kunrau

So glad it went well hun!!! Wishing you all the happiness in the world

Congrats!!! How exciting! So glad it went well - looking forward to seeing your review

No I don't think they do honey! I think they just charged us exactly what was on the form. Thanks, Kat

Hi they calculate it all in USD, from the package price to the add ons to the spa services but then when you pay it all at reception it all gets exchange into pesos at the awful rate they give you at the reception desk. If you can get around this some how you can save some money, we tried to fight it but had no luck. They also only let you pay for a certain amount of cash per room. Hope that helps Kat

Hi Georgina, Congrats on your upcoming wedding!! I'm so jealous that yours is yet to come, it's sad when it's all over. I hope you have the best wedding holiday!! I booked the appointment for makeup and hair when I got to the resort (at the spa). The trial for hair and makeup is included and she has a book to pick different styles from and can try several different things on you. The trial is free but the hair and makeup on the day are not (I think it was about $150 for both) but if you do the trial before you decide to get it done with them. The girl that did my hair and makeup was good, I think her name was Norma. Don't worry, they do Wedding all the time I think the VIP wristbands to let you access all the resorts are included for the bride and groom in any package but I'm not 100% sure. I know there was a couple getting married a few days after us and they chose a lower package than us and they had the same wristbands as us but I don't know which lower package they chose. I remember talking to them about costs and they paid less for their package. I was trying to find the PDF for 2017 packages in my email but I can't find it. I know in the 2015/2016 packages you got VIP wristbands for the bride and groom and their parents for any package but 2017 it has changed to just bride and groom. Parents seem to get fewer perks now. I hope that helps and I hope you have a wonderful Wedding!! Kat Russian Salad in this case, is a creamy mayo potato salad with smoked salmon and it's delicious!! I don't know what the exact recipe is but I think it has peas and carrots and maybe pickles?. It is very nice! Everyone kept saying how good it was. Hope that helps! Kat

