Grand Sunset Princess & Platinum Yucatan Princess Wedding

[veryvalentine]

We got married at the Grand Sunset Princess on June 20^th, 2015. The majority of our guests stayed at the Platinum Yucatan Princess hotel (adults only) but the wedding took place at the resort next door.  We had two families attend with their children.  Guests staying at the Platinum Yucatan Princess have access to all three Princess hotels.  

 

It was a perfect day.  I’m struggling to combine the right words to accurately express how blessed, grateful and elated we feel.  We keep replaying our wedding week in our heads and we know that it was a unique, epic, ‘once in a lifetime’ event that we will never forget. 

I truly enjoyed myself.  I was in the moment and as everything was happening around me I knew it was an epic experience.   I took in all the love and really felt it. 

 

A few days to ourselves  June 13-17

 

We decided to leave a few days before the group and I can’t say this enough, but it’s honestly the best thing one could do.  We had time to unpack, set up, meet with vendors, run some errands.  When our guests arrived we were ready for them and were ready to spend time with them.  I can’t even imagine arriving at the same time.  I would feel like I was constantly trying to catch up.

 

Sunwing Vacations

We were lucky that they cancelled our Sunday flight and rescheduled it to the Sat June 13^th.  We stayed one extra night at the resort courtesy of Sunwing! Yay! 

Our group rate for our guests with a price drop was $1250 double occupancy.  The rooms were gorgeous and our guests were very happy.  We received 1 free trip for every 10 people.  We ended up receiving two free stays.  Since we stayed for 11 days and upgraded our rooms we ended up paying a difference of $1600 for both us.  Well worth it though. 

We received a free upgrade to Elite Class which included 30kg each + 20kg each just incase.  Our travel agent was able to negotiate this for us.  It helped us out a lot indeed. 

 

PACKING

We ended up bringing with us 4 luggages, 2 large carryons, suit, dress, and my sister brought 1 luggage for us an another BM brought another luggage for us.  NOTHING BROKE!!!!!  And we didn’t lose anything.  We cleared customs just fine.  We got the green light, literally, and off we went to the resort.

All my tumbler packing tips I received from @@calgarybride2015

 

CHECK IN

We were so impressed with the hotel when we arrived.  It was so pretty and luxurious.  Our check in went smoothy and the concierge staff was really excited for us as they knew we were getting married.  They upgraded our room by one category.  The hotel was fully booked the entire time we were there.

My sister also travelled with us and she booked a swimout platinum room.  The room was stunning.  Her room was ready as soon as we checked in at 10am.  Our room was ready at 3pm.  We left our bags in her room and went over to the buffet.

 

 

 

We checked in on June 13^th and the rest of our guests check in June 17^th.  Nobody had any issues with their rooms.  Nobody had to make any changes.  It worked out perfectly.  The guests that were there for R&R somehow got the rooms with the swimouts that were further away from the party pool.  The party crowd had the rooms close to the party pool.  Our group was quite loud.  The resort suddenly had life when our group arrived.  The nice thing about the rooms close to the party pool is that you couldn’t hear anything when your balcony door was closed.

 

Tropical Storm

The day we arrived it was raining non-stop.  The pilot announced that it was a little misty and that it would clear up by the afternoon.  I think the pilot just wanted to make us happy and get us off the plane because that was far from the truth. 

The storm was actually a tropical storm category 1.  It lasted from Saturday until about Monday night-ish.  There was no escaping the storm either.  We tried to drive out to Tulum and it was even worse there.  We started getting nervous because everyone said that usually the rain passes but that this actually very strange.  The staff at the hotel kept saying that it hadn’t rained for weeks prior to this…all things I didn’t want to hear.

I was nervous about our outdoor wedding events because I kept checking the forecast and it kept saying, rain, rain, rain, rain…  I finally cried a bit on Sunday and decided to just let it go.  We made sure to work on all the last minute details and ironed out the things we needed to get done.

 

 

Monday:

We met up with Katy from Love and Lace.  We rented quite a few décor pieces from her to personalize our wedding reception look.  She was extremely patient and easy to work with.  I truly recommend working with her.  We had 6 luggages with just our clothes, and gifts, and welcome bag items, I can’t imagine bringing décor too. 

 

Meeting with Wedding Coordinator

We met with the wedding coordinator on the Tuesday and she was very nice.  We went through all the details and it felt very official.  She went through the décor details and a few details with our ceremony.

We added a few things and added a bit of a script for a ceremony.  We also asked the officiant to do a ceremony in Spanish and English.  I didn’t translate my vows but we thought it would be nice to have the ceremony in English and Spanish.

Finally the weather turned and it was nice and sunny. 

