2012 Le Blanc Brides

[Melissa Brayton]

OH NO...that sounds HORRIBLE and I am so sorry you had to go through that....What about your actual wedding? Did everything go as planned, or did anything go wrong? since we already have our deposit down and paid for our room/room contract, etc we have no turning back, so it would be helpful if you could let me know a bit about your wedding if you don't mind!. What did you do for your ceremony? Gazebo or the beach or the garden? I am thinking we are going to have ours on the beach... Also, did you have a cocktail party? Where did you have that?

where did you have your reception?

 

Sorry for all the questions, I just would like to know what brides like the most as far as reception location, plated or buffett style? etc.

 

Thank you for your help and I am sorry that happened and hope they can fix the water issue. That is a nightmare....

[lau080285]

Wow Amber we were at Le Blanc during the same time you were there (our wedding wa 6/3/12) and we had NONE of the problems your described. Sorry though, that's a bummer. We didn't even see any buckets or smell any mildew everything was perfect. With the exception of not being informed of the giant tent on the beach where we were supposed to be married. As for everyones questions I just have to say Sandra Prieto is AMAZING she wa the onsite coordinator for us and we were her very last wedding!! She is now at Moon Palace as Wendy has said! As for early planning I was in contact with yesenia we used del sol for photography the onsite photographers are not at all ideal. we used the videographer included in the package which is the same company as the photographers and it wasn't too great luckily our friends also took video and it was way better than the professionals. We used an outside DJ but that was because we were only charged day passes and not that new vendor fee as we booked over a yer ahi and got the ok via email from yesenia when we booked. Silvia wasn't the hearsay of help buthe did help finalize some details at the 2 week/1 week point as I didn't do any planning until less than 2 weeks before we arrived. The locations are gorgeous the beach setup was by far the most beautiful the gazebo is nice but a bit stark/cold but the terrace with the gazebo is gorgeous at night for a reception. We were goingto use that space but some issues resulted in Le blanc closing the terrace with the restaurant and making it private for our reception it was perfect!! Happy planning!!

[mrsbruff2b]

We were at Le Blanc for our honeymoon and I am actually glad we didn't get married there.  It's a great getaway but the gazebo looked SO small compared to the photos.

 

We also had water problems in our first room (504).  It wasn't until I broke down in tears over the stress of my wedding did they move us to a new room. 

 

Did you also experience damp bedsheets?  We chalked it up to humidity but apparently none of our guests noticed...

 

I too saw buckets and towels all over the place. You'd think they'd be better prepared for the weather seeing as they have "rainy season" every year? That said, I absolutely LOVED the food and the butlers.  I'm so sorry that your experience was not as amazing as you expected, but know you're not alone.  It rained 4/5 days we were there and I was incredibly sad. =(

 

Originally Posted by AmberLoves 

Ladies,

 

Good luck to those planning upcoming weddings at Le Blanc.  Fortunately, we were one of the last couples to work with Sandra Prieto and our wedding was on 06/23/2012.  However, I will say that my wedding and experience at Le Blanc was NOT at all in line with the stories told and not what I imagined before arriving.  I will post the positive as well as the negative along with photos and unfortunately the NEGATIVE triumphed.  I hope that none of you experience what myself and my new husband had to endure at Le Blanc.  It was like being in the twilight zone!!!  The rooms were flooding with water.  The morning of my wedding the ceiling in one of the Govenor's Suites collapsed from prior water damaged and began leaking water into the Bathroom.  Thank god I was not in the bathtub at that exact moment!  Please keep in mind this was the 3rd or 4th room that they moved us to due to their water issues.  The ballrooms and hallways that lead to the ballrooms were flooded and reeked of mildew and disgust.  The resort has buckets every where and towels to keep rain from coming in through sealed windows.  There were buckets in the lobby and all over the resort catching water from the rain.  The elevators got shut down because they were flooded and the middle elevator did not reopen until 2 days later.  The resort tried to tell us that these issues were due to a "tropical storm" but mind you it was just normal rain happening while we were there.  The water cut off in the hotel one morning while we were showering to leave for a tour and when it finally came back on it exploded with brown waste that came out of the faucets.  This is just a taste of the things that we experienced.  We will be writing a FULL review to post on Trip Advisor and trust me we have the photos and video to back up everything that happened.  After experiencing Le Blanc in person I do not believe at all that this is a five-diamond resort and hope that no other bride experiences even half of the things that were out of order while we were there.  Please feel free to contact me if you have questions.

