The new Paradisus Playa del Carmen (La Perla and La Esmeralda)

[DestinWed]

Has any of the brides done their hair and make up at the salon in Paradisus? I really want to see the quality of their hair do and makeup. Any pictures that you have with the resort's make up and hair do would be a big help. 

Thanks. 

[chopper]

Has any of the brides done their hair and make up at the salon in Paradisus? I really want to see the quality of their hair do and makeup. Any pictures that you have with the resort's make up and hair do would be a big help. 

Thanks.

 

I got married at Paradisus in oct and had my hair and makeup as well as all my bridesmaids and mom and they did a great job! I was really impressed! They were able to do whatever we asked. I also brought my own makeup but they had a great selection of makeup too! Another thing it was definitely worth the extra money to rent the bridal suite. We were all able to get ready in one room together.

[KScheer]

_{I really like the look and the good reviews on Paradisus. We are planning on booking a January 2015 wedding.Would someone be willing to send me any information they have from their wedding or planning experience.}

 

_{I like the idea that the ceremony and reception areas seem somewhat private. Anyone have additional pictures they would be willing to share?}

 

_Thanks!!

[ylan9383]

I'm loving the Paradisus!  Does anyone have any wedding package prices besides what's posted on their website?  Is it really $100-$120 per additional guest after 40 for the full reception?

 

I'm looking for a family friendly resort that has a nice seaweed/rock-free beach in the PDC area (calm beach) that has a disco/nightclub with DJs and dancefloor (not just a lounge or lobby with piano music).    Is Paradisus what I'm looking for?  Any other suggestions? 

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

[KK2013]

Wow, thank you to all you for your reviews. We just booked our date at Paradisus for July 11, 2014 and I have been making notes of everything. We are from NJ and were thinking of going there for the onsite visit although our budget is already a little over due to the vendor fees we have to give for a band. My question is this; since the census here shows that they don't really have anything planned until the last few days before the big day, should we skip on the onsite visit? should we do all through email/calls and just be organized enough to go through everything with them when wedding week comes and we are there?  2nd question - how much was the fee for an extra hour at the Hadar? I would like a 4 hour reception. Thank you! 

Congratulations!  I am from NJ as well and just had our wedding there this month.  It is not true that you don't have anything planned until right before.  I began planning with the decor company (Alquimia) and Jessica in the Romance Office long before my actual "Planning Call".  In fact, the planning call was just her confirming everything I had chosen.  You can shoot your romance planner an email for any information you need.  You should have been assigned someone when you signed your contract. 

 

BTW, the wedding was literally perfect.  Every detail impressed the guests.  From the decor from Alquimia, to them upgrading many of my guests, everyone could NOT stop talking about it.  Best day ever!

[ABL]

Hi,

 

I had my wedding here in Nov 2013 and I would NOT recommend it. The hotel is beautiful and the hotel staff is great. BUT, the wedding staff is NOT. We had such a horrendous experience planning--I do not wish for any bride to have to go through what we went through. Here's my review on tripadvisor.

The feeling from the start felt very uneasy. Though you feel like you're getting good value for your money, there are all these additional costs they throw at you once you've signed the contract and you're basically locked in. Also, they force you to work with their vendors, regardless of if their vendors are any good and make you pay $1,000 penalty per vendor if you wanted to use someone else. The photographers (Blue Lens) is very good. And the florist (Alquimia) is decent. But the DJ (JSAV) was horrendous and single handedly put a sour taste in our mouth. We could not be more clear about our song list, what we expected of our DJ, etc. he played the wrong song for our bridal party entrance, he played songs off our play list, which we said not to do. He was so behind in announcing the speeches and dances at the reception that we had to cut our cake cutting completely out of the evening to leave whatever minimal time we had left for dancing. We were very upset and disappointed. We felt our wedding coordinator could've stepped up but she disnt. It's like, why have a wedding there if you're basically going to be the 'day of coordinator' running around and telling the DJ 'announce the speech now...ok now queue the mother son dance...ok now do this...wrong song. This song...do that, so this!' We were running to the DJ booth so much that our photographers barely got any pictures or videos of us. And the ones they did, we looked upset and annoyed. So there's more money down the drain. Also, do NOT hire the fire dancers. What a joke! We hired then for 15 minutes for an obscene amt of money. They played drums for 14 of the 15 minutes with a person holding a torch above the drummers. Then in the last 60 seconds, they had these 2 very unattractive girls walk around seductively with the 2 torches...really??? That's what we paid for??? Over all. Hotel is good, clean. Food is good. But DO NOT have your wedding there, whatever you do. Not worth it. My brother has his wedding at Banyan Tree just up the road. Go there. They're much better, organized and professional.