 

Welcome dinner:

The majority of our guests arrived the Wednesday and we booked a welcome dinner at 6pm at the Mexican restaurant La Hacienda.  Everyone came out.  We were worried people would be tired and it would be too rushed but it worked out fine.  We decided to bring all our welcome bags with us.  My dad arrived late as he arrived a little later so we gave out the bags as we waited for him to come down.  The food was delicious and the guests loved the bags.  They were so impressed with the details and snacks.  I think everyone’s favourite items were the snacks and the hangover kits.  Handing over those bags was like handing over a newborn.  We were so proud of them, people thought we totally over did it , but we were happy to be able to do that for our guests! J

 

 

Some of additions in mexico were candies from Sam’s club, post cards, sabritas (chips).

 

Welcome bag fails:

I had ordered plastic hotel key covers from a vendor on ebay and instead of mailing me the covers, he sent me 1000 grommets.  Ya, no.

We purchased small bottles and made labels for aloe Vera and sun lotion.  We thought that we would be able to find somewhere that carries bulk sun lotion and aloe…but no.  They sold them in the smallest volumes and they were still pretty pricey and though they were stores outside of the typical tourist areas. 

 

TBC....  

Edited July 2, 2015 by veryvalentine

[calgarybride2015]

YAY!!! Can't wait to keep reading your review...

 

I just had to say WHAT?!?! you only paid $1250 per person!! OMG, you got a steal that place looks fabulous.

 

Everything looks really great, I am sure your guests were over the moon.

Edited July 2, 2015 by calgarybride2015

[acw271011]

Yay - I've been waiting for your review! Great so far! You sound so happy to be married - it's so sweet!!!

 

So did you stay at PYP or at Grand Sunset? We still aren't booked yet but that's a story for another day.... lol  Super anxious to see pictures too!! If you could mention outside vendor fees and the beach I would love to hear!

 

Can't wait to read the rest......!

[veryvalentine]

Planning thread continued...

 

 

 

Retail lessons I've learned in Playa Del Carmen:

 

Things that you might think you can find in Playa Del Carmen and surrounding areas but you actually can't 

 

1. Sparklers .  They can be found NOWHERE.  I was told this several times but didn't believe them.  Apparently they only carry them at Christmas time and only at like party, pinata stores.  We were lucky enough to get our Sparklers through Katy from Love and Lace.  We paid $3usd for each one.  They were the 50cm length and we used them for our first dance.  I'm sure once we see our first dance pictures we'll agree it was all worth it in the end.  I even had my dad who lives in Veracruz look for me but it was the same thing, only on sale in December.  One of my BMs was going to pack them in her suitcase and I had to really convince her not to as you can't fly with them. lol  you.cant.

 

2.  Wrapping paper and cards.  So I waited last minute to wrap up my gift to the groom and also get him a card.  Honestly, do it before you leave; don't do what I did.  I looked around walmart; chedraui; and some local stores and apparently only children receive gifts because it was all like cartoons and birthday wrapping paper.  I opted for the tissue paper route which was difficult to find but eventually found some at an Office Max.

I was lucky to find a Chedraui with leftover Valentine's day cards which I just turned into my card to go with the gift.

 

3.  I had a bit of a debacle with my wrist coil/hotel key holders.  Long story short, I ordered the plastic zip covers and I received grommets instead.  So I thought I could maybe look for them in Playa and I went to Office Max and another store similar to Staples, no luck at all.  I thought for sure I could find them but no cigar.     the grommets arrive the day we were leaving so it didn't leave any time to find a replacement here.  

 

4.   Peonies - they don't really carry this flower in Playa, not sure if just not in June or if ever but definitely not in season right now.

Twine; burlap, lace, not so much.  Not that I was looking for this but just in case you think you might, nope.

 

5.   Sunscreen and Aloe Vera in bulk.  We wanted to look for some big bottles to fill up mini bottles that we bought from the dollar store.  NOPE.  We looked at Costco and Sam's club they only carried small tubes and very expensive.

 

6.   Vases.  Apparently you can't find vases.  At one point I was going to see if I could find any but thankfully i found them elsewhere.  

Even if I had found a nice vase, the likely hood of them having more than 2 was impossible, let alone 8.

 

FLOWERS

 

As I mentioned, I decided to do my own flowers.  I don't necessarily recommend that you do yours, but this definitely shows that you can work within the rules of your agreed contract and look for ways to cut corners and save dollars.  My contract said no external vendors; so I asked for the definition of a vendor.  I told them when I arrived that I was going to be arranging my own flowers and centrepieces and they didn't say anything.

 

I went to one flower market that I won't even post the name of because the lady was extremely rude and does not know how to run her business - so instead I will rave about the shop that was amazing and super nice.  

 

The flower shop is called Floreria Sac-Nah  (super close and on the same street as the Walmart)

Playa Del Carmen:  30 Ave Mz 119 Lt. 1; Esq Calle 16 col.  Gonzalo Guerrero

And they have a location in tulum as well.  

Email:  [email protected]

 

 

I ordered way more than I needed but still only paid about $258 canadian for all the flowers i bought vs 1000USD.

The centre pieces that the hotel was offering were $80usd and were super tropical tacky