Grand Sunset Princess Resort

[FranticBride2be]

Hey Danielle!

 

O my goodness! Wow four more sleeps, I can't believe this is coming up.  I remember the night I got engaged, and I was thinking of what I would be feeling at this moment.  So it seems really weird:)

 

His shirt is great:)  He's getting the other guys to just wear a long sleeve white shirt, but he has no idea what they look like together because he didn't think it mattered before, and now its to late because one of the guys lives on the island.  So I'm hoping the whites are similar, and they don't look funny. 

 

I'll tell Emma to pass along my room phone number once I get there so we can try to meet up for a drink.  Otherwise, I'll be listening for strangers yelling at me.  I"ve totally done that, but by accident.  I chased this guy down the street yelling 'Jaassssonnnn', and when he finally turned around, it wasn't him.  Wow, embarrassing!

 

Ok your ceremony seems like it was way more romantic then mine.  We were honestly laughing so hard.  I hope we don't laugh in the Mexico ceremony!  Are you guys writing your own vows?  We talked about it, but I"m not to sure if we will.  It does feel strange to be legally married, I don't think it will seem real until Mexico:)  We're taking a limo to the airport with my sister and Chris' sister and their significant others, and we're going to organize to have champagne and orange juice for the limo ride (9am).  I figure that will be a good way to get started:)

 

I'm using flowers for my cake, and I don't think I'm going to bring ribbon for the cake.  Maybe I should get some plain white ribbon.  I'm using fresh flowers for the side and top of the cake, so I won't have a cake topper.  I'm also borrowing a cake cutter set from the hotel.  

 

I just got my programs in, and some other stationary (for table numbers, seating chart), but I haven't it yet.  I'm going to pick that and my custom made broach up tomorrow from that store downtown.  I'm going with my sister, and I think I'm going to get her some earrings (something to match mine) at the same time.  I also still need to get a guest sign in, I have some ideas, but I really don't know what I want to do.  C and I have been practicing a waltz (by Norah Jones) for our first dance, and I'm meeting up with my dad this weekend to practice with him.  My toes are good.  They still look a bit mangled, but I've been practicing in my big shoes, and I haven't had any problems.  I have all my spa stuff coming up this weekend, and my sister has apparently made a slide show (that I haven't seen), of the staggette.  I'm pretty excited about it.

 

I honestly can't believe this is coming up.  Remember how long our 'to do' lists were before?   

 

I added you to facebook so you're not yelling at total strangers:)

 

E

[lkroll]

Hi,

 

Any update on how your wedding went as well as feedback on what packages you chose?  We've just booked Grand Sunset Princess for April 2013!  Feedback/advice would be appreciated!

 

Thanks,

L.
 

[smokey82]

I am now 4 weeks away from my wedding and still not getting any replies from the wedding co-ordinators. Is anyone else having the same problem or is it just me being ignored?

[Jessica4LUXE]

Hello! Typically they have a music/audio technician run the music for the ceremony, while the WC cues the procession. You will meet with the WC when you arrive and go over the music cues again... just make sure they are SUPER clear on your IPOD - playlists are great for this - and always bring a back up CD of all songs.

 

For the reception, you'll give your WC the full list of entrances, first dances etc... try to send this in advance so the DJ can make sure he/she has the music. AND it's always good to bring your songs on ipod juuuuust in case

 

 

Originally Posted by FranticBride2be 

Hey Everybody, 

 

I know VancityBride had some questions about the DJ.  I was also curious about the DJ services offered by the hotel.  Did they organize everything?  Did you give them a playlist?  Did they play a entrance song, a first dance song, last dance song? 

 

I really want to know if the DJ added a lot to the reception, if it was worth hiring the DJ.

 

Thanks!

 

E

 

 

[VancityBride]

Originally Posted by lkroll 

 

Hi,

 

Any update on how your wedding went as well as feedback on what packages you chose?  We've just booked Grand Sunset Princess for April 2013!  Feedback/advice would be appreciated!

 

Thanks,

L.

 

Hello Ladies,

 

So i am back from our Mexican Wedding Extravaganza at Grand Riviera Princess..and let me tell you all you have nothing to worry about! I was soooo stressed that it wasnt going to go as i visioned but it actually went better. Everything was wonderful. Emma was really great too! The day started off with me and my girls doing breakfast and then i had some time to myself, which was really nice and needed before the craziness started.

 

My dress arrived just after 1130am as promised, and my flowers just after noon. I did red and white roses for my flowers and they were just as i wanted. I mean you cant really screw up roses, but they were still perfect. Our photographer came at 130pm with his assistant and went to work. He was in mty room and his assitant was in the boys room. I used Juan Navarro, and let me tell you he was amazing. He def loves his job and knows what he is doing. I strongly recommend him. My ceremony was at 3pm at the Riviera Gazebo, and it was BEAUTIFUL! We got picked up in the trolly and made our way down to the gazebo.

