JacksonGrl402

Thanks! We are very happy with how things turned out. I really don't think we could have asked for anything better! It's my understanding if you are using someone other than the resort photographer and they are one of your guests staying on the resort, you don't have to pay the $300 fee. However, if you're bringing in someone for the day to take pictures, that is when the $300 fee applies. My uncle took our pictures and was staying on the resort, so the fee didn't apply to us. I did have the lasagna, which was delicious. My husband had the steak, which was a little salty, but still good. They were out of the snapper that day, though, and I'm not sure what the vegetarian option was, but I didn't hear any complaints from our guests about the dinner. We had the restaurant from 6:30-10:30, then most of our guests migrated to one of the lobby bars.

Italian Restaurant

Submitted it before I finished! Here's more pics... The view from the palapa

The Palapa

I was a little panicky about the weather too, but having the ceremony in the palapa was beautiful and think I actually liked it better than if it would have been on the beach. Gave it a little more character, ya know? You'll love the Italitan restaurant - it's lovely. Pics in my next post!

It really was amazing! I will definitely post some pics - stand by! We did not use the resort photographer and didn't talk to them at all before the wedding. I actually didn't even realize she was there until after the ceremony was over...lol. She came up to me afterwards and told us when we could go look at the pics she took. My uncle reported he didn't have any issues with her while he was taking pictures. I'm not sure if they would be willing to swap anything out or not. We never saw more than one wedding on the days that we were there, so maybe that is true. That would be nice - makes the day a little more special!

