LynnieS

jesmcan my advice if you are still deciding on a cocktail hour. . . only do it if you can run your ceremony straight into a cocktail hour then right into your reception. I had a break and lost a lot of people during the cocktail hour, then most of them were late to dinner. . . boo!

BridetoBe Awesome siggy pic. . . I love love love your colors!

Thought I'd give a suggestion. I decided not to do fans and glad I didn't because the breeze from the ocean is a natural fans and feels really good. So, I decided to have parasols sitting at the end of each row and these were a HUGE hit! People were so glad they had relief from the sun during the ceremony. Actually people wanted to take them home! I had 15 parasols for 50 guests and it worked perfectly and we took some great pics with them too!

Thanks lisa!!!

LadyDi Oh, that is a good area, shouldn't be too busy by 4pm. And you can sign up for those excursions at the Royal. There is a big area just off the lobby where there are a bunch of tour groups signing people up. They have HUGE books to look through. One day we went up there at 8am, signed up, paid and we were on the bus by 8:30 to the Mayan Extreme (just like the Tulum Extreme) Its very very easy!

Quote: Originally Posted by Lady_Di Oh mine is at 4pm so hope it won't be sooo hot. Where is your ceremony again? If I remember correctly, the sun starts dipping below the resort at about four to five and it cools considerably due to the shadow. By the time our reception started at six it was perfect. ill try to find pics at that time

It was at 2pm. prob 90 degrees by then. Actually we had our reception start at 6 so all of our guests, (including us!) went to the pool for a couple of hours. It felt great to get out of my dress. It was kinda ironic cuz Boyd had to help me put my dress back ON for the reception!! Having that break was the best thing we did for an early ceremony

Thanks Nikki!! OMG, I remember that night-haha!!

Here are a couple of pics from my cousin. . . sorry not the best! the ceremony, we were both bawling! our first toast, beware you barely get down the aisle before they are jamming champagne in your hands. . .very hard to hug everyone with champagne and bouquet. pics on the beach VERY HOT!! the girls the guys and my fav pic., the housekeeping found my programs after the ceremony and took the flowers off them and put them on this cute towel elephant. . . I love the Royal!! Still working on the review!!

Quote: Originally Posted by Lady_Di How were the non resort and Gran guests able to go to the ceremony? Just go straight to the beach? I think I read that they just go straight to where the ceremony is without checking in? Personally I would have them go straight to the beach. If they check in they can only be there 30 min in advance. They were very strict about this, in fact they told our flower girls that they couldnt even walk thru the resort, they had to go around. Oh, and I don't know if we just got lucky but our guests were able to stay on the resort pretty much all night, we just got them their drinks after the reception. Like I said, we may have just been lucky!

As for excursions, no need to worry about that in advance. They have like four tour groups who set this up everyday. They have so so many to choose from and have different combinations of things. We did a lot of these and recommend the mayan extreme (I think thats what is was called) where you go to the ruins, a cenote, zip line and repel. It was fun and you got lunch. We also went snokeling, beware of any catamaran rides to the snorkeling. . . 15 out of our 20 lost their breakfast if ya know what I mean, bring dramamine!! We also did an ATV trip to another cenote. . .very fun! Our friends also did a trip into a cave and wore wet suits to snorkel. There are so many things to do I would not worry about that now!

also, about the menu options, Im not sure what the luxury package has but I did the classical package and had red snapper and beef tournedo, both excellent!! I had so many good comments about the snapper I wish I would have only done that one!! As for "american" im not sure either but there isn't anything that is super weird on the menu. They have weird names but everything is very very good. I mean if us nebraska folk love it it must be good

Quote: Originally Posted by luna1923 SHould I or not!??!? Do I get the damn dance floor for $700?!?!??!?!?!?!?! It seems like such a wasted expense....BUT... my guests and I are all dancers and the wood floor that the resort provides seems so ghetto! It doesn't even sit on the sand evenly! I feel like I would need the guests to sign a waiver before they dance on it, lol!! Can any previous brides provide any insight on this and whether they think the added expense of the dance floor was worth it? Hi Luna!! Ok I just got back from my wedding and all I can say is the dance floor is sooooo worth it!! Everyone commented how cool it was and I got some great pics out of it. I think it just got the mood going, ya know?! For all brides doing cocktail hour. . . NOT WORTH IT. period. Actually most of my guests left to back to their rooms. None of the food was eaten and they only serve champagne. THis is actually my ONLY complaint of the whole wedding!!! It was so hot outside and they only provide one tiny umbrella. Review to come. . . I am sooo depressed, I want to go back to mexico

I'd like to say congrats to astreit!! I watched her wedding and it was sooooo gorgeous! Congrats! off to one last dinner!

Quote: Originally Posted by Lisa DSO Jenconrad or ladies who have recently been married (and who had the luxury package)... what were the musicians like, especially the soloist? Which one did you choose and how often did he/she play? Wow, I just can't get away from the forum haha!! I saw many weddings and, although we did not use one, I heard a harp several times and it was absolutely beautiful! I also saw several mariachi bands play during the cocktail hour, never during the receptions. BTW if I have one piece of advice, especially if you have a large group, pay for the extra hour for reception, it is def worth it. My reception was very late in getting started and we had only been dancing for about 45 minutes before our 3 hours was up and added on an hour. We felt very rushed in getting all the dances in (ie father/daughter, 1st dance etc. ) and the cake cutting and speeches. That is my ONLY complaint!!!! this resort is so amazing I am kinda depressed to leave tomor!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by smckinney22 Does anyone know if a guest is staying at a NON Real hotel & they stay at some random one down the street, can they buy day passes to The Royal for days other than the wedding day? Or are day passes only available to guests at sister properties? Yes they can! Very expensive however BTW IM MARRIED!! We come back tomorrow but thought I'd check in real quick since everyone has left but us. ask anything. Everything was absolutely amazing!! You girls will not be disappointed. It was beyond my every expectation. They are just awesome!!! More later. . .

