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

[futuremrswarner]

Hey Trisha, do you know if there are pictures of Tulum poolside reception? I've seen many pictures but most of them are the Akumal or Coba ones. Unless I've seen it and just mistaken them for another part of the resort.

[TATrisha]

Oh yes... the last wedding I photographed there!

http://faberphotography.com/weddings/gran-bahia-principe-tulum-gazebo-wedding/2012

 

It's the pool right out from the Don Pablo and the Tulum Spa.

[christy12]

Originally Posted by claruickie 

 

Quote:Originally Posted by christy12 

 

Hey..we've been home for a week now and are definitely ready to go back! Its weird not coming on here to check this forum every couple of days! I honestly don't think our wedding would have been the same without this amazing resource!

 

Anyways, i have been working at my review for the past week and have finally finished it. So here it is!

 

The resort

Our entire group stayed in the royal golden section in the buildings closest to the beach (mostly 65 and 67). We were in building 65 on the 3^rd floor with a view of the ocean as well as the wedding site. The rooms were nothing special but were always clean. When in the bathroom you could hear conversations going on in other bathrooms (we constantly heard a couple giving their child a bath). The bed was surprisingly comfortable. The resort is huge, however we managed to randomly run into almost everyone in our group of 30 everyday. We spent most of our time by the pool and on the beach closest to our rooms (MUCH quieter here and there is a bar). We ate at 4 of the a la carte restaurants while we were there. I am a vegetarian so I typically ate the one thing on the menu I could eat. I found the Mediterranean restaurant the best of the ones I went to. Our wedding dinner was at the Frutos Del Mar restaurant which a lot of our group said was the best a la carte restaurant they had been to. My favourite thing I ate all week was the 7 peppers soup at this restaurant (minus the shrimp floating in it). The Tequila restaurant was a huge disappointment. My veggie fajitas looked like a Chinese stir-fry (with carrots, sprouts and zucchini) and had no flavouring. The buffet was okay but nothing special. There was not a huge selection of vegetarian food and by the end of the week I was sick of chips and guacamole. Our entire group was in agreement that the Coba buffet was the biggest and the best. Overall, it is a large, very nice resort.

 

Wedding coordinator meeting

We met with Eugenia the day after we arrived. She had all of the information we had discussed over email for the past year compiled and everything was accurate. She was very sweet and extremely easy to work with. Her English is very good. We gave her all of the wedding stuff we had brought during the meeting (chair bows, fabric, fans, glow sticks) which were all set up perfectly on the wedding day. She had also arranged a welcome dinner for our group in the buffet for that same night.

 

 

Wedding day

Our ceremony was at the Akumal beach location at 3 p.m. All of our guests met at the snack bar at 2:30 and were brought down to the ceremony location shortly after. Eugenia delivered me my flowers just after 2 and came back to get me at 3. Even though I was only meters from where I needed to be (I could see the ceremony site from my balcony) they put me in a cart and drove me the 10 or so meters to where my dad was waiting. I posed for a picture with my dad and was off walking already (we did not have a bridal party). I walked down the aisle to Yiurmi’s River Flows in you, which was perfect. The officiant spoke good English and added a bit of humor. Our primary complaint (of the entire day) was that it was an extremely religious ceremony when we had specifically requested as little religious content as possible. He read from the bible and said “amen†more times than we could count. We ended up snickering a bit throughout as we found it funny just how religious it was. Our guests commented on this as well. After the ceremony we had champagne with all of our guests then moved on to photos. Our guests moved to the lobby bar to have some drinks before dinner while we took a few more pictures. We only used the resort photographer for the 10 free photos (and later bought another 20) as we had my dad and brother take photos.

 

Our dinner was at 5:30 pm at the Frutos Del Mar (seafood) restaurant. We had a springtime salad, 7 peppers soup, and the choice of either salmon or chicken. Myself and the other vegetarian had a pasta dish. Everyone said that the meal was good, and for many it was the best a la carte meal they had had all week. We opted to have the tres leche wedding cake for our desert, which was really good!

 

At 7:30 pm Eugenia came and picked up our group and brought us to our poolside reception that was beside the small pool. Our DJ (we hired DJ Bijan) was there waiting for us and we had our own bartender at the bar beside the pool. We paid for the cheapest bar option and were given most things. I think a few people had to walk ~20 feet to the snack bar to get wine. Eugenia had left the glow in the dark stuff (necklaces and bracelets) I had given her with the DJ, which I took and put on the tables. Our guests LOVED these (and they proved to be beneficial when we went in the ocean later!).  Our biggest complaint was how fast the 3 hours went by! Almost all of our guests danced for the entire 3 hours, and many (including us) were sore the next day! At one point about 10 people were standing and dancing on pillars in the pool (only 3 fell in!).