Finally had a few minutes to breathe, so thought I would get started on the review! I'll start with the wedding related stuff (most important part!), then I'll give you my thoughts on the resort. We did a symbolic ceremony and went with the gold package through the resort. We did our travel arrangements through Apple Vacations and had 40 guests. We arranged ahead of time to have the rehearsal dinner in the Cajun Restaurant and the reception in the Italian Restaurant. Arrival at the Resort We arrived at the resort 2 days before the wedding with a little more than half of our guests. Pamela (one of the Wedding Coordinators) was waiting for us in the lobby and personally took care of getting us checked in. She immediately took my dress to be steamed. We set up our meeting with her for later that afternoon. Planning Meeting The meeting lasted about an hour and went very smooth. At the suggestion of some of the others on here, we took all of our e-mails with us, but didn't end up needing them (still a good idea, though). We went over the details sheet that we e-mailed to them ahead of time, double-checking everything.They did throw us for a little bit of a loop, though. We booked our trip with Apple Vacations, and Apple does a beach bbq for all of it's guests. They told us if we wanted to move our reception to the beach bbq, we could with no extra charge. It would give us 2 hours of live music, although the other Apple guests would be there (it wasn't very many, though), then we would have 2 hours on the beach for our private party with our original plans of having the sound system. We decided to do it since it was a bit of an upgrade with no extra cost, and that was it! We brought favors, centerpieces, etc., so we took those down to their office the next day. We explained what everything was and how we wanted it set up and they took care of the rest! Rehearsal Dinner So it's not exactly a "rehearsal" - it's just a dinner at one of the a la cartes for all of your guests, and it can be anytime during your stay, not necessarily before the wedding. We wanted it the night before so we could give our wedding party their gifts. Before we left, we requested the Cajun Restaurant. Because the resort was not a full capacity, not all of the a la cartes were open every night. Of course, the Cajun was not open that night. They originally wanted us to change the night, but we had guests leaving the day after the wedding and really didn't want to postpone it. Pamela worked her magic and somehow got the Mediterranean Restaurant open that night! The dinner was not supposed to be private, but because we had so many people, we had the entire restaurant to ourselves, then they opened it up to other guests after we were done. Hair & Make Up The only thing I can really say about the hair and make up is that it was AMAZING! First of all, I forgot all of the pictures I had from my trial run at home. I did have one on my cell phone, which wasn't very good, but it gave her a general idea and we looked through some of the magazines to find some similar styles. She did an incredible job! I got so many compliments on my hair and make up! The only complaint I have is the ride to the spa. It was pouring down rain and they didn't have the cover on the shuttle. The water was dripping off the roof onto me the entire ride - by the time we got to the spa, it looked like I just came out of the pool - absolutely drenched. But they gave me a robe to change into so my clothes could dry out while they worked on my hair. My appt was scheduled for 11:30 and we finished up around 1:45. Flowers The flowers were beautiful and exactly what we ordered (white lilies and coral roses). My bouquet arrived at the room about 3:30 and was just perfect - not too big, not too small. The centerpiece for the table at the ceremony was a little smaller than I expected, but it was still lovely. The Wedding & Reception It started raining about 10:00 in the morning and the wedding was scheduled for 4:00. They originally told us the back up plan would be in the little palapa outside of building 29. The only view from this palapa was the building and the towel shack. Needless to say, when it started raining I was just a little upset, as I didn't come to Mexico to get married looking at a towel shack! =) Cecilia (another coordinator) came to me while I was getting my hair done in the spa and needed a decision on what to do, as the weather was not likely to change. I asked her if there was any place we could do it where we could at least see the beach and the ocean and she said they could set it up in the palapa by the ocean (the one where they typically hold the receptions). Since we could at least see the ocean and beach, we agreed to move the ceremony from the beach. With that decision, we also moved the reception back to the Italian Restaurant as originally planned. In hindsight, I think the ceremony actually ended up being better in the palapa than it would have been on the beach. They took the fabric which would have been on the gazebo and used it as a back drop - it was gorgeous! We were also very lucky, as they ended up having to reschedule the wedding on Saturday because of the weather. The ceremony itself was lovely.The minister was really good - she kept it light, but managed to make it sweet and meaningful, too. She also did great with my step-son, whom we included in the sand ceremony. We were in the palapa for quite a while after the ceremony, as there was only one shuttle to take guests to the reception. It gave us plenty of time to get pictures taken, though. The reception in the Italian Restaurant was wonderfult! It was very elegant and they did a great job setting it up exactly as we wanted. The food was great, too. My only complaint is that the meal took forever, which didn't give us as much time for dancing afterwards as I would have liked. Everyone seemed to enjoy though, which I guess is what matters! Based on the reviews of others, we decided against the DJ and just rented the sound equipment, which worked out just fine for us. Photos My uncle is a photographer, so he took our pictures for us. He said there were no issues with the resort photographer.. The pictures from the resort were decent, but not great. My sentiments are about the same as most everyone else - if that was all I had, I'd probably be upset. The Wedding Coordinators No worries here - these ladies are incredible! I mainly dealt with Pamela, who is an absolute sweetheart. They work so hard and are so accommodating. Cannot say enough about my experiences with them! Overall, we loved, loved, loved our wedding! Whew! This is way longer than I thought and I haven't even started on the resort yet! I think I'm going to take a little break, but promise I will get the resort info up soon. I tried to cover everything, but might have missed some stuff, so feel free to ask questions! I also have pictures of the flowers, palapa, Italian and Mediterranean Restaurants, which I'm happy to send. Kayla

Hello girls! Just got back from GS yesterday - tan, happy, and most importantly - married!! So much to tell you all, but in short, even though it rained, everything was wonderful. It will probably take me a couple of days, but I promise the full review is coming very soon!

Hi Ladies! We're leaving in 2 days for our wedding at GS - can't believe it's finally here! I'll post a review when we return!

Thanks! Those were two of the items we decided to splurge on a bit. I think they will enjoy them.

@Britt - great idea! We're doing an informal "meet & greet" on the night the majority of our guests arrive. Doing it there would save us a lot of time vs. going to each person's room to deliver the bags - thanks!

We are getting married at Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya. We're less than 6 weeks away - holy margaritas! Where are you getting married?

I never thought to do it at the airport, but it's not a bad idea because it is a lot to pack up, plus it would be a nice surprise for the guests! Could be a little hectic, but if you're putting lotion, hand gel or aloe in, might be harder to get them through security if they want to carry them on. I have a friend who is a TSA Agent. I asked her about packing the welcome bags and she said if there's liquids to make sure they are in checked baggage. She said it will flag big time if all of that is carried on. Hope that helps!

Thanks, Cape! Here is the link to them - they are $10.50/dozen. I'm really happy we decided to go with them - can't beat it for the price! http://www.orientaltrading.com/large-hibiscus-tote-bags-a2-34_737-12-1.fltr?Ntt=hibiscus+bags