aeroo

Quote: Originally Posted by Shay2679 I have just heard from Micaela. They are going to honor the package price that was posted when we booked our date. As for the photographer, so far, she apologized, but, their policies have changed, and there are no longer outside vendors allowed. She seems like such a sweet lady, so I'm hoping that she will think of something! I'm happy about the price... That really sucks about the no outside vendor rule! Is it just for photographers or ALL vendors? Do you know how the hotel photographer is? Are you able to see a portfolio or anything? I wonder if they have just one photographer or a bunch that they choose from.

Quote: Originally Posted by Kriswim MEE TOO- B/c although i am getting married at the royal my reception is at the Gran... Micalea is my WC too!!!!!!!!! I was going to use one of their photoghers..oukr good friend is an awesome photographer so he is going to take a lot of pictures for us too! Sometimes his are better than what the photographer takes!! :-) Woot. Heidi, Did you get a group discount when you reserved all the rooms at the resort? Alex told me they did this, but micaela just emailed me back today and said no.HUMM?..... I emailed with the reservation people and they give discounts for groups of 10 or more. The discount was not substantial by any means; I think we got a better group discount through the travel agent. Mine was for the Gran Porto though. If you want to book through the hotel directly, just call their reservations line to find out. Or PM me if you want the email of the reservations guy that I spoke to there.

Apparently it doesn't damage the gold itself but affects the metals that are mixed in with the gold. I googled and found the following: "Chlorine is extremely detrimental to karat metals and should be avoided. Special care should be taken with detergents, cleaners, and other industrial or household formulas. Consider that levels of chlorine and other chemicals can be increased by evaporation of fluids, leaving concentrated deposits. In particular, this makes spas and swimming pools undesireable for gold jewelry." "Chlorine, especially at high temperatures, can permanently damage or discolor your gold jewelry. Do not wear gold jewelry while using chlorine bleach or while in a pool or hot tub."

There are a bunch of ebay stores that sell veils and the quality is quite good. I got mine for $25, including shipping!

Another low cost option is to buy a bridesmaid dress in ivory. I saved lots of $$ that way and I loved my dress. I also got another dress off ebay for $50. It wasn't a wedding dress, but more of an evening gown, also in ivory. I wore this for photos before the ceremony, but I think if I hadn't bought the other dress I would have been totally happy wearing the $50 dress. So yea, there are bargains to be had, you just have to get creative! Good luck!

I wrote: Thank you so much for your wedding gift and beautiful card. It will certainly help us with the wedding. It was so thoughtful of you to think of us.

Quote: Originally Posted by Shay2679 That is very helpful, thanks Aeroo. Hey Aeroo, when you booked your wedding, did you have to select a pre-set Package, as listed on their site. I've now been told that we have to select one of the packages, and it doesn't sound like there is much room to "customize" some of the details... Fortunately for us, the Star Crossed Lovers package has virtually all the things I would have liked anyway...I'm just not sure about a few things, and thought it would be interesting to chat with someone who had selected a package to see how things turned out. When you have a second...just let me know!! The wedding packages have changed recently, so we were using one of their older packages. The package that I chose was the symbolic ceremony package, which was $900. Because we were using our own officiant, the cost was $750, and we had made up the remaining $150 cost by purchasing flower petals, extra flowers for chairs, and upgrading our cake. Anything extra would have certainly been possible, you just pay for whatever extras you want. I believe to upgrade the cake it was an extra $3 per person. Flower petals were $20 per bag and we used 3 bags for our aisle. Did you have anything specific in mind? Were you just wondering about the cost of the extra stuff like flowers for the centerpieces or something?

