2011 & 2012 PLAYACAR PALACE BRIDES!!!!!!

[SpotJune2012]

Hello Ladies,

I have read every posting on this thread and am excited and reassured about our choice to be married at the Playacar Palace. Thank you to all who have posted such helpful information. You all have been more helpful than the resort so far!  

Our wedding is scheduled for June 2012. I am curious to find out about the flow of events after the ceremony. We are not having a private reception party. Our plan is to have our ceremony at 3pm, cocktail hour at 4 for guests (while we have some pictures), and then the semi-private dinner at 5pm. Is there a place at the resort to go dancing afterwards? We would love to be able to continue the party with our friends after dinner but can't afford the full private reception with DJ. Does anyone have experience with this?

Thank you!!

[chelsandjack]

Hey Everyone!

 

We are still on the hunt for our photographer & we have been communicating with Ivan Luckie - who has been awesome so far in terms of responsiveness.  Have you all had experience with him?  

 

One major concern of ours is the turn around of our pictures.  Our wedding is at the end of April & our AHR is in mid-June and we definately want to be able to display our photos at the party - however some reviews of Ivan I have read were that, although he is extremely nice and an awesome photographer - some people were waiting 4+ months to get their pictures!?!?!

 

Any thoughts?

[Ziki]

My contract says 90 days with Ivan but even my pics in NYC were a 4 mo turn around. Remember he does all of gis own editing. I would suggest uaing pics your guests take. Anything fabulous is worth the wait ... if you want to spend more money and get a quicker turn around there are other photogs who may do it more quickly. But for me ... I will have the photps for a lifetime and if waiting gives me better results I am happy to wait

[chelsandjack]

Hi Everyone!

 

Soooo..we think we've found our photographer!    Samuel Luna..we're just waiting on a contract!!  Excited!!!!!

 

So now were on to trying to plan our "events."   We qualified for "unlimited private functions" - so were planning on having a private buffet a the night of the ceremony.  Our question is about entertainment.  Obviously we want our guests to get loose and have fun & dance - but we're running seriously low on our our budget & there's no way we can afford a DJ at this point - we're super bummed that we aren't allowed to use our resort credits for extras like DJ's and Mariachis   

 

We thought about making an Ipod playlist - but there wouldn't be someone to kind of make announcements, ect- like an MC. Obviously we want to do the father/daughter dance, mother/son dance, first dance, ect...but we also don't want to be playing "M.C." instead of having fun with our guests...any suggestions????

 

Thanks so much- you've all been so helpful!

[SpotJune2012]

I was just told by Wilma that outside photographers and florists are not allowed. Has anyone else run into this recently?

[chelsandjack]

We were told the same thing originally, however one of our other Palace contacts, Michelle Farinas who I believe is in sales in Miami, told us that we can indeed use an outside photographer, we just have to buy a day pass.

[perry1217]

Best advice I can give with exceptions is to make sure you get everything in writing.  Seriously.  You deal with many different people during your wedding planning so what one tells you might not fly with the next.  Make sure you have it in an e-mail!  I had to forward quite a few to explain what had been promised or told to us.

[Matt Adcock]

 

 

Originally Posted by Ziki 

 

Hi ... I'm also getting married at PP in April. We're doing the welcome reception on the wedding terrace and on the day of the wedding we are getting married at the wedding terrace with a cocktail hour in the Cielo bar and then a private dinner in the North Solarium. We also switched from a 2011 package to the 2012 complimentary package.

I am using Luckie Photography for and Fernando Fuentes for hair and makeup (I just booked him today and am so excited). Del Sol had great photos but their peicing is outrageous. I am from NYC and a top notch photog there doesn't even cost that much so while I am sure their work is woth every penny I just couldn't justify the expense and by all accounts Ivan Luckie is amazing too.

You can absolutely have outside vendors for photos, hair and makeup ...it is a 93 usd day pass per person. Keep in mind though that day passes cannot exceed 20 percent of your total party ... i.e. if you have 20 in your party no more than 4 can have day passes ... but they often make exceptions for

vendors. I have juat made sure to get everything in writing prior to making my deposits. Hope this helps and congrats to another PP April bride

 

I think that I must disagree with you about NYC photographers.   One comes to my mind, she photographed my sister's wedding (susanstriplingblog.com)  and actually my proposal to Sol Tamargo...  She is about 6k - 10k depending on travel fees and albums... she lives in NYC.   I could actually start a list of togs there if you would like, but that isnt going to really matter much.

