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We are from the US and we decided to have our wedding in Cabo at Pueblo Bonito. The experience was beyond AMAZING! Our wedding planner, Denise Acosta, was wonderful! The hotel was clean, beautiful, and created a relaxing paradise for our guests. Everyone who stayed raved about how amazing the place was which was important to us because it was a long trip for many of them. The hotel was so accommodating to our needs and the entire staff went out of their way to make our guests and us feel taken care of and special. The big day truly went without error, which I am told can be quite rare. I am a very detail oriented person and Denise made sure all of the little details of the wedding were in place and that schedule was kept. Our wedding was on the beach- which was gorgeous. We had a cocktail hour at the firepit and a private dinner reception by the pool with dj Arturo Ortiz. He was fabulous and played all our requests as well as great dance music. Everyone had a blast and the event felt very private. People at the resort thanked us the day after the wedding for picking such a great dj because they were able to enjoy his music from the distance- which was funny. The food was absolutely amazing and far exceeds any typical wedding food or resort food. Overall, it was the perfect experience. I am grateful to the hotel for a breathtaking wedding and a great experience! Five stars out of five!

Hello Brides, I finally have a chance to review my wedding in April 2014! It's been a long journey, and I want to help out other brides as much as possible, so here it goes.... Here are some professional photos: https://plus.googleapis.com/105327139201478088186/posts/MBtt7kdttkR?pid=6013667542488420066&oid=105327139201478088186 WC: Illeana Reyes - A First off, I loved Illeana immediately. She was very sweet and honest, and talked me down a lot when i was freaking out. Second, sh'es not super-responsive, but I think the longest she ever took to respond to me was 5 days, and that was when i had months left until the wedding. The month of my wedding they were immediate, and she was almost always available to talk on the phone. From start to finish she helped me with every detail and helped me stay in budget as much as possible. I'd use her again in a heartbeat. Flowers: Sergio - Flowers and Events - A http://www.flowersandeventsloscabos.com/ Sergio was affordable and had AMAZING flowers. I loved everything he did, and he matched all my photos perfectly (I especially loved my arch). Warning: he is super unresponsive, but Illeana told me to trust him, and that he would do his job, and he certainly delivered. The day before the wedding he sent his asst to my hotel to show me the flowers he was going to use so that i could see the color pinky peach he was using, so there wouldn't be any mistake. I would use him again in a heartbeat. I also recommended him to 2 other brides and they loved him as well. Hair and Make-Up: Neysa Berman - C- and i asked for this I didn't like my hair and make-up. I regret hiring her and not speaking up more- It was partly my fault for not speaking up enough, but I know she knew i wasn't 100% happy with it, and didn't seem to care that much. She WAS nice and punctual and professional, though... I had the trial the day before my wedding for the rehearsal/welcome dinner, and a lot of people commented how dark my face looked, so i asked her when she started doing my make up for the wedding if she could lighten my foundation a couple of shades. Her response? "Oh, yeah i noticed that yesterday." Ok, thanks for letting me go to my rehearsal and welcome dinner looking like that. Then she put my hair up, and it didn't look like the trial from the day before or any of the photos i gave her (see above). When i told her that, she said she couldn't really change it b/c then it would ruin the s-shape she had made in my twist in the back. Who the hell cares about the twist in the back? I look like I have a wig or helmet on, AND my eyes look smaller... Like I said, I should have been a bridezilla but she didn't make me feel comfortable saying anything....but I wish I had. Oh, on top of that, in some of my wedding photos my face is like 3 shades darker than my body, so my photographer had to do some photo-shopping, which brings me to my next point- Photographer - Gilda Badillo - B+ I really liked Gilda, but I had to tell her my face was 3 times darker than my face in a lot of the photos. I mean, shouldn't she have seen that? Other than that, she was lovely and funny and energetic, and got everyone smiling. She even put up with my drunk friend who kept photo bombing all the pics. I'd hire her again, she gave me a great price and i wish i had booked her for more time. Hotel - Casa Dorada Resort - A+++++ God, I love this resort. I wish i could call every single person that wants to get married in cabo and tell them to get married here. They have the best staff, made us and all my guests feel like VIP, and were accommodating to everything. The only thing i would change was the lighting in the room. We need more light when we get our hair and make up done! Those windows aren't enough! The food at CD was AMAZING and CHEAP! Almost all my guests stayed there, we fulfilled our room block with no problem and everyone loved the location- you can walk easily to downtown. The WC, Jazmin, at CD is also great- sweet and awesome. Welcome Dinner - Baja Cantina - C+ I wouldn't do it here if i had to do it again. They were VERY unresponsive, mixed everything up, the night of we had to stand around while they brought 2 more tables even though we told them for weeks our final count, they served the wrong margarita, they would give me one price one week, then weeks later said they gave me the wrong price, the payment site didn't work....i could go on. They did however make a special plate for my vegan friends, which was very sweet, but that doesn't really make up for all the headaches they caused. And the food was just ok...the food and drinks were very different when we had dinner there on other occasions, definitely not as good. I'd have CD whip something up for me if i had to do it again, like a bonfire or a taco station at the firepits, b/c they're cool like that. Let me know if you have any other questions! Good luck all of you trying to plan your wedding around the hurricane aftermath.

