Excellence Playa Mujeres Brides Post Here!

[ncarolinadaisy]

Hope you have better luck than me! 
 

Originally Posted by scrose 

Hurricane Paula...NOOOOOOO!!!!!  

 

Everyone say a prayer for me, we fly out in the morning...

[ergalv31]

Ohhhh No! I just read it is turning torwards Cuba and should be cleared from Cancun by tonight. GOOD LUCK!!! And Be Safe!! Keep us posted!

Originally Posted by scrose 

Hurricane Paula...NOOOOOOO!!!!!  

 

Everyone say a prayer for me, we fly out in the morning...

[ergalv31]

I think it adds something! I like it.

 

 

Originally Posted by ncarolinadaisy 

Any suggestions on decorating crutches?  I just tore my ACL on Saturday and my Playa wedding is in less than 2 weeks.  Uhhhh...be careful everyone!  Not the way I was planning on spending my wedding day... 

[tstachow]

 

Hello all! I never posted on here before our wedding, but since I used all of your great information along the way during my planning process, I thought that I would write a quick review of my experience at EPM, Yamina and our wedding in general. 

 

To start, check out our photographer's blog of preliminary photos from our 10/10/10 wedding: 

http://ajhphotographyblog.com/theresa-dustin-wedding-in-playa-mujeres-destination-wedding-photography/

 

I brought him down from Austin with us. I paid for his flight, hotel room and f+b for four days and an additional $1,000 fee and he shot an unlimited number of hours and photos over the course of our wedding weekend (group yacht trip, cocktail event on Saturday, parent dinner, spa day, wedding, etc). 

 

We had 50 guests for our wedding on the beach and reception on the Event Terrace. The wedding was absolutely perfect!

For the ceremony, I wish we could have been just a touch further down the beach from the hotel, but in the photos you cannot tell that we aren't. The Event Terrace is COMPLETELY secluded, so that was great. There was plenty of space for our entire group for dinner, a bar, dance floor, DJ and buffet. 

 

Yamina was on top of everything. She understood my needs and filled every request. Really a class act! 

Out of all our dining experiences at the hotel, our wedding food was by far the best meal we had (I choose the Caribbean Ocean Buffet menu). 

 

The spa was amazing; we had 15 girls in there the afternoon of the wedding and they accommodated us very well. Hydrotherapy circuit was great fun as well as the Excellence Massage. All three mothers and Dustin's grandmother had hair and makeup done and were very happy with the results. 

 

I didn't LOVE the DJ (Mannia). I honestly thought the MC was not great (just cheesy) and Dustin and I had provided a specific play list to follow and they immediately strayed. Once I got them on track with our iPod they were fine (but looked miserably bored). However, when you see the photos I think you will agree that it was for the best as the entire group had a BLAST dancing for four of the five hour reception. Everyone was on the dance floor. 

 

The hotel was great! Everything from the service to the rooms, drinks, food, water activities, beach and everything in between was top notch. Each of our guests had a blast and many stayed up to a week and even extended their stay. 

 

We're at Zoetry now on our honeymoon until this Sunday. Hurricane Paula kept us indoors for almost two days, but things are clearing up now and we'll be snorkeling at the reef tomorrow. Zoetry is amazing, BTW; a more boutique, high-end, culinary experience. Perfect for a honeymoon or very small wedding, perhaps. 

 

I worked with Laura Sangster at Caribbean Journey to select the hotel and negotiate room rates and to book everyone's rooms and flights. She was excellent to work with! Her link here: http://www.caribbeanjourney.com

 

AJ Horkavy, our photographer, was AMAZING. He will travel to meet you for any wedding, so give him a call. I am so happy that I selected him! His link here: http://www.austinweddingphotography.org/

 

I hope you all enjoyed the information. Let me know if you have any questions regarding our experience. I should have the rest of the hundreds of photos in a few weeks, so if you'd like me to send you the link just message or email me.

