Sarah_K

Grand Palladium Wedding Review: I have finally finished my review!!! I tried to include answers to all your questions...plus talk about things that I was wondering about before we left. (Sorry, it got a little long!). Let me know if I left anything out! Overall all I have to say is that it was perfect. The wedding planners really know what they are doing, and everyone on the resort was so helpful. When we got to our suite (BTW, I highly suggest the Royal Suites. They are a little more expensive, but worth every penny), there was a letter waiting for us fro Erika. We were to meet with her 2 days before our wedding. Meeting with Erika- The meeting went well. We went through all of the details of the wedding. She had a generic FTD book of flowers. I told her I was just looking for something bright and tropical. My Grandpa did the ceremony, so she had some tips for him. We planned our dinner (at Kabah), and our post-dinner cocktail party (La Laguna). Gave her the name of our photographer, picked a wedding cake, and worked out the rest of the details. We gave her everything for the wedding (programs, fans, trinkets for the table at dinner, guest book, etc). Erika forgot to ask me about the dress, and I forgot to mention it. IF YOU ARE GETTING YOUR DRESS STEAMED AT THE RESORT, BE SURE TO TALK ABOUT IT IN YOUR MEETING. We forgot, and my dress didn’t end up getting steamed. It was fine, my dress wasn’t that wrinkly.The meeting took less than an hour. Also, it cost $2 to have the wedding dept pass out out OOT bags. For some reason, we though it would be a good idea to pass them out ourselves...bad idea. We were carrying them around most of the trip, looking for people. ‘Rehersal’ We decided to have a make-shift rehearsal because my Grandpa was our minister (we went to the courthouse on our way out of town, because we wanted Grandpa to be able to perform our ceremony without dealing with all the legal stuff). The plan was to meet the wedding party at the gazebo at 8 for a quick walk-through, and then meet everyone at the Hemingway bar for a little welcome cocktail. To make a long story shorter, hurricane Alex started dumping on us while we were on our way to meet everyone at the gazebo. Half of the wedding party showed up, the rest went right to the cocktail. This caused a bit of confusion...but whatever (not being able to use our cell phones like we are used to really caught us off guard, we never realized how much we rely on them!) . The rehearsal was more for my Grandpa, and my Mothers nerves, so it worked out. We then met up with everyone at Hemingway, and then most of us called it an early night. Day of the Wedding We went to breakfast, and then hung out in the Royal Suites Lobby to type out our vows (we wrote them the day before sitting by the pool). By the time we got them printed out, and got back to our room, our flowers had arrived. All the sudden it hit my that it was actually my wedding day, so I kicked Chad (my now-husband) out of our suite, so I could start getting ready. About 3 hours before the wedding, my Mom and Bridesmaids came over to get ready with me. (they were staying in different areas, so I had to give Ericka their names to get them into the suite). I did my own make-up, and one of my bridesmaids did my hair. Our suite was huge, and had a ton of mirrors, so having 10 girls getting ready in the same room wasn’t a big deal. The photographers showed up, and went to the boys first. They were hanging out at the beach bar, and got some GREAT picts! About an hour before the wedding, the photographers came to my suite, and took a few getting ready photos, and then started getting picts of me and the girls at different locations around the Royal Suites. Our ceremony was suppose to start at 3:30, so I was suppose to be picked up at about 3:25. At about 3:30, our ride had not shown....right about that time one of our favorite (and well tipped) drivers came by. We asked him if he was our ride, and he said “Looks like I am now!” So, we all piled in. When we got to the wedding site, and everyone was still standing around. My maid of honor jumped out and made sure Chad couldn’t see me. When Erika saw us, she came running up and asked what we were doing there. I guess she thought