 

I was so worried that the music wasnt going to be on key and that something was going to go wrong, but Emma was there guiding everyone (GM & BM) down the bride and the music technition was perfectly on que. The ceremony was about 20 mins, and was beautiful. We did a symbolic ceremony and added a prayer, and it was more that i could have hoped for. The day was a little windy, which caused my cathedral vein to be all over, but other than that we were def blessed with an awesome day of sunshine.

Once the ceremony was complete we had a cocktail hour set up beside the gazebo for an hour so we could have some drinks while pics were being taken. That was a great touch.

 

We had our reception in the Jalisco Gala room with the Italian buffet, and it was worth every penny. So many of our guests said that it was the best meal they ate during there stay. The room was beautiful, just as i had in mind. We booked the hotel DJ, and i wasnt the happiest with him. We did have our own CDs and ipod, and for some reason he kept playing the same music. I think that he had a CD on repeat or something. But my sister jumped to take care of it, and got him to start using the ipod and then all was good. I dont really think that many people noticed.

 

All in all our wedding was wonderful!! My dream wedding for sure! I strongly recommend this resort. They really do know what they are doing when it comes to weddings. The resort is big and beautiful. I really dont have anything to complain about.

 

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask I know what you are all going through.

 

And for those of you who have kept up with me and E convos, we actually did end up running into eachother. I was sooo great to meet her!

 

E..So great to meet you! Sorry i was so drunk..lol. I wish we got a chance to run into eachother again I hope your day was a wonderful as mine was. I am sure you were a beautiful bride. I cannot wait to hear all about it!!!!!

[FranticBride2be]

Hey, 

 

We just got back at 6am this morning from our Grand Sunset Princess Wedding!

 

Everything turned our really well.  There were obviously a couple glitches... but I think that happens at every wedding:)

 

We started off our day in the pool, and at about 2, I headed back to my room to shower before going to the spa.  I ended up getting locked out of our room (the key didn't work!), and wasn't able to get in until 2:50!  So I skipped lunch, had a quick shower and made it up to the spa with my sister by 3.  One of my bm's had their hair done at 2, and the other spent from 2-3 doing her hair in her room.  I then had them do a couple errands for me while I was getting my hair done, and we all met back in my room at 4.  I invited some of my other girlfriends to come get ready with us, and we split a bottle of champagne they left in our room:)  We had one photographer meet in my room at 4, and one who tried to catch up with the boys (but got lost:( ).  The guys were at the gazebo at 430 to help hand out programs and get everything ready, and the girls and I had a little shuttle come pick us up at 5 (since we were running late).  

 

Everything at the ceremony was perfect!  Emma cued people walking in (we did a rehearsal the night before so we had a good idea of what we were doing), and the dj timed the music perfectly.  I walked down the aisle to 'The Piano, by Michael Nyman', and it got everybody crying.  After the ceremony, our bridal party helped get everybody up to the crystal room, and we did some pictures until Emma came to get us via shuttle. 

 

The reception was really great.  We did a sit down meal, and the food was really good.  The flowers on my centerpieces were wrong, but nobody noticed that except for me.  Emma added in a couple extras as well.  

 

The party finished up at 10, so we invited everybody to come join us on the beach for a beach party.  We brought down our sound system and drinks and partied there, all dressed up, until 3am!  A couple people who didn't get to make speeches during the dinner even got to make speeches at the beach!  

 

Suggestions:  

 

-The DJ wasn't amazing, he really just sat there and didn't to do much.  We had already created a great playlist, so one of the guys basically took over. 

-The chillout club (my dad bought us dinner there the next night), was amazing.  If I had to do this again, I would have my reception there, and would not spend money on the DJ.  I really wanted a sit down meal, so we had to use the gala menu, but they made a bunch of mistakes on the food anyways, and since people get unlimited a la cartes, I don't think my guests would have been sick of 'buffet' food by that point anyways.

-Finally, Emma told me I would have a shuttle drive us from the spa to the room to get ready.  This was really not true, and since the shuttles only run every 15 minutes, my sister and I ended up running the whole way back.  I would have booked my hair earlier had I know this, as it caused me to be about 15 minutes late for the ceremony!

