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

[Sunshine2680]

Originally Posted by Danielle Hague 

 

Wonderful pictures the one,s in the water are gorgeous! Did u have the evening reception and DJ ? If so was this worth as I know these are extras x

 

Yes - we had a completely private reception poolside. The dinner had to be buffet style which was fine by us - we weren't there to be formal. Just to have fun. The food was amazing anyway.

The price we paid for the reception was expensive. They charged us $3130 USD for the poolside reception which included the dinner...bar...and DJ with lights etc. We even had to pay an extra $700 to extend it to 11:00pm.

I guess I can't really complain much tho because everything was perfect.

[futuremrswarner]

Your pictures are amazing! and OMG im in LOVE the TTD pictures!! Congratulations!!

[futuremrswarner]

Originally Posted by Katryne 

 

I was going to suggest contacting the resort directly.  Let us know what steps you take and how it goes, they really seem more agressive these days!

 

I also have a question, at the reception in a restaurant, how do they set up the tables?  Do we have a say?  I think we're going to be 30 guests.  I'm trying to think of ideas for decorating the tables and knowing the set up would help me a bit I think.  Thanks!

 

Originally Posted by Tlseege 

 

If they were planning on staying at the resort as a guest, then I would contact the hotel customer service... NOT the photographers.  Contact the resort directly.  Explain that you want to get married there and that guests to your wedding are photographers and it is ridiculous to not be able to use their services.  But only do that if they are staying at the resort.  If they are only coming for a day pass, then that is a different story and you'll likely not get anywhere.

 

I am guessing the photographers are trying to scare you and this is not actually a resort rule.

 

So I've been told that apparently, Arrecife Studios and GBP has the same owner, which is why they somewhat want to force you into using their services as well. The 5-day rule is correct, as confirmed for me as well. When you bring in local photographers, Arrecife will actually ask your photographer to go into their office and sign a paper to say that if they want to photograph weddings on the GBP, they will HAVE to inform their bride and groom of the 5-day rule. So the local photographers dont like photographing at that resort.

[Sunshine2680]

Originally Posted by futuremrswarner 

 

Your pictures are amazing! and OMG im in LOVE the TTD pictures!! Congratulations!!

Thank you!

[adriennej]

Hello ladies! Wedding planning is now beginning to answer anyones questions, the planning apparently doesn't start until just a few months before the wedding date.

To past brides: I was wondering what items you brought to Mexico with you for the wedding (fabrics, center pieces, etc), was this a good choice or bad? and what was your biggest budget saver?

Thanks!!

[Tracy Taylor]

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[Sunshine2680]

HOLA EVERYONE!

Here's my review of our week in paradise!!!

We were in mexico from Dec 1- Dec 8 - and wedding day was Dec 5 at Gran Bahia Principe Tulum - Blissful Love Wedding Package

What I brought with me (wedding) :
-Chair sashes
-Ring bowl
-Table numbers (i made them)
-Welcome bags
-Favors
-Cake cutting set
-Cake topper
-Starfish for ceremony decor
-Sand ceremony kit (with sand- but also used sand from the beach for our moms to pour- disguised it with glitter! ha!)
-Wedding attire, jewellery..etc
-Photographer!
-Place cards
-Guest book/basket for cards

Arrival into Cancun: Flight was smooth - flew with Westjet - TV's didnt work but other than that great flight.
When we arrived at Cancun airport - we got through customs/immigration quick - and then came the security - which is what I stressed about as the whole 'red light'/'green light' game got me worried as we had 2 pieces of luggage each as well as my wedding dress. LUCKILY - we both hit green lights and went straight through!
Transportation to the hotel was fine. You just have to fight your way through all the tour companies when you exit the airport. Once we found our bus everything was great.

Check-in @ GBP was good. Just took a while. We were all part of the Diamond Club so we got a seperate check-in lobby. Everyone got the rooms they were supposed to except a few glitches on bed sizes.

