Coba Bride 2012

Hi Girls, Sorry my review is a little late. Resort: Gran Bahia Principe Coba Week: June 2-June 9th, 2012 Wedding Day: June 5th Airport: The Cancun airport took a long time to go through the customs. Once we eventually got through we had to find our bags. Dustin and I had 2 Suitcases, 1 dufflebag, 1 carry-on, Wedding Dress and golf clubs. We gave another dufflebag to my mom as we did not have enough weight. My mom went through the scanner and pushed the button, and turned red. All of the bags of my mom had to be searched. I had wrapped all of the bubba kegs in bubble wrap and put some supplies in cardboard boxes that all had to be taken apart to be searched. Our bags went through the scanner and pushed the button it turned green. Yay! one of the workers pointed to our dufflebag and brought it over to be searched as there were crispers and almonds in it. He opened up the box and said it was fine. We finally make our way outside and there were tons of people trying to help grab your bags. The sun wing representative told us we had our own 2 vans and gave me the intro packages for everyone. I then noticed that Dustin and I did not have one. I asked the Sun wing rep and told us that we were going to our honeymoon resort first. I started to get a little upset, but he figured it out 30 mins later and we squeezed into the vans with the rest of our group. Resort: Is beautiful. The 3 resorts in size are spread out and is really hard to find people throughout the day. We found it easier to have a main pool area on the Coba to have people know where most of the guests were. The landscaping is beautiful and is kept up. There were a lot of mosquitoes during that week and had to buy bendryl for my breakouts.. The trains-carts were running fairly often but would have to ask them where they were going. If there were no trains you would walk and in the first couple days we were lost. We were in Villa 3b and most of our guests were in 14 a/b. Be prepared that your guests will need to pay to rent the safe I believe it was $5/day. We reserved 35 seats at the buffet for dinner 2 nights in a row which worked out great it was mostly private in the back corner of the buffet. We did not reserve dinner the next night and was told that they do not allow large groups that sit all together without a reservation. They eventually let us sit all together after being persuaded. The rooms in the resort were clean and made up everyday. Overall the resort was beautiful and the staff were somewhat friendly but the resort is too big to try to find someone. Wedding Day: We had a meeting with Maria 2 days before the wedding and gave her all of the decorations for both the ceremony and reception. I am really organized so when she would ask about where people were siting I had the cards made and a map. It was really great to have all of the details worked out before we got there. She went over in detail the cost of everything. I had originally booked the Portfino for the dinner but had to be changed to the Mediterranean because they were renovating it. Maria ensured that we would have the menu of the Portifino. I made fan programs for everyone to meet at the Portifino so I had to make sure to tell everyone where to go instead. On the Monday before the wedding we had 4 guests show up without RSVP and told me it was a surprise. I had to let Maria know that 4 more people will be at the dinner and to add chairs to everywhere. The wedding day was perfect. My hair appointment was at 11 am at the Bahia Spa. I showed the girl a picture of it and my hair looked beautiful. Some of the guys went golfing in the morning, so Dustin and I would not see each other at our resort. Ceremony: Our wedding ceremony was located at the akumal beach location at 3pm. All of our guests had to meet in the lobby at 2:30pm to be picked up by the train to drive over to the location. My girls and I had our own train to come and pick us up. We arrived at the location and everything to the music, the way it was decorated and the weather ( a little windy but it made everything cooler) was great. We did the symbolic ceremony which had a little too much religious content in it for us. The minister also forget to get us to sign the certificate and we had to go back after the champagne and sign it. The certificate had our last names incorrect as well. The minister did finally get it spelt correctly.We did a lot of pictures in the different locations of the resorts. We did cancel the services of the Acreife photography. I did not want them in any of my pictures. Our photographer was a family member who does this professionally. Dinner: The dinner was at 6pm and was delicious. The dinner location was changed due to renovations. We had the chicken gonzola. Maria decorated it just as we wanted. We had to change our reception space as there was a chance of rain that night. We did our speeches at the dinner which did not take up the dance in the reception. Reception: Our reception started at 8pm-11pm. We changed it from the pool side to the music bar. We had the standard drinks available and our bartender was really great. We hired DJ Brijan who did an amazing job. Everyone was dancing for the whole 3 hours. We had glow sticks, necklaces & bracelets which were a big hit with everyone. Overall, the day was perfect and beautiful and there were no hiccups. Below are a few pictures: OOT Bags

We leave in 3 days!!! Just wanted to say thank you to all of the ladies on this forum. I will post a review when we return.

