Sunsierra

1kpaine - We used Citlalli of Claudia Rodriguez. It took a few days to get an intial response from them. Were you using the email function from their website? If not, here is the email address I have for Claudia: [email protected] eeyor_78 - I think the blood test is required because you cannot get married in Mexico if you have AIDS (this is what I've heard). We went with the legal ceremony at home and just had a 'vow renewal' there so we didn't have to take the blood test. There are lots of girls on here that did have the blood test and they have said it is no big deal at all. The wedding locations for Tulum are on Page 2 of this thread. This is what the Tulum beach location looked like for our wedding: I'm pretty sure the packages and prices have changed since we went but here they are anyway: Gran Bahia Principe Wedding Package.doc Gran Bahia Prinicipe Renewal of Vows.doc Bahia Spa Prices.doc

Quote: Originally Posted by harv0136 That seems ridiculous to make anyone under 18 pay for that. For those of you that have been there, would you recommended Akumal or Tulum? I originally was thinking Akumal because I like the ceremony location better for the beach, but it is hard to tell from the pictures. I definitely want a beach ceremony, not a gazebo. Tulum seems to be more convenient though. What does everyone think? Thanks! Also, if anyone that has been there has disco pictures, I would LOVE to see them. Thank you! I stayed at Tulum and loved it. But I know those who stayed at Akumal loved it to. I think it pretty much comes down to what you're looking for. If price is an issue, you might want to compare the two. When we went Tulum was cheaper... but there are times when it's more expensive. If you want the beach location at Akumal, then you have to stay at Akumal. The beach location at Tulum looks like this: From my understanding, the WC at Akumal doesn't do correspondence very well (she can take a long time to respond back) If this is something that will make you totally stress out, you might want to try Tulum - Jazmin, the WC, usually responded back within 24-48 hours (even 9 months before our wedding). *Tip* When corresponding by email have your subject line something like we did "GBP Tulum Wedding January 9, 2008 - Stacy & Joel" it makes it easier on the WC's. If the rooms are an issue, Akumals rooms are newer than Tulums. Akumals main pool is (IMO) nicer than Tulums, it kind of winds around in one big circle. Both were very clean and Tulums is HUGE, but Akumals is 'prettier'. We only spent one day in Akumals though, so in reality, it wasn't that big of a deal. Hope that helps somewhat.

We paid for our package by Credit Card. I think the only things you can't pay for by CC are any outside vendors (ie Mexican Trio).

Quote: Originally Posted by jkcz0702 Did they decorate the disco at all? No, they didn't.

Quote: Originally Posted by harv0136 Do any of you have pictures of the disco at akumal? Or has anyone seen it? Do you know if the DJ wants a playlist or if they just kind of do their own thing? Thanks! I don't have any pictures but I 'drew' a picture of it for you (can you tell I was bored at work today, haha): The little circles are those tall chairs with backs (there's actually a lot more than 4 on either side) there's a raised table that runs almost all around the lowered dance floor - this is where everyone sat and watched the first dance, etc. I didn't put it in the picture but at the bottom the room kinda jets out a bit and there are maybe 10 square tables with chairs and it's better lit then the rest of the disco. It's a really nice place (all wood floors) and the bar is very nice and clean. I brought a CD that had our first dance, father daughter dance, etc. songs on it. I also brought 2 or 3 CD's of songs that our group liked. The DJ actually played some really goods songs on his own and we only requested a handful of songs that we brought. So to be safe, I'd bring a few CD's but you might not even need them. ETA: The disco is at the Hacienda - everyone can use it. If you mean the lobby bar at Akumal - I don't have any pictures of it, sorry.

Quote: Originally Posted by Just Martha I was joking with Jay last night and told him we could just do it on the beach...they may be our last resort. But, I really wanted to have a reception. I am hoping Jazmin can work with me on this since I told her a long time ago I wanted to damn disco. Right across from the disco is a sports bar. (It's kind of in the open in the hacienda). We rented the disco, but on the same night another couple that got married and their guests were hanging out there. There's tables, all inclusive drinks, pool table, etc. I'm sure if you brought your iPod and docking station there, you could have a makeshift reception (for free!). I would just try to be there early so you can grab most of the tables...

