Gran Porto Real Brides - Post here!!

[kj1606]

Hey everyone!  I have a question.... 

 

Is anyone doing a rehearsal dinner or welcome reception of sorts, presumably the night before the wedding?  We want to do a rehearsal, but will not be necessarily doing it at our wedding location as you have to pay $300 just to reserve the location for a rehearsal since they cannot have a wedding there during the time you are rehearsing.  We are just going to wing it and rehearse in the "right spot" if we can and if not, we will just do it elsewhere on the beach.

 

That being said, we'd still like to host at least some sort of welcome dinner for all of our guests... we have too many people to do a semi-private dinner, which would be ideal, and do not want to spend the full amount to have a private dinner which would basically cost the equivalent of another wedding reception.  So, all we have so far is a "welcome cocktail hour", which will be $15 per person to have open bar and appetizers. 

 

There is also the possibility to go offsite and do a dinner in Playa del Carmen.

 

What is everyone else doing?

[BecaJ]

How many of you are there? If theres only a few it seems silly to pay out money when you can have free food and drink in the hotel restaurant.

 

Im just going to suggest to every one that we go to dinner together, but to be honest we'd do that every night anyway, but having said that there is only 11 of us. Im sure if we ask the staff they'll push some tables together for us.

[Ginger1961]

Well that's just ridiculous to charge money to have a rehearsal.  I had no idea they charged for it.  I'm not that far along in my planning as my wedding isnt' till November 2011.  I would think rehearsing would be part of the package.  It takes what 15 minutes to run through it so people arent fumbling about during the ceremony?  They only do three weddings a day at this resort.  They should have quickie rehearsals in the evening.  I absolutely refuse to pay 300 dollars.  Everything is a money grab.  Well I guess I'll be watching a wedding or two from a distance to see how it all goes down and asking lots of questions of my wedding coordinator. 

 

[BecaJ]

Whilst you might not be able to do a full wedding rehersal, you will be talked through what's going to happen by your wedding coordinator. So once you know what the minister will be doing and whatever else will happen, theres nothing stopping you going to the gazebo in the night time and doing a rehersal. Ok the chairs won't be there and you'll have to picture things in your head but you can still get a feel for what it will be like.

[Ginger1961]

Beca

 

You are absolutely correct.  That is exactly what I'll be doing.  Makes no sense to book an all inclusive hotel and then pay for a dinner and drinks when we've all paid for exactly that.  Hence why they call it all inclusive!  My wedding guests will amount to no more than ten.  We'll be doing a couple of dinners together I'm sure.  We've travelled together before and resorts accommodated us without issue.  It's a money grab because it's a wedding and I refuse to get caught up in it.  I'm not going to be charged 300 dollars for something I've already paid for.  I'm already paying to have my wedding there.  I booked a wedding package and my vacation package.  End of story.

 

G

[BecaJ]

Exactly Ginger.

 

Once you mention the word 'Wedding' people start seeing pound signs and think you'll throw any amount of money at it because it's your wedding. I'm sorry but wedding or not I refuse to be ripped off.

 

If $300 is the difference between getting the ceremony perfect and some thing stupid like some one sitting in the wrong seat, I'd rather make that little mistake and keep my $300 thanks!

 

Like you, we've all travelled together before, in a larger group in fact, and never had any problems being looked after so I know there won't be an issue.

[Ginger1961]

Well here's my schedule of events at Gran Porto: My ceremony is at 4pm in the gazebo.  It's a civil service so I'm hearing 30 minutes.  We're going straight to signing whatever it is we must sign and them pictures.  I'm buying the 500 dollar package which buys me the photographer at the resort for 1 hr and I think I get 40 pictures printed 4*6 and 40 on cd or thumbdrive and a photo album.  We're doing dinner a semi - private reception at 6pm in one of their restaurants and then I booked a cocktail hour at 8pm back in the gazebo.  I've set it up so we have our cake and our champagne toast at 8  which is part of the cocktail hour and as my fiance is a sound engineer, we're bringing our own music.  They are allowing us to use the sound system  in the gazebo for our cocktail hour.  We'll have our first dance there, cut the cake and mingle.  Have a few drinks and a few dances.  They are allowing me full use of the gazebo until 10pm.  Works for me.  If we feel like dancin' some more we'll go to the onsite disco.  Make our own party.  I had booked the "romance package" but on second look the "classic package" works better.  For another 100 dollars we get the semi-private reception and I'll pay the 10 dollars a person to have the private cocktail (mini-dance if you ask me- this is what we call a reception at home).  Wedding done, lovely and will not cost me a fortune and I won't feel like I missed out on anything.

 

G 

[kj1606]

ginger, that sounds perfect!!!

 

sometimes i wish we were having fewer people so we could do the semi-private dinner, etc., but, it is what it is. by the way, in response to the rehearsal dinner question earlier as to how many people we are having, the answer is 50-70.  we decided though to skip the formal rehearsal and rehearsal dinner! i'm with you guys, i'm already spending $50 per person for the cocktail hour/4 hour reception on saturday, this could get out of hand fast.

 

thanks for all the input

[Garman]

Hi kj1606!  I noticed that you are getting married the same week as we are!  What day did you decide on?  Also how much extra is is for an extra hour of a private reception?

[kj1606]

We are getting married Saturday (April 9).  The extra hour of the reception was $10 per person.  So to have cocktail hour and 4 hour private reception, it's $50 per head!

 

What day is your wedding?