We were married at the Barcelo Maya Palace on June 22, 2013 at 5pm in the Gazebo.  Our reception was held at 7pm in the Chak Halal banquet room.  We had a total of 44 people traveling (including us.)

Travel -  We flew on United on a non-stop flight.  One of the reasons we chose Mexico was because of the short travel time.  You literally have enough time to take a short nap and then you are there!  We ended up taking 4 bags (had to pay for 2) and only 3 of them arrived with the flight.  Apparently 10-12 were left in Houston and would be flown down and taken to our resort later that night.  My husband was completely bummed about this, because (of course) it was HIS bag that was left behind and we got to Mexico early enough to have the whole day!  Unfortunately, we were unable to do much because he didn't have his swim trunks, water shoes, dress clothes for dinner/show, etc.  The bags didn't arrive until after 9pm.  We arrive in Mexico around 11am.

The drive from the airport is roughly 1 hour and 15 minutes.  The entrance to the Barcelo complex is quite grand!  Driving up to the Palace is VERY IMPRESSIVE!  We had a private vehicle, which was nice.  My husband drank 2-3 beers on the way.

Check in - Check in was a breeze.  We checked in at the Premium Club lounge.  We were greeted with a yummy, fizzy green drink and had our choice of premium liquors and snacks in the Premium lounge.  There is also free internet and a tv in the lounge.  We were able to go right up to our room, drop off our stuff and head back to the buffet for lunch.

The room - The room was very nice.  The bathrooms are very nice and you get a lot of extras in your room.  We were SUPPOSED to get a bottle of tequila and a plate of fruit/sweets the day we got there, but we did not.  Once we asked for it, they did deliver it.  We were also supposed to have a bottle of champagne, but they waited and gave it to us on our actual wedding night (I will get to this later)  Our room had a gorgeous view BUT we were right in front of big kiddie pool, so it was a bit noisy.  Lucky for us, we weren't in the room much.

The pool - My guests LOVED the pool.  I was only able to get in it twice (because I was so busy)  The swim up bar is so fun!  Going into this, I knew the resort was sold out (overbooked) but never once did we feel crowded.  The complex is so big with so much to do that you are never waiting or feeling like there are too many people there.

The beach - My husband and I (after meeting with the WC) walked the entire beaches of all the Barcelo properties.  The beach at the Palace is EXTREMELY rocky and crowded (for some reason, I think a lot of guests from the other properties come down to the Palace.)  We walked about 15 minutes and came to a LOVELY beach with great sand and gorgeous, warm water!  We swam and then ate lunch at the Tropical.  One thing I can say is the food is THE BEST at the Palace.

The food - We did our best to eat at a variety of places.  We were able to eat the French restaurant (rehearsal dinner) and at the Brazilian restaurant.  We ate at one of the different buffets every morning and for lunch.  DELICIOUS!  OMG...the food is impeccable...HUGE choice of types of food...a little bit of everything.  Very impressed!  The only place where the food wasn't great was at the Carey Bar.  Late at night, they typically had sandwiches, various pastries and pizza.

The drinks - I still don't know how we were able to drink so much!  The drinks were GOOD!  We ordered drinks pretty much every where we went.  We spend a lot of time at the Carey Bar as well.  My husband drinks Glenlivet scotch and they had that.  I drank a lot of mojitos.  We actually brought huge cups for all of our guests.  Those came in handy!  We would get those filled with our drinks of choice and take off to the beach.  No need for refills...

The WC - I started off communicating with Xhail for months, but when I got there, I worked with Victoria.  I was very concerned with the communication (or lack there of.)  I met for one hour with Victoria on the second day we were there.  We went over all of the correspondances and make final decisions on sashes, table runner, cake, etc.  It was ver professional and she covered all bases.  I left there feeling completely confident that my special day would be perfect!  I also had a folder with print outs of EVERYTHING.  I really didn't need it, but it was a good thing for me to have (print outs of emails, prices, the spread sheet, etc.)

The rehearsal dinner - We had a 4 course meal at the French restaurant.  My travel agent was able to work with the WC to make a reservation for everyone.  After dinner we went to the Carey Bar where I distributed the OOT cups which had a t-shirt stuffed inside. We used our logo on the shirts and I bought the cups from Dollar Tree.  Our guests LOVED the cups and the shirts!  Best money I ever spent!!

The wedding day - We got up and had brunch with our guests.  After that, the guys were then on their own and my bridal party all came into my room to get dressed and primp.  We had my dress and his suit steamed (for a cost.)

Lucky for me, 2 of my guests were make up artists.  My sister in law did my hair and my bridal party's make up while another friend of mine did my make-up.

Victoria came to get us when it was time to go.  We drove down in a golf cart and came up on the elevator to the level with the Gazebo.  We chose the sax player and the religious ceremony.  Both were exquisite!

Our wedding was at 5pm...which was supposed to be the sunset service.  If I could do it all over again, I would chose 6pm AFTER the sun sets.  The sun was LETHAL to our pictures.  It was HOT!  However, it is so beautiful out there, you don't mind.

Everything was perfect.  I don't want to ruin anyone's special day by giving too many details, but I will say I am VERY happy I didn't bring too many extras.  All I brought with me were the OOT gifts, a few shells/starfish for my cake table and my gifts for my guests.  Nothing else.  Nothing else was needed, to be honest!

The reception - The reception was held at Chak Halal banquet hall.  I brought my own IPOD which I loaded my Wedding DJ on and had everything set up already.  It was perfect!  After being out in the HOT sun, the air conditioned hall was perfect.  Remember, your guests are going to be in the sun ALOT during their stay.

3 hours was just enough!  I had the mint breeze package, which is for 20 people, so I paid for an additional 22 people (2 were kids, and they don't charge you for their meals)  We had beef tenderloin (if you get this be very specific about how you want it cooked...many of our guests had to send theirs back because it was too rare.)  We also had the tomato/cheese/pesto salad...which was good!  We had the minestrone soup...decent.  We had creme brulee for dessert, which I didn't get to eat.  What I did eat was the vanilla wedding cake..OMG! TO DIE FOR. It was delicious.  I ordered the standard heart shaped cake and brought my own monogrammed cake topper (oh yea, I did bring a cake topper) 

PERFECT.  At 10, when we were done, we all changed and went to the disco for more fun!

The next day, we went to Xelha.

We ended up leaving on Monday afternoon...reluctantly!

If I could give any advice it would be this:

Don't stress...it will be perfect.

Don't forget to enjoy the resort and all it has to offer.  I missed out on going to the pool twice and the beach once, then before you knew it, it was time to go home.

Book your restaurant reservations at check in, if you can.  They fill FAST!

It is VERY HUMID and hot.  Your hair will look a mess. Be ready for this!

Overall...I was VERY pleased and my guests (2 weeks later) are STILL talking about our wedding.  We will definitely return to the Barcelo Maya Palace!