Quote: Originally Posted by jkcz0702 I was wondering what kind of rates you gals got for your groups. We are getting them and they seem to keep changing and are a bit higher then I would have expected (even after we reserved 25 airline seats). Also my TA just told me that the standard rooms sold out for the week of our wedding so that means all of our guest will have to book the junior suites, sounds kind of strange right. One of the reasons we booked this resort was due to the number of rooms. If it is sold out already and our wedding is not until Feb now I am starting to panic. I'm not sure I can be much help. We booked the Tulum section for Jan and our rates were $1900 per person taxes in for one week. We also got the 16 person free. For two weeks I think it was $2400 per person taxes in. We went with Signature Vacations. ETA: We flew out of Winnipeg, Manitoba ETA: Have you tried contacting other TA's (if you're using a TA)?

Gorgeous pictures! I really like the up close black & white ones...

Quote: Originally Posted by RyanAmanda Okay, no more comments by you...LOL. Seems your WC didn't charge you for a TON of stuff!!! It makes me want to plan our wedding the same as yours - but knowing our luck we would get a huge bill at the end. Actually, I don't think Jazmin charged us for everything either. In total I got my dress, flowergirl dress and DH's wedding attire steamed, three extra bouquets, two extra corsages, four extra bouts, one extra bottle of champagne, two tickets to the Thursday night show ($30??), the disco for two hours ($300), day pass for photographer and assistant ($180) and the deluxe renewal of vows package ($870) all for $1300-$1400. By adding just the #'s in the brackets I get $1380 so that would mean we got the steaming, extra flowers and champagne for free. I honestly don't think they keep very good records (when we got our final bill, nothing was broken down - just lumped together)

Quote: Originally Posted by Just Martha For the Tulum brides....We are having more than 15 guests, so we have to have a set menu. Do any of you have menu options for the different resorts? I emailed Jazmin, but she hasn't gotten back to me yet. Thanks! The wesite Bahia-Gourmet has menus for all the restaurants (they are a little outdated but they're pretty close). Congrats to MrsFisher2be, you're gonna love this resort! Allianne - your pictures are AMAZING!!! Looks like you had a wonderful day.

Quote: Originally Posted by Just Martha Okay, more questions.... Do they provide knife and cake server (like the silver kind, not an actual person to serve the cake) for the wedding cake or should I buy one? Also, what about champagne flutes? Should I bring my own or will they have some nice looking ones for us since they are providing champagne? Not that I will be drinking champagne anyway. Okay and I was just looking at some pictures that Jazmin sent me...she said I would be having my dinner there...it's the Tortuga restaurant....but in the pictures it kina looks like a buffet. Anyone know? And, I don't get to pick my restaurant? I thought I did. They provide a knife and cake server. The champagne flutes they serve you in are fine. I don't have a picture for you but they're just regular flutes. The Tortuga restaurant serves a breakfast buffet, closed for lunch, and then a la carte dinner. That is why it looks like a buffet (actually all of the a la cartes have a buffet for you to help yourself with appetizers before your meal). (Be sure to check out their breakfast - we liked it a lot because it wasn't as crowded as the regular buffet and it was closer to our rooms).

Quote: Originally Posted by CarrieRN Can't remember if this has been addressed or not...are pool floaties allowed in the pools at GBP? They are on sale at CVS I think. Yes they are allowed.

Quote: Originally Posted by RyanAmanda Does anyone have pictures they can post of where your dinner gets moved if it rains? I've asked Jazmin for it but she keeps sending me the poolside pictures. Thanks! For Tulum, the rained out location is the Tequila restaurant. There are pictures on Page 9 of this thread. ETA: Oops, I just realized you meant dinner not the wedding... sorry! I'm not sure where the dinner gets moved if it rains.

allianne611 - Yup, we had Citlalli. I was very antsy too (even emailed them to try to get a tracking # haha). I think the wait was about 5 weeks.

