Barcelo Maya Palace Brides

[SammyMac]

@@TaraW

Thank you so much for all your help! Maybe I'll try and change the ceremony time to 5 or 530. You have a good point about the timing for some good sunny photos and sunset ones. Also, the 4 hours for a reception does seem like a better bet than just 3 hours.

The whole planning process has been a bit tough. I emailed our WC, Yasmin, on July 17th and she still hasn't gotten back to me. I tried again last week. She seems nice, but fingers crossed that we'll be able to start step 1 of the planning process soon. Trying to be patient!

I've also been in touch with Best Moments for hair and make up. I kind of like the idea of all of us getting ready in my room versus going to the spa, and I've heard a lot of good things. They've been great to deal with so far.

 

That's so cool that we'll be at the resort at the same time!!

[starbx123]

Interesting - I would prefer to not move it to the club and find a place that can accommodate until about ~1am  ... 

There were a few weddings every single day that we were there, and most ended around 11 from what I saw.  I'm sure the resort can accommodate a 1am wedding if you're willing to pay for the extra hours.  We got married on the beach in front of the Barceló Maya Tropical (Playa Palmeras) this past April, and had a four hour reception from 7pm until 11pm.  Most of the older folks went back to their hotel rooms after the reception and the younger crew went to Jaguars.  It was pretty hopping there that night (a Thursday), however, I don't think Jaguars has air conditioning and we didn't really recognize any of the Mexican music that was being played.  After a great reception (dancing outside in the sand with the wind blowing), Jaguars felt a bit stifling.  So we stayed for a drink and then left to go hang out at the Palace lobby bar (which is air conditioned!). 

 

One thing to keep in mind is that being outside in the sun and drinking/eating all day usually tires everyone out more than they realize!

We still haven't decided on a DJ or not. With only 20 max people coming (only 13 confirmed right now) it seems like a crazy amount of money to spend. I'm Canadian, so we have to add about 30% exchange rate to everything, and since we would want to add an hour onto the reception 1100+for a DJ for maybe only 14 people?? Hmmm... Not sure if it is worth it, but we don't want to seem cheap either because those 14 people have still come a long way!! ! We've discussed bringing a loaded up iPod and having someone supervise it for the evening. We have a friend staying at a neighbouring resort that is coming to the wedding, and she is travelling with a large group of friends that don't know us. She's offered up one of her friends to come and help operate the iPod and we would cover the resort day pass and dinner for him to attend and party with us. I'd rather spend that money somewhere else like pay for a cocktail hour the night before as a reception evening, or in some other way that everyone would enjoy. We are also a bit concerned about the quality of the music system they will set up for us to plug in the iPod. Gawd, I just don't know! We are still quite torn! I would love to hear what you all think as outsiders looking in, but people still very much in wedding and thoughtful planning mode!!!

We got married this past April and saved money by using an iPod and not the DJ.  I'm so glad that we did it this way! 

 

The hubby wasn't responsible for much of the wedding planning, except for the music list!  He put together a few different playlists ahead of time (first dance song, dinner music, reception music) and I believe iTunes or whichever app he used even has a function where you can fade the songs into one another, just like what a DJ would do.  He backed up the same playlists on his phone just in case.

 

We asked a younger tech-savvy wedding guest to man the iPod for us, but it wasn't really that much work.  It helped that we made sure his seat was right beside the iPod station.  When the MC announced our first dance, he just had to go to the "first dance" playlist and press play.  Immediately after was the dinner playlist, and he just needed to press pause for a few speeches.  If you make sure you have a great reception playlist, you can just let it play and no one should have to even touch the iPod the entire time! 

 

The sound system they provided was great.  We had no issues, and the music loud and clear.

Congrats @CellineSouza and thanks for posting those pictures, you made a beautiful bride! 

How did you find eating outside?  Was it windy at night?  We are planning to have a beach cermony infront of the tropical resort, but worry it might be cool or windy.  Right now I am making reception decisions with menu and tables etc.  How was the food?   

