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

[cbmcdonald17]

Hi ladies.....

 

So I just got married at the GBP Tulum beach location in June of 2014. We had 55 guests. We had the beach ceremony at 5:00, dinner in the mediteranean restaurant at the Coba side, and then a poolside party.

 

So my honest opinion - and here goes.

 

Don't get married here. I did my best to have a good time, but they were so unorganized, it was really stressful, and the whole point of us booking a destination wedding was so that it wouldn't be stressful. I think if you have a small wedding of less than 20 people they probably do ok, but for groups larger than that, I would recommend going somewhere that doesn't have 10 weddings a day. The coordinator, Maria, was horrible. They don't care about the small details. It's just an in-and-out process for them. Our meeting with her only lasted a half hour, she didn't go over everything with us, and then the day of the wedding when things were happening that we didn't know about, she just kept pointing at the contract we signed and saying "you signed the contract, it's in the contract". You don't get very much time with her. And she's not detailed or organized. They were over a half hour late picking me up at my room for my ceremony. Maria didn't even write down the right room number, the driver was waiting outside the wrong building. She didn't apologize. She told me I wasn't where I was supposed to be, and that she had been phoning me, which is funny because I was in my room with about 6 other people and the phone didn't ring once. Then she told me it was because there was an issue at the beach location (which there wasn't, the rest of our guests were there, she just was coming up with excuses). 

 

The ceremony location was beautiful. We brought our own fabric and chair sashes - the stuff the resort has is quite tacky and they only have white. So if you want any extra color you have to bring it yourself. The flowers were beautiful, no complaints there. All in all the beach location was stunning - it was super hot out so I wasn't too pleased with the fact that my guests were waiting outside for an extra half hour because I hadn't been picked up....but the beach ceremony was really great.

 

Our dinner in the restaurant - the food was actually delicious, but the service was terrible. We had 55 people. This is a normal amount for them to serve in a night. First they wouldn't let some of our guests in because they were wearing shorts. No exceptions. They were actually really rude about it, and Maria was no help whatsoever. Again, she stood there pointing at the contract. Eventually one of our groomsmen had to leave the dinner to get pants for those guests. Maria did nothing, which I thought was horrible given that she's the wedding coordinator. I had hoped that a wedding coordinator would be there to help things run smoothly.....not the case there. We had people who were done their dessert before others had even gotten their entree. We had to ask the servers 3 times to please serve the head table first. There was no organization to it at all. They brought out the cake in the restaurant when people were still eating. It was just a mish-mash of events.

 

The poolside party - this part was actually really fun. They decorated it really nice with lights and tables, we had a DJ, our guests had a really great time at this part of the wedding.

 

The photographer - also not very good. He was in and out as quickly as he could be, literally. He didn't give any direction for any of the photos, so a lot of our photos are just people standing around, not looking at the camera, etc. One of my good friends is a photographer and she was there, so I was very happy that she had managed to get some good photos for us. But the photographer the resort provided, just not professional. And the quality of the pictures was just so-so. And they are very expensive.

 

The reason we booked the Bahia was because it was large and very family friendly. I had actually stayed there before about 10 years ago and loved it. But honestly, I wish we would have gone with a smaller resort, that cared about their guests. The GBP I think they just get sooooo many weddings there now that they just don't care about the level of service they provide anymore. It was one of the worst customer service experiences I've ever had, and I've stayed at a number of different resorts in the caribbean before. It was hugely disappointing.

 

So there's my two cents. Hope it helps.

 

 

[cbmcdonald17]

Hi ladies! I'm just starting to email with the resort and getting really slow replys, obviously! Getting excited wedding November 6th!

I have a few questions.

1)I want to do programs, but how do I know the time line for everything? Will they confirm dinner and reception early enough to have them made?

 

2)ive noticed alot of you have brought fabric, how do you know howugh to bring? Did you bring chair ties? Table runners? Hammock site fabric?

 

3) did any of you do seating charts? Or menus?

 

4) how did you get your welcome bags/gifts to your guests?

 

5) did any of you have paper lanterns at your poolside reception?

 

6)If you have decorations you want at both the ceremony and the dinner and the reception, will they move them around for you?

 

Thanks ladies!

I also had really slow replies when emailing with the resort - and even though I tried to book my restaurant in advance, they kept changing the options on me and kept telling me we would figure that out when we arrived. So I couldn't do a seating chart or menu cards - as I didn't know where the dinner would be.  At first I had a choice of 6 restaurants when emailing, but when I arrived at the resort I only had 2 options.  We did ask to bring the flowers from the ceremony location to the restaurant and poolside party - which the wedding team took care of for us. As for party favors and decor - You will give it all to the wedding planner and she sets them out on the tables for the dinner and will decorate the fabric how you like, but make sure you tell her and be specific.

