Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya Brides??

[MJKH]

Ahhh...I wasn't even thinking pineapple...I wondered if it was cheese or bread of some sort...but that does sound amazing!!!  

 

These tips are really good for future brides to know...that they have lots of options!!!!

 

 

Originally Posted by janette34 

MJKH - I did ask for the coconut ice cream - its my absolute favorite!  Elizabeth told me that she didn't think it would be available but I was so happy that we got it.  The salad is in a ring of pineapple and probably one of the best salads I have ever had.  Elizabeth did explain to us that the charge for hanging the lanterns was due to having extra employees and the time it would take to get up to the beams to hang them.  It was so windy the night of our reception that chairs were blowing over and they had to fill my luminaries with water to keep them from blowing down.  The head table was the furthest from the ocean so I felt really bad for the tables closest too especially when it started to rain and it was blowing in on them.

[janette34]

Alright pictures from Wedd Pict Cancun arrived today and picked up other pictures from my sister in law last night so I can finally start a review!

 

Travel Agent - My aunt, works for Expedia Cruise Ship Center

Tour Operator - Sunquest

Flight Operated By - Thomas Cook Canada

 

Wow, its hard to think back and get to all the details and planning that has gone on over the last year.  In April of 2011 by aunt contacted me and told me she would be happy to take care of all the booking details for us.  I had originally planned on doing this part myself but was happy that she offered and I figured she would be better suited to deal with any issues that might come up.  About a week after speaking with her she called and had some prices on a few resorts.  One of the resorts was the Grand Sirenis leaving on April 20, 2012 and returning on April 27, 2012.  Having stayed at the Grand Sirenis in the past I started looking at the wedding packages they had to offer and decided because of the private ceremony space and the palapa this would be the place we would be married at.  We had two weeks to tell our guests and I would secure a deposit for them and they would have 6 weeks to pay me the deposit with the balance being due on Dec. 1.  In total we had 35 people booked so my husband and myself travelled for free.  Everything was going great, the wedding coordinators were quick to respond to my emails and we secured the date of April 24, 2012 for the platinum package.  I kicked my planning into high gear ordering lots of freebies from Vistaprint with our wedding date of 04-24-12 on them.  Fast forward to mid September I'm at work and I get a call from my aunt, I automatically knew it had to be bad news if she was calling me at work and it was.  Sunquest/Thomas Cook had decided to cancel our flight with the last flight to Mexico leaving Halifax on Friday, April 13 so we had two choices - we could book this date at the same rate or cancel all together and start the whole process over with a different tour operator.  I opted for the flight on April 13 and frantically contacted the WC to see if we could even be married the week of April 13 - 20 and confirmed the date of April 16.  Thankfully everyone in our group was really flexible and were still able to attend.

 

My aunt asked me to write a letter to Sunquest explaining what a stress it had been cancelling our flight and the extra expenses I incurred having things reprinted.  As a result they offered my husband and I each $50 off our package (wow, so generous) but my aunt explained to them that we were travelling for free so they wanted to know what would make me happy.  I asked for extra luggage allowance knowing that I was going to have 5 suitcases to take and they said NO so then I asked for emergency row seating since we're both pretty tall and find it hard on our legs flying for for 4 hours and they said NO, but did give us seats in row 1 - bulkhead seating.  I thought well this will be good since we'll be the first off the plane but guess what, Thomas Cook flights don't have doors at the front of the planes but rather at row 10 so we weren't the first off the plane.  Other than that the flight was pretty good, but Thomas Cook planes are older models with horrible entertainment systems (think old school planes with monitors in the aisles) however since we had booked as a group everyone was given vouchers for an extra 5 kg of luggage and 2 free alcoholic drinks, even for my 3 underage nieces which my aunt gave to me.  The flight to and from was on time and no issues with the flight at all.

