JasminMattPhoto

that is so terrible!!!! It sure is great that you have a place where you can vent your frustrations to like minded individuals. Hopefully the rest of your planning goes smoothly <3

@@bellabride2018 we are so excited that you've decided on the Grand Bahia. You're going to have an amazing time there. Think of us when you decide on a wedding photographer <3

@MichelleOKeefe With guests totaling 60+, the private "Chill Lounge & Bar" that we posted photos from is a great way for your guests to enjoy delicious food, be near the water/sand, have a private dance floor with lights and dj, and a private bar with staff for your guests only. We had also photographed a wedding at Grand Sunset Princess earlier this year, and due to weather (rain), both the ceremony and reception were moved to covered/interior spaces. I'm including a few photos from the reception portion, as it was also completely private, in a room where the buffet food was served, speeches were made, and a private dance floor (once tables were cleared) and bar with staff. The room is a bit more drab looking, than the Chill Lounge outside, but still serves as a private space for you and your guests if you so choose. With both scenarios, the spaces were only available until 11pm (which is fairly common for private dance receptions in the Riviera Maya), at which point, some guests may choose to leave, others may opt to continue to the Disco for more dancing and fun. Either way, at that point in the night, there's not really options for anything private. Hope this helped and let us know if there's any other questions that come to mind.

@@jbeaulieu first off we want to say a huge congratulations on your upcoming wedding. From what you said it sounds like you have a pretty good idea how you want your day to flow and you are totally on the right track. You will definitely want to plan for an hour of newlywed photos after your ceremony. In our experience a good timeline would look like this. 5-5:30 ceremony 5:30-5:50 Champagne & Congratulations 5:50-6:30 - Friends, Family & Wedding Party Photos 6:30-7:30 - Newlywed creatives during cocktail hour 7:30- Reception Let us know if there is anything we can help with!

@@SuBe Welcome to the BDW Forums! We hope you feel welcome here, and don't be shy to reach out and ask any questions at all when it comes to planning your destination wedding here in the Riviera Maya. While we have yet to photograph a wedding at Akiin Beach Tulum, we can definitely vouch for how amazing Tulum is in general. The beaches are pristine, the white sand and gentle waves all make for quite the majestic surrounding. Should any questions come up while planning, don't hesitate to shoot us a message here, via PM, or email [email protected] Here's a little added inspiration for what kind of beach photos are possible in this part of the world.

@@aculmer Welcome to the wonderful BDW Forums (and website). There is a plethora of useful resources here, ranging from advice from past brides eager to share their experiences, to bride-to-bes who exchange ideas and options, photographers & videographers able to assist with questions regarding locations, etc... plus wedding planners, hairstylists and makeup artists, and more. Should you have any questions at all, feel free to reach out to any number of us on here so you can feel not only comfortable with planning your destination wedding, but enjoy the entire process from start to finish. Leaving you with some inspiration from some of our favourite weddings we photographed here in the Riviera Maya, Mexico.

@@AliciaW Welcome to BDW! You'll find there's a plethora of useful information on this site, and most notably within the varying forums. We wanted to offer our suggestion, as photographers who live and work in the area photographing weddings, families and couples, that April timing is still a grey area, and should not immediately be considered part of the summer schedule. I will highlight that April sunset early in the month is at 7:03PM and by end of April, 7:13PM. Anticipate mostly darkness (difficult for photos that aren't artificially lit) by 7:30pm during this time of year. We typically feel setting aside 45-60 minutes for the newlyweds session is ideal. This allows time to stray away from the immediate location, use varying portions of the grounds at the resort to have a variety of backdrops, and still allow time for a bathroom break to freshen up before the reception begins. With your initial gut instinct of 5pm, you'd be allowing a perfect amount of time to allow the day to flow smoothly and stress-free into the reception. Often in this heat, guests too, enjoy a chance to return to their rooms to freshen up, change clothes, whatever is required, before continuing to the cocktail hour that precedes the reception. With a ceremony from 5-5:30pm, this allows for time afterwards to hug, congratulate the couple, do family/group/wedding party photos & a quick freshen up/change clothes for guests from 5:30-6:30, with cocktail hour 6:30-7:30pm,. The newlyweds photos would occur during that cocktail hour, with time to freshen up and/or attend the final portion of cocktail hour, before reception, once photos are done. A 2-hour time frame between ceremony start time and reception is what we would recommend, at the least, and a 2 ½ hour time frame (example: 5pm ceremony and 7:30pm reception) allows for a less stressful flow of events during that time. Hope this helps answer your questions and should you have more, feel free to let us know, either here, or via PM, or email. And I'll include a few recent photos from weddings we have photographed, including a handful of sunset photos (pending weather, clouds, etc) for some additional inspiration when it comes to photography in the Riviera Maya.

