They finally did get everything straigtened out. If you think that your guests will have rooms next to each other it probably will not happen. We asked Maria and others several times to put the rooms together and they were all spread out anyway. I can tell you service in the restaurants was very slow (we always said they are on mexico time-slow paced) Food wasn't bad if you have been all inclusive before its similiar.

 

One place a lot of people were not at was the spa. It says you can only go once a day for an hour, but we went several times a day because it has an awesome pool with lounge chairs that have jets under them. Kids can't go in there so I recommend spending some time in there!

 

 

If anyone wants to see pictures or know anything else let me know. Luckily we did have someone else with us taking pictures along with the photographer so we have tons of pics. you can email me at [email protected]

[miconnelly]

What a great thread to be on-I am planning my wedding at Sandos for next April-just need quotes and I can book it! Thanks for all the info thus far...so many ideas!

[SOCCER1615]

Couple things I forgot to write...

 

 

After the wedding some of us did go to the disco. It really did smell like cat pee, but we were have a lot of fun and didn't really care.

 

If you are wondering about getting a dj..we didn't and we were just fine. We used an ipod that had the music set up for the ceremony. They did a good job of getting the music on! They also did the wedding toast and first dance in the hut. If you have a semi small number of people attending the wedding this is a very intimate setting. The staff took care of carrying up the speaker and ipod to the hut for the toasting and dance.

 

One thing I really like was that a security guard stayed in the hut while we left our things there for pics on the beach. He stayed til all of us were gone.

 

A side note that bride and grooms could pass along to their families and friends is that they offer a private dinner on the beach. In the meeting point lobby there is a set up of what it looks like. The set up includes rose petals and a red carpent making it very romantic. My family decided to all chip in a give it to the bride and groom as a gift. So the night after the wedding the couple enjoyed the dinner on the beach. They raved about how good the food was and how nice it was. They were only the second couple to ever do it so the hotel staff actually took pics to put on the website. There are 3 options to choose from starting at $50 per person. The meals were like chicken, filet, or whole lobsters. It also included heart shaped desert and champagne. We chose the lobsters they were 75 per person. They said that it was worth it!!

[tabarb]

If you have stayed at the Sandos Playacar Beach Resort recently, can you tell me about the rooms - we are parents of the bride and we are thinking of the Ocean View Select Club room - any advice on room selection?

[amberrayne]

Tabarb,

I was recently married at the Sandos.  There are three types of rooms at the Sandos.  In the Riviera section the rooms are the newest and include a flat screen TV and a jacuzzi.  The furntiure and linens (comforters, ect.) are more modern and "newer" feeling.  That section is about a five minute walk from the beach but they also provide golf carts to take you closer to the middle of the hotel.  The "beach" section rooms are much older and do not have a jacuzzi or flat screen and the linens are the same style that were there when I stayed at the hotl eight years ago.  I wouldn't reccomend these rooms; they are much older and smell of mildew.  The ocean view select club (where my husband and I stayed) were a mixture of both.  The rooms have been recently renovated and look exactly like the newer Riviera rooms.  The only difference is the set up of the bathroom; the ocean view select club does not have the jacuzzi.  Both types of rooms are very nice, it just depends on your own preference.  For us, it was very nice to stay in the nicer room with the view and we were close to all of the main bars, dining, and meeting points. 

[tabarb]

Thanks so much for your reply it was very helpful - I'll steer our guests away from the Standard rooms and into the Riviera or Hacienda rooms. As for us, we are staying on the beach. Below is a link to a map of the property which I think is great and we found it very helpful.

 

http://download.sandoshotels.com/linpha/actions/image_resized_view.php?imgid=165&wh=1280x911

[beck]

Its finally official im getting married at sandos playacar on December 13th 2010!!! im all booked and sooo excited!!! now i need some help deciding on loot bags, favors, which package to pick etc..... any help would be great!!!!

[Jennybell1]

Hey Ladies,

I've been gone for a couple of months and not only do I have a lot of catching up to do, but now I have to figure out how to navigate this forum all over again.  When did this change happen.....haha!

 

Anyways, just wondering how far in advance did you send out your invites?  Our wedding is Jan 2012 and we sent out our STD's this past July to give everyone a full year to save, bc July 2011 is when our deposits need to be placed.  So now I am trying to figure out when the actual invites should go out.  May 2011?? 

 

Any input would be appreciated!  Thanks!

[motbride]

tad515... how did your wedding go? I'm especially curious about what you thought of the resort photographer!