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

[zillakas]

@@Catfoxinabox Hi! I was just reading all your tips again and I have a question regarding JSAV. We want to do the same thing as you regarding a continuos slideshow throughout the evening. Steve recommended we do a flat screen due to wind that can be in the Gabi Club. Were you happy with the projector? How did you play your pictures -- through a laptop or USB device? We aren't sure if we should go with flat screen or projector so hopefully your response will help!

 

Also, were you happy with the quality of your BlueLens photos and videos? And can you give the names of the photographers they provided you with (if you were happy with them). I was told that they have some good photographers and some amateurs that aren't so good, so you have to request who you want. 

 

Thank you !!!!

Do any brides have experience with this company http://www.cancun-discounts.com/ ?

We want to book a private catamaran for our guests and I've looked on tons of sites and cancun-discounts seems to have the best options and prices, but can't find too many reviews. Any used them or heard of them?

 

Thanks!!

[adehaarte]

@@Catfoxinabox do you mind sharing approximatly how much your wedding cost? I too am considering the tailor made package but I want to get an idea of how much the final costs would be.

[Marieisgettinghitched]

Hi all!

 

i'm new to this board and have been reading all the posts and they've been VERY helpful! This is my second time planning our wedding since our original wedding last month did not go through for reasons beyond our control and we lost ALL of our deposits. With that being said, we are looking to book our wedding at Paradisus for March 2016 and wanted to know if anyone has the a la carte price list for add-ons and venue upgrades for ceremony/reception (I'm looking at the Aqua package). Also, if anyone has information for the photographer packages and florist, I wold greatly appreciate it. I wanted to see what we're working budget wise since we already lost so much money with the first planning. Any additional advices and help would be great! Please email me at marieandvuwedding@@gmail.com.

[ljoseph26]

Hi All,

 

I am new to this board and have been reading everyone's posts, which have been extremely helpful, however I am growing more and more concerned about a Paradisus wedding. As of now, I have not confirmed my wedding date, but it will most likely be April 2016. The costs are quickly adding up and it seems as though this hotels wedding packages are substantially higher than other resorts in the area. 

 

I am very familiar with the PDC area and did check out several resorts, and the Paradisus is by far my favorite, however I have had trouble getting detailed information regarding decor costs, etc. 

I will be bringing my own dj from NYC and have noticed that it is possible to rent only the equipment from JSAV, does anyone know how much this costs? In addition, what is an average cost of decor/floral arrangements? 

 

I plan on doing the Tailor Made package because I will be having almost 100 guests and like that it includes the welcome party. Does anyone know if you are able to host the welcome party on the beach? Can I have my dj play at the welcome party as well?

 

Any information that past and future brides have would be greatly appreciated as I am now starting to freak out about this wedding planning process! Thank You!

[zillakas]

@@ljoseph26 Hi, our wedding is in about 2 months so I can't give reviews yet but I can share our planning experience so far.

 

Steve at JSAV is very reasonable and he is the easiest vendor to work with. We are flying in our own performers from NYC and using JSAV's equipment as well. Also using equipment for welcome party too, so yes, you can have your dj at the party. I'm not sure they can do a party on the beach for 100 people. We are also having 100 and they suggested we don't do beach so we're doing poolside instead.

 

Decor/floral arrangements can range anywhere from 150-450, all depending on your flower choice and taste. You can definitely bargain with them.

 

You should for sure do tailor made package if you want a welcome party, but as you already know, there still will be many additional costs such as equipment rental, flowers, decor, photo/video, venue upgrade (optional) and time extension (optional).

[ljoseph26]

Hi @@zillakas, thank you so much for your help! I am happy to hear that renting the dj equipment for both the welcome party and the reception is not an issue. If you don't mind, can you please message me the cost information for the equipment rental. 

 

Thanks again!

[lab209]

I am getting married on the beach at Paradisus Playa Del Carmen La Esmeralda in June 2015.  I am wondering if anyone was married on the beach and what there experience was there.  Was the beach windy?  Was the beach nice?

[zillakas]

Previous brides -- I have a question about the cake. Wedding planner told me that regardless of group size, cake will be 2 tier. We are having 100 guests so I imagine this needs to be a large 2 tier cake. Can someone else who had a large group tell me about their cake? Was it enough for your group? 

They told me bottom tier will be about 15 inches and top tier will be about 12 inches, tier height will be around 4 inches. Sounds a little small for 100 people. What do you think?

[asabatino]

@@Catfoxinabox Hi! I was just reading all your tips again and I have a question regarding JSAV. We want to do the same thing as you regarding a continuos slideshow throughout the evening. Steve recommended we do a flat screen due to wind that can be in the Gabi Club. Were you happy with the projector? How did you play your pictures -- through a laptop or USB device? We aren't sure if we should go with flat screen or projector so hopefully your response will help!

 

Also, were you happy with the quality of your BlueLens photos and videos? And can you give the names of the photographers they provided you with (if you were happy with them). I was told that they have some good photographers and some amateurs that aren't so good, so you have to request who you want. 

 

Thank you !!!!

Do any brides have experience with this company http://www.cancun-discounts.com/ ?

We want to book a private catamaran for our guests and I've looked on tons of sites and cancun-discounts seems to have the best options and prices, but can't find too many reviews. Any used them or heard of them?

 

Thanks!!

Hi Zilla,

 

I'm doing my boat excursion through paradise catamarans.  They have great reviews and I even met with them when i was down there.  Check out their reviews:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g153510-d815084-Reviews-Paradise_Catamarans-Puerto_Aventuras_Yucatan_Peninsula.html

 

Also, I'm also interesting in requesting the better photographer at blue lens (wedding day story).  Can you please let me know if you find out anything about the photographers that work there.

