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Has anyone been following the recent news surrounding alcohol related incidents in Mexico... specifically in Cancun and Playa Del Carmen hotels. Iberostar Paraiso is mentioned, but incidents have been reported at other resorts too. Some theories are indicating hotels are served bootleg alcohol and/or have deals with local hospitals to extort money from guests. I've had a few guests contact me regarding some recent alcohol-related incidents in Mexico and I've reached out to our hotel, Azul Senstatori, but haven't heard back yet. http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2017/07/20/all-inclusive-resorts-mexico-suspected-drugging-tourists/490429001/ http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/27/us/mexico-state-department-alcohol-warning/index.html http://mexicovacationawareness.com BE SAFE!
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- Cancun Riviera Maya
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Hello everyone! I am a future bride and overwhelmed with the madness and lack of communication with my wedding coordinator in Mexico. I found out a month ago, I cannot hire a makeup artist to do makeup in my room. Any suggestions in the Playa Carmen/Cancun area that's familiar with makeup on black women? Also, trying to decide if having a private dinner on the beach or going off the resort for reception dinner is worth it. My group will be just 12 people. I need any input.
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If you've been thinking about renewing your vows in front of your closest family and friends, Azul Fives Hotel in Playa del Carmen, Mexico has the perfect vow renewal package for an intimate celebration and best of all -- it's free! The Sky Rooftop Vow Renewal package at Azul Fives is ideal for couples who wish to renew their vows in an intimate setting with up to 24 guests. The celebration includes: Ceremony Inclusions Romantic ceremony location Altar table with white linen Uncovered white garden chairs Sound system with speakers and microphone Non-denominational officiant Welcome cocktail served to all guests upon arrival Cold towel service for each guest during ceremony Signature Services Expert Signature Designer to help plan your event Guest concierge* Personal onsite attendant day of the ceremony - 3 hours* Special room for your other half with gourmet bites on day of the ceremony 12pm - 5pm Reception Inclusions Dinner reservation for your group at Flavors Restaurant Personalized menu card Vow Renewal Romance Package for the Happy Couple Private four course candlelit dinner on the beach for two Chef's special gourmet breakfast in bed Chilled bottle of sparkling wine delivered to room upon arrival One-night return stay voucher for your next anniversary 15% discount on spa services Fresh tropical floral arrangement in room Romantically decorated suite with rose petals and aroma therapy Beachfront sky massage two for one* Couple's also have the ability to further customize their vow renewal experience, including adding options for photography and video as well as decor and floral options. This package is offered only at Azul Fives Hotel and the following requirements apply: - Package is available complimentary for US or Canada based couples - The couple must 3 Bedroom Sky Suite for 3 nights or more and two additional rooms - Ceremony must take place in the couples' bedroom sky deck. - Other couples can purchase this package for $950 USD. - Gourmet Honeymoon & Anniversary Package inclusions apply to wedding couple only. One massage must be purchased to receive one of equal or lesser value complimentary. - One-night return stay voucher valid for future stays of 5 nights or longer, non-transferrable, holidays excluded and must be used within 395 days of check out date. To find out more information about booking your complimentary Sky Rooftop Vow Renewal pakage at Azul Fives Hotel, or for assistance on booking an all-inclusive vacation for your honeymoon or destination wedding elsewhere, contact Wright Travel Agency at: www.wrighttravelagency.com or you can contact them here. - - - About me: I am a former BDW Bride AKA as MarieSam and I was addicted to this forum as I planned my own wedding in 2009. Since 2010, I have been the proud owner of MarieSam Sanchez Photography -- a husband and wife photography team based in Southern California and documenting love all over the world. I am also a mother to two girls, an avid traveler and a destination wedding writer/blogger.
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- Cancun Riviera Maya
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We just got engaged on Christmas 2016. We have always talked about a wedding in Mexico. Francis of Assisi in Xcaret is where we want to get married. I'm looking for the closest place to stay for my wedding party. If any brides or now wives have any information that can help me, I would forever be grateful! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G928A using Tapatalk
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Hello! New to the forum, thought I would see if there is anyone else who is or has had a wedding at Hacienda Tres Rios in Mayan Riviera? Doing a search, the last thread on here is about 2 years old and it seems much has changed there since then. We are booked for November 2017 and I am just a little nervous as I am struggling to find many recent reviews or advice regarding weddings here. Specifically I am curious if anyone has had issues with the fact that they sell timeshares there. Or if anyone had any complaints about the beach/water quality. When we visited, the water was rather murky and unlike your typical Caribbean water. I just hope this won't be a major disappointment to our guests. Any help would be greatly appreciated Erica
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Hi All, I am from UK and got engaged on my 40th Birthday at Sandos Playacar so I know that this place is beautiful. I have been looking at posts for Sandos but it looks like the most recent posts regarding wedding experiences was back in 2013. Has anybody recently got married here or about too? Thank you in advance
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Hello Am an African American bride am looking for a makeup artist that has worked with dark skin tones before and also someone who can style hair such as a weave for a wedding in mexico playa for may 2017
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Hello everyone! I am desperately trying to find a venue to host my 100 guests for a casual welcome dinner/reception. We are looking to stay under 5k. We would like something different than beachfront because our wedding reception will be beach front. We are thinking a casual taco place, a place we can rent and get catered tacos/buffet, or some passed hors d'doeuvres on a rooftop or somewhere unique. Please let me know if you have any suggestions, thank you!!! - PDC bride
