Grand Sunset Princess Resort

[MrsShoreytobe]

Hey ladies! QUESTION ABOUT HAIR AND MAKEUP - PLZ HELP!

 

I received the spa menu for pricing on hair/mkeup and I've heard from several peope here that they tend to be very expensive. Right now based on the exchange of canadian to pesos, my bridal hair and makeup would only be around 131 dollars. I feel a little lost on this because they of course cannot quote you an exact price until you are there - did any of you send pics to the spa and see what they would quote you?

 

Thanks!

[MrsShoreytobe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lutke 
 

Hello My Fiance & I are planning our wedding at the GSP on May 15th 2014.  We are VERY excited.  So far the planning hasn't been stressful.  The destination planning has been the easy part.  Finding my dress & the bridesmaid dresses was the hard part!  Jaime & I vacationed at GSP last May & loved it so much we decided to come back for our wedding! I am just looking for some opinions.  We are getting married fairly early in the day.  Right now our ceremony is at 2pm.  We are thinking about looking into pushing this back to 4pm or later. What would you suggest? We have our dinner set for La Fondue.  Also I am deciding if I should make the flowers for my bridesmaids/groomsmen/mothers/fathers.  I would like my flowers to be real, yet I don't seem to like the look of the 4 choices of flower we get to choose from.  As far as flowers for the ceremony & dinner go, do I decide that when we arrive or before hand?

 

One more question, what has seemed to be the best option for photography?  I don't like the resort options.  I would like to hire someone offsite & pay for them to come to the resort.  We would also like the "rights" to ALL (most) of our photos, not just 20 or 30.  If anyone has had an offsite photographer, did GSP have any problems getting them into the resort?

 

Thanks for your time!! I really need the help Lacy

Congrats Lacy! SO wonderful that you got to see GSP and fell in love with it. I cannot wait for our wedding in March :)

 

With flowers etc you were likely given the form to fill out by your wedding coordinator (Memo!? MR. Guillermo)…On this form you indicate the flowers/cake etc you want. With your dinner, I believe if you choose the restaurant option that comes with the package, you have a set menu of sorts. We are at the chillout lounge and chose a buffet menu this past month.

I imagine that your flower choices could be made pretty close to the date. I’ve never hesitated to send any and all questions to the coordinator – he knows it ALL!

I am on same page with flowers, and decided to get “real touch†flowers made for our corsages, bouquets, etc. Our colors are purple, teal and peacock so nothing caught my eye with the resort’s options. All of our flowers have come to about 477 with shipping, which doesn’t feel too bad. We are not going with a lot of extras, so this was an area we decided to do a bit more on. I am using the resort flowers as my toss bouquet.

The real touch flowers are cool because you can bring them to and from mexico; I like the idea of keeping my bouquet forever

 

With photography, it was a whirlwind and months of deciding for us. In the end we went with Gonzalo Nunez and we love him without even meeting him. I’ve seen tons of awesome things about him and he can work within your budget and is quite affordable.

 

Outside vendor fee for him or any off site vendor is 200 a day. Our trash the dress is outside of the resort so we are only paying 200 for the one day.

 

Hope this helps! Other brides who’ve already been married there would likely have even more to offer.

[WinnipegBride]

Thanks so much for the detailed report of the resort and wedding details ! I am stuck between GSP and the Iberostar Tucan....I didn't even think to look at the renewal of vows ceremony package for our wedding (what a reasonable price vs the wedding prices) which allows for the beach party without going over budget.  I will definitely look into this as an option.  We are planning out wedding for Dec 2014 with no set date yet

[WinnipegBride]

Thanks for all the info B21fly-I didn't even think to do the renewal of vows package instead of the wedding package to save costs and be able to afford a beach party afterwards! Those prices seem very affordable compared to some of the other resorts I have been looking at.  Your pictures look beautiful as well!

[AmandaLei]

Hello Ladies!
 

I received a few of my photos from my November 2013 wedding and wanted to share along with my review and tips.  So here goes....