it started at 4. Anyway, she was able to get everything together in about 5 min. (impressive). My aunt and Uncle started playing (yes, we brought our own musicians AND pastor). The wedding site was more beautiful thank I ever could have imagined. There were so many beautiful flowers. Gorgeous! Walking down the aisle was better than I ever could have imagined. There were about 30-50 people from the beach who cheered me on. (Erika made them leave once the ceremony started). It was sunny...everything was perfect. Most of the ceremony was a complete blur. I guess hurricane Alex decided to join us about half-way through. As soon as our vows were done (while my uncle was playing), our moms motioned everyone to join us under the gazebo. All that was really left was the sand ceremony. It was kind cool to have all of our closest friends and family literally right there for that part of the wedding. Grandpa pronounced us married, we turned around, and realized that our champagne toast was suppose to be outside. Erika must be half super-hero. She was able to move the entire table of champagne bottles and glasses to under the covering of the beach bar. After champagne, the bridal party started taking pictures, and the family/other guests went back to the main resort. It was raining off and on, so we. would run out to the beach, take a few picts, and run back. We didn’t get all of the pictures we wanted...but we got enough good ones that I’m not upset about it. After an hour or so we went back up to the lobby for some family pictures, the photographer left, and suddenly it was 6:00, time for dinner. Dinner was at Kabah. They had a back corner blocked off for us, so it seamed like we were the only ones there. I wasn’t too crazy about having a buffet for our wedding dinner, but we figured it was better than expecting everyone to eat the exact same thing. All of the flowers from the wedding, along with some rose pedals and some little trinkets I brought were on the table. It was beautiful! Right as we were getting ready to cut the cake, a random trio of guitarists came over and started playing some Mexican dance music. Everyone got up and started dancing. Only in Mexico! Once they left, we cut the cake (Everyone LOVED the tres leches cake) and did toasts. We then headed to La Laguna for the reception (we paid $5 per person for a private, cocktail only reception). It too was set up beautifully. There were tequila sunrises waiting for everyone when we got there (we picked this out in the meeting with Erika). My little brother did an excellent job as our DJ. My uncle played our 1st dance, and the Daddy Daughter dance, my brother took care of the rest. Our bartender was great, the lighting was good, the sound-system didn’t have any issues. I think everyone had a great time. At about 10:30 the reception wound down, and everyone headed to the lobby bar we had a drink, and somehow ended up in the disco? (never thought I’d see my grandparents in a disco!) I think some of our guests staid at the disco for a while, others ended up at the saltwater pool. Chad and I were exhausted and went back to our suite. Our room was SO romantically decorated when we got back. Literally thousands of flower petals, ridiculously large towel arrangements, chocolate covered strawberries, and champagne. General notes: Our OOT bags included: -A stainless steel travel mug (perfect for carrying from bar to bar around the resort) -Oh Shit! Kit - (Pepito, tums, lotion wipes, Imodium, Tylenol, etc). At first, people thought they were ‘cute’ but the end of the trip, people said they were a lifesaver. I HIGHLY recommend including something like this. -a deck of cards (good for drinking games/rainy days) -mosquito repellent (ESSENTIAL) -a cute welcome note, telling people about the welcome cocktail We brought silk flowers for all of the boutonnieres. They turned out great, and stayed looking nice all day. I highly recommend this. Our package came with a boutonniere for Chad, and his was a little wilted and beaten up by the time we got to the disco! My photographer (Luz María Avila - I highly recommend her!) put together a slide-show: CHAD +SARAH Let me know if you have any more questions, or need any more information! Happy planning ladies!

