Hey everyone!
I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to this forum! I have spent the last week going through the entire thing. I can honestly say I picked GS very confidently after reading this thread.
I originally wanted to have our DW at the Barcelo in the Mayan. I went to a wedding there 1.5 years and was very happy with it. Although my FI and I always wanted to do a DW (all of my family and most of my friends live in the Maritimes, while we live in Edmonton) I've been terrified of picking a resort blindly and being disappointed. I know some ladies on here have complained how expensive the packages at GS are but in comparison to the Barcelo it is reasonable (the top package at the Barcelo is projected to be just under $11,000 CAD in 2016 and to bring a photographer into the resort for the wedding day is $500)
We ultimately chose not to go with the Barcelo as it was going to cost our guests nearly $1900 per person in April-June, which was our original choice of wedding dates. After I spoke with our TA Nicola she recommended GS as it had the same wedding vibe/vision I had explained to her (beach wedding, palapa reception)
I couldn't find too much information on the GS or their wedding options online, but then I stumbled upon this gem. Ladies let me tell you how much of a help you've been to me already, and I am in the very early stages of planning this trip! We decided to change the dates to November 29 - December 6th 2015 with the wedding on the 3rd.
I do have a question about photography as there seems to be a steady stream of negative feedback on what the hotel provides: how much would I be looking at to hire a photographer in Mexico of the day of the wedding/ TTD the following day? If I brought someone with me from Edmonton what is the expectation of payment? Do you just pay for the trip and they take care of the rest, or do you have to pay them on top of covering their travel expenses?