Any Grand Palladium brides?

[Mrs.Captain]

Hello everyone,

 

We just got back last night from our Mexico wedding trip. The wedding at The Grand Palladium was better than I ever could have imagined. Please be patient with Erika/Rocio. They were doing up to 3 weddings a day while we were there and also moving offices (from the Colonial lobby to the White Sands section by the boats), so they were pretty busy. However, with that being said, they gave us all the personal attention that we needed while down there. The weddings e-mail address provided above is the correct one. If you haven't heard back from them, I would suggest trying again, as it's possible that some stuff got lost in the shuffle.

 

We had a group of 17 including us. We had our ceremony at the Kantenah beach location (just steps from our Mayan suite) and the reception dinner in Portofino (on the private balcony area). It looks like each of the a la carte restaurants has a section that is kind of separate that they set up for groups. After dinner, we went to Grand Azul to dance. We went back to that side of the resort as that's where we were all staying. La Laguna was the same idea on the other side, but we didn't hang out there much. We had a first dance and the father/daughter dance there (not planned at all). They had live music pretty much every night. Some nights there were wedding parties in there, but none had actually rented it out when we were there. It was a free for all. There were a couple of nights where 2 wedding groups would be in there. It was quite fun.

 

Let me know if anyone has specific questions.

 

Cheers,

Jen

[GoCubs!]

I'm getting married at the GP on 10/16/09 but I'm going down this week to check out the resort and meet with Rocio (but mostly to escape Chicago in February). I have a ton of questions for Rocio and I will report back with any insightful info that I learn.

[Jojo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JennyPenny Hi JoJo, Just wondering if you've heard from them yet? I am beginning to get very discouraged from booking at the GP when after 2 emails and 3 weeks of waiting and I still have not heard a single thing. I think I'm going to search around and find another resort with a nice gazebo? Do you guys know of any?

Hi JennyPenny,

I haven't heard back from Erika, it's been almost a month now. I was very close to booking GP Rivera 3 days ago with my TA but couldn't book it as I haven't heard from Erika if she's put me down for Nov 18.

On that day, my TA suggested Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda and thus I've put GP on hold until I've done my research on Blue Bay. I don't know if there's a wedding gazebo at Blue Bay but it's $120 cheaper per guest and the pictures look beautiful.

Iberostar Del Mar has a nice garden gazebo as well...it was between Iberostar Del Mar and GP at one point in time. But now, it's between GP and Blue Bay
(Hotel Playa del Carmen - Riviera Maya - Mexico - BlueBay Grand Esmeralda).

For wedding gazebo, check out the following link.
Romantic Planet Vacations Travel Honeymoon Wedding

[jmbecker03]

Hello all GP brides!

 

I am a new member to the site but I have spent plenty of time reading about all the great locations to have a DW. My FI and I are looking for November 2009 as our wedding date but have yet to pick a location. We are leaning towards GP because of all the great things we have heard. We just got a email from Rocio yesterday with the 2009 wedding packages. Any past GP brides out there that can share their wedding day experience? Also any future GP brides that can share how the planning is going for your GP wedding? This will help us feel better about our decision if we choose GP. Thanks everyone!

[Mrs.Captain]

Hello,

 

I just got married at the GP 3 weeks ago. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

GoCubs! How was your scouting trip to the GP?

 

Cheers,

Jennifer

[GoCubs!]

We were down at the GP for 4 nights and we LOVED the resort. We met with Erika, Rocio's assistant, and she was great. I already knew a lot of what I wanted coming in to the trip, but I was glad to learn more. The Bar Las Rocas at the Saltwater Pool was amazing and we were really hoping to have our welcome cocktail reception there...We were very pleased to learn that is one of the two locations where you can have the cocktail party so we booked that. I think my guests will be blown away by that location and I would highly recommend it if you are going to do a cockail reception. Going into the trip I was convinced that I wanted the wedding at the Kantenah beach spot, but now I'm not so sure b/c the White Sands beach wedding gazebo is awesome as well. Fortunately I have several more months to decide. We are expecting 60-70 guests so we also have to decide between La Laguna and El Azul for the reception location. They are pretty much the exact same layout though. We stayed in the Colonial section and got upgraded to a Jr. Suite and it was very nice and spacious. I'm definitely having my guests book in the Colonial b/c it's centrally located in the resort. I'm planning to stay in one of the White Sands Mayan Suites (the ones right on the lake) when we go down for a wedding. FYI I also learned that there are I-Pod docks in all the rooms - even the standard - so definitely advise your guests to bring theirs along. Let me know if you have any questions.

[Mrs.Captain]

Glad you had a successful scouting trip. Erika was our wedding coordinator and was wonderful to work with. Rocio was also great, but we only spoke with her the day after the wedding, although both of them were there for our ceremony making sure everything was perfect. We went with the Kantenah beach location because we really wanted to get married barefoot in the sand. We're glad we chose that. Go with what your heart is set on. The gazebo is beautiful. We took some pictures there later on.

 

We spent most of our time hanging out at Gran Azul as it was the central bar to all of our guests rooms. Gran Azul and La Laguna are pretty much the same (we didn't notice a difference between them). We had our reception dinner at Portofino (group of 17) and then all headed back to Gran Azul, so people would be closer to their rooms when they decided they were done for the night.

 

When we booked, we booked into the Colonial, but when we checked in, all our guests, except for 3 had rooms in the Kantenah. We had a Mayan Suite, our guests had Jr. Suites. I highly recommend the Mayan Suite. Be careful of the suites by the White Sands. Everytime we were over there, it smelled a little like sewage. We also found it great to have the whole group in the one side (Colonial/Kantenah) so it made meeting up at the bar and pool easier. We all mostly hung out on that side of the resort, but made our way over to the other side when we wanted to eat at the restaurants on the other.

 

Yes, all the rooms have iPod docking stations/alarm clock combos. All of our guests loved the GP. I'm sure yours will too. There was something for everyone. We loved the beach and all the greenery. I also loved all the palapas so you could have as much sun or shade as you wanted on the beach or at the pool.

 

Jen

[JennyPenny]

Hi Mrs. Captain,

Do you have pictures of your reception? I am thinking of the Portofino restaurant. I really want covers on the chairs but Erika told me that only the private events get the chair covers. That's a little bit dissapointing.

[julchen_79]

HI, we tried to contact them and request wedding date for January 2010. We were told they could not give any dates until May 2010. How did you get your date confirmed? I find it hard to believe we'd have to wait so long. Don't want to book the hotel before actually getting a confirmation on the date. It be great to get more information from you also as to which package you chose, dinner options etc. THanks Julie :-)

[JennyPenny]

Hi Julie,

I haven't booked a date yet as I'm still looking around. Erika has given me availabilty so I should be ok. My wedding is going to be in late 2009 so I guess it was ok. As well, we're doing a symbolic wedding. I'm thinking of asking my future father in-law to do the ceremony as I think it will be more meaningful. It looks like their menu has gone up though. Now it is $50-55 depending on the menu u choose. I really really want seat covers for the reception but apparently it's not possible. It's too much for me to pay for the private event just to get seat covers.