Review and Planning Thread for Royal Playa Del Carmen Wedding 2013

[MSPOKRAN]

My wedding at the Royal could not have played out better in my dreams! I am a bit hard to please, especially with something this important so I can tell you this is true and from the heart and not at all an exaggeration it was PERFECT.

 

I picked the Classic Wedding Package and we had 21 guests. Ana was my wedding coordinator online up until Lorena at the resort onsite. They both were marvelous. I held my ceremony at the gazebo, cocktail hour at the gazebo and reception at the beach. I wouldn't change a thing! The beach is busy up until around mid evening hours. Our ceremony was at 5:30 and things had died down but still a lot of commotion. The gazebo gives you the ability to have the ocean feel but allows for privacy and.....heels

 

Dress:

I purchased my first dress back in Nov last year but wasn't married until My. I was 20 pounds heavier. This turned out to be a big mistake. I had to drive back and forth about 100 miles from where I live to get fitted for this dress once it came in. When it came in I kept trying to continue alterations but it never turned out as I had hoped. $3500 later I decided to go shopping elsewhere than Alfred Angelo. My experience in Alfred Angelo in Tulsa OK was bad. I would not return there. They are short staffed and the service is poor. They are not knowledgeable about the business they are in and they are about 25 years too outdated to be doing this work. At the end of it all they even sold me a dirty bra to go under the dress which I cant even get my money back on.  2 weeks before the wedding I went to David's Bridal and found the perfect dress for $450. The service at DB is better I believe because they are better staffed, and  they have a huge selection of dresses and sizes. You can buy off the rack and really see what the dress looks like on you with the right size or at least close to the right size. Ladies beware as you loose weight- your tastes change. This dress fit me like a glove and I love how it kept the girls in without any cleavage showing. It was classy and simple and leight weight which was great for the beach and the TTD. I loved the veil as well, such a simple classic touch! Another shout out to David's Bridal about my veil. Along the way to Mexico somehow my dress bag zipper broke- and the veil fell out. I still have no idea how this happened but one day before the wedding I realized it was missing. I sent my Dad down to DB and explained what happened and they gave my Dad a replacement to bring down to me for free. I was so happy for a million reasons, one being that my Dad could not afford anything else with the trip, and I was worried he would have to pay and couldn't use my credit card.

 

 

 

OOT Bags:

I spent way too much time on these! They became an obsession! I decided to go with bags from The Welcome Bag Company. You can customize the bags to your colors, and in my case I added our names. I didn't want any of our guests to feel obligated to carry bags around which I gave out so I thought this would be a better option. Here is a pic:

 

I know a lot of girls put together the survival kit with all of the labels and inserts. I went the easy route and purchased cheap zippered plastic bags from Wal-Mart and just put some contents inside this bag. Here is what it contained:

- Advil

-Tums

-Woolite Travel

- Hand sanitizer

-Sunscreen

-Lip gloss from Sephora for the girls

-Blistex for the guys

 

 

For the rest of the items I did purchase the starfish bottle openers and personalized koozies from Totally Promotional.com. These were a hit! I also had some Ikea bags and Jack Daniels shot glasses. I  enclosed yellow maracas which went with my color theme of yellow and gray.

 

Since there has been so much in the news lately I also included a few rules about Mexico Safety:

 

Mexico Safety

I took some safety travel tips off of government websites that I wanted to share with all of you and just from reading travelers trips. The resort areas of PDC should be fine but it is important to follow these simple guidelines for staying safe:

1.Do not travel alone outside of the resort. Do not wander off from your group.
2.Do not carry any valuables or extra money with you while outside the resort. Take only with you what you need. Leave extra money, credit cards and valuable jewelry in the safe deposit box in the room.
3.Do not give the appearance of wealth while outside the resort; try to keep a low profile.
4.Do not enter into any secluded areas without proper lighting or crowds- especially roads. Take toll ways if traveling.
5.My recommendation would be to only take organized group transportation. Holger and I have rented a car before here and we were ok. But do this at your own risk. The roads to some sites, particularly Chichen- Itza are isolated and along the way there are several stops with armed officials who could or could not be legitimate. If you do choose to take your own transportation try to stay on major roads and highways.
6.Avoid public transportation if possible (bus), taxis are ok. 

