TaraW

@@KirstenChrisDW2016 I haven't heard good things about the resort photographer either. It's such an important event and you can't retake photos, so for us it's a worth while expense to pay the vendor fee and hire someone I really want. Way more money than I want to spend especially with with brutal exchange rate right now, but all we have is the memories and photos after the wedding is over and I will hate myself if I try to cut corners with this. Check out playaweddings.com. If you get a min 5 hour package, they will give you an extra hour to make up for the vendor fee. I was searching the Internet for beach pics and I kept getting drawn to both her work and deal sol .... In the end deal sol was more expensive and has different photographers, where this company only has the one. Her husband is the videographer as well, and I like the intimacy of their company verses deal sol as well. Slightly off topic, we have put together a page that is going in our wedding package for our guests about our ceremony being "unplugged". Nicely put, we are asking everyone to be present in the moment with us and to put down their phones and cameras just for the ceremony. This for a few reasons: I don't want our beautiful beach wedding shots to have everyone looking through a lens, we've asked the photographers to capture lots of pics of our guests as well, and again I don't want them looking through their cameras or phone screens,, and most importantly we really do want people present there with us! I'm mean, it's only 30 min .... And once we walk back down the aisle they are free to snap away again. We also added a phrase that asks to everyone to give us 24 hours to upload our first photos and announcements to social media as husband and wife given that so many people can't make it and we want it to come from us first. Anyhow the write up is nicely put I think, but I'm sure some people won't be thrilled about it ... But it's OUR wedding!! Has anyone else given this some thought?

@@SammyMac Hey there, What I was told when having this discussion months ago with my wc is the vendor fees for the makeup artists, etc is 150.00, photographers are 500.00. If you are booking them a room instead, then they want you to book it for a minimum of TWO nights for the two people, not just one night. Now that's just what I was TOLD, but I don't know of past brides have managed to do anything different without any issues. (i.e. booked the one day, not two) You may be able to get away with one night, but not sure. Any chance you can hop in a cab and go to them for the trial run the day before and save the costs? My hair/makeup team are 5 min from the resort so it's much cheaper than paying the vendor fee. They actually offered to pick me up as well and take me back to their place so I don't have to pay the fee, which I think is amazing of them!! They've been so great already and I'm so glad I went with them. Wow, time is sure flying by. I can't believe we leave for the resort in 7 weeks!!! Oops! Forgot to add: The closest grill is Rancho Grande bar and grill. I've included a map in our welcome package that has the location marked off and wrote it in our wedding itinerary page for everyone as well. I've tried to add the map to here, but it wont let me!

Here's an idea of what they look like when you put them in the clear holders. (Sorry, I can't seem to rotate and save the pic properly!)

@@KirstenChrisDW2016 Done!

Hi Ladies, I just posted this in another area but I thought I'd do it here as well. I just received the cards for our room key holders that I ordered. With my discount code I was able to buy 500 for the same price as 50, so I have lots left! They are standard business sized cards with a glossy beach pic and saying on the front, and blank on the back. A nice touch to slide into the clear card holders to make your gifts a bit more personal. I will send you as many as you want for 5.00 USD, including padded envelope and shipping. If you still have a few months left in your planning I can also send you a link to the ebay listing where I ordered the clear tags and black stretchy key rings from China for a great price (9.50 USD all included for 20 of each of them) They took 7 weeks to arrive though so you just need to have plenty of time!

Hi Ladies, I have a bunch of these cards left over that I had made for the room key holders I'm giving to all of our guests. With my promo code it was the same price to buy 50 as it was 500, so I have lots left. I'm happy to share if anyone would like some! They are standard business card size with a glossy front pic and blank on the back. There are no names or dates anywhere on them, just the beach pic and the saying, so easy to use for your own beach wedding. I will send you as many as you need for 5.00 USD, including padded envelope and shipping. Happy Planning! : )