 

 

RESORT

We had been to the Grand Sunset Princess a year prior to our wedding and absolutely loved it.  It caters to many different types of people and it being a 5 star and fairly reasonably priced it was perfect for all.  We stayed in the Yucatan Platinum Swim Up Suites.  This is 100% worth the upgrade.  Free room service, top shelf drinks, and peace and quiet when you need it.  Food was good but recommended to book the a la carte's pretty soon after arrival.  One thing you will ALWAYS hear about this resort is the people.  They are so kind and friendly.  Anything you need - they jump to make it happen.

 

PACKAGE/LOCATION/TIME

We did the Infinity Package with a Symbolic Ceremony.  My husband and I decided to forego the requirements in Mexico to get married and instead did the deed at our City Hall a week prior.  This made things much easier!  We still had a wedding certificate to sign during our ceremony and already being married didn't take away from emotions that day.

 

We decided to go with the Sunset Gazebo and reception at the Chill Out Lounge on the beach.  This was great because everything was located in one area.  It was beautiful and WAY more private than the Riviera Gazebo and other beach weddings we saw during our stay.  Truthfully though, if you are anything like me I was so focused on my husband that I had tunnel vision and wouldn't have noticed if there were other tourists watching.  I really preferred the simplicity of the gazebo set up.

 

We had eaten during our previous stay at the Chill Out Lounge and was blown away.  If you get a chance, pay the extra fee and eat here one night with your fiancee.  Well worth the price and a nice break from the a la carte's.  For the reception you must pay for a minimum of 40 guests at $100 bucks a person.  We had 39 so it was no big deal.

 

Timing was really important to me as we wanted to have sunset photos.  Our Ceremony started at 4:30pm, Cocktail hour at 5pm and Dinner at 6pm.  It worked out PERFECTLY!

 

WEDDING COORDINATOR

Guillermo was our WC and he was amazing.  He was very attentive and so excited for our wedding.  Emma, who originally took on our wedding, was there for support.  Guillermo was very thorough and made every effort to make things perfect.  

 

SPA/HAIR

I don't want to scare anyone off with this next part so I want to preface this by saying I work for Aveda and am constantly surrounded by professional high end products and services as well as expert hairdressers.  

 

2 of my bridesmaids got their hair done here along with a few other guests (everyone else was done by my sister who is also a hairstylist).  3 others received a massage including myself.  Upon arrival I signed the service tickets and was quoted much more than what I was originally quoted which was a little annoying but got over.  My massage was wonderful and just what I needed to calm down on a busy day.  

The hair done here was ok.  To me everyone's do looked a little outdated.  The way they curl hair is by spraying with hairspray prior to curling the hair resulting in a hard looking curl.  Obviously they do this to make sure the hair holds during the hot/humid weather but it resulted in a look from the early 90's.  My bridesmaids looked amazingly beautiful and the hair didn't take away from this.  I had just overheard some of the people who got it done there be not super loving their look.  Make up was gorgeous and on all other accounts we had a good experience.

 

FLOWERS

So I had a flowers issue.  I decided to not go with flowers from the resort and special ordered them from a women on Etsy names Alexisgracedesigns.  4 weeks prior to my wedding she disappeared with my $150 deposit.  I am still working on getting this back.  This obviously sucked and was a huge weight on my shoulders.  Thankfully, Katy HK of Love&Lace let me rent her beautiful real touch bouquet.  I had decided to get small bouquets from the resort for the girls but that plan fell through.  Guillermo was more upset about this than I.  And my bridesmaids really didn't care.

 

Overall I'm happy with what happened.  I really did not like any of the options the resort gave and though I had a bad experience with flowers, by ordering real touch you get the exact ones you want.

 

DECORATIONS

I got my decorations from Katy HK (whom you can find on this forum).  She is wonderful, fantastic and I don't know what I would have done without her.  I am awaiting more photos that show the decor so I can share with all of you.  She is a Canadian living in Playa Del Carmen and has the most beautiful items.  Antique lanterns, vases, bottles, lights, runners, etc.  Amazing!  We met her at Walmart in Playa and it was a pleasure working with her. 

 

PICK UP FOR WEDDING

There was another wedding that day at 4pm.  My party and I were supposed to be picked up at 4:15pm so at 4:30pm we caught the shuttle with 2 other people in it who did not mind making a bit of a detour  Normally, I would not have cared about this - but I programmed the entire music playlist (preceremony, ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner & dancing) and was worried this was going to shift some things.  All in all, not a big deal.

