MrsShoreytobe

Hey peeps! Didn't quite know where to land this inquiry, some "ceremony times" threads seem quite dead. Our amazing photographer to be, Gonzalo, has kindly mentioned that sunset is Around 530 in Mexico in march. Unfortunately I set our ceremony for 4pm a while back at the GSP, and there are several other weddings so no way to move our time now. However, getting pics from 430 to 530 seems very tight for bridal party pics, family pics, and couples ones. I am trying not to let myself feel like I ruined this day (yes I am feeling dramatically bad about this), but I am worries about pics. Any input on this? Suggestions on how to work around this? Much thanks ladies !

Hey peeps! Didn't quite know where to land this inquiry, some "ceremony times" threads seem quite dead. Our amazing photographer to be, Gonzalo, has kindly mentioned that sunset is Around 530 in Mexico in march. Unfortunately I set our ceremony for 4pm a while back at the GSP, and there are several other weddings so no way to move our time now. However, getting pics from 430 to 530 seems very tight for bridal party pics, family pics, and couples ones. I am trying not to let myself feel like I ruined this day (yes I am feeling dramatically bad about this), but I am worries about pics. Any input on this? Suggestions on how to work around this? Much thanks ladies !

Very nifty, thanks again to you as well!!! My poor fiancé and I are stuck hashing this stuff out so late at night because he works 10 days away, Etc.. Talking money and wedding At 11pm each night gets taxing lol!

Thank you VERY much! I really wish my coordinator would just say this stuff instead of me going back over and over again asking for more details. So appreciated, bringing this to my fiancé now!

Hey you! I ditto the thanks people have offered you so far Sounds like the day was a blast. Hubby to be and I are really trying to nail down what is most important to us and what we believe is worth paying for...The beach reception, however, seems quite feasibly at 25 pp, even without the food you got *although it looked awesome!*. I wasn't quite sure if I could tell the set up of the reception, but our coordinator, Guillermo (aka Memo) showed us a pic that looks like the seats are all lined up one after another, and when I asked if we could simply have circular tables, he said a different set up would be extra (what the heck isn't extra anyways...grr)...Anyways, with that said, do you have any more pics of the set up for guests? Also, I saw you hired a DJ, and from my queries about audio equipment, this is definitely extra, at like 560 for 2 hrs. Is this what you paid for your audio equipment or was the equipment automatic with your DJ? Basically, if we could have a private area for just a few hrs to do speeches and dance on the beach, with liquor in hand, that's what we'd like to do. Even if it was inside. Point being, the Chill Out looks fantastic, but the cost is astronomical to me. If you have any input on my above ramble and questions, that would be MUCH appreciated!

SOOOO HAPPY FOR U! U and I had been discussing things a while back, can't believe your day has already come!! Your review here so far has been VERY informative. I plan on now pressuring our coordinator lol, to allow us to do speeches in the restaurant. I believe ALL of us here had been told no cake cutting or speeches in the restaurants bc of other guests, but f you guys got to do it, I plan on pushing for it too! We also decided to nix the cake, but had wondered about doing indoor reception like u did instead of beach! Was urs still 25/32/38 per person for the reception set up? Did u have to ask/push for them to allow speeches and cake cutting at dinner? La fondu is gorgeous and it was great to hear u enjoyed it. We will be having a slightly smaller # than ur wedding, but so great to see someone who had similar -#s as us!!! You made my day lol. So happy for u and your new HUBBY!!! Ps- I can already tell the resort ties your hands and doesn't really give "special treatment" to wedding parties. I am going to keep positive that things go well when we get there. Also interesting point about the platinum sites! So far 95% are staying in regular junior suites, we shall see!!!!

My post above urs is ditto to your uncertainty about what to do post dinner! The regular beach reception (with lowest liquor I guess) - is 25 pp... Have u thought of any other options??

