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Non Resort Wedding in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico: A Review

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Wedding Coordinator: Ajua Weddings (Ajua Weddings - Playa del Carmen Wedding Planner, Riviera Maya Wedding Coordinator, Wedding Reception, Akumal, Tulum, Xpu Ha, Cancun, Mexico)
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I don’t even know where to begin to rave about Ajua Weddings! First off, my coordinator was Maartje Oremus. She was absolutely amazing to work with. But before I get into that, I would like to talk more about why we picked Ajua Weddings. The first reason was because we wanted a Catholic ceremony. After much research online, I found that Ajua Weddings are very experienced with planning a Catholic ceremony. With all of the work involved planning a Catholic ceremony, I wanted to make sure we went with someone with experience. Ajua definitely has that! They made the entire process go so smoothly! The second reason why we picked them was because we wanted a non-resort wedding. We wanted our wedding to not only reflect us as a couple, but to also embrace our destination of choice. Ajua definitely made that happen for us! We had our wedding at the AMAZING Capilla Nuestra Senora del Carmen – a cute little chapel centrally located in Avenue 5 in downtown Playa del Carmen.

All of the vendors that Ajua Weddings used for our wedding were absolutely amazing. My bouquet was simply gorgeous as were the bridesmaids’ bouquet and the boutonnieres. The cakes (Tres Leches cake for the wedding cake and chocolate cake/chocolate filling for the groom’s cake) were absolutely delicious. I also had a special request to have 2 eggless miniature cakes made for our vegan guests and we got amazing feedback on that – our vegan friends wanted some to take home with them! The guitarist they picked out (Benjamin Aguilar) was wonderful – the music was beautiful and fit perfectly with the ambiance of the chapel.

Maartje Oremus (our coordinator) was a joy to work with. The scariest thing for me while planning the wedding was working with someone whom I had never met and with a company that I just randomly found online. To put my dream day on someone I didn’t even know was pretty terrifying. However, Maartje made the whole thing so easy for me. All I had to do was send her pictures of what I wanted and she made sure it happened. She was so patient with me throughout the whole planning process. I don’t know about you girls, but I can be a bit of a bridezilla, but that didn’t faze Maartje at all. She was such a trooper – helping me make my decisions, offering suggestions to me, and letting me change my mind 5 million times without batting an eye! She didn’t even blink when I walked in to our pre-wedding meeting with boxes of wedding stuff! Maartje coordinated everything for me – from transportation, to flowers, to cakes, to music — EVERYTHING! She even arranged for a van to pick my family and I up at the airport upon our arrival in Cancun. Maartje also took care of everything on the wedding day – all we pretty much had to do was show up and enjoy ourselves. Oh, my mom also meet Maartje at the pre-wedding meeting. My mom’s a pretty good judge of character and after our meeting she told me that she could tell that Maartje is a genuinely good person. She couldn’t have done a better job even if she wanted to. She was the perfect wedding coordinator and I will forever be grateful for all the work she did in making sure my dream wedding came true.

Reception Site: Ajua! Maya Restaurant
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We had our reception at the Ajua Maya restaurant, which is also on Avenue 5 and owned by Ajua Weddings. Ajua Maya is by far the best restaurant and the best bar in downtown Playa del Carmen! The food was SOO delicious. We gave our guests a choice of either the BBQ platter or the rib-eye and both were a huge hit! Our vegetarian/vegan option was the spinach enchiladas and those were delicious also. The ceviche was by far their best dish ever – probably the best I’ve ever had! The restaurant is the perfect blend of 5-star dining and laid-back atmosphere. As for the restaurant staff, well, I don’t think there are words to describe what an amazing staff they have at Ajua! They kept all of us entertained throughout the night – from serving food and drinks on their head, to the infamous legs (very funny), and to the best conga line ever (which, I must say, ends with tequila being poured down your mouth!). Ajua Maya also have a live salsa band playing at the restaurant every night. The music was amazing. It definitely gave our wedding the perfect Mexican vibe!

Ajua also catered our beach cocktail party and the food they served at the cocktail hour were also huge hits with all of our guests! I’m telling you, these guys can’t do anything wrong! If you are looking for a unique place to have your reception, rehearsal dinner, whatever, definitely go with Ajua Maya! You will have an absolute blast there and I can guarantee that you will leave the restaurant with happy stomachs!

HUGE kudos to Maartje, Vaughan and all the staff at Ajua Weddings and Ajua Maya Restaurant!

Ajua was rocking last night with the Jose Cuervo sales award winners. They danced the night away after dining on lobster and Angus Steaks. Thank you, Jose Cuervo, for choosing Ajua Maya!

