chelsandjack

It was a little bit windy, but not so much that it was a problem - and the complimentary package is perfect - simple, elegant, classy! It wasn't very humid at all when we were there a couple of weeks ago

We actually did the complimentary package - which we loved because it was so simple, and the beach & the water were a good enough back drop for us, but we also ended up getting a Mariachi & some other little things, so we ended up spending around $2000 on everything - not including the photographer. We did not have to pay for any additional people over the 30 for our unlimited private functions - (which were very nice, BTW)

Hey Everyone! We just got back from our wedding/honeymoon at the Playacar Palace and it was absolutely amazing! Everything went better than we ever could have hoped for. We had a private cocktail hour, a rehearsal dinner on the South Solarium (which included a 7 year old's birthday - complete with a pinata & birthday cake that Laura, our WC was kind enough to set up for us) another cocktail hour after the ceremony on the Cielo Terrace (with a mariachi) & a reception on the North Solarium - everything was perfect, the service was incredible! The ceremony itself was perfect - better than we could have hoped. We had originally asked for North Beach, but after seeing the actual setup & how much activity there was on the north beach at 3:00 pm, we decided to move it to the South Beach - which turned out to be a good move. At that time, the beach & pool are still pretty active, but as everyone else has mentioned, when everything is happening you don't even know it, it really does feel intimate and special (although there was one woman right behind our setup which was promptly chased away by an aunt.) It literally could not have gone any better than it did and we are so happy with the decision we made to go with the Playacar Palace. We stayed there for an extra week after the wedding and we continued to receive the most amazing service ever - everyone knew us by name, we never went without anything, it was awesome. We stayed in the concierge level - which I would highly recommend - we had a knock on our door every hour making sure that we were ok and didn't need anything. Wonderful!!! Laura, our WC was amazing, she went way beyond what we expected of her!. We hired an outside photographer - Samuel Luna- who was amazing as well, he was very nice and a pleasure to work with. We've only seen one of the picture he took, but it's pretty cool & we can't wait to see more! The only negative was that the resort was having some construction done, which meant that there was quite a bit of noise for some of our guests from 9 -5 - making it hard to take naps if they so desired. A little bit of warning on that would have been nice, but otherwise everything was perfect!

Oh yea - last question, is there ANY privacy during the ceremony on the beach? Or are there really random people in their swim suits hanging out off the side watching?

Hi Everyone! We've almost got everything set - only 18 days to go!! Question - are we supposes to tip/pay our on site WC? If so, how much is customary? Also - we're not having a actual wedding party - only our families. Our parents are going to be our witnesses - does this mean they are actually standing up with us? Last- how windy is it really? Thanks so much!

Hi Everyone! Out of curiosity - did any of you have the videographers offered by the resort? How did the DVD turn out? We're trying to decide if we want to include a videographer or not - anyone have any input? Thanks!

We were told the same thing originally, however one of our other Palace contacts, Michelle Farinas who I believe is in sales in Miami, told us that we can indeed use an outside photographer, we just have to buy a day pass.

Hi Everyone! Soooo..we think we've found our photographer! Samuel Luna..we're just waiting on a contract!! Excited!!!!! So now were on to trying to plan our "events." We qualified for "unlimited private functions" - so were planning on having a private buffet a the night of the ceremony. Our question is about entertainment. Obviously we want our guests to get loose and have fun & dance - but we're running seriously low on our our budget & there's no way we can afford a DJ at this point - we're super bummed that we aren't allowed to use our resort credits for extras like DJ's and Mariachis We thought about making an Ipod playlist - but there wouldn't be someone to kind of make announcements, ect- like an MC. Obviously we want to do the father/daughter dance, mother/son dance, first dance, ect...but we also don't want to be playing "M.C." instead of having fun with our guests...any suggestions???? Thanks so much- you've all been so helpful!