Quote: Originally Posted by Just Martha --Did they take off the "Gran" in the name? I think I asked this before but can't remember. --If it rains, what are our options for an indoor wedding on Tulum side? My plans are to get married at gazebo. --So if we have our dinner at one restaurant, do you think the guests will get away with eating dinner at the other restaurants during their stay? I'm going to answer what I know... They didn't take the Gran out of their name. The souvenirs, t-shirts, commercials that they play on your tv all had Gran in them. If it rains, the Tulum indoor location is the Tequila restaurant. Pictures are on Page 9 of this thread. Not really sure what you mean by the dinner question, but you and your guests should get three a la carte dinners per one week stay (one is for your wedding dinner) so they should get two more. Once you get there, make sure to make dinner reservations right away. You can eat at ANY of the restaurants on the whole resort (I recommend the mediterranean & tequila & any gourmets)

Quote: Originally Posted by jkcz0702 It is so much easeir to ask you gals rather then the resort! Does anyone have picts of the bouquet they offer? Jazmin had a book of different bouquets (not just one). I think there were 15 or 20 to choose from. You can also bring in your own picture and they can arrange that for you (it'll probably cost extra $$).

Jazmin sent me an email a couple of weeks (or maybe months) before the wedding date asking for our guests names so they knew how many people they had to accomodate for the wedding dinner. I told our guests which restarant we were having the dinner in as soon as we got there so they didn't book at that one.

Quote: Originally Posted by jkcz0702 Did anyone have any guests complain about the certificates for the ala carte resturants? They don't actually give you certificates. But you are only allowed 3 (??) per week and 5 (??) per two week stay. And the wedding dinner does count towards one of your guests a la carte meals. We didn't have anyone complain at all (maybe that's because the meal was soooo good).

Just Martha - One excursion that I definitely recommend is snorkelling in Akumal Bay - The Bahia Dive shop offers an excursion for $40 (I think) they take you by boat to the bay, provide your snorkelling equipment, and help you find all the turtles! We went on their excursion, but a couple of days later, we took a collectivo to Akumal Bay (make sure you tell them 'bay' otherwise they might take you to the Akumal pueblo) and rented equipment from the dive shop there (I think it was $15 for the WHOLE day) and snorkelled our hearts out. For lunch, definitley hit up Lucy's Taco's (the shrimp taco is AMAZING). The whole day (9-4) spent in Akumal Bay cost us about $35pp. Cheaper and we got to spend a lot more time snorkelling. Oh, how I wish I could go back there... I absolutely loved Akumal Bay.

Nope, you can't have your wedding dinner in a gourmet unless you have less than 6 (I think or maybe it's 8 ) people coming. You can eat anywhere on the resort (doesn't matter where you stay). So if you stay at Tulum, you can eat there or Coba or Akumal. If you stay at Akumal, you can eat there or Coba or Tulum, etc. EXCEPT for the wedding dinner - if you stay at Coba, your wedding dinner has to be at Coba. Stay at Tulum, wedding dinner is at Tulum, etc.

Drai, your pics are awesome! You looked absolutely gorgeous and I love your wdress! Thanks for posting em - sure brings back memories...

Quote: Originally Posted by jkcz0702 Wow thanks that is not bad! Hmm we may do that now, yeah I heard the disco is kind of cheesey lol! We didn't find it cheesey.

Quote: Originally Posted by sarah1108 Also, I am confused as to whether they book 2 weddings per day for the entire resort complex, or 2 weddings per day, per section of the resort? Congratulations!! It's per day/per section (but I'm not sure if the maximum is two or if it's more). But if you're the first to book a certain day, you get first dibs at the restaurants and location in your section. And I'm sorry, I can't help with the Akumal wedding locations - we were married on the Tulum side.

Quote: Originally Posted by Just Martha I can't remember if I asked this yet, but for the brides that already got married there, did you use an ipod for the reception or cds? I know that at other resorts there were spme problems using cds on their equipment. And for the ceremony music....cd or ipod? I was told that I couldn't bring my Ipod (even if I brought my own docking station) - supposedly, the resorts rule is that you're not allowed to bring any sort of stereo or ipod docking station (you're not even allowed them in your room)... That being said, we still brought our dock - but we didn't even use it. So CD's it was - one for the ceremony and a couple more for the disco.

Quote: Originally Posted by drai I want to post them but not sure how to do it duh! Can you help? Sure thing... I'll send you a PM