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- Playa Del Carmen
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Hello everyone! My name is LaTayia but I go by Tia. My fiance and I were recently engaged on May 22nd. We are extremely interested in a destination wedding and have decided to have it in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. We took our first international trip together there and thought it would be really nice to go back to where we started. Currently I am interested in having it at Paradisus Playa Del Carmen because that is where we stayed our first trip and since we have young children coming I felt it would be the best option since there is an adults only and a family side. After looking at the website the tailor made option seems to be the best fit for us. We plan to get married June 2, 2018 so I know it's a little early to actually book everything but I would definitely love any advice you all are able to offer. There will be about 40 or so people in attendance. I have a few questions that hopefully someone may be able to address: 1) When it comes to booking the resort for a wedding, do you have to pay a down payment or do you pay in full? 2) How does making room reservations work? Each couple that will be coming will be paying for their own rooms so do we just tell the hotel how many rooms we will need and then the block them out? Or do my fiance and I have to make a payment to reserve the rooms? 3) If in the event that it rains, where do they have the ceremonies? 4) Is there anything that we are not permitted to bring to the resort? Such as a unity candle or remembrance candles for loved ones who are no longer with us? A related question is, has anyone packed the knives to cut the cake with in their luggage? 5) Can anyone offer any information about how much each package costs? I know I can call the resort and ask but I am curious to know the range in which others have paid. 6) Does the DJ that is recommended by the resort play all types of music/can you request him to play certain songs? 7) For those who have had their hair and makeup done at the spa, how did you like it? Do they specialize in all hair types and complexions? 8) If anyone could give their experiences on the ease or trouble they went through when planning their wedding at this resort went that would be great! I know I have asked a lot of questions here but I am just really excited! lol Thank you in advance for all of your help
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- 2018 Brides
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Question: Is it necessary for me to get a hair & makeup trial done before the Wedding Day? Answer: According to Styling Trio, a premier Hair & Makeup Agency in Cancun, Tulum and Playa del Carmen: "We often get asked by brides if a trial run before the wedding is really necessary. As part of the Styling Trio team here in Mexico, I started working on this piece a few weeks ago and decided to visit a few brides on their wedding day who had had trial runs days before and ask them this question. I knew my answer was YES, simply based on how the hair and makeup artists' minds work but I wanted to get insight from actual brides. Some of my favorite answers from brides were: “Not having a trial was never an option!” and “You wouldn’t book a photographer without looking at their work?” And they are so right! Even though nowadays it's real easy to see the work of a hair and makeup artist via their social media profiles or on a website, but the reality is every bride is different. We're all unique in this world and good artists know that not every technique works for every client. Artists may have their mark and a particular style but it’s definitely not a “copy-paste” situation. One thing I see among brides that have had a trial run is that on their wedding day, their hair and makeup is always better ... ALWAYS! Let’s not forget that we are working with creative perfectionist-types (i.e. hair and makeup artists), and after a trial run, their minds will still be working and thinking how can they make it better. The good news is, they have another opportunity to make it perfect. The second time around, the artists know the recipe for your hair and makeup and know exactly what to do and what not to do to create their masterpiece. The trial is also essential because when the big day comes, artists have to stay on schedule and therefore the time frame to finish may be shorter, but by then, they already know what they plan to do and so it streamlines the process. Trial runs are also great for creating good energy and an easy going vibe for the wedding day because by then, everyone has already met and knows one another. This tends to put brides at ease and make it more comfortable, and believe me, when you're relaxed, it helps your hair and makeup look flawless and getting ready will be fun and easy! I know that a trial run is not an option for all brides because of busy schedules or perhaps the budget doesn’t allow for it, so in the event you decide not to or can't have a trial, don’t worry! My advice is to go through the artist’s social media and view pictures of his/her work. If you like what you see, then I wouldn’t be worried about them doing a good job on your wedding day. The photos they post are an excellent representation of their work. The only thing that you will need on your wedding day is good communication and patience! This helps keep both you and the artist relaxed so they can do their very best for you. The artists always want to make sure you’re happy but it may take a little extra time to achieve the perfect look, so be sure to factor in this additional time needed either before the ceremony or before your photographer comes to shoot the "bride getting ready" photos. All the brides I met looked absolutely gorgeous. Samira, the bride featured in the photos in this post, was one of them. She scheduled the hair and makeup trial on the day of her welcome dinner party and after the trial run, the artists changed her hair and makeup so she had a different look for the evening's dinner. My advice is to take advantage of the trial and book it before the rehearsal dinner or Sangeet or even for a pre-wedding photoshoot!" Styling Trio is a Hair & Makeup agency representing talented artists in Cancun, Tulum and Playa del Carmen. Adrian Guerra founded Styling Trio in 2009, with a clear vision and a fantastic team behind him, the agency is the premier choice for brides searching for the best hair stylists and makeup artists in the Riviera Maya. For more information on Styling Trio's hair and makeup services, visit their website at: www.stylingtrio.com - - - If you have a question you'd like us to "Ask the Expert" message me (MarieSamSanchezPhoto) and we'll feature your question and answer on a future post! "Ask the Expert" features commonly asked questions by brides and grooms with answers and insight provided by our very own Best Destination Wedding Forum experts.
