This site was so helpful with our wedding planning so I wanted to be sure to share our story in the hopes others might find it useful.

We have been to different parts of the Mexican Riviera for vacation on numerous occassions.  Our personal preference is the area south of Playa De Carmen because we enjoy to snorkel and also like to get away from the crowds.  When choosing a site for the wedding, however, we needed a place that was affordable, easily accessible and had a great value for our 36 guests.  The Gran Caribe Real did not disappoint.

One of the main reasons for doing a destination wedding is that we wanted to relax, spend time with family and have little hassle.  We chose the Classic Wedding package with a private reception.  Below I will try to summarize our experience:

Transportation:  On the suggestion of others on this site, we used cancuntransfers.com for all of our transportation needs.  Their prices were competitive and service great. 

Hotel:  Based on the inconsistent reviews of this hotel, I was a little nervous about what to expect.  We had been to the Palladium a few years ago and loved it.  However, the Palladium is a long haul from the airport and a little pricey for our guests, so after a lot of research we chose the Gran Caribe Real.  We were not disappointed.  As soon as we walked into the lobby, we were impressed.  The hotel and grounds are beautiful, clean and well maintained.  We had no complaints on food or drinks.  One night we did the sit down dinner at the Sunset Grill and decided it wasn't worth the wait.  We preferred the buffets because there was much variety and service was great.  The rooms were spacious and clean.  The service was friendly and top notch.

The beach was gorgeous but the water was a little rough.  This wasn't a problem for us because we didn't have small children.

In comparison to the Palladium, we loved the intamacy of the Gran Caribe.  It allowed our group to keep up with each other yet still do our own thing.  At a mega resort, it is difficult to keep up with each other.   

Wedding:  We chose the Classic Wedding package with a private reception.  The wedding was at 4pm on the beach.  GORGEOUS!!  We thought it might rain on us, but it didn't!  We had planned an outside reception, but Flora recommended we have it in the ballroom instead because of the chance of rain.  To be honest, this was for the best.  After being in the wind, sand and heat for the wedding, we were all ready to be inside.  The ballroom was decorated beautifully.  We just used the decorations provided.  It was so elegant.  We also had a dance floor which was great.

We brought our own IPOD and used their sound system.  It worked out perfectly.  We rented the microphone for $80 and it was worth it.

I am glad we did not choose the cocktail hour.  By the time we did the wedding and pictures, we barely had time to freshen up and head to the reception at 6pm, where cocktails were waiting for us as we walked in the door!

Photographer:  We hired Sascha Gluk and must say he and his staff were fantastic!  They showed up 2 hours prior to the wedding and stayed through the reception.  He also took the bride and groom for a TTD session the following day.  We do not have the pics back yet but there is no doubt we will be thrilled.  Check out his website - he does awesome work.  We wanted to be sure we had great pics and didn't want to mess with having to pick and choose the pics we wanted to keep.  Sascha gives a cd of all photos.

Miscellaneous:  We really tried to keep the wedding simple, focusing on fun and relaxation for our guests.  We purchased travel mugs for our guests.  This was well received.  We did maracas for favors at the wedding, also a great hit.  Although you can purchase maracas in Mexico, I am happy we purchased in advance so we could attach our labels and also not have to hassle with trying to rush and buy stuff prior to the wedding.

Most of our group did the all inclusive XPLOR excursion 2 days after the wedding.  Everyone loved this. 

What I would do different --- key card holders!!  Key card holders would really have been handy and appreciated by our guests because it was difficult, especially for the guys, to keep up with the room and towel cards.

I hope I hit the highlights.  Let me know if you have any questions & I will try to answer.  I will post some pics when we get them in.  Happy planning!