Grand Sunset Princess Resort

[jovn28]

Hey there,

Thanks so much.

 

1. For the ceremony music. We gave the dj the iphone. Groom met with the coordinator at the venue half an hr before the ceremony starts, so my husband told the dj what to play.

 

2. For our first dance, we had our own music and we had other songs on our iphone we specifically wanted to dance to. I think the dj was pretty good in figuring out the type of music we liked after we played some of our songs. Otherwise hubby gave him an idea of what songs to play. Other guests just requested specific songs.

 

3. yes we wanted to keep dancing the whole night. I actually wished we were there a little longer. If you want another hr, there is an extra charge of $8 p/p . So your party will go on until 1100pm.

 

4. The tour was about $110 per person (lunch and drinks included)- which is really cheap! Dont get it from the sunwing office. There is a tour company on the upstairs of riviera lobby (sorry i forget the name)  And we had more than 12 people, so we got the private tour which was really good. First they take you to a mayan community. You get blessed by their shaman before entering the place. You get to see how they make things and you get to see and taste the tacos made right infront of you. Then you can get souvenirs.

Next they take you to the CENOTE and go underground swimming. This was a great experience.

Then they take you to a property where there is an older hotel with a mexican vibe. They provide you with an excellent buffet lunch and mexican show while your eating!

After this you start walking to the site. Actually whats amazing about the whole thing is that the hotel and the whole property including chichen itza was owned by the same family who later had to sell the ruins to the government. So we were actually the only tour that got to enter and walk the property.

 

5. Tipping was hard. I read some reviews about the same. But here's what we did and they were more than gracious receiving.

for the coordinator: $40  or $50 - dont remember

for the restaurant servers: $ 30

for the dj: $30

for the bartender: im not sure people were tipping him the whole night. We were not very sober after the beach party! so drinks was not lacking at all!!!

I actually forgot to tip my photographer But i will most likely order some photobooks and prints from her.

I know it seems like i didnt tip much but you have to remember that this is extra from what they get normally, so you can tip as much as you want and theyll be more than happy with what you give them.

[Steitzer23]

This was so great, thanks!
 

[nov2013maya]

Thanks so much for sharing this info Jovn28. It makes me feel much better about hiring the dj and bringing music on an iPod. The coordinator was asking me to bring it on CDs. I don't even own a cd burner to make them :S

[smiles33]

Did anyone travelling from Canada to Mexico have any trouble with customs when bringing in items for their OOT bags??  I read on one of my checklists to take receipts for all of those things and I don't think I have most of mine anymore.  

[ashofswed]

jovn28.

How much was the beach reception? I didn't see that amount when you break down the total cost.. I am interested on doing this so, I'd love to hear from you soon. Congratulations on your big day, you looked stunning!!1
 

[ashofswed]

Originally Posted by jovn28 

 

Hola my fellow brides,

 

I just thought id give you guys a review about my experience with grand sunset and grand riviera resort.

My wedding party and I just returned after staying there for seven beautiful days june 22- 29.

There were 20 of us who travelled to Mexico.

So let me just reassure you brides that YOU HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT!. I think i read most of the postings re: the resort in this website as well as tripadvisor. I really thought of backing out since there were tons of negative reviews.I actually made tons of changes to the restaurant and had mixed feelings about the venue before heading there. But honestly rest easy!

 

So here it goes, this will be a long review. I want to cover everything that I too was worried about before my wedding.

 

So my wedding coordinator was Aracelli, she delivered on our wedding day! I was to be honest getting frustrated with the emails since she was not answering some of my questions but then again I had tons of questions!

 

PACKAGE: 

 

We took the renewal of vow package. We got legally married in city hall two weeks prior to our departure. This took a maximum of 7 minutes. We just had our families with us.

WHY: -  we didnt want our blood test taken in a foreign country. I initially thought that our wedding in mexico would not mean so much after this but this was a precursor to a wonderful ceremony in Mexico.

 

This package included restaurant for 20 people and the my boquet and my husbands boutinniere.

Yes it does not include the flowers for decorations. I was thinking of adding these but no one would really notice them. Brides, you are facing the torquise coloured ocean so i think that alone is the perfect backdrop for any occasion.

 

I paid extra for bridesmaid boquet and another boutinniere. We had one maid of honor and one best man.

 

I initially wanted to get the chivalry chairs just because they look really beautiful (actually you can select other chairs to your hearts desire ranging from $6 to 8 p/p). Again i opted out for those regular chairs with white coverings.

