Ceremony Time

beckyandbrian · July 16, 2007

Okay...I need a little help. When I booked my wedding date at The Royal Playa Del Carmen, the WC told me that the latest time that they allow civil/legal ceremonies is 2pm. So, that is the time that I set my wedding for. I then found out through another site that a girl that I had been emailing back & forth with was married there in April and married in a civil ceremony at 4pm. I contacted the WC and she said that this is a new rule for all weddings booked after January 1, 2007 - just my luck! My concern is that with our ceremony on the beach at 2pm and our reception also on the beach at 4pm, the heat may be a little too much?? Also, I am a little worried about photographs and the lighting. Our reception is a max of 4 hrs also, which means it will only last until 8pm so I'm a little worried on what to do afterwards?? My question is what time everyone has or will be married and if anyone has done a wedding around this time with the reception afterwards and if they had any issues & how it turned out?? I'm hoping b/c it is in March that the heat won't be as bad, but now I'm worried - I feel like I am stressing over EVERY detail!

foxytv · July 16, 2007

If you can't push back the ceremony time ... have you thought about just starting the reception later -- like 5pm? I know that's a lot of time in between the ceremony and reception ... but it would help with the heat and give you and hubby some time to relax in between. Just a thought...

SusanK · July 16, 2007

What about doing a non-legal cermony there? Are there time restrictions on those? Maybe you could do the civil ceremony privately before hand. I believe it's common in Mexico for couple to have a private civil ceremony on a select day and then then religious ceremony and reception at a later date. You could always get married legally in the states prior to or after you return home (that's what we're doing because we don't want to deal with the paper work and blood tests in Mexico...we just want to enjoy ourselves).

beckyandbrian · July 16, 2007

I have thought about doing a religious/non-legal ceremony, but we really want that moment to be the first moment we say our vows. It's really important for us to make sure we have the legal/civil ceremony.

As far as the later reception, that is definitely an option. I just don't know what to do with my guests for 2 1/2 hours between the ceremony & reception....

Alyssa · July 16, 2007

i went to a DW in Dominican Republic last year - very similar. the ceremony was at 1pm. after we had a champagne toast on the beach, did the hava-na-gela (spelling?) traditional jewish circle dance with bride and groom on chairs (right on the beach - it was really cool!). everyone hung out for probably 1/2 hour then split up. they had their reception at 7pm on the beach. the break in between was really great - a lot of people napped, some went to the spa, others were at the beach together. i was the MOH and have to say - i loved the break in-between, especially since it was SO HOT. i hope this helps!