dianep

Quote: Originally Posted by duprk452 Ok... now I'm having second thoughts about my cake. I REALLY wanted Tres Leches cake, but didn't order it being that we were mid June and I figured the poor thing wouldn't stand a chance. Now that all of you are saying that it could work, I want it. I already sent in my final paperwork and spent 180$ on a "couture" cake! Think they would refund the money if I decided to do a standard Tres Leches? Yeah, i don't think they would. The brides who just returned.. any advice as to where to take pictures? We are bringing a photog from home and she isn't familiar with the place so any suggestions would be welcome. We don't want to travel too far from the resort. i was originally swayed by angie in NOT going with the tres leches cake. she basically made it sound like it would end up as a big pile of mush. denys, by onsite WC, said it would be no problem, just not to let it sit out for too long. i was so excited! i was totally into the tres leches option. we had absolutely no issues with melting whatsoever! they brought the cake out after dinner and it sat for about 45 minutes before we got to it. we did our little cake cutting deal, then they sliced and served it. it was still cool when it was served. if you think you want the tres leches and the only thing holding you back is worries of melting, be reassured that you'll be absolutely fine!

Quote: Originally Posted by Lady_Di Thanks meli! We leave tomorrow morning and its nothing but nerves!! i know it's hard, but seriously, don't stress. you've put a lot of effort and time into planning this and it's going to be great. once you show up, they'll take care of everything for you, put you at ease, and your wedding will be absolutely gorgeous! good luck and just have FUN with it! i mean come on, your getting MARRIED!!

Quote: Originally Posted by taapple Dianep, your pictures are beautiful, can you tell me if you used the resort photog or did you hire an outside photog?? Still trying to decide and would like your input?? Also, I am thinking of doing a cocktail welcome get together and I wanted to see what restaurant any of you may suggest at the Gran Porto? Also we will have about 26 guests, do I need to reserve a restaurant at the Gran for a friday night deal or can we just show up? I really dont want to have to pay obviously but if its just going to be a casual meet and greet do I still need to reserve for that amount of people? Also, do I need to contact the Gran to do that b/c I cant get any response from Michel at the Royal? One more question... If I decide to hire an outside photog for our Royal PDC wedding and I pay for a room for them to stay over night, am I still responsible to pay the outside vendor fee since they will be guests of the hotel?? Thank you all!!!!! most of the picture so far were just done by friends and family. but the picture of us out on the pier with the wave crashing was our photographer. i flew somone in from home (MN). we are waiting for his pics, but he has sent a few teasers. i can give you his info if you want it... everyone says il pescatore is their favorite, but in all cases, we found it just... fine. we were consistently impressed with the food at maria's though. maria's would be my suggestion for sure! they do consider it a private party (and charge you) to set it up. we went in with a group of about 12 and they were able to accomodate us after a wait... Quote: Originally Posted by RunningBride24 So........I just went to open my 'Wedding Stuff' folder on my desktop only to realize that it's GONE. G-O-N-E. I can't find it anywhere on the computer, and go figure, I hadn't backed it up. This is 6+ months of every photo/link/idea/website/contract/email EVERYTHING I HAD in there. Fiance claims he didn't "accidentally" delete it but for some reason I think differently. UGH!!!!!!!!!! Sorry for the random vent, I just had to get it off my chest! holy crap, i can't even imagine your panic right now. i hope you figure out a way to recover all of your investment of time put into this so far! Quote: Originally Posted by ~Stephanie~ Can any of the recent brides tell me what cake flavors ya'll picked? I am having a terrible time deciding! Also, anyone care to give reviews on the reception food now that they are back? What to get and what to stay away from? One other question.... sorry... Should you bring beach towels from home or does the Royal provide plenty of towels to use on the beach and at the pool? Thanks! We leave 2 weeks from today! we ended up doing the tres leches cake and it was delicious! i would recommend it! for our entree (we had the classic package) we had the beef tournedo and the whatever-they-call-it-snapper. my beef was so-so but the guests said theirs was tender and delicious. a couple of the guests raved about the snapper. the chocolate shell was interesting and tasty, i would go with that one for dessert. you don't need towels from home at all. the ones at the royal are a good size and are plentiful (except for the one time when they were out of them for about 20 minutes, but it was no big deal).

Quote: Originally Posted by bridetobe1515 Yes we were by Pelicano's!!! I think I saw you guys while we were on our way to Blue Parrot! You said hi and congrats to me!!! Yay!!! I told the FI I thought that was you! It was perfect!!! haha, that's great! i had no idea that it was you! too funny.