 

This package also did not include the cake. I paid $6 p/p for the cake. After all the calculations, this was the best choice for the size of our wedding party.

 

HAIR AND MAKEUP:

 

I initially booked an appointment in the spa to get my hair done but i cancelled it. Sine they were charging $80 starting to get your hair done. And good thing i did, since i ended up putting my hair up since it was soooo HOT and windy on the beach!  I also just did my own make up.

 

CEREMONY:  Sunset gazebo

 

I initially wanted the Riviera gazebo since it looked great on pictures but your in the middle of the main beach and I wanted my ceremony to be private. The sunset gazebo is on the far left of the beach by the chill out restaurant (which no one really goes to).

The ceremony was beautiful and really memorable. The minister was exceptional. She said all these wonderful things that i never even thought of. We also did our sand ceremony- brought from Canada.

 

Now the next part was just executed beautifully. My husbands parents are no longer here. Both passed away and I wanted them to part of the ceremony much like everyone else. I wanted two white balloons to be released before we were pronounced as husband and wife.

First the search for white balloons- Aracelli said in the email that even if i brought balloons from Canada, It would cost alot of money to get helium into them. Really? what the heck right?

So i didnt bring any, thinking it wasnt going to happen anyway.

Then during our meeting (day before your wedding day). She said she had some balloons and found a place that can pump helium in them. But she had all the colours of the rainbow except for the white ones i requested. Like really, I wouldnt want red or black balloons released as remembrance of my groom's parents. Really inappropriate!

Anyway, long behold, during the ceremony, the minister called my groom's siblings. Aracelli handed them two white balloons. The minister said something wonderful and they released the balloons in the air. By this point everyone was tearful. This was icing on the cake!

 

PHOTOGRAPHY:

 

After the ceremony we had an outside photographer to take our photos. Now outside photographer has an extra charge. She was worth it.

Check her out at www.saraniweddings.com. We wanted her for three hours only. Since everyone else had a camera. So for before, during and after ceremony.

 

DINNER:

 

Ok i was nervous about this since i really wanted my wedding dinner and reception to be private. I changed my mind so many times, i cant even count. So i wanted initially the chillout, but the price is just ridiculous and after seeing it, im glad we didnt go for it.

Now the galas, i saw some wedding reception held there and honestly its really impersonal.

So we did the La Hacienda restaurant. Why not, its part of the package! They seclude your group in the back and you wont even notice the other people in the restaurant. They served us four course meal.

Honestly, its really difficult to chose a restaurant. I think they made such a big hype with these alacarte restaurants. Booking them was hastle for both regular and platinum guests. The food is nothing special in all of these restaurant. So i figued i cant really go wrong in just picking one. I picked La Hacienda well because we are in Mexico! - might as well get it in the theme. And really it was pretty awesome. They had mexican hats and served you dishes in these cool mexican dishware.

We had about an hr and half for the dinner.

 

BEACH RECEPTION:

 

This was the best decision i ever made! They light up the long path towards the main beach with tiki torches. Then i asked the coordinator to have some welcome drinks when people arrive. Music is going and the party lights are up (all from the dj- he was good!). Chairs are set up surrounding the high tables (i initially thought, i wouldnt like this but it worked).

I initially thought of paying for the dance floor- but dont!!!!!!

They rake the sand and everything, it honestly felt so good on your feet after a long day wearing heels or just walking around taking pictures on a hot sunny day!

We did the mixed canapes (this included drinks) and added an extra hour for a fee. i think there was over 10 different types of food!

We stayed there for about two and half hours.

We also cut the cake on the beach.

By the end of the night, there was soooooo much food. I think people were full from the restaurant even before heading to the beach, so pre warned everyone not to drink or eat too much at the restaurant! lol

I actually felt bad since there was soo much food thrown out. This including our big cake!

But honestly this was a great experience. We would not change anything about it all.

 

BREAKDOWN OF THE SPENDING: ( i know this is important! lol)

 

$800 - wedding package

$120- wedding cake ($6 p/p)

$840- mixed canapes with drinks + the extra hour on the beach (mixed canapes is $34 + $8 for the extra hour p/p)

$20 - i added four roses for the cake decor (really didnt need this)

$45- maid of honor flowers

$15- grooms man botounniere

$200- day pass for photographer

$560- DJ

YOU HAVE TO PAY $200 downpayment deductible to your final amount

-----------------------total bill : $2400 for 20 people-------------AWESOME!!!!