My hunny and I were given an ocean front room with a spectacular view - so I'm thinking they do upgrade most wedding couples but theres no guarantee.
We had champagne waiting for us also!

We met with Jazmin our WC on the Monday (they dont work sundays) - and we brought everything for the wedding to her. I'm extremely organized so i had pictures of EVERYTHING to help her with the set up. Everything from where i wanted the starfish hung at the ceremony - to the seating plan for the reception. I'm sure she would have figured it all out anyway because I have to say that Jazmin is AMAZING!
For those of you who are bringing A LOT A LOT of stuff down be prepared for Jazmin to tell you that you'll have to provide someone to help them set everything up. I asked her and she said i didn't have too much stuff.
Once you explain all the decor etc ..then she goes over the wedding package with you...each and every details from getting ready - to when they'll pick you up at your room..etc etc
We also gave her all our music on CD's. Everything from Pre-Ceremony music to Ceremony music...and then she passed along the CD's to the DJ for all the songs for the reception. We had the playlists on our ipods also just in case...but we didnt need them. I did notice that the DJ had an Apple laptop so I'm sure if you handed him your ipod/iphone - it would have worked fine. Ceremony stuff still has to be on a plain old fashioned CD.
EVERYTHING WAS PLAYED PERFECTLY!

I hired hair/makeup outside of the resort and Jazmin was SO awesome - met them at security and brought them right to my room.
Also hired outside for flowers too as it was MUCH cheaper.
**NOTE** With regards to the vendor fee - Jazmin did not charge me at all!!! She said as long as they just stayed in the room and didnt use any of the hotels services (food, drink) then we didn't have to pay. So we just asked someone from our group to go to the buffet and make some plates of food to bring to the room for us. Easy peasy. Saved me $180!
Also - with the flowers - there is no charge anyway because they were simply delivering!

Once we went over each detail for the wedding - we went through the financials...gave her our cash deposit (*she will tell you how much this will be BEFORE you come to Mexico) - and the rest is just charged to your room.

Thats it thats all!
Next came the wedding day - and everything went perfectly according to plan! We even watched them set up the ceremony location from my balcony!

Our ceremony was at 2:00pm and I must say I'm glad it wasnt any later! Mostly because pictures after took SO LONG. We of course had our own photographer but we wanted to shoot everyone and then leave my hunny and me for last so that they could all go freshen up before the reception.
Luckily for us Arrecife never showed up so we never had to tell them to take off - one less thing to worry about.
We payed extra for a private bar to be set up on the beach for after the ceremony. This cost $175 for 45 min service for 35 people of beer..and margaritas. This was 100% worth it! It was just nice to not have to make my guests wander to the nearest bar to get a drink. It was all in one area and that way they could enjoy the Mariachi band we hired to play! This was $370 for 45min set and totally worth it also!
Everyone was so surprised!!
Once the band was done - we were still taking pics but the guests slowly filtered out to go freshed up before the private poolside reception at 6:30.
**Normally they have cocktails starting at 6:30 and then dinner after but because we only had until 11:00pm to do EVERYTHING we asked Jazmin to have the food ready for 6:30. She was totally accommodating.
We started right on the nose - and we shut-down right around 11pm. As much fun as it would have been to carry on - we were EXHAUSTED. My husband and I did not sit down the whole night. Mostly because we were keeping busy dancing and visiting.

We had the BBQ buffet and it was DELICIOUS! SO many options to appease everyone's taste! What was nice is that the buffet included mini dessert options but we also had wedding cake for everyone too. We paid $88 to have a 2nd tier and was definitely worth it! We had given Jazmin a picture of a cake and she passed it on and it turned out perfectly!

Once everything was over - we just went to bed. And we went and saw Jazmin a couple days later to pick up the marriage certificate (this was just a symbolic ceremony- so it wasn't legal) and she had packaged up everything that was left at the reception and ceremony for us. I'm told they dont always do this so if there's something thats super special to you- you may want to grab it yourself before you leave for the night.