Hi Everyone, I am newly engaged and already feel overwhelmed. Do you have pros and cons for going through an all inclusive? Or would you recommend having guests stay at an all inclusive resort and have the wedding at a different venue? Do you have any suggestions? Would it be worth hiring a wedding planner to help me figure out what would be best for us? We are trying to keep our budget as low as possible. Any information would be greatly appreciate. Thank you! Erin

Hi Everyone, My fiance and I are looking into Cabo resorts for a December 2015 destination wedding and Cabo Azul is one of the possible venues. We love the look of the place, but many of the contract details and policies are extremely concerning. Given the recent hurricane I haven't been able to speak to their wedding coordinator on the phone, but after reviewing the PDF's she sent, I'm worried booking here is a bad idea. Does anyone have any recent information and/or experience with booking a wedding here? I'm specifically looking for tips on the following items: Alcohol policies: has anyone negotiated an open bar or changes to the above and beyond wine/champagne/signature cocktail costs? Vendor Fees: are outside vendors allowed and if so, is there a fee? General Satisfaction: did you have a good experience with your wedding? What do you wish you knew before booking? Were there any hidden costs? How much was your total Cabo Azul costs? We will likely have 45-60 guests. Thanks for your help! Mandi

The Royal-Playa del Carmen June 18th 2014 We arrived to Playa Sunday and spent one week there. Our wedding was sincerely perfect. Of course we hit some bumps and I hope I can help any upcoming Playa brides. I like being as detailed as I can so this may be long  Alvin and I were engaged 12-21-12 and I reached out to The Royal website mid-January. Our flights were booked in May 2013, court wedding was 6-28-14, invitations out Fall of 2013 and we put the RSVP at 1-31-14 Peach Travels/Pleasant Holiday Travel Agent PROS- Sheila Peach was a sweetheart and communicated very well. She was found on the Royal website and lives less than ten minutes away from me. She helped inform me with what I needed to do for a smooth wedding planning. I did not deal with her too much since we were booking our flights and room with Pleasant Holiday. Our guest and I dealt with Brianna. She was very easy to communicate with until a month before our wedding. She was out of her office a lot and not responding to us. We were very happy that she found us direct flights from LAX to Cancun for $381. Close to departure we all received a neat booklet to organize our boarding passes, itinerary, and passport. We also received luggage tags and some discount coupons. CONS- Some guests complained that Brianna was not responding to them. I had a hand full of guests contact another coworker or her boss due to the lack of responding back quickly. I personally did not deal with that but some guest did. There were issued the day we arrived to The Royal and after an hour of arguments, sweat, and walking back and forth we finally received the room we paid for. We received our room 2 days later and had to sign a contract stating we could not complain about The Royal, Peach Travels and Pleasant Holiday. PLEASE be aware that the new wedding packages at The Royal may include an upgrade. You may or may not get it so do not worry too much about the room you stay in. All rooms are beautiful. I also do not recommend the swim up suites. Yes, you feel like a famous artist in a music video with your own pool but you can only be in it until 9 pm. Personally I do not think it is worth the price. Invitations After lots of research I found beautiful and affordable passport/boarding pass invitations. We originally saw the idea on Pinterest. Here is the website https://weddingpassports.com/passport-gallery/ Vanessa and Dave were so awesome! They sent me the template for The Royal and I went to a local printing company to personalize and print them. I paid $25 for the template and Stella Graphix from Hawthorne, CA charged me $200 for personalizing the template and printing 75 invitations and boarding passes. We LOVE our invitations. We were so excited and noticed we put a wrong contact email so I ordered business cards on Vistaprint for about $8 and added the business cards in the invitations. I also made address labels on Vistaprint with a photo of us from our court house wedding. I also bought the paper and transparent envelopes on ebay. Dress I was always one to say I was going with a simple silk wedding dress but after trying on dresses at boutiques and David’s Bridal my mind was confused on with what I wanted. I was able to narrow it down to two dresses from David’s Bridal Galina Signature SWG 400 and Beaded Lace Sheath with Godet Inserts Style VW9340. Again, after lots of searching the web I found my size on ebay and bought both. One for the