soonerrae

Hello Everyone, I just got married on January 8th at OGX. It was fantastic. It was a bit cold - we got plastered with the cold front that hit the lower US last week. BUT, we all managed to layer up in our "summer" clothing and find things to do to keep warm. The resort is ENORMOUS. There's a shuttle that takes people around the grounds. Walking from the beach area to the lobby is probably 10-15 minutes. SO, when you go to the beach, take a bag with you. You certainly don't want your umbrella drinking time to be too interrupted by running up to get the sunscreen you forgot!! There are a couple of little animal pens on site with monkeys, deer and flamingos. Make sure to try to negotiate a pass to Xcaret park with your package. It's a great day excursion. Food was okay. I've been to many all inclusive resorts with better food. The seafood restaurant was by far the best. BUT, they only serve seafood. So make sure everyone in your dining party enjoys it. Marialma was great. She's very friendly and energetic. We were extremely happy with the job she did. We hired a mariachi band for the ceremony and the reception. They were the highlight of the evening. Stuff to make sure of: - Make sure they make your bouquet exactly how you want it. I pointed to a picture of a bouquet that had only Hawaiian flowers. I wanted some ivory orchids in there as well. I ended up getting some sort of broccoli looking thing that I didn't like. It wasn't a big deal, but some people are picky about their bouquets... - Do a rehearsal the night before. Make sure that Marialma is available. - Do all the meetings with photographers and Marialma asap. Or arrive a day earlier than everyone. We had ours moved to a later time in the day and it put a huge dampener on hanging with our friends and family. - Make sure to talk to the photographer about what time is best to have the ceremony. Ours was scheduled for 4:30 but we had to move the time up because we didn't have enough time for pictures. He loves props! We saw some photos with a couple with balloons. I had Marialma arrange the balloons for us. They are by far my favorite photos of the day. Cancun Studios was amazing. Augustin and his wife were a great team - very fun to work with. And the pictures are gorgeous. He really tried to do some artistic stuff with us. We definitely came out with photos that are not the typical wedding photos. I'm still waiting for the final product. BUT, from what we saw, he did a spectacular job. The semi-private reception was nice. Very laid back and much cheaper than the private. It was worth it for us. Having other guests in the restaurant only made our party seem a little bigger!! If you want any sort of cake topper, make sure to bring them. We had some little bride and groom rubber ducks that a friend gave us. They were perfect. Very cute and original. The spa at the hotel was also very good. Claudia ended up giving me a foot reflexology massage while my hair was being finished. It was the perfect thing to relieve wedding day stress. I'll post pictures asap. Good luck!!

Hello Everyone! I'm getting married here in January 2010 and am just getting the planning underway. We've been bombarding Marialma with questions this week and she's very quick to respond. Any thoughts on the reception? We're debating whether to spend the extra dough on a private reception. Has anyone here done the semi-private? Was it awkward to do speeches in a restaurant with other people eating dinner? Any other tips would be helpful! I've been reading all the posts and taking notes! Good luck to all the brides!

Hello! My wedding is at the Occidental Grand Xcaret in January. I'm just getting the plans in motion now. If anyone has any suggestions for this resort please let me know!! Thanks! Sooner