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Catholic Wedding@ Grand Caribe Real Cancun

Ok I just got married at the Grand Caribe Real I think I can answers all your questions that I wished some had told me before hand.  I know I freaked out when I found out that there is NO rehearsal but calm down I hope this guide helps some of you. If you read these it should answers some of our questions and put you at ease.

I’d like to add that I only had my catholic mass at the Grand Caribe Real chapel so I don’t know much about their other services. All  my guests along with my hubby and I stayed elsewhere. I’m sorry if I can’t answer question about food and music and so on, it’s just that our reception was at another location. Note *I was able to get my bridal dress ironed there for $30 dls as I was getting married in their chapel.

 With this said it is possible to get married in their catholic chapel without having to have your cocktail or reception on their resort. Also you do NOT need to pay for guests passes for the people attending your wedding. On the day of my wedding the limo dropped my wedding party and I off. I was greeted by my wedding coordinator and everything was straight forward.  At the end of the mass my new hubby and I left in the limo to and our guests waited in the hotel lobby for the arranged private transportation to pick them up and shuttle them to the reception location.  No one was hassled or asked to provide a day/ evening pass.

The Resort  offers floral services, music services photo and video for the ceremony.  Personally I paid to have and outside florist and outside musicians play during my mass.  When I got married they charged 100dls per outside vendor. As of 2011 they now charge $ 200 USD.  Still I got a better package deal outside the resort.  But if you want less of a hassle then you can opt to use the hotels services. It might be pricier but its less of a head ache. =0)

Hint hint hint if your videographer and your photographer are part of your wedding guests you don’t have to pay the extra outside vendor fee. =0) Just follow the don’t ask don’t tell policy.

 The Catholic Nuptial mass will be very traditional.

Since you are in Mexico you will do all the Mexican traditions as part of the mass. It will all add to the flair of your destination wedding so don’t be afraid of it. I loved it. The meaning of each ritual is so romantic. I will detail what you need to have so that you are properly prepared.

First off since there are NO rehearsals. I was lucky enough to be given a booklet by the priest at my church, this booklet  is given to all brides and groom when they are going to marry so they can prepare themselves for their nuptial mass.   Well this book  is a guideline that contains all the suggested readings and scriptures,  and rituals for a catholic marriage celebration.

Since I was freaking out about the no rehearsal I read this small book and followed the guidelines. I followed the instructions filling in the booklet as it asked me too.  It’s a easy  A, B and C type of thing where you fill in what you like.  It is self explanatory and guides you to pick and chose the exact readings that  you want read in your ceremony and that are meaningful to you. LOW AND BEHOLD thank god I was prepared with that.  Because when I showed the booklet to the priest he exclaimed that my booklet is exactly the same book he likes to use and asks the couples in Cancun to use it when they go to him for the marriage prep class. He collects these little paperbacks  in different languages from other couples.  My parish priest in Houston gave me an English version and a Spanish version. The priest that married us asked if I could donate the small booklets to him after the mass. =0)  The night before I gave the booklets to the people doing the readings and then after the church ceremony they gave them to the priest.

 Go to your local parish and ask for the following book

Together for Life: Special Edition for Marriage Outside Mass [Paperback]

Joseph M. Champlin

Juntos Para Toda La Vida (Spanish Edition) [Paperback]

Joseph M. Champlin

Joseph M. Champlin(Author)

If they don’t have it,  you can get it on amazon it only costs about $4 dls.

http://www.amazon.com/Together-Life-Special-Marriage-Outside/dp/087793617X/ref=pd_sim_b_1 

Reading my pic in preparation! 

When you arrive in Cancun  a few days before the wedding you will NEED to meet with the priest.  Your wedding coordinator at the Grand Caribe Real will set up this appointment with him. It is vital you attend as this is where the priest meets you and he asks you what readings  you want and so on.  If you have the little book I reference above and you have outlined everything as it guides

you to do, all you have to do is show it to the priest and he will jot down what you want. It will be a breeze.                                       

The priests that speaks English and Spanish is father Eugenio Guerra. He is really nice After you discuss the readings he will explain how the rest of ceremony will carry out. During your appointment the priest will also explain the meaning of each ritual if you don’t know them already.

FYI Some of the customs of a Catholic Mexican wedding originated after the Spanish came to Mexico and intermarried with the native Aztec Indians, blending their religion with some of the Aztec customs of worship.

The Catholic Church went along with this because it was more acceptable for the Aztecs to want to call themselves "Christians" if the church would allow them to bring some of their own more familiar methods of worship into the church.  The wedding service in Mexico will follow the rules of the Catholic church, and will  be a full Mass.

Apart from exchanging vow’s and the obvious rings you will also fulfill the Mexican tradition.

Make sure you have 4 sponsors for the following list. You cannot get these things yourself. They are a gift given to the couple by friends and or loved ones. During the mass the priest will ask the people offering the gifts to the couple to come to the alter with the items and have them blessed.  They will then leave the items in the alter and you will proceed with the ceremony.