Yup, one more. I had to post this cuz my FI just gave this to me as one of my wedding gifts. It is a engraved wine box that HE MADE!! It is absolutey gorgeous! He is so romantic. we will use to put a bottle of wine with letters to eachother about why we love eachother and why we are together. We will open the box and wine at our one year anniversary and read the letters. What a great idea!!! I found it somewhere on here but can't find it now cuz Im tired!!!

The Cermony the programs. . again made by me on cardstock. Flowers glued on from Archivers. We will put these in the chair sashes Parasols to protect from the sun at our 2pm wedding, yikes!! oh and to take pics with, cute!! Guest book and sign. Guests will write a message on the board and take a pic. Again, I just glued flowers onto the board. We will have a cigar table and place these matches on the table Lets see what else. . . . oh, heres the envelopes we sent our pre-travel brochures in. they are just so cute We plan on using our IPod for the music (FI’s job!!) We don’t plan on decorating much cuz #1 we are broke! and #2 the ocean and backdrop speak for itself OMG, I think thats it for now. Thank you thank you so much to everyone on here for all the inspiration and encouragement. We leave in 4 hours so I better get to bed! Have fun! Lyndsay

The Flowergirls I am having two flower girl and they are wearing this dress with a fuschia sash. These were really cheap ($20)!! the FG shoes from payless FG’s gift bags. Personalized totes from so cute!! Then I got them princess beach towels at the Disney store and a bunch of princess stickers, hair accessories, lip gloss and all that fun stuff little girls like! They will carry these bucket with flower petals The Guests We sent out pre-travel brochures. Ill find my template We are not doing OOT bags because we got maracas from Mishka. Cant wait to see them!! They will go in the guests room before they arrive with these tags on them. Made by me out of cardstock and address labels. the maracas will serve as the placecards as well for dinner and they will shake them for a kiss Welcome letter/Itinerary to go in rooms with maracas. Each letter was personalized to each guest and printed on cardstock. I used a brad to attach to the itinerary OMG, seriously, still more

The Bridesmaids Here is a link to their dresses. They will be wearing black heels with it. Charlotte Russe - One Shoulder Rosette Dress Here is the starfish necklace I got for them at Kohls along with a silver bracelet to wear. Their gift bags. I got these totes from walmart and hot-glued flower from archivers on to them, they turned out really cute. Inside I got them flip flops for the reception, lotion and lipgloss from VS and the BM tanks I made them. The BM tanks. tanks from walmart ($4!!!) and rhinestones from the back of them The DIY bouquets and bouts. Got all the flowers from Hobby Lobby. All of this cost less than $60. I am so proud of myself!! They turned out great still more. . .

The Groom We got his cotton suit from Jos A Banks. It is a light gray and he will wear a plain white shirt, unbuttoned, underneath. He will wear black sandals also from zappos. Sorry the goofy face!! His gift for our legal day is a book I made from mypublisher.com of our trip to Europe. This is such a neat website, I loved making it!! I will give him this card on our wedding day, these are our two dogs. Also printed from mypublisher.com His real gift is a book of BD photos done by a lady here in Omaha. These turned out really well and I am so happy I did this. A real confidence booster. Here are some shots from the book, sorry so crappy but she didn’t give me any teasers. . . boo! The Groomsmen The gifts to the groomsmen were their outfits including shirt, linen pants and flipflops. Linen pants from Dillards, shirts from Kohls and shoes from zappos. My dad’s outfit to walk me down the aisle!! Im gonna bawl! keep waitin. . .

The Bride, yay!! Here is my wedding dress, it’s a Maggie (Reese) My shoes from zappos My reception shoes from Kohls My wedding jewelry, just simple since my dress is so blingy! My DIY tank My garter, just a simple blue one! My something borrowed and something old is a hankie that my great great great (yes, three times) grandmother carried. I cried when my mom gave it to me today! still more. . .

Ok, I guess its my turn. . .I’ve been waiting for what seems like forever to do this but it has gone by so so fast. First, I would like to thank Tammy for starting this amazing forum, without it I would be lost!! Second, I would like to thank everyone who has helped me along the way. Especially the girls on the Royal PDC thread. I wish you all the best on your weddings. I definitely will miss talking to you all everyday! Sorry if I don’t mention specific names but thank you thank you thank you!!!! We will be getting married at the beautiful Royal Playa del Carmen in the gazebo and then our reception on the beach. OMG I can’t wait!! Engagement My FI proposed on a beautiful summer day in July 2009. He had an entire day planned for me including a vineyard tour, breakfast in bed, flowers. After all his hard work, he didn’t get it done the way he wanted, but we made it home and he proposed in the same park we go to almost everyday to walk our dogs. It was so special because it was it was our place and with our puppies. He couldn’t have planned it better!! My E-ring and wedding band, custom made by him. . .he's awesome!! His ring, by the same jeweler We sent out save the date cards with all our travel information on it and some of our engagement pics. Sorry no pic!! Here are my invites, almost completely DIY. The cardstock from Archivers. We printed it ourselves and made the RSVP cards as well out of cardstock more to come. . .

Wow, what an amazing planning thread!! All of your DIY stuff is amazing. I LOVE LOVE the colors and damask. Congrats on a beautiful wedding, oh and AMAZING BD photos!!!