[AmberM]

So sorry to hear about all the water problems you ladies had to deal with.  That is so horrible!  I have another question for you all... I was planning on using the resort photographers (with resort credit to save money and not have to deal with the hassle of fees and getting an approved vendor) but after looking into it, they don't seem great at all.  I actually started to panic thinking and I am beginning to realize photography is a lot more important to me than I thought.  I contacted Del Sol and fortunately they are still available.  Although they are budget busting for me, I am looking into booking Jonathon or Melissal.  Anybody else use them?  Del Sol told me we only have to buy day passes for the photographers and that they are an approved vendor (no outside fee).  I like that there will be no extra fee, but that is still a lot of my budget.  Do you ladies think booking Del Sol for 5 hours is enough coverage?  As long as we get a few pre-ceremony getting ready pictures and then on the other end at the reception the cake cutting firs,t dance, ect.  My end of the night party reception pictures are not as important to me as we aren't having a band or DJ, and I will only have about 16 - 24 guests.  Plus we are taking our guests to Coco Bongo for a late night after party (most of the dancing will probably happen there.)  Also, I was thinking I would get the Signature Package but now that my photography expenses are much greater that anticipated, I will probably downgrade to the Zen Garden.  Anybody had that package?  Do you think they will substitute decorations at all?  I don't like all the chocolate and green (my wedding color is navy blue).  Do they allow any substitutions in their packages (ie white chairs instead of brown, harpist instead of violinist, blue plates instead of green, videographer instead of photographer???)  If anybody has any experience with Del Sol or the resort wedding packages please let me know!  THANKS!!!!!!

[Jaclyn24]

Hi Ladies,,in exactly 2 weeks I will be at Le Blanc!!!! I'm so excited Amber- we decided to use Pictures in Cancun , Derek and Lorena We loved their work and spoke to them on the phone several times... They really sound great And reasonably priced for all day shooting. Also they will let you change details like colors but in case there's an extra charge they will always tell you Like if they have to go outside to get the color you want of something I was changed from Sandra to Angelica She's very on top of everything and very nice Lau- that's so good to hear that everything went so well I cant wait!!

[med2012]

Hi Melissa - 

 

As far as the menus go, anything is a go from it for the buffets, then there is also a plated menu (separate from the buffet menu) where you pick from, but it can only be used in the ballroom or outside on the terrace, not any of the other spaces.

 

If you pick different vendors outside the resort, there is a $500 fee for each (if you haven't written it into your contract prior).

Originally Posted by Melissa Brayton 

Hi! I am having my wedding May 25th 2013 and was also working with Silvia as well. She told me the same thing that everything is being transferred to Cancun. I definitely felt a bit stressed since she told me I probably won't hear from anyone for a couple months. This probably means longer especially since they are transferring all the info over rhere I honestly think that we do have plenty of time but it would be nice to know who we can contact if we have any initial questions. Silvia sent me a bunch of attachments with longgggg lists of food to choose from but wasnt really specific as to if it was for the Buffett option or plates meals. Just a bit confusing. She didn't say anything about picking specific vendors for pictures or the DJ. She just gave me a basic email but with only what the resort offers- I didn't know we could pick diff vendors outside of the resort? Is that what u are trying to do?
I am still in the beginning stages with everything but just sent out my save the dates today. I just hope someone from cancun reaches out within the next 2 months just so I know they are there for any initial questions. Let me know when you hear and I'll do the same!!! Good luck!!

[mrsbruff2b]

I also skipped on Del Sol because of the budget and style issue.

 

My husband and I went to CocoBongo (AMAZING!!)  But be prepared for the club scene (no seats!).  You'll be standing and it will be quite crowded (are you bringing your photographers?  It might be ... very difficult to get professional pictures at CocoBongo). It's like a super packed club.  There is also a smoking area right by the entrance so if you are allergic or sensitive to smoke (or have guests who are), find a place far in. You guys will have a BLAST.

 

CocoBongo is about a 10 - 15 minute walk from Le Blanc... you could take public transit but at that time at night, EVERYONE is going into the entertainment district... you'll walk about the same speed as the bus. Just FYI~

 

 

