Any Grand Palladium brides?

[HeatherLynn83]

Hi girls. Just wanted to write about the gift issue. I'm telling people not to worry about gifts as I feel they are not necessary as my guests are paying almost $1500. That said I'm sure a few may still get us some. But I guess everyone has different opinions of this issue. I'm probably going to have a bridal shower and even feel guilty about wanting gifts for that! But my friends/family tell me I shouldn't so I will try!

[MyTye2B]

Don't feel guilty Heather.    I felt the exact same way and honestly before my shower but it's still your wedding and you should enjoy it without feeling guilty.  I knew I'd get gifts at the shower but I truely did not expect anything at all at the AHR that we'll be having.  My issue about the gift thing was with my bridesmaid giving a sizable gift to our other friend who had a DW and then saying to me just so you know no one will get you anything.  Haha, yes I DO know that, I just thought it was rude to say. 

 

Anyway, I'm so close to my wedding and so excited to be married and so happy that everything is coming together that I could care less if I got another present from anyone.    I think with destination weddings you're right, we have to let go of a lot of the traditional rules and make our own.  We may not have as nice a toaster at the end of it, but we'll sure have the nicest pictures and memories won't we?! 

[MyTye2B]

Hi girls, I just wanted to show a couple of my projects I've been working on - or I should say Tyrel's been working on. I made the chapstick labels but he peeled and put and I made the dinner menu and seating cards but he cut and glued lol  The seating cards aren't done yet, I'll be spray painting the small starfish blue and tying twine/ribbon in the hole and hanging on the board that Vanessa is letting us borrow.  The chapsticks are part of the 'in sickness and health' stuff in the OOT bags.  Sorry they're kind of blurry.  iPhone, lol.  We just printed the labels on the computer (only 2 sheets!) onto full sheet sticky paper that I bought by Avery at the drugstore.  Easy! 

 

I'm working a night class today which feels weird, but first I have an appointment with the life insurance guy which feels even weirder!  Growing up and getting married, haha!! 

 

~Lauren

 

[brebuisson02]

I agree with Heatherlynn that I don't want people to feel that I will be expecting them to give a gift after they're already spending a lot of $$ just to be at our wedding, but like Chrestena said I also would not attend a wedding without giving something. It's such a tricky subject .. Lauren you are SO right when you say 'we may not have as nice of a toaster, but we'll have the nicest pictures and memories' .. I always think about how amazing of an experience it's going to be to be in Mexico with my closest friends and family for a week and also how gorgeous the wedding pictures will turn out with the ocean right there & all the palm trees. And for me, that's more important than a nice toaster. haha

 

Lauren, I love your DIY projects that you're working on.. especially the chapstick! Super cute. Where did you order the plain chapsticks from?

 

Thanks Lauren and Chrestena for your input about the AHR. I still have a little while before I have to make solid plans but time seems to just be flying by and I'm sure before I know it, I'll be getting close to leaving for Mexico!

[Melgoody]

Hello ladies, 

 

We are in the process of trying to find a photographer in Mexico as a friend of mine who I always imagined shooting the wedding is going back to school to get her masters.  Really bad timing for us  I wanted to know of any of you hiring a photographer from Mexico.  Who are you going with and roughly how much did it cost?  I have gotten a couple quotes from places that were quite a bit different in price.  Just wondering what the average price range is.

 

Thanks

 

Melissa 

[MyTye2B]

Bre thanks so much for the compliment about the chapsticks.    I didn't actually order clear chapsticks, I found some cheap ones and peeled the labels off of them.  They are all SPF 30 too!  Usually I found chapstick at drug stores to be super pricey, but surprisingly enough, I found the ones I bought at the airport at one of those little booths in the secure area just by the departure gates (not an actual store) and they were selling 3 for $3 and then as an employee I got another 25% off so I felt that it was a decent price for them.  It worked out to be $20 for the amount that I needed.  I'm just doing one per bag.  I'm not sure what city you're in, but this was in the Calgary airport, D wing.   

 

Melissa, we are bringing our own photographer from home for our wedding day, but I kind of wished I had looked around more first.  I have found that the prices range quite a bit, depending on who you go with.  I was quoted $5000 by a photographer in Mexico which freaked me out so I ended up going with someone I've worked with before at home for $2000 although she originally quoted me $2500 too.  I feel like upwards of $2000 is standard these days.  I know there is a lot of work that goes into it, but I'm still spending a lot of money on this wedding and wanted Trash the Dress, Engagement pics and a videographer too, so I couldn't justify $5000.  That being said, a lot of companies will offer you a deal if you want videography and photography. 

 

Anyways, I wanted to do Trash the Dress, but I wanted to do it with a photographer local to the resort and not my photographer from home because I figured they'd be able to take us to some of the cool locations like the cenotes and things.  So we ended up hiring Cancun Wedding Photo:   http://www.cancunweddingphoto.com/.  I can't vouch for their work yet, since we don't use them until August 21st, 2 days after our wedding (omg that's in 3 weeks and I'll already be married!!) but I can tell you that their prices were MUCH more affordable than the rest.  I got quotes over 6 months ago, so I'd recommend emailing them, along with a few others.  That is what I did when I first started looking and they were all really great about getting right back to me with quotes.  They all want your business, so it makes sense to email back right away.  I found the same with the DJ's (if you're looking for one I'm finding DJ Mannia who we are working with to be incredible with communication which makes me very happy!)  Cancun Wedding Photo I believe originally quoted less than $2000 for the wedding photography, $400 for just TTD (and some other places were quoting $2000 JUST for TTD) and they had a really good deal for both together, but I had already signed a contract with the girl from home.  Good luck!  Let us know what you decide. 