  YOU WILL NEED

Mancuerna (Lasso) - it is customary that the two people putting a lasso around the couple that is being wed be a married couple) they are the main sponsors as they will symbolize your marriage god parents. After the couple have exchanged their vows, the El Lazo, or the Lasso, a white ribbon or rosary, is put around the couple's neck in the shape of an eight. The Lasso signifies the union of the two in an unbreakable bond of love and trust.  

Bellow o are our Sponsors (marriage god parents) put the lasso around us. It is customary that since they are tying you together they will be  2 main witnesses that wlil sign your catholic marriage certificate. 

Arras (coins) – During the wedding, it is customary for the groom to give the bride Trece monedas de oro or '13 gold coins' blessed by the priest. These gold coins symbolize all the wealth and material possessions that the groom gives to his bride, as a mark of his unquestionable trust and confidence in her. The acceptance of the coins by the bride, in turn symbolizes her consent to maintain his trust and take care of him and his belongings with utmost devotion. During this part the priest will also guide you and tell you what to say just like when you exchange the wedding vows. You just repeat or read of what he tell you to do. Here is a pic of my arras.  They usually cone in a little chest:  

These wedding ceremonial arras can be purchased any where. Google it if not amazon also has sells some http://www.amazon.com/Wedding-Ceremonial-Arras-13-gold-Treasure/dp/B003DRLQ5A

Unity candle set– symbolizes the two of you becoming one. You each grab a small candle and you light the larger pillar together I dont have our professional pics yet but here is a picture where you can see the unity candle set.  * At the end of the ceremony you will sign a catholic marriage certificate. =0)  If you have gotten married civially in your own country dont worry as your guests will be non the wiser. They will see you sign a a marriage certificate too. Its a certificate presented by curch that your officially married.   You will need a total of 4 witnesses to sign the certificate. Two of them should be  *the married couple that you chose to be your lasso sponsors plus two more people. In our case we chose our maid of honor and best man. Sponsors should sign the main marriage certificate along with bride and goom and other two witnesses will sign other church documents.

. .

Bible and rosary- Symbol that the word of god will always be in your house. Bellow is my lasso, bible and rosary and arras.

You don’t need a ring sponsor. You can buy your own wedding bands. Have the ring barrier carry them in and give them to the best man. When they call for the rings the best man can pass them to the groom.

Extra bouquet to offer to the virgin marry.- At the end of the mass the birde and groom walk out of the chapel.  The bride and groom then walk towards a statue of the Virgin Marry at the back of the chapel. The bride then offers as small  bouquet of flowers. The bride kneels and says and small prayer in your on words. It does not have to be outloud. In prayer bride givins thanks for her new love or asks Marry to guide her in her new married life.

During your meeting with the priest, you must also hand over to him all the required paper work such as the official  transfer letter ( permission to marry letter from you local parish) and all your authentic sacramental documents. These include (baptismal, first communion, and confirmation certificates) and a dispensation if one  of you is not  catholic. ( keep in mind they will want you to email copies of all this before hand) . They just want to make sure you have everything in order. You can send this to your wedding coordinator and they can forward it to the church or you can email the scanned copies directly to the parish in Cancun. The person in charge of the marriage records for the Nuestra Sra de Guadalupe Catholic chapel @  the Grand Caribe real is:

Sra. Guadalupe Ramos
Parish email is : [email protected]
ph: 011 52 (998) 849-50-35
Her extension is: 103

To conclude your meeting with the priest he will ask you if your already confessed and if not he will hear your confessions separately after he is done with all the formalities and has answered all your questions. He needs to know if you have confessed in your parish or if you need to be confessed as you will be receiving a sacrament and will be receiving the Holy Communion. Before you leave he will also remind the two of you that even though you are getting married the next day you MUST NOT HAVE SEX. =0)

The day of the ceremony the priest will guide the whole mass and he will tell the participants when to come up and do the readings, when to stand up, when to sit, when to kneel. He understand that not everyone attending is catholic so not everyone will know.  Make sure everyone doing the readings sits on the first or second pew on the left side. You will need three people. One for first reading, another for second reading and the last for the Responsorial Psalm. I suggest making copies from your booklet and giving them what you want them to read ahead of time so they can practice and not ne nervous.

Music during the mass- You must hire musicians offered by the hotel or provide your own. Don’t forget to hire the music for the mass or you will end up with long quiet awkward moments. LOL I hired a quartet services from an outside vendor. The quartet did an amazing job. I can fully recommend  The hits band company. They provide music and entertainment for all kinds of events.  If you follow this link you can listen to a demo they have for their catholic wedding  celebration. http://hitsband.com/4.html

Here is their home page http://hitsband.com  They are very professional and so worth the money.

Ok ladies well I hoped this helped.  If your curious how these items look, I put pictures above from my own ceremony to give you an idea of what the things look like.

Setting the chapel up for the ceremony. From here you can see the small staircase you come down then you meet the person giving you away. When they get ahold of you, you walk towards the back of the chapel where the roof starts and you begin your grand entry. There is a glass panel so the guets dont really see you clearly till you stand in the center as you walk in.