Originally Posted by AmberM 

So sorry to hear about all the water problems you ladies had to deal with.  That is so horrible!  I have another question for you all... I was planning on using the resort photographers (with resort credit to save money and not have to deal with the hassle of fees and getting an approved vendor) but after looking into it, they don't seem great at all.  I actually started to panic thinking and I am beginning to realize photography is a lot more important to me than I thought.  I contacted Del Sol and fortunately they are still available.  Although they are budget busting for me, I am looking into booking Jonathon or Melissal.  Anybody else use them?  Del Sol told me we only have to buy day passes for the photographers and that they are an approved vendor (no outside fee).  I like that there will be no extra fee, but that is still a lot of my budget.  Do you ladies think booking Del Sol for 5 hours is enough coverage?  As long as we get a few pre-ceremony getting ready pictures and then on the other end at the reception the cake cutting firs,t dance, ect.  My end of the night party reception pictures are not as important to me as we aren't having a band or DJ, and I will only have about 16 - 24 guests.  Plus we are taking our guests to Coco Bongo for a late night after party (most of the dancing will probably happen there.)  Also, I was thinking I would get the Signature Package but now that my photography expenses are much greater that anticipated, I will probably downgrade to the Zen Garden.  Anybody had that package?  Do you think they will substitute decorations at all?  I don't like all the chocolate and green (my wedding color is navy blue).  Do they allow any substitutions in their packages (ie white chairs instead of brown, harpist instead of violinist, blue plates instead of green, videographer instead of photographer???)  If anybody has any experience with Del Sol or the resort wedding packages please let me know!  THANKS!!!!!!

[lau080285]

Amber M,

The package photographers are NOT what you want if your photographs are super important to you!! Their photos were mediocre at best! We ha the signiture package and kept the videographer (which was only during the ceremony and soo not that good anyway...we had friends video also and our home video was way better) but hired Del Sol (Melissa and Jonathan for 7 hrs). Best decision we made they were so much fun and sooo professional and incredibly talented!! With hiring del sol we dismissed the package photographer (which was included in the pkg and already paid for) and there were no substitutions allowed for aspects of the package such as the photog/video but im not sure about the decor!! I would email a wedding coordinator (not silvia) someone directly onsite at Le Blanc.

Also the Gazebo is very small and i loved it in photos but when i went on a site visit a year before the wedding I was soo grateful we did, we chose the beach and it was picture perfect!! Also the Blancwind terrace is really nice BUT if the sun is still our or setting during the even you choose to have up there (cocktail/reception) it will be way too hot since the sun is reflecting off all the white and tiles...we viewed that too and quickly decide that was a horrible idea for a cocktail area.

 

Also a quick note...I called all of our guests(30 total)  who stayed with us at Le blanc when I read some of the posts regarding water issues and damp sheets...when i read that i felt so bad that you ladies had such a bad experience but I also felt like I was in another world because we had no issues at all and did not see any buckets or anything...I feel like Im crazy but none of our guests had issues or saw anything either. 

Happy planning to you all and goodluck! All will work out in the end!

[AmberLoves]

MrsBruff2B,

 

We are on our way out of town, but I will be sure to respond when I return next week with more details and I have bee so tired that I haven't uploaded photos, but trust that our experience was 10 times worse than damp sheets which we complained about too.  One room that they moved us too was so bad there was a huge puddle of water under the bed and the whole bed skirt was soaked in water so what does that tell you about how much water had to have leaked into the room.  It was unbelievable!!  The Gazebo was nonexistent compared to the photos which was a downer.  The butler service was bar far the best experience of the whole trip and we LOVED the food at the Asian restaurant.  I wish we had eaten there on more than one occasion.  As a whole I would have rated Le Blanc a 2 if it were not for the butler service based on our experience alone.

[AmberLoves]

Amber M,

 

We were able to make substitutions for flowers, etc. but that was because Sandra was our planner and we discussed these things way in advance of arriving in Cancun.  Also, we brought our own photographer and thank God we did because I could not have imagined using the resorts photographer alone.  Our wedding was over 35-40 minutes late because they did not have the chairs and items setup and then at the last minute my sister forgot the groom's ring in the bridal suite which took all of 5 minutes to retrieve and the resort had the nerve to tell Wendy that they wedding was late because of the bridesmaid.  Also, the other thing that delayed the ceremony again due to their water issues was that a waiter or someone on the staff slipped and almost killed himself as I was entering up the stairwell to the atrium (this was our revised location due to rain).  So, they had to pause the wedding to clean up the mess so that wedding party (bride and bridesmaid) could finally walk up the stairs and down the aisle.  This of course is while the groom is waiting for me the whole time.  Basically, it's like this ladies for this resort to be ranked as a 5-diamond and I'm spending the same time of money that I can spend at reputable locations like the Mandarin Oriental or St. Regis it was not in any way up to standard.  I don't know what anyone else's expectations are, but Le Blanc would never be placed on my "to visit" list again unless they completely gutted and renovated the whole facility.