Grand Palladium Wedding Review: I have finally finished my review!!! I tried to include answers to all your questions...plus talk about things that I was wondering about before we left. (Sorry, it got a little long!). Let me know if I left anything out! Overall all I have to say is that it was perfect. The wedding planners really know what they are doing, and everyone on the resort was so helpful. I was pretty nervous, and felt like there were way too many loose ends when we went down there. Everything ended up better than I ever could have planned! When we got to our suite (BTW, I highly suggest the Royal Suites. They are a little more expensive, but worth every penny), there was a letter waiting for us fro Erika. We were to meet with her 2 days before our wedding. Meeting with Erika- The meeting went well. We went through all of the details of the wedding. She had a generic FTD book of flowers. I told her I was just looking for something bright and tropical. My Grandpa did the ceremony, so she had some tips for him. We planned our dinner (at Kabah), and our post-dinner cocktail party (La Laguna). Gave her the name of our photographer, picked a wedding cake, and worked out the rest of the details. We gave her everything for the wedding (programs, fans, trinkets for the table at dinner, guest book, etc). Erika forgot to ask me about the dress, and I forgot to mention it...my dress didn’t end up getting steamed. It was fine, my dress wasn’t that wrinkly.The meeting took less than an hour. Also, it cost $2 to have the wedding dept pass out out OOT bags. For some reason, we though it would be a good idea to pass them out ourselves...bad idea. We were carrying them around most of the trip, looking for people. ‘Rehersal’ We decided to have a make-shift rehearsal because my Grandpa was our minister (we went to the courthouse on our way out of town, because we wanted Grandpa to be able to perform our ceremony without dealing with all the legal stuff). The plan was to meet the wedding party at the gazebo at 8 for a quick walk-through, and then meet everyone at the Hemingway bar for a little welcome cocktail. To make a long story shorter, hurricane Alex started dumping on us while we were on our way to meet everyone at the gazebo. Half of the wedding party showed up, the rest went right to the cocktail. This caused a bit of confusion...but whatever (not being able to use our cell phones like we are used to really caught us off guard, we never realized how much we rely on them!) . The rehearsal was more for my Grandpa, and my Mothers nerves, so it worked out. We then met up with everyone at Hemingway, and then most of us called it an early night. Day of the Wedding We went to breakfast, and then hung out in the Royal Suites Lobby to type out our vows (we wrote them the day before sitting by the pool). By the time we got them printed out, and got back to our room, our flowers had arrived. All the sudden it hit my that it was actually my wedding day, so I kicked Chad (my now-husband) out of our suite, so I could start getting ready. About 3 hours before the wedding, my Mom and Bridesmaids came over to get ready with me. (they were staying in different areas, so I had to give Ericka their names to get them into the suite). I did my own make-up, and one of my bridesmaids did my hair. Our suite was huge, and had a ton of mirrors, so having 10 girls getting ready in the same room wasn’t a big deal. The photographers showed up, and went to the boys first. They were hanging out at the beach bar, and got some GREAT picts! About an hour before the wedding, the photographers came to my suite, and took a few getting ready photos, and then started getting picts of me and the girls at different locations around the Royal Suites. Our ceremony was suppose to start at 3:30, so I was suppose to be picked up at about 3:25. At about 3:30, our ride had not shown....right about that time one of our favorite (and well tipped) drivers came by. We asked him if he was our ride, and he said “Looks like I am now!” So, we all piled in. When we got to the wedding site, and everyone was still standing around. My maid of honor jumped out and made sure Chad couldn’t see me. When Erika saw us, she came running up and asked what we were doing there. I guess she thought it started at 4. Anyway, she was able to get everything together in about 5 min. (impressive). My aunt and Uncle started playing (yes, we brought our own musicians AND pastor). The wedding site was more beautiful thank I ever could have imagined. There were so many beautiful flowers. Gorgeous! Walking down the aisle was better than I ever could have imagined. There were about 30-50 people from the beach who cheered me on. (Erika made them leave once the ceremony started). It was sunny...everything was perfect. Most of the ceremony was a complete blur. I guess hurricane Alex decided to join us about half-way through. As soon as our vows were done (while my uncle was playing), our moms motioned everyone to join us under the gazebo. All that was really left was the sand ceremony. It was kind cool to have all of our closest friends and family literally right there for that part of the wedding. Grandpa pronounced us married, we turned around, and realized that our champagne toast was suppose to be outside. Erika must be half super-hero. She was able to move the entire table of champagne bottles and glasses to under the covering of the beach bar. After champagne, the bridal party started taking pictures, and the family/other guests went back to the main resort. It was raining off and on, so we. would run out to the beach, take a few picts, and run back. We didn’t get all of the pictures we wanted...but we got enough good ones that I’m not upset about it. After an hour or so we went back up to the lobby for some family pictures, the photographer left, and suddenly it was 6:00, time for dinner. Dinner was at Kabah. They had a back corner blocked off for us, so it seamed like we were the only ones there. I wasn’t too crazy about having a buffet for our wedding dinner, but we figured it was better than expecting everyone to eat the exact same thing. All of the flowers from the wedding, along with some rose pedals and some little trinkets I brought were on the table. It was beautiful! Right as we were getting ready to cut the cake, a random trio of guitarists came over and started playing some Mexican dance music. Everyone got up and started dancing. Only in Mexico! Once they left, we cut the cake (Everyone LOVED the tres leches cake) and did toasts. We then headed to La Laguna for the reception (we paid $5 per person for a private, cocktail only reception). It too was set up beautifully. There were tequila sunrises waiting for everyone when we got there (we picked this out in the meeting with Erika). My little brother did an excellent job as our DJ. My uncle played our 1st dance, and the Daddy Daughter dance, my brother took care of the rest. Our bartender was great, the lighting was good, the sound-system didn’t have any issues. I think everyone had a great time. At about 10:30 the reception wound down, and everyone headed to the lobby bar we had a drink, and somehow ended up in the disco? (never thought I’d see my grandparents in a disco!) I think some of our guests staid at the disco for a while, others ended up at the saltwater pool. Chad and I were exhausted and went back to our suite. Our room was SO romantically decorated when we got back. Literally thousands of flower petals, ridiculously large towel arrangements, chocolate covered strawberries, and champagne. General notes: Our OOT bags included: -A stainless steel travel mug (perfect for carrying from bar to bar around the resort) -Oh Shit! Kit - (Pepito, tums, lotion wipes, Imodium, Tylenol, etc). At first, people thought they were ‘cute’ but the end of the trip, people said they were a lifesaver. I HIGHLY recommend including something like this. -a deck of cards (good for drinking games/rainy days) -mosquito repellent (ESSENTIAL) -a cute welcome note, telling people about the welcome cocktail -a postcard We brought boutonnieres made of silk flowers with us. They turned out great, and stayed looking nice all day. I highly recommend this. Our package came with a boutonniere for Chad, and his was a little wilted and beaten up by the time we got to the disco! My photographer (Luz María Avila - I highly recommend her!) put together a slide-show: CHAD +SARAH Let me know if you have any more questions, or need any more information! Happy planning ladies!