Quote: Originally Posted by Kriswim Yeah that happened to me to! hahaha...oh well. I think its fine though i just keep emailing her once in a while with random questions so she doesn't forget about me!! heehee...Her Main question though that she keeps asking me is whether we are having a civil or religious ceremony. All we know is that we are getting Legally married in the US - just to keep the paperwork simple. But that's all she seems to care about... She wants to know if you want the civil or religious ceremony so she can know which officiant/judge to book. They cannot confirm your date/time until they have confirmed it with the appropriate officiant to make sure they can make it at that specific time. Once she has booked your officiant, she will let you know and that's when you are confirmed for the ceremony. For us it was easy since we had a friend officiate for us, we just told her the date and time and she just had to make sure there wasn't another wedding at the same time and then confirmed our date/time. I know it's kind of scary without a contract or deposit or anything, but it seemed to work out fine. Once you've sent her the back the booking form, wedding checklist, and reception & cocktail checklist (all of these which she sends you to fill out), it's all on file. It was hard to get a hold of Micaela and sometimes I wouldn't hear back from her for weeks. I started getting responses when I wrote stuff like: I know you're really busy, and I appreciate everything you've done for me, but I really need to know __________. Thanks again for helping me. After our wedding, I went to her office every day to try to thank her for her help, but she was hardly in her office because she was out doing weddings every day. So yea, I can see why it is so hard to get a response from her. Basically, once I received my confirmation for my date/time and sent her all the forms she needed, I didn't really try to contact her until the week before my wedding just to say, "I'm arriving next week for my wedding on May 13. Can't wait to meet you". Oh yea, and close to the date, you should confirm with her the day and time you will meet with her in person once you're there. You'll also need to set up a meeting with Walter too, if you are having the reception there.

Quote: Originally Posted by steph_n_taz Hey ladies, are any of you having issues with The Royal's price point? It seems that most of my guests feel that $1800-1900 CDN (all inclusive, 1 week) with a group rate is still too much... do any of you think that might be too much for some of your guests as well? I know my wedding party will pay regardless, since they are regular travelers, and they know what to expect at a 5 star all inclusive, but some of my extended family aren't so experienced with traveling all inclusive, and it sounds expensive to them. I keep trying to convince them that its DEFINITELY the cheaper route to traveling, but they are so stubborn! This is my wedding day, I don't want to stay at a 4 star, you know? I'm just afraid that my guest list will shrink to only 20 people out of the 40 who initially said they'd come. Sorry, I just needed to vent! Let me know if you have the same issues, and what you'll do about it. You can always give them the option of staying at the Gran Porto, the sister hotel, which is right next door and a cheaper option. It is also 5 star, but no jacuzzi's in the room, like the Royal. I believe they can then buy a day pass ($20) to use the facilities and restaurants at the Royal. You'll have to double check this though, to make sure they still offer that.

Quote: Originally Posted by Kriswim I have read a lot about the over booking...it scares me but as long as they take care of you right away - i'm sure it will be fine. That's good to know about the weather! Its a concern for me too! Did you get a discount on the rooms? I will want to reserve about 25! You can get a group discount with a minimum of 10 people I believe. You can either get the discount through a travel agent or through the hotel directly. The hotel reservation people can take awhile to get back to you though.

Quote: Originally Posted by Shay2679 I asked my agent again today, and she reiterated that as far as she knew, the Gran Porto guests were limited to their resort, EXCEPT for the day of the wedding. Other than that, she said that she doubted the $20 per person fee, because why wouldn't everyone just stay at the Gran Porto for cheaper, and pay the $20 to get an upgraded beach, pool, food, drink...etc. etc. Again, I haven't received confirmation from the hotel directly...but I gotta say, my agent makes a good point... Anyways...if anyone hears differently, please let us know! There are 3 sister hotels in Playa, the Real (4 star), Gran Porto Real (5 star), and the Royal (5 star luxury). I talked to the reception staff at the Real and they confirmed that guests of their hotel can buy a $20 day pass per person to use the facilities and restaurants of the Gran Porto Real. Some of our guests were going to do this since it was cheaper to stay at the Real. The reception there also told me that guests of the Gran Porto can do the same for the Royal. I have also read on Tripadvisor of people from Gran Porto buying a $20 day pass for the Royal. This is something I have not confirmed at the Gran Porto myself, which is why I am not 100% sure. If you want to confirm, you just need to call the reception of the Gran Porto. It is also definately something they do not advertise since yes, it is cheaper to do it this way if you would like to use the facilities at the Royal.