Are you writing a review?  We would all love to hear more about your wedding it sounds perfect!

 

thanks

 

Kim

 

 

We got married in April and had our reception at Playa Palmeras beach.  Keep in mind that the Mayan Riviera is always windy!  However, because we got married in mid-April, it was a blessing in disguise.  Without the wind, having a reception outside would have been unbearable because of the heat and humidity!  All in all, the wind did not bother us at all, although my bridal hair was kind of a mess by the end of the night and people's speeches (on paper) were blowing everywhere!

@@SammyMac

 

Congrats on your upcoming wedding! I'll be there getting married a week before you and we will still be "hanging around" the resort on our honeymoon when you tie the knot too!

 

I'm getting married at 5:00pm because it should be a little cooler AND we want to take advantage of both the sun and the sunset pics as well.

 

I'll share some thoughts to your questions that you asked! 

 

Reception length - The one constant I have read on this blog from bride after bride, regardless of how big or small their wedding is, is that three hours is NOT enough time for your reception as it goes by quickly! We are having an even smaller wedding (about 20 people) and the one thing I am investing in is adding an extra hour to the time. After that we have the option of moving to the disco but I don't want to break up the party earlier if people are enjoying themselves. Adding that enxtra hour willl take a bit of the rush out I think.

 

Reception location - it seems like brides tend to opt for the AC areas when they have elderly guests, etc that may need it more, but if that's not a concern for you then I think it's really about preference and what you envision from your day. If you consider a closed reception area without any windows then you could be just about anywhere for your reception instead of in Mexico ..... for us i think that we've all come to such a beautiful place for the wedding and I want to enjoy that fact right down to the last moment of our wedding day!   I dont think I've read on  here about any bride that has regretting their choice of a beach reception.  Really its just about what you two want for your day!

 

Decorations - I am bringing just a few things down to enhance the table a bit: our wedding favours obviously, some table scatter (gems) that I purchased inexpensively online, rhinestone napking rings that a friend gave me, a dozen beautiful glass votives, battery operated candles (given the beach wedding location!) and small mirrors for the table that I plan on leaving behind. I decided that because i'm not bringing a whole lot of extras with me anyhow, I didn't want to spend 7.00 USD each [10.00 CAN] to rent a small plain glass candle holder for a few hours when I can just as easily bring some more beautiful ones with me in my carry on and leave them for my guests to take home if they wish. It cost me about 30.00 CAN to buy everything and to get exactly what I want instead of renting what I don't really want, so that just seemed like way more sense to me!  We may buy some maracas when we get down there for the "shake and kiss" (Cheezy I know! But better sounding then the clinking of the glasses all night! haha!) but that's about all we are adding. Again, it all depends on what you want for your day! Many brides bring lots of items with them to fully complete their vision, and I think that is totally fine and wonderful because that's what they want.

 

Anyhow I hope this helps a llittle bit! I'm sure other brides can help you with your questions about the Spa accomodations and the live music, etc.

We got married this past April and thought I'd comment:

Reception length - agree with you!  We had a four-hour reception from 7pm to 11pm and it was the perfect length.

Location - 100% agree!  There was no way we were travelling all the way to Mexico to get married indoors!  After the outdoor dinner, we all took off our shoes and danced the night away in the sand!!  Yes, it was warm and windy, but sooo much fun and honestly, was one of the best and memorable parts of our wedding. 

Décor - we hardly brought anything - just a few cheap IKEA frames to frame the table numbers, a seating list and name tags for the maracas (wedding favours).  We bought the maracas at the resort.

[Bcari16]

@@Bcari16

 

When your WP has an answer for you, will you please let me know? I'm scared to even mention it to my WP (I have Yasmin).

Hi YooYooo,

 

So I finally received confirmation that you do NOT have to pay a day pass fee if your guests stay at any Barcelo Resort. It was misinfo from my travel agents tour guide company. But very good news thankfully!