Quote: Originally Posted by dawnkyeknod Sarah Your pics are beautiful! You look so happy. I am glad that things went well in spite of the rain. My FI is terrifed that we will have a hurricane while we are there. Where did you have your reception? Did you pik your flowers before you went? I am 12 days away from leaving and I just want to be sure that everything is done. I admit the panic is setting in a bit.... No, I did not pick my flowers ahead of time. I went in knowing that I wanted something really bright and tropical. I'm not too picky. We brought some silk flowers for the groomsmen to wear. We thought that real flowers might wilt quickly when pinned on their shirts. They can also re-use them at our at-home-reception this weekend! The reception was a cocktail at La Laguna. My brother put together an awesome playlist, and pretty much DJ'ed. We had the place all to ourselves until about 10:30. At 11 we headed to the disco. Don't panic...it will all work out perfectly

Hey Ladies!!!! Well, I just got back from my wedding about a week ago. EVERYTHING was perfect! I was kind of freaking out about the amount of un-knowns when I went down there, but everything turned out better than I could have imagined. Don't forget that the wedding planners down there do 5-10 weddings a week. They know what works, and have every detail under control. (Hurricane Alex started dumping gallons of rain on us half way though the ceremony, and Erika was able to make it seem like no big deal. Everything still went off without a hitch. All of our guests ran up into the gazebo and stood with us for the last 5 min of the ceremony. It was actually pretty awesome). We had our ceremony at the beach gazebo, dinner at one of the buffets, and the reception at LaLaguna. Everything was decorated beautifully. It was perfect My photographer (Luz María Avila) put together a slideshow: CHAD +SARAH We have also set up a Snapfish site for our guests to post some of their pictures of the trip (password: Mexico) Snapfish: Groups: Share:Registration I have my at-home-reception next weekend...be looking for a more detailed trip report after that! (Please let me know if you have any questions, or if either of these links don't work)

Mags-If you can keep your guest count under 40, the private dinner comes with the package. It is in one of the reception places, and decorated very nicely. If you have more than 40 people the cost for a private dinner is between $45-$60. There are a few work-arounds if you end up with more people. We are going to have about 45, and my wedding is this June. I'll let you know how it goes . As for Flowers, from what I understand most of the flowers come with the package. You if you have a large bridal party or want something extravagant, you will have to buy more (from the pictures I have seen, there are so many flowers, I doubt buying more is going to be an issue for me).

Quote: Originally Posted by dawnkyeknod WOW! I didnt even think of this. We havent picked our dinner option yet. So, if you get a decorated area of a restaurant , is that at one of the a la cartes and is it for free? Cool idea! Where is your private reception (with cake etc)? By the way, we are getting married July 29- when is your wedding? From what Rocio said, yes our area of the restaurant will be blocked off and decorated. They will bring all of our decorations from the ceremony plus anything else that we want. I'm not sure if we get to go to an ala-cart restaurant...but it will be free. I am not sure where the reception will be...but I think we are going to do the cake there. My wedding is June 25th...so you'll be able to read my review before you have to make any big decisions.

