Any 2011 Brides out there?

[Julie2011]

This thread is great!!! Congrats to all my fellow 2011 brides. We are getting married the first week of May 2011 at Gran Bahia Principe Akumal. It was an easy decision for us beacause we went there last year and just loved it. I can picture how everything will go in my head.

I too am an early planner and put down deposits last week and am sending out save the dates this week. Because prices arent in yet- My travel agent contacted the resort and they came up with an estimate- If the prices should come in any higher we get the estimated cost and if they come in lower- we get the lower cost. That worked out well- I kept my save the date cards somewhat unofficial- said the first week of May and the resort and travel agent info- but wrote exact time and date to be announced.

Anybody having trouble with photographers? Our resort doesnt allow outside photographers so we cant hire one of the amazing photogs in the that area? really dissapointing =(

You guys should check out vistaprint.com- once you sign up they send you free offers almost everyday- we did our cards for next to nothing and have been getting personalized pens, hats, magnets and other little stuff for the oot bags. They have lots of tropical designs.

Happy planning everybody

[Nicyx]

Julie2011... hello and welcome :-) Great to have you here... what a fab deal you have there wth prices... its a win-win situation, excellent!!!! Look forward to hearing about your wedding planning.

 

Question for everyone..... Does anyone know ow to get hold of a Resort Map (as in the hotel grounds map) Im struggling to find on of these anywhere online. if anyone happens to go to the Riu Palace Riviera Maya, please could you take one of the map they usually have on the grounds and forward it to me.... I know im cheeky!!!!!!!

Or if anyone has one or could just point me in the right direction :-) THANKS

 

x

[mexbride83]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CeeCee76 mexbride83, The reason we aren't as concerned with affordablitly is that we were either going to go to Cancun and it be just us or we were going to the courthouse in Baltimore. I never wanted a big wedding and I wasn't going to have one anyway. I have a great circle of friends and family who truly believe your wedding should be what you want and not what everyone else wants. I know not everyone has that, but our family and friends are very understanding. Alot of them went to the courthouse to avoid having a wedding and spending a lot of money. Did you ever consider just having a wedding in DC that way you save your guests a lot of money?

Oh my... if I had a DC wedding it would be wayyyyyyy more expensive hahaha! But that is just because my mom is insane and she'd go ALL out. I swear she'd have us getting married at the National Cathedral with a reception at a museum, plus all 300 people on our guest list would attend instead of the 70-80 that will come to the destination wedding! I never wanted a huge wedding (my parents' wedding had 500! We're a Catholic family, haha, very large) which is actually why I'm doing the destination. I didn't mean that it was too expensive for the guests, I just meant that I didn't want to choose a ridiculously expensive resort, while my fiance has the attitude of us choosing what we can afford (which is more than some of our guests) and if people come then they come. Also, I totally agree with you about people choosing resorts that fit their budget, which is much easier to do in Cancun since there are so many hotels. I'm definitely going to suggest to people who think our resort is too expensive that they research other resorts in their price range and just come to our resort for the day.

[mexbride83]

Raychel - My best friend (and MOH) said the same thing to me! I kept stressing to her that all the resorts my fiance and I both liked were more than I wanted my guests to pay. Finally she just told me that while I need to take the guests' expenses into consideration, it shouldn't be a deciding factor, and I need to stop making it such a big deal. When I told my fiance that he said "SEE! This is what I've been trying to tell you!" hahaha. It did take a weight off my shoulders to realize that money wasn't everything in the choice. If people think it's too expensive, they can stay somewhere else and just come to our resort for the day.

 

Nicola - I admire you coming this far, and for not having your family and friends driving your crazy over it:) We mentioned having the wedding in Hawaii (where my fiance will actually be living next spring, and where I'll move to after the wedding) and that caused a huge fuss! But it was important to us to have certain friends and family members attend, so that's why we stayed on the east coast. I totally understand that if people are coming as far as you all are, then they're already willing to pay a lot, so it's a totally different story.