@Barcelo2016 I think you should do what YOU want to do. Respect people decisions not to come if they have concerns, totally understandable, but you get to decide what your wedding will be like and what you want to do. Personally I think it's the one time you are allowed to be selfish. We travel to Mexico a lot and mosquitos or bugs of any kind have never been my problem when I'm on the beach. If we do excursions and go into the "jungle" areas to zipline, etc they are more visible, but I can't say I've ever been bitten because I use bug spray. I'm not lessening what people are going through or being exposed to, (it's terrible what's happening with these babies that have been infected and if I was pregnant I'd worry) I'm just saying it's never been an issue for us on previous vacations. I don't think anyone would judge you if you guys went ahead with the wedding ...especially if that's what you are your hubby-to-be really want. But if you'd be just as happy getting married on a beach in say Tofino or something, then go with that option. But if not, then you already know what to do!

I'm having similar problems between the virus and our Canadian dollar. We had 30 people initially invited as we wanted it just family and close friends, 20 were confirmed and now that's dropped off to 12 just in the last week (plus us!) Initially I was a bit sad about it, but when we planned this we said as long as it's my fiancée and my two (adult) children that are our best man and maid of honor, everyone else is a bonus. We really wanted a beach wedding in Mexico, costs and guests be damned!! haha! I do understand our friends that had plans to take their children on a vacation, the crappy dollar turned it into something they couldn't afford any longer and added at least 1000.00 to the costs. I totally get that. So ... in 9 weeks when we say "I Do" the group will be intimate, but we are having the wedding we want and that's what matters, because I'm not getting married again!!!!!

@@keemmo Welcome to the forum!! I have also been to Barceló (2 years ago for two weeks) so we were familiar with the property when we booked the wedding. It's so beautiful there, has one of the best beaches in the area in my opinion and I have no doubt that all of our weddings will be magical there! So great choice! I think most of the brides on here are prepared to pay the photographer vendor fee based on the reviews of the hotel photographer. I recall one bride posted how they actually showed up late to the ceremony and so they missed a lot of it! (because apparently the judge will NOT wait to start the ceremony regardless of who is or isn't there - yikes!) others worry that there is limited (if any) online info to even find out more about the photographers or see examples of their work, others have said they were disappointed overall with their photos. Personally I'm not willing to risk it with the photographs because we will only get one chance, so it's a worth while expense for us. You do have the option of booking your photographer two nights at the resort in lieu of the fee, which is costing us 425.00 (the farther out you book it, the cheaper it is! And if your photographer has an assistant, make sure you book it for 2 people). Since the photographer will only need the wrist band, that also gives us an extra room for a few days for guests, for people to use if they are staying at other resorts, for an extra place to get ready for the guys, etc. My photographer is also giving us an extra hour of time to help offset for the vendor fee (check out playaweddings.com), which also helped with our decision. Every bride/groom are going to want different things, and some aren't too worried about photos. Our way isn't necessarily the best way, it's just what we have decided to do for some peace of mind on our day. (AND we fell in love with her photos and wanted her to capture or wedding day! ) Hint for those of you wanting to secure your wedding date without the huge financial commitment: Go to Barceló.com and book a room for your travel dates. You simply give your credit card but nothing is charged until the day you arrive (trust me, I made reservations for 6 separate rooms last July using this method!) This gives you a reservation number that you can give your planner to secure the date/time/location. If you travel on points this may be the best and cheapest way to do it anyhow. But if you are looking to purchase a travel package further down the road, you can simply update your wedding planner with the new reservation number and cancel the one on Barceló.com. Be careful you don't select the option that says "non-refundable". I've been keeping an eye on the barcelo.com prices over the months and every once in awhile a special comes up with a slightly cheaper price. But it's clearly marked non refundable and tells you how much your card will be charged before you hit submit, so you can't make a mistake. We've decided against a cocktail hour and chosen to add time to the reception. (it's about 15.00 per person per hour) There are lots of bars around the resort and we made up a wedding day itinerary that directs everyone to the nearest location for a cocktail for the 90 min while we have our photos done. I've read over and over again how the 3 hour reception goes by quickly and brides wished they had more time. My thoughts is that between dinner, dessert, toasts, cake cutting, the first dance, etc you have eaten up probably two hours or so and only have another hour to party, when you probably want at least one - two more depending on the size of the group and the make-up (lots of party animals coming??) . The good news is you can decide with a minimum of one hour notice if you want to extend your reception, but you have to let your planner know at least one hour before the scheduled end time (i.e. - If it's scheduled to end at 11:00pm then let them know before 10:00pm if it's that you want to go until 12:00am) @KirstenChrisDW2016 It wasn't in any specific planning phase that I recall, I just asked about lighting options at Playa Azul, since both our wedding and reception will be there. Just ask your WC !

