Excellence Playa Mujeres Brides Post Here!

[Anna6387]

Hi ladies, 

 

I am having my wedding on 6/12/12 at Excellence Playa Mujeres and I had a few questions on the different reception / cocktail areas that were available. I'm hoping someone can help!

 

My fiance and I are a bit concerned about having an outdoor reception in June because it may be too hot, however, we don't feel that a restaurant is the right atmosphere for our reception either. We will be having around 30-40 guests and would like a place that can accomodate a large party, but still look like a wedding (dance floor, lighting, decorations, etc.) - not a restaurant that has been taken over for the evening. We also definitely want a DJ and I know some areas can't accomodate that. I have read on the EPM website that they do have a banquet hall, however, I haven't had any luck finding past weddings there. Does anyone have any experience with this? 

 

Thanks for your help! 

[lciz]

Hello!

 

I am getting married there April 1, 2012! They do have a banquet hall that is very beautiful (at least that is what I gathered from this video of a past bride)  video:

That is the only thing I found on the hall as well, I hope that helps you!

 

Originally Posted by Anna6387 

Hi ladies, 

 

I am having my wedding on 6/12/12 at Excellence Playa Mujeres and I had a few questions on the different reception / cocktail areas that were available. I'm hoping someone can help!

 

My fiance and I are a bit concerned about having an outdoor reception in June because it may be too hot, however, we don't feel that a restaurant is the right atmosphere for our reception either. We will be having around 30-40 guests and would like a place that can accomodate a large party, but still look like a wedding (dance floor, lighting, decorations, etc.) - not a restaurant that has been taken over for the evening. We also definitely want a DJ and I know some areas can't accomodate that. I have read on the EPM website that they do have a banquet hall, however, I haven't had any luck finding past weddings there. Does anyone have any experience with this? 

 

Thanks for your help! 

 

[lciz]

Hello!

Same with me, after a LOT of back and forth, I also booked Adrian Herrera!! I wonder if their studio knows how much publicity they are receiving from this thread alone =)

 

Thank you all for the input and helping me feel at ease about my photography decision!

 

LC
 

Originally Posted by MsBlissMpls 

After much back and forth and tons of reviews we just booked Adrian Herrera of Victor Herrerra Photography. Thanks Laura!

 

 

Here's what I found: With Del Sol as the gold standard (in my book), we also loved Adrian Herrera, Moments that Matter and William Sanchez all of these three have amazing work online and I personally contacted all of them and their response time is amazing. I was surprised that I would hear back from each of them within the hour of my questions. So basically you would be doing yourself a favor by hiring any of these photographers! 

 

Moments that Matter is $600 per hour ($4,800 for 8 hours, all the good stuff included - spends lots of time on images after the fact & you can tell he loves his job) Love Lincoln's work. The coloring and emotion are great in these photos. There's not much more to say about it and he's a really really cool guy who got back to me right away with all questions. My only concern is that with the resort fee of $500 we would only be able to have him for a few hours, definately not 8 hours.

 

William Sanchez is $2,800 for 8 hours (all photos retouched, jpg, online gallery, slideshow), someone had written previously that he was $1,800 for 8 hours in 2010! To me that says, he is a great photographer and demand has increased his fee, even tough back in 2009-2010 people were asking about this "new" guy and trying to find samples of his work. We love the coloring and emotion that are captured in his photos. Simply beautiful.

 

Adrian Herrera $1,800 for 8 hours (all photos retouched, High-Res on DVD, online gallery)  In the end I felt that Adrian is kind of like what William was last year (when his pricing was $1800 instead of $2800). Beautiful photos but kind of hard to find lots of his work. Nice coloring, great at capturing the emotions of the day and on top of it I found this link  brettbutterstein.com/blog/2011/08/07/cancun-private-workshop/ where you can see the whole Herrera clan & William Sanchez at a workshop together learning about photo journalism in wedding photos. In my book continuing education is super cool!

 

I feel that Adrian Herrera is the "new guy" who has great work (which makes it hard to find samples), however, for a lucky few of us we will get to have him capture our day at and amazing value before his prices increase 55%!

 

So Excited!

 

 

 

[Anna6387]

Thank you! That does help a lot. 

