Playa Fiesta Weddings

[Cagrl20]

My fiance and I did a site visit in April and met Adam and Lindsay and they were absolutely great! This has been so stressful! I really thought that we would go there and see the place and just be amazed with it, which we both were. We are just concerned about our guests paying for their stay. It seems to be an expensive expense for them to fly out to our wedding and then pay for room and board. I'm so confused and don't know what to do. Our other option is the Casamagna Marriott, but their prices for the reception are little out of our price range. They really don't offer much as far as decorations unless we want to shell out the extra money to dress it up. Is or has everyone had any problems with their guests and the hotel prices? I think that is our major concern in making our final decision.

[kbackman]

I am in the beginning stages of planning for my November 2010 "wedding only" event at Playa Fiesta. We have a timeshare at the Sheraton, so we opted to stay there and just have our event at the beach club. There is so much great advice on this forum --thank you to all--! I just booked PF the other day, so I don't have much info on pricing other than what is on the website. It sounds like flowers get a bit expensive. Did anyone use orchids (my dream flower, but probably the most expensive?!)?? Thanks for any help!!

[Mel&B]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cagrl20 My fiance and I did a site visit in April and met Adam and Lindsay and they were absolutely great! This has been so stressful! I really thought that we would go there and see the place and just be amazed with it, which we both were. We are just concerned about our guests paying for their stay. It seems to be an expensive expense for them to fly out to our wedding and then pay for room and board. I'm so confused and don't know what to do. Our other option is the Casamagna Marriott, but their prices for the reception are little out of our price range. They really don't offer much as far as decorations unless we want to shell out the extra money to dress it up. Is or has everyone had any problems with their guests and the hotel prices? I think that is our major concern in making our final decision.

Ok, take a deep breath. I totally have been where you are at with stress. We did have some guests express concern with the price, but I'm pretty sure at this point they would all say it was worth it. They all had the best time and kept telling me how happy they were with PF and our decision to have our wedding there. Most people won't understand how great the place is until the day they arrive, and then they will be blown away. We did have a few guests who couldn't make the minimum night commitment, so they just stayed elsewhere and hung out with us at PF most nights. It wasn't a big deal. I would suggest taking a informal consensus with your friends and family to see if they think they'd be able to make the minimum night (not sure what your's is) commitment. If you can make it work with your guests you absolutely must have your wedding here. My new DH and I are still floating on air. We are so happy. Our wedding was perfect!!! It's hard to explain, but Lindsay made sure every detail was perfect. I'll try to write my review this weekend.

[Mel&B]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bridgecolor.com Do you have a photographer?

Please don't hijack our thread.

[wsarah2107]

I'm totally in the same situation...we're trying to figure out how much everything is going to cost (both us and our guests)...we will have a lot of people who don't ever travel otherwise, so we're a little nervous they might not be so understanding (at least until they get there). Anyone work out the differences between PF and an AI place (both for guests and for wedding pkg prices?)? I'm working on that right now. For those who married @ PF & have been on other vacations--how does it compare to an all-inclusive resort like RIU or Dreams??

Thanks ladies!!

[wsarah2107]

Kbackman, for the wedding only...there is a $5,000 minumum, correct? Maybe we could stay at an AI resort and then have our ceremony & reception at playa fiesta? Do you guys think that would be tremendously more expensive for us than choosing either one? PF is just so beautiful and I have not heard one bad thing about it!! Two other things that are kinda steering me away from AI is that there will be "randoms" either watching, or (hopefullynot!!!) in the pics. Also, it seems like PF is much more elegant, like a wedding we would have at home whereas some pics I've looked at at other big resorts seem kinda tacky, & almost like 80s style I dunno...maybe I've just seen bad photos...

[Mel&B]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wsarah2107 I'm totally in the same situation...we're trying to figure out how much everything is going to cost (both us and our guests)...we will have a lot of people who don't ever travel otherwise, so we're a little nervous they might not be so understanding (at least until they get there). Anyone work out the differences between PF and an AI place (both for guests and for wedding pkg prices?)? I'm working on that right now. For those who married @ PF & have been on other vacations--how does it compare to an all-inclusive resort like RIU or Dreams?? Thanks ladies!!