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- Cancun Riviera Maya
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Hello newbies! We are new here too. Allow us to introduce ourselves. We are Styling Trio Riviera Maya. We specialize in airbrush makeup and hair for weddings in the Riviera Maya, Mexico. We are so happy to be part of the BDW community and look forward to being an active resource for brides and grooms looking to tie-the-knot at a destination wedding in the Riviera Maya (Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Tulum and surrounding areas). Styling Trio began in 2009 and now employs dozens of the best makeup artists and hair stylists in the region. We're a diverse and fun team that comes from all over the world with a passion for doing what we love and do best...Beautifying! Our services offer a very distinctive mix of high-end professional experience with intuitive skill. We at Styling Trio believe that every face has a personality of its own and it's our job to discover it and bring it to life. Attached you'll find some photos of our work and of course high-definition airbrush makeup is our specialty. Please feel free to ask any questions to us here, via email, through our website or any of our social media channels, we are always happy to help. For more information, contact us here or in the manner that works best for you. We look forward to connecting with you. HAPPY DESTINATION WEDDING PLANNING! Email: [email protected] Website: www.stylingtrio.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stylingtrio Twitter: https://twitter.com/stylingtrio Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/stylingtrio Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stylingtrio/
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Hello everyone! Allow us to introduce ourselves. We are Styling Trio Riviera Maya. We specialize in airbrush makeup and hair for weddings in the Riviera Maya area. We are so happy to be part of the BDW community and look forward to being an active resource for brides and grooms looking to tie-the-knot at a destination wedding in the Riviera Maya, Mexico. Styling Trio began in 2009 and now employs dozens of the best makeup artists and hair stylists in the region. We're a diverse and fun team that comes from all over the world with a passion for doing what we love and do best...Beautifying! Our services offer a very distinctive mix of high-end professional experience with intuitive skill. We at Styling Trio believe that every face has a personality of its own and it's our job to discover it and bring it to life. Attached you'll find some photos of our work and of course high-definition airbrush makeup is our specialty. Please feel free to ask any questions to us here, via email, through our website or any of our social media channels, we are always happy to help. For more information, contact us here or in the manner that works best for you. We look forward to connecting with you. HAPPY DESTINATION WEDDING PLANNING! Email: [email protected] Website: www.stylingtrio.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stylingtrio Twitter: https://twitter.com/stylingtrio Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/stylingtrio Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stylingtrio/
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Hi- I am just starting to look at options for our wedding, we have not set on a date. I've always wanted a fall wedding but when we decided on Mexico that killed the fall idea. What are some of the best times to go (outside of hurrican season) ? I am looking for an adults only , all inclusive place that has somewhere other than on the beach to do our vows. I've fallen in love with The One & Only Pamilla but sadly can't afford it there. Something similar would be idea, we are thinking about 50 guests. All suggestions are appreciated!
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- 2017 Brides
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I got married at Xcaret a couple of weeks ago and want to give my highest recommendation for Jhankarlo Photography--he was so so amazing! Here's why: Let me begin by saying that my parents left me behind at the hotel and that had it not been for my two bridesmaids, I never would have made it to the church! My Mom had left the hotel to get her hair done outside the resort and had an emergency but didn't tell anyone. My dress, veil and shoes were in my parents' room, my bridesmaid's dress and daughter's dress were also in there. Mom was nowhere to be found, dad was still in his swimming suit 15 minutes before the bus to go to Xcaret was supposed to be in the lobby. I was locked out! After waiting outside that room for almost half an hour, with my hair and makeup all done--and starting to melt--dad shows up. I ran inside, grabbed dresses, kid and shoes. Flew to my room to give kid bath and get her dressed. Dad was supposed to get on bus to make sure he's be there on time. Mom was supposed to drive me to the church. And so I was left behind. So you can Imagine how I felt. An hour later, I get a message from planner telling me my parents were at the venue already. My bridesmaid managed to get keys to our rented red Jetta from my husband as he was on his way out! Phew! When I got to the bridal suite at the church I was a hot, and incredibly angry mess in gym shorts and flip flops, hauling my dress and veil. I met Jhankarlo when I was almost in tears, and he smiled and said, "Everything's going to be OK. This is your day and it will be beautiful." He and my planner made sure I got the space I needed to have my tequila shot, calm down, and get into my dress. He was extremely professional and respectful, and took a few photos while I finished getting ready. As he took them, he showed me a few shots from his camera and they were incredible. He is not a commercial wedding photographer--he loves manipulating light and movement. And since our wedding was at night, the pictures showed incredible color and details that you'd never see anywhere else. Jhankarlo is an artist and loves what he does. Jhankarlo covered our wedding and reception for 8 hours! For me, having him there made the night so much fun! The music and happiness from our guests also allowed him to feel relaxed and he even got on the dance floor and took amazing pictures of all of us having a great time! The next day, he came to pick us up to do the trash the dress shoot. We spent the first part of the session at Xcaret and then went to the cenote for the water shoot. Photographing under water is much harder than you'd expect, but we all laughed a lot and the pictures that we saw from the camera directly were unlike anything we' d ever seen before. Jhankarlo will climb, turn himself over and will do just about anything to get the perfect angle so the shot comes out beautifully. The value we received from the package we selected far exceded the price and our expectations. We also gained a friend. Thanks, Jhankarlo! We can't wait to see our photos!