@@Barcelo2016 - We are doing the lighting on the palm trees ... I think they charge like 5.00 per tree, and the pics I've seen look awesome. I wouldn't bother with bringing your own. You have lots of other things to worry about packing!!

@Panda2015 I don't think there are fees to go to the water park/slides for the kids, I think it's just a cost to have them in the Barcy Club where there is scheduled activities for kids from 4-12. (A babysitting service basically) But since my kids are 23 & 25 I can't really help with that! On that topic ... I do know that they offer babysitting services at the hotel (for guests that may want to leave their kids back in the room after dinner or for the entire reception, etc) for 15.00 per hour (it's a bit more per hour if they are under the age of 2 I think it was? Don't quote me on that tho - I don't have my notes in front of me! Extra reception time - I had asked about paying 15.00 per person for people that don't drink alcohol, or perhaps leave early and don't stay passed the scheduled end time, but I was told nope, it's 15.00 per person regardless! (Of course it is!! They get ya with extra costs every time!) Speaking of extra costs, I just heard back from my wc regarding my bouquet. My strawberry package includes my bouquet, and I have chosen just to have 3 dozen white roses. I have a rhinestone bouquet cuff I am bringing down along with some other ribbon and rhinestone sprays that I purchased locally, and all they need to get me is 36 roses and then put it together. I was just curious and asked how much more, if any, would my bouquet cost me based on what I asked for and what I was bringing down with me. Well, I was quoted 93.00 usd EXTRA to have this! (WTF??) I politely told her NO I wasn't paying that and they are going to make this happen within a reasonable cost, not charge me an arm and a leg for some freaking extra roses!!! (I haven't heard back yet! ) So beware of that, ladies! If you are choosing to have something outside of what the brochure offers, make sure you get a quote beforehand! I had to ask myself what exactly does my bouquet include if I have to pay that much ON TOP of the package? LOL

@@SammyMac - the planning is going well, thank you! The adjustment in wedding planner sent me for a loop when I hadn't received any response in two months, but now we are back on track. All the main stuff had been pretty much done already, now we are just finalizing things like ceremony songs, etc. We found different versions of a few songs we loved and then sent those youtube links off to our WC. She's forwarded them on to the guitarist to see if he could learn and/or play the songs for us of if we need to choose new ones. We just didn't want anything very traditional or classical. Sorry to hear you are having second thoughts about Best Moments. Any chance you can get the refund given that it's still so far away?? I've heard and read fantastic things about Styling Trio. I didn't book them only because of the costs given that I was the only one using them (bridal party of two! haha) I am thrilled with my communication with Beso Brides though and quite honestly I think I would have decided on them ahead of anyone else regardless of the size of my bridal party. Their prices are reasonable, great communication, does not require a deposit and is 5 min away from the resort! They have been so helpful and accommodating, I feel like I'm in great hands! I think I was quoted a cost of 15.00USD per person per hour to extend the reception, but I can't recall for sure. We've already told them we want at least one extra hour added, but you can also make the decision somewhat last minute as well .... if you wish to extend it one hour or more, you just have to tell your wc one hour before the scheduled end of your reception, and they can tack on the time at that point. You also have the option of moving to the disco or one of the lobby bars to socialize after that, I guess it just depends on how many people are still left standing after a long day in the sun! And if it makes you feel any better, my dress doesn't fit yet either! I started hitting the gym again pretty hard 3 weeks ago and I plan on making the most of the 11 weeks ahead! Serves me right for going on a cruise in November (it had been booked for 18 months so we didn't want to cancel) and then right into Christmas! Geesh! @Panda2015 There is a vendor fee of 150.00 for your make up/hair people. (They get ya everytime!) If you have 5 gals using the service I would just tell them up front what the costs of having it done with the vendor (in the comfort of one room), and costs with the Barcelo spa (I have a price list in case I didn't send that - it's not cheaper with them that's for sure!) , and then ask them which one you should book for them, or just see if they prefer to simply do their own hair/makeup. It takes all the questions and awkwardness out of the mix for you. In my opinion they should not expect you to pay for them but maybe that's just me? You can let everyone know at that time that if everyone wants to go with the vendor, there is a 150.00 fee that you will cover so they can enjoy that service.