Would: - Buy a bridesmaid’s dress in ivory instead of a dress from the bridal section. I didn’t want a huge dress anyways so this was perfect for me. Buying a bridesmaid’s dress saved me so much money. I loved my dress and am so glad I didn’t spend a fortune on it because really, it was just one day and now it’s going into a box. Plus it only cost $45 to get it drycleaned as opposed to the $200+ for traditional wedding gowns. - Have a friend officiate the ceremony. First of all, it was much more special to have someone we love marry us. Also, I didn’t have to worry about the officiant messing anything up or adding something I didn’t want. I put together the ceremony script. - Have a symbolic ceremony instead of a legal one. We didn’t want to go through the hassle of the blood test and translations and also didn’t want to be there for 4 business days in advance. - Got married the third day we were there so we would have less time to stress and more time to relax. We got there on a Sunday afternoon, relaxed that day, did wedding stuff all Monday, got married on Tuesday and then relaxed the rest of the week. - Did some pictures before the ceremony. We spent an hour in the town getting our pictures done with our photographer and not only was it a lot of fun, but it definitely relaxed us before the ceremony. We also brought along our own assistant (best man) to carry some of our props, water to hydrate, towel for sweat, and lip gloss for touch up. - Stay at the Gran Porto Real. We chose this hotel because it is right off of 5th ave and as we figured, our guests loved being able to get out to walk and shop whenever they wanted to. There were always different activities going on at 5th ave, like live bands etc, and our guests really enjoyed that. Some folks weren’t exactly beach people so this option was perfect for everybody. - For the reception, instead of DJ, we brought a laptop with our dancing songs on it. This hooked up to the hotel’s speaker system. Our guests were able to go up and choose songs. - Delegate tasks. Got my sister to be in charge of the ceremony events and a friend to be in charge of the reception events. I didn’t have to worry about a thing the day of because I knew someone else was in charge of it. - Did a ceremony rehearsal the night before. I really didn’t think I needed one since we just had a MOH and best man, but it definitely saved our butts the day of. - Have some guests go around with the video camera after the ceremony when we were all mingling. It was great to see some of the parts I missed while mingling with other people. It was also great to see us giving hugs and kisses to our friends and family afterwards. It was all a blur in my mind and made me smile to see it after. - Got a photographer who brought an assistant. - Wrote out a photography shot list of the different groups of people that we wanted pictures with. Saved a lot of time and ensured that we got all the pictures with all the different people we wanted. What I would do differently: - Stay for at least 10 days if not a little more. We only stayed for 7 nights and didn’t end up spending that much time together alone because of all the family and friends we wanted to spend time with also. We had 36 guests. His family is from the East and we hardly get to see them so we wanted to spend as much time as possible with them. We ended up only spending one afternoon alone together the entire trip. Because we spent a year travelling together last year, we didn’t think we needed a ‘honeymoon’, but in the end it would have been nice to have more alone time together. Instead we will do a little weekend getaway in the next few weeks. - Get a smaller cake. Not everyone ate it because we didn’t do an official cake cutting (just a pose with the photographer was all we wanted). We had dessert so everyone was pretty full after that so we didn’t get the cake served until later on when people were up and about dancing and mingling. I’m glad we got a cake, but I would have gotten a smaller one. - If you want a nice video, get a videographer. This was not important to us, so we didn’t get one, but 3 of our guests happened to videotape the ceremony. I watched two of them, and the quality isn’t that great. In one of them, we were too dark so you couldn’t really see our faces that much. In the other, you could see us fine, but when the wind was blowing, you couldn’t hear the words. Again, video was not important to us, so not a big deal, but just FYI in case you do want a nice video, definitely get a videographer. And if you do get a videographer, ideally you should get one that works with your photographer so that they don’t get in the way of eachother. I watched a few weddings where that was the case. You don't want to sacrifice any good photo shots, at least for me anyways.