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Here it is: On the one hand, I would like to get the wedding over with relatively early on in our stay (Arrive Sat, Marry Tues., Leave Sat) so we can enjoy company of others without worrying about the events. On the other hand, I will then only be able to have the coordinator meeting the day before because they don't do consultations on the weekend. They are willing to do it but should I move the wedding so there is more time? Is there really that much that needs to be done between the co-ordinator mtg and the wedding? (I feel we are fairly low key but that said we don't want to put up with sub par...) Opinions? Beach Beth
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I am leaning towards Playacar Palace for my Feb. 1st 2017 wedding. My only fear is that my group may end up being too big for this resort (could potentially be around 100 people). Is anyone else planning a wedding this big at Playacar Palace? Any suggestions? Thank you!
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- 2017 Brides
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Hi everyone! My name is Danielle and I am new-ish! I have been on here since May, but haven't actually posted anything because most of my questions are answered right in the forums. I am getting married on 5 May (4 months and 4 days! Ahh!), and as I have already used this site so much, I thought I would say hello Me and my fiance (Chris) are from Vancouver Island (BC) and currently live outside Whistler. We are getting married in Playa del Carmen, and we are so excited! We chose a DW, because, like so many couples, having family across the country was difficult to choose a spot. We discovered that an all inclusive in Mexico was cheaper than travelling 7 days to Toronto or Kelowna. Plus, this was a compromise from my lovely fiance, who actually wanted to elope vs a big wedding Current projects are favours and decor. Did any of you have any troubles bringing edible favours/OOT bags into Mexico? That was my only fear, but I didn't want to spend the money on non-edible favours because so many get left behind. Thanks everyone for all the insight so far; looking forward to being more visible on this site! Talk soon!
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Hello Beautiful Brides (and maybe some helpful husbands too ), While I have been preparing everything to leave for our wedding in less than two weeks and getting all of the details together, it's struck me how much posts from women on this forum have helped me! You've provided creative ideas and invaluable advice and suggestions so although I've never been the girl planning my wedding since I was 12 (or honestly even since about 10 months ago!), I want to give back. My finance, Matt, and I are getting married at the El Dorado Royale Resort in Playa del Carmen, Mexico on November 13, 2015 and are SOOO excited! Throughout the planning process we've definitely learned a few things of what to do and what not to do. The lists below summarize my current 2-weeks out suggestions, but I'm sure they will change after we return. Our Do Nots: 1) Tell everyone your wedding plans as they're still forming. We knew we wanted to have a destination wedding and luckily even knew which resort we wanted, but THAT's IT. From the moment we got engaged the questions were endless and we ended up just confusing everyone more than anything. 2) If you're working with a travel agency or the resort's wedding planning services, DON'T hesitate to request a new representative to work with if you're not happy with the service you've been receiving. We worked with DestinationWeddings.com and El Dorado Royale uses Lomas Travel/Weddings to coordinate the weddings at the resort. Brenda, our rep for DestinationWeddings was very sweet and caring, but very scatterbrained and really screwed up some of our reservations, but most importantly, messed up quite a few of our guests payments and flight information. Marisol was our rep through Lomas Weddings and we had endless communication issues with her in addition to messing up quite a few things on the official arrangements spreadsheets. So I was CONSTANTLY double checking and correcting her work. 3) Get so caught up in the details that you forget how awesome celebrating your wedding with your closest friends and family in tropical paradise will be!! Our Dos: 1) Have a meaningful conversation with your fiancé about what is important to each of you for the wedding ceremony, reception, and everything else leading up. Matt and I were on the same page with many things, but we both assumed the other wanted a reception back in the US and were totally stressed about planning it. During a road trip we both admitted how much we were dreading planning and paying for it and were SO relieved to realized we actually both wanted the same thing! 2) Pick your location and date as soon as possible! (but don't rush into a decision you're not sure or excited about) You'll have more choices of dates, times, and locations within the resort the sooner you book. Checking out the resort in person removes so much stress from planning. We went to EDR on vacation a year and a half ago and KNEW it was the place we wanted to get married eventually 3) Send out some type of save the date as far in advance as possible along with estimated cost. We have quite a few quests that would not have been able to attend or afford it on short notice. I sent out a save-the-date e-mail about 8 months in advance along with information about the resort and pricing and most importantly, deadlines for booking and payments. 4) Have a small wedding party. Personally, we felt that asking our friends to be bridesmaids/groomsmen would almost force them to buy their way down to Mexico since we are unable to pay for everyone's trip ourselves. So it's just going to be my sister as my Maid of Honor and his brother as his Best Man. It worked out great that we each have 1 sibling! Bonus - It's Wayyyy easier to coordinate two people than 6, 8, 10… etc! I'll add more of the details to this feed as I get to it, and take some pictures of our OOT bags, the itineraries and welcome letter I made!
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Hello All! I just got engaged about a week ago and although I am planning a destination wedding for April 2017 I wanted to get started on my research! I know a year and a half is a long ways away however I would really love to give my guests a year or more notice to save up! We are anticipating a larger amount of guests (possibly 50+) so my questions are: What are the best family friendly resorts? (I want everyone to have the option to bring their children if they wish but I also don't want a complete kiddy land) Which resorts offer a "preview"?- my fiance and I were thinking of travelling to Mexico possibly in February to scope a few places out if any offered deals specifically for this reason. And which resorts are best for larger groups? We are thinking Playa/Riviera Maya area however I am flexible and really anywhere from Isla Mujeres to a little past Playa will be considered. Thank you so much for your help! Future Mrs. K
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Hi everyone! I know there are already quite a few Azul Fives Forums, but none that I have seen for 2016 brides! So I wanted to start one. I am currently waiting to hear from the resort on whether my wedding date is confirmed in November 2016. Anyone else start the process of wedding planning at this resort for 2016? Let's share stories along our planning adventures!! Congrats everyone, and I look forward to hearing all your plans for your upcoming wedding at this gorgeous property.
