Tighty-Whitey's Wedding Review of The Royal Playa del Carmen

[Ana]

great details! I love your invites so cute!!!

[TightyWhitey]

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Originally Posted by lexibride What a BEAUTIFUL WEDDING!!! You looked stunning and everything looked perfect! I have to ask you, I'm coming from NY too and was thinking of doing the mini tequila bottles myself, but I'm really nervous about traveling with them. How did you do packing them and did they give you a problem at customs?

Hi lexibride. We bought the mini Patrons at our neighborhood liquor store; they came shrink-wrapped in boxes of 6. When I packed, I just made sure there was plenty of clothing around them to cushion them.

I didn't have any issues at Customs. They asked to see receipts, which I showed them, and as long as we were under $300 USD each, it was fine.

Hope this helps.

Photo of the Patron Mini and the two 2oz tequila glasses we gave as favors.

[TightyWhitey]

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Originally Posted by olsontco Okay... questions... Do you have a template for your invitations and/or programs I love them!!!!! Also, I'm confused about the white erase board as your guest book... how did that work

I don't have a template for the invites 'cause they were made by Monumental Designs. All I have is the 'wording'. I can definitely post that, if you're interested.

Regarding the programs, I didn't use a template, per-say. I cut out the card-stock in various sizes (6x6 for the green paisley, 5x5 for the blue, and 4.5x4.5 for the sand). I also used a corner-cutter to curve the corners of the paper. I then glued tongue depressors to the green paisley, then glued the blue card stock, with finally the pre-printed sand-coloured card stock glued last. The final step was to punch holes on either side of the tongue depressor and feed some yellow ribbon through to make a bow.

I do have a template of the wording, which includes the palm tree watermark. If you'd like that, I can upload here for you. Lemme know! FYI, we did two different versions of the fans, one with a program, the other with our monogram.



RE: the white erase board. We bought the one you see in the photo at Staples along with some erasable markers. We then placed it near the favors with a sign asking guests to:



So, how it works was that each guest/couple could write a message, get their photo snapped with the message, erase the message, then pass the board to the following guest.

While I had placed a disposable camera by the sign, I had asked a good friend of mine if she wouldn't mind take digital photos of the messages guests wrote. This seemed to work out better then leaving it up to the guests to photograph themselves.

Even Security got in on the action!

[TightyWhitey]

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Originally Posted by Amarillis Great review.. and pictures!!!! Congratulations!

Gracias Amarillis!

[TightyWhitey]

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Originally Posted by loanmao Tighty-Whitey...thanks again for the review and the great pictures. FI and I are in the process of picking a wedding package and wanted to know what you thought of the Luxury Wedding. Aside from the photographer, DJ, and lounge chairs, did you add any other upgrades? Did you upgrade any of the flowers? Were all the vendors you chose a preferred vendor? Was there much leeway in negotiating what you do and don't want in the package? I ask this because there are certain things in the package that I don't really have a need for. Did you find it to be too windy on the beach during the reception? Were there many onlookers during the reception? Did all your guests stay at The Royal? BTW...I like the white board idea for the guests!! Your pictures are great in helping us choose our ceremony location! Sorry for bombarding you with questions and thanks so much for your help!!!

Hi loanmao!

Initially, DH and I had booked the Classic Wedding Package with the plan of adding/upgrading only those things we wanted. When The Royal came out with their 'new' Luxury Package this Spring, we realized it was cheaper for us to go this route, if only because it included the cocktail hour and reception. Prior to this, we were looking at paying, at minimum, $80 per person ($30 for the cocktail hour, $50 for the reception). So, 31 guests at $80 was $2450 plus an additional $780 for the Classic Package; $2150 for the Luxury Package was well worth it.

There were some things in the package we didn't want/need but they (the coordinators) were pretty firm in that while I can opt out, I couldn't change it. In our case, I didn't want a red aisle runner because it clashed with our colours. I asked if we could change it to another colour, and was told no. (Only if I brought my own.) I opted to have no runner.

There were other things we didn't need (ie. romantic dinner on the beach, special turn-down service, flowers delivered to our room, couples' massage,etc...) but since it was cheaper for us to go with the upgraded package than to go al-a-carte, we went with it (and ended up loving the massages)!