Quote: Originally Posted by cuban_flamingo REALLY That's excellent! Does anyone know what the food might be like with that set price option?? I still have not heard from Zulma either and it's been 2 weeks, well 2 emails in two weeks...must be busy season! The food was amazing. Excellent quality and presentation. Definately equivalent to dining in a high end restaurant here at home. A 4 course meal like that would have cost well over $100 per person in Canada. Food there is one thing I would not worry about at all! Everyone said it was delicious and looked stunning.

Quote: Originally Posted by Kriswim HI! OMG! I can't wait to read your review! I need to hear all about it since I am getting married there Next May! How was Micaela? Did you book your rooms through ALex? Who should I talk to about reserving them? I am just having the reception there (the ceremony will be at the Royal). What helpful hints do i need to know! I feel so nervous about the whole thing! Glad everything worked out for you. Oh, how was the weather? Micaela was really nice and great to work with. We met with her the day before the wedding to get everything settled and then I saw her once during the wedding and didn't really see her again after that. No problem though. We just reserved our rooms online through their website and had no problems. Although the weather forecast called for isolated thunderstorms the whole week, it did not affect us in PDC at all, so I was pretty happy about that. I'm almost done my review so will be posting it this week hopefully! Let me know if you have any other questions!!

Quote: Originally Posted by Princess402 You look amazing, and it is exciting to hear from a bride who got married at the Gran! I must say, I was SERIOUSLY considering the Gran when I first started looking for wedding locations but was horrified by all of the overbooking reports on trip advisor. Did you or your guests have any problems with this? I was really worried about this as well, but I was really set on the location of the Gran so I pretty much just crossed my fingers. Luckily we didn't have any issues with any of our guests. The only little thing was that some of my guests were overbooked, but got upgraded to a better room for the first night, then had to change rooms the next day to the one they originally paid for. Not a huge problem though.

Oh yes, the wedding packages have changed quite a bit; I just noticed that. But yea, you can always customize. When we had our meeting with Micaela, we were able to add and change different things even just the day before the wedding!

Quote: Originally Posted by Shay2679 I have a quick question...but first...Aeroo...you're awesome. In the few days I have followed your posts about your wedding and the Royal/Gran Porto, you have been such a huge help, and I wanted to take a moment to thank you. Your ceremony sounds...perfect! My question is...for a symbolic ceremony at the Royal, or in Mexico in general, I don't really have someone I want to "officiate" the ceremony. Will the wedding coordinator, when I speak with her, be able to suggest a symbolic ceremony minister or something, at a fee of course, to do this for us? Some of guests won't even know that when we say "I DO" on the beach, we've already legalized it at home...and even though we will be legalizing it before we get to Mexico, I really want the ceremony to feel...authentic. That really is when my FI and I will feel...official! Any suggestions? Yes absolutely. The price of the ceremony includes the minister. I don't think you actually meet the minister though until the day of the wedding though. When you book your wedding date and time, she will confirm that a minister is available for when you want it. I'm glad I can be of help. I know I had tons of questions when planning and didn't get that many answers since not that many people here got married at the Royal or Gran Porto. Happy planning!

Quote: Originally Posted by riviera Aeroo, Thank you so much for all the information. like Shay, I haven't heard anything back from either Zulma or Paty. I even spoke to Paty on the phone few days ago and she advised me to send an e-mail to her with specific dates, requests and information. But, I think her e-mail box is completely full, and after trying for three days I basically gave up. I am thinking of calling her or Zulma again tomorrow or Monday. I will most likely have guests with children to stay at Gran Porto, and my family members stay at the Royal, and I was wondering if guests of Gran porto was allowed to enter the premises of the Royal and vice versa? Thanks for all of your help! I really appreciate it! anna Guests at the Gran Porto can use the facilities and restaurants at the Royal if they buy a day pass at $20 per person per day. I believe Royal guests are allowed to use facilities and restaurants at the Gran Porto for no charge, although I am not sure 100% on that one. But since they are sister hotels they have some sort of exchange for sure.

