Gran Bahia Principe Akumal/Tulum/Coba - POST HERE!

[lgerry]

Do any past Canadian brides have any feedback on how you paid for everything?

 

I know you pay for everything at the end, but we are trying to decide on whether to pay by credit card or to bring down cash. Taking $3k + cash down to Mexico (esp leaving it in our room safe for en entire week) makes me nervous, but Eugenia has told us that the exchange rate the hotel gives us if we pay by credit card in Pesos is not the greatest and is better if we pay in cash. This makes sense if we were coming from the US and all our currency was in USD already, but coming from Canada we have to exchange either way.

 

Any thoughts...

[sunnyee]

I paid for everything using my credit card, which I would recommend so that you don't have to take large sums of cash along with you. Having said that, make sure that you call your credit card company before you leave and have them put a "travel flag" on your account so that they are aware that you may/will be using your card while out of the country. If you don't do this they can freeze your account and not allow the transaction to be processed. This happened to my husband once, now we always call. They ask you where you are travelling and your dates of departure/return.

 

Should you decide to go the cash route, I would still recommend that you travel with at least one credit card just "in case". I'm from Canada and always carry US cash for tipping, collectivo/taxi and other small purchases as well as a credit card.

 

One other note about your wedding bill at the Bahia...it is a good idea to ask for a copy of your bill the day before you check out. This will give you a chance to look it over and ensure that it is correct. I'm not saying that there have been issues, just that it would be better to address any questions you have the day before vs the moment you are checking out. I did this (my bill was fine) and it made check out the next day a breeze knowing exactly what to expect.

[KatLew]

Hello!

 

Did anyone or is anyone having a legal ceremony? I need to know what documents are required and if you know where to obtain them please share!

 

Thank you

 

Kat

[KatLew]

I'm trying to reach Jazmin but haven't heard back in nearly two months. I really want her to confirm my dinner time  - as well as my cocktail hour I will pay for before and the poolside recpetion - so i can order and mail my invitations

 

3pm - tulum gazebo legal ceremony

5 - 6p - cocktail hour with guitar trio

6 to 8pm - dinner at Tequila mexican resturant

8 to 10:30pm - poolside reception

 

what do you guys think?

Beautiful picture! Was your wedding legal or symbolic?

Were there other colors for the runner aside from red?

 

The ceremony took approximately 30 minutes. It wasn't very long, and this is also after we had an extra 5 minutes or so of my sister in law doing a quick reading for us. The new website is difficult to upload photos, but I was able to find this one of us during the ceremony at the gazebo in Tulum. 

 

The ceremony took approximately 30 minutes. It wasn't very long, and this is also after we had an extra 5 minutes or so of my sister in law doing a quick reading for us. The new website is difficult to upload photos, but I was able to find this one of us during the ceremony at the gazebo in Tulum. 

[gemma2014]

Can any previous brides help, how did everyone communicate with guests to arrange meeting up and to find out where everyone is? I've read on here the rooms don't have voicemail?

Not keen on using mobiles as it'll cost loads, any suggestions?

[futuremrswarner]

Can any previous brides help, how did everyone communicate with guests to arrange meeting up and to find out where everyone is? I've read on here the rooms don't have voicemail?

Not keen on using mobiles as it'll cost loads, any suggestions?

 

Jazmin gave me a little note/letter to give out to all the guests to give them a brief timeline of the events that day for those who are not part of the wedding party. It had the time and location of where to meet within the resort to head over to the ceremony site. It was helpful too when your friends and family can pass on the information just in case you can't reach all your guests in time. The letter is given to bride/groom at the meeting with the WC, so you would have to hunt down your guests or have the resort put it in their rooms. 

 

If you're referring to communication with the guests within the week, we just use the room phones as much as we could, and made arrangements the night before. Again, having guests pass on the word to each other really helped us. Although it was easy to hunt everyone down for us because all my guests were placed within the same building. 

I'm trying to reach Jazmin but haven't heard back in nearly two months. I really want her to confirm my dinner time  - as well as my cocktail hour I will pay for before and the poolside recpetion - so i can order and mail my invitations

 

3pm - tulum gazebo legal ceremony

5 - 6p - cocktail hour with guitar trio

6 to 8pm - dinner at Tequila mexican resturant

8 to 10:30pm - poolside reception

 

what do you guys think?

 

That is exactly what my timeline was for the wedding, and I think it worked out great for us. We didnt have a cocktail hour set up, and just allowed guests to do their own thing after the ceremony while we were taking photos. However, it worked out great for them because many of them went back to the room to rest up or change into more comfortable clothing. They all appreciated the little spare time they had. 