 

The original plan had been to go to the disco after the reception to continue dancing, however most of us were danced out. Instead about half of us went to the beach and went swimming in the ocean. We all still had our glow in the dark stuff on which looked pretty cool when that was all you could see in the ocean. After about 10 minutes though security came and told us we were not allowed swimming, so we ended up back at the snack bar. I think we all were in bed by midnight!

 

 

I cant stop looking at your photos they are gorgeous and make me giddy.com   Which Coco Bongo's did you go to - Playa del Carmen or Cancun ?  Kirstin x

 

Glad you are getting excited! I am sad that our wedding/trip is over and there is no more planning or anticipation! 

 

We went to the Coco Bongo in Playa del Carmen..there is no need to go all the way to Cancun. The one in Playa is amazing. I would definitely recommend it for anyone of any age!! I would compare it to a really good Las Vegas show where you get unlimited drinks and dance the entire night (with the option to sit!)! I got yanked up onto the dance platform way up in the sky where they video you and put you on the big screen. It was quite the experience. I am dreading seeing the videos my friends took!

[futuremrswarner]

OMG! I would be petrified if they pulled me up like that.. but I'm sure you had a lot of fun. It's once in a lifetime memories anyways... well worth it!

[futuremrswarner]

Thanks Trisha! So really, the poolside reception for the Tulum brides are just an area beside the pool where they've set up chairs and the booth for the DJ. It's not like the jacuzzi pool where there is shallow water where I've seen pictures of guests dancing in.

Do you remember if they can handle paper lanterns at the poolside reception for the Tulum brides? As well, if there are multiple brides on the resort that want the poolside reception, do you know what happens?

[TATrisha]

Actually there are areas of the big pools that are only a foot or so deep.  So people dance in those pools too

 

You can use paper lanterns.  If there are multiple brides, either they'll say first come first serve or they will allow one of the receptions to be at the other pool.

[futuremrswarner]

So do you see that possibility that a bride will not be able to have a poolside reception if there are multiple brides in one night? Cause I want to put down my deposit for a DJ cause it seems that he is very busy, but the resort won't confirm my dinner and reception locations for me right now. I just dont want to put a deposit down to find out that the resort can't allow me to have the poolside reception. 

[AndreaandAaron]

Originally Posted by futuremrswarner 

 

So do you see that possibility that a bride will not be able to have a poolside reception if there are multiple brides in one night? Cause I want to put down my deposit for a DJ cause it seems that he is very busy, but the resort won't confirm my dinner and reception locations for me right now. I just dont want to put a deposit down to find out that the resort can't allow me to have the poolside reception. 

I am in the same boat!  I have my dinner location confirmed, but they have not confirmed my wish for a pool side reception. I am hoping the resort makes sure a pool side reception is available for all weddings that they book, until the bride/ groom say they don't want a pool side reception....

 

Which DJ are you going with?  I was just going to go with the resort DJ...but I don't know if he will be booked up that night!

[futuremrswarner]

I don't even have my dinner location confirmed. My travel agent tells me she's chasing the WC for at least THAT confirmation, but I still haven't heard back yet. It's been about 2-3 weeks. I'll give it some time since I know they're busy and apparently, either Paloma or Jazmin, was on vacation so that delayed it some more.

I think I'm going with DJ Bob. I've read mostly positive reviews about him, and the whole idea that he can speal English fluently helps. He gave me a 2012 quote for next year if I book this far in advance, so I'm thinking his rates might go up next year, which is why I would rather confirm with him now. Have you read any reviews on the resort DJ?

[AndreaandAaron]

Our wedding was confirmed in July and my WC (Maria) sent me an email maybe 4 weeks later giving me a choice of restaurants , meal choices and cake flavours.  I emailed back within a few days and didn't hear back from her until maybe last month saying she received my email .  I took that opportunity to email back with a bunch of questions, I haven't heard back. I don't know the timing of dinner yet... which would also make it tricky to book an outside  DJ.

 

I have read good things about DJ Bob, DJ Bijan ( I think I read somewhere that he is from Vancouver BC) and also the resort DJ.  Since I have read good things about the resort DJ, I feel like its easier to stick with him. Probably less to plan, as he is used to setting up and working  at the resort etc.  Although, I guess communication would be easier with an outside vendor, as they tend to email back quicker than anyone that works at the resort! Is booking an outside DJ a lot cheaper?  I have booked an outside vendor for hair/ makeup and will be booking an outside florist.  I am thinking maybe I should stick with the resort DJ but haven't made up my mind completely.