OFFICIAL Gran Bahia Principe Riviera Maya Thread

[samclarke]

Hey ladies!

Just got back and had my wedding on november 6th.

Wedding was great!

My few pieces of advice:

1)make a time line with your wedding coordinator and family and photographer! I felt way to rushed because I didn't make a plan before hand.

2)if you bring your own Decorations. Make a list of exactly what you bring and the amount everything cost! And if you really want make sure family members pick up your stuff from each site or move it. They lost a good portion of my decorations and blamed it on the clean up staff. In my opinion the WC was entrusted with it she's accountable.

3)bring pictures of your flowers. Decorations. Anything you have in mind.

4) don't rush through your meeting with your coordinator when you arrive.

5) look into having your own photographer. I didn't like many of the photos the resort photographer took and out of all the ones they took of just the ceremony I only picked 17 and 15 of those were included.

6)do a trash the dress. Soooo much fun! And my dress is still in great condition!

That's about it. Enjoy your day ladies!

Few pictures for you!

[llimaa]

@@samclarke Thank you for sharing your review, looks wonderful!!. Some questions:

 

Did you have a theme dinner or semi-private restaurant dinner with pool side reception?.

 

I have noticed the set-up of your reception and looks really nice. Does the resort has decorations options included or did you buy centerpieces and decorations?. I also noticed the tie of your husband because that's kind of the color i chose too, do you know if there are flowers/decorations/sashes in that color available in the resort?

 

What did you mean by making a time line with your wedding coordinator and family and photographer. i will have the photographer only for 1 hr after the ceremony, so your advise is  to have a list of the photos you want and which people you want the photos with?

 

Thank you so much and sorry for so many questions but Im 3 weeks away for the wedding and my WC disappeared.   

[nicolesal]

@@samclarke I second @@llimaa questions!

 

Your wedding looked amazing congrats! How was the weather while you were there? I am planning for next November also where did you have your reception dinner? How was the poolside reception? Any more advice on the wedding planning process?

[Ellia123]

@@nicolesal I didn't even think of that happening. I guess of it did or does we would have to move wedding to Thursday. I would hope by now that won't happen that I have everything booked cause that would mess everything up.

I didn't realize they don't do weddings on week ends?

I think sun-sun or sat-sat is a good option if that's the case. We only did sun-sun cause it would make it easier for our guests getting time off work

Sucks having wedding so late in the stay I think. I didn't want that another reason we got married here. I am excited for wedding but also excited for it to be done lol it's been a lot of planning and time consuming and thinking about it all the time it will be relieving to be able to relax and enjoy the last part of the trip as husband and wife

 

We went Saturday to Saturday and had our wedding on Thursday, we thought it was great that the wedding was towards the end of our stay because it allows our guests to hang out and get to know each other and made the wedding party much more enjoyable for everyone. 

 

Our photographer stayed 5 days and we didn't have to pay anything but I had confirmed this with the studio themselves. They change this rule all the time though, they even tried changing it on us but I refused to accept.

Hey ladies!

Just got back and had my wedding on november 6th.

Wedding was great!

My few pieces of advice:

1)make a time line with your wedding coordinator and family and photographer! I felt way to rushed because I didn't make a plan before hand.

2)if you bring your own Decorations. Make a list of exactly what you bring and the amount everything cost! And if you really want make sure family members pick up your stuff from each site or move it. They lost a good portion of my decorations and blamed it on the clean up staff. In my opinion the WC was entrusted with it she's accountable.

3)bring pictures of your flowers. Decorations. Anything you have in mind.

4) don't rush through your meeting with your coordinator when you arrive.

5) look into having your own photographer. I didn't like many of the photos the resort photographer took and out of all the ones they took of just the ceremony I only picked 17 and 15 of those were included.

6)do a trash the dress. Soooo much fun! And my dress is still in great condition!

That's about it. Enjoy your day ladies!

Few pictures for you!IMG_95163700804294.jpegIMG_95727209013524.jpegIMG_95720315611423.jpegIMG_95715942991794.jpegIMG_95687837492527.jpeg

Congratulations. Looked nice.

 

Who was your wedding coordinator? I didn't experience anything you mentioned. 

 

I had no problem with decorations getting back to me. I had taken 2 luggages and given it to Maria and they returned everything to me in the same way. 

 

I didn't take pictures of anything with me. Maria had everything saved on her computer from what I had sent them. Our meeting took about 2 hours but we went over everything in detail and we knew where to find her in case we had more questions. I thought they were very great with everything (as stressful as it was prior to arriving)

Edited November 17, 2014 by Ellia123

[Dreamteam17]

did anyone do speeches at the semi private dinner in an a la cart? i just didnt want to have so much to do at the reception with first dances and cake cutting ect just have everyone party and get the speeches out of the way at dinner. My wedding cordinator said i could do this they just dont provide speakers or microphones. i am wondering if it too loud in the restaurant for that? 

[DonnaandDaz]

Not sure if anyone can help. I've been previously married and I still use my married name and my passport is still in married name. I emailed hotel to see what documents I need translating and this is what they sent me back

IF YOU VALID PASSPORT HAS BEEN CHANGED WITH THE LAST NAME OF YOUR EXHUSBAND AND YOU WANT TO GET MARRIED WITH YOUR SINGLE NAME..... YOU NEED TO BRING THE DECREE ABSOLUTLY AND THE BIRTH CERTIFICATED TRADUCE AND APOSTILLE.

 

Does this mean if I want to say my vows in maiden name? I would like it to stay in married name as I haven't had maiden name for 18years. Still unsure what docs I need???