Hey Everyone! We are still on the hunt for our photographer & we have been communicating with Ivan Luckie - who has been awesome so far in terms of responsiveness. Have you all had experience with him? One major concern of ours is the turn around of our pictures. Our wedding is at the end of April & our AHR is in mid-June and we definately want to be able to display our photos at the party - however some reviews of Ivan I have read were that, although he is extremely nice and an awesome photographer - some people were waiting 4+ months to get their pictures!?!?! Any thoughts?

Hi Linkn - We've been told that the Smile Market are the ones handling the photos for the resort - do you have any information (good or bad) about them? Are they any good ? The samples on their website are limited and don't really seem to be what we're looking for. by the way - we've already tried to contact you and you are unfortunately booked Any info you can provide would be greatly appreciated! THX!

hey all...just wanted to pass along a recommendation for a photographer in the Mayan Riviera.... Lori Lemieux at Sweet Fire Photography. Unfortunately she is booked for our wedding, but check out her website - www.sweetfirephotography.com. Her work is incredible & she seems super nice!

Hi Bethany! That's soo nice to hear & very reassuring. Do you have the email address for Derek @ Photos in Cancun? They're one we haven't heard of and in looking at their website, they look awesome & very reasonably priced. We'd love to get in touch with them! Thanks!

Hi Everyone! So - taking some of your advice, we e-mailed Wilma just to confirm that we were able to use an outside vendor for photography & she said that we have 3 options. A.) use the Smile Market, who is contracted through the resort B.) Use La Luna or Del Sol - with a purchased day pass, or C) use an outside vendor, but that person(s) must stay two nights at the hotel????? We're really stressing out now because we read that many of you all were able to use an outside photographer without any problem - have any of you heard this?? We are currently trying to book Ivan Luckie - we really don't want to use the resort photographers because their photos look a little - cheesy...... Del Sol's pricing was a little too much - Ivan Luckie seems to be EXACTLY what we are looking for. Help?????

Seriously...sooo glad we found this forum!! Ziki - when in April are you getting married? We're on the 28th!!! As far as "thank you's" - We think we're doing monogrammed beach towels with our names & wedding date along with a thank you note for each of our guests

Thanks for the response - we were afraid we'd hear that about the onsite photography Do you remember roughly what the cost of either Del Sol or La Luna was? Obviously, the photos are pretty important to us, but in looking at some of the suggested photographers in the area, it seems crazy expensive. Does anyone have any examples of the quality of photos (or lackthereof) of the onsite photographers?

Hi All! We're getting married at the Playacar Palace in April & had a question about photographers - we've been under the impression that we can only use the photogs provided by the resort & were not able to bring in outside photographers - does anyone know if that's the case? I've read on some threads here that some people simply purchased a day pass for an outside photographer & that was ok with the resort? Are the resort photogs any good? Any suggestions on outside photogs we could bring in? Thanks for your help!

Hi Everyone! My fiance & I will be getting married at the Playacar Palace in April & we're so excited that we found this forum because at this point, there are still a lot of unknowns as we haven't yet had a chance to have an actual conversation with our wedding person at the resort. I know that the answers to our questions are probably in one of the 39 pages here, but going through them all is a little bit daunting - we hoped you all may be able to help! First, we had booked the the Diamond collection, but now that they've revised their collections, we actually think the complimentary package looks the cleanest & is pretty classy, but we would then have to purchase all the "extras" that we want, including the photography, as "extras". It was our impression that you could not hire an outside photographer..is this really the case? If so, is the photographer provided by the resort good? We'd hate to spend $1500 on one of the resort wedding packages only to have them turn out a little, you know, blah. Any advice? we've qualified for the unlimited private functions - can you suggest the best places to have those? We were thinking of a "welcome" cocktail at the cielo bar or south solarium the first night all of our guests arrive, another the night before the wedding (location unknown) and then a Private dinner on the north solarium after the ceremony. Fireworks - one of us LOVES fireworks, but we don't know if the fireworks provided are worth the extra money - does anyone have any experience with the fireworks? I'm sure we'll have a ton more questions - we appreciate all of your advice!!!!