Quote: Originally Posted by Lisa DSO A day shy of 3 weeks (and a call from my TA later), Angie confirmed my date/time/location ( i sensed sarcasm when she said that i had sent back the confirmation letter with that date). I wanted to say, "okay and I'm sure all the OTHER ladies did too, but that didnt stop you from FUBARing theirs"...but i didn't :-). I'll just vent here and continue killing her with kindness. (we should really pray for her lol) She also said that I wouldnt be charged for DJ Ivan if I booked through the RESORT (small heart attack), but then sent another email saying that she just learned the policy has changed and there would NOT be a charge for booking through Ivan because he is the in-house DJ. (i'm guessing this a policy implemented this calendar year) Yays! it's not just us brides that have issues with angie! my onsite coordinator asked me for a few things (that i had submitted to angie). when i said "angie didn't get those to you?" she just laughed. turns out angie is their super-favorite michigan WC as well! she's just as bad with the onsite WC as she is with the rest of us! Quote: Originally Posted by lizzy123 Thanks for all the posts, they are so useful, I’m getting all sort of great ideas and of course some do’s and don’ts. I still have some questions for any of you that may know the answer: 1)I’m booking the wedding reception at 4 pm in the Gran Porto Real in the beach location, is there more than one beach in the GPR? I just that I have reading that in the Royal PDC they are so if anyone know how the beach settings for the receptions are in the GPR I will really appreciate any comment or suggestion 2)Regardin the guest and non-guest, do they charge you for a day pass for the non-guest if you are already paying for the private reception in their packages? I’m kind of confused on this as my WC hasn’t told me anything about an additional charge and I don’t want surprises 3)Does anybody contract the DJ with the packages, I have been reading that very good reviews about DJ Ivan and Doremix and I was wondering if its better to book somebody outside even with the vendor charge 4)Same question about the photographers, does anybody contracted the ones that the Royal has or its better to go with an outsider? Tx! there are, i think, two beach locations at the GPR. i just had mine at playa norte, and i think that's the best beach location - of both the GPR and the Royal. it was wonderful. get it if you can! Quote: Originally Posted by RunningBride24 Ha, the infamous Angie sarcasm. In one of my emails I asked her how to go about getting guests from the Gran to the Royal (as far as for the wedding, dinners, etc..), her reply? "they walk". Yeah, thanks for that. i got a lot of those kind of answers, too. nothing like a vague WC when all you need is some stinkin' details!!

Quote: Originally Posted by bridetobe1515 I don't know if this will work, but I tried uploading some random pics. Best Destination Wedding Forum ~ The Ultimate Destination Wedding Resource was your reception, by chance, on the beach close to pelicanos? i think i saw people dancing with those balloons! (we were on the beach just on the other side, by the bar with the swings). p.s. i think we had the absolute PERFECT weather for our wedding day! i couldn't have asked for anything better!

lady di, great planning thread! wow, you put a lot of work into this and it will definitely pay off and your wedding will be gorgeous!

Quote: Originally Posted by RunningBride24 Does anyone know what The Royal supplies you with for a beach ceremony? Do they put up the huppah? How much does it cost? Are there limitations to what I can decorate it with? Do they decorate it at all? I just realized I know nothing about how this process works and can't seem to find anything in my notes about it. they will put up the huppah (or a metal white arch, i believe) and decorate it with white fabric. they have white chairs and white chair covers and sashes. my ceremony was in the evening, so they also set up tiki torches (decorations not included). the pictures in the gallery section of the resort website are great indications of what they will provide. i just had my ceremony on the 15th. i brought some of my own decorations, including colored fabric for the huppah, chair sashes, flowers for the tiki torches, etc. they sky is the limit for what you can bring. i just dropped everything off to my onsite coordinator and she took care of everything at no extra charge. good luck and happy planning!

lady di - best of luck with your wedding and your trip! i'm excited to see pictures!

amy - FABULOUS pictures!!!! love it!

here are a few randoms (in no order whatsoever!!) that friends and family have posted on facebook. so fun to see what people have as the days go on. more pics and eventually some pro pics to be posted in the coming days/weeks! wedding pictures by dipics - Photobucket hope this works - i've never posted a whole album before.

here are a few randoms (in no order whatsoever!!) that friends and family have posted on facebook. so fun to see what people have as the days go on. more pics and eventually some pro pics to be posted in the coming days/weeks! wedding pictures by dipics - Photobucket hope this works - i've never posted a whole album before.

p.s. i passed veronica's one evening (for nails/massage, etc) and i took a pic of the sign since it had phone numbers on there. can't remember who was trying to get that info, but let me know if anyone still needs it! super close to the resorts!

