Excellence Playa Mujeres Brides Post Here!

[lciz]

I love it all!! You are too cute!
Edgar, seriously I miss him!! He was our favorite too!!

We cant wait to go back, we were so spoiled! I miss room service every morning that I wake up at home ;-) 

Originally Posted by MsBlissMpls 

 

 

Thanks Jass7! You get to completely pick the time that you want the cocktail hour to start. Below was our rough timeline that we put in the welcome bags, and even though we left some time after the ceremony to take photos with everyone, the cocktail hour was ready for us immediately after the ceremony but did not start until our first guests arrived to the X-lounge at approximately 4:15.

 

We are getting married on November 23, 2012 @ 4:00 and was looking for some advice from past and future brides. What are you doing for photography using the photographer provided (pricing?) Here's what I recieved from the resort:

Our in-house photography service is VIP Wedding Photos (www.vipweddingsphoto.com), please let me know in case you would like to be contacted with information about their services and packages.

 or are you using an outside vendor? We used Adrian Herrera of Victor Herrera Photography, When we booked his pricing was $2000 for 8 hours and all photos and the resort charges $500 to have an outside photog visit the resort. (which is crappy, becuase VIP just does not want anyone in their territory taking their business, so they get $ for doing nothing- considering we would have never used VIP they did not lose any business, but just recived $500 because they have a contract with Excellence) Adrian was still less expensive than hiring the resort photographer for the same amount of time. We thought we would bring our own sound system to save some money, what has worked best in the past? My biggest concern is making sure that it is loud enough. We used a Bose dock for the ceremony at the gazebo and for the reception. It was definately loud enough for both, but if you want to have loud music when you walk down the aisle just ask them to set up the system that comes with the package for your ceremony.

 

I also e-mailed the wedding coordinator and waiting to hear back about the following:

 

What are the options and pricing for a rehearsal dinner? I'll upload these docs soon. You will have to be a member of this site to upload them, but I think it's worth it because it may take awhile to hear back from the WC.

What are our options for the cake? Design and Flavor? Same as above, I'll upload.

What are the location options for the dinner? I'll upload this pdf as well. Do we need to choose this ahead of time? You can reserve a space ahead of time but they will not confirm it until 1 month before your date.

 

Does each guest need to make meal selections ahead of time? Yes, We then did name tages with different colored rinestones to let the servers know who was getting chicken vs. salmon. They had no problem getting each person their chosen meal this way. We did not need a seating chart by doing it this way as well. People just took their name tags and sat where they wanted. We had 20 guests so it was easy for our small group to do this. However our menu was not finalized until 2 days before the wedding, so don't stress about this to much. Just have an idea of what YOU want and let them know your plan. When they confirm it, your good to go and get meal choices from your guests. 
 

I know that we have one hour with hors d'oeuvres, how long does the reception last? 3 hrs. Each additional hour is charged per person (not sure of the amount but it was stated on this board earlier)

Do hair and make-up application appointments need to be made ahead of time? Yes do it online ahead of time to get the slot that you want.Hair and Make up is in the spa, You can go to the website right now and schedule your appointment. I did this months ahead of time and they had my appointment scheduled no problem. I'd say it took about 1 hour for hair and 1 hour for makeup. I have long hair and she curled it all, so it probably took the longest of any hairstyle out there.

 

 

 

 

I also made a made a map of the resort with all the times and places that people should be, just for those that need the visual help to get places on time

 

It's kind of beat up, but here was the sand ceremony card we put in the welcome bags for everyone to participate with us during the ceremony.

 

 

Here's my unprofessional photo of how our sand ceremony frame turned out. I LOVE it. Unfortunately it settled a lot on the plane ride home (even though we packed the remaining sand in there tight), so the right side is blended more than in this photo, but it now looks like the ocean rubbed up on it and it kind of looks cool? ... I cried when I saw it but my husband was trying to tell me how neat it looked with the airplane adjustments: I wish it would still look like this photo. You can see our guests sand forming the bottom triangle.

 

 

 

And just for fun! The morning after our wedding ROOM SERVICE! Oh, how I miss room service....  

You ladies are in for a treat!

 

 

On our last day our favorite guy Edgar & I want to say her name is Marissa, but there are so many awesome ladies and I'm bad at names...

 

 

Crying the day we had to leave I raided the mini-bar for some chocolate comfort, and came home with this in my carry-on...It's now on a platter in our dining room

 

 

[lciz]

The reason why some of the photographers are "cheaper" than Victor at Victor Herrera is because of experience. Once a photographer (such as Adrian) reaches a certain level of experience, his prices go up... This is common everywhere in photography. I am sure Sara's will go up soon as well (so book them soon!)! They are so amazing, I would have paid 3000 for them (and it would have still been cheaper than most of the photographers down there!).