Another "process" question for those of you experienced here at the GSP So our wedding is March 8th at the sunset gazebo (yahoo!) at 4pm. I am wondering if I can get any of you takes on our hopes for the wedding day. Firstly, our photographer will be Gonzalo Nunez and we have him for 7 hrs that day. My q relates to the whole getting ready process - I see many brides getting ready even before noon, and with a 7 hr photography, doesn't the photograpoher end up sitting around doing nothing for a lot of this time? I don't see myself needing 5 hrs to prepare, but I just wanted to see how other ladies handled that and how they HANDLED THE PHOTOGRAPHER. I believe Gonzalo will be completely cool with waiting around if need be, whereas a lot of other photographers seem to be like "its 7 consecutive hours and that's IT!". Thoughts? Next, we understand there are 3 weddings the same day as us, so we have to figure out reception ideas asap. Our wedding planner, Guillermo, has been wonderful, but has given us back the typical pdf of SET PRICES for things like a beach reception, etc. I was hoping we could negotiate some different ideas, but it seems pretty set. My Q is: What restaurant would you all choose for your dinner (presumably free with wedding package)...I've heard good things about Vaqueria but we have 40 ppl about and it technically can only do 25. My other inquiry: We definitely feel its silly to have to pay for ANY LIQUOR at ALL at an all inclusive. However, since we CANNOT DO CAKE CUTTING, FIRST DANCES, AND SPEECHES in the restaurants, we are seeking an alternate location. Based on emails etc we seem to have the option of a BEACH RECEPTION (WITHOUT FOOD) FOR $25 pp. I saw one bride indicate they had to pay to rent audio equipment for this reception, so I asked my WC about this. Essentially, if any of you have similar plans or had similar hopes for your wedding, can you share what was the most economical way of making this happen? We really don't need a place to dance ALL night, as we will likely head to disco. but what WE ARE LOOKING FOR IS AN ECONOMICAL IDEA FOR A PLACE TO ENJOY CAKE CUTTING, SPEECHES, AND THE FIRST DANCES. We inquired about this "entertainment area" that is open to the public in the resort, but because it's part of the inclusive services to everyone, they can't reserve it exclusively for a wedding. Sorry for the long blab. I've definitely followed things in here since our engagement in April, but any feedback on my specific questions would be much appreciated!!!

Thank you very much for your input!!! We still couldn't access their website for some reason, and in the end, we were deciding between photographers like Luckie, Juan Navarro, and Gonzalo Nunez. We decided to go with GONZALO AND I AM SO EXCITED! We knew we wanted to make this decision fairly soon for our march 8 wedding, so we opted out of resort photographers since we couldn't access enough pics. Yours turned out very nice though I really appreciate you passing that along!

Hey ladies, Sorry to ask random q's in here, I've been following along with this newest convo (and so helpful!) but just wondered if I could ask you all about the resort photographers, should any of you have any direct pics from them/opinions on them. My fiance and I cannot seem to access their website and I really want to fully examine them before counting them out. I don't think they will be used, but my fiance wants to make sure we consider all options Much thanks guys! katie

Ditto to other comments, our top resort is grand sunset princess, and it would be great to have a Webinar on this and other resorts!

Funny u mention this, my friend just got off the phone with me and told me all about his family's visit there! He said it was immaculate, gorgeous for weddings, food was wonderful... Only "complaint" was that they didn't have a lot of new ppl to meet BC it was a lot of couples (at weddings etc)... However, overall it was lovely!!!

I was so happy to hear that things at least ENDED WELL! And hey sometimes those irate phone calls are needed and I would be putting my fiancé up to the task if ever needed lol. I am happy we aren't going with them anyways, but at least some people on here are hopefully benefiting from the info I found out.

Yes definitely. It seems like a trend that these companies will hide this type of thing unless hounded by customers. It's not right for people to be screwed over like this.

Hey fellow GSP lovers I am writing a "random" post compared to what the train of convo is in here now, but I wanted to update and see if anyone has experienced something like this before! So hubby to be and I had narrowed places down to Riu Mexio, GSP, and bahia principe coba. 2 wks ago though, we got an email from our travel agent, who was called into an EMERGENCY CONFERENCE CALL (yes, serious! Lol) with all other private TAs in Canada. I guess major legal changes were happening with airlines and resorts, and they were taking immediate steps to INCREASE TAXES BY 26%....This crazy change was going to take place any day after the phone call. Also, Sunwing is going bankrupt within the next year, and so lots of stuff is going on that is affecting all potential travelers (we were never going to use these guys anyways though). When I first got the email from my TA about all of this, I immediately asked to call her and we chatted on the phone. Although we were willing to wait to book later in the summer, my TA honestly couldn’t guess whether prices would come back down to the 1500 dollar range we needed for guests. So fiancé and I quickly decided to book, as we HAD RECEIVED QUOTES IN THE 1500 RANGE THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN GOOD UNTIL JULY 12. Well, as weekend goes on, we find out the quotes were NOT locked in, and a few days later, they said they couldn’t; honour the quote. My TA is a top notch person at what she does, so I know she put up a fight. And NOW, THE TAX INCREASE HAS TAKEN EFFECT, SO ALL PRICES ARE 1700-2000. And get this – the airlines have taken grand sunset princess OFF THEIR VACATION PACKAGES? So now we may be “forced†into booking on the more expensive Riviera Princess Side…? Anyways, this wasn’t a rant per say as I am actually calm and not worrying because it all has to work out! The great thing is, we are definitely set on booking at this resort, and prices HAVE to somehow come down again. That is what I keep telling myself With all this said, has anyone been a “victim†of this new change to prices etc? Once this resort is booked we will definitely rest easier, but here’s hoping that happens soonJ

