Seeking Planning Advice -The Royal Playa Del Carmen Wedding - Jan 2015

[AmyDell]

We are getting married at the Royal Playa del Carmen in January 2015. We will have around 80 guests. We are blown away by the amount of people that are making the trip to celebrate our love, but the planning process is proving rather difficult. I am working through the planning process with the off-site wedding coordinator that was assigned to me, but she has not been very helpful!  I have TONS of questions on some of my planning items, and haven't gotten much advice from her. If you have any advice / knowlege on the following topics, please advise! Thank you!

• I have a large bridal party (7 bridesmaids, two mothers, any myself, for a total of 10 women). Where are we supposed to get ready with the hair and makeup artists I have hired? I will be staying in a one bedroom suite, but I'm not sure if this is enough space. Does the Royal provide a separate room or any private area where my bridal party and myself can get ready for the day?
• Does the hotel provide a separate room for the groom the night before the wedding? I haven't seen this mentioned on the website anywhere, but I was hoping since we're bringing 80 guests (40 booked rooms), they might be able to provide something for us?
• We are getting married in the beach front Gazebo, and will also have our wedding reception on the beach front gazebo terrace. I have NO IDEA how the area will be set up, but I need to make a seating chart! Will the resort provide me with options to lay out the reception tables? Perhaps this will happen after I've provided my final guest list? I'm find it pretty difficult to plan my flowers, seating chart, decor, etc. when I don't know what the space will look like!
• For anyone who has had a reception on the ocean front gazebo terrace, what did you do about a dance floor? Was there just an empty space for dancing (since it's concrete terrace)? Or was a dance floor provided?
• I have not yet signed a contract with the hotel (but we've been making deposits to hold our date and areas) because the wedding coordinator is having trouble assisting me with planning our wedding schedule. Apparently this is more difficult since we have so many guests. In order to have the ceremony in the gazebo, cocktail hour on the beack, and reception in the gazebo terrace they are saying we need to have a 1.5 hour break between the ceremony and cocktail hour! One of the perks of having everything in one place is no breaks! I have been unsucessful in communicating my needs to the off-site coordinator, and she always needs to contact the on-site wedding planner before providing me with an answer on the wedding schedule. Is there any way to cut the off-site coordinator out of the picture? I feel like it would be so much easier if I could just speak to the resorts on-site wedding planner! Any advice here would be helpful! Should I be worried that we haven't yet signed a contract?
• It will be way past dark by the time our reception begins. How do they handle lighting for the outdoor reception on the gazebo terrace? Do I have to hire someone to provide lighting? Or is this something the resort accomodates?
• I am planning on having welcome bags for each of our guests when they check into their rooms. What is the easiest way to get all of this stuff down there? Is there any easy way to ship, or should we just bring it down in extra suitcases? Will we have trouble at customs?
• Should we buy wedding insurance? I've been thinking about it for a while, but not sure if we need it. Where would be the best place to purchase a policy? Is it worth it for the peace of mind?
• I don't think we're going to cut a cake since our plated meal comes with dessert, but I've been trying to think of something else we can do. Are there any mexican wedding traditions we could incorporate?

Edited September 21, 2014 by AmyDell

[Stephieee]

Hi, How did your wedding turn out? Im getting married in March and have soo many questions! Its tough planning things when you don't really know how the set up will be. What flowers look like in person etc.