Hi GBP brides!

 

It's my first time posting here! I just confirmed my wedding date for June 2, 2015 at the Tulum Gazebo! So excited!

 

I have a question I was hoping to get some help on. I wanted to have a pool side dinner and reception. I saw the prices at the beginning of this post, just wondering if they were still similar? I noticed the posts dated back to 2007. Just trying to get a feel for total cost (i'm on a tight budget).

 

Thanks!

We just had our wedding there in June of 2014. For the poolside party, it's $5/head per hour. And you should plan for about 3 hours. This only includes the table and chair setup and the bar. If you want a DJ or food or specialty drinks, or any other decor, that's extra.

[Mrsktobe]

They have cribs I believe

[KatLew]

Hi ladies.....

 

So I just got married at the GBP Tulum beach location in June of 2014. We had 55 guests. We had the beach ceremony at 5:00, dinner in the mediteranean restaurant at the Coba side, and then a poolside party.

 

So my honest opinion - and here goes.

 

Don't get married here. I did my best to have a good time, but they were so unorganized, it was really stressful, and the whole point of us booking a destination wedding was so that it wouldn't be stressful. I think if you have a small wedding of less than 20 people they probably do ok, but for groups larger than that, I would recommend going somewhere that doesn't have 10 weddings a day. The coordinator, Maria, was horrible. They don't care about the small details. It's just an in-and-out process for them. Our meeting with her only lasted a half hour, she didn't go over everything with us, and then the day of the wedding when things were happening that we didn't know about, she just kept pointing at the contract we signed and saying "you signed the contract, it's in the contract". You don't get very much time with her. And she's not detailed or organized. They were over a half hour late picking me up at my room for my ceremony. Maria didn't even write down the right room number, the driver was waiting outside the wrong building. She didn't apologize. She told me I wasn't where I was supposed to be, and that she had been phoning me, which is funny because I was in my room with about 6 other people and the phone didn't ring once. Then she told me it was because there was an issue at the beach location (which there wasn't, the rest of our guests were there, she just was coming up with excuses). 

 

The ceremony location was beautiful. We brought our own fabric and chair sashes - the stuff the resort has is quite tacky and they only have white. So if you want any extra color you have to bring it yourself. The flowers were beautiful, no complaints there. All in all the beach location was stunning - it was super hot out so I wasn't too pleased with the fact that my guests were waiting outside for an extra half hour because I hadn't been picked up....but the beach ceremony was really great.

 

Our dinner in the restaurant - the food was actually delicious, but the service was terrible. We had 55 people. This is a normal amount for them to serve in a night. First they wouldn't let some of our guests in because they were wearing shorts. No exceptions. They were actually really rude about it, and Maria was no help whatsoever. Again, she stood there pointing at the contract. Eventually one of our groomsmen had to leave the dinner to get pants for those guests. Maria did nothing, which I thought was horrible given that she's the wedding coordinator. I had hoped that a wedding coordinator would be there to help things run smoothly.....not the case there. We had people who were done their dessert before others had even gotten their entree. We had to ask the servers 3 times to please serve the head table first. There was no organization to it at all. They brought out the cake in the restaurant when people were still eating. It was just a mish-mash of events.

 

The poolside party - this part was actually really fun. They decorated it really nice with lights and tables, we had a DJ, our guests had a really great time at this part of the wedding.

 

The photographer - also not very good. He was in and out as quickly as he could be, literally. He didn't give any direction for any of the photos, so a lot of our photos are just people standing around, not looking at the camera, etc. One of my good friends is a photographer and she was there, so I was very happy that she had managed to get some good photos for us. But the photographer the resort provided, just not professional. And the quality of the pictures was just so-so. And they are very expensive.

 

The reason we booked the Bahia was because it was large and very family friendly. I had actually stayed there before about 10 years ago and loved it. But honestly, I wish we would have gone with a smaller resort, that cared about their guests. The GBP I think they just get sooooo many weddings there now that they just don't care about the level of service they provide anymore. It was one of the worst customer service experiences I've ever had, and I've stayed at a number of different resorts in the caribbean before. It was hugely disappointing.

 

So there's my two cents. Hope it helps.

 

Sorry to hear you had so many issues! I honestly cant think of one issue that I had... maybe its because my wedding coordinator was a different one than yours? I had Fanny. Who was your photographer? I had Martin. 