wedding and one for trash the dress. The dresses were very comfortable. I spent $400 for both dresses, used. I also bought my veil on ebay for $120. My veil had lace trim. Jewelry I am lucky to know a very talented jewelry maker. I met her through my husband. She is a counselor in San Diego but makes amazing jewerly. I bought my bridesmaids and moms necklaces and my maid of honor an awesome cuff. I wore a slave bracelet and statement necklace. http://waterthelove.com/ I also bought a necklace and earrings from ebay for our ceremony. I loved that this necklace had a teardrop falling from my back. Resort All of our guests loved the resort! The staffs have such huge hearts, so caring and always welcoming us with a big smile and the Mayan welcome. We had 51 guests and about 16 stayed at The Royal and the rest at their sister resort The Gran Porto. We loved how simple the walk was to The Gran Porto. Our rooms were always cleaned quickly and left surprises like candy, candles lit, or cool towel origami animals. We usually ate at Spice and we also recommend the Italian restaurant and Maria’s at The Gran Porto. The Royal had the best beach. Beach was not dirty and it was not congested. If you are facing the beach, you can walk to you left and find watersport things that you can rent for a good price. They also have $35 hour massages on the beach. Much cheaper than the resort’s massages. Ohhh and don’t forget about room services. It is soooo good. The night before our wedding we stayed in my room and after being kicked out of our swim up pool we went into the hot tub and ordered every dessert on the menu. Resort is def an A+. The entertainment is also great! My friends did the water aerobics and we did the zumba one day too. Super fun Wedding My coordinator was Lorena and she was my favorite person to deal with! Working with her was perfect. She is a very loving person and her calmness helped me out so much. I met with her about three times before the wedding and she was constantly checking in with me during the wedding. While I was getting ready I was able to email her any concerns and she responded quickly. She even came down to the spa to check in with me and ensure I was all good. My entire family was so thankful for Lorena and all the workers. We tipped everyone because we were so so happy. I told the workers mu favorite drink was their electric lemonade and they did such a great time making sure I always has one in front of me. My wedding started at 4:30 and the weather was so perfect. We did have some wedding crashers who were very rude to our best man but Lorena quickly went to help and called for security to stand around our wedding to ensure no other person came to grab champagne the bar set up was also great. We had our table set up so we had the view of the ocean and our family all in front of us. Words cannot express how perfect our beach wedding was. Perfect music by DJ doremixx has us dancing the entire night. We had a wedding of 51 people and the dance floor was a little small but you have the entire beach to dance on  Photographer I was so fortunate to find Ione Photography!!! Ione was so good and communicating. We exchanged emails throughout the planning process and we even had a pinterest page to exchange what type of photos we had in vision to take. As we got closer to the date we exchanged information for an app called WhatsApp on our phones which made it even quicker for us to communicate. The day of the weddings Ione sent me a text on WhatsApp and let me know he was on his way. At that moment I realized our wedding was getting closer  Ione met me in my room and our second photographer met my husband in his best man’s room. His work was done so calm and captured so many great shots. I didn’t think I wanted photos of me getting ready but I’m so glad he did. He captured funny moments like zipping up my dress ( dress was a bit tight lol ) and my cousin blowing air on my neck as I was sweating . As we walked down to the beach Ione helped take more photos and then departed as it was time to walk down the aisle. My family also fell in love with our photographers. They captured not only precious moments of Alvin and I but also amazing photos of our niece, cousins, family and friends. Alvin and I had moments where we went off and took photos on the beach and I love them! He also did a great job and reminding our excited family that they were creating a shadow in our wedding pictures as they as rushed and gathered around them to snap photos of their own. They took great photos that we will treasure forever. Every photo was so beautiful. Their creativity was so unique and so perfect. The day after the wedding we met again for trash the dress. We went to Cenote Cristalino. I had my makeup done with Cecilia Hernandez which is Ione’s friend. I sincerely wish I would have gone with her to get my makeup done for the wedding, she was fabulous and the