 

DJ

Even though I made the whole playlist we paid to have a DJ.  It was just easier and no one had to worry about it.  He looked really bored during the night but i felt confident there would be no issues.

 

CEREMONY DECOR

We decided to forgo the red carpet as well as flowers for the gazebo.  We used christmas lights to be strung up on each side of the gazebo.  it was simple but beautiful and I am so glad we did this.  The timing for the lights were perfect.

 

I did not have wedding agenda's but instead had raton fans I purchased from Chinatown.  I purchased champagne ribbon from Michaels and made tags as seen above.

 

CEREMONY

It was awesome.  So beautiful and honestly - magical.  The location was so serene and relaxing.  We decided to read our own vows which was really nice and emotional.  People were crying all over the place - and it made for some great photos.

 

Immediately following the ceremony we were given 2 glasses of champagne and so was the entire wedding!  This was very unexpected and a wonderful surprise.

 

 

PHOTOGRAPHER

We had a photographer friend attend the wedding and I am so happy he did.  It was great having someone we know.  We were really not into having cheesy photographs done (not that there is anything wrong with that).  With that said, we frequented the photography shop at the resort and saw that they did a great job.  The photographers took a lot of photos of our group during our stay and many people purchased the photos from them  They were great.

 

DINNER

I hear this from a lot of brides that they don't eat too much during their reception.  I was the same.  There was just so much going on and so much adrenaline that I could have too much.  EVERYONE said they loved the meal.  There was 2 types of steak, fish, lots of veggies, potatoes, salads, desserts.  Everyone had nothing but good things to say.  I was presented in a buffet style but was still elegant and awesome.

 

CAKE

We got the vanilla cake and it was delicious.  My friend is a cake designer from NY so I had her bring the cake topper and she made beautiful sugar flowers to add to it.  it was perfect.  Or as Guillermo would say "perfecto".

 

AFTERPARTY

We had the restaurant until 10pm.  We had the choice of having it to 11pm for extra money but decided to head back to the open gallery area where they having live music then headed to the disco after.  We retired pretty early.

 

OVERALL

We had an amazing time.  The location, the friends, the family, EVERYTHING was just so beautiful and we had an amazing wedding.  I couldn't have asked for more.  Even though there were a few little hiccups ultimately I didn't care - I am pretty laid back and was just so happy to be celebrating our marriage with our closest friends and family.

 

This trip was the greatest week of my life.

 

One BIG tip to brides.... we were SO busy.  We almost didn't book a honeymoon after but are so glad we did.  We booked 3 nights at the Ladera Resort in St. Lucia.  We had family coming and going all the time during the week at GSP and were running around a lot.  Make sure that you take time out for yourself to soak up all the wonderful things you are celebrating  To get to St. Lucia we had to fly to Miami and stay overnight but if you are looking for a quiet relaxing vacation - the island of St. Lucia is literally paradise on earth.  The Ladera resort is heaven!

 

Hope this helps ladies!

 

 

[AmbEliz]

Thanks to everyone for all of their info, its been wonderful to read!

My fiance and I have decided to get married at the Grand Sunset Princess in either January or February of 2015. We chose this hotel because our first trip as a couple was to this hotel for my brother's wedding (which was absolutely amazing) but it was also at this location that we said I love you for the first time! We actually just got engaged about 4 weeks ago while in mexico with a bunch of family and friends while doing a catameran trip out to Isla Mujeres. We knew instantly we would be a destination couple and after a quick conversation decided to come back to the GSP.

The one thing i have not read much about is people who decided to do the legal ceremony and go through the process of the bloodwork, etc! Are their any brides on here who decided this route? My fiance and I discussed the different options but ulitmately have decided we want our day to be the day we legally say 'i do' so we will be going that route. Would love some more info on what to expect, costs, etc!

 

Thanks!!