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Hello everyone! I am new to the site and looking to marry next August. Now, here is my dilemma. I want a Catholic wedding but have very limited options. I also have one huge family that surpasses the minimum of 20/40 people for each package I have found. I also want a private reception (the longer it runs the better, 3 hours minimum.) I have narrowed it down to the following three resorts: Dreams Tulum – worry is price per added person, hefty tag Grand Palladium – have never been to any of their resorts/would be going in blind. Riu Palace Mexico – Love the Riu chain and but not sure about the chapel If anyone can give me any feedback on any of the three I would be most appreciative. I am just trying to have my guests enjoy a great resort abd a beautiful catholic wedding at the same time. Thank you in advance!
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Hola Senores y senoritas... Matt here, yesterday I was doing some droning around in Playa. We've been following closely the construction of the new Hyatt Playa del Carmen, set to open June 1, thought we would share some photos and FAQS (see the link to our blog post) about the new venue! Looks like this is going to be a luxurious wedding venue, family friendly, great beach, wedding gazebo and steps to the famous 5th Avenue of Playa del Carmen. Can't wait to share more! Has anyone booked their upcoming wedding here yet?
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This website, Best Destination Weddings, was so helpful for me the past year for planning our destination wedding. It helped me select my vendors and figure out a lot of stuff, so I do want to thank Tammy, everyone at BDW.com and all our vendors. Below is my review of our wedding and an album of select photos. Forewarning: this post is quite extensive! Feel free to contact me for any questions, additional info Wedding Date: February 14, 2015 Location: Playa del Carmen, Mexico Number of guests: 150 people (including kids) Ceremony and Reception Venue: Azul Fives Resort Hotel Wedding Coordinators: Brigitte Castro (Karisma Sales), Gaby Iturralde (Azul Fives on-site), Angie (Lomas on-site) Wedding Planner: Erica Bressan – Weddings in Playa Flowers: Lomas Photographers: Vincent van den Berg and Petar Gachevsky – Pixan Photography DJ – Ricardo de Pavia and crew – Discomovil Bride's Hair & Makeup: Daisy - Azul Fives Vassa Spa Bridal Party Hair & Makeup: Estetica Tantadell Henna Artist: Darcy Vasudev – Henna Lounge Travel Agent: Teresa Stauring and Deanna Delgado – Vacations 4 Less Airport Transportation: Cancun Transfers Excursions: Edventure Tours and H2Oh Sun Cruises Venue: Azul Fives Resort (review on site, food, hotel coordinators, flowers) SITE: My now-husband and I scouted 9 venues in the Riviera Maya in April 2014. Since we needed a venue that could accommodate 150+ people, thankfully this limited options, though 9 venues to visit was a lot in one weekend! This included: * Now Sapphire * Grand Coral * Villa Sol y Luna (just a drive-by) * Playa del Secreto * Blue Venado * Azul Fives * Ak'iin Beach Club * Las Ranitas * Papaya Playa Project * Zen Serenity We ended up selecting Azul Fives which was our second choice. Our first choice was Papaya Playa Project. Beautiful unique location in Tulum, but was too costly and restrictive. Azul Fives was also an amazing location, and since it’s located in Playa Del Carmen, this made it quicker for our guests to get and to from the airport which was a plus. Azul Fives worked out wonderfully since we had multiple days of events and mostly all of them were held at the resort. This included a mehndi night in our suite, a welcome party on the beach, a farewell brunch at one of the restaurants (Flavours buffet) and our wedding. We had our ceremony on the Sky Deck, which definitely had a WOW factor for our guests. The Sky Deck is basically a rooftop overlooking the ocean. We liked that it wasn’t directly on the beach but had a magnificent view. Having the ceremony on the Sky Deck includes a live webcast of your wedding. This was great for our guests who couldn't make the wedding. The video is still available on Karisma's website. We had cocktail hour directly after the ceremony, one level below the Sky Deck, on the Sky Terrace and the Zky Bar, which also afforded great views of the ocean, and our reception in the poolside garden. Most of our guests stayed at Azul Fives and loved it. It’s a family-friendly all-inclusive resort and has excellent food compared to other AIs. Our guests received wine and spa credits through our travel agent which many used. The feedback from our guests who went to Vassa Spa was that it was one of the best spa experiences they’ve ever had. We loved the layout of the resort. It’s not too large. For the most part, the service was excellent. Our guests loved the 24-hour room service. The hotel accommodated our special requests. We are thankful for our personal concierge who helped make special arrangements for us. FOOD: The food and drinks at all our wedding events were bountiful and amazing. At least that’s what our guests said since we didn't get to taste everything We are very thankful to the hotel chef, Manuel, who accommodated our special requests for the wedding, which included arranging a whole roasted pig for our welcome party and making Indian cocktail bites to our liking for our cocktail hour. The tandoori shrimp were gobbled up. Wish we had ordered more! We had a bbq on the beach for our welcome party. We had agua frescas at our cocktail hour and reception, a tres leches and coconut wedding cake, and late night tacos at the end of our reception. All were hits. My only regret was not requesting that the agua frescas were labeled and that I knew where the taco station would be located. They weren’t very visible for our guests so not everyone knew about them. HOTEL WEDDING COORDINATORS, FLOWERS: If you’re having your wedding at a Karisma property and began planning your wedding, you already know how the process and costs work. If not, be prepared to hit some road bumps which is inevitable when deciding to have a wedding at an all-inclusive corporate resort chain. When you’ve accepted the system that Karisma sets up, then you’ll put the blame on the system and can appreciate the hard work that the coordinators do for you while sticking to the system. My coordinator up until we arrived at the hotel for the wedding was Brigitte Castro. Brigitte was very pleasant to work with and responded as quickly as she could to my many emails, considering the Karisma sales team is based in Miami and she has to coordinate with the on-site coordinators in Mexico which