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

[waybuloo]

Tropical Bride - You shouldve came over & said Hi!!!!  I didn't see any other brides get married at the Gazebo.... I think because we were staying at Akumal but I wouldve loved to meet you!

 

Sunshine 2680 - We had our dinner at Gran Tortuga & they do not provide any decoration other than white table cloths.....I took with me hot pink crystals to be scattered on each table, favours that were put at each place, colouring books & pencils at the child places & I made place cards with everyones name on & did a table planner so everyone knew where they were seating.  You can have the tables seating 7 - 10 guests at each table with the option of a top table as well however the top table only can seat 4 people....we had ourselves & our two children at the table for 4 then our parents & my brother & family on the nearest table to us.

 

We did our speeches at the dinner as we were all done byn 8pm & the transport to take us back to the Akumal for our poolside party wasn't coming until 8.30pm.  Where are you having your poolside party?  As if you are having it at the Akumal they have a proper bar there that is always there so even though we only paid $11 for the special cocktails (basically beer & wine) we had every drink available to us.....I know at the Tulum it isn't like that & the bar is more a table with a cloth on it.

 

We had the DJ & it was great.....he had tons of lights & it felt like a proper party....there was 47 of us so quite a few of us.  As Tropical Bride said Jasmin is AMAZING & will do anything you would like for your day, nothing is too much trouble & after all my stressing & worrying our day couldn't have been more perfect!

[Sunshine2680]

Thanks for the reply!
Ya - We're staying on the Tulum side - so there ceremony will either be on the beach or at the Gazebo  - haven't decided where yet - im pretty torn between the two.
What I would really like is to have a cocktail party for after the ceremony so people can enjoy a mariachi band..while we're off getting pictures done..Im thinking the Diamond Club pool (Tulum) would be great for this...and then have them set up to have the dinner and reception at the same pool. That way my guests aren't going back and forth and everything can be in the same place.
I'm not sure how much that will all cost me - or if its even possible to do all that but I haven't been put in touch with any WC yet as its still so far away...even though we've already booked the travel dates. Even if we had the dinner portion at the Tequila restaurant (which is right in front of the gazebo) - that would be fine too and I'd save some money for the dinner portion.

I guess I'll have to wait and see what my options are - once I finally get assigned a Wedding Coordinator
 

Originally Posted by waybuloo 

Tropical Bride - You shouldve came over & said Hi!!!!  I didn't see any other brides get married at the Gazebo.... I think because we were staying at Akumal but I wouldve loved to meet you!

 

Sunshine 2680 - We had our dinner at Gran Tortuga & they do not provide any decoration other than white table cloths.....I took with me hot pink crystals to be scattered on each table, favours that were put at each place, colouring books & pencils at the child places & I made place cards with everyones name on & did a table planner so everyone knew where they were seating.  You can have the tables seating 7 - 10 guests at each table with the option of a top table as well however the top table only can seat 4 people....we had ourselves & our two children at the table for 4 then our parents & my brother & family on the nearest table to us.

 

We did our speeches at the dinner as we were all done byn 8pm & the transport to take us back to the Akumal for our poolside party wasn't coming until 8.30pm.  Where are you having your poolside party?  As if you are having it at the Akumal they have a proper bar there that is always there so even though we only paid $11 for the special cocktails (basically beer & wine) we had every drink available to us.....I know at the Tulum it isn't like that & the bar is more a table with a cloth on it.

 

We had the DJ & it was great.....he had tons of lights & it felt like a proper party....there was 47 of us so quite a few of us.  As Tropical Bride said Jasmin is AMAZING & will do anything you would like for your day, nothing is too much trouble & after all my stressing & worrying our day couldn't have been more perfect!

 

[Jemma]

Hi there, Does anyone have the menu for Le Gran Tortuga restaurant please?? We really dont like the menu's our WC has sent us for Dolce Vita or Frutos del Mar. We are staying at Akumal side but hoping if we get in there asap and request another restaurant they might be ok with that!!

 

my email is [email protected]

 

thanks anyone that can help!! 

[stylishmeNC]

Has anyone done the Mayan Blessing ceremony? If so can you tell me more about it, and do you have any photos or video? I am really interested in this and would love to know more since we are planning only to do a symbolic ceremony anyway.  (I am terrified of needles and not really keen on having blood drawn so we have decided to just sign the papers here int he US right before we head down to Mexico and then just have a symbolic/renewing of the vows there. I think it would be really special and unique to have the Mayan blessing since we are in the area!)