[SparkleSun]

Thanks for posting!  I am using many of the same elements that you used so I really enjoyed looking at your pics.  They are amazing !!!  I am also using Laura and I have to say that so far I am very pleased with her.  The only thing I havent booked yet is the DJ, so I'll keep your comments in mind.

[ergalv31]

Hi,

 

Thank you so much for posting this information! This is all really helpful and your picture were breathtaking!

I do have a few questions for you if you don't mind.

We are getting married on 12/10 and we are looking to take our guests (25) on a priviate catamaran of yatch. I have found a catamran but have been unable to find a yatch to accomidate our guests and budgets. Can you me where you went to find the yatch?

Also we are doing the gold package and Yamina has only showed us the gold and silver menus, what is the Caribbean Ocean Buffet menu?

For your reception you had mentioned it was 5 hours long. Our is from 6pm to 9pm with dinner starting at 6pm. We are hiring a DJ and wanted to extend the reception out a little longer. Yamina had mentioned that they would have to charge us an amount per person for every hour over 9pm. Did you have this too? Not sure if there is a different option or package that would accomodate the reception time we are looking for?

I really appriciate all of your help and thank you again for your post.

 

Many thanks,

Erin

 

Originally Posted by tstachow 

 

Hello all! I never posted on here before our wedding, but since I used all of your great information along the way during my planning process, I thought that I would write a quick review of my experience at EPM, Yamina and our wedding in general. 

 

To start, check out our photographer's blog of preliminary photos from our 10/10/10 wedding: 

http://ajhphotographyblog.com/theresa-dustin-wedding-in-playa-mujeres-destination-wedding-photography/

 

I brought him down from Austin with us. I paid for his flight, hotel room and f+b for four days and an additional $1,000 fee and he shot an unlimited number of hours and photos over the course of our wedding weekend (group yacht trip, cocktail event on Saturday, parent dinner, spa day, wedding, etc). 

 

We had 50 guests for our wedding on the beach and reception on the Event Terrace. The wedding was absolutely perfect!

For the ceremony, I wish we could have been just a touch further down the beach from the hotel, but in the photos you cannot tell that we aren't. The Event Terrace is COMPLETELY secluded, so that was great. There was plenty of space for our entire group for dinner, a bar, dance floor, DJ and buffet. 

 

Yamina was on top of everything. She understood my needs and filled every request. Really a class act! 

Out of all our dining experiences at the hotel, our wedding food was by far the best meal we had (I choose the Caribbean Ocean Buffet menu). 

 

The spa was amazing; we had 15 girls in there the afternoon of the wedding and they accommodated us very well. Hydrotherapy circuit was great fun as well as the Excellence Massage. All three mothers and Dustin's grandmother had hair and makeup done and were very happy with the results. 

 

I didn't LOVE the DJ (Mannia). I honestly thought the MC was not great (just cheesy) and Dustin and I had provided a specific play list to follow and they immediately strayed. Once I got them on track with our iPod they were fine (but looked miserably bored). However, when you see the photos I think you will agree that it was for the best as the entire group had a BLAST dancing for four of the five hour reception. Everyone was on the dance floor. 

 

The hotel was great! Everything from the service to the rooms, drinks, food, water activities, beach and everything in between was top notch. Each of our guests had a blast and many stayed up to a week and even extended their stay. 

 

We're at Zoetry now on our honeymoon until this Sunday. Hurricane Paula kept us indoors for almost two days, but things are clearing up now and we'll be snorkeling at the reef tomorrow. Zoetry is amazing, BTW; a more boutique, high-end, culinary experience. Perfect for a honeymoon or very small wedding, perhaps. 