 

Lauren

[karenk]

Originally Posted by caseylynndavis 

 

Has anyone done or thought of doing a pub crawl and/or scavenger hunt?  I am having a hard time being creative, and don't want to "plan" too much, but thought this would be a fun welcome night as someone else had mentioned a while back.  

 

Carlota....have an amazing time and a safe, quick flight!  Can't wait to see your pictures!!!

Hello Caseylynndavis,

I was married on April 5th at GP and it was fabulous, we stil talk about how beautiful our wedding was.

We did a pub crawl and it worked out really well.  Gave a organized way of each family to meet eachother.  I kept it super simple and we gathered in the Lobby after dinner at the Whitesands,  We took the train and a cart since there were so many of us all the way to the end, I can't remember which resort is at the end,  Had a cocktail or 2 in the lobby.  My husband & I had brought white t-shirts and markers and had a contest to see who could get the most signatures.  (be careful, I ended up with marker on my favorite bra).  Then we walked to the next place which I think was the Colonial ( not sure) but they have the entertainment show happening so some of the children watched that and we continued with drinks and just getting to know eachother.  We then hit the sports bar in the same location,  but they had snack food so everyone could get a bite to eat if they wanted.  From there some people (mostly the older guests)  went home and we continured by train to the Riviera where we again had a drink in that lobby.  It all ended around 11, well that is when we left, there were a lot of people still having fun, some stayed there and others went on to the Disco.   It wa so much fun, a highlight of the week.  I did not have a rehersal party or cocktail party so this was a fun way to get everyone together before the wedding.

We also did a scavenger hunt which didn't go as well.  The kids did have fun with it though. 

Congrats on your engagement and choice of venue, we loved GP. 

 

Karen Oaks

[normas09]

Hello ladies!! 

 

I can't believe I've missed so much since I last posted. Unfortunately, I had to study for my boards but now that I've passed I can go back to my favorite past time...hearing/sharing wedding plans

Carlota- I know you won't see this till you are back--- CONGRATULATIONS!! I hope you are having the time of your life. You have been so great sharing all your knowledge and wedding plans.

 

Melgoody- I've only reached out to 3 photographers and they were pricey. I will look for the package information in my email and will share with you shortly. 

 

Lauren- I love your projects! It is nice to have the FI help  

Good night ladies!

 

 

[mcbride3]

Caseylynndavis - Thanks for mentioning that you can haggle with prices from outside hair / makeup vendors. It totally worked for me. So if anyone hasn't booked that yet and is looking at getting people from outside of the resort to come to your room it's totally worth while telling them that their first quote “is out of your budget.†Also about the pub crawl / scavenger hunt I think it is a great idea. We are planning on just getting everyone together one night and going to Coco Bongos. Have you heard of it? You should definitely check into it. I was staying at a different resort last time I was in Mexico but there was a vendor selling tickets for a Coco Bongos Pub Crawl night. A shuttle came and picked us up at our resort and took us into Playa Del Carmen where we went to Senior Frogs and one other place (can't remember the bars name) and then they shuttled us all to Coco Bongos. We stopped along the way and picked up people at different resorts . I’m definitely going to be emailing Grace to see if the Grand Palladium has someone there offering the same type of thing. As far as a scavenger hunt I think that’s a great idea. Let me know if you come up with anything. Jencadiz - don't feel like a geek for tracking all your different pricing stuff into excel. I did the exact same thing And Carlota I think it was you? - thanks for sharing the information about not being about to set off the paper lanterns. This makes me sad. I was totally planning on doing that at our beach bash so I'm glad I ordered those yet. Sarah519 - If you are looking for cheap maracas www.amols.com is definitely where to look. I emailed every possible maraca vendor I could find online and although some of them made really cool looking maracas that you could personalize the price of them reflected that. Amols has them for a fraction of the cost. The only downside is they are pretty basic and can't be ordered personalized. But for the amount of money I will save I have chosen to personalize them myself. I'm going to buy a silver paint pen and write our names and wedding date on them myself. I just ordered 76 purple maracas. In total it cost me $74.00 plus $40 in shipping to Canada. For every other company I contacted it was gonna cost me $300-$400. They should be arriving in the mail any day. I'm excited to see them. Jengullage - How did you get the upgrade to the Royal Suites. Was the upgrade free or did they charge you extra for it? How far in advance did you email the resort and what email address did email? Mike Cantarell - Thanks for sharing the video. I loved it! Now for my question.......I'm just curious what kind of wedding package everyone is going with? We have chosen the Karen Bussen Waves of Love package. I love the starfish decor but for the price of the package I’m surprised that it doesn't include all the extra bridesmaid flowers and boutonnieres that we are going to need. They also took away the plain white color choice for that package so now I'm worried about that because the package itself isn't able to be altered. Our wedding color is purple and that package can be upgraded to purple for an extra cost but the purple doesn’t look like it with go with our bright shade of purple. What are you ladies doing?

[mcbride3]

Sorry ladies I just posted that from my work computer and just like the issue that "MyTye2B" had with her last pasts it apparently grouped my 7 different paragraphs into one big one. Sorry. Hopefully that isn't too hard to read. Jenn