So many questions! Considering Grand Palladium LH 2013

mrserickson0812 · September 17, 2012

Hi ladies!

I'm a total newbie here and I have so many questions about customizing wedding packages... I am leaning towards GPLH for a venue, but I suppose my questions could apply to most, if not all, packages offered by the various resorts. Any help you guys could give would be much appreciated!

Is it possible to receive credit for things in the package that we do not want? For example: Our friends own a photography studio, and we will have them take our pictures. Because we will not be using a hotel photographer or purchasing photos from them, could we receive a credit from that part of the package to apply to something else (champagne toast for more guests, upgrade the bouquet, etc)?
My fiance's friend is certified/ordained/whatever you call it and we would like him to officiate our wedding. Do we need to have a local minister perform the ceremony?
When do we need to know the number of guests? Before we put down a deposit or sometime later during the planning process?

I think that's all I have - for now! Again, any tips or advice you could throw my way would help so much!

Tulumbride2013 · September 20, 2012

Hello! My resort is different from yours but maybe their policies are similar. I would email your coordinator there(even if you haven't booked your wedding) 1.no credit at our resort, says it right there in the fine print. We decided to use the resort photog for our welcome dinner 2.the answer we got was no. If its a legal ceremony it must be preformed by their judge. Symbolic ceremony, yea we could bring our own. 3. 99 percent likely no you dont need to know. If your package includes twenty people and your guest list is greater than that, you'll prob pay that difference like the day before the wedding or something

mrserickson0812 · September 20, 2012

Thank you for your help! What resort did you pick?

Tulumbride2013 · September 20, 2012

We picked Dreams Tulum/riviera Maya. We choose this resort cause we have been there before.. no surprises ya know? We couldnt afford a site visit and I didnt wanna pick somewhere I had never been before.