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I am also worried about low attendance... But really I was expecting it... I mean, I of course am hoping for a higher turn out... But I'll be happy just to have the wedding of my dreams with the love of my life!!! Sadly, my sister and her family will not be able to attend, due to the fact that they are on a strict budget with her being a stay at home mom and living on 1 income... I was of course sad about it, but I understand.... Plus I knew the risks of a destination wedding!! But it was important to us that we have the wedding that WE wanted and not the wedding that would please everyone else... My wedding is still quite a ways away, so people still have time to book... I was just hoping that people were as excited as me and would not be able to wait to book their trip!!! We've had SOOOO many people tell us that they are going to attend, but I'm really trying not to get my hopes up until they put down their deposit!!! Either way I know that my fiancee and I will have a blast and enjoy every minute of our 10 day stay!!! I really can't wait!!!

Congratulations ladies!!! We are getting married Jan 2015 in Playa del Carmen Mexico!! I am so excited!!! I can't wait for it to get here!!! I'm in the planning stages now!! Actually I feel like I've gotten all of the big things finished already!! After much review we chose the Riviera Maya area and chose to have the wedding at the Gran Porto Real... This resort met the price range which we wanted for our guests... We booked the resort and flight a few weeks ago, basically as soon as my TA had the contracted room prices and the flights were available!! i just couldn't stand to wait any longer!!! After doing much research on the resort photographer, we decided that we did not want to use them and needed to start the hunt for an outside photographer... We did A LOT more research and finally picked and booked with Dean Sanderson Photography!! We just fell in love with his photographs--Plus they have been so great to work with!!! Dean is a Canadian photographer that moved to Mexico years ago... Dean also helped us choose our videographer!! We originally were just going to have a family member do the video of the ceremony, but we decided that this was something that we wanted to have done professionally... It was just too important.... We booked Mike Cantarell--with Cancun Wedding Videos--he has some AMAZING work!! If you love to watch wedding vidoes, check his out! They really are great! Dean also gave us suggestions for our DJ- which we were able to negotiate pricing to balance out the outside vendor fee that my resort charges!! Sorry I shared so much! I'm just so excited!!!!

I feel like I'll never reach it!!!!

@acw71011 After a lot of research and stress!! Lol! We chose to work with Dean Sanderson... He has quite a lot of reviews on here and his prices for his quality is phenomenal! Please check him out if you haven't... His wife, Anna and him have been great to work with thus far and have helped us with local vendors to with refererrals! He and his wife really have been fantastic! Check out his website and facebook and I think you'll love his photography! http://deansandersonweddings.com/ Hope this helps!! Plus he can suggest a videographer that can fantastic if you're looking for one and they'll work as a team so there will only be one outside vendor fee!

Congrats ladies!! I am so excited to be planning!! I'm a planner by nature so I am loving every minute of this... Don't get me wrong, my wedding isn't until Jan 2015 and I've stressed myself out PLENTY of times!! I'm here to share ideas or anything ladies! I'm definitely no expert, but I can offer some advice if you're in need! I'm really just looking for other brides to be to share my excitement with! Happy Planning!

@@kellymiller I used a TA for my booking... I would suggest this so that your guests can book using them as well that way they can route all questions to them and you can know for sure who's paid and so forth.. Hope this helped! Happy planning!! I also know that she booked through Delta Vacations which offered my guests a $200 credit and got us a small $50 credit for each person booked.. @@CurlyKristen @@Tamra I know exactly how you ladies feel! I couldn't stand the wait to get everything booked! I checked every single day! And I know I annoyed my TA! I booked the day they can available!! My TA had to be excited!!

Congrats @@kellymiller!!

