Chelseabug

Thank you everyone!! Wish I could push rewind and go back and do it all again!! Maybe at 25th Anniversary

Thank you!!! The vaction is over, but the honeymoon continues!!!

Hello Royal Brides!!! My new hubby and I just returned from our Wedding/Honeymoon at The Royal Playa Del Carmen. Let me just say, they did not dissappoint!!! Everything was amazing, a couple of little glitches, but what wedding day doesn't have those!! We were married on June 22, 2011 at 1pm at the Beach Gazebo. I will do my best to detail as much as I can, and give as many tips as I can. But I am so excited and hope that I don't just run on and on. I'll start with my travel agent, Diane Darcy of Affordabletrips.net She is amazing. We have used her for the past three years for our annual Mexico Vacations and she never does us wrong!! Check out her website, let her know Chelsea Menn sent you!! And book your destination wedding with her!! Or just your getaway vacation!! She even came to our wedding!! Thank you Diane!! The Resort From the moment we arrived, absolutely everyone, from the bell hop, the conciere down to the handyman workers, greeted you with a smile and a hand over their heart!! It was such an endearing way to be greeted, told you right off the bat that they were for you, for every little detail!! The resort was magnificent!! The view from the lobby was breathtaking, with a wonderful ocean breeze streaming through!! We met with our romance concierge, we were staying for 10 days, and had purchased the Romance pkg for our wedding. This included a free upgrade, if available. Unfortunately, there was nothing that was available for the full 10 days, we would've been moving around halfway through our trip, this was not something we wanted to do!! So we stuck with our Royal Jr Suite Oceanview. The room was beautiful!! We were greeted with rose petals and towel swans!!! Couldn't have been more perfect! TIP: Ask your romance concierge for the Special Romance Packages list. If you are staying as long as we did. Your room will not be made up with rose petals every night unless you make reservations for it through your concierge. Our room was decorated the first 4-5 days of our trip. After that we didn't figure out the pkg thing until the night before we were leaving. So if you want it every night just ask! And tip your maid, I know with this being an all inclusive resort, people think there is no need to tip. But these people work extremely hard to make your stay spectacular, give em a little! The above pic, was our wedding night decor. We arrived on a monday and had our wedding on Wednesday. Our Mom's were there and his little brother. Along with my best friend and cousin. In all we only had 7 guests! This was the first time any of our family had been to Playa and they were spoiled right from the get go!!! The food was spectacular. Any reviews you read of anyone complaining hand over fist about this place, are just very unpleasable (if that is a word) people. Your not always going to like everything you put in your mouth, but that is just your own taste, not that it wasn't prepared well. Presentation of your food all the way to taste, was far and beyond anything we could've ever expected! Our fav was Asiana for dinner and lunch, try the mango (or papaya) and mint salad under the Thai portion of salads, so refreshing on a hot day!! And for breakfast we loved El Meditarannio (sp?) Great buffet, wonderful omelets!! And COLD AC!! My hubby melts most of the time, so AC is a must! Asiana, El Meditarannio had the best. Pelicano's was awesome! Ocean breezes!! Wonderful ribeye!!!! Here are some pics..... Pelicano's above Our Post wedding night breakfast!! More food than we knew what to do with!!! MMM Enough about food, you brides want to know about wedding!! Well here we go! Royal Salon & Spa My maid of Honor and I had our hair done at the spa. They did a great job. I was planning on doing my own hair, but quickly found that my curls went flat immediately. Not to mention my entire can of hairspray had bursted, so no spray! So they did it for us. I had no idea what I really wanted, just easy, and kind of messy. They delivared. They have a book withlots of pics, we just looked through and picked one out. They did great. The Flowers You can see above and pics below, they were beautiful. I ask them to add some yellow to it. It was one of their standard bouquets, that came with the pkg. They were perfect!! Very tropical!! Massage Before we had our hair done. We went into town for massages. The entire wedding party and our Mom's. My fiance had found Hotel Azul on 5th, 2 one hour massages for $50!!! He requested a room with AC, and they were ready for us when we arrived at 9am, all 7 of us!! They put us 2 to a room. They use the rooms at this hotel for the massages. It is run by Omar and his wife. They brought in extra massouses (sp They were very professional and courteous. And honestly hands down, one of the best massages I have ever had. We walked out wet noodles!!! Totally relaxed for the big day. Highly recommend them!! The Beach Gazebo The most private place to have a wedding here. Before we left we were really wanting to change to the beach! I am so glad we didn't! We saw other weddings on the beach and they are very public, no telling what may be in your pics!! The gazebo provides privacy, shade (for the hot natured fiance) and a wonderful tunnel breeze!! You don't cook and the atmosphere is amazing!! Our WC was Denys, she was wonderful. We didn't have the red carpet put down, because we shared our first dance here, after cutting the cake and champagne toast. We didn't want to trip on the rug. Here are some pics of the gazebo.... This is the view from our room. Had to lean out a little, but beautiful grounds and