-A

Edited December 9, 2013 by AmbEliz

[nov2013maya]

Hey peeps! Question about timing for reception - we are getting married at the grand sunset on march 8th YIPEEE! In planning the wedding programs and inputing the "agenda" for the reception, I am wondering what you guys think about order of events. Wedding is at 4, with pics to be done around 440 before sunset hits too much lol. We have the CHILLOUT LOUNGE at the GSP from 6-10, and my wedding coordinator suggested the following order of events - wecome cocktails, speeches, dinner, cake etc... I am guessing that between the wedding and reception people will definitely go for snack seeing as food is at their disposal whenever they want!!! If we start at 6, do speeches from 630 to 7 or so, then eat, does that seem ok? Thanks ladies!

The food is prepared at and ready to be served at 6pm so you may want to serve dinner just before speeches start or after the first couple of speeches.  I find that if you start dinner early, people tend to be very happy because they don't have to wait.  Also it is a buffet so you can go back multiple times throughout the night for those who like to eat.

 

The order of events suggested sounds great!  If you have many speeches, you may want to have some just before dinner starts and some others while dinner is being served.

Hello My Fiance & I are planning our wedding at the GSP on May 15th 2014.  We are VERY excited.  So far the planning hasn't been stressful.  The destination planning has been the easy part.  Finding my dress & the bridesmaid dresses was the hard part!  Jaime & I vacationed at GSP last May & loved it so much we decided to come back for our wedding! I am just looking for some opinions.  We are getting married fairly early in the day.  Right now our ceremony is at 2pm.  We are thinking about looking into pushing this back to 4pm or later. What would you suggest? We have our dinner set for La Fondue.  Also I am deciding if I should make the flowers for my bridesmaids/groomsmen/mothers/fathers.  I would like my flowers to be real, yet I don't seem to like the look of the 4 choices of flower we get to choose from.  As far as flowers for the ceremony & dinner go, do I decide that when we arrive or before hand?  

 

One more question, what has seemed to be the best option for photography?  I don't like the resort options.  I would like to hire someone offsite & pay for them to come to the resort.  We would also like the "rights" to ALL (most) of our photos, not just 20 or 30.  If anyone has had an offsite photographer, did GSP have any problems getting them into the resort?

 

Thanks for your time!! I really need the help Lacy 

In May, the sunset will be later so you may prefer to have a later ceremony time.  This will also save you some money for photography because most charge by hourly rate.  What time is your dinnner?  You will want to have at least 2 hours or more between ceremony start time and dinner time for your photos.

 

The flowers are not extensive but you may be able to send a pic of your dream bouquet and get a quote.  They actually order from a local florist (not done on-site) so they will likely pass on the costs quoted by the florist.  You can decide before you leave but they are able to accommodate last minute changes when you arrive at the resort.  I decided last-minute to change my mixed white+pink roses to all-white (worried that they would get the shade of pink wrong).  Although the picture of the bouquet was red roses, they were able to change to all white very easily.

 

I'm not sure that you should worry too much about flowers at dinner.  The restaurants are nicely decorated and I don't think people will notice that there are no flowers on the dinner table.  Alternatively, many people have been very happy with real touch flowers from home.

 

You can bring an outside photography but you will have to pay $200US for a day pass for EACH photographer that comes (some bring 2nd photographer to help with lighting and shooting).  There are many photographers on this forum that you can browse through.  I would email the ones you like and ask for a quote.  Finding a photographer is very personal and it was the toughest decision I had to make.  I was very happy with my photographer but I just came home and have not received my photos yet so I don't have any material to write a review on. This will come later  There are some great photographers that have been reviewed on this forum (click review vendors tab to browse through various vendors)

[nov2013maya]

I recently got married at the GSP last week and have just arrived home.  It was the most amazing day of my life and I would like to thank the wedding coordinator Araceli for making it all happen.  She is so wonderful.  When you begin the planning process, it takes longer for them to respond to your emails (but they do!).  As your wedding gets closer and your issues become higher priorities, you will get a response quicker.  The other thing is that you can make small changes at your meeting with the coordinator once you arrive at the resort.  I chose a package that included dinner only for 20 but we had 26 guests in total (some booked last-minute).  Araceli was able to make a reservation for our entire party the same day!  Keep in mind, it will be more difficult to change dinner or ceremony sites (these are booked months in advance) but they can help you make small changes.  She was also able to change the colour of my flowers the day before the wedding.  

