Any Grand Palladium brides?

[Laine81]

adridashanne,

 

Thank you so much for the post...don't be surprised if I bother you for some details, as I am planning on getting married at the Grand Palladium in Febuary of 2011. I love to hear positive reviews about the resort, helps to set my mind at ease.

[Mags]

Quote:

Originally Posted by adridashanne To all the brides that have not done site visits: I just wanted to let you girls know that the wedding team at the Grand Palladium is EXCELLENT. They really are running a top-notch office there. I had been in contact with Rocio before visiting at the end of March and I was a little concerned with the slow responses. When I sat down with her during our site visit, I can honestly say all of my anxieties and worries lifted off my shoulders and I felt a breath of fresh air. She really is the most professional. helpful, kind, excited, organized, knowledgable wedding coordinator. They have everything in files, all of the upcoming wedding folders are labeled with the couples name and are filed on their desk. They honestly print everything you tell them via email and keep it in this file for when they meet with you 3 days before the wedding. Rocio is so excited to do the most elaborate weddings, which I thought she was going to cringe when she met me!... she actually jumped up and down when I told her to be prepared that I'd be the crazy bride with all the decor and flowers. I was concerned before I went that I would need an outside planner for the day-off, but after meeting with Rocio and her team, I have no doubt in my mind that they will be able to handle even the toughest request that I throw at them. They really DO want your wedding to be just as perfect as you imagined. You can tell right away they love what they do. If anyone has any questions you'd like to ask me, feel free to PM.. I actually stayed at the resort for 8 days during my visit, met with the wedding team, and really took down every detail imaginable pertaining to my wedding. I have photos galore, decided on the private reception location, ate TOO much food, picked a cocktail location, and spent a lot of time appreciating the Catholic Church (it's called a chapel but it is in NO way a chapel! it's huge and gorgeous!)... Good luck to everyone getting married here! You've made a perfect decision

Wow what a nice reveiw! I'm actually supose to book my wedding next week at the GP Kantenah for April 2011. I'm a bit anxious since I don't know much about weddings that took place at this resort. The resort seems really beautiful though. We are going to be a group between 30 to 40. I want to have a nice private reception diner. Do you know the cost of the reception diner when it's private and do you know where it can take place?

I also want to have a lot of decoration/flowers...do you know their options for decoration and how much it is?

Sorry I have a lot of questions :S

Thanks!!!!!!!!

[Sarah_K]

Mags-If you can keep your guest count under 40, the private dinner comes with the package. It is in one of the reception places, and decorated very nicely. If you have more than 40 people the cost for a private dinner is between $45-$60. There are a few work-arounds if you end up with more people. We are going to have about 45, and my wedding is this June. I'll let you know how it goes .

 

As for Flowers, from what I understand most of the flowers come with the package. You if you have a large bridal party or want something extravagant, you will have to buy more (from the pictures I have seen, there are so many flowers, I doubt buying more is going to be an issue for me).

[Mags]

Thanks for the info Sarah!!! Can't wait to hear about your wedding...you must be so excited...it's coming fast!!!

 

Mags

[adridashanne]

I think there is a lot of confusion here...

to have a REAL private reception (min 40ppl) at Gran Azul or La Laguna - there is a fee for dinner per person, ranging from $50-$60. I have the menu list sitting right here with me that Rocio just gave me March 22nd. You have to choose 1 menu for all of your guests, there are about 12-15 to choose from, and most are $55... there are only a few that are $60. Here is where you can bring a DJ.... you get 4 hours for the reception, but you are also in a buffet restaurant this is closed off only to your party so I doubt they would kick you out if it ran over. Rocio and I had discussed having my reception from 6:30-10:30.. which I think is plenty of time. Beforehand I am having a 1hr 45min cocktail hour, so my guests should be pretty winded by 10:30... hopefully!

 

If you have under 40ppl (over 40 you MUST pay extra for a private reception as above) you can have the complimentary reception (you don't have to pay) where you are offered a blocked-off space in one of the restaurants - they can even decorate for you. This is not something I would consider fully private... so to say it is private would be misleading. You are basically cornered off in one of the restaurants but there are still guests tables surrounding your area. You cannot have a DJ or do your dancing in the restaurants, you would have to take it somewhere else after dinner. Most girls I think have just went to the lobby bars, disco, or pool areas.

[adridashanne]

Also girls - Rocio has a floor plan for the private reception that she can send to you for seating charts. She actually requests that you do do a seating chart for her reference. She will be able to send you the square table option and the round table option. I specifically remember her telling me the round fits 10, they use a specific chair for this table so they are able to fit more, and also this chair is the one you are able to put the chair covers on so it looks nicer. Ask her for photos!

For the square tables, they pretty much do 2 people on each side, totaling 8 people for these tables. They can do linens, but not chair covers since they still use the restaurant chairs for these tables.