is why some responses were delayed. The weeks leading up to the final selection and payment deadline to the hotel, Brigitte was extra attentive and worked with me to make sure all the details were taken care of before I submitted the final payment. I'm very grateful for the customer service when it was needed the most. The on-site wedding coordination team was also as fantastic as could be. They were easily accessible during our whole stay, made great suggestions, helped with our last-minute changes, and executed each event magnificently. The Karisma/Lomas team did a beautiful job setting up our decorations for each of our events. (We brought a lot of our own decorations because Lomas overcharges for practically everything. This is again something you must accept if you’re deciding to have your wedding in the Riviera Maya at a corporate hotel chain that makes their $$ by creating a wedding service monopoly at their resorts.) I’m very thankful for Arturo, Gaby, Angie, Lucely, Maribel and Esmeralda, for the time and effort they dedicated to us during our wedding week, and for being as flexible and accommodating as possible. They have a tough job dealing with brides and grooms only when brides and grooms are at their most stressful time, so I give them mad props. The staff were great at delivering our welcome bags to our guests upon their arrival as well. FLOWERS: The flowers were expensive but beautiful. Our wedding was a fusion Filipino-Indian wedding, so we had strings of flowers hung on the back side of our wedding gazebo (mandap). These were later used for our reception to decorate our sweetheart table. We also had flower garlands for my husband, both of our parents, and me during the ceremony. They were beautiful, made out of carnations and roses. Wedding Planner: Erica Bressan from Weddings in Playa Erica was a life-saver for our wedding. She helped my husband and I scout some of the venues before we decided on Azul Fives. While our hotel had its own wedding coordinators, I needed someone who represented my best interests, so I hired Erica. She has many years of experience working as a wedding planner in Playa and therefore she has a great network and is very resourceful. She helped with recommending photographers, DJs, and with sourcing decorations, favors and items for our welcome bags. She also served as our day-of-coordinator. We picked Erica in part because she already had experience working with Azul Fives as the day-of-coordinator for a previous wedding. After we decided on Azul Fives, I returned to Mexico three months before the wedding to do a deeper site inspection and Erica met with me and drove me to local shops in the area to look for the items we needed, which saved us a lot of money and the hassle of transporting stuff on the plane. She participated in our coordination meeting with the hotel coordinators, helped order and pick up the local decorations and favors, facilitated our wedding rehearsal and was great at keeping things moving on our wedding day. During the whole planning process, Erica responded promptly to all my emails and we chatted via Skype as necessary. She was great. I'm so thankful for Erica and Weddings in Playa. Photographers: Pixan Photography Since having great photos that captured our wedding was very important to us, we took the decision of selecting a photographer very seriously. I contacted 12 photographers in the Riviera Maya area, narrowed it down to three photographers, and decided on Pixan. I chose Pixan because I loved both the artistic and photojournalist look of their photos. Vincent was a very warm, jovial person which I appreciated. And the overall package price for the level of service we wanted was very reasonable. Our package includes a website that we can easily share with our friends and family and a photo album of 80 shots which we get to select for the album. I had the chance to meet Vincent during my site inspection and he took the time with me to find great locations to shoot our photos. Before the wedding, Vincent provided a must-have shot list for my husband and I to complete, which I appreciated, so he knew the shots that were important to us. Pixan shot four days with us: our mehndi party, welcome party, wedding, and a post-wedding shoot. Petar was Vincent’s assistant and second shooter. He was also wonderful to work with. They did some pretty crazy shots, many without us knowing what they were doing, and lots of WOW shots. Vincent has an old Leica camera and different lenses that make incredible photos. We’ve received the sneak peak photos and they’re beautiful. We also hired Pixan to do our photo booth during the reception. Our guests loved the props and the photos showed how much fun we had. I only wish we had the photo booth open during the whole reception instead of just towards the end. I can't wait to see the rest of our photos. DJ: Disco Movil Cancun All of our vendors were fantastic, but since music is so important to my husband and me, we were especially happy that we made the decision to go with Discomovil. From my first email communication with Ricardo, I was impressed. We communicated multiple times before the wedding and Ricardo responded almost instantaneously. We were nervous about hiring someone we didn’t know so we asked Ricardo for a sample of his 90s hip-hop mixing. Clearly, the sample didn’t best reflect his talent, because at our wedding, he was AMAZING. We hired Disco Movil for both our welcome party and wedding reception. At the welcome party, Ricardo and his crew played background music during the dinner, displayed our slideshow on their projection screen, provided the audio for our guests who gave speeches and performed, and then served as a karaoke DJ! He had practically every song imaginable to sing, and the lyrics were displayed on the projection screen. It was a fantastic night. For the welcome party and the reception, Discomovil has a great website where you enter all the songs you’d like to be played for your events. They have a massive database, but if there are songs that aren’t in their database, you can enter the song information and they will acquire the song for you. Disco Movil stuck to our playlists since we gave them a lot of songs. This was very helpful. But the key to being a great DJ is knowing how to keep people on the dance floor all night. Ricardo adjusted the music accordingly when the crowd didn’t respond well to one of our songs. The momentum kept increasing till the end of the night. Ricardo also served as our emcee (MC) and stuck to our script to make the necessary announcements. He did a great job. We didn’t want the party to stop at the set end time, but Ricardo