Costs Costs on the Wedding are quite complicated! So many options and different things you can add so let me give you some key points about mine and what we paid in total to give you an idea. Total guests: 50 Package: Romantic Extravaganza (package only includes 30 guests so if you have more you pay $40 per person) Reception: Privatised tent at Grand Tortuga Post Reception: Poolside dancing Music: Sound equipment only (no dj or band) The total Wedding cost us about $8K in USD. We paid almost $4K for the Romantic Extravaganza package (which includes 30 people) and then paid per person for he extra people above 30. We paid $2.5K to privatize the restaurant the restaurant (this is based on how many people you have so if you have less than 50 it won't cost you as much). We paid $70 per hour for the sound equipment and didn't get a DJ or anything to save on costs, we just played our own music off Spotify and stuff. (6 hours) We upgraded a few hours of the bar to international bar to have nicer alcohol which cost just over $500 usd. We did not pay for any extra photos - the packages with the onsite photographer are very expensive! I just have some talented friends take photos and we have 20 photos included. We also paid for bridesmaids bouquets and groomsmen boutonnieres and a few additional things Photos - Tropic One Studios (on site photographer) Tropic one studios is the onsite photography company and they have an 'exclusive' contract with the resort which means if you want to bring your own photographer you will need to pay Tropic One Studios between $500 - $1000 which is very annoying and ridiculous. I unfortunately don't have many good things to say about Tropic One Studios. I looked them up on facebook after we booked the wedding and really didn't like their work. Not really very good photography, especially for a Wedding photography. I emailed them to find out prices for bringing someone external on site and the manager emailed me back immediately with their extremely high costs. I then emailed back letting them know that I would not be doing this as it was far too expensive so I instead asked them for their photo package costs and they didn't reply at all. Then my husband emailed to chase this up and we got no response. Funny how they respond immediately when they see an opportunity to get money for doing nothing but as soon as you ask them costs on their work prices they ignore you. I found some package costs online but wasn't sure how up to date they were. It was crazy expensive anyway so I just asked some of my talented guests with nice cameras to step in for me. I have about 4 friends taking pictures (luckily they're talented and I have some wonderful photos which I haven't posted as they're not finished editiing yet). With our package we have 25 photos included with Tropic One Studios from the Ceremony, if you want them for any other part of the day you have to pay extra and it seemed like a lot more (such as getting ready photos, reception, etc etc,) As I didn't like their pictures on fb I didn't want to pay all that money and be disappointed. At the ceremony the photographer was there and took some pictures as I was walking down the aisle and stuff but I didn't think he looked very professioal, he was a bigger guy, and wore all white which I thought was a bit weird as white should be bride only really and he was wearing a baseball cap which looked super unprofessional Some friends took some videos of me walking down the aisle and all you can see is this guy running from behind me to ahead of me to take pictures and it just doesn't make the video as nice. After the Wedding we went to their offices to take a look at the photos and surprisingly we didn't mind the photos they're actually nice so don't be too worried Grand Bahia brides!!!! I've posted an album below to show what the pictures we got looked like We didn't struggle too much to cut the 70 photos he had down to 25 to keep. Some of the photos weren't great, someone face would be cut in half on the edge and some of the editing was questionable. After the 25 included each picture was $50 per digital copy!!! He tried to upsell us on extra photos but we said no. There was a few photos that were black and white and I asked if I could have them in colour. (I can change a photo to black and white myself I'd prefer to have a coloured copy so I can choose) and he said NO which I thought was ridiculous. He then loaded up the pictures on a CD for us (old school). We took the CD home just to find it was blank!!!!! I emailed them right away asking to get the pictures and waited a few days - no response. I then emailed my wonderful wedding coordinator to help me with this and he chased her on getting me my pictures and she finally sent a google drive link with the pictures!!! Thank god! When I opened it tho - one of the pictures was corrupt and we couldn't open it so that took another 6 days to sort out. Such bad service. We also told them we weren't impressed that they never replied to our email about package costs ahead and the manager came and told us that she apparently never received the emails asking for this (either of them! lol that old chestnut!). She also accused us of bring a professional photographer onsite and told us they would contact them and get them to pay but no one ever heard from her. She was just annoying. Don't want to end the review on that note! lol It was a wonderful day and I wouldn't have changed where i did it or anything it was lovely and everyone had a great holdiay Hi Honey - right I've posted a few extra things such as decorations and costs as I meant to do this and forgot. I hope that helps you get a better idea As per music at the Ceremony they had all the sound equipment there and had an iphone cable so we just downloaded a few songs onto a phone and played it. Make sure this is downloaded and not playing off wifi in case you have spotty wifi you don't want your music to stop or anything. You want to have some extra songs for people to listen to while they wait for you to arrive There is someone there to cue the music at the right times as well so you're looked after don't worry! Re restaurant - they might be able to do the meat off the swords and then have a starter and a dessert - I'm not sure. Talk to the manager Adriane! He is excellent and will try to accommodate you! We got the sunglasses from this website! Turned out great! http://go-personalised.co.uk/login.html You could definitely do dancing in the tent! It is big! I don't think we paid to privatise the pool but we paid for alcohol upgrade and for the sound equipment. You can alternatively pay for a DJ or band but I don't think there is much of an extra cost to be around the pool! Find out about this!! I posted the albums again and added some extra photos. I hope you can see these. Strange about the others I definitely added more than 1 photo. Sorry I hardly have any photos so far so I don't have that many to share and the ones I've shared are just random ones from guests (other than the Ceremony ones that are from the onsite photographer). I hope that helps Let me know if you have any other questions. Kat