[Sunshine2680]

Oh! Good question - I'd like to know also..as we're doing the symbolic ceremony too.
I've heard through other brides though that the Mayan ceremony is quite long...so if this is true - I won't bother with it. The less time my guests are scorching in the sun the better

 

Originally Posted by stylishmeNC 

Has anyone done the Mayan Blessing ceremony? If so can you tell me more about it, and do you have any photos or video? I am really interested in this and would love to know more since we are planning only to do a symbolic ceremony anyway.  (I am terrified of needles and not really keen on having blood drawn so we have decided to just sign the papers here int he US right before we head down to Mexico and then just have a symbolic/renewing of the vows there. I think it would be really special and unique to have the Mayan blessing since we are in the area!)

 

[cdlillad]

Hi Ladies!

I am back from my beautiful wedding at the Tulum Gazebo.  This is not my official review, this is just me venting. :-)  I haven't posted any pictures yet, but I will link to them soon when I post them.

 

I am very happy with the resort, the people, and everything.  I just don't like it when things don't go as I plan. haha  I'll admit that I went Bridezilla too many times, but I don't even think my guests noticed much.  Everyone had a great time, we had about 33 guests.  I was way too stressed in the 2 weeks before my wedding, because I guess I procrastinated too much and had too many things to do in the end.  I couldn't figure out how to get all my wedding things and OOT bags onto the plane.  My husband and I are both elite on the airline, so we were entitled to 2 free checked bags each and 1 carryon.  But if we check in any more bags or if the bag goes over 50 lbs, they charge $100 per bag.  So I ended up having to get my parents to take 3 boxes for us (my stepdad is platinum and was traveling with my sister, niece, and nephew) and another friend to take 1 box.  So apparently I don't pack light....lol.  In total we had 3 large suitcases, 1 large duffel bag, 1 carryon suitcase, 4 boxes, and my wedding dress (my carryon).  I highly recommend bringing duffel bags because suitcases are already heavy before you put anything in them.

 

OOT bags - I saw my guests using the tote bags, sunscreen, and aloe.  But I only saw a few people using the insulated mugs and key card holders.  This may be because most people were only there 4 nights.  I don't think anyone used the hand sanitizer because all of the hotel restaurants had hand sanitizer at the entrance, also the resort uses only purified water for everything.

 

Bridezilla Moments - My guests arrived on all different days and stayed at different hotels (Coba and Tulum).  The resort is much larger than I ever imagined and the hotel rooms do not have voice mail.  So it was like a communication disaster for me.  In many cases I used my cell phone and now I think I have a large phone bill.

 

I met with Jazmin and I had picked the bouquet I wanted and printed it out, but I had not communicated it to Jazmin until the day of our meeting.  She said that the flowers I was wanting were special and there was probably not enough time to order them.  Inside my head I was really freaking out at that moment.  But the bouquets I ended up getting were beautiful, so it was fine.  I just said that I wanted orange flowers in a cascading bouquet since the bridesmaid dresses are orange.  Then I wanted the bridesmaids to have white bouquets in a lollipop shape.  Here's a picture of me, my husband, and bridemaids and our bouquets:

 

 

My other bridezilla moment was when the groom's mother arrived, but the groom's brother did not arrive with her as planned.  His brother who was supposed to be the best man, decided to just not show up and didn't tell us anything - even though we paid for all their travel.  I was very upset because all of our guests ended up just being my friends and I just felt really bad for my husband.  From the groom's side, it was only his mom, father, and one of his friends came.  He had groomsmen lined up and they all cancelled last minute for various reasons.  So we had 6 bridesmaids and 2 groomsmen (one was my friend and the other his father).

 

I stressed all week about the weather, because it was raining a lot all week.  By some miracle it didn't rain on the day of my wedding, even though the forecast was 30 -40% chance of rain.  But it was very very hot.  On the day of the wedding I could not stop sweating.  I took the advice of another bride on here, brought blotting papers, and some makeup for touchup.  Blotting papers would not cut it, my bridesmaids were constantly bringing napkins and drying off my face and neck.  They were also fanning me, those rattan fans I got were great for me and all the guests!  I saw them using the fans for the rest of the trip too.