agreed to stay and kept the party going for as long as the hotel would allow us Thank you Discomovil for making a spectacular weekend! Bride’s Hair and Make-up: Vassa Spa at Azul Fives I was fortunate to have Daisy as my hair and make-up artist. I had my hair and make-up done at the hotel, as well as my mani-pedi (complimentary as one of the perks through our travel agent). Daisy was wonderful. The perk included a hair and make-up rehearsal which I redeemed. I brought my iPad to show her photos on my Pinterest of the hair and make-up styles I liked, and she matched them to exactly how I wanted. For the wedding day, I had Daisy and one of her colleagues come to my room to do the hair and make-up of my mom and me. Hair and make-up took less than two hours on the wedding day. If you’re having your wedding at Azul Fives, I highly recommend using the hotel stylists if you can afford it. Vassa uses MAC products. Bridal Party Hair and Make-up: Estetica Tantadell Since the prices were high at the hotel for my bridal party to get their hair and make-up done, our wedding planner Erica arranged appointments for my girls at Estetica Tantadell in downtown Playa. Their pricing and quality of service were amazing. My girls were very pleased. All 8 of them There aren't many reviews on here of Estetica Tantadell, but I am so glad that I went with them. Henna Artist: Henna Lounge There are very slim to none when it comes to local henna artists that do quality work for Indian weddings. It was serendipitous when I met Darcy while on my site inspection three months before the wedding. Darcy was the mehndi artist for the Indian wedding taking place that weekend at Azul Fives. She flies back and forth between San Francisco and the Riviera Maya, and does top-notch traditional henna art. Like the majority of our vendors, Darcy responded quickly to my emails, and she offered a special deal for me since she was already booked for another wedding the same week. I got both my hands and feet done, which took about 3 hours and then she stayed for two hours to do simple designs on my bridal party and other guests. She’s so quick and her henna product is all-natural and smells fantastic! I received so many compliments on my henna. Darcy has such a great spirit too and was so chill and easy to work with. She’s very professional. I highly recommend her. Travel Agent: Vacations 4 Less (through Best Destination Weddings) I contacted several travel agents, including www.destinationweddings.com and www.bestdestinationwedding.com. BDW connected me to Teresa Stauring at Vacations4less.com and Teresa became our travel agent. Vacations4Less/BDW had the best group rates for Azul Fives and best room block reservation policy. Whenever I contacted Teresa, she too always responded very quickly. During the few occasions when Teresa wasn’t available, Deanna stepped in and was just as helpful. Since BDW has a great relationship with many of the destination wedding resorts, they offered great perks for our wedding group, for both the couple and our guests staying at the resort. Vacations4Less also arranged for our guests airport transfers through Cancun Transfers. I liked how the airport transfer was an option for our guests instead of built into the hotel room rate which some travel agencies do. It was such a relief to delegate these wedding logistics to a travel agency and Vacations 4 Less pulled everything off without a hitch. Airport Transfers: Cancun Transfers We were happy that Vacations 4 Less partnered with Cancun Transfers for the airport transfer arrangements for our guests. They offer competitive rates for individuals, small groups and large groups. The shuttle service was private so our guests weren’t grouped with guests needing to be dropped off at different hotels. It was easy for folks to modify their reservations easily online. They were much better and more affordable than taking a cab from the airport. Excursions: Edventure Tours and H2Oh Sun Cruises We offered our guests optional group excursions the two days before our wedding. We offered a tour of the Tulum ruins and a cenote swim/snorkel on both days through Edventure Tours. On the day before the wedding, we offered a private yacht tour out of Puerto Aventuras through H2Oh Sun Cruises. Both excursions were a hit. While my husband and I didn’t accompany our guests who went to Tulum, our guests raved about the trip and they loved the tour guides, especially Kique. Bonnie handled the reservations for our guests. She provided me with regular updates of who signed up. Very responsive. I enjoyed working with her. Folks were picked up from our hotel at 8 am and taken to the ruins. This allowed our guests to beat the heat and the crowds. The excursion included a guided tour of the ruins. Then folks had the option to either return to the hotel or stay and drive a Polaris to Edventure’s private cenote. Our guests loved this. They could either swim or snorkel, and Edventure provided a tasty Mexican lunch. All of this for a very reasonable price. My husband and I booked the trip with Edventure after our wedding, so we experienced how great they were. We worked with Ed and Dan. Both were very friendly and provided excellent service. I highly recommend them. For our other excursion, we hired H2Oh Sun Cruises for a four-hour private cruise on the Riviera Maya. Everyone LOVED this excursion and the folks at H2Oh Sun Cruises. It was so easy to work with them (booking the boat, setting up the online payment system, making some changes, and helping us on the boat). Mack, the owner, was with us. He and his staff were absolutely wonderful. They were so organized and provided great service giving our guests welcome drinks before they boarded, taking photos during the cruise, and serving drinks a delicious Mexican lunch on the boat. Plus, we trolled for fish, and we stopped along the tour so folks could snorkel. Our guests saw a sea turtle and sting rays. On the boat, Mack has a fantastic karaoke system so our guests loved this as well. Then there was also the opportunity to dive off a 30-foot platform from the boat. It was awesome. This made for some of the best memories from the wedding weekend. --------- We had a fantastic team that created the best week of our lives. I am so thankful for each and every person we worked with, and I’m here to help future couples so you can have a truly magical time as well! Best of luck with the planning. Have fun and don’t stress too much cuz everything will work out as long as you don’t sweat the small stuff and can relax and appreciate being in a special place with your closest friends and family Sending you all much love for your destination wedding!