All in all - the day itself was perfect. I can't say this enough and I can't commend Jazmin enough either. She was superb! TRUST ME when i say not to worry about a thing. Jazmin and her people know what they're doing!!

Sorry if this review is a bit all over the place - I'm trying to think of everything!
If I've missed anything just give me a shout! I will answer any questions you guys have!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dbourassa]

 

 

We just got back last night, and we had a great time overall. I thought I would give a kick review of our week. We Arrived on Sunday afternoon, and taken to the Royal Golden check in, it took quite a while for everyone to check in since we had a pretty large group, but we did get the room I requested which was great, We had an amazing ocean view.

 

Monday we got together with our planner, and went through everything really quickly, and I gave her all of the items we had brought - minus the cake topper as it was very fragile. She told us we had 7 tables of ten for the dinner which we had discussed before coming down, and that the flowers would be sent to our room before 2, as we were doing our photos before the wedding, since it wasnt until 4, and it gets dark around 5.

 

Tuesday - the big day

I got up early met with the girls and had our hairdresser come to our room, it was a great morning, and then we had the girls flowers arrive around1 oclock (perfect). Once we went out to meet for pictures, the guys had not yet gotten their boutineers, so half the photos the guys arent even wearing them. At 2:45 my dad finally tracked down our planner and asked where the flowers were, and she told him she was busy and she had another wedding that day, My dad obviously got upset with that answer, as we were told that they can easily handle multiple weddings in a day, and we wouldnt even know another wedding was happening. So that upset me a little since she knew for months we had photos planned for 2. Oh well, small blip I guess in the day, but man I was irritating at the time.

 

We went around for 1.5 hours getting photos - which are great, I was way happier with them then I expected I would be. And then went back to get ready for 4 oclock. It was super windy and raining on and off, but we decided to get moving. and have the wedding at the beach still. Luckily the rain held off until we were done most of the pictures after the ceremony. But we decided we better move the dance inside. Which I am glad we did - it rained all night on and off.
The dance was great, and they did a nice set up in the room we had, but I would have really loved to have it by the pool. But in the end everyone had a great time still.

We had Bijan come in to DJ, and he was great, he really read the crowd and had people dancing all night. I just wish we had booked an extra hour for the dance. But a bunch of us went off to the disco, and had a great time there until the wee hours.

 

The resort was awesome and we had great weather the rest of the week, and they say rain on your wedding day is good luck

 

We stayed two weeks and moved to an adults only resort, It was great to have that extra week to unwind after a very busy week.

 

Thanks everyone for all of your help and ideas for the past year, I was on here daily checking to see what was happening.

 

Dallas

 

 

 

 

[dbourassa]

Originally Posted by adriennej 

 

Hello ladies! Wedding planning is now beginning to answer anyones questions, the planning apparently doesn't start until just a few months before the wedding date.

To past brides: I was wondering what items you brought to Mexico with you for the wedding (fabrics, center pieces, etc), was this a good choice or bad? and what was your biggest budget saver?

Thanks!!

we brought bows for the chairs, and fabric in our colour, and cake topper champagne flutes and knife set. Everything else they supplied. But be warned, it isnt very easy to get your things back, we chased around for 4 days and finally Paloma (the WC manager) let us into Eugenias office the sunday morning we were leaving to collect our belongings.

You can order everything from their, but the material was so cheap here to buy, and we are using it again at our reception in town here. The other items we brought because they were gifts given to us, so we thought it would be nice to have them at the wedding. The tables were nicely set without us bringing anything.

[futuremrswarner]

That leaping frog picture of the guys is adorable! I love it!

 

It's always nice to hear brides come back from their wedding and say that it went perfectly. Even though the first couple of months after booking is always stressful with the lack of communication from the WC. I really can't wait to hear from them. Still have another year to go.

 

So glad you had an amazing time! Congratulations again!!