Barcelo Maya Palace Brides

[SandRWedding]

We are from Canada, so we chose to book one of the Air Transat wedding packages at the Barcelo. The package is $1500, which was quite a bit cheaper than the Barcelo or any other resort wedding packages that we found.

I think it is just near impossible to know from the description of the packages what exactly is included and what extras or upgrades will be needed until you actually start to plan your wedding. I tried to find some of this info out before booking, but none of the TA's I spoke to knew next to nothing about the exact details of the packages, and I found it difficult to communicate this to the resort to find out more details.

 

When all is said and done, I am sure it will be well worth it. My wedding isn't unitl April, so I should have everything done and organised well before then anyways!! I will certainly check out that spreadsheet - thank you so much!!!

[Corporate40]

I get the nickel and diming over certain things.  What I've always had a hard time grasping is how they could charge us so much for food and alcohol at an ALL INCLUSIVE resort.  I understand we would need to pay for the waiters and bartenders, and maybe some set up charges.  But why am I paying $66pp for food and $13pp per hour for alcohol?  Shouldn't that already be included in the guests' stay?

 

We went in with a $10-12K budget, and I'm over $20K right now.

 

Wedding is at the end of August, so at this point there's nothing I can do about the cost.  I just pray we don't get any rain as I already know its going to be hot as hell, lol.

[Brenners]

I agree Joanne - photographers are ridiculously expensive!  I thought our friends were insane to bring a photographer with them and pay for a few night's stay but now I think they had it right!
 

Originally Posted by JoanneIreland 

I think 2 hours is definitely too short, as you said it will take about an hour for a 4 course meal, plus add in any speeches, first dance, and cake cutting and bang the wedding is over! We have 3 hours included in our package and are going to add a fourth.

I agree, the Barcelo really seems to nickel and dime. This is working out much more expensive that I originally thought. Plus I never imagined a photographer in Mexico would be so expensive! On top of that the flights and accomodation are higher than anticipated, but that's probably because we will be there late November and it jumps up around Thanksgiving. Oh I would love to turn back the clock and elope!!

 

[Brenners]

Good luck Jen!  I hope the sun shines on your special day!
 

Originally Posted by JenRZ 

I know what you mean. We are here right now and our wedding is tomorrow. It is down pouring right now and I fear it will do so tomorrow as well. We ended up around $7,000. We did the Strawberry Passion, Mariachi, dance floor (we may not need it if we are rained out). That is not including the 2,600 we spent on photographer and outside fee. It does add up, but, appears they do a nice job. Let you know how it goes!

 

[Brenners]

Does anyone know the prices for a cocktail hour?  We are thinking it would be nice to have one after the ceremony while we are taking pictures.  The packet we got and what I have found online simply says "Variety of prices."  Not very helpful!

[nsousa]

$13pp for one hr...includes drinks & apps. Ours was on the rooftop and I think it was worth it.

[Brenners]

Thanks!  That is exactly what I needed! 
 

Originally Posted by nsousa 

$13pp for one hr...includes drinks & apps. Ours was on the rooftop and I think it was worth it.

 

[Oneeleven]

was that $6000 including your room and flight?
 

Originally Posted by nsousa 

I just got married there this past May.  Which package only includes 2 hours? 

 

We added the cocktail hour (and the extra hour at the end for a negotiated rate of about 50% what they wanted).  Cocktail hour seemed worth it bc for the same price, at least they give you food and a rooftop party...we hired the mariachi to entertain for this.

 

We had 36 people, but we had also paid for the 2 photographers meals and 2 other meals for guests that didn't make it due to a personal emergency at home, so we paid for 40 in all.

 

I think our bill was $6000 paid to the Barcelo.  

 

Ultimately, the total expense of our wedding amounted to about 3.5 times that, when you add in EVERY little detail leading up to the day of.  It was a lot more than I had every anticipated when first entertaining the idea of a destination wedding, but it was a beautiful day and when all is said and done, it was worth it for the most part.

 

See my post about wedding budgeting...I shared a spreadsheet that should help you calculate everything.  Fortunately, my meticulous calculating paid off, bc when we arrived at the resort and had our first meeting with the WC, I had pretty much nailed it with the amount I expected to need! 

 

But yes, Barcelo weddings, when done right, do seem to be more expensive than other resorts.  Or so it seems, but then again I wouldn't know. 

 

 

 

 

[Oneeleven]

•  SandRWedding
• What date is your wedding?  I am on the 7th of April

[Brenners]

We did site visits at quite a few resorts.  Packages at Barcelo were pretty comparable to Dreams, however, their room rates were far better so you save money that way.  The only resort I found where you could create your own unique wedding (meaning no packages) was Ceiba del Mar, however, the cost of roundtrip airfare and a week's stay for a couple cost about $6000.  So in our research, Barcelo was actually the best price for packages and rates.  What Diana from Ceiba told us was that most brides got carried away with the extras - decorations, dance floor, dj, etc...when you really don't need much for decorations (the tropical locale mostly takes care of that), you can bring an ipod with your own music and people can dance in the sand.  But it depends on each bride and what they want and are willing to pay for what they have in mind for their special day.
 

Originally Posted by Oneeleven 

was that $6000 including your room and flight?