 

Also, we did a catamaran tour the night before the wedding.  It was really the highlight of the whole trip.  We went from 3pm-8pm, and they only included beer, as we warned people to eat a big lunch.  Most people had late dinner reservations for that night anyways, so it was perfect.  It was such a great opportunity to have everybody be in one place for an activity before the wedding.  It was also the first time C and I didn't feel like we were being pulled in a different directions as we were trying to host different events and make time for everybody.  This was really the highlight, I would totally recommend this!

 

E. 

[bmariex26]

SO glad to hear your wedding days went so well! I would love to see pictures!! My wedding is in August and I have been going crazy to get things situated but super excited!!

[DanielaP]

Hello Frantic Bride,

 

I am glad to hear all in all everything turned out good in your wedding. I am getting married on July 16Th of this year and I am also a little nervous. We chose the Gala menu at one of the private reception rooms as it sounds like you did also, why do you say the chill out is better than the gala? Do they already have a DJ there since you said you would of rather not paid for DJ and done chill out? When I saw the few pictures I did of the chill out it seemed like everything was separated to me and not such a great idea for a venue for the wedding is that not the case?Also how did you do the beach party after the reception do you need to reserve something ahead of time? Did you like the way they did your hair at the spa? And we also are interested in doing a catamaran the night before for our guests, who did you go through and if you don't mind me asking how much did you pay?

[CGYgirl]

Hi,

 

Glad you had a good time and Congrats!!

 

I am getting married here in July of next year.  We are almost decided on everything, except the reception. We automatically chose the Gala as it is inside and seemed the safer choice.  The more we think about it, the better the beach party sounds. I think it would be fun.  I asked the WC if we could rent a dance floor, and she basically said yes.  The menu is a little more appealing on the beach as well.

 

I did want to ask you,  You are the second person who has said that if you could do it again, you would do it at the Chill out.  From the pictures that the WC has sent to me, it just looks like a deck.  Is it larger than it appears in this picture?  Is there something i am missing about it?

 

Let me know what you think! 

 

L

 

 

 

 

Originally Posted by FranticBride2be 

Hey, 

 

We just got back at 6am this morning from our Grand Sunset Princess Wedding!

 

Everything turned our really well.  There were obviously a couple glitches... but I think that happens at every wedding:)

 

We started off our day in the pool, and at about 2, I headed back to my room to shower before going to the spa.  I ended up getting locked out of our room (the key didn't work!), and wasn't able to get in until 2:50!  So I skipped lunch, had a quick shower and made it up to the spa with my sister by 3.  One of my bm's had their hair done at 2, and the other spent from 2-3 doing her hair in her room.  I then had them do a couple errands for me while I was getting my hair done, and we all met back in my room at 4.  I invited some of my other girlfriends to come get ready with us, and we split a bottle of champagne they left in our room:)  We had one photographer meet in my room at 4, and one who tried to catch up with the boys (but got lost:( ).  The guys were at the gazebo at 430 to help hand out programs and get everything ready, and the girls and I had a little shuttle come pick us up at 5 (since we were running late).  

 

Everything at the ceremony was perfect!  Emma cued people walking in (we did a rehearsal the night before so we had a good idea of what we were doing), and the dj timed the music perfectly.  I walked down the aisle to 'The Piano, by Michael Nyman', and it got everybody crying.  After the ceremony, our bridal party helped get everybody up to the crystal room, and we did some pictures until Emma came to get us via shuttle. 

 

The reception was really great.  We did a sit down meal, and the food was really good.  The flowers on my centerpieces were wrong, but nobody noticed that except for me.  Emma added in a couple extras as well.  

 

The party finished up at 10, so we invited everybody to come join us on the beach for a beach party.  We brought down our sound system and drinks and partied there, all dressed up, until 3am!  A couple people who didn't get to make speeches during the dinner even got to make speeches at the beach!  

 

Suggestions:  

 

-The DJ wasn't amazing, he really just sat there and didn't to do much.  We had already created a great playlist, so one of the guys basically took over. 

-The chillout club (my dad bought us dinner there the next night), was amazing.  If I had to do this again, I would have my reception there, and would not spend money on the DJ.  I really wanted a sit down meal, so we had to use the gala menu, but they made a bunch of mistakes on the food anyways, and since people get unlimited a la cartes, I don't think my guests would have been sick of 'buffet' food by that point anyways.

-Finally, Emma told me I would have a shuttle drive us from the spa to the room to get ready.  This was really not true, and since the shuttles only run every 15 minutes, my sister and I ended up running the whole way back.  I would have booked my hair earlier had I know this, as it caused me to be about 15 minutes late for the ceremony!