 

I also got really anxious about the Arrecife photographer prices.  Diego was my photographer and the pictures were gorgeous.  That man is like an amazing photo taking machine.  He was running around all over the place, fixing my dress, just doing everything.  And somehow magically I looked good in the pictures even though I was sweating like a pig and totally freaking out.  I was stressed because I wanted to buy ALL Diego's pictures and I knew we could not afford it.  Also I'm not sure if Diego speaks much English or not, because he kept speaking in Spanish/Italian and my husband was translating everything to me.  It was a little overwhelming for me.  We had to meet with Arrecife a total of 5 times because we wanted to view all 700 photos and we kept negotiating (also because I wanted all the photos in color and not sepia or black/white).  Also because I wanted a short video of the ceremony, which I was quoted $300 in November 2010 but in May 2011 they sent me an updated price sheet with a video for $600 which is supposed to be longer, etc.  I brought along a friend to take photos for us and honestly my friend's pictures did not turn out as well as Arrecife's.  Diego just knew exactly where to take the picture, what pose to put us in, etc.

 

ROOM SAFE - It was free and I think my guests also got theirs for free (for booking through expedia).  The laptop and ipad didn't fit in the safe.  We kept the laptop and ipad in a backpack in the room and it was never stolen. 

 

DJ - I hired Mood Event Services to DJ our poolside cocktail party.  They were the only thing that I can say went perfect and I didn't stress at all.  My favorite part was the lightup dance floor. I could dance forever on there.  I will post pictures and a review on that later.

[cdlillad]

Oh I forgot to mention that I got my hair and makeup from Sara Tamargo. Thanks to her my makeup stayed on, even with all that sweating.  She sprayed something on my face before applying the makeup and after applying the makeup.  I guess that was magic spray, because even after all the napkin blotting the makeup stayed great.  Also my hair stayed in place.  I'm glad I put my hair up because of how hot and humid it was outside.  And let me just say that I am from Houston, so I am not new to heat and humidity. But honestly I stay inside with A/C a lot in Houston in the summer.

 

DAY PASSES - I paid a fortune in day passes.  I never mentioned my hair and makeup ladies to Jazmin.  The day of the wedding I was waiting in the Tulum lobby for Sara Tamargo and her hair stylist friend.  Then I get a text from my mom that I need to call Jazmin.  Sara Tamargo was not allowed into the security gate unless I got her and the hair stylist each day passes.  So there went $180.  For the DJs, I arranged in advance a day pass for DJ Julian.  Later DJ Julian had to come talk to us because the resort wanted us to also pay day passes for each of the 2 people Julian brought to assist him in setting up the dance floor, etc.  My husband managed to negotiate with Jazmin to only pay for 2 passes $180 for the DJs instead of for all 3 of them.  SIGH. I could do without all of that hassle.  It just stressed me out more.

[Sunshine2680]

Beautiful wedding so far! So glad everything turned out (for the most part) for you.
Looking VERY forward to more pictures!
That sucks SO bad with the luggage and day passes! I'm extremely worried about how I'm going to get everything down there.
I can't believe they required a pass per person entering the resort!! I wanted to have the Styling Trio for makeup and hair - but thats $270! Ouch
Good to know about the flowers - I'll have to make sure I tell them what I want ahead of time. I wonder if you could order from outside the resort - and just have them delivered?
Sooooo sorry to hear about all those that ditched out. I can't believe that. Do they think it didnt cost money? helloooooooo
Thats unfortunate.
 

Originally Posted by cdlillad 

Hi Ladies!

I am back from my beautiful wedding at the Tulum Gazebo.  This is not my official review, this is just me venting. :-)  I haven't posted any pictures yet, but I will link to them soon when I post them.

 

I am very happy with the resort, the people, and everything.  I just don't like it when things don't go as I plan. haha  I'll admit that I went Bridezilla too many times, but I don't even think my guests noticed much.  Everyone had a great time, we had about 33 guests.  I was way too stressed in the 2 weeks before my wedding, because I guess I procrastinated too much and had too many things to do in the end.  I couldn't figure out how to get all my wedding things and OOT bags onto the plane.  My husband and I are both elite on the airline, so we were entitled to 2 free checked bags each and 1 carryon.  But if we check in any more bags or if the bag goes over 50 lbs, they charge $100 per bag.  So I ended up having to get my parents to take 3 boxes for us (my stepdad is platinum and was traveling with my sister, niece, and nephew) and another friend to take 1 box.  So apparently I don't pack light....lol.  In total we had 3 large suitcases, 1 large duffel bag, 1 carryon suitcase, 4 boxes, and my wedding dress (my carryon).  I highly recommend bringing duffel bags because suitcases are already heavy before you put anything in them.

 

OOT bags - I saw my guests using the tote bags, sunscreen, and aloe.  But I only saw a few people using the insulated mugs and key card holders.  This may be because most people were only there 4 nights.  I don't think anyone used the hand sanitizer because all of the hotel restaurants had hand sanitizer at the entrance, also the resort uses only purified water for everything.