 

HERE ARE SOME OTHER AMOUNTS:

 

$ 950- cost trip to Mexico via sunwing. We took advantage of their price adjustment 45 days prior to departure date. We had one guest free. This also included a room upgrade for all our guests. Hubby and I although upgraded ourselves to platinum. Worth it for the room service alone. Cost us $400 extra

$ 30 - I bought chair sashes from ebay. Tell the coordinator to put two sashes in one chair- i wish i told them this to make the color pop more.

$ FREE  I had fans sent from Asia from a relative (but you can buy these for cheap) and made programs using the freebies from weddingchick.com - as well as other neat projects!

$ 200 - for favors from www.weddingstar.com. I bought these little burlap bags and put mints in them. I bought coral wine stoppers (beautifully done) and these stationary/well wishes cards.

$30 sand ceremony vase and sand at Michaels. Use your coupon people!

$200- miscellanous for other decors. I bought LED tea lights from dollarama and dollar tree. Then some tea light holders again at dollarama. I had these vase crystals and vase from dollarama again. I also went to HOMESENSE to get a few real touched flowers for centerpieces. They looked and feel real!

$128- my favourite part-- is my dress!!! i know! both it from dhgate.com. This included shipping and all! I forget the seller's name but if your interested let me know and i look through my emails! I only paid $100 for the basic alteration from stich it - i wanted to be a little more body fitting and added a little hook so the train doesnt drag when im walking around. It also has a built in corset already! awesome!

 

So yeah, I was really stressed before the wedding but i wished i relaxed more and enjoyed the process but then again, i think stressing is a bride thing! lol

 

Oh and yeah i had two 40 pounds luggage and i got searched in mexico airport. And here's another stress right!!!!!!!!! 

But i just told them its for a wedding! and no problemo! I also used other peoples luggage to fit all the other favors and decor! lol

 

Oh and the other thing, for music. They are right on cue. But here are the songs i used.

1. LUCKY  by Colbie Caillat and Jason Mraz - music played when people are arrivving

2. A THOUSAND YEARS by Christina Perri - i had my grooms sisters, my sisters, mom, dad, best man and groom entered to this song

3. MARRY ME by train- my entrance song

4. THROUGH IT ALL by Alicia Keys - started playing once we were pronounced as husband and wife, signing of certificate and our exit

 

So i hope this helps. If you have any questions, feel free to message me. I also made a review about the resort on tripadvisor since i thought this was also important. There are some key points there that you may want to consider.

 

Here is the link:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g150812-d811329-r166038878-Grand_Sunset_Princess_All_Suites_Resort_Spa-Playa_del_Carmen_Yucatan_Peninsula.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT

 

 

jovn28.

 

How much was the beach reception? I didn't see that amount when you break down the total cost.. I am interested on doing this so, I'd love to hear from you soon. Congratulations on your big day, you looked stunning!!1

[jovn28]

Thanks!

mixed canapes with drinks + extra hour  so its $840 for 20 ppl

[smiles33]

Just got back from our wedding at the resort, and I know how helpful it was to have jovn28 share her experience so I thought I would share mine as well, especially the parts that were different.  

 

Resort:

The resort is beautiful!!  The two biggest complaints I read about before going here was the food and the rocky ocean.  The ocean does have rocky spots, however, it's not the whole area.  It's very easy to find a spot where it is not rocky.  The water was beautiful, and there were even schools of fish swimming around you.  

The food was really not a problem for me.  The buffets were fine- everything tasted good, it was just not spectacular, blow me-away, which I really wouldn't have expected in a buffet anyway.  The a la carte's were fantastic!!  Their food presentation was great, their portion sizes were a little small, but you got 4 courses so it was unnecessary for them to be much larger, especially since you can always go to the Sports Bar or the buffet for a snack later.  We ate at Tapas, Mama Mia, Miso and Le Fleur as well as the Tapinyaki (sp??) show.  The food was all delicious, however, the food at the Tapinyaki show had a lot of butter and garlic, which my stomach was not happy about the next day.  We went with a groomsman and my in-laws and my mother-in-law and I were both ill the next day, so just a word of caution to the ladies!  However, it did taste fantastic and the show was great, so it's up to you if it's worth the risk!  