makeup lasted ALL DAY. I jumped off a cliff into the water, dunked my head under water multiple times and after the photo shoot still went swimming in the pool with friends and not an eyelash fell or make up smear. I was so happy that Ione referred me to her because her makeup was the best I have ever had. I even emailed her after the wedding to get information on the makeup she used because it was so good. She does have a Facebook and informed me you can search her there or here is her information [email protected] or phone 9848765152. Between her awesome work on my face and Ione’s work with the cameras it was heaven  trash the dress was so much fun and tiring. I never realized all the techniques needed to look pretty underwater. Luckily we has such good support and patience from ione. We didn’t have specific poses which worked out well! Some of our photos you can see and feel the nature happiness we had glowing the day after our beautiful wedding. We received a webpage with all photos. Ione had a small issue with his laptop but communicated that immediately which I highly respect him for his great communication. My package came in so quickly! He added a tablet with an amazing slideshow Ione photography is so professional and so caring about the type of work he will do for your destination wedding. I recommend him to all Playa del Carmen brides

I have a 2 part question: 1. How much does the average bride pay for hair/make-up? 2. Has anyone had their hair and make-up done at the salon at Moon Palace? Did you like it? If yes/no, who was a good/bad stylist? Thank you!

Hola' Palace Brides, I am getting married at Moon Palace this June. I had just gotten back from my site visit and loved the resort. I'm almost done with my planning, but looking for input and advice from past brides. 1) who was your coordinator and how where they? any issues on communication/mistakes? 2) On the actual wedding day; how well did your coordinator do? Did they communicate with you or come see you to go over things before the wedding that morning? Where they present before and during the ceremony, cocktail hour and reception? 3) If your event had to be moved indoors; when did they decide this and how did they tell you? 4) If you brought your own décor: Did you have them set it up? If so did they set it up as you asked them to do so? Did you have family/friends set it up? When did you get your items you brought back; next day or when check-out? 5) Did the resort, staff or your travel agent do anything special or little surprises for you? 6) Did you get upgraded to Concierge? If so, what did it actually include? I have heard that even if you do get the up-grade to concierge, you don't actually get the massage it usually comes with. Is this true? 7) Honeymoon Package: Is there a phone number or email address for Public Relations/Honeymoon desk to set dinners, etc up? I heard the honeymoon dinner is only on Tuesdays / Thursdays and is booked two weeks in advance for brides/grooms. Miriam didn't tell me this part. I heard from other brides that they didn't know to pre-book it. They went to the Honeymoon desk upon arrival to set up their honeymoon gifts. They were not they couldn't have the dinner since should have booked 2wks ago and no availably. 8) Did anyone reserve VIP area of Nior Disco? If so how did you do it? How much extra does this cost? 9) Anyone recently use the salon for airbrush makeup and hair? If, so how did the makeup come out? Did they do it in salon or come to your room? I ask these things cuz I've heard mix reviews; especially on my assigned coordinator. We have Miriam. I met her and she is nice. Most of my emails either I get a response back within a week. Only twice it took much, longer. Once I had to email her a second time to get a response. She said she has been working there for about a year. Not sure how much previous experience she has had. She told me that since my wedding is scheduled at 4pm they would decide at noon the day of the wedding if it needed to be moved indoors. That it would be in one of the ballrooms at Nizuc. My concern is will she come to both the grooms room and my room to tell us or at least call? I have heard from some brides they never see her or other coordinators at all prior to ceremony. One past bride said she didn't even know they changed the location of her wedding due to rain. She found out from her photographer! When we were there few weeks ago I got to speak with another brides mother. She said to keep on them communication is bad. That Miriam wasn't seen all morning prior to wedding. That she showed up 10 minutes prior to ceremony, guests where already there before she was. The mom also said that once ceremony was over Miriam was gone. They didn't know if they could go to the cocktail set up or dinner. Just wondering if this is normal or not? Any advice would be great.. <Our Planning > Day before wedding: Using our 30 