Love this idea!!! Purple is my fav color and our wedding colors are purple/turquoise and I am including peacock as well Love these headpiece/fascinator ideas

Hey Jess thanks for this!!! And congrats on your new marriage yipeee!! I was wondering if I could ask you some q's about the details of your day, can I ask here or in a PM if you are open to it? Thanks

Hello! stbKeras you made my day lol I have been eagerly awaiting to hear about recent brides/bride to be's experience with this option (ie. regular restaurant dinner then going to 3 hr reception for dancing) Do you mind me asking you a few q's about your wedding details/how the day was planned out? I can PM you or discuss here if you want. Thanks again for your help!

You just sparked my memory thank you! I've been there a few times and it's an awesome location. I have a feeling he won't go with linen anymore though, in part because of the wrinkling and the cost. A light colored suit in general is probably in the cards! Let us know how you make out though!

awesome!!! can't wait to SEEEEE!!

This looks great! Thank you for the suggestion. We went to Zara a few wks back and my gosh the skinny leg pant is quite in right now! lol. It's not my FI's style though. Your man's pants look fairly straight leg though, did you find the suit in store or order online and get it fitted? LOVE IT! and you SHOULD BE PROUD girl! I love those two colors so much; my bouquet will have peacock feathers in it and I may have some other peacock ideas in the party, but in general, we aren't doing a super theme I suppose. But purple and turquoise are a must lol... Suits and the colors look awesome!

Oh that's right, they still don't do returns...I remember the days of shopping at le chateau and seriously never understood why they ONLY had exchanges, that's ridiculous! Fiance comes home from Fort Mac today so I hope we can check out a le chateau to at least browse! Did you end up deciding on the suit (khaki/grey)? Thanks kissta! yes hugo has been recommended, I am pretty sure I'll cry if I see prices there though HAAHHAAH!!!

Hey ladies, reposting to see if anyone has any more thoughts on this. I hear u guys on the emailing, although for a while in early may I was getting replies quote promptly! @liz- did u need PDF docs with cake ad flower pictures? I saw u mentioned waiting to hear more About flowers. I have PDFs with all cake and flower pics, along with which ones come free with packages... If u need this let me know!

Hey you! I completely missed this thread, sorry about that! I am sending you an email I got from them now! they seem to have a different doc available on their website compared to what they sent me in email, but I'm going with the email doc as being "most accurate"

Hey ladies! Forgive me if I am bringing up questions that have recently been discussed; I checked 10 or so pages back for some of this info, but couldn't quite figure it all out Hubby to be and I have been trying to narrow resorts down, and although Barcelo maya tropical is gorgeous, I am seeing quite high prices for packages, even though they only include like 20 people for the most part! Questions/Reflections are as follows: 1. Anyone have a barcelo maya tropical (or barcelo location in MR/playa) wedding for around 40-50 people? And if so, what pckg did you go with? - We likely have 40 (at least) coming to ours in early 2014. Right now, even the strawberry package ($3675!!?) includes a reception for only 20 guests. 2. What additional costs are associated with guests over the # included in the package? E.g. Take the Mint Breeze - 20 guests, $2310... 3. Has anyone taken the FREE (includes NO COCKTAIL OR DINNER) OR BLUEBERRY DREAM PACKAGE (includes ONLY cocktail hour) AND ADDED A RECEPTION TO IT? - Often taking a cheaper package means having less "extras" that we don't really care to have. Sometimes adding things "a la carte" can save overall costs. Any thoughts on this? 4. What has been anyone's experience with having an outdoors reception rather than in a ballroom? I personally don't want to be completely indoors during my DW, but inside venues seem most popular offers on their packages. Any and all advice for looking into Barcelo maya tropical would be SO appreciated ladies!