 

Again, call me crazy but I was just there with her 3 weeks ago. She is super friendly and willing to send photos and seating charts, all you have to do is ask!

[ChristinaP]

Hey ladies,

 

I am no longer getting married at all, but was supposed to be at the GP in May so I had been planning for the past year. I have also been there in the past, and know people who have gotten married there. Am still subscribed to this thread so have been keeping up a bit...

What Adridashanne has said in the previous two posts is correct. If you want the menu options for the PRIVATE reception, you can get that from Rocio. I would offer to send it to you, but I deleted it a couple weeks ago when I was in a bit of a bitter rage

If you have under 40 ppl and are on a budget, you can use one of the a-la-carte restaraunts for your reception. They will set aside soom space for you, but it is not private. You cannot have a DJ or dancing here. This would just be a dinner thing, and they would still allow other hotel guests to reserve dinner for the night. For these non-private receptions, you still have to have a set menu for a group over a certain number.

If you have more than 22ppl., you can have a fully private reception at La Laguna or El Gran Azul. They are both essentially the same, just on different sections of the resort. La Laguna is near the White Sands and Riviera section, and Gran Azul is near the Colonial/Kantenah section.

If you have more than 40 ppl you HAVE to have a private reception.

The wedding packages all only include up to 8 ppl, so for every guest over the 8, you have to pay $20 pp. Then for the meal for a private reception, you would also have between $50-$60 or $70 per person. There are many choices for meals and they are all several courses plus dessert.

Rocio and Erika actually had a little communication error recently with what was to be my wedding. I had notified Rocio several weeks ago about the cancellation, then Erika emailed last week asking me to confirm numbers and meals for the private reception we had booked at La Laguna. Point is, those things you would confirm ahead of time. If you want a private reception, you should also book as far in advance as possible as there are only the two locations and they do more weddings than that every day.

Reception times are all from 7-11pm no matter where you would go.

 

If you have the time to go back on this thread, there is a tonne of info. from past brides. I think I also might have attached a copy of the menu for the private receptions, but you would need more than 150 posts to be able to open it. I also copied and pasted a few emails from Rocio that answered some questions.

I would be more than willing to help answer any questions I can if anyone still needs clarification on wedding related info. or questions about the resort itself.

 

Happy planning all!

[ChristinaP]

Wow...that was long!

[Mags]

ChristinaP, Im sorry to hear that you are no longer getting married.

 

I don't know if you would be able to help me with my questions. I know that we have to be in Mexico 3 working days prior to the wedding day. So I was wondering if I would arrived in Mexico on a Sunday...can I get married on Wednesday or do I have to get married on Thursday?

 

Also, I'm looking to book with Kantenah side but my travel agent think I might have a better quote at the Grand palladium riviera resort. In my perspective, Kantenah seems to be pretier and seemed to have a nicer beach. DO you know the difference between both??

 

Thank!!!

[ChristinaP]

Hey Mags,

 

If you are planning on doing a legal ceremony, your wedding day should be on the Thursday. I also struggled with that, and actually had to change our trip to two weeks later than I had wanted b/c I could only get a Wednesday (or Friday, but didn't want that as our trip was Sat-Sat). If you are thinking of doing a legal ceremony here first, then it does not matter.

 

The Kantenah and the Colonial section are the oldest parts of the resorts and they are basically mirror images of eachother. The best beach is near the Kantenah section (the beach wedding ceremonies are on that beach), but really, the resort is so huge anyways and all can use that beach. The Riviera section is newer and the entry level rooms are junior suites, which is nice as well.

If you are going with a package through a tour operator, you wouldn't get to choose the section. Different ones do different sections.

The ones I know of in Canada are Transat, Signature, and WestJet vacations. Transat does Colonial, I forget what Signature does, and WestJet does the Riviera section. I don't know who does the Kantenah section. If I were you, I would get quotes from as many tour operators that you can and figure out your best value.

I was originally booked with Transat on the Colonial section, but then they changed their flights so that my wedding date would not work and flights for our guests coming in to Toronto and Montreal would not have worked either. I ended up pullling out of Transat (they gave us all our deposits back), and re-booking with WestJet (got lucky there) on the Riviera section. We got a waaaay better deal (ended up being $600 less per person) in a junior suite as compared to the standard room with Transat. Again, that was lucky for us in the pricing.

Also, different operators offer different incentives (seat upgrades, every xxx guest free etc).

If you want some more detailed info. on the resort and rooms The Palladium Addict site is a GREAT resource. Go to Palladium Addict | Palladium Addict | The Original Fan Site of the Grand Palladium Resorts, Hotels & Spas | Mexico Mayan Riviera Puerto Vallarta Dominican Republic Jamaica Montego Bay Brazil They have a tonne of pictures and wedding info too.

 

Hope that helped you. Let me know if you wanted to know anything else.