Florist decorating on my wedding day.                                       

 How they will see you enter the chapel

 This is the side doorthat  Bride comes out from and walks down stairs to the back of the chapel.  Mother of father meet the bride at the bottom o of the stair case .

Other Awesome Chapel Views  

Wind will blow inside the chapel. Look at my veil.  It was not too bad though! Gentel breez was nice.

Thats the end I hope this helps some of you! Best wishes on your upcoming wedding and may your ceremony be the happiest day of your life as it was for me!

WOW  i cannot thank you enough for posting all of this useful IMPORTANT information!!! I am getting married at the chapel exactly 4 months from today!!!!! And had all these questions of how everything would go and you have answered them all!!! everything looked amazing! thank you so much for taking time to write this! this helps soooo much!!!!! 

Thank you, Im glad I was able to help somebody! Best wishes on your upcoming wedding. =0)  Im sorry for all the typos. I hope I made my self clear. I have a bad habit of typing fast and not going back to proof read what I wrote!!!  If you have any questions in regards to what I wrote let me know.

Thank you so much!! This was exetremely helpful!! You answered all of my questions I had about this! I am from Houston as well, can I ask what church is your home parrish? I will have to look and see if I already received these booklets, so if I haven't I can ask for them. Your ceremony looked amazing and congratulations!! I do have a question about the music...how did the quartet know what and when to play? Did you give them a list of songs? In my home parrish, for wedding ceremonies there they only let you play certain songs, and have to be approved through them. Please let me know what you did when you get a chance.

Thanks so much again!!

Your welcome! My parish is the Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic ChurchIn regards to the music you they sent me a list of suggested songs that are often played at weddings.  If you don’t like the list you can always tell then to play something else.  The Musicians know when to play you don’t have to worry about telling them when to do so. You just worry about showing up for mass like you would any time you attend regular service. LOL

 I really liked all the songs so I did not change any of them.  When I asked for a quote they sent me the list below showing the suggestions of songs and when they will play them. If you don’t like the program I’m sure you can tell them to play something else. If you’re not familiar with the songs just go to you tube and type in the name of song and author. There are plenty of samples on there so you can be familiar with each piece and decide if you like it or not.

Also if you don’t want to spend so much money on a quartet you can ask to have a trio, violinist or something simpler.    Your wedding coordinator can also suggest musicians for the mass, In my case I asked for a quote on the musicians and a list of songs. After months of no reply I just outsourced and did it myself.  Of course I had to pay the outside vendor fee.  

List of Hists Band Catholic Wedding Songs.

Originally Posted by nadennec 

Thank you so much!! This was exetremely helpful!! You answered all of my questions I had about this! I am from Houston as well, can I ask what church is your home parrish? I will have to look and see if I already received these booklets, so if I haven't I can ask for them. Your ceremony looked amazing and congratulations!! I do have a question about the music...how did the quartet know what and when to play? Did you give them a list of songs? In my home parrish, for wedding ceremonies there they only let you play certain songs, and have to be approved through them. Please let me know what you did when you get a chance.

Thanks so much again!!

Yeya- Do you remember exactly how long your ceremony was??? Thanks!!!

This is exactly what I needed, thank you so much!  Quick question...do you know if it will be a problem if the individuals are catholic but do not have the certificates for the other sacraments?! 

The mas is  exactly 1 hr. Its the same length of time a regular mas is. It goes by so quickly for some reason, It will feel like you were in and out!

Originally Posted by Bride2B22 

Yeya- Do you remember exactly how long your ceremony was??? Thanks!!!

Yes it will be a problem.  They wont marry you at all if you show up and dont have the certificates. Even your letter  from your parish has to be perfect. Mine had a typo and I had to get it redone because a name of a church was not correct!  THEY WILL NOT be lenient on any thing. I had to get my certifictes from the different churches that I received my sacraments.  it was a bit hectic as  they were from different cities.  The good thing is churches keep good records and they will send you the stuff right away and its free.

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Originally Posted by chibride2011 

This is exactly what I needed, thank you so much!  Quick question...do you know if it will be a problem if the individuals are catholic but do not have the certificates for the other sacraments?! 

I forgot to add all you have to know for  them to find your records , your parents name, your name & DOB. and more or less around what year you received your the sacrament.  With that information you can look up  the parish phone number by doing a quick serarch on google.  I managed to get all my certificates for free from all my parishes.  THANK GOD SOMETHING WAS FREE!

Originally Posted by yeya99 

Yes it will be a problem.  They wont marry you at all if you show up and dont have the certificates. Even your letter  from your parish has to be perfect. Mine had a typo and I had to get it redone because a name of a church was not correct!  THEY WILL NOT be lenient on any thing. I had to get my certifictes from the different churches that I received my sacraments.  it was a bit hectic as  they were from different cities.  The good thing is churches keep good records and they will send you the stuff right away and its free.

 

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