 

We chose to have our wedding ceremony at the sunset gazebo because it was more private and our reception at the chill-out lounge.  This was INCREDIBLE!!!!  I requested the red carpet removed at the sunset gazebo so it would look more natural and beachy-rustic.

 

On the wedding day, I chose a 2pm ceremony time because I was worried that there would not be enough time for photos after the ceremony (5pm sunset time in December).  This was perfect!  We had approximately 2 hours to do photos after the ceremony, including extensive group photos and couple photos throughout the resort.  The resort is very large so it may be best to jot down a few places that you would like to have your photo taken so you are not wasting time looking for somewhere to shoot (although the entire resort looks great).  

 

I got my hair done at the salon with my mom.  It is a bit on the pricey side (90US per person) but they did a good job making sure that my hair would hold in the heat and humidity.  I would bring a picture of exactly what you want.  They do have photos that you can chose from but they tend to be a bit out-dated or too traditional (they are mostly updo, not much half up half down choices).  I am confident that they can copy any style - you just have to show them exactly what you are looking for.  I had my friend do my makeup because I am very natural and did not want to look too made up.  I would suggest a make-up trial if you want to use the make-up service at the spa because it was not too expensive (approx 70US).  My appointment was at 10:30.  We were done at approximately noon.  I had tried to curl my own hair the day before and my extra-hold hair spray from home did not keep my curls in the humitidy.  I was very happy with the results from the salon.  My hair turned out exactly what I wanted.

 

From noon until 2pm, I got ready with my bridesmaid.  They delivered sparkling wine to my hotel room but it was so hectic getting ready, we did not get a chance to enjoy it.  At 2pm, Araceli arrived in my hotel room to drive me to the ceremony site at the sunset gazebo.  She brought my flowers and my bridesmaid bouquet.  The  boutineres were delivered to the suite where the groom was getting ready earlier in the day.  My flowers were exactly what I wanted, a simple all-white bouquet of roses.  There was enough room in the cart for Araceli, my parents, my bridesmaid, and the flower girl and ring bearer.  It was fun to drive in a golf-cart throughout the resort.

 

If you do not want sand in your shoes, the sunset gazebo is perfect.  There is a a wooden walkway out to the chill out lounge and then there is a wooden walkway that connect the sunset gazebo to the chill out lounge.  You can walk out to the gazebo without walking on the beach or getting sand in your shoes.  Most guests will access the sunset gazebo by walking through the chill out lounge (they will not need to walk in the sand).  It is set right on the beach and there are only a few beach club guests in the area so there will be fewer spectators than in the riviera gazebo.  The DJ played all the songs exactly at the right moments.  If you label your ipod songs and give a list to Araceli, she can pass on the instructions.

 

After the ceremony, bottled water was provided for the guests while we did the group photos.  We did some photos on the beach and then walked throughout the resort to do a few more photos.

 

Between the ceremony and reception at 6pm, my guests rested and got changed and then met up to have a few drinks at the sunset lobby bar because this is free.  If you want to have a formal cocktail hour, you will have to pay.  Since we knew we would be doing photos, we chose to inform our guests to meet up informally at the lobby bar from 4:30-6:00.  There is a shuttle that takes guests from the lobby to the chill out lounge.  Just before 6pm, our guests took the shuttle to the chill out lounge.

 

The chill out cannot be reserved prior to 6pm.  That is because it is a beach club during the day for paying guests.  At 6pm it was dark but the set up was amazing!  The main deck is an open-air deck and there are a few smaller decks connected to the side.  We sat most of our guests on the main deck and left an open space for dancing on the deck.  There is lighting throughout and you can hear the ocean and feel the breeze.  It sets the perfect atmosphere for a warmer destination wedding reception.  If you look up, you can see the stars while you are sitting or dancing on the deck.  Our guests could not stop talking about what an amazing atmosphere the chill out lounge is at night.

 

We hired the DJ.  We did not bring any of our own music.  He played top 40 and we told him what we did not like.  Also, he took requests throughout the night.  We played some retro music and that was very popular with our older guests.  The DJ does not do any announcing.  You will need to bring your own MC.  Overall, we were happy with the DJ.  He was able to figure out what our crowd liked very easily.  You can chose to bring your own playlist and he will play that if you do not want to leave it to chance with music.  They provide a wireless mic and this worked really well for speeches.