I also did a Facebook event page, made it a closed group and invited everyone. All of our guests are on FB (some very active, others not at all!) It's been nice to post maps and schedules, along with helpful hints, answering questions, etc. I do intend on providing hard copies of all the info for everyone once they arrive at the resort for those people that may not be reading everything.

@@Panda2015 Hi there my fellow Canadian bride! (There are lots of us on here ) I certainly sympathize with you are far as our exchange rate goes. I should have bought a large chunk last December when I had the chance! Mayan ceremony - we looked at this initially, but since it's not a legal ceremony we felt that was a "waste" to do given that we still wouldn't be married! We thought of combining the two ceremonies to make it legal and spiritual, but that meant a ceremony would be over an hour long. Not really enjoyable for our guests in the heat, etc. So we are having a civil ceremony with a judge, and we are also having a shamin come in his full makeup and "costume" (I can't think of what to refer to it as right that this moment - no disrespect to their beautiful traditions!) and to be there during the ceremony, blow the conch to symbolize the start of it, and be there for pictures and just as something very cool and different outside of the civil ceremony. It's not cheap to do that, but it was a way to honour where we are getting married, give us and our guests something cool to remember about the day, and to capture it in pictures! Photographer - I was also very drawn to Del sol's work when I saw their pics online, but they were on the pricey side, and since they have many different photographers and I wasn't 100% sure who I'd get at the end of the day. Then I came across playa weddings.com, and I saw similar styles in her work, and there is only one main photographer! She also offers one free hour with the larger packages to help offset the cost of having an outside company come in, and reading more about them I just really got a great feel about them. (Husband and wife couple) (hint - for the vendor fee- we booked a room for two nights for our photographer and her assistant, which turned out to be 75.00 cheaper than paying the 500.00 vendor fee. Barcelo accepts that as an option as well, and all they need is the wristbands. That gives you an extra room to utilize for 2 nights as well to use for people to get ready or whatever! . Go online and book just a room right now at no cost because you can cancel it within a week ?? of the wedding date without any penalty ... No need to pay til you get there! The sooner you book it the better as the prices go up! You may not find its cheaper, but it was for us. ) Anyhow check out playa weddings as an photographer option. Your 10 kids are not included in the head count as long as they eat off the kids menu. There are three different food options for them if I recall correctly. If you give me your email address I can send along the menu I received last summer. It may or may not still be the same, and it may be different for you as we are going with the Strawberry package.... But I bet it's pretty similar. Makeup - after all the price checking and communication I had with several companies, I am going with Yucatan hair / Beso brides. Martina is the makeup artist and Michael (her husband) is the hair stylist. They have been wonderful to communicate with, reasonable prices compared to many and very accommodating to my situation! They live 5 min from the resort so if you were set on going offsite for a trial run before your wedding, they are close by! They also book on the honour system. No money down. They ask for payment on the day of the wedding. How refreshing! I'm also not doing a lot for welcome bags. We are providing everyone with a map with key wedding places marked, an itinerary of the wedding day (this is everyone else's vacation as well so I don't want to organize events outside of the dinner the night before and the wedding either .... We will wing it when we get down there and probably hang out together anyhow! ) I also purchased some nylon reusable bags to use as beach or shopping bags, and some stretch wrist key chains and plastic card holders for everyone's door keys. I figured they'd be the items most used! We decided to put the extra money into an extra hour of reception time, something I continue to read that it goes by too fast. So an extra hour is money better spent for us rather than stuff they may not need, although I love all the cool things I've seen brides put together for their guests as well!! Anyhow I hope some of this helps with your plans!!