[kjpfaff]

Thanks for everyone's info regarding photography. Originally, we were going to go with the photographer that comes with the Gold Package (how good/bad can it be?), but after hearing comments about how important photos are (indeed!) we have decided to invest in our photography a bit more and we are going ot hire Adrian Herrera. Sucks that we have to pay the fee of $500 in addition to Adrian's fee itself, but hopefully it will be worth it! Too bad the resort can't reimburse the value of what the included photography would have been...

 

What about music...are you gals having a DJ or just music with a sound system. We are thinking about just bringing our own music and having a sound system rented ($350). And then go to the disco later. Has anyone been or know if the disco is any good?

 

KJ

[lciz]

Hello!

 

We are getting a DJ for $500 bucks, he is really good (so we have heard through reading tons of reviews) but I thought if I am going to pay $350 for a sound system, I may as well pay $500 for a professional and also someone that will make all of the announcements for us.  His information is in another reply of mine in this thread. I can also look it up later for you if you are interested.

 

I am having a hard time with the $500 fee for the photographer as well, but I definitely think it will be well worth it!!

 

Happy Planning!

 

LC

 

Originally Posted by kjpfaff 

Thanks for everyone's info regarding photography. Originally, we were going to go with the photographer that comes with the Gold Package (how good/bad can it be?), but after hearing comments about how important photos are (indeed!) we have decided to invest in our photography a bit more and we are going ot hire Adrian Herrera. Sucks that we have to pay the fee of $500 in addition to Adrian's fee itself, but hopefully it will be worth it! Too bad the resort can't reimburse the value of what the included photography would have been...

 

What about music...are you gals having a DJ or just music with a sound system. We are thinking about just bringing our own music and having a sound system rented ($350). And then go to the disco later. Has anyone been or know if the disco is any good?

 

KJ

 

[lciz]

Hi Ladies,

 

I have a question for you... Are you going to tip the Wedding Coordinator? Also, the waitstaff and bartender? If so that will mean we tip:

The Photographer

All of the Waitstaff

The Bartender

The DJ (if you have one)

The Wedding Coordinator

 

Am I missing anyone? Do you girls have a percentage you are tipping them? I would love the feedback, I am starting to feel like I will be tipping everyone and I am just watching my costs skyrocket!

 

Thanks a bunch!

 

LC

[MsBlissMpls]

Good question! I hadn't thought about that part yet.

 

I've been reading articles about the suggested amounts just for a reference. Here's a link to a blog that I found helpful for a general idea on tipping.

 

http://www.weddingbycolor.com/stefanie13

 

I think things will have to be adjusted a tiny bit because we are doing an all-inclusive package - so there is no breakout of food/beverage/hair&makeup, etc for a % of the bill. 

 

With all that said, we will probably tip based on the service provided and what we feel in our hearts, not a pre-determined number. We will probably bring white envelopes from home and around $250 in cash for the tipping part of our day. The highest tip being around $100 and the lowest tip being $10-15 - All depending on service and the amount of time they spend with our group helping make our day awesome.  

 

 

April 1st is coming soon! Very exciting!

 

 

 

Originally Posted by lciz 

Hi Ladies,

 

I have a question for you... Are you going to tip the Wedding Coordinator? Also, the waitstaff and bartender? If so that will mean we tip:

The Photographer

All of the Waitstaff

The Bartender

The DJ (if you have one)

The Wedding Coordinator

 

Am I missing anyone? Do you girls have a percentage you are tipping them? I would love the feedback, I am starting to feel like I will be tipping everyone and I am just watching my costs skyrocket!

 

Thanks a bunch!

 

LC

 

[MsBlissMpls]

It has been really hard to get information on a Mayan Ceremony for this resort. We were told a price and that they could do it, but we were not able to get a website of the exact vendor they will be using (which is a deal breaker, because some of the photos we've seen are kind of cheesy- and we want it to be authentic). We are super bummed about it because we really love the idea of having an authentic local ritual done to celebrate our marriage. Has anyone else done a Mayan Ceremony at EMP?

 

Thanks!

[stefkva]

 

• MsBlissMsp, I see you're getting married in April. Congrats!! I'm also getting married in April. Have you booked a block of rooms yet?