 

 

 

 

I also created some super cute MiniBooks from The Minted.com. The file is too large to load the pdf here but it included a Thank You note for attending, a Schedule of Events and several pics of us. It was sort of a pre-program. I also used this book for getting the word out about communication and social media. I asked everyone to download Viber or Whats App for communication methods since Royal offers free Wi-Fi. This was a lifesaver! I also asked that no one post pictures of the wedding day events on social media, but instead later to a shared space on shutterfly. In retrospect Shutterfly did not work out and I don't recommend it. It's difficult to load pics to shared pages and SLOOOOW and times out. Difficult to download. Just all around disappointed. Instead I am going to use Wal-Mart.com to share pics.

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome Dinner:

The night before the wedding we had a welcome dinner at Wicky's Seaside Buffet which is 3 blocks from the Royal. I had heard such great reviews and had high expectations but we were disappointed and it did not live up. The restaurant was empty besides us. They were fully staffed. However they were just completely disinterested in providing good service. The waiter complained to the table about our tab being all separate checks, and it was clear that this was annoying to him. We had to ask for drinks, and for orders to be taken. Half of my table had finished meals while some had not received a meal yet. There was a soccer game on and all of the staff huddled around the tv. I'm not sure if he wanted a tip under the table or what. To top it off at the end, the waiter gave us an already filled out rating card. Here is a pic for proof:

 

 

We  told one of the waiters, and he thought it was funny  and said he didn't do that. This place was overpriced, the food was lousy, and the service the worst. All of the good reviews you see- probably written by them. I have asked Linda with Marketing for an explanation on the event, she said she would speak with them but has yet to get back to me. Trip Advisor it is!!

 

Reception Table:

For our guest book, I had an Etsy seller(shaunnac73) create a custom thumbprint art in my colors of gray and yellow. I purchased acrylic paint from hobby lobby and out guests put their thumbprint and initial on! So cute and we can hang it later! The yellow sign in a frame says "Ink Your Finger and Sign Your Name to Leaf Your Mark on Our Wedding Tree Art". Then my fiance and I did ink thumbprints below it in the shape of a heart.

 

 

 

 

 

For the escort cards, I used starfish in a gray serving tray I purchased from crate and barrel. It was expensive but the color scheme worked awesome. I hand made the tags with a silver pen and ties yellow ribbon around them.

 

 

 

 

I brought pashima scarves and had them laid out on the table, but it was not cold or even windy enough to need them. The weather was perfect.

 

I also set up a picture of me and fiancé. This table turned out marvelous and really set the mood as guests came in. I have to credit the Royal for putting it together so beautifully!

 

 

 

[MSPOKRAN]

Flowers:

I ordered real touch flowers from Bloom Bridal.com. I ordered only my bouquet and the grooms mothers corsage. Since I wasn't sure if I wanted real flowers I went ahead and the resort prepare a yellow boquet. My bridesmaid also had a yellow boquet. I couldn't decide until last minute, but my photographer took pics of both boquets wit the dress and the real touch won! It has pins of diamonds and pearls in it. I used the real yellow boquet for my TTD the next day!

 

 

 

The groom had a yellow corsage.

 

Cocktail Hour:

We sprung for the mariachi trio. It was worth it and our guests loved it. It made great pictures too! The Royal did a great job with the food presentation!!

[MSPOKRAN]

 

 

 

 

 

After the ceremony and during cocktail Holger and I were off taking pictures. We hired Claudia Rodriguez and she was awesome. I don't have any pics back from her just yet but as soon as I do I will post. She was great at directing us and being creative. She knows what she is doing! She stayed longer than she had to that evening as our party didn't die down until they made us shut down. She took a lot of great party pics I am so excited to see!