Thanks @@Stephanie2015. Those look awesome!!

Hi ladies, I'd love to hear from past brides and well as brides currently in the planning phase as to what (if any) info packages, documents, etc you put in your guests rooms before they arrived? We are going to print out a high quality map for everyone that has a few key spots marked (location of the rehearsal dinner, wedding site, etc) as well as some info they need for the wedding day but I can't really think of much else. Thoughts?? @@Alemike I've just sent that info along to your email

Hi @@jackiet2016, Funny you should mention this today because we just sent our song list to our wc Itzel tonight! We are also having a guitar. You get 4 song choices. One for the wedding party entrance, one for the bride entrance, one for the certificate signing, and one for the end of the ceremony. Classic options are (copied directly from her email to me, so not sure if spelling is correct): Cannon in D Trumpet Voluntary in D Here Comes the Bride Nuptial March Babbino Carro (Pucchini) Aria in D (Bach) Others: Endless Love Somewhere Over The Rainbow Fly Me To The Moon My Heart Will Go On Endless Love Without You (Mariah Carey) Bee Gees We didn't really like any of those options but she said with enough time the musician can learn any song you may chose (our wedding is 13 weeks away) so we got on YouTube and found 4 pop songs that we loved when played with an acoustic guitar and just sent her the list (Bruno Mars, Jason Mraz, etc) She did mention that he recently performed a Bruno Mars and Bee Gees song at a wedding so I'm sure he has some that he knows outside of this list. Go onto Youtube and search for ambonick1 ... he posts some great acoustic guitar songs and will give you some ideas, even if it is coming up quick! And children are not included in your list of guests unless they eat off the adult menu (what I was told). They have a kids menu for them. Have a wonderful wedding!!!

@@kimmyd2 Have a WONDERFUL WONDERFUL wedding! I can't wait to see pics and hear all about it!!!! Welcome to the forum, @@Alemike! It's a definite adjustment to get used to the slow correspondence when you are trying to plan such an important day, but we all understand!! I've read about some brides getting to the resort just before their wedding day and feeling like they could have planned everything in that first visit with the planner because they are so organized, and they wondered why they every stressed out to begin with. So hang in there! If you give me your email address (private message if you prefer) I can send along all of the documents I have. Your WC wont let you get ahead of the step you are currently on, but at least that will give you an idea of what's in store for you. Kimmyd2 has already shared some info about the rehearsal dinner, you just have to decide where you would like it now. We've been to the resort before and we really love the Japanese Teppanyaki restaurant, because the food is good, it's a fun environment and I think our group of guests will really enjoy it. It all depends on what you are looking for and wanting for that night - not sure it would be the right venue for you since you want to make it a surprise party as well. If you want something private it may be worth while to pay for that? But most of the restaurants aren't very big anyhow, so if you are booking a fairly large crowd you will probably take up the majority of the seats anyhow. Happy Planning!

Lupita Aquino (Wedding Manager) [email protected] ext 6767 when you call the hotel

It looks like it might be Coral Beach, Kimmyd ..... the one at the Palace. Not sure tho! What an absolute bummer about having to move your ceremony! I felt sick when I read that. Thankfully there are lots of beautiful locations at the resort but it's so hard to make that mental shift last minute. If you like the location at the Palace and not all of your guests are staying there, they should waive that fee they would normally charge you per person seeing as they failed to tell you about the issue!! I'm sure that everything will work out though. Can't wait to hear about it and see pics!!!! it sounds like there is a huge shift and shuffle happening amongst the WC group. I winder what the story is there?? I guess as long as they keep the brides happy, that's all that matters!! Katie, I will get the name/email address to you when I get home this weekend. I travel 4 days on and 4 days off for work, and I'm away from my computer right now.

