Any Grand Palladium brides?

Its great to see more brides joining us at the Grand Palladium! When I first joined this site, it didn't seem like there were any of us around, but now we have a great resource to help each other out here!

Hi all!

I have a date set at Grand Palladium and haven't started going through the specifics of the contract with Rocio/Erika yet but now some members of my family have become unsupportive of my choice. No one in my family has ever been to a destination wedding and I've chosen it because I want a simple, fun and memorable experience. Our families have never met as they live across the country from each other and I thought this would be a great opportunity to spend some quality time getting to know each other.

Anyways, I'm not sure how to convince everyone that this is the great idea I know it is. Anyone been to the Palladium before? How is the food? Can you order a "custom" meal for a private reception? I think this would make a difference to my guests as the quality of the food is also a serious concern for many of them!

Thanks for letting me vent a bit!

Kelly

Hey Kelly! The biggest thing to remember is that its your wedding- it should be YOUR vision, not your families. That said, my FI made sure that our VIPs could make it (parents and siblings), and then anyone else that comes is a bonus! I highly recommend doing that, b/c I'd have been heartbroken without my dad there, but I can do without several of my aunts and cousins. Plus, we are having an informal AHR, so everyone will get to celebrate!

Definitely check out the palladiumaddict.net info, including the forum. The food comes very well recommended for an AI resort- it probably won't always be gourmet, but everyone says it is tasty and has a good variety. To have a private reception is $45+ per person extra, and there are several different menu options that you can pick from. I think Rocio might be able to let you personalize them a bit, as well. There are so many restaurants and buffets available that you should be able to please everyone, at least with regards to food!

We aren't planning on that many people, so we are just going to have them set aside a part of the Portofino restaurant.

I would also use the wide variety of included water and resort activities, and the proximity to some of the Riviera Mayas most fantastic ecological and historical landmarks. That is part of what sold us on the resort!

Thanks so much for the advice!!! I really loved Cheryl's review of GP and I have forwarded it to a few members of my family. I feel MUCH better about my choice to have a DW and will stick with it

Kelly

Oh yeah- I'd forgotten her great review! Thanks for posting it- my parents will enjoy it! I got lucky- my family was on board from the beginning. None of them wanted to go to Texas (where he is from) for a wedding, and his family didn't want to come to Iowa, so... it really worked out!

We've booked our Wedding at the Pallladium for March 12th, 2009 at 3:30pm. I think I'd like to have the ceremony at the gazebo by the beach. We haven't really done any other planning yet. Right now we have 22 people booked. Oh and we booked in the Colonial section. So far we just booked a reg room, we're probably just going to hope for an upgrade rather than paying the extra $.

Does the Palladium have their own photographer or does everyone have to use an external photographer, I know some resorts have onsite photographers. How much do the external ones cost on average?

We started looking at this site several months ago and really wondered why there wasn't much posted about the Palladium. A friend of ours went there last winter and they said it was awesome!

Congrats on booking the Palladium. We know there aren't too many BDW Palladium brides, but the numbers here are getting stronger. It always receives such good reviews everywhere, how could we all not book our weddings there

The Palladium does not have their own photographer. However, there are no restrictions on bringing a photographer in. AND the best part is, there is no charge to bring one in either. So, feel free to book whoever you want for your day.

Cheers,

Jennifer

So I am pretty sure that we are going to choose the GP. We are still going to go down and do the site visit but I have not seen anything as amazing yet.

I am doing the boarding pass STD's and want to make one with a description of the GP but I am stuck. Here is what I have so far:

I would definitely mention the proximity to all the amazing Mayan ruins (Coba and Tulum are closest), the parks (Xel-Ha and XCaret), and all the amenities offered on site (non-motorized water sports, pottery painting, 1.5 miles of private beach. To finish the sentence above, I'd put 'and preserving the natural ecosystem of the Mayan Riviera coastline.'.

Congrats on choosing the GP!