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I know that I'm not the first to post about disappointment and I certainly won't be the last but I wanted to share my experience this weekend with you guys because you guys have been so supportive. We are getting married in 3 months and our Officiant who is one my best friends for over 20 years let me know this past week that she will not be able to attend the wedding. We recently confirmed with the hotel that we wouldn't need any of their services with the Officiants etc etc and now we are starting all over from scratch. She explained that money is a constraint for them and that they have 2 children and it's very difficult for them to travel. I do understand. We knew that not everyone could attend and we knew that this would be an issue for those who have children. We get it. When we asked her to be an Officiant she said she would do anything and she would make it work. We were thrilled. Since then I've heard rumblings from some of my BMs that she was going to book last minute because it didn't matter where her room was or which hotel she stayed at because she's not part of the bridal party so she's not important. I only heard about this in the last few days. We asked her to be an Officiant because she's an amazing speaker, she's witnessed my life through good times and bad and we felt like she really believed in us as a couple. We were so heartbroken when she told us that she couldn't come and it was because of money. So when I told my family about this they offered to pay for her and her husband to come. I told her this and she said that she still would have a hard time getting a sitter and it's just hard for her to come and she'd still need money to buy stuff etc etc. I get it. But at the same time, don't you just make it work for close friends? Don't you just say like, ok, one of us will go, I will make it work. She didn't even sound like apologetic on the phone. It was just like, can't go, it's a fact. Can't take your offer of help. They have two sets of grandparents that can take care of their kids and this was all arranged to work earlier on in the year. So now she's using them as an excuse that she doesn't know if they can sit. In addition to this leaving a poor taste in my mouth, I just felt like maybe she felt like she wanted to be a bridesmaid instead of Officiant. I really thought Officiant would be a greater honour because not only is she standing up at our wedding, she's marrying us. She would be wearing a pretty dress just like the other girls but just taking more of a leadership role. It feels silly that I would have to make sure someone feels special enough on my wedding day. LIke that sounds crazy as I type it. Well apparently not. I called her after our convo and told her that I spoke with the hotel and they would allow us to use her even if she decided to change her mind last minute and I had ordered her a bridesmaid dress one shade lighter to compliment the bridesmaid look and that way it will look awesome when we get our pictures taken. She then responded that if she comes last minute she probably wouldn't want to be an officiant and that i was wasting my money with the dress because she prob can't come. Which is fine, but like do we really need to be difficult? I bought the convertible dress and if she can't make it, then I will keep it. I feel like she's really not making an effort and just being childish by talking behind my back and saying that she's not included. How more included do you want to be? Do you want to be the bride? is that enough? I ended up taking today off originally for us to meet up to work on the ceremony but then she cancelled on me and decided that I should really take this time and still try to get some wedding things done while i'm here visiting from out of town. I had already booked the day off and purchased a ticket so I couldn't cancel my day off. I cancelled on her last night and explained that i took the day off originally to get ahead with wedding things and that i was going to try to get my veil tomorrow with my sister. She was very passive aggressive and was like, "ok, fine, fine, have fun." 4 hours later she sent me a very short emailing telling me to "next time give her more notice because she was counting on me to be with her today" I mean the obvious is that I wanted to say well I was counting on you to be our officiant...but it was ok for you to bail 3 months out. I just wrote back saying apologies. Didn't mean to inconvenience you. For me the friendship is over. Is this like an extreme reaction? I just feel like I really tried to help her out and make her feel included and even help out financially and her reaction is so negative. I mean would she even have fun? probably not. I just want to hear from you ladies to see what you think! It's been a very difficult and disappointing day. This is someone that I didn't think would ever be this way. ugh ;(
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I noticed that the last thread for El Dorado Seaside Suites is a bit dated, so I thought I'd start a new one! I just booked an April 2016 wedding with the resort, and I'm so excited to start planning. We have about 60 people on the guest list, and it looks like most will be able to come! If anyone has tips for timing of the ceremony, cocktails (which are 2 hour packages), and reception (4hours), let me know! I have a 3:00 ceremony as of now, but I'm thinking about moving it back to 4:00 and just using one hour for cocktails. Happy planning!
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