 

Bridezilla Moments - My guests arrived on all different days and stayed at different hotels (Coba and Tulum).  The resort is much larger than I ever imagined and the hotel rooms do not have voice mail.  So it was like a communication disaster for me.  In many cases I used my cell phone and now I think I have a large phone bill.

 

I met with Jazmin and I had picked the bouquet I wanted and printed it out, but I had not communicated it to Jazmin until the day of our meeting.  She said that the flowers I was wanting were special and there was probably not enough time to order them.  Inside my head I was really freaking out at that moment.  But the bouquets I ended up getting were beautiful, so it was fine.  I just said that I wanted orange flowers in a cascading bouquet since the bridesmaid dresses are orange.  Then I wanted the bridesmaids to have white bouquets in a lollipop shape.  Here's a picture of me, my husband, and bridemaids and our bouquets:

 

 

My other bridezilla moment was when the groom's mother arrived, but the groom's brother did not arrive with her as planned.  His brother who was supposed to be the best man, decided to just not show up and didn't tell us anything - even though we paid for all their travel.  I was very upset because all of our guests ended up just being my friends and I just felt really bad for my husband.  From the groom's side, it was only his mom, father, and one of his friends came.  He had groomsmen lined up and they all cancelled last minute for various reasons.  So we had 6 bridesmaids and 2 groomsmen (one was my friend and the other his father).

 

I stressed all week about the weather, because it was raining a lot all week.  By some miracle it didn't rain on the day of my wedding, even though the forecast was 30 -40% chance of rain.  But it was very very hot.  On the day of the wedding I could not stop sweating.  I took the advice of another bride on here, brought blotting papers, and some makeup for touchup.  Blotting papers would not cut it, my bridesmaids were constantly bringing napkins and drying off my face and neck.  They were also fanning me, those rattan fans I got were great for me and all the guests!  I saw them using the fans for the rest of the trip too.

 

I also got really anxious about the Arrecife photographer prices.  Diego was my photographer and the pictures were gorgeous.  That man is like an amazing photo taking machine.  He was running around all over the place, fixing my dress, just doing everything.  And somehow magically I looked good in the pictures even though I was sweating like a pig and totally freaking out.  I was stressed because I wanted to buy ALL Diego's pictures and I knew we could not afford it.  Also I'm not sure if Diego speaks much English or not, because he kept speaking in Spanish/Italian and my husband was translating everything to me.  It was a little overwhelming for me.  We had to meet with Arrecife a total of 5 times because we wanted to view all 700 photos and we kept negotiating (also because I wanted all the photos in color and not sepia or black/white).  Also because I wanted a short video of the ceremony, which I was quoted $300 in November 2010 but in May 2011 they sent me an updated price sheet with a video for $600 which is supposed to be longer, etc.  I brought along a friend to take photos for us and honestly my friend's pictures did not turn out as well as Arrecife's.  Diego just knew exactly where to take the picture, what pose to put us in, etc.

 

ROOM SAFE - It was free and I think my guests also got theirs for free (for booking through expedia).  The laptop and ipad didn't fit in the safe.  We kept the laptop and ipad in a backpack in the room and it was never stolen. 

 

DJ - I hired Mood Event Services to DJ our poolside cocktail party.  They were the only thing that I can say went perfect and I didn't stress at all.  My favorite part was the lightup dance floor. I could dance forever on there.  I will post pictures and a review on that later.

 

[cdlillad]

Hi Sunshine,

I have over 1000 photos, because we brought our friend to take photos too.  So I'm selecting the best ones to post on facebook or somewhere and I can link to it here. 

About the flowers, your wedding coordinator can order any type of flowers you want, she just needs to know in advance.  So I don't think you should order from outside the resort.  I think she said that all the flowers come from Mexico City, which makes sense because I've seen the beautiful flower market in Xochimilco (near Mexico City).  You may want to get your coordinator's recommendation on which flowers are included in your package.  Because they have beautiful flowers, we just don't know which ones are considered "local tropical flowers".  I tried to do research on what are local Mexico flowers before I got there, that's when I decided on orange dahlias because dahlias are the traditional Mexican flower.  Then I meet with Jazmin and she said dahlias are not local flowers.  So you can imagine my confusion.
 

[fraggle42]

cdlillad,

 

what are the flowers in your bouquet then? and do these particular flowers come in various colours. They look like gerbera which i was thinking about having. was your bouquet in with your package or did you have to pay extra?