 

I will post some pics later

Here are a few pics I added to an album of pictures people took with their cell phones:

 

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/gallery/album/17756-wedding/

 

Our wedding went like this:

3pm legal ceremony at Tulum gazebo

then pics, then guests met from 5 to 6 for cocktails at lobby bar while bride and groom took pics

6 to 8 - dinner at tequila restaurant in a private tent on the ocean right outside restaurant! (had no idea they were going to do this)... it was beautiful... also, we had a mariachi band play from 6 to 7, then played music from an ipod (some relaxing instrumental) from 7 to 8...

8 to 11 - music and dancing at poolside

[ACarlson]

Hi all,

 

I'm having a group of 40+ people coming from the airport, how have people gotten to the resort? Did you hire a private transportation ahead of time?

[samclarke]

Hi all,

 

I'm having a group of 40+ people coming from the airport, how have people gotten to the resort? Did you hire a private transportation ahead of time?

If you booked an all inclusive package transportation is included.

[KatLew]

I worked with a travel agent to help us set it up... otherwise you pay for the cab

 

Hi all,

 

I'm having a group of 40+ people coming from the airport, how have people gotten to the resort? Did you hire a private transportation ahead of time?

[samclarke]

Sorry to hear you had so many issues! I honestly cant think of one issue that I had... maybe its because my wedding coordinator was a different one than yours? I had Fanny. Who was your photographer? I had Martin. 

 

 

Our wedding went like this:

3pm legal ceremony at Tulum gazebo

then pics, then guests met from 5 to 6 for cocktails at lobby bar while bride and groom took pics

6 to 8 - dinner at tequila restaurant in a private tent on the ocean right outside restaurant! (had no idea they were going to do this)... it was beautiful... also, we had a mariachi band play from 6 to 7, then played music from an ipod (some relaxing instrumental) from 7 to 8...

8 to 11 - music and dancing at poolside

How many guests did you have? Edited August 12, 2014 by samclarke

[KatLew]

I had 40 guests.... everything was perfect!

I mean - there were a few minor things that weren't "perfect", but I'm naturally a very  laid back person and these minor things didnt bother me... also, it all worked out ok in the end anyway:

- my dad didnt get a boutinere - this was my fault because i ordered 5 instead of 4.... but my dad also came late to wedding, so im sure that he would have been able to wear the flower instead of one of the groomsmen if he had shown on time.

 - my bridesmaids had to stand (there werent enough chairs).... but this was ok! they improvised.

- we ordered live music to play in lobby bar for our group from 5 to 6, but they didnt show (they were double booked at at a wedding).... instead, they came and played during dinner from 6 to 7! This actually was way better to have the live music while we ate.... then my sister slapped together a quick playlist of relaxing music to play from 7 to 8.

 

Honestly, these were like the only minor things i could think of. but, like i said, everything worked out ok! I had a great time with my wedding and just rolled with flow

 

For speeches: our reception was in a tent outside of the mexican restaurant, and i highly recommend doing this if you have the option. We were right near the beach with ocean view and it was lovely!!!! For speeches, since we were in our private area in the tent, we ordered a microphone and speakers so that everyone could hear the speeches. it was 70/hour.

 

 

How many guests did you have?

[Dreamteam17]

I had 40 guests.... everything was perfect!

I mean - there were a few minor things that weren't "perfect", but I'm naturally a very  laid back person and these minor things didnt bother me... also, it all worked out ok in the end anyway:

- my dad didnt get a boutinere - this was my fault because i ordered 5 instead of 4.... but my dad also came late to wedding, so im sure that he would have been able to wear the flower instead of one of the groomsmen if he had shown on time.

 - my bridesmaids had to stand (there werent enough chairs).... but this was ok! they improvised.

- we ordered live music to play in lobby bar for our group from 5 to 6, but they didnt show (they were double booked at at a wedding).... instead, they came and played during dinner from 6 to 7! This actually was way better to have the live music while we ate.... then my sister slapped together a quick playlist of relaxing music to play from 7 to 8

 

Honestly, these were like the only minor things i could think of. but, like i said, everything worked out ok! I had a great time with my wedding and just rolled with flow

 

For speeches: our reception was in a tent outside of the mexican restaurant, and i highly recommend doing this if you have the option. We were right near the beach with ocean view and it was lovely!!!! For speeches, since we were in our private area in the tent, we ordered a microphone and speakers so that everyone could hear the speeches. it was 70/hour.

Glad everything went well!!!! Congratulations

Did you plan on doing a tent for the reception before you went ? I haven't heard of the tent option.