Funny that you mention the RIU. We got married at PF on 5/1 and honeymooned at the RIU. We totally missed PF once we got to the RIU. The main difference is personal service and atmosphere. The RIU is much more "vegas." PF is comfortable and beautiful and you feel like you are at home, except home is a gorgeous villa on the Pacific Ocean.

I've also been to Dreams Los Cabos, and we loved it, but if you are just comparing the RIU to PF, I prefer PF.

[wsarah2107]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mel&B Funny that you mention the RIU. We got married at PF on 5/1 and honeymooned at the RIU. We totally missed PF once we got to the RIU. The main difference is personal service and atmosphere. The RIU is much more "vegas." PF is comfortable and beautiful and you feel like you are at home, except home is a gorgeous villa on the Pacific Ocean. I've also been to Dreams Los Cabos, and we loved it, but if you are just comparing the RIU to PF, I prefer PF.

Thanks for the reply! I think I know what you mean about being "vegas-y". Thats one of the reasons we're thinking PV anyways...we considered Cancun (our 1st real vacation together was there, and then 3 yrs later, FI took me on a suprise vacation to the same resort and proposed!) since its significant for us...but besides wanting to try something different, my sister has been to both Cancun and PV and said PV isn't as "vegas" as Cancun. So we thought for a wedding it might be more classy.
Can't help but think Dreams or RIU would be more economical for everyone involved though....like, would our guests who don't travel prefer an AI so they don't have to worry about spending more $ once they get there since everything has already been paid for...ugh.
How do the dinner and entertainment packages at PF work? Are they pretty spendy? Did you pay for them or is it added on to people's room rate? Maybe we can trick them into thinking it is almost all-inclusive--ha!!

[kbackman]

The wedding-only option has a $5000 minimum, that is correct. We felt the same way about having a resort wedding - too many other people around. We liked the intimacy of PF and feel like it will work out perfectly for us. We are working on our budget now, and without photography, we are already around 15K for the reception. We initially thought it would be closer to 10K, but food and open bar eat up a lot of the budget, and depending on the flowers you choose, those can get pretty pricey. I would call or email PF and ask them for a prices template so you can get an idea of the costs associated before you make a decision. I know it would be much cheaper to go with a package at a resort. As owners, we get a good discount at our resort for other guests to stay. Otherwise we would have done the full week at PF. I guess it just depends on your budget and your preferences. For us, PF is perfect. We don't mind spending a little more to make our big day as magical as we imagine it, and by we, I guess I mean me

[jenniebey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wsarah2107 I'm totally in the same situation...we're trying to figure out how much everything is going to cost (both us and our guests)...we will have a lot of people who don't ever travel otherwise, so we're a little nervous they might not be so understanding (at least until they get there). Anyone work out the differences between PF and an AI place (both for guests and for wedding pkg prices?)? I'm working on that right now. For those who married @ PF & have been on other vacations--how does it compare to an all-inclusive resort like RIU or Dreams?? Thanks ladies!!

I totally understand where you're coming from. I was so stressed about making this decision as well.

I have to agree with Melissa. Just informally ask some of your potential guests how they feel about the minimum stay and price. I asked my immediate family, of course, plus my bridesmaids and a couple other friends what they thought. Ultimately most people will tell you that it's up to you and they will support you, but it's good to give them a head's up as well.

Also I did a list of everyone we would be inviting and then either marked them as definitely coming, maybe or probably not. I was able to figure out that we would have enough to get our room minimum.

We've had a couple people decide on another hotel b/c they can't do the minimum or maybe they just think it's too expensive, but I'm also trying to remind them that between cabs and the daily off site fee, it might not be much cheaper. Either way, as long as they feel happy I'm okay with it.

As far as wedding day costs, I used the spreadsheet Adam sent over to figure out prices. Once I itemized it, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was a little off on flowers, but you don't have to go crazy on those. Lots of girls use candles for centerpieces instead of flowers.

Good luck. I"m sure you'll be happy with whatever location you decide to go with.