 

Reception:

We sprung for DJ Doremixx for reception and the light up dance floor. They were incredible and get the party going all night. They had cold fireworks for after the first dance, masks to hand out and glow bracelets. They did all of our introductions. I had a small group and had debated a long time on whether this expense was worth it. IT WAS. Guests back in the hotel who had watched several wedding receptions said our music was the best they had heard. Doremixx gave so much energy to our group, and the Royal kept bringing excellent shots. It really set the mood and kept the party going until the last minute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Reception Setup and Ceremony Setup:

 For the ceremony I wanted to add in my yellow and gray theme. I had inspiration from many other brides on BDW. I purchased yellow and gray pom poms and yellow chair sashes from Luna Bazaar.com. I  ordered parasols (also from Luna Bazaar) in yellow and gray which were set up along the aisle. We covered the walkway with yellow gray and purple artificial rose petals. It was windy so Lorena had to help a lot with timing and she did a great job so that when I walked out all was perfect!!

 

 

 

 

For the beach reception, I bought the Borrby lantern from Ikea for $14.99. I unpacked them out of the box into one suitcase to bring down. The glass broke in one, but it ended up not mattering as you couldn't tell. I ordered flameless candles to go inside them from Quick Candles.com. Make sure you bubble wrap these candles, some of mine broke but I brought extra. I also brought small votives to set on the table, and purple crystal ice for the tables. The tables were beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

My menus were done by an Etsy seller and I took them to Kinkos to print. ReplyByDesignStudio's. They did a great job as you can see in the picture.

 

I had a couple of other great and unique things from Etsy.

 

The ring bearers sign from Made By CRose. It says "Uncle Holger Here Come Your Girl"

 

 

and a thank you sign which we used in pictures from SignsToLiveBy. I'll post pics of this later, but it was wooden and said Thank You, 5-19-13 Mr.Mrs Pokrandt.

 

Another thing I did was order t-shirts for us and family from Zazzle.com:

Mine- Mrs. Pokrandt

Groom: "I put a Ring On It, 5-19-13"

Dad: Father of the Bride, 5-19-13, Playa Del Carmen Mexico

Grooms Mom: Mother of the Groom, 5-19-13, Playa Del Carmen Mexico

Grooms Father (only speaks German so his was in German) Father of the Groom...

 

They arrived in a week and a half custom ordered and great quality!!

 

[MSPOKRAN]

I have a bit more to post later, but want to say how great the Royal was. I had a vision, and gave it to my coordinator one time, and she put it together better than I could have imagined. All of my guests want to have destination beach weddings now and said it was the best wedding they had ever been to! I cant be happier.

[MSPOKRAN]

The Cake and the Dance:

We danced to Michael Buble "Everything" and did a modified rumba. I recommend lessons, it costs only $150. However I must say dancing in the actual dress was harder than I thought since it was tight around my legs.

 

I order the three tier cake and asked them to leave off the icing flowers. I purchased cake ribbon in gray and flowers at hobby lobby to decorate the cake. The topper was a simple H&J from Exclusively Weddings.com 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[alexisinjamaica]

Originally Posted by MSPOKRAN 

 

The Cake and the Dance:

We danced to Michael Buble "Everything" and did a modified rumba. I recommend lessons, it costs only $150. However I must say dancing in the actual dress was harder than I thought since it was tight around my legs.

 

I order the three tier cake and asked them to leave off the icing flowers. I purchased cake ribbon in gray and flowers at hobby lobby to decorate the cake. The topper was a simple H&J from Exclusively Weddings.com 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everything came together beautifully and you look stunning!! I have always loved the combo of yellow and gray so I love everything you did!

[AllieH]

I love how everything came together - such a beautiful wedding. And the dress is perfect on you too! Congratulations Mrs!!

[Winter bride]

Hi Ms. Pokran!

 

Your wedding looks beautiful, I'm getting married in November, is getting close and I am really nervous as I am a little hard to please!!!!

Do you know if you can choose your own wedding coordinator? If so, is there someone you recommend? I am bringing a lot of decorations and I don't want them to tell me that I have to do it myself, can someone tell me if they help?