Do any past Canadian brides have any feedback on how you paid for everything?

 

I know you pay for everything at the end, but we are trying to decide on whether to pay by credit card or to bring down cash. Taking $3k + cash down to Mexico (esp leaving it in our room safe for en entire week) makes me nervous, but Eugenia has told us that the exchange rate the hotel gives us if we pay by credit card in Pesos is not the greatest and is better if we pay in cash. This makes sense if we were coming from the US and all our currency was in USD already, but coming from Canada we have to exchange either way.

 

Any thoughts...

 

I was nervous about bringing the cash down as well, but I ended up paying the resort all in cash in the end. With the credit card, alot of companies will charge the exchange rate + an extra % so it just didnt make sense to me. The hubby and I ended up paying the resort and all our vendors in cash in the end, and since we exchanged a larger sum, the bank gave us a slightly better rate. You would have to take cash no matter what as the resort asked us to place a cash deposit of about 630 USD during our meeting with the WC. So do bring some cash. We left all the cash in the safe the whole time, and paid everyone as soon as we could so we didnt have to keep the cash. 

Edited December 28, 2013 by futuremrswarner

[gemma2014]

Jazmin gave me a little note/letter to give out to all the guests to give them a brief timeline of the events that day for those who are not part of the wedding party. It had the time and location of where to meet within the resort to head over to the ceremony site. It was helpful too when your friends and family can pass on the information just in case you can't reach all your guests in time. The letter is given to bride/groom at the meeting with the WC, so you would have to hunt down your guests or have the resort put it in their rooms. 

 

If you're referring to communication with the guests within the week, we just use the room phones as much as we could, and made arrangements the night before. Again, having guests pass on the word to each other really helped us. Although it was easy to hunt everyone down for us because all my guests were placed within the same building. 

 

Thank you for the advice, hope your enjoying married life!

 

 

That is exactly what my timeline was for the wedding, and I think it worked out great for us. We didnt have a cocktail hour set up, and just allowed guests to do their own thing after the ceremony while we were taking photos. However, it worked out great for them because many of them went back to the room to rest up or change into more comfortable clothing. They all appreciated the little spare time they had. 

 

 

I was nervous about bringing the cash down as well, but I ended up paying the resort all in cash in the end. With the credit card, alot of companies will charge the exchange rate + an extra % so it just didnt make sense to me. The hubby and I ended up paying the resort and all our vendors in cash in the end, and since we exchanged a larger sum, the bank gave us a slightly better rate. You would have to take cash no matter what as the resort asked us to place a cash deposit of about 630 USD during our meeting with the WC. So do bring some cash. We left all the cash in the safe the whole time, and paid everyone as soon as we could so we didnt have to keep the cash.

 

[KatLew]

I am planning on having a cocktail hour from 5 to 6 (then diner from 6 to 8).... I want to use this hour for a couple of speeches, mingling, etc. 

 

Guitar trio is 295, and I would only do the "special cocktails" for the hour (wine, beer, margarita, and pina colatas), which is only $5 a person.... what do you guys think of this? When did you guys do your speeches?

 

My ceremony is at 3, and I'm wondering if having a cocktail hour at 5 would make things too rushed for photos?

 

From what I understand:

3to 3:30pm - ceremony

3:30-3:45 - toast

3:45-4 - group picture

4 to 4:30 - bride and groom pictures

4:30 to 5 - wedding party pictures

 

5 to 6  - cocktail hour with guitar trio, speeches

6 to 8 - dinner at Tequila Mexican restaurant

8 to 10:30 - poolside reception

 

*** Where is the poolside reception in the Tulum resort?

 

Thanks!

 

Kat

How much extra were the white sashes on the chairs?

 

I am planning on having a cocktail hour from 5 to 6 (then diner from 6 to 8).... I want to use this hour for a couple of speeches, mingling, etc. 

 

Guitar trio is 295, and I would only do the "special cocktails" for the hour (wine, beer, margarita, and pina colatas), which is only $5 a person.... what do you think of this? When did you  do your speeches?

 

My ceremony is at 3, and I'm wondering if having a cocktail hour at 5 would make things too rushed for photos?