Dear Rachel (a prospective Ajua Weddings’ Bride), 

I was just a Playa del Carmen bride with the delightful and impeccable help of Erika Eddy (Ajua Weddings´ Lead Coordinator) and the Ajua Maya Restaurant / Catering.

Where do I start? Well, I couldn’t have done it without Erika and her thorough, prompt and professional expertise. I thought before the whole planning began that I had no need for a wedding coordinator and I could clearly handle things on my own. As I delved into the project I realized that I was a little over-zealous and luckily Ajua Maya was a true find fairly early on.. After realizing how time consuming, mainly, finding and deciding and comparing and selecting all the necessities of even as simple (but elegant) and small a wedding as my own was to be while working my regular job and un-able to see and touch and taste and consider for myself I decided that Erika was worth every penny of her extremely fair cost for service.

Erika basically put together our whole ceremony because we were really clueless on what we wanted. All we knew was not too long, not super quick and nothing really religious. She just plain handled it and it was amazing.

Our minister seemed like an old friend…..people really thought we knew him. The set up on the beach was perfect and the coordinating of guests to seats and bridal and groom parties to walking down the aisle just sort of happened but clearly without Erika it would have been a mess.

As far as the food from Ajua Maya is concerned, it might be safe to say that it was the best we had the entire 9 days we were in Playa del Carmen. No joke. We actually ate at the restaurant 2 nights before the wedding just for fun (which it was — great atmosphere and live music and dancing.) So those 2 meals were on the top of the list and we ate out the entire time.

Their wait staff all had great personalities and all kinds of engaging methods of keeping a crowd smiling and laughing. They were hard working and extremely professional while delivering their entertaining selves to each inquiring table.

Also, something super important I noticed during the entire planning and executing process is that there were no little surprises. Erika was completely up front the entire time. Her payment plan is not only convenient due to their secure online payment site but very workable through the deposit / payment schedule thus breaking down the total so it is managable by the last payment. But never was there that little un-wanted surprise fee or cost that appeared out of nowhere. No fine print that seemed to be printed up as time passed and moneys were spent. We really appreciated the honesty and trust that Erika and Ajua Maya offered us. The wedding and reception was a complete success. It turned out to be everything we hoped for but never expected.

Thank you for your time. Good luck with your planning and your up-coming wedding and honeymoon. You won’t regret for a second the services offered at Ajua Maya and the expertise of Erika Eddy.

Sincerely,

Jennifer and Chris
Playa del Carmen Wedding, November 11, 2006

Beautiful people, beautiful reception.

   

And the flowers by Ajua Weddings were fun and beautiful

    

   

 

Dear Brenda and Pedro 

I would like to say to you, congratulations for the excellent service, attention and cuisine that you shared with 4 of my guests (from Secrets Capri Hotel on the Riviera Maya) a few days ago in your restaurant. All of them were more than pleased with the personal attention they received and the wonderful dinner the enjoyed. The adored (Ajua Maya) and asked me to convey their congratulations to all of your staff. The left having enjoyed their dinner and with an wonderful impresion of your restaurant.

For myself, with these comments (from my guests) I can  recommend your restaurant with both eyes shut!

Raul Manuel Manrique Cetian, July 26, 2006
Relaciones Publicas Asociación de Concierges

El motivo de la presente es para hacerles llegar UNA FELICITACION por el excelente servicio y la atencipon y la comida que turivieron un grupo de 4 huespedes mios en días pasados en su restaurante. Todos ellos quedaron encantados con la atención recivida y el sabor de la comida, les encanto el lugar y me pediero que le haga llegar esta felicitación a todos su equipo. Se fueron con un agradable sabor de boca y con buena impresión del restaurante.

Para mi, estos comentarios son mas suficiente para recomendar con ojos cerras dos su restaurante.

Raul Manuel Manrique Cetian, July 26, 2006
Relaciones Publicas Asociación de Concierges

   

We all want to welcome the newest addition to the Alfaro Family — Avery Samantha –

We are in a menu redesign and are adding some great new dishes to whet you palate. Don’t worry, all of your favorites will still be there and great new Mayan Dishes and Flambés by our Wild Fresh Mayan Waiters.

What’s new? One great new recipe from Brenda — Bourbon Curry Flambe! This fantastic dish will be prepared with Lobster, Shrimp, Chicken, Venison, Duck or Lamb Chops. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

All in all we are adding eight new flambe dishes and more authentic Mayan recipes, such as Poc Chuc and Escabeche, prepared under the direction of our Mayan Chef Pedro Balam Dzul.

Take a peek at our new look and dream about relaxing dining while your soul is soothed by our Caribbean breezes.