 

About 2 months before we left I changed my mind on the package and decided to go from Platinum to Presidential (especially after seeing MJKH's room) but unfortunately the Presidential suites had already been booked but Elizabeth assured me that we would be in a great room anyhow and still get all the benefits of the Presidential package.  We arrived at the resort around 1 am and when checking in the front desk kept saying "Ooh, you're in a very nice room" which I figured they probably said regardless of what room you're in but was pleasantly surprised when we arrived to our room.  We were in building 19, top floor overlooking the beach.  I took pictures of the room but they didn't turn out but it was great we had a huge bathroom with tub, seperate shower, 2 sinks, bedroom area with king size bed and a canopy around the bed to pull close in case we wanted to leave the patio doors open to hear the waves crashing.  The room also had a seperate sitting area with dining table, couch, desk with computer and internet access and 2 large screen tvs.  As part of the package we should have had a full bar in our room, we didn't but I wasn't upset we never spent much time in the room anyhow.  Upon arrival their was a bottle of champagne and a fruit platter waiting for us along with a letter from Elizabeth asking us to meet with her at 10 the following morning with our decorations.  I stayed up until 4 am putting together the welcome bags and unpacking and was back up around 7:30 to start my vacay!

 

Meeting with Elizabeth - Elizabeth went over all the details of the package and asked us whether we wanted a religious ceremony or something with less reference to religion and we told her that we would be more comfortable without a religious script.  She then asked to see what I had brought for decor so I pulled out my pictures for her and showed her what I wanted.  I realized that I had forgotten to print a few of the pics so I asked her if I could borrow her computer for a minute to bring up my planning thread on here so she could see the rest of my pics - thank you BDW you saved me!  We met with Elizabeth for approximately 3 hours and she set up our spa appointments, welcome dinner, etc.  She is such a sweetheart and if she is your WC you are in good hands!  I asked her if it was possible to switch the vanilla ice cream for coconut and the chef had originally told her no but she asked again while we were there and finally got a yes from them. While meeting with Elizabeth she asked if we would mind having some pictures taken for them to use in the office which was fine with both of us.  We left Colin's suit with her to be pressed and headed straight to the pool bar to join the rest of our group for drinks.

 

Welcome Dinner - our welcome dinner was held at the Japanese restaurant on Saturday night.  They reserved 3 show tables for our group and had a great time, for some in the group it was their first time seeing such a show and everyone really enjoyed it.

 

Honeymoon Spa Package - since the week was packed with things to do and places to be we opted to do our spa package on Sunday.  The spa package included an 80 minute massage, a steam bath and some other type of bath with changing colors and jets finished with their massaging water bed.  Neither of us really cared for the spa services except for the massage, it was great the baths just seemed to drag on.  We spent about 3 hours at the spa.  If you go to the spa make sure you eat while you are there the little restaurant has great salads, sandwiches and stirfrys.

[janette34]

Wedding Day!!! - Monday, April 16

 

We got up went to breakfast, I had a mini freak out since it was very cloudy and overcast and would rain occasionally.  I warned everyone within arm's length that if they told me it was good luck to have rain on my wedding day they would get punched in the face (I was joking, somewhat).  My mom was getting her hair done at the spa and she had to be there for 10:30, my cousin and maid of honor was getting her hair done and a mani/pedi so she had to be there at 9:30 am.  I didn't have to be to the spa until 12:30 so I hung out at the beach praying the sun would come out.  At 12 I went back to my room had a quick shower, grabbed my dress and headed to the spa.  Marizita greeted me and told me that she would take care of my hair and make up so I showed her some pictures of what I wanted and she went to work.  I was a little worried about the make up part since I don't normally wear anything more than a little powder and mascara but she did a fabulous job and even put on false eyelashes.  After my hair and make up was finished I went downstairs and grabbed a bite to eat, checked the weather still cloudy, slight drizzle and then back into the spa for a manicure which was done by Gero and like Marizita she did a great job too.  My only disappointment with the spa would be the private room they give you to get ready in - it really wasn't much more than a basic room with only 2 chairs and a coat rack, guess I was expecting something a little more glamorous.  Finally I got dressed had some pictures taken, one word of advice if you want to have your pictures taken outside don't go down the little wooden boardwalk by the spa.  We thought this would be a great location with lots of greenery in the background but when we were finished I lifted my dress up to start walking back the bottom of it was covered in ants, seriously there must have been about 100 tiny little ants all crawling around the bottom of my dress, oh well what else is your maid of honor good for except swatting the ants away.  At about 4:30 we got ready for the shuttle to come pick us up and waited and waited and waited some more.  The ceremony was scheduled to start at 5 and it had to of been 5 when I finally got picked up.  This didn't bother me since nothing was going to happen without me being there anyway.  When we arrived at the ceremony location Elizabeth was there to meet us with my cousin's flowers (I took my own real touch bouquet) and gave us a run down of what to do.  It was at that moment that the skies cleared and the sun came out for about an hour, it then rained like hell for the better part of the night but I didn't care anymore.  From here I think I went on autopilot b/c I don't remember too much about it I just know that by the time I made it down the aisle my legs were shaking so bad I thought there would be no way I could stand there for the ceremony without falling over.  The ceremony was short and simple and then we had some group photos done after that the guests went and enjoyed appetizers and cocktails while the parents and bridal party did more pictures.  I never got a chance to try any of the appetizers but I asked a few people and they said they were good. 