we're back and i have no idea how i'll get caught up on everything i've missed in the last two weeks! we had an absolutely amazing time and the wedding was fantastic. we had a unique experience in the fact that we stayed at both the gran porto and at the royal, and my HUSBAND has agreed to help me write a review. until then, please let me know if you have any specific questions! Mrs. Y

we're back! i did a super quick check-in while we were in mexico, but i can't even imagine how much i've missed on here in the last two weeks. we were at the gran port real and the royal in playa del carmen, mexico. i hope to post a review in the coming days. congratulations to the other new mrs. out there, and to the upcoming end-of may brides!

not to freak anyone out or anything, but the weather has been really hit and miss here in playa. we got here on 5/12 and the first several days were perfect. now, the last 4 days or so have been quite gray and rainy. yesterday, we had some sun during prime pool/beach time, so that was nice. today is our last day here and we're really hoping for some sun to send us on our way right!! it's still great to be here even with cloudy weather. people are still playing volleyball, body surfing, and laying out... so relaxing!

i'm tan, married, and happy. we have a few days of the honeymoon left to enjoy before heading home. i met julia in the hallway just after her wedding - congrats, and you looked beautiful! keeping an eye out for lynnie s as we were upgraded to the royal (it's soooo much nicer!!). having a wonderful time, but it's going way too fast. about to take a jacuzzi now and listed to the rain...

we're married! the wedding went smoothly. it was gorgeous and fun. we have a few days before we get back, but thought i'd post and share the picture we got as a teaser from the trash the dress. hope to catch up again in a few days! mrs. diane

Quote: Originally Posted by Lady_Di Lol Lisa, I just looked at it this morning. It looks so windy which could be a good thing so we won't die of the heat. lol. the wind feels absolutely fabulous, whether you're on the beach during the day or sitting at dinner in the evening. it's gorgeous here! Quote: Originally Posted by jenconrad My dress was quite lacy with beading. They sent it off site to be steamed and it came back fine. It actually travelled really well too. I folded it in a suitcase on the way back haha and wore it for my at home reception pretty much wrinkle free! Jen mine dress is satin. haven't worn it yet, of course, but it held up through the traveling just fine. doesn't even need to be pressed. maybe due to the humidity here, but there is not a single wrinkle in it! FI linen suit, on the other hand, is a different story!

we're here! we have an appointment with denys at 1:00 today. it'll be my first conversation with her but i'm sure everything will turn out great! just thought i'd check in and say hello from playa!

ahhhhhhhhh, we're here! woke up in playa del carmen this morning and i'm feeling very relaxed. we made it safely along with all of our luggage. we are soo ready to get this show on the road!

Quote: Originally Posted by barbiegirl_27 Diane, I was just thinking about you, figuring you must be leaving soon! Hope you have an amazing time! My mum is coming to visit at the end of June, so we're going to test out the OPI Axxium together then! Looking forward to it! thanks so much! can't believe it's almost departure day!

i just got my axxium pedicure done this morning. i it looks great! i got a french and i'm happy with how it turned out. it was more expensive than they'd originally quoted me, so it BETTER last the full time i'm in mexico. my nails were starting to split and break, so i opted to get gel nails instead of the axxium on my hands. i did pink gel with a french. i'll be a good barometer for how long things last. i figured that my resort in mexico won't be able to fix axxium if something breaks, so i went with the safer bet. everything looks great an i'll be in mexico in 24 hours!

Quote: Originally Posted by lexibride Diane I'll be there tomorrow too! Nope, no luck with the online check in yet - UGH!! Last time I went there I logged in and in 10 minutes picked my room and was done. I hate that nothing seems to be going smoothly and on top of that there is pending rain....just not excited if you know what I mean. i'm trying yet again with no luck. i hope to still get in somehow! i am slightly nervous about the rain, too. hoping if it really comes down to having rain for my evening wedding, we could just push everything up and beat any pending rain. Quote: Originally Posted by JuliaR Just met with Zulma. She is the BOMB. I feel so much better about my wedding and she is such a dear, sweet person. She's one of those people you meet and you instantly want to be her best friend. She is so ON TOP OF IT...and willing to do ANYTHING for you. I'm so totally and completely excited right now I can hardly stand it! that's great! hopefully my onsite WC will be better in person than she has been so far. still no meeting scheduled or anything, and we'll be THERE in 24 hours. glad you're so collected and excited, hooray! Quote: Originally Posted by RunningBride24 Ooo that's a really good point on contacting the airline about traveling with the dress. I'm curious how everyone is getting their dress there. I don't want the airline to just throw it around..... i called american airlines a few weeks ago. my dress counts as my carry-on. they say they won't hang it up but it can go in an overhead compartment. looks like i'll have to have it pressed there unless i can sweet-talk them into hanging it somehow! Quote: Originally Posted by callamonster I am also flying Continental and would be interested about the dress question! hopefully they're more accommodating than american airlines.

oh, did anyone have any luck yesterday with the online check in? it's still not working for me!