Quote: Originally Posted by Morgan Do you think we should change the title to "Share you ceremony script"? I think more people will view it knowing that there is more than just 1 script. And then more will share. More beautiful verses for me to use Ooh that's a great idea! Didn't think of that when I first started the thread. How do we change it??

Quote: Originally Posted by phoebe75 aeroo- did you have your ceremony/reception at the Royal or at the Gran porto? I'm still deciding and after reading these posts the Royal sounds pretty good. I had both the reception and ceremony at the Gran Porto, but I have information for both hotels. I ultimately chose the Gran Porto because it was a lot cheaper for the guests to stay there (but still with 5 star luxury!) and also because they allow children. Everything went very smoothly. Even though the WC doesn't get back to you right away, once you meet with her there, everything is taken care of. I don't regret the choice at all. Here are a few pictures I posted: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t21586

They are customizable to some extent. What were you thinking of changing?

Yes, the price includes the complete set up of dance floor, lights, stereo system, tiki torches, EVERYTHING. You've got a wireless mic too, for speeches. It's a great deal for what you get. They will also help you set up your centerpieces too. If you don't have any centerpieces they provide hurricane candles for every table. Walter is great at getting back to you. Just be patient because May is one of their busiest months. There are pretty much weddings every day. Good luck!

Yes, you can still have group dinners at the restaurants. It just means that you cannot have your reception there. We stayed at the sister resort, the Gran Porto, and we always had big group dinners together. I'm assuming it's the same for the Royal. Of course we couldn't get a table of 20 together, but most of the time, they put two tables of 10 right beside eachother. It's no problem. You can even make reservations ahead of time to give them a head's up.

Quote: Originally Posted by Opice34 I just tried to do a search on symbolic ceremonies and couldn't come up with anything! We're looking to have a symbolic ceremony as well...I'd actually like to write the whole thing, but I'm not quite sure how to structure it. Would be interested if anyone else has a program from a symbolic ceremony! I just posted our ceremony script here: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t21660