 

Fact is, we are booked, very booked and thus we must control the amount of shoots that we are doing in order to stay healthy and creative and fresh in our minds.    How does the artist keep themselves from loosing their mind or taking on too many jobs????

 

With our business, we decided to hire specialists in each area to take on the work so that we could fine tune our products and elevate our customer service level and offer this amazing team of artists to our clients (vs hiring 1 tog).    Most of the competition photographers are one person businesses, del Sol & La Luna has 5 full time employees that include a group of editors and a studio manager to answer your questions every day, usually within a 24 hr response time as well as a sales concierge to answer the phone side by side the studio manager.    

 

Folks really just don't understand that the level of hands on (5 artists contribute to the final edit) by the time the photos are delivered, thats huge.   It allows us to stay organized and exceed expectations.   In addition our team has 6 AMAZING photogs who I have personally trained.  They use our gear, they shoot under our instruction and are reviewed weekly by studio manager or studio owners (me or sol).

 

For other readers...a  tip on hiring your photographer studio and using the BDWF resources:

 

I think its fair to ask that you also spend 10 minutes and read the LEVEL OF DETAIL of satisfaction in del Sol reviews by past brides writing on this BDWF.    Then spend 10 minutes and read through the reviews of whoever else your are considering.   Compare the feeling you get after reading del Sol reviews vs the others... I'm amazed at the level of personalization and detail our brides give in our reviews and I'm sure you will be too amazed!    Then, ask yourselves if the photographers you are considering have ever won any international awards or have been recognized for their service and product excellence?    After you weigh the benefits and have viewed at least 10 full wedding slideshows of your photographer, you are certainly armed for a choice...   We certainly hope brides are doing this research.

 

We understand everybody has a budget to stick to, and that folks click one way vs another, but for those we do click with, its seriously a relationship ending with memories that will blow your mind...

 

good luck with Mr lucky!  He is a nice guy!

 

matt

 

[Ziki]

That's what this forum is for - to voice differing opinions.  I disagree with you still, from personal experience - regardless your photos are beautiful.  Cheers.

 

Originally Posted by Matt Adcock 

I think that I must disagree with you about NYC photographers.   One comes to my mind, she photographed my sister's wedding (susanstriplingblog.com)  and actually my proposal to Sol Tamargo...  She is about 6k - 10k depending on travel fees and albums... she lives in NYC.   I could actually start a list of togs there if you would like, but that isnt going to really matter much.

Fact is, we are booked, very booked and thus we must control the amount of shoots that we are doing in order to stay healthy and creative and fresh in our minds.    How does the artist keep themselves from loosing their mind or taking on too many jobs????

With our business, we decided to hire specialists in each area to take on the work so that we could fine tune our products and elevate our customer service level and offer this amazing team of artists to our clients (vs hiring 1 tog).    Most of the competition photographers are one person businesses, del Sol & La Luna has 5 full time employees that include a group of editors and a studio manager to answer your questions every day, usually within a 24 hr response time as well as a sales concierge to answer the phone side by side the studio manager.    

Folks really just don't understand that the level of hands on (5 artists contribute to the final edit) by the time the photos are delivered, thats huge.   It allows us to stay organized and exceed expectations.   In addition our team has 6 AMAZING photogs who I have personally trained.  They use our gear, they shoot under our instruction and are reviewed weekly by studio manager or studio owners (me or sol).

 

For other readers...a  tip on hiring your photographer studio and using the BDWF resources:

I think its fair to ask that you also spend 10 minutes and read the LEVEL OF DETAIL of satisfaction in del Sol reviews by past brides writing on this BDWF.    Then spend 10 minutes and read through the reviews of whoever else your are considering.   Compare the feeling you get after reading del Sol reviews vs the others... I'm amazed at the level of personalization and detail our brides give in our reviews and I'm sure you will be too amazed!    Then, ask yourselves if the photographers you are considering have ever won any international awards or have been recognized for their service and product excellence?    After you weigh the benefits and have viewed at least 10 full wedding slideshows of your photographer, you are certainly armed for a choice...   We certainly hope brides are doing this research.
 

We understand everybody has a budget to stick to, and that folks click one way vs another, but for those we do click with, its seriously a relationship ending with memories that will blow your mind...

 

good luck with Mr lucky!  He is a nice guy!

 

matt
 

 

[Watjol]

Is there any way I can get the name of the florist you used for bridesmaids? We get married at PP on 9/2/12 and I'm trying to plan ahead! Thank you!!