Barcelo Maya Palace Brides

[mrsnova]

Originally Posted by FireyNurse 

 

Oh and for the Just Married Bikini - it was a total DIY! I bought a $5 bathing suit bottom from walmart and then had purchased the rhinestones from an etsy seller and ironed them on myself. You can definitely get the iron on's anywhere else though, even walmart has them. We dazzled everything with them, bridal party tank tops, bathing suit bottoms, and even my white hoodie that I wore on the plane on the way down ) So fun! 

I think I might have to steal your idea and make a "just married" or "bride" bikini:). It didn't melt the swimsuit when you ironed the rhinestones on?

[amcoletta88]

Did anyone go with the Air Transat Euphoria package?! I'm trying to switch from the Strawberry Passion package to the Euphoria package because I thought we could save some money but now the resort is coming back saying that we have to pay $50.00 per person to upgrade to a beach reception, but i swear Ive read that others only paid $27.50 to do this- has anyone had expirience with this that can give me some info???

[julienelson0713]

Hi Ladies,

 

I'm getting married July 6, 2013 at the Barcelo Maya Palace and we're well into the planning! We picked the mint breeze package, with the ceremony at the gazebo and an inside reception (it's going to be hot and we have some older people attending who will appreciate the AC I think!!) I do have a few questions though!!

 

First, has anyone used the resort photographers? I didn't love the photos on their site, but it seems SO expensive to have to pay the $500 fee or book outside photographers for a night at the hotel. Is there anyone who used them and was happy with the pictures? If not, which photographers have people used? We want to stay around the $2000 range for photos...Any ideas??

 

Also, we have a group of 30 coming and I'm wondering what other small groups have done for a reception! I'd like to have the first dance, cut the cake etc, but I feel like with a small group you can't really do a big dance and reception that goes well into the night. Have other people gone to the resort bar to continue dancing etc? We have quite a few older people attending, who I think will probably want to head back to their rooms early, so I'm thinking only about 10-15 of us will still be up for celebrating into the wee hours of the night Anyone else have this experience?

 

Finally, did anyone bring some of their own decorations? Is the resort okay with this? My colours are coral and ivory, with the boys in a light khaki colour. None of the colours the wedding planner listed for me included coral, so I'm thinking I'll have to bring my own sashes for chairs etc. Anyone else have this issue?

 

Thanks for your help!!!!!

 

Julie

[FireyNurse]

I think I might have to steal your idea and make a "just married" or "bride" bikini:). It didn't melt the swimsuit when you ironed the rhinestones on?

You have to put some kind of cover over it to iron it on, I used a pillowcase, and it worked well. No melting or anything. They are SO cute! I loved all my bling-ed out bride stuff!

[FireyNurse]

Hi Ladies, I'm getting married July 6, 2013 at the Barcelo Maya Palace and we're well into the planning! We picked the mint breeze package, with the ceremony at the gazebo and an inside reception (it's going to be hot and we have some older people attending who will appreciate the AC I think!!) I do have a few questions though!! First, has anyone used the resort photographers? I didn't love the photos on their site, but it seems SO expensive to have to pay the $500 fee or book outside photographers for a night at the hotel. Is there anyone who used them and was happy with the pictures? If not, which photographers have people used? We want to stay around the $2000 range for photos...Any ideas?? Also, we have a group of 30 coming and I'm wondering what other small groups have done for a reception! I'd like to have the first dance, cut the cake etc, but I feel like with a small group you can't really do a big dance and reception that goes well into the night. Have other people gone to the resort bar to continue dancing etc? We have quite a few older people attending, who I think will probably want to head back to their rooms early, so I'm thinking only about 10-15 of us will still be up for celebrating into the wee hours of the night Anyone else have this experience? Finally, did anyone bring some of their own decorations? Is the resort okay with this? My colours are coral and ivory, with the boys in a light khaki colour. None of the colours the wedding planner listed for me included coral, so I'm thinking I'll have to bring my own sashes for chairs etc. Anyone else have this issue? Thanks for your help!!!!! Julie

I didn't use the AT packages, as I had enough issues with booking my group with them to travel, so I can't comment in that part. As for sashes, maybe ask again about your color specifically, they didn't initially say they had purple and when I said my color was purple/teal she sent me a pic of what they had and I chose to use them. If you read all the reviews on here (there are lots of great ones on this thread, mine is in here as well) you'll get lots of great ideas. We brought decorations and many brides do! My links are a few posts back to my pictures and you can see my centrepieces I brought as well as other details. As for the reception, we did the strawberry and had a group of about 20 on the beach. We ended up extending our reception by an additional 3 hours on top of whats included in the package because the party was so great and everyone was having a blast! And of the 20 not even half of our party were all that young, many of ours were in their 50's (our parents and family friends). After that the club was open and we went there to party a little more. And for photos I hired Juan Navarro, and for video had PlayaWeddings. All together to book each company a room at the Beach resort we paid just under $600 for the two nights...MUCH cheaper than $1000 for having two outside vendors. Depends on what you want from your photographer, we decided that was the most important thing to spend our $$ on. Check out diff reviews for people on here and get quotes from them. Cheers!