I wanted to start a thread with everyone's ceremony scripts. I don't think such a thread exists yet does it? This would have helped me when I was putting together ours. I got ours from a few different sources and just copied and pasted the parts that I loved and edited it together so that it flowed. So here is ours. I really loved it and it definately reflected who we are as a couple. It's non religious and lasted about 20 minutes. We had a friend officiate the ceremony and it was amazing. Opening This beautiful setting should remind us that, like the ocean, human life is an ebb and flow- The life of the spirit and emotions- moves in cycles. To be in a relationship does not guarantee an eternal summer. To make a sincere and honest commitment does not promise, an end to all struggle. What a good relationship does offer, much like this ocean, is the opportunity for renewal. It recognizes the abiding, shared hope that after every fall and winter, spring and summer will come again. On behalf of XXX and XXX, I welcome you and thank you all for gathering here on this beautiful day to witness their marriage ceremony. The fact that you all have travelled such a great distance to be here today is a testament to the amazing amount of love and support they have. Many of you have given them much happiness, love, warmth, and guidance through the various stages of their lives. They would like to sincerely thank you all for being here to celebrate their big day. A special and respectful acknowledgement must also be made to those friends and family members who were unable to attend, or have passed on, but whose spirit remains alive and strong in all our hearts. I have also been asked by XXX and XXX to thank their parents for the wonderful lives they have given them, for the hard work and guidance they have provided, for their everlasting love, support, and encouragement. It is from them that they have learned the true meaning of love, friendship and family. Ceremony For XXX and XXX marriage is an affirmation of life, an undying commitment, a spiritual, emotional, and intellectual bond between two people. It is created from the purest of friendship, respect and love. The institution of marriage is not entered into lightly, because it symbolizes commitment on every level. Together you will continue to meet the challenges and obstacles of life head on. Marriage is an adventure in the most intimate of human relationships. It is the mutual commitment of two people sincerely in love who share the same dreams about life. But more than that, it is the intimate sharing of two lives. It is a sharing that does not diminish but enhances the individuality of each partner. The marriage between XXX and XXX does not mark the beginning of a new relationship; rather, it is an acknowledgement and celebration, of a relationship that has been flourishing since they met. For XXX and XXX, love is the longing two people feel for one another. It is the need to share, in body and spirit, the warmth, serenity and peace two people can give to one another. A simple touch, a hand held at a time of uncertainty. This is what it means to be intimately human. It is the intention behind the kiss that says, “ Despite the vastness of this earth, despite the chaotic details that make up our lives, despite the hundreds of people we will meet in our travels, you are mine and I am yours forever.†Love is life’s highest emotion. It makes us less selfish, it makes our personalities grow, and it makes our lives more meaningful. It is caring about the welfare and happiness of your partner as your own. Love makes burdens lighter because you divide them. It makes joys more intense because you share them. And it makes you stronger so you can reach out and become involved with life in ways you dared not risk alone. A successful relationship takes more than just love. It takes trust, to know in your hearts that you want only the best for each other. It takes dedication, to stay open to one another, to learn and grow, even when it is difficult to do so. And it takes faith, to go forward together without knowing what the future holds for you both. You have chosen to walk through life together. There is no truer statement of love. The choice was not made by any one moment, but by being together you grew to realize that you belonged together and that you fulfilled each other’s needs. You have come to thrive upon each other’s presence, loyalty and wisdom. The foundation of your love is profound friendship. A friendship you have nurtured until at last you realized that you wanted to be together always. The commitment you make today will be the foundation on which you will build your life together. HAND CEREMONY As an expression that you are joined together in love - will you please hold up your hands and hold one another, so you may feel the gift that you are to each other. These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you, that are holding yours on your wedding day as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow, and forever. These are the hands that will work alongside yours as together you build your future. These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, and with the slightest touch, will comfort you like no other. These are the hands that will hold you when fear or grief fills your mind. These are the hands that will wipe the tears from your eyes; tears of sorrow and tears of joy. These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it. These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children. These are the hands that will help you to hold your family as one. And lastly, these are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch. VOWS Your wedding rings represent the unconditional love that you have for one another and are a symbol of the vows that you will make today. ____, take this ring, put it on ___'s finger and repeat after me: I, __________, take you, ____________, to be my wife/husband, my partner in life and my one true love. I will cherish our friendship and love you today, tomorrow, and forever. I will trust you and respect you, I will laugh with you and cry with you. I will love you faithfully and unconditionally through the best and the worst, the difficult and the easy. Whatever may come, I promise I will always be there for you. Closing: XXX & XXX, remember to treat both yourself and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together. Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves. When frustration, difficulty or fear assail your relationship – as they threatened all relationships at one time or another – remember to focus on what is right between you. In this way, you can ride out the times when clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives – remembering that even if you lose sight of it for a moment, the sun is still there. And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your lives together, your life together will be marked by abundance and delight. Give to one another new experiences of joy. Challenge one another so that you may grow. May the love you hold for each other, now sealed in marriage, continue to mature with the passing years. May you never take each other for granted, but always experience the wonder of your union. Be slow to anger, quick to forgive, leaving no tracks of resentment behind each day. We who are present today, hope that the inspiration of this moment will never be forgotten. May all your days and years to come be filled with vision, joy and passion. May the love you now share continue to grow, and may the happiness you bring to each other be a continuing part of your life together. May you continue to laugh often and enjoy each other every day, steadfast in hope and confidence, believing in yourself and believing in each other. May your love be a sanctuary and a source from which you draw strength to live your lives with enthusiasm and imagination. May the people you touch in your lifetime know how much you love and care for one another and may you love one another forever. With friends and family, along with the sun, the moon, and the sea, I have the pleasure of announcing you as husband and wife. You may now kiss the groom!