We stayed in a Villa Suite which was beautiful.  However, we had some family members stay in swim-up rooms, which are just regular rooms that swim out to the pool, and we have agreed that if/when we go back we would stay there instead.  Our room came with lots of great perks, and was completely perfect for wedding photos, but it was really nice to be able to swim after the pools close, especially right before bed.  

 

Mosquitos

I'm not sure if it was just the time of year or not, but there were a lot of these so I highly recommend bringing bug spray.  They did fog the resort regularly so they were trying, but because there was so much water and it is rainy season there's only so much they can do.  

 

Wedding Coordinator- Araceli

Wow!!  She was fantastic!!  Our day was flawless.  It actually rained on our wedding day, which I was really stressing about.  However, about 2 hours before we made the decision to use the back up venues for our ceremony and for our cocktail hour.  It actually turned out great!  The ceremony, dinner and reception all ended up in lobby area so people didn't have to travel from the beach to the restaurant and back to the beach again.  We had paid $25/person for the 2 hour cocktail hour on the beach, which included the private bar tender and some high tables with chairs.  Because it was raining they moved us inside and we decided that it was way better- first of all it was air conditioned so we didn't all die of the heat, and there were no mosquitos since I was already being eaten alive by them!  

 

Hair, Makeup & Nails

I had my hair, makeup and nails done at the spa, along with my maid of honour, grandmother, mother, mother-in-law and friend and they did an amazing job!  I was so happy with how it all turned out, especially since I had forgotten the picture of what I wanted done and had to try to explain it.  It was amazing!! We actually ran into the man (Francesco) who had done it later in the week and my husband thanked him for making me look so beautiful!  It is pricey however, I paid about $200 US for a hairstyle (which is more expensive for the bride than for everyone else), a french manicure and my make-up.  It was well worth it though!!

 

Photographer

We had a guy named Lillo do our photos, and wow, was I impressed!!  I paid for the most expensive package because I wanted to be able to have all the photos on a disc, but this also included 4 photo books (one big one for us, one for trash the dress and 2 smaller ones for our parents) as well as 2 wedding photo albums and 110 prints.  This was the part I wanted to go the most perfectly because I've worked in photography and photos are really important to me, and I was not let down.  The rain held off for about 2 hours so we were able to get all of the beach photos that I wanted together.  He didn't miss a single moment, and captured several moments that I didn't even realize were happening lol.  He had an amazing eye for poses, lighting and just fantastic creativity and fun!!  The only problem we had was we were told they would all be ready to be picked up on the Wednesday, but when we went our 4 photo books were missing.  No big deal, we were there until Friday so they said to come back tomorrow.  We did, and only 3 of the 4 were ready.  We were a little stressed at this point because we were leaving the next day.  They said it would be there first thing Friday morning, but when we went it hadn't arrived yet.  My husband pressed them on it because we really wanted to take it home with us to give as a gift at our Canadian Reception, and they had the guy deliver it before we left.  So just make sure you're on top of them when picking up your pictures so you're not down to the wire!!  

 

Laundry Service

This is where we did have a big problem.  We sent out all of our clothes to be steamed, which worked out to be my dress & veil, the maid-of-honour dress, the mother's dresses and 5 sets of guys clothes.  When they were delivered the total was 769 pesos, but the guy told me if I paid cash it would only be 500- great!  However, as my sister and i were getting ready we noticed that her dress not only had a rip in it, it also had several small stains.  Fortunately all of this was able to be hidden, as this was about 1 hour before the wedding.  Little did I know that my sister also found a tear in my dress, also hidden fortunately, but she kept it from me until later so I didn't freak out lol.  We had to battle with the wedding coordinators the next day to get our money back for the laundry service, as we feel we shouldn't have to pay to have our dresses ripped.  So my recommendation would be to very carefully check over things that are steamed and ask for a copy of the invoice in case there are any problems!  

 

I think that was it for the major points- if you have any questions feel free to send me a message!  

[nov2013maya]

Such a great review. Thank you for sharing. It sounds like you had a wonderful wedding experience (minus mosquito bites) Everytime somebody shares their experience I feel a little more confident and learn so much!! Keep it, up girls!

[b21fly]

Hi Smiles33- thanks for sharing info about your wedding, it sounds amazing!  I am getting married at GSP in September of this year and am planning on the two hour cocktail reception, getting my hair done at resort salon, and hiring the resort photographer.  Would you mind sharing photos of your wedding?  

 

Also, which restaurant did you have dinner in for the wedding?