[mrsnova]

Originally Posted by julienelson0713 

 

Hi Ladies,

 

I'm getting married July 6, 2013 at the Barcelo Maya Palace and we're well into the planning! We picked the mint breeze package, with the ceremony at the gazebo and an inside reception (it's going to be hot and we have some older people attending who will appreciate the AC I think!!) I do have a few questions though!!

 

First, has anyone used the resort photographers? I didn't love the photos on their site, but it seems SO expensive to have to pay the $500 fee or book outside photographers for a night at the hotel. Is there anyone who used them and was happy with the pictures? If not, which photographers have people used? We want to stay around the $2000 range for photos...Any ideas??

 

Also, we have a group of 30 coming and I'm wondering what other small groups have done for a reception! I'd like to have the first dance, cut the cake etc, but I feel like with a small group you can't really do a big dance and reception that goes well into the night. Have other people gone to the resort bar to continue dancing etc? We have quite a few older people attending, who I think will probably want to head back to their rooms early, so I'm thinking only about 10-15 of us will still be up for celebrating into the wee hours of the night Anyone else have this experience?

 

Finally, did anyone bring some of their own decorations? Is the resort okay with this? My colours are coral and ivory, with the boys in a light khaki colour. None of the colours the wedding planner listed for me included coral, so I'm thinking I'll have to bring my own sashes for chairs etc. Anyone else have this issue?

 

Thanks for your help!!!!!

 

Julie

I am getting married March 1st (crazy how fast it goes!) and am also doing the mint breeze package. 

 

I am using Juan Navarro for our photographer as well. It was worth it to pay the fee for me because photography is really important to us and did not like the resort photography at all. We skipped on other expenses like a huppa or arch at the ceremony and DJ.. I looked at it as the pictures will last forever and everything else is for 20 mins to a few hours! But like fireynurse said, its what is important to you!

 

We have 31 guests and I think it will be just enough to have a fun reception. We are doing all the traditional dances, cutting the cake and dancing. The only things we are not doing is garter & bouquet toss, mostly because I am not really a fan and there are like 6 single people coming lol. We plan to continue the party at the "disco" or wherever at the hotel after the 3 hour reception (I have read many other brides doing that on here).

 

I am bringing my own candles, starfish, and ribbon for my centerpieces and renting vases from the resort ($7 per vase). Wasn't worth the packing and likely breaking to bring my own. Here is a picture (minus the sand)..

 

 

 

 

I think a lot of brides bring their own decorations because it can be spendy to use the resorts. I also have a color scheme that I am not sure they had so I choose to go white for the sashes and such.

 

Good luck with everything!

[julienelson0713]

Photography is definitely important. It's SO tough to decide!! I didn't really care for the website of photo market.....I'm definitely leaning towards not using them. Also TONS of the reviews of the company on this site seem sketchy...the user will have only made one post EVER and it's a vague but super positive rating of the resort photographers. Seems fishy to me!!

 

Three hours of a reception seems short to me! I think we will just head to the disco as well...do you happen to know if it costs anything?

[mrsnova]

Originally Posted by julienelson0713 

 

Photography is definitely important. It's SO tough to decide!! I didn't really care for the website of photo market.....I'm definitely leaning towards not using them. Also TONS of the reviews of the company on this site seem sketchy...the user will have only made one post EVER and it's a vague but super positive rating of the resort photographers. Seems fishy to me!!

 

Three hours of a reception seems short to me! I think we will just head to the disco as well...do you happen to know if it costs anything?

The disco is free (included in the all inclusive). I think you can even get free or discounted VIP access with your wedding package.

[Moments That Matter]

Congrats julienelson0713! and welcome to the forum it's good to trust your instincts and follow their lead........wishing you all the best with your research, planning process, and that it all culminates in the most wonderful wedding of your dreams.......Cheers

 

team MTM asst, Lynda

[melissa2014]

Originally Posted by FireyNurse 

 

 

And for photos I hired Juan Navarro, and for video had PlayaWeddings. All together to book each company a room at the Beach resort we paid just under $600 for the two nights...MUCH cheaper than $1000 for having two outside vendors. Depends on what you want from your photographer, we decided that was the most important thing to spend our $$ on. Check out diff reviews for people on here and get quotes from them.

 

 

 

Good to know , I had no idea the fee was that high . Guess that probably will apply to a DJ as well .