Quote: Originally Posted by shortcake18 I was also wondering if anyone has heard of someone having a cocktail party instead of formal/private dinner. I am really leaning towards this idea as I think it would be lots of fun and it is a little cheaper as my numbers keep growing. Rocio said it can happen I just wanted to hear if anyone knew if someone took this route to get some idea of what it would look like. I am in the exact same boat...we don't really know how many are going to show up...but we already have more than 40 booked! I have emailed Rocio about this-our plan right now is to have the wedding, have a little time for pictures, meet up with everyone at one of the restaurants (Rocio said she would reserve one corner of the restaurant for us and have it all decorated), then we are all going to go somewhere for a 'private' reception (with drinks, cake, music, etc). This is going to cost us $5 per person (plus the $20 for the per person 'ceremony fee'). I'm getting married in July, I'll let you know how it works out. Tammi-I LOVE the pictures!!!!! They make me excited!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by ChristinaP Speaking of tan lines...I am wonddering if I will ever find a strapless bikini top that doesn't make the ladies look like one flat line...any suggestions? Try Victoria's Secrete online. They always have a lot of cute swim wear. Thanks for reminding me to look for a tan line-appropriate suit! One more thing to do I am having a hard time getting Rocio to email me back. What email address are all of you using? I have been using: <[email protected]>

Demetriosbride- What are you planning on doing for your reception I saw you are expecting 51 guests. We are planning on having between 45-50 people at our wedding, so we will not be able to get the ‘private reception’ offered with the wedding packages (which, while I understand why they have this rule…I’m a little upset about. We still have to pay the $20 per person, but just because we are going to have a few more people we have to pay more for a reception. I think they should be thanking us for getting more people to stay at the resort…but that’s just me). Anyway, I am having a really hard time justifying paying an additional $50-$60 per person for the private reception, and am wondering if you have any ideas. Thanks! -Sarah

Tammikins-First, Congratulations!!! I'm glad everything went smoothly. How does it feel to have it all over with?? Second, WOW, your flowers look amazing!!! (I might be bringing a pict with me and asking them to recreate your bouquet...if that's okay with you) The picture of you and the rest of your wedding party is fantastic. You will have to post a link to more pictures when you get them! Thanks for the great review. I'm sure I will have a bunch of questions as my day draws near. Thanks and Congratulations again!

Tammi-Congrads! I bet you are so excited! I agree, it's good to know that the WC's get better about answering emails as the big day gets closer. Have fun!! I can't wait to hear all the details and see the pictures!

Quote: Originally Posted by demetriosbride We are surprised at our # of guests...not just because we thought it would be a smaller group...but for us having to pay for the private reception...it is frightful when you add up the ceremony & reception price...ekkk! You would really think that because you have such a large number of people & are bringing so many guests (great tippers too) to the resort that there would be a deal or break in the price! The day only happening once & still cheaper than doing it in Canada (low budget one too) is re-assurance that it's just money & it will be worth every penny! (dollar/thou..lol) I am in the same boat about the expensive private reception for big groups! We have almost 40 guests booked not, and the wedding is 7 months away! I have a very hard time paying that much when everyone there has access to a free meal in one of the restaurants. We are helping pay for a good portion of our guests…so we are already shelling out quite a bit of $$! Right now we are trying to figure out if we can swing a private cocktail party after dinner as our reception. We will have the wedding, then the champagne. Then we will have a little break so we can do pictures. We will reserve a portion of one of the restaurants for dinner, and then all migrate to a private cocktail. We might hire a DJ…or maybe just use an iPod. I have no idea how/if this will work…and I have had no luck getting a hold of Rocio! I’m just throwing ideas out. February is coming quickly! Good luck with the final planning!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by tammikins Yes, the time certainly does fly by. My good friend got married 2 months ago, and she said the last month goes by so fast that once the wedding rolls around you don't know what hit you! aaah!!!! Anyways, since it seems like I'm one of the next people that are lurking around this forum to get married at the palladium, I was wondering if any of you guys wanted me to find anything out for you - like anything you want me to investigate . I guess you can e-mail Rocio, but she might not reply until after I get back (lame joke, sorry). Let me know! tammikins-I can hardly imaging how excited/anxious you must be right now!! Are you planning on having any private cocktails? If so, I would be interested to hear how that worked out. Please post a link to your picts when you get back! I would LOVE to see how everything turns out!

Quote: Originally Posted by meg444 I am looking forward to relaying information with other future GP brides, and I just want to make sure this is the current and most-used GP thread. I am getting married in December 2010 at this resort! I was just looking at the 2010 wedding packages.. are the "Vow Renewal" Packages the same as "symbolic" wedding packages? Thanks Yes, the "Vow Renewal" is the same as the "symbolic" wedding (we are going to just do the "vow Renewal" as well. Congrads!

Wow, thanks for all of the info. A LOT of good tips! I will be sure to refer back to your post as I am planning everything. Thanks again!