[KimmyA]

Hey girls!  I'm super new here!  My fiance and I were engaged in August, and have finally decided we are doing destination!  I am so super close to booking La Esmeralda, but just wanted to discuss surprise fees/taxes/etc here before I do.  I have added up everything with an estimate of 50 guests (anything lower will save me money  )  and it seems to run about 13-15,000.  I refuse to use outside vendors with that ridiculous fee!  Do you all think it's possible to stay under 15,000?  

[KK2013]

Hey girls!  I'm super new here!  My fiance and I were engaged in August, and have finally decided we are doing destination!  I am so super close to booking La Esmeralda, but just wanted to discuss surprise fees/taxes/etc here before I do.  I have added up everything with an estimate of 50 guests (anything lower will save me money  )  and it seems to run about 13-15,000.  I refuse to use outside vendors with that ridiculous fee!  Do you all think it's possible to stay under 15,000?  

To be honest, I think staying under $15k will be really difficult at this resort for that number of people.  What did you include in that number of $15,000 that you estimated?  There are definitely ways to cut, and I think it will be possible, I just thing once you start seeing everything you can get, it becomes more difficult to turn it down.  They do an absolutely beautiful job...everything was the storybook wedding I had always dreamed of...but I paid, a lot for it.   Are you planning on legally getting married in Mexico?  If not, that is a great cut to make.  Between the fee for a legal wedding, the apostille seal, and shipping back to US, just that portion was $1500.

[KimmyA]

Hey!  Thanks for your response... yes I definitely agree it's going to be tough, but hopefully not impossible.  We are not doing a legal ceremony, we will get married here before we go and just do the symbolic.  I'm also pretty sure I'm not going to be able to do much in terms of flowers, which I'm ok with.  Price included aqua package for 50 i believe, 3 hour dj, 1 photographer for 3 hours, 4 hour videographer.  I see all the extras they offer, and they're super tempting but I know they're not necessary.  I'd rather spend our money on our honeymoon to Bora Bora!  I'm super close to booking this resort, I'm just getting nervous that once I'm locked in I'll find out about all sorts of extra fees, etc.  Hoping to get into this while somewhat knowing what to expect.  

[KK2013]

Hey!  Thanks for your response... yes I definitely agree it's going to be tough, but hopefully not impossible.  We are not doing a legal ceremony, we will get married here before we go and just do the symbolic.  I'm also pretty sure I'm not going to be able to do much in terms of flowers, which I'm ok with.  Price included aqua package for 50 i believe, 3 hour dj, 1 photographer for 3 hours, 4 hour videographer.  I see all the extras they offer, and they're super tempting but I know they're not necessary.  I'd rather spend our money on our honeymoon to Bora Bora!  I'm super close to booking this resort, I'm just getting nervous that once I'm locked in I'll find out about all sorts of extra fees, etc.  Hoping to get into this while somewhat knowing what to expect.  

Then you should be fine!  The only extras I had to pay once I got there were day passes for my vendors that weren't the preferred vendors of the resort and I paid extra for an additional tier on my cake.  Most of my extra charges were for use of what I wanted that wasn't included, as in, I wanted ivory napkins, not white.  Also, the extras that I had were mariachi band, fire dancers, guitarist for ceremony, flowers, etc.  I also had to pay to rent equipment from JSAV for the DJ I was flying out.  I would say you will be fine with your budget if you don't want the extras.  Also, once you begin speaking with the decorating company, Alquimia, you can tell her your budget per centerpiece, and she will send you some options.  I found that to be a lot easier than continuously sending her things I liked and getting prices.  They did a beautiful job.  The resort is amazing...you will love every moment!