person dinner from wedding package the night before for rehearsal dinner at Brazilian restaurant. Wedding day: hair/makeup with either salon or vendor Video: one of our guests owns a company so they are doing it. Photos: Out side vendor - Bicoastal Images Ceremony: 4 pm at Tucan Gazebo décor: brining with us starfish hangers for aisle chairs, petals for walk way and one sign to hang Horse and carriage Pictures: 4:30- 5:30 Cocktail: 5:30-6:30 at Tucan Garden décor: just the standard Reception: 6:30-8:30 (might add 1 extra hour) décor: using our own coral table runners for guest tables, blumebox vases for each table (will put bridesmaid flowers in it as centerpieces), battery candles, menus, favors at each napkin. sweetheart/cake table: gold sequin runner, picture/signs and our own cake topper. The only thing we are going to rent is the (1) ipod system with two speakers. They said they can set it up to use it for both the cocktail and reception since its right next to each other without having to move it. Then we are going to rent the white haning lights and string lights for around the 6-7 palm trees there. After Party: 10 pm - on at the resort disco

We are getting married at the Royal Playa del Carmen in January 2015. We will have around 80 guests. We are blown away by the amount of people that are making the trip to celebrate our love, but the planning process is proving rather difficult. I am working through the planning process with the off-site wedding coordinator that was assigned to me, but she has not been very helpful! I have TONS of questions on some of my planning items, and haven't gotten much advice from her. If you have any advice / knowlege on the following topics, please advise! Thank you! I have a large bridal party (7 bridesmaids, two mothers, any myself, for a total of 10 women). Where are we supposed to get ready with the hair and makeup artists I have hired? I will be staying in a one bedroom suite, but I'm not sure if this is enough space. Does the Royal provide a separate room or any private area where my bridal party and myself can get ready for the day? Does the hotel provide a separate room for the groom the night before the wedding? I haven't seen this mentioned on the website anywhere, but I was hoping since we're bringing 80 guests (40 booked rooms), they might be able to provide something for us? We are getting married in the beach front Gazebo, and will also have our wedding reception on the beach front gazebo terrace. I have NO IDEA how the area will be set up, but I need to make a seating chart! Will the resort provide me with options to lay out the reception tables? Perhaps this will happen after I've provided my final guest list? I'm find it pretty difficult to plan my flowers, seating chart, decor, etc. when I don't know what the space will look like! For anyone who has had a reception on the ocean front gazebo terrace, what did you do about a dance floor? Was there just an empty space for dancing (since it's concrete terrace)? Or was a dance floor provided? I have not yet signed a contract with the hotel (but we've been making deposits to hold our date and areas) because the wedding coordinator is having trouble assisting me with planning our wedding schedule. Apparently this is more difficult since we have so many guests. In order to have the ceremony in the gazebo, cocktail hour on the beack, and reception in the gazebo terrace they are saying we need to have a 1.5 hour break between the ceremony and cocktail hour! One of the perks of having everything in one place is no breaks! I have been unsucessful in communicating my needs to the off-site coordinator, and she always needs to contact the on-site wedding planner before providing me with an answer on the wedding schedule. Is there any way to cut the off-site coordinator out of the picture? I feel like it would be so much easier if I could just speak to the resorts on-site wedding planner! Any advice here would be helpful! Should I be worried that we haven't yet signed a contract? It will be way past dark by the time our reception begins. How do they handle lighting for the outdoor reception on the gazebo terrace? Do I have to hire someone to provide lighting? Or is this something the resort accomodates? I am planning on having welcome bags for each of our guests when they check into their rooms. What is the easiest way to get all of this stuff down there? Is there any easy way to ship, or should we just bring it down in extra suitcases? Will we have trouble at customs? Should we buy wedding insurance? I've been thinking about it for a while, but not sure if we need it. Where would be the best place to purchase a policy? Is it worth it for the peace of mind? I don't think we're going to cut a cake since our plated meal comes with dessert, but I've been trying to think of something else we can do. Are there any mexican wedding traditions we could incorporate?