 

But what I was saying is that with 6 bridesmaids and 6 groomsmen, it would've been rude of us to choose a super-expensive resort. This is why we moved from looking at Turks & Caicos, Barbados, etc to looking exclusively at Mexico. This is a very cheap flight for all of my guests (starting at $180). And resorts are more affordable there.

[CeeCee76]

Julie2011,

Check with your WC or other brides on this site. I saw that Palace didn't allow outside vendors either, but I was able to find some brides who were able to get around that by buying them a day pass.

 

mexbride83,

That's one of the good things about Mexico, its a lot cheaper than other Caribbean islands. That's a good idea to provide invitees with other hotels that are less expensive and then they can just buy a day pass. FI and I was thinking about Turks and Caicos because its our favorite vacation spot, but its way too expensive even at the least expensive places.

[RaychelRae]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CeeCee76 Julie2011, Check with your WC or other brides on this site. I saw that Palace didn't allow outside vendors either, but I was able to find some brides who were able to get around that by buying them a day pass. mexbride83, That's one of the good things about Mexico, its a lot cheaper than other Caribbean islands. That's a good idea to provide invitees with other hotels that are less expensive and then they can just buy a day pass. FI and I was thinking about Turks and Caicos because its our favorite vacation spot, but its way too expensive even at the least expensive places.

You are correct CeeCee, in order to bring in an outside vendor at PP you just have to buy them a day pass. Which is a LOT better than some places. I was originally looking into the Royal/Gran Porto and they have an outside vendor fee which used to be $100 and is now $400! I will gladly pay a $92 day pass for my photographer! I would be surprised if few, if any, hotels don't charge at least a day pass for outside vendors.

[prettypigpig]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xcitedbride Hi Ladies! I'm also a 2011 bride. We have decided to stay at Gran Bahia Principe Tulum. Feb 5th-Feb 12th. Getting married on Feb 8th. We are super excited. Less than a year away. Anyone else at the GBP Tulum?

I have been the GBP Tulum last year, the hotel is gorgeous and huge! Make sure all your guests are staying within the same resort, if not, they may have to take 1-2 shuttle trains to get to GBP Tulum! Don't book at GBP Coba, because it is far from the beach and GBP Tulum as well.

[prettypigpig]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mexbride83 Thanks for the spreadsheet Raychel! I'm going to come back and open it when I finally reach "Junior Member" status:) I shouldn't need to look at photogs until then anyways. But I am totally with you on almost all of your requirements, so I think it'll be very useful for me. prettypigpig - just a warning that I've seen on other threads - apparently they will ban you for requesting attachments to be emailed to you. The point is to make sure that only people who are activer on the forums get the "privilege" of opening attachments, etc.

Thanks Mexibride83! I will do as much as I can to reach the "junior member" status. Or just pay that fee to get there. Luckily, my date will be in June 2011, so only 5 posts per day....and I can get to the Junior member status pretty soon!

[cjb0arder13]

Hi fellow 2011 brides-to-be! I know I posted back when this thread first started, and I had said that we were getting married in Puerto Vallarta...but, well, we changed our minds and are now getting married in Puerto Morelos at Azul Beach! Our wedding day is 1/31/2011 (a Monday) so we'll probably head over the Thursday or Friday before, stay 7 nights at Azul Beach, then go to Cozumel for a week for our honeymoon.

 

To say I'm excited is an understatement! I'm so glad to be booked, and our wedding day is less than a year away. I know it's gonna flyyyyy by. Lots of decisions to be made still.

 

Oh! And I bought my dress in October, too...it just came in last week. I'm so in love with it. I want to lose at least another 20 pounds (though 30 would be better) but it's a corset back so I should be able to tie it up tighter if I reach my goal.

 

Here it is:

 

Looking forward to reading about all your wonderful plans!

[prettypigpig]

Mexibride83,

I am on the same boat with u! trying to control the budget (not paying more than I can afford) at the same time...trying to accommodate my guests. I know so many people ended up with a big wedding and some debts after their weddings. All I want is a super romantic wedding with close family and friends, not relatives that I don't really know. However, some of my close friends have kids, so I have to pick a family friendly resort ( I would prefer an adult only resort...oh well).