There was also no charge for the tulle around the Gazebo even though in my initial emails with my WC, I was told it was $15 per pole. Extra flowers on the poles were extra, btw.

We didn't need the guitar player during the ceremony since I had already picked our processional and recessional music but since he was part of the package, I had him play during the guests' seating. You could also opt to have him play during the cocktail hour.

FYI, the Luxury Package states that you get cold appetizers and champagne for your 'cocktail hour' but we had full bar and a choice of four hot or cold appetizers (we chose 1 cold, 3 hot) at no extra cost.

The Luxury Package came with a Rose Bouquet for the bride, which I ended up going with. I wanted yellow flowers and it seemed easier to go with the roses. The package also came with an altar centerpiece which we had match my bouquet. No extra charge for these roses. My MOH's bouquet, a smaller version of mine, was $60. The Bouts were $20 each. I can't remember how much the Moms' corsages were, but they were at least $20. My MOH's hair flower accessory was $10.

We didn't opt for any extra flowers for the reception tables. I didn't want to clutter the tables too much. There was an additional cost to this.

RE: the DJ, he is a preferred vendor. We were expecting to pay the $100 vendor fee since we booked with him directly and not through the resort but we weren't charged.

RE: the photographer, we were going to be charged the $100 fee until I pointed out the photographer was a guest of the hotel. It was a part of our contract with our photographer that we cover a hotel for their night and it ended up being cheaper to book them a room at the resort than to pay for an outside hotel AND the vendor fees.

The beach reception was breezy but not windy and the coolness was actually much appreciated with all the dancing going on. There were no issues with sand in the food. One thing I do recommend is to keep an eye on when they serve the food. In between courses, DH and I would get up to chat with guests, not noticing the next course was served at our table. The food can quickly get cold.

We had some onlookers during the ceremony AND the reception. Honestly, I didn't mind. I thought I would, but I was so happy that day, I ended not caring. We even had one guy in a swimsuit ask to take a photo of us on the beach. One thing that was super popular with the guests AND the gawkers was the Mariachi Trio we had play during dinner. They were awesome! I'm sure you noticed the pier in some of the photos of the Royal receptions? That's were the gawkers hang out, enjoying the Trio and later, the DJ!

All our guests did stay at the Royal; we didn't have any guests under 16, so it worked out well for us.

One final thing I should mention. The reception dinner/bar that is part of the Luxury package is 3 hours long and this is strictly enforced. We paid an extra $15 per guest, per extra hour to have the 'open-bar' open until 11pm. It didn't seem right to us that that the bar would close at 9pm or there abouts (reception began around 6:30 pm) so we ended up paying almost an extra $1000 for this. I don't know what the other option would have been in this case; maybe the guests would have had to go into the resort for drinks? We didn't like having our guests do this, so we paid up. If the al-a-carte dinner reception options are still available, I would confirm with your WCs how long the reception is for. For all I know the time is unlimited, while the package receptions are capped at 3hrs.

Am glad you liked the white board idea. It wasn't mine, but I was happy to 'steal' it!

If there are any other questions, please feel free to ask. I'm happy to help!

[TightyWhitey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ana great details! I love your invites so cute!!!

Thanks, Ana!

[MsSunshine]

Congratulations! Your wedding looked like so much fun Thanks for the review.

[olsontco]

TightyWhitey... thanks so much for your reply. Well, YES, I would love for you to upload the wording for both... if you don't mind. I'm hoping I will be able to give back as much as you girls have helped me with planning... it is awesome to see what others have done. You all are so very creative!!!!!! Thanks so much

[olsontco]

So... I have one more question for you. How much were the maracas in Mexico? I have been looking at them on-line and was curious what the price difference was. Thanks again! Obviously as you can see we all LOVED your wedding!

[Maybride2009]

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Originally Posted by TightyWhitey Thanks Maybride! I'm thinking you'll have the same dance floor, even though you aren't having a DJ. Seems all the weddings are getting it.

Awesome. I am so excited...I will let you know for sure!