Hola @@bellabride2018 !!! Congrats on your engagement and 2018 wedding. You are going to have such an incredible time in Jamaica. It is such a beautiful country and the people are so wonderful. We recently stayed at the Grand Bahia Principe in Jamaica and photographed a wedding at the Jewel Runaway Bay. Here is a link to a galley of photos that I took of the grounds at GBP. You can see some of the great locations for ceremonies and especially for newlywed photos. Here are a couple teasers from Jewel Runaway Bay as inspiration. Let us know if there is anything we can do to help with your planning <3

@@BmoretoMexico @@AliciaW Congrats to the two of you for securing your wedding dates at Sandos Caracol for June and April 2017, respectively. BDW Forums are a great source of information. You'll find certain things readily available, and failing that, you can always reach out to any of us on here. Some of us are photographers, others planners, some makeup artists and hairstylists, etc etc... and we will all have varying different experiences at Sandos, and in the Riviera Maya in general. Don't be shy to ask questions you may have along the way. Planning your wedding is meant to be a fun and interactive experience, so enjoy every moment of it. Feel free to ask questions in this thread, send a PM, or shoot us an email: [email protected] We're posting a few recent teasers from a May 2016 double wedding we photographed at Sandos Caracol for some inspiration. Happy Wedding Planning everyone!

Hola @@MichelleOKeefe Welcome to the amazing Best Destination Wedding community!!! Congrats on your upcoming wedding. 2017 may seem far off right now but before you know it you'll be packing your bags for the beautiful sand and sun of the Mayan Riviera. We were JUST at Grand Sunset Princess photographing a wedding. John & Anthony had their ceremony at the beach gazebo and their reception at the Cool Bar on the beach. It was an amazing time. Their wedding planner was Lizeth and she did a wonderful job. If you have more questions please do not hesitate to ask. Either here or via email at [email protected] Attached are some photos from their big day for inspiration.

Good morning @@Shaquana325 and welcome to the wonderful BestDestinationWedding community. There are a tonne of amazing members and resources at your disposal. The best tip we can suggest, is what you're doing right now. Doing research and planning ahead is the best way to ensure your perfect destination wedding. We recently stayed at the Grand Bahia Runaway Bay which is just outside of Montego Bay Jamaica. It was such a beautiful resort. The hotel itself was beautiful and well maintained, the staff were super friendly and helpful. Overall we had an absolutely amazing time there. If you want to see photos of the grounds check out the following gallery. Cheers!

For any brides getting married at Grand Bahia Runaway Bay. We were JUST there a few weeks ago. We photographed a wedding at Jewel Runaway Bay but I also look a bunch of photos of the grounds at Grand Bahia. Check out the gallery here: Feel free to ask us any about the resort and we'd be happy to help as much as we can <#

Welcome to the amazing BDW community!!! When it comes to a resort, are you looking for something BIG? or a smaller boutique hotel? How many guests are you hoping to have come down with you? We'd love to share some of our insight and hopefully help you plan the best destination wedding possible <3 In the meantime, here is some inspiration

Hi @@kdepass2 first off we want to say a huge congratulations on your engagement and upcoming wedding. Jamaica is such a beautiful country and the people are so wonderful. We were just recently in Runaway Bay photographing a wedding and we just know that you and your whole wedding crew are going to have such a great time. Leaving you with a little wedding inspiration.

Hi @@rebecca2122 we were just recently in Jamaica photographing a wedding and the country is so incredibly beautiful. We 100% second @@beckys98 's comment <3

Welcome to the community @ You guys & gals are awesome. We've worked with you a handful of times now and you've always done an amazing job. Keep up the great work <3