We are leaving a week from today and Maria has not emailed me back since April 18. I know she is reading my emails. It is very frustrating.

Thank you TIseege for clarifying on the ceremony music and the Mexico customs. I have put all of my wedding stuff in just 2 duffle bags. I have made receipts in excel for everything. I am taking 1 of the duffle bags and my mom is taking the other for me. That is a great idea - putting a note in the bag indicating it is for a wedding. Thank you for all your help! I am definetly giving our bridal party their gifts before we go.

Hi Girls, I only have 16 days until we leave and I am finishing up some of the last minute details. I was wondering about the music for the ceremony. Do they have a iPod hookup or is it a CD player? I read somewhere that it couldnt be Mp3 type or something. I also read that the customs in Mexico can be a little strict and that you are only allowed $300 per person to declare on non-personal items not including ( wedding bands, wedding dress etc). Like the OOT bag supplies and wedding supplies they might think we are reselling the stuff in Mexico. Has anyone experienced being searched at the red light? I have my receipts for everything and have My mom taking one of my duffle bags. I will be giving my Wedding party gifts before as it will be easier. Also does anyone know if there is a seating arrangement for the Portofino restaurant for 33 people with no head table. I have tried emailing Maria since April 27 and received no responses. Does anyone know any fascinating spots for photos on the resort or close to the resort. Thank you for everything! So excited

Hi Girls, does anyone know where to get kid cups for a reasonable price. The kids are 8 and 7 years old. Thanks

Hi Girls, I emailed Arriefe photo to see how much it would be to have our ceremony video taped. They stated in their email that absoultley no outside photographers are allowed. Are we able not to use them at all? Our wedding is the remember package. If a guest is staying there and so happens to have a camera are they classified as a Photographer and do we have to pay the $500. Thanks ladies.

Hey Girls, At La Vie en Rose there are wet swimsuit bags for $1.95 each. I bought them for my OOT bags.

Katiemac - Glad your Fiance is back home. Wishing you both the best and a speedy recovery. Chelsey xxx The music we are using for the Ceremony is: Bridesmaids: Love Story (acoustic version) - Taylor Swift Bride: Something (acoustic version) - Beatles Signing: ? Recressional: Praise you - Fatboy Slim

Hi Trisha, We are thinking about taking my Fiance's cousin down to take our pictures. I am not sure if she will need a permit. Do you happen to have a website or forms that need to be filled out and the equipment restricitions? Thank you for all your help

Hi Girls, I was wondering if anyone had a list of the resorts daily activities. Like beach volley to dancing. I would like to include these in my welcome book to my guests. Thank you

Has anyone chose the Remember Package (Symbolic)? We are getting married the day before we leave - sign the papers in canada. We are not telling anyone. I was wondering if anyone would notice that it is not legal. Thanks

Awesome, Everything looked great! Congratulations!!!

They look awesome thanks for sharing:)

Awesome Job! Did Vistaprint make your Wedding Week Survival Kit label?

Thanks for the tip I might have to go shopping this weeknd.

Great Job!

Awesome idea!

Hi Cantstopsmiling, I am also doing 1 OOT Bag per couple. I bought my bags off of cheaptotes.com and used iron on transfers to personalize the bags. My OOT bags probably will cost $30 but I am not going to do favors. Some resorts will not allow you to ship the supplies to the resort ahead of time. If every bride sent them ahead of time that would be a lot of supplies they would have to store. I am bringing my OOT bags with me in a collapsable duffle bag because after i hand them out I can put the duffle bag in my suit case. Hope it helps.

Some Resorts will not allow supplies shipped to the resort before. There would be a lot of decorations and supplies there if the did that for every bride. I am just going to bring all my OOT Bags with me.

2012 is here yay!!! I have decided to let my girls pick their own dresses. I want to make some specifications like the fabric and of course color. Would chiffon be the best for a light/beachy find of bridesmaid dress?

I have no idea what my FI will wear yet.I love the short sleeved idea.

That is awesome idea!!

Thanks Tricia, I love your brochure it is such a great idea. welc v2.pdf

Thanks Tricia, I love your brochure it is such a great idea. welc v2.pdf