@@samclarke you said you got 15 photos, did you pay for any extra time with the photographer? I've got 15 free photos and was wandering how long you get with them for that? Do you know pricing for the photographer?

[samclarke]

@@samclarke Thank you for sharing your review, looks wonderful!!. Some questions:

 

Did you have a theme dinner or semi-private restaurant dinner with pool side reception?.

 

I have noticed the set-up of your reception and looks really nice. Does the resort has decorations options included or did you buy centerpieces and decorations?. I also noticed the tie of your husband because that's kind of the color i chose too, do you know if there are flowers/decorations/sashes in that color available in the resort?

 

What did you mean by making a time line with your wedding coordinator and family and photographer. i will have the photographer only for 1 hr after the ceremony, so your advise is  to have a list of the photos you want and which people you want the photos with?

 

Thank you so much and sorry for so many questions but Im 3 weeks away for the wedding and my WC disappeared.   

@IIimaa Thanks it was great.

As i mentioned i brought my own decorations and didnt get them all back. I brought down the chair sashes, starfish, shells, vases, waterbeads and glass beads for the tables, and lanterns for the reception. I had to pay $25 to have them provide the blue fabric that is wrapped around the poles at the ceremony site. I gave them pictures of what i wanted and they set it up amazingly. It wasnt until i went to pick up my decorations that the problems came up. So make sure that you make a list of what you bring and exactly how much of everything and what it cost.

 

For my flowers i sent a picture of what i wanted and they said it was included and matched it perfectly.(give them any accessories you want added to your bouquet because they dont have that)

 

I had my own photographer so i only had the resort shoot the ceremony. Because i didnt get anything more with the resort photographer they didnt really ask what i wanted.

 

I originally had my hair appointment at 10am and when i talked to my photographer she suggested closer to my ceremony time(3pm) so when i got to the resort i changed my hair appointment to 1pm. but then i found out that the cart to pick people up was coming at 230 and my cart at 250 so it didnt leave much time. then the cart was late to take me to the spa was late. I was super rushed, i didnt get time to take many pictures of getting ready and of me and my girls. so really take time to make a plan!

@@samclarke I second @@llimaa questions!

 

Your wedding looked amazing congrats! How was the weather while you were there? I am planning for next November also where did you have your reception dinner? How was the poolside reception? Any more advice on the wedding planning process?

@@nicolesal

We were a very small group of only 13. We had the semi private dinner, and did 2 hours of poolside reception and just got the speaker and mic. and the national bar. 

@@samclarke you said you got 15 photos, did you pay for any extra time with the photographer? I've got 15 free photos and was wandering how long you get with them for that? Do you know pricing for the photographer?

I didnt pay for anything extra with the photographer because i had brought my own.They were literally only there for the ceremony and the toast. I also didnt tell anyone i had brought my own photographer, she stayed for 7days and no once said anything to me.

did anyone do speeches at the semi private dinner in an a la cart? i just didnt want to have so much to do at the reception with first dances and cake cutting ect just have everyone party and get the speeches out of the way at dinner. My wedding cordinator said i could do this they just dont provide speakers or microphones. i am wondering if it too loud in the restaurant for that? 

We did the poolside reception for 2 hours(group of 13) had lots of time for our speeches, dances and tosses. Your cake cutting will be inside the restaurant not at your poolside.

 

Congratulations. Looked nice.

 

Who was your wedding coordinator? I didn't experience anything you mentioned. 

 

I had no problem with decorations getting back to me. I had taken 2 luggages and given it to Maria and they returned everything to me in the same way. 

 

I didn't take pictures of anything with me. Maria had everything saved on her computer from what I had sent them. Our meeting took about 2 hours but we went over everything in detail and we knew where to find her in case we had more questions. I thought they were very great with everything (as stressful as it was prior to arriving)

My Wedding coordinator was Gina. And dont get my wrong everything was fantastic up until i went to pick up my decorations the next day. Thats when the excuses started and passing the blame about who was actually responsible for it all. So im just letting the other girls know to make it clear you want everything back and make a list.  I was the only girl out of 4 that i had been talking to that had any issues, i dont know what happened with my stuff or even why it happened.

Edited November 19, 2014 by samclarke

[llimaa]

@@samclarke Thank you so much for the feedback. I liked the tiffani tables and chairs they put for your reception. I thought that for the pool party they only set up high stools and chairs, so i will ask about it.  my WC have showed me pictures of the lounge seats they could put but they cost 220usd, they look really trendy though

 

Maybe is a weird question but has anybody have paid the wedding with a debit card at the check out?. I have my money in my debit and i would prefer this method but im not sure if Interact works the same there.

 

Thank you, I appreciate all of your comments

[nicolesal]

Does anyone have a contact other than Linda at the resort? I am still waiting for an answer on the being there 2 working days in advance. I will not be at the resort until late Thursday evening and my wedding is scheduled for 2pm on the Monday at Akumal. I really need confirmation that this is ok... I have left emails for the last week and even tried calling a couple times. My TA has also reached out. Thanks in advance !

[calgarybride2015]

@@samclarke Thank you so much for the feedback. I liked the tiffani tables and chairs they put for your reception. I thought that for the pool party they only set up high stools and chairs, so i will ask about it.  my WC have showed me pictures of the lounge seats they could put but they cost 220usd, they look really trendy though

 

Maybe is a weird question but has anybody have paid the wedding with a debit card at the check out?. I have my money in my debit and i would prefer this method but im not sure if Interact works the same there.

 

Thank you, I appreciate all of your comments

 

If you have a 4 digit pin code I think your debit will work there!

Just make sure that you can charge that much in one transaction, and also find out what your daily limit is, etc.

I think mine is only $2500 so I wouldn't get that far lol.