 

From what I understand:

 

3to 3:30pm - ceremony

3:30-3:45 - toast

3:45-4 - group picture

4 to 4:30 - bride and groom pictures

4:30 to 5 - wedding party pictures

5 to 6  - cocktail hour with guitar trio, speeches

6 to 8 - dinner at Tequila Mexican restaurant

8 to 10:30 - poolside reception

 

*** Where is the poolside reception in the Tulum resort?

 

Thanks!

 

Kat

The ceremony took approximately 30 minutes. It wasn't very long, and this is also after we had an extra 5 minutes or so of my sister in law doing a quick reading for us. The new website is difficult to upload photos, but I was able to find this one of us during the ceremony at the gazebo in Tulum. 

[futuremrswarner]

I am planning on having a cocktail hour from 5 to 6 (then diner from 6 to 8).... I want to use this hour for a couple of speeches, mingling, etc. 

 

Guitar trio is 295, and I would only do the "special cocktails" for the hour (wine, beer, margarita, and pina colatas), which is only $5 a person.... what do you guys think of this? When did you guys do your speeches?

 

My ceremony is at 3, and I'm wondering if having a cocktail hour at 5 would make things too rushed for photos?

 

From what I understand:

3to 3:30pm - ceremony

3:30-3:45 - toast

3:45-4 - group picture

4 to 4:30 - bride and groom pictures

4:30 to 5 - wedding party pictures

 

5 to 6  - cocktail hour with guitar trio, speeches

6 to 8 - dinner at Tequila Mexican restaurant

8 to 10:30 - poolside reception

 

*** Where is the poolside reception in the Tulum resort?

 

Thanks!

 

Kat

How much extra were the white sashes on the chairs?

 

I am planning on having a cocktail hour from 5 to 6 (then diner from 6 to 8).... I want to use this hour for a couple of speeches, mingling, etc. 

 

Guitar trio is 295, and I would only do the "special cocktails" for the hour (wine, beer, margarita, and pina colatas), which is only $5 a person.... what do you think of this? When did you  do your speeches?

 

My ceremony is at 3, and I'm wondering if having a cocktail hour at 5 would make things too rushed for photos?

 

From what I understand:

 

3to 3:30pm - ceremony

3:30-3:45 - toast

3:45-4 - group picture

4 to 4:30 - bride and groom pictures

4:30 to 5 - wedding party pictures

5 to 6  - cocktail hour with guitar trio, speeches

6 to 8 - dinner at Tequila Mexican restaurant

8 to 10:30 - poolside reception

 

*** Where is the poolside reception in the Tulum resort?

 

Thanks!

 

Kat

 

 

The white sashes on the chairs were included in the price for the wedding package. I didn't need to pay extra for that. 

 

It rained on the day of my wedding, so we didn't end up having the poolside reception. However, I did see another wedding with the poolside reception at the pool by Gran Tortuga.

 

For us, we didn't do the cocktail hour so we just did our speeches during the dinner in Don Pablo. We didn't use a mic or anything, but if you spoke normally, I think your guest should still hear you, even at Tequila restaurant (assuming you're a small sectioned off area in the restaurant). 

 

That timeline is pretty much what we had.

3:00-3:30pm  ceremony

3:30-3:50pm  toast and just quick mingling 

3:50-4:15pm  group photos

4:15-4:45pm  wedding party photos on the beach

4:45-5:30pm  bride and groom photos on the beach

 

We took a little longer with the photos, and even then, we had extra time to spare before we had to go to dinner. You should be fine with your timeline. 

[KatLew]

ok. Thank you for writing back.

 

Yeah I just feel like there is a big lag in between the ceremony and dinner and though it would be good to do a cocktail hour fro 5 to 6 so guests can mingle before dinner. What did you do instead of the poolside reception? How many people attended your wedding?

 

The white sashes on the chairs were included in the price for the wedding package. I didn't need to pay extra for that. 

 

It rained on the day of my wedding, so we didn't end up having the poolside reception. However, I did see another wedding with the poolside reception at the pool by Gran Tortuga.

 

For us, we didn't do the cocktail hour so we just did our speeches during the dinner in Don Pablo. We didn't use a mic or anything, but if you spoke normally, I think your guest should still hear you, even at Tequila restaurant (assuming you're a small sectioned off area in the restaurant). 

 

That timeline is pretty much what we had.

3:00-3:30pm  ceremony

3:30-3:50pm  toast and just quick mingling 

3:50-4:15pm  group photos

4:15-4:45pm  wedding party photos on the beach

4:45-5:30pm  bride and groom photos on the beach

 

We took a little longer with the photos, and even then, we had extra time to spare before we had to go to dinner. You should be fine with your timeline.