Decorations The hotel does not provide any decorations other than the flowers from the ceremony brought over, white table cloths and chairs, cutlery, menus printed out. AND they only provide this and let you decorate tables if you privatise the area!!! If you don't then I don't think you even get to have sound equipment or anything there. Please keep this in mind! If you want anything decorated, you have to bring it with you (I think they may let you rent things as well but I'm not sure what the cost is and no one offered this to me). We had 50 guests so I wanted table numbers, table plans, name place cards, favours on each table etc. So I brought all that along, I split it between guests coming, everyone was really good about leaving space for me in their luggage! (lol my luggage was still overweight tho!) Because I couldn't really bring a full table plan or anything (as this would be too big for my luggage I instead decided to make straws with flags on them and had them on a table for the bridesmaids to hand out as people entered the reception. The straw flags had the name of the person and the table they were sitting at. I also had table numbers made and my mother in law brought me shell from the beach they live near and cut slits into them to hold the table numbers on each table - I thought this was fitting to the beach theme. Once everyone grabbed their drinks with their straws, everyone found their table with the table number (we didn't do number for tables but table names which were Thai islands as that's where we met ) When they got to the table I had little hearts that got clung to each wine glass as name place holders so people would know where to sit at the table. As we privatised the restaurant I got to choose how many tables of how many people - which was good. I went for 4 big tables (5 including the head table) which made the wedding more fun I think! I had favours on the table which were brass wine bottle stoppers in little sand colours bags and put a little tag on them saying "Thank you for being part of our day". The planner had all the instructions on where to put everything but I got my bridesmaids to go in and check everything and make changes as necessary. Everything looked beautiful. The cake was nice, lots and lots of cream. I chose chocolate and it was nice. My dad absolutely loved it. I brought my own cake topper because it comes without one so if you want one bring one After dinner, we went outside to the pool and they had decorated the area with fairy lights and little tables and chairs and tall tables you could stand at. We didn't add any decoration here it was all perfect Really didn't need anything else.

Great review @@deecol - I have just written my own review everyone! You're welcome to come read it, link in signature below Funny as my story is similar to yours!! Let me know if you have any questions anyone

Resorts on the complex Grand Bahia Tulum – This is the resort we stayed in, it’s huge, and is located on the beach. The pool area connects with the beach. It doesn’t have free wifi. It has a nice main lobby and a couple of a la carte restaurants (you can also use Coba’s restaurants when you stay here) and the main bar is just off the reception in a huge open building. Was fairly young crowd when I was there. Saw some kids but not a huge amount. Grand Bahia Coba – This is the other regular (not luxury) resort in the complex, it is not located on the beach but further inland from Tulum. You can use Tulum’s beach but you have to take a gold card there. I believe this one has a huge kids program and therefore has more young families. It has a lot of restaurants and you can also book restaurants at Tulum if you stay here. The bar is located right in the lobby so when you walk in it is very busy and seems noisy because the bar isn’t split off. Due to the busyness it has a buzz about it. Grand Bahia Akumal (luxury) – This is one of the luxury resorts and it beautiful, it is just down the beach from Tulum and located right on the beach. It has a nicer beach, nicer pools, nicer pool chairs, a nicer buffet (although it is smaller), nice cocktails and free wifi. Lovely resort but the crowd is older. Kids are allowed on the resort but I didn’t see many. If you stay here you have access to all 4 resorts in the complex. Grand Bahia Sia'an Kan (luxury -adult only) – This is located further into the jungle and on the other side of the highway to the other resorts (nowhere near the beach). No kids allowed in this one and the crowd was much older. I’m guessing they also have free wifi and perks. The buffet there was nice but also smaller. Entertainment seemed better as well. All the buildings are very modern looking and it makes it feels like you’re in the secluded jungle, not Mexico. If you stay here you have access to all 4 resorts in the complex. *As the bridal couple you are treated as VIP and can go on and eat and drink on every resort.

HAHAHAHAHA!! Of course you did! I swear he met the whole resort on that trip lol Lovely glad the info was helpful. Happy to help more with anything you need. I have updated my review on this and have added some pictures have a look!!