 

Thanks,

Anna

[yodabaura]

I got married at the Paradisus last month and it was great!!  Here are some tips and info about the planning process and what to expect (this is obnoxiously long):

 

First, I decided to do a destination wedding because I didn’t want to get too stressed out with planning.  So I was admittedly pretty go with the flow and didn’t have too many strong opinions on wedding details with decorations, cake, etc.  I just wanted the place to be nice, the food to be good, and for our guests to have a good time. I had never been to the Paradisus before so I planned everything online and based on pictures.  The resort is beautiful in person though!  I was very happy.

 

The worst part for me was working with the resort on getting a group room rate/contract for some of our guests.  We were assigned a contact person after our wedding date was reserved, and it was just an awful process.  We ended up being shuffled between multiple people to get a set rate and to reserve rooms, and really it was just terrible and no one responded for weeks on end and our families kept asking when they could book rooms.  We complained and complained.  That being said, it was eventually sorted out after several months and we got about 12 rooms booked through the group contract, but I would recommend that you either let a travel agent deal with that or just have people book through Expedia or other third party websites.  The deals on those websites were about the same if not better than our group rate.  We had almost 80 guests and most booked through other websites.  It was just our immediate families that used the group contract and even that was super annoying.  But maybe the resort has gotten their act together since then.

 

After your date is reserved you eventually get assigned a person in the resort’s corporate Miami office.  We had Jessica and I had no issues with her.  She answered all of my questions within a few days of the email.  You set up almost everything with her – ceremony and reception locations, food selections, and any wedding extras (ex. Mariachi band, extra food options, cocktail hour, etc.).  

 

The resort requires you to use their preferred vendors for DJ, photography, and flowers/décor otherwise you pay a $1,000 fee.  I had no complaints with the DJ (JSAV) or photographer (Blue Lens, now Wedding Day Story).  We got the most basic packages for each, but I was happy with how things turned out.  We gave JSAV a long list of songs to play during our dance and they stuck to it exactly.

 

Planner 1 is the new flower/décor company.  They took over in January 2015, so I had to start all over with that company just a month or so before my wedding.  That was pretty stressful and it was hard to get a response from Planner 1, but some of that might be attributed to the fact they just started working with the Paradisus.  I didn’t have everything finalized with them until about a week before our wedding, but everything turned out great and they set-up the flowers and other table/chairs as requested.  I thought their prices were pretty expensive, but they still seemed pretty par for the course for wedding events no matter where you are.

 

We did the “Chill Out Chic” package and had our wedding ceremony on the Gabi Bridge at 5pm, then we added an extra cocktail hour a 6pm, and had the reception at the La Esmeralda Solarium from 7-10pm.  I liked the Solarium, it was a neat space outside and doesn’t cost extra like the Gabi Club does.  The cocktail hour was an additional cost but we opted to do it so that the reception wouldn’t start at 6pm and end at 9pm (all the events have to be continuous).  We could have paid more to extend the reception until 11pm, but we didn’t do that and instead just had our guests go to the Red Lounge bar at the resort and it worked out great.  The Red Lounge plays lots of dance/club music so we were able to keep the party going there without spending an arm and a leg for an extra hour of a private reception.

 

Separate from the room reservation process, the main other stressor for me in planning our wedding was the fact that you really don’t talk to anyone at the resort itself until about 3 weeks before the wedding.  Geraldine was our eventual contact at the resort and she was great.  However, we didn’t hear from her until a few weeks before our wedding, so I was a bit stressed out in that I didn’t really get how everything was going to work and come together.  But in hindsight, I should have realized it wasn’t a big deal because this resort does weddings all the time and probably doesn’t care about your wedding until it is coming up soon and not months away.  Geraldine was organized when we spoke and was really easy to communicate with once we got closer to the wedding.  She was also able to make dinner reservations for us about a week in advance which was great!  They have a family-style option for certain restaurants where you can reserve a huge table or several tables together in a semi-private area without any extra cost.  We made a family-style reservation for 30 friends one night and then 30 family members the other night.  It worked great because we were all able to have dinner together without worrying about renting out a restaurant privately for $$$$$.

 

Although I was a bit stressed out about the whole process, everything really seemed to fall into place a couple of weeks before the wedding.  Once we got to the resort we met with Geraldine, JSAV, photographer, and Planner 1.  I felt totally confident after talking with them and really had no worries about the wedding itself.  We were able to enjoy a couple days with family and friends before the wedding.  You can bring your own stuff down there too (table numbers, guest name cards (we brought maracas), centerpiece stuff, etc.) and just leave it with Geraldine with instructions on how to set it up.  The wedding day itself went great.  We opted to rent the bridal suite (which is an extra cost that you reserve through the spa ahead of time – ask the Miami office).  My sisters and I got our hair done there and I got my makeup done as well.  I was happy with both services (but beware of the humidity when deciding on your hair).  Geraldine was with us the whole wedding day and there were several other people on walkie talkies making sure everything as going according to plan.  It made me feel really at ease.  We also got great service at the reception!  The buffet dinner was great and the resort’s servers were really attentive to the bride and groom and made sure our drinks were never empty.

 

All in all, it was a little more stressful planning than I wanted due to the language barriers and the fact that the resort doesn’t respond too quickly to emails until your wedding is weeks away.  That being said, once we were down there it was obvious that the Paradisus does weddings and other corporate events ALL THE TIME and that they know what they’re doing.  We had an AWESOME trip and all of our guests loved it.  Hope this helps!!  Longest review ever.