That's awesome @@Canada2015Bride!! I'm so glad to finally speak with someone who has been to that resort recently!!! I wish I could give you some recommendations, but this will be my first time in Playa... I attended a destination wedding 2 years ago..... But it was further south at the Barcelo Palace... Which is AMAZING! it's so gorgeous there and there were no people on the beach where my friend had her ceremony... The only thing is that there is no shopping area like I've heard about Playa... They did have a smaller shopping area within the resort, but from what I've heard it's nothing like the 5th ave area in Playa.... We are still deciding on which beach area to have our ceremony... Do you know which is a better option--North or Central beach??? I read that the North beach is closer to the Royal and has a nicer beach area, but IDK if that is truly the case... Here is a link for Playacar brides, I believe it's older but it may be something you'd want to check out!! http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/topic/69614-june-2013-playacar-palace-brides/ CONGRATS!!! Hope to keep in touch!!!! You may also want to check this out-- this is just from 3/20/14 http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/topic/76635-new-playacar-bride-donation-for-you/ Here's what this bride says.... Hello Ladies! When I first started this adventure I had my heart set on Playacar! It is such an amazing resort and so quite compared to the hustle and bustle of the the bigger resorts. I proceeded to place a down payment of $460, soon after I realized it was out of my guests budget. I was heart broken to think we would have to get married elsewhere but it was also important for my loved ones to be present. Long story short I ended up changing our wedding to another resort and lost my deposit at Playacar=( So if there is a bride out there that fell in love with Playacar, like I did, I would love to donate my deposit to you. I spoke to Playacar and it is transferable but only for a new wedding book. Please let me know if anyone is interested or pass this along to anyone that might want it alexxalexx17@@gmail.com You may wish to take her up on this offer if you pick this resort!!!

Is there a new webinar going to rescheduled for the Royal and Gran Porto since it was cancelled???

Congratulations ladies!!! Have you begun your planning???

Hello and congratulations brides to be!! I know you're all super excited and ready for your wedding cuz I can hardly stand it!! I got engaged 12/31/13 and have finally officially booked our wedding at the Gran Porto in Playa Del Carmen for Jan 2015!!!! And it can't get here fast enough!! My fiance is on a 7 month deployment so I'm basically planning alone but in all honesty, it's keeping me busy and I love every minute of it!! I'd love to chat with other brides about anything!! Happy planning ladies!! @@aborgesbride I've booked my Jan 2015 wedding flight times and all... I didn't feel like the prices were too high... I attended a friends wedding 2 years ago in Riveria Maya and paid so far my guests have paid about the same as I did... My MOH got her fight and room for 1200 for 4 nights at Gran Porto Real.. She booked thru my local TA, who used delta vacations... Which gave her 200 off plus we'll get 50 for each person who books with our group... Hope I've been of some help! Happy planning!

I can't wait to get 150!!!! I'm wedding obsessed right now so I imagine it won't take long! I'm so addicted to this site!! I've found so much helpful information! Only sad thing is, I haven't found a whole lot of new brides to be choosing my resort... I'm not regretting or second guessing, because I know it'll be amazing no matter what! It would just be nice to discuss specific information and share ideas! But.... I'd love to chat with any brides to share things!! Happy planning ladies and congratulations!!

Hello and congratulations brides to be!! I know you're all super excited and ready for your wedding cuz I can hardly stand it!! I got engaged 12/31/13 and have finally officially booked our wedding at the Gran Porto in Playa Del Carmen for Jan 2015!!!! And it can't get here fast enough!! My fiance is on a 7 month deployment so I'm basically planning alone but in all honesty, it's keeping me busy and I love every minute of it!! I'd love to chat with other brides about anything!! Happy planning ladies!!

I'm getting married at the Gran Porto in PDC Jan 2015!!! I'm so excited I can't stand it! Congrats ladies!!

I am getting married at the Gran Porto Real in Playa del Carmen 01/07/15!!! I am so excited!!!!!

Are there plans for a new webinar to be scheduled???

CONGRATS!!!!!

Have you looked at the Gran Porto Real??? I have a wedding booked there for Jan 2015... It's a smaller resort, but their prices are in your price range... One of my guests just paid 1200 for a 4 night stay in a standard room... I used a travel agent and she booked through delta vacations which also gave them a $200 credit for booking--Plus we get $50.00 back for every person who books.... The good thing about this is that you and your fiancee can book across the street at their sister resort The Royal and you two will have full access to the Gran Porto... We are doing that just so that we have an escape from our guests for after the wedding. Hope this was helpful!

I booked Dean Sannderson.... His quality is fantastic and prices are very reasonable!!! Definitely worth checking out!!! https://www.facebook.com/DeanSandersonWeddings http://deansandersonweddings.com Dean and Anna are great!!!