quiet. Room 820 on third floor! Our wedding day weather was beautiful. Other brides later that week were not as lucky. It rained the whole second half of our honeymoon. But that makes for a good honeymoon!! So be prepared, many brides had to move their ceremonies. But I saw everyone doing everything they could to make it just as beautiful. We got lucky with the flower sprays on the gazebo, wedding before us left them. So that was awesome. We were on a very strict budget and cut corners as much as we could and it turned out beautiful. The Cake Yummy, it was not what we ordered. We wanted chocolate with strawberry, but got something else. But it was delicious, wish I knew what it was! It was a vanilla cake with some kind of filling, honestly glad we got it, cause chocolate cake in the teeth, wouldn't have looked pretty in pics!! LOL Our cake topper I bought online, it was just a plastic mirrored Monogram, and then bought the swarvorski (sp) crystals at Michaels on sale and with a coupon, whole topper $10!! The toast I made the beading for our glasses and carried them down with us. It was a little bit of a pain, but they are with us now and forever. Beading and flutes cost $15!! Our First Dance I made a cd of our music. The song for walking down the aisle, Me and You, Kenney Chesney. I was so excited because I made it to my fiance, right as Kenny says "me & You" at the very end of the song!! PERFECT timing! The song that played right at our first kiss and during the cake and toast, none other than Margarittaville!! and our first dance was At Last by Etta James. We even had couples on the beach in front of the gazebo dancing!!! So sweet!! They later said "welcome to the club" as we headed down to the beach for pics. Videographer Our videographer, I wish I had gotten his name. But he did a wonderful job, honestly he was stealthy, never saw him. And when I watch the video, I think, I never saw him do that! We got the Sunrise Video Package, seems pricey, but it is your wedding day, and once the moment passes, you don't get it back. They did a wonderful job. Photography We did not go with the resort photographer. I could not logically pay $300 something for only 25 pics on a cd. And 25 pics is not near enough for your wedding day! So we hired out. Octavio Montes Photography. Bought his H2 package, had to pay the $350 vendor fee to the resort. Well worth the cost. We spent the most money on pics. But memories are memories. Octavio did a wonderful job. Found him thru this website from other brides. I'll post a few pics he did, they may not stay here forever they are linked to his website. octaviomontesphotography.com TIP: It is bright at 2pm. Take your sunglasses.Pics without sunglasses, have photographer let you close your eyes, until he is ready for shot, and then have him tell you OPEN. That way you don't get a ton of squinty eyed pics. We ended up with a few. Pictures were fun. But take some wet rags, and your shades with you!!! And have fun. Act natural. We did not have a reception. We just got together in the hotel lobby bar later that evening. Listened to some music and had a couple of dances. Had dinner at Asiana. If you have a large group, make a reservation. They charge a little bit for this, but if you want to sit together, it's the best way to ensure not having a long wait. We even had a siesta in the middle of our wedding day!! Right after pics, we went back to our room, with the COLD AC and took a nap! Best thing we could've done. It kept the day relaxed and we felt refreshed forthe evening. And yes I took a nap in my dress. Didn't want to take it off!! Foot jewelry When we were thinking of sand beach wedding, I wanted foot jewelry, but I ended up wearing for photos on the beach. I made my own. Most of waht I found online were $60 and up. No way in my budget. Made mine for nowhere near that!! Best Advice I can give is!! Enjoy yourselves!! RELAX!! BREATHE!! Whatever happens, happens. If something doesn't go the way you expect, it's okay, just go with it. It's Mexico, your getting married, in the big picture, those small details, only you know about, not your guests. They will never know, the cake was suppsoed to be chocolate, instead of vanilla. Or they played the wrong song right after your first dance. (my fault) If you never say anything! So enjoy ladies, your getting married in Mexico, in a beautiful place, and the memories last forever. So enjoy and revel in every moment, it goes by so fast!! Good luck everyone!!! Chelsea and Cullen Menn Oh yea....I used to be Mann, just had to change the one little letter! Awesone right???

Adding myself to the list below girls!!! Chelseamann June 22, 2011 11 days to go and definately counting!!!!

NO STORMS!!! We are getting married right after ya'll in June 22nd at The Royal!!! So no storms for you or us!!!!

Diane Darcy, with Affordabletrips.net, she is amazing. My fiance and I are getting married at the Royal on June 22, 11 days and counting!! Good Luck with yours!!

Hi there, and welome! I am excited for you! Our wedding is scheduled for June 22, 2011 at 1pm at the Beach Gazebo. So far communication with our off site WC has been slow. But she has gotten answers to me regardless, just be patient. Although you are so close!! Only dissappointment so far was, paying for minister, we are having a symbolic wedding, (doing all the legal stuff here in the states, due to limited time issues) when we booked, it was our understanding that we would not have to pay for a minister with symbolic service, but not the case. $500 extra. Wasn't planning on this cost, so having to work a little extra! But once in a lifetime, and all reviews I have read have been awesome. PLEASE PLEASE post your experience when you get home, very excited to hear about your day!