May '08 Occidental Grand Xcaret brides....where are you??

I have been waiting patiently (ok i guess Im not very patient) but Im waiting anxiously for three BDW members who got married last month at the Occidental Grand Xcaret to post a review/pics...something! We have never had a review from anyone who got married there so Ive been waiting for this for months! CANTHARDLYWAIT (G@lit), Violethaze2b, sweetrebecs.....where are you ladies?!?!

I am looking into having my wedding at the Occidental Xcaret in June 2009. Any advice / comments you could give me would be great!!!

I have plenty of info....if you PM me your email address I can send it along!

Hopefully we will get some reviews from the brides who just got married there!!

Oooooh, Oooooh. Me Too!! Me Too! We are almost set but my guy is worried about the size of the resort and people complaining. Grrrr.... picking is hard enough without thinking of everyone's fitness level!

Hiya ladies

Still been busy here with catching up at work and getting ready for our at home reception. I am not good at posting pics but will try.

I was a pretty laid back bride but that may have worked against me.

1) When working with their planner . . . you can email with these people before you get there but keep your ducks in a row and take a list with all your key points/needs. I got there and the woman may as well have never talked to me before. There were a few things taken care of before my arriving but if it wasn't discussed at our face to face then she acted like we never talked about it before.

2) Maybe make this list in the form of an email to the coordinator a week before you arrive and just print it out and pack it in your purse or with your wedding items you are taking.

3) Know what you want . . . the Occidental doesn't really seem to follow a check list or form that they share with us. The woman just seemed to go along with whatever I brought up or asked about. She didn't ask questions or make suggestions to help along the process. She also didn't respond well to changes . . .ie: I asked for breakfast in bed to be rescheduled . . . I went hungry wedding morning and turned it away when it showed up the next day at the original time

4) I worked with Marialma in case you are wondering She fud up a few things.

The resort. Wow, I was blown away once there. Not overly but it was my first time at such a place. It is big but if you have patience there is a 'train' that goes around the in a U shape to the key points of the resort. It just doens't necessarily show up every 10 minutes as stated. The rooms were nice, I liked the Jr suites with King beds. I didn't have one because I took kids but others did and I liked the size and space. The tile floors felt funky the first day but somehow that went away quickly so not a problem. Love love loved the showers. OMG, everyone raved about how good the showers felt because of the filtered water. Even when I hand washed items in the sink they were super clean. There is no room service. The couple getting married gets breakfast in bed but thats the only room service. I bet the Royal Club has room service, hmmmm.

We loved the beach so we also were very fond of the buffet at the beach. If you like nature and open air eating its definitely the place to go. Food was ok. Took a little getting used to figuring out what to eat but I really liked the variety. The beach was plenty roomy and refreshing . . . the pools were a little warm for me but everyone absolutely enjoyed both. The fave pool of course was the one with the bar . Only one guy out of our group of 26 got sick but he ate at McDonalds on the way to resort lol, avoid this!

Try to find out before you leave for the resort when your coordinator wants to meet with you! I found out when our meeting was . . . at the time of the meeting! Be very clear in your emails. I think some things got lost in translation and my sometimes quirky language. She didn't have a hair appt for me, she didn't have my welcome/rehearsal dinner reserved, she didn't have a bouquet for my flower girl, she messed up the breakfast in bed, and she overall didn't have a good sense of timing with the hair/makeup appointments, when the photographer was supposed to be starting, and all this in corelation with the ceremony time. Lost an hour of photography so if you are coordinated . . . please tell your coordinator when you think you want things done. I should have hounded that woman.

I do have to say though that the ceremony went nicely and my reception lunch went great! We wanted a private reception and a dj and open air so we were at this area above the beach bar. It was a nice buffet, probably the best food I had had while there. Everyone really liked it. Even the next day at the beach random people commented on how they really liked having the music lol.

It was hot. I would not recommend a heavy dress. I would not recommend a noon wedding. I would suggest your guests wear light clothing and no suits. I saw ball gowns and tuxes while there and I can't imagine that those people were very comfortable.

I would do it all again and even at the same place. No one complained about the size of the place, everyone liked the activities, the night time had shows and bars. There were different stores to shop at. The xcaret park was ok but we went on the hottest day, ugh. The kids didn't really get into the kids club. I would say its cute for a group of kids from 3-5yrs old maybe or if you need to get them out of the sun for a bit.

I went with Cancun Studios for photography and they had a store front right in the resort so it was nice getting to visit them. Still waiting on pics from them though but loved the service so far .

Oh, there were no elevators in our building. We were third floor, great for the legs but tiring.

Ok its late. So i will try to post some pics tomorrow.

Let me know if you have any questions.

WeddingPicsMay08.doc

Thank you so much for the info... I am sorry that things didn't go exactly as you planned but it sounds like things went well. The pictures are great and you looked beautiful.

We went with the International Buffet. It wasn't super great but it was the best food I had had while there. My opinion on the food is a little skewed since hubby and I went to a much nicer resort after for the honeymoon portion. Secrets Capri was phenomenal. The food was much much better, the customer service was top notch, and very relaxing . . . no kids at that one. Love my darlings but needed a break for a few days

Aww, thank you for the compliments. I could have done without the stress there but I think if I had been more prepared it would have been avoidable. I probably could have even gone to the salon myself to make sure the timing would work out better with the ladies that actually do the hair and makeup and confirm my appointment and I probably could have made a welcome dinner reservation when I arrived as a back up in case. But I thought it was all taken care of I suppose.

Good luck to you in your planning and future marriage!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diana Thank you so much for the info... I am sorry that things didn't go exactly as you planned but it sounds like things went well. The pictures are great and you looked beautiful.