 

Also, we did a catamaran tour the night before the wedding.  It was really the highlight of the whole trip.  We went from 3pm-8pm, and they only included beer, as we warned people to eat a big lunch.  Most people had late dinner reservations for that night anyways, so it was perfect.  It was such a great opportunity to have everybody be in one place for an activity before the wedding.  It was also the first time C and I didn't feel like we were being pulled in a different directions as we were trying to host different events and make time for everybody.  This was really the highlight, I would totally recommend this!

 

E. 

[FranticBride2be]

Hey, 

 

Which room do you have rented?  We rented the Crystal Room and it was perfect for our group of 55 people.  The gala menu food was really good, so really no complaints, but its true that I would have done things differently. 

 

I really wish I had taken some pictures of the Chill out club.  It looks exactly like the picture that CGYgirl posted, it also has two smaller decks that are attached.  They light it up so nicely at night and its really just such a beautiful setting.  I thought it would be too separated for our group, but in reality, the two outer decks are closely attached by wide/short walkways so the tables are no more separated then they would be in a big room.  I don't think they have a DJ there, you'd have to pay extra for that service.  We bought a portable bose sound system, and that would have been plenty large enough.  My sister's bf also bought a $5 software that helps you mix songs on your ipad which connects to the bose, so it really eliminates the need for the DJ.  I think the bose sound system, while small, would have been plenty loud enough for our group, even if we were outdoors.  

 

The reason I didn't do the chillout club was because I was worried about being bitten by sand fleas if we were right in the sand (I got attacked last time I had dinner on the beach in Mexico so I was worried that would happen again!).  You're actually on a raised deck so that wasn't a concern.  Also, indoors was really hot, a couple people tried opening the doors but Emma wouldn't let them.  My dad actually ended up having to change into a plain tshirt because he was sweating so much!  Outdoors is still really warm at night, but the wind seems to die down a lot, so you don't need to worry about ruining your hair/ sand getting in your food:)

 

We didn't do an official beach party, we just had the MC announce that everybody was meeting on the beach by the main walkway right after the reception.  He asked people to grab drinks (since the lobby bars are the only ones open) and we all headed down there.  Quite a few small groups pile up on the beach at night, and the security guards are really cool about it (as long as you don't try to go swimming).  It was really informal, but again we turned the bose sound system on, had a bunch of drinks, people gave informal speeches they didn't have time for before, and we had a great time. 

 

O my goodness, I have Franciesco or something at the spa, he was amazing.  I had a really clean and simple updo because it was pretty windy during the ceremony and I didn't want my hair to get ruined.  My hairdresser here told me it was a pretty hard hairdo, so I might want to have an alternative, but it was so great.  The updo is def. the way to go.  My sister and I both had our hair up, and it lasted the whole night and looked so great!  Don't be worried about hair, it takes just over an hour, you don't need a trail, and it looked so great!

 

We went with Paradise Cataman.  It was about $2000 for 48 people.  We kept the event secret from everybody and asked them to rsvp ahead of time.  If they had any concerns (fear of flying, fear of small spaces, fear of boats, fear of... ) we asked people to let us know and we would give away the details.  A few people asked and we told them what it was, but most people were really happy to be surprised.  We bought a bunch of gravol in case anybody got seasick, and a couple people took us up on the offer.  We told people to bring clothes they would go skydiving in, but also clothes they could go swimming in, towels...(I said skydiving clothes because it was pretty windy on the boat... and it tricked a couple people who guessed it was a boat).  The company offers to make lunches/snacks or do a full bar, but we asked to cut down costs by providing only beer.  There were no complaints and several people brought drinks from the resort with them anyways, so there was no shortage of drinks.  We also asked them to take off at 330 (pick up from the resort at 3, so we had people meet us at 245, we should have said 230 though), and we got dropped off at about 8pm.  Most people had a big lunch that day and planned on late dinners, so it wasn't a big deal that we didn't have food for the boat.  I would strongly suggest this company.  There are companies that offer slightly less expensive tours, but it was really such a great experience with this company.  They went well above and beyond our expectations.

 

I hope that helps

 

Good luck with your planning:)   

 

 

Originally Posted by DanielaP 

Hello Frantic Bride,

 

I am glad to hear all in all everything turned out good in your wedding. I am getting married on July 16Th of this year and I am also a little nervous. We chose the Gala menu at one of the private reception rooms as it sounds like you did also, why do you say the chill out is better than the gala? Do they already have a DJ there since you said you would of rather not paid for DJ and done chill out? When I saw the few pictures I did of the chill out it seemed like everything was separated to me and not such a great idea for a venue for the wedding is that not the case?Also how did you do the beach party after the reception do you need to reserve something ahead of time? Did you like the way they did your hair at the spa? And we also are interested in doing a catamaran the night before for our guests, who did you go through and if you don't mind me asking how much did you pay?