Edited August 26, 2015 by Bcari16

[TaraW]

@@starbx123

 

Thanks for your post and for easing my mind about the DJ option! I was a bit worried about the quality of the speaker system they provide, by it sounds like it was fine! Did you happen to go with the dance floor at all, or if not, did you wish you had?

[starbx123]

@@TaraW

 

We didn't get the dance floor and we wouldn't have changed that either. We had the tables set up in a circle so they kind of framed the middle area where we all danced. Everyone took off their shoes and danced with their toes in the sand! Just the way I envisioned it should be in Mexico!

[VannessLares]

Hello Ladies!

 

We got married at the Palace last year.... June 28th, 2014.

 

I'm here to help.... with any questions!

 

Our small wedding video

On Vimeo video search # 101478666

Edited August 26, 2015 by VannessLares

[kimmyd2]

Congrats @@VannessLares

And thanks for sharing! That is just an awesome video!!

 

Just wondering where you had your reception on the resort? It looked so nice with all the lit up palm trees.

Also how long between your ceremony until your dinner did you take for photos? We're trying to figure out timeline so far all I've decided is 4pm for ceremony start and possibly 6:30 for reception... Or any other past brides want to share there timelines,

 

Thanks !

 

Hello Ladies!

We got married at the Palace last year.... June 28th, 2014.

I'm here to help.... with any questions!

Our small wedding video

On Vimeo video search # 101478666

Edited August 26, 2015 by kimmyd2

[VannessLares]

Congrats @@VannessLares

And thanks for sharing! That is just an awesome video!!

Just wondering where you had your reception on the resort? It looked so nice with all the lit up palm trees.

Also how long between your ceremony until your dinner did you take for photos? We're trying to figure out timeline so far all I've decided is 4pm for ceremony start and possibly 6:30 for reception... Or any other past brides want to share there timelines,

Thanks !

Thank you!

Our ceremony was at 3pm.

Photos 4:30 - 7pm

Dinner/Reception 7pm - 1am

I forgot the name of the location where we had our wedding, but it was in the palace side.... in front of the restaurant Coral Grill.

We def. needed more time in between the ceremony and reception. We had a total of 105 guests and not enough time for pictures.... As I would have liked. But still managed to get a lot of beautiful shots.

Also, we went with the strawberry package and paid $14 extra per person per hour to extend the time of reception.

 

Good luck love!!! Let me know if you have any other questions....

Congrats to you and your fiancè!!

[TaraW]

Our Wedding Day timeline: (Nothing is set in stone just yet!)

 

• 2:15 - Makeup artists arriving at the hotel (planned for 2:30 start) 
• 3:00 - Photographer arriving at the hotel and starting (Booked for 6 hours) (Also booked them a room for two nights instead of paying the vendor fee - saved about 100 that way and this was ok'd by my WC Estrella)
• 3:45 - First look photos with my fiancé and I (I really want the first time he sees me to be a more intimate time, not when all of our guests see me too! And it breaks up the long time we are "posing for photos" that my finace wasn't crazy about)
• Ceremony at 5:00pm (roughly 30 min) at Playa Azul
• Photos until 7:00 (sun and sunset photos)
• Reception on the beach 7pm -11pm (One hour added)

I look forward to hearing from other Brides to see if there is any tweaking that I can do!

[SammyMac]

@@TaraW - I think your schedule looks great and I actually tweaked mine a bit to look more like yours. I changed my 6pm ceremony time to 5, and then reception is planned to go from 7 - 11. Just worried that might not be enough time for pictures...  but then again I'll probably get sick of posing after an hour! haha

From what I've seen I really like the coral area for the ceremony; however, I also like the idea of moving it to the more private pristine looking beach area. I sort of like Coral though as it should provide some shade for some of our guests.

@@VannessLares - did you have any guests with allergies? I have 2 guests with shellfish allergies, 2 vegetarians and 2 gluten free guests. We are opting for the surf & turf, but I'm wondering if the resort does a good job at accommodating allergies.