How excited I am to find this website! I am getting married at the GCR in just a few weeks, on January 26, 2013. I can't wait to share my story and hear what past or present brides have to say about it! So we picked this hotel because of the chapel. I am not (was not) Catholic, but took the classes through our church so that I could get married before God. My fiance is divorced, and after making all final payments and solidifying everything, our Priest informed us that he would not write the letter of approval becuase his anullment would not be done in time. I will say that this was a really big deal for me and NO fault of GCR's at all. However, I do feel that my corporate wedding planner through Real Resorts could have been a little more kind about me having to change my wedding package. We had already finalized a Royal Catholic Wedding with 43 guests, and because I could no longer get married in the chapel we had to change our package. She was not very quick at getting me the new contract and while I was waiting for it to be sent over she threatened to cancel my wedding? We worked it all out, but only because at 6pm on a Saturday night I was in front of the computer sending her the new contract and other required documents I had never even seen before (a rooming list with each guests confirmation code?). There are several instances in which she forgot to send me payment confirmations and then asked me where they were, which I thought weren't even needed if your payment was under a certain dollar amount. There's also been instances where she's sent me multiple, different emails, but on the same topic, so I was confused on what was what. Now that everything is finalized, I have been informed of the local, on-site, Hotel wedding planner that will be helping me and I am hoping for a better experience. We have not spoken yet, but I have found the same thing as other brides- this hotel/wedding facility is not very accomodating with discounts, extras, or negotiating. I can't even get reservations in one of the restaurants for a "rehersal" dinner the night before without being charge $15/person. So instead I am having everyone meet in the Lobby Bar the night before. My fiance is taking all the groomsmen fishing that morning, but I haven't found much else to do on site. There is a spa, but my bridesmaids get in throughout the day on Friday, so I found that just inviting all of our guests to hang in the lobby bar on Friday before heading out to dinner was a good way to get everyone together. We did pay the $400 fee for having a weekend evening wedding. This is non-negotiable for all weddings on Fri or Sat at 4pm or later. We also paid a $400 fee for the minister. This is non-negotiable if you choose the Classic Wedding Package, but had been included on our Royal Catholic Wedding Package. I also sprang for the DJ for our reception, and so far he has the best customer service of everyone! He contacted me immediately, includes fireworks, and also is the MC for the wedding introduction! He has song lists he sends you in advance, schedules time to meet with you once you arrive at GCR to go over the wedding plans, and isn't pushy on the light-up dance floor or any other "extras". I did NOT hire the hotel's photographer or any local photographer. I have a very dear friend that owns a photography studio and offered to pay her and her husbands trip if she would do my photography, and believe it or not, the cost is the same. It was $1500 to bring her and a guest for 2 days and $1500 to hire a local photographer. She opted to bring an assitant instead of her husband, which certainly works out in my favor! I am anxious to see if the hotel charges us the vendor fee after everything we've spent already & knowing she is a guest of the hotel! Plus there are more items we'd like to add (bridesmaids bouquets, maybe a different cake) to our wedding package that I didn't want to do through the corporate wedding planner. I am hoping the on-site planner is easier to work with. We also decided to extend our stay in Mexico and send our kids home with our parents. I contacted reservations to see if they would give us a discount if we stayed the extra 4 nights at GCR. The discounted rate for just the hotel stay was $1100. I thanked the reservations specialist for the discounted rate, but let her know we opted to stay elsewhere for less money. We love Cozumel, so we are heading over there for $800 for the 4 nights instead. All this being said, we are just as excited for our vacation here as we are for our wedding. The beach is gorgeous, the rooms are sleepable, and there are plenty of choices for food and drink. And with 43 of our closest friends and family, what else could you need?!
Emily, you should be able to choose from the menu you sampled...I'd fight with them over that. When we had to change our package last minute, they made me go by the old rates/packages because I booked last year. The same should be true for your menu choices...