 

 

[janette34]

[janette34]

Ok, now onto the Dinner & Reception

 

For dinner we had the tropical salad followed by a choice of steak, salmon or ricotta ravioli finished off with chocolate brownies and coconut ice cream.  Everyone raved about how good the meal was I heard from so many of the guys that it was the best steak they ever had and my mom said hands down best salmon she has had.  I had the ravioli and it was good but kinda wished I had gotten the salmon.  I tried a piece of Colin's steak and it was really good, the chef's did an amazing job since they were using a portable kitchen and it ended up down pouring on them.  Our head waitress was Corinna and she made sure we never had an empty glass in front of us.  During dinner we had the Mexican band play to keep our guests entertained, also made for some great pictures.  Following dinner the DJ started and I was worried about this since I had read somewhere the DJ was really bad - ours was fantastic he played a great mix of music with a lot of current songs and some good oldies to keep everyone happy.  My aunt's boyfriend became our unofficial MC and he did a great job of keeping everyone laughing (hilarious since he had only met Colin & I once before).  At one point in the night I noticed that there was 2 chairs in the middle of the floor and got a little worried about what was about to happen.  Sure enough next thing I knew I was being pulled to one of the chairs and being made to sit down.  I started to panic slightly since I wasn't wearing a garter but they had other plans in mind - out came the Tequila shots.  Before I knew it Corinna was pulling my dress up and I had to hold a shot between my thighs while Colin licked the salt off my neck and then without using his hands had to do the shot.  He somehow missed the shot glass and it ended up spilling down my legs.  Next up was my turn at the shot and after Colin's poor performance I knew I had to show him how it was done so like a pro I licked the salt and grabbed the glass with mouth and tilted my head back - I looked like a hero for a moment but I can't stand Tequila so I ended up letting it go back into the glass before swallowing.  Unfortunately that wasn't the end of the Tequila shots as they had some green mixture in a squirt bottle that they were going around with getting everyone to drink.  All in all the night was perfect even with the heavy rain and high winds (Hurrican Janette as my father would say). 

Our Tres Leches cakes with real strawberries.  Guests were encouraged to cake back to their rooms with them.

My DIY napkin rings

My very conservative and rather nerdy brother absolutely loves LMFAO's Party Rock and thought he would bust a move, much to the horror of my nieces.

The guys thought they would give the servers a little break and take over their job for awhile.

 

Hope you enjoyed the pictures, I have more of little things throughout the week, like our nightly snacks they left us and I'll try to add those another day. 

[Prometida]

Thank you douch Janette, everything looks fantastic! I started the count down . We will be flying in one week and a half so exciting!

[Prometida]

Thank you so much! That's what I wanted to say

[bluelenscaribe]

Hello Grand Sirenis brides 2012!

 

The Grand Sirenis resort of the Riviera Maya is a beautiful resort and especialy for a wedding.

Blu Lens Caribe was lucky and very happy to shoot a wedding a few days ago in that resort.

Here are some pictures that we are happy to share with you.

And some more pictures on our blog are also available http://bluelenscaribe.com/blc/photo-gallery/weddings/shelley-and-kevin-wedding-gran-sirenis/

[LJMedic]

Well ladies...I leave in 5 days for my big event. I have barely had time to come on here. I will be arriving May 20th and wedding will be May 24th. Anyone going to be there same time? 

[MJKH]

I wish!!!! ; )

 

Have a WONDERFUL wedding...we'll be thinking about you and we look forward to hearing how everything goes...and seeing some pics too hopefully!

Originally Posted by LJMedic 

Well ladies...I leave in 5 days for my big event. I have barely had time to come on here. I will be arriving May 20th and wedding will be May 24th. Anyone going to be there same time?