 

I worked with Laura Sangster at Caribbean Journey to select the hotel and negotiate room rates and to book everyone's rooms and flights. She was excellent to work with! Her link here: http://www.caribbeanjourney.com

 

AJ Horkavy, our photographer, was AMAZING. He will travel to meet you for any wedding, so give him a call. I am so happy that I selected him! His link here: http://www.austinweddingphotography.org/

 

I hope you all enjoyed the information. Let me know if you have any questions regarding our experience. I should have the rest of the hundreds of photos in a few weeks, so if you'd like me to send you the link just message or email me.

[Angela]

This is my first time posting on this blog, however I have been reading all of your posts for the last few weeks.  My fiance and I are getting married at EPM on March 12, 2011.  I'm starting to get into the planning process now and loved your pictures!  Your post was so helpful and I actually had some of the same questions as Erin.

 

I am thinking our group will be around 50 and am also hoping to do a catamaran/excursion trip.  Who did you book your trip through?  I got cancuncatamaran from Yamina but I have called and their line as been "temporarily disconnected" and i haven't gotten a response via email yet.  

 

I am doing a beach wedding, cocktail at xlounge and then the reception will be at the event terrace.  I really had my heart set on the Spice Terrace but Yamina said I cant have a DJ there that night.  My only other option if I wanted a private event was Barcelona, and that was my least favorite restaurant when we did our site tour.  We didn't see the event terrace, so I am glad to hear that you liked it and it accommodated 50 people.  

 

I also am in the process of hiring DJ Mannia, as it was the only option for DJ's.  I really don't want to be bothered with an ipod list, but since you mentioned that the DJ didn't use your list, would you recommend hiring them or just doing it ourselves?

 

Lastly, the chairs you had at the wedding on the beach- were those the standard chairs?  I thought that I would upgrading the chairs, but if those came with the package I would be happy with them!  

 

Thanks so much for sharing your pictures!

 

Angela

[HoustonBride10/31/10]

Oh no I AM SO SORRY Daisy!!

 

But don't let this spoil your special day!

 

Maybe beautiful lace and silk ribbons off the crutches, and tie the same ones on your bouquet?
 

Originally Posted by ncarolinadaisy 

Any suggestions on decorating crutches?  I just tore my ACL on Saturday and my Playa wedding is in less than 2 weeks.  Uhhhh...be careful everyone!  Not the way I was planning on spending my wedding day... 

[ocean bride]

Hi everyone! I've been checking all of your posts and taking all your comments into consideration since my wedding is coming up really soon. We are having the ceremony at the beach and the reception at the event terrace. We've never been to this resort before so we are just going by what all of you wonderful people have to say. I've been contacting Yamina via email and she is always written me back answering my questions. For some of you that already had your weddings, how did you pay for the wedding? Yamina said that we have to pay on arrival, but is there any other way that we can make payments from here?

Also, did any of you use their photographer? What or who do you guys recommend?

Any info will help, please don't hold back

Thanks

[Angela]

Congrats Ocean bride!

 

You are going to LOVE the resort!  I was there last august for a tour and just fell in love.  Im sure you have seen pictures, but i can always send my personal photos to you.  I am also doing our ceremony at the beach and using the event terrace.  I actually didnt get to see the event terrace but from what i hear, it is great.  I don't know the answer to your question about paying, we put a deposit down but that is it so far.  I am interested in seeing what others say.  I am bringing my own photographer down, but I know a lot of people use Del Sol.  I looked into Elizabeth Medina but she was a little more expensive than we could budget for.  Good luck, Im sure your wedding will be beautiful!

Angela

Originally Posted by ocean bride 

Hi everyone! I've been checking all of your posts and taking all your comments into consideration since my wedding is coming up really soon. We are having the ceremony at the beach and the reception at the event terrace. We've never been to this resort before so we are just going by what all of you wonderful people have to say. I've been contacting Yamina via email and she is always written me back answering my questions. For some of you that already had your weddings, how did you pay for the wedding? Yamina said that we have to pay on arrival, but is there any other way that we can make payments from here?

Also, did any of you use their photographer? What or who do you guys recommend?

Any info will help, please don't hold back

Thanks