 

I did not want my guests to dance on the sand (some are older) so we did not have a dance on the beach.  I also decided against ordering the dance floor because we had a small party (36 guests) and we all fit on the deck very easily.  It was more fun to dance close to each other and the DJ set up right on the deck where the dancing took place.  

 

The food was AMAZING for the wedding buffet.  I wished I had more time to eat.  It was the best food during my whole time at the resort.  There are so many choices of meats, sides, salads, and desserts.  We ordered the cake from the resort and it was really good.  We chose the 3-milk flavour, which is a mexican version of vanilla cake with vanilla icing.  Again, I wished I had eaten more of the cake.  They set it up in such a nice way and it stayed warm throughout the evening.  I chose to serve dinner as soon as the reception started because I did not want the food to become cold but this does not seem to be an issue.  We chose the grill menu and the steak was SOOOO GOOOD!  

 

For decor, I brought a few table runners and votive candles.  I did not bring any flowers.  The atmosphere is already so beautiful that you do not need to bring extra decor.  I also brought a few picture frames to hold the table numbers and did a simple seating plan.  I stressed out about these details but it was unnecessary.  Even if I did not plan the seating or decor, it would have gone perfectly.  I don't think anyone would notice that there was no extra decor because the space is already so atmospheric.  My best advice is that if you are going to bring decor, please bring ONLY THINGS THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO THROW OUT AFTER.  When the wedding was over, I did not want to bring anything home with me.  It was so much work packing the candle and table runners and a few picture frames.  I purchased most items from ikea for under $1 so I was happy to leave them behind.  I spent $200 on various decor items that I thought I needed.  In the end, I brought $70 worth with me to Mexico and left it all behind when I was done.   DO NOT STRESS over these minor details.  The wedding will be beautiful regardless of what decor you decide on.  Araceli set up everything at the reception according to my instructions.  She was FANTASTIC!!!

 

Overall, GSP was able to delivery my perfect wedding.  I am not a detail-oriented bride but I had a vision of saying my vows right beside the ocean in a beautiful gazebo and then hosting a fun and intimate reception outdoors but NOT on the beach.  This vision came to life and was beyond what I could even dream.  

 

Im not sure what the current prices are but I will provide a rough estimate of my costs for 36 guests (in US currency):

wedding package (renewal) $800

tiffany chair rental $220

Chill out party $4000

Hair for 2 $180

extra hour to extend party to 11pm $300

cake $150

DJ (I think it was $800 from 6pm - 11pm)

Tips for all help:  $200US

Photographer day pass $400 (2 x $200US)

Photographer $1700 for 4 hours

 

 

I will continue to browse the forum now and then to help out any brides with questions.  Please do not hesitate to post questions on this forum.  I planned my entire wedding using the info on this forum and I would be happy to pass along my knowledge and experience.  I had the wedding of my dreams and I'd love to help you do the same.  Good luck planning brides and grooms!

[n0tURavrgeBride]

Hi all!!

 

I'm surprise that i never knew about this group, until 2 minutes ago; although I have been in BDW for a year now.

Anyways, I'm getting married this year in May 9th (2014). My fiancé and I chose the Sunset gazebo, with the Chill-Out reception afterwards… which it seems to me that it is a popular choice.

Araceli is my wedding coordinator, and so far have had a good experience with her. 

I want to ask a few things though…..

 

Mariachis! did you have them play in your wedding? were they good?

DJ - Does he play good music? Does he play what you want him to play? Is it a good system he has?

Junior suites - are they okay looking? do you recommend i upgrade?

Location - Is the resort far from 5 avenida?

Food - What are your honest opinion?

 

Another thing i'd like to know, generally when there's a big group travelling together…. do they set up your rooms on the area of the resort and close to each other???

 

 

 

Any suggestions or tips you may have, i'll take it all.

 

 

Thanks so kindly,

Analia

[susan019]

I am getting married on February 24, 2014. I am wondering if anyone has found a way around the outside vendor fees. I would like to hire my own photographer, videographer, and make up person. All these people usual bring an assistant and at $200 per person, it's ridiculous. Any ideas? Is there a max that they will charge you?