Post ceremony cocktails and canapes After the ceremony and the champagne we walked down the beach to the redwood structure (you can also get married here) and we had our cocktails and canapes here. We were planning to have the canapes and cocktails by the gazebo but I'm glad we move down to this structure as there was more shade and space for eveyrone. The cocktails were great and the little bar they set up was cute. They also set up canapes that were self-help on the side. These weren't amazing but good as a little snack. Everyone mingled and our mariachi band arrived and started playing Mexican songs! It was very cool, they were very good and everyone enjoyed them. We took more group shots between mingling and just had cocktails with our guests. Canapes and cocktails get scheduled for about an hour or 2 - I can't remember but it was great!! After this everyone has a couple hours of break time before the reception dinner. Most people went to the bar for more drinks, some went to their rooms to freshen up. My new husband and I went to our rooms, changed into our bathing suits and went to the pool. I was very hot from wearing my dress in +29 heat and I was starting to feel swollen. The pool was lovely to cool down, I then went back to shower and changed back into my dress Refreshed and perfect The Reception We had our wedding at the Grand Tortuga which is a Brazilian sword restaurant. If you go there on a normal night you get a buffet appetiser and then you get some vegetables and potato delivered to your table to share and then they come around with swords of cooked meat (steak, lamb, pork, chicken, sausage, even pineapple) and you have a red and green card so they will come around and give you some if your card says green. So much meat, you can just keep eating and eating! It's lovely. As I didn't want people to have the same thing on our Wedding day as they would have at that restaurant any other day we chose the plated option. You choose a starter, main and dessert and everyone has to have the same thing (except vegetarians and allergies of course). We went Russian salad as a starter with smoked salmon (this was amazing - everyone loved it). We then had a plated pork main and a cheesecake dessert. I wouldn't recommend going with the pork (it was dry) but one of my friends who doesn't eat pork had the chicken and she said it was excellent. We ate at that restaurant several times during our stay and it was great. The Grand Tortuga is great for Weddings they have a lovely outdoor tent thing that works great and the manager Adrian (the one with the piercing blue eyes) is amazing, he will go out of your way to make your day special and was just terrific! We paid to privatize the restaurant area we were in instead of just getting a semi-private table. This costs a couple thousand dollars I think which is steep however with that you get decorations and they set it up how you want and it feels more like a Wedding so I thought it was worth it. It was so lovely and we had our own space for speeches and games. I wanted the BBQ option too but I didn't want to pay per plate either it's crazy. I did not regret not getting that option. The tent is a lovely setting. After dinner, cake and games we moved to the pool right outside the tent for dancing. We again paid for privatisation and upgraded the bar to international so they dressed it all up in fairy lights and had a little lantern path to the pool from the tent set up with a dance floor and a bit bar. It was amazing!! We paid for sound equipment instead of a dj so we could control our own music and we paid for wifi so we could just play playlist off spotify. It was a wonderful day and evening It all ended at 11pm as you have to pay for staff per hour per person after that so that would have been too expensive. Andres our fantastic wedding planner arranged for transport to take us and all our guests to the disco in golf carts. We went back to our room to change first as my dress was completely black at the bottom. We kept dancing till about 1am in the disco and then went to bed.

We got schedules from the Wedding planner earlier in the week to hand out to our guests. This way everyone knew were to meet the day of the Wedding. Everyone got picked up at the Tullum Lobby along with Groom and Groomsmen at 12:30 to go to the venue together. As the Gazebo is a bit of a drive from the lobby and it was very hot so this all worked well. The Wedding planner then came and picked me and my bridesmaids up at 12:50 to start the wedding at 1pm. We had cheap sunglasses made with our names and the wedding date on the side and Mike took these along with him and handed them out to all the guest. This was PERFECT as it was hot and we were in the sun and lots of people forgot their sunglasses. Everyone loved them and they were so practical Andres arrived and we got into the golf card, the blasted some tunes in the golf cart and we all happily sang along. We got to the Gazebo and the photographer and guests and wedding co-ordinators were there. We were hidden around the corner from the walkway up to the Gazebo behind big bushes which was perfect. Someone queued the music and my bridesmaids starting walking down. Then my flower girl and then followed by me. I walked down to '1000 Years' the acoustic version it was wonderful My husband to be was tearing up and my bridesmaids and everyone else really. Super nice. I had my friend do the ceremony because we were just doing a symbolic ceremony and he did a wonderful job, talking about each of us and then again as a couple, telling us we needed to be patient (which he pointed out isn't my strong suit) lol It was light and funny and tear jerking at the same time. So so nice! Loved it!!! We chose our own vows which we just found online and had my friend say them while we repeated (we didn't use the traditional ones). It worked out great. He then pronounced us husband and wife and we walked down the aisle together. There was hotel staff waiting for us at the end of the aisle handing out champane or some brut alternative.