Good luck!

Originally Posted by ahoff 

In my original post, you answered my questions about photography.  We e-mailed Victor Herrera Photography, where Adrian works and we were quoted $2500 for him, we were wondering if you negotiated with them down to $2000 or if their prices went up.  Otherwise, we were thinking of going with Sara from the same company as she is only $1900.  Plus, we assume that we still have to pay the $500 to the resort.

 

Thanks again,

Ashley
 

 

 

[KlazNov17]

Do any of the brides have a copy of the gold package wedding planner? Why don't they send this to us right away? It would make it so much easier to budget!

[May12]

AMEN!! That would be really nice right about now...or a MONTH ago!

Originally Posted by KlazNov17 

Do any of the brides have a copy of the gold package wedding planner? Why don't they send this to us right away? It would make it so much easier to budget!

 

 

[Amanda Gardner]

 

Originally Posted by KlazNov17 

Do any of the brides have a copy of the gold package wedding planner? Why don't they send this to us right away? It would make it so much easier to budget!

 

I know! It would be great to have!

[danak71]

 

Originally Posted by MsBlissMpls 

As promised! These things at the beginning of planning make all the difference and are totally worth the $20 or what ever it costs to be able to download from this site   Prices change, but at lease you will have an idea of prices and options. Also, the wedding planer format is for the Silver package. I do not have the Gold one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Front Spice Terrace (for a smaller reception)

 

 

 Main Spice Terrace

 

 

 

Also, I woudl totally do the AGAVE inside terrace for a reception if I had known about it ahead of time and if that restaruant would have been available on our night. The restaurant is decorated so amazing and the dinner we had on the terrace is the most romatic one of our trip!

 

 

 

How do you go about paying the $20 to be able to download documents?

WEDDING PLANNER FORMAT.xlsx

01-Bouquets.pdf

02 SILVER & GOLD DINNERS.pdf

00-Price List.pdf

01 COCKTAIL HOUR.pdf

03 WEDDING CAKES.pdf

03-Boutonnieres.pdf

04-Ladies Corsages.pdf

05-Hair Flowers.pdf

06-Centerpieces.pdf

07-Gazebos.PDF

Excellence Playa Mujeres Price List 2011-2012.pdf

MX PRICE LIST PYROTECHNIC CATALOG.pdf

PYROTECHNIC CATALOG JPG-BODAS.pdf

[Amanda Gardner]

Danak71 when do you go to mexico for your site visits? Would love to hear what you think about the resort?

 

Originally Posted by danak71 

 

 

How do you go about paying the $20 to be able to download document?

 

[MsBlissMpls]

danak71 - in the past when I've clicked on the document it directs me to "why can't I download this item" and then you follow the links to "how to become a supporter". Maybe a moderator could help you out with figuring it out. They would probably be able to explain it better

[danak71]

 

Originally Posted by Amanda Gardner 

Danak71 when do you go to mexico for your site visits? Would love to hear what you think about the resort

 

 

 

Amanda,

 

I just got back from Mexico last night. We rented a car and did the site visits on Friday and EPM was AMAZING!!! I brought my fiance, my mom and 2 of my girlfriends (who are bridesmaids) with me. We looked at both Excellence properties and El Dorado Royale (which is the resort my travel agent really wanted us to pick). We all fell in love with EPM from the time we drove up. Everywhere you go, they have aromatherapy which is so soothing and relaxing-from the lobby to the spa, to all the restaurants we went to.

 

ERC is very similar in structure; however it doesn't have the same "luxury" feel at all. That was the one thing that stuck out to all of us was that EPM had a feeling of luxury. EDR was very nice but it was HUGE. They brought us around from one place to the next on a golf cart because it was really too much to try and walk it. We're expecting 60-70 people so trying to get everyone from A to B at that large a resort seems problematic to me. They treated us to lunch at EDR and the one thing I will say is that their food is DELISH! If there was one reason to make me book my wedding there it would be because their food was so darn good!

 

But overall I knew that EPM was the place for us. I just wanted to see some of the other resorts I had been considering so I wouldn't have any regrets or wonder if I had chosen the best place. I know now that I have!

[danak71]

 

Originally Posted by MsBlissMpls 

danak71 - in the past when I've clicked on the document it directs me to "why can't I download this item" and then you follow the links to "how to become a supporter". Maybe a moderator could help you out with figuring it out. They would probably be able to explain it better

 

I figured it out last night. Thanks a lot MsBlissMpls! Congratulations again and thanks for all the great tips!