Ginger1961

Upgrading to a one hour reception sounds like a great idea. Something else I'm not doing is the photograpy session. It's really expensive compared to other resorts we've looked at. My fiance is a great photographer and has a really nice camera and tripod. He figures he'll set it up and get people to push the button for us. I'd rather put the 1500somewhere else. Like I said paying for our parents to go for 4 nights and their flights is costing us about 10,000 dollars but it's worth it to us. Anyone have any pictures of ceremony sites at Sandals Bahamian? I'd love to see them. Also what is the cost to upgrade to the hour reception. I like the idea of private time too. 30 minutes seems really rushed. One other question, do they actually do a rehersal? I've seen a few ladies mention rehearsal dinners. A few other resorts we looked into before settling on Sandals do not do an actual rehearsal. Thank you everyone for all the information.

Thank you so much for the feedback everyone. It will most likely be Bahamas. I understand that things will change based on the year we get married. I'd like to know what other options I have. I thought about just what was included in the above and then just book reservations at on of the restaurants because we are such a small group. Do you think that will be okay? We're paying for our parents to go so we're trying to keep the extras to a minimum. It's more important for us to have our family there without the burden of cost on them. That's not to say I wouldn't consider doing something else. I'd like to do something fun. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Ginger

Can someone please clarify for me the cost of a the Sandals wedding packages? I've been reading the website but can't seem to figure out. I'm only staying 4 nights so I know I don't qualify for a free wedding but I think it's 500 dollars in fees for the same Beatiful Beginnings package. However, and this is where I get confused, it seems it's geared towards Bride and Groom and two guests. What if you have Bride and Groom and 6 people? How does it work? Do they charge you a fee for each person over the 4 people in the package? How much is it for the Group Weddings? I sent Sandals an email last week. They emailed me back with no information but told me to call them. No thanks. Don't want to have the pressured sales pitch before I even decide what i want. I also don't want them confusing me and encouraging me to purchase a package if I don't need one. Help me please! Thanks a bunch ladies.

I just spent the last hour scouring the internet for pictures of the wedding terrace at Playacar Palace and finally found one. Yay! Anyway, it is really really nice. I copied it to my computer so if I can figure out how to copy and paste it up here, I will. It's from someone's wedding - they posted a review on trip adviser (700 photos later) I finally found it. Suffice it to say, I'm sold. Playacar Palace it is. Ginger

I just checked out both those places online and they are sooo pretty. The decisions we must make I hope a few more brides pop into this post that may have photos to share of the terrace. Like I said, it could just be the photos that I've seen sent to me by the resort that look really dark. We are looking at a ceremony later in the day so maybe it won't matter anyway. Does anyone now how late you can do a ceremony at this resort? Also I've heard of ladies checking how many weddings are at the resort on a particular day. Is there a link or something to the website that I can check for the busy days as I haven't booked yet or do you have to ask the WC directly? Thanks a bunch Gals. Ginger

Thank you so much for the info. We're going to do an all inclusive because we're staying ten days. It just seems like a lot of planning and logistics to me to do it any other way. What about the solarium? What does it look like? I showed the pics of the terrace to my fiance and he really loved it. In his mind because we're relatively private people, it is perfect. I just want it to be pretty - that's all I'm worried about. Are there any PCP brides out there that have seen the terrace? Can you offer your opinions. I keep thinking that I love the intimate feel of this small resort and the wedding co-ordinators have been absolutely phenominal. My emails are answered within a day. I've bombarded them with so many questions and they just keep answering and are so nice about it. Everything else about the resort looks perfect to me. I love this forum by the way. Whomever is responsible for starting it up, my hat is off to you! Absolute wealth of information. Ginger

Bumping this one up as I've gotten no replies yet! Thanks bunches and bunches.

Okay ladies. I'm in a bit of a frenzy here. I'm trying to decide which resort in play del carmen to have my wedding. It is only going to be the two of us. I want to have it in a nice gazebo and I'd like the resort to be in playa. Well actually my fiance decided on playa del carmen and since he didn't ask for anything else, I figured sure why not. Here's my difficulty, I love the palace resorts wedding package. Specifically because it's free and it's only the two of us. I figured the free package with a few add ons ie photography, and maybe a soloist. However, I'm not sold on Playacar Palace wedding Terrace. I don't know if it's the pictures i've seen or what, but it looks dark and dreary. Am I wrong? Then I thought of Gran Porto Real. I love love love their weddin gazebo and the mexican style of their hotel but I have heard horror stories of some of their rooms. We're planning on a ten day trip, first part wedding, second part honeymoon and fun. We're definite movers, so we like exploring which is another reason Palace resorts appealed to me. Stay at one, play at all of them. Well the more I type the more I convince myself that the playacar palace is the way to go and I need to get over the wedding Terrace feeling. HELP me please. Someone tell me that it's gorgeous and I'm done.

Thanks so much! Wouldn't you know it, the day I post my question I received an email from the Wedding Planner with photos of the Terrace. I don't think this is what I want though Back to the drawing board for me. I think I am going to look at Gran Porto Real a little closer. Their free wedding package is almost impossible to get if you're a party of two. My fiance and I have pretty much decided we're doing it alone and private. You have to book a master suite or a presidential suite to get the free wedding. It's almost twice the cost of booking a junior suite which amounts to about 1,000 dollars more each. When you consider it's only 800 in total for the romance package, not even close to being worth it. Off I go again on the search for the perfect romantic spot. Ginger

Hi there all, I'm new to the board and just wanted to say what a great resource. I'm sooo glad I found it Before I posted my question, I sorted through everything I could to make sure the information I was looking for wasn't already posted. Couldn't find it so here goes: We are considering having our ceremony (just the two of us) at Playacar Palace in Playa Del Carmen and I've been trying to find photos of the ceremony locations and can't find much of anything. Does anyone have photos of the terrace or the solarium? I've emailed the wedding planner for the resort but haven't gotten anything back yet. I received the standard wedding packages with a small pic but it doesn't show much of the locations. Anybody that has any information on this resort, I'd really appreciate it. Ginger