Hi everyone, Wow this board hasn't been very active recently (with all of the holiday craziness I'm guessing.) I used to get notifications when there was a new post, but I haven't had that happen for weeks! Weird. Anyhow ..... So back at the end October I emailed my WC a list of questions and I received no response for an entire month, which was unusual. So I sent it off to her again just in case it was lost in cyber space. Nothing. Finally at the two month mark I sent her a third email requesting a response within 48 hours, and ended up emailing the hotel wedding dept directly and complained. About 10 days later I received an email from my NEW WC introducing herself to me! Apparently my old wc (Estrella) no longer works for Barceló. I was so pissed that nobody could have been bothered to contact me, and I was writing emails to my WC without any clue what was happening. I had some email correspondence back and forth with the head coordinator expressing my displeasure with being "forgotten", about the fact that this will now be my third WC since April, etc (I had Tania first, and she's apparently gone too now ....) I realize that people move on to other job opportunities, but to be completely ignored like that for two months regarding such an important event was not okay! Anyhow I'm still pretty pissed but its not like I can change anything right now. I hope that nobody else has had the same issues. But just a warning in case you have not been in communication with your wc, you may want to reach out! It's hard to believe that in a few days it will be 2016 and the wedding will be just around the corner. My dress is hanging in the closet and it's about a size too small still!! LOL Thankfully I have 16 weeks until the wedding!! How is everyone else doing with their plans, dress, etc. and long distance stress management????? haha Oh! And I've had a huge issue with a computer virus and looks like I will have to dump everything and start over. That means losing all of my saved documents, including all the wedding stuff! So for those brides looking for info ahead of time, I'm not able to help at this time .... you will have to reach out to some of the other ladies on here. Sorry about that!

Have you checked our playaweddings.com? We booked them a few months ago after a lot of searching! I found that when I searched online for destination wedding photos, I was always drawn to both Del Sol photos and Playa Weddings the most. With Del Sol you have an option of several photographers, but with Playa Weddings you get one! And they do wonderful videos as well! I also found them less expensive and if you have to pay a vendor fee to have them come to your resort, they also offer a free hour of services to help balance that out!

@@KirstenChrisDW2016 Hi again! I tried to copy and past a link to here but it wouldn't let me do it, so if you go on Google and type in "Barceló Maya Resort wedding packages 2016" you will get the wedding page and a link (second result down after the sunwing all inclusive ad ) that will show you all of the different wedding packages they offer. Click on that and then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on "for more information click here" and the pdf documents should come up. There is nothing in there that speaks to having just a wedding (not sure if you are having guests attend or not, or if it's just you are your hubby to be?) but there may be something that will fit with what you are looking for? They have a Blueberry Dream package that is a little less expensive that focusses on the ceremony and only a cocktail hour afterwards, and then you can always add things to if you wish? If you check out the last few pages of the brochure you will see some different add on options as well. Take a look at the document first and let me know what you think!

Hi there, What specifically did you want to customize exactly? Your wedding package you mean? If so there are TONS of customizable options, so I'm not sure what they are talking about? If you provide me some specific examples of what you were meaning / thinking of, we can all offer our assistance! @@KirstenChrisDW2016

@barcelobride2016 - welcome to the forum! It may seem like lots to do but you will get through it fairly quickly once it gets rolling. Definitely first things first - decide on your favorite location in the resort for your wedding! I don't think you can go wrong with any of them, it's just depends on what you are looking for and what you envision. Some of the locations book up fast so get on that part as soon as you can! I'm sure if you have questions or need clarification on some things about locations you can ask here first - we may get back to you faster than your WC! Once you get started on the plans, set a location and start the process, I'm happy to send you some documents I have if you'd like. The WC will not let you proceed through to the next step until you have decided and answered her back on everything from the previous step. I can forward you the info that I've gathered throughout the process so you and your fiancé can sit down and pour over it so you can make some tentative decisions ahead of time and be more prepared as she walks you though it and not feel like you are help complete hostage to the (sometimes) lengthy delays in getting email responses. Just be prepared that it can take up to a week for them to respond, so don't be too alarmed!! Happy planning!!