I am not one of those brides.... But I am doing a wedding in Riveria Maya in 2015.... I have done extensive research on a photographer and videographer.... After all of that research I found Dean Sanderson http://deansandersonweddings.com or at his FB https://www.facebook.com/DeanSandersonWeddings.... We absolutely loved his photographic style and him and his wife Anna have been an absolute delight to work with.... And trust me thief prices are fantastic given the quality received.... Also after contacting Dean and Anna, I asked for a referral to a videographer that they had worked with and they gave me Mike Cantarell http://mikecantarellfilms.com... He has also been great throughout the booking process.... He offers two different types of video styles and we choose the traditional based on pricing... Which again for the quality was very low! Great thing about these two is that they will go to the resort as one "team" so that you are inky charged one outside vendor fee (assuming your resort will charge) Hope this was helpful!!! Bambi

Getting married 01/07/2015!!!! SO EXCITED!!! We've booked the Gran Porto Real--anyone else looking at this resort??? I've been planning since October and have been anxious to get everything going!! The flights and resort just recently put up their prices so I booked!!! I'm too anxious to wait for anything, so I HAD to get the ball rolling!!! Here's what I have booked so far-- --resort-- We choose the Gran Master Oceanfront which gives us full access to the Royal across the street as this is their sister resort--adult only!! That way if we need to escape from our guests we can --Wedding package- We are unsure how many guests are attending so we opted for the Classisc Wedding package (they do offer a free one if you have a certain amount of rooms books for a certain amount of nights)... We are upgrading the semi private reception to a private beach reception ($15 pp) and are hiring a DJ for an additional $950.00 which offers a light up dance floor for $750.00--undecided on this still --flight with seats reserved.. We chose to use Delta Vacation through our TA and they offer a $200 credit to guests and $50 for each ticket booked for the bride and groom. --photographer (Dean Sanderson http://deansandersonweddings.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/DeanSandersonWeddings ) check him out--his work is fantastic and him and his wife Anna have been a pleasure to work with and very helpful!! --videographer ( Mike Cantrell http://mikecantarellfilms.com/ he offers two film styles and was referred by Dean and Anna--he has been very helpful and great to work with as well... Great thing is that Dean and him often do work together and will come to the resort as a team so there is only one outside vendor fee of $350.00 Just wanted to share my information!! If there are any other 2015 Riviera Maya brides please share your experiences thus far!! I'd love to be able to ask/answer questions!!!

We too were trying to fit the resort into ours and everyone else's budget and that's why we kept coming back to the Gran Porto.... I too saw that most other brides were choosing other resorts, but I saw all the photos and fell in love with this one... I then got with my photographer and he says he loves this resort! SO I was not disappointed in my choice!!!

We did A LOT of research!! Unfortunately, we were unable to do a visit... But I have previously been to the Riviera Maya area for a friends wedding a couple of years back... She had her wedding at the Barcelo Tropical, which I believe isn't too far from the Gran Porto...it is also a great resort area!! It's is just further down the peninsula... My travel coordinator also has been to our resort and gave rave reviews for it!! Honestly, I would say that you probably couldn't go wrong with a 4 or 5 star resort in the Riviera Maya area.. The beaches are fantastic and there is an old charm to most of the resorts.... I hope that this helped!! I do know that the Royal across the street is their sister resort and you can find a TON of reviews and photos for it... It is more of a luxury Resort... It's been given 5 stars vs 4.5 for the Gran Porto.... The only reason we did not opt for that resort was due to the fact that it is adults only and we have guests bringing children... But we did book the oceanfront Gran master suite, which grants us full access to the Royal and all of it's amenities if we would like to "escape" from our guests! Good luck with your destination wedding!!!! I doubt that you're still keeping up with this blog.... But if so, could you post a few pictures of your wedding??!! We are trying to decide on whether to do the ceremony and reception on the North Beach or Central beach location... Any advise would be GREAT!!!!

Hi YProyor!! Cograts on your wedding!!! I hope this information I found is helpful... We are getting married at Gran Poto Real in Playa and the vendor fee is $350... But I did happen to come across this regarding your resort while looking for a photographer... This is what they had to say about the vendor fee... Iberostar Paraiso Beach, Iberostar Pariso Lindo: Mixed answers. We have shot there approximately 4 times. A couple times they required we spent the night, and the others were told we weren’t allowed but they would make an exception. Iberostar Quetzal, Iberostar Tucan (Playacar locations): Vendor fees of $350 for MTM Studios. Not a per/person fee. Day passes are required if we are to access food/beverages during the wedding… otherwise no bracelets or all inclusive access

Mysticjade, Congrats on getting your plans/budget in order!!! I'm just curious... When and where is your wedding??? My FI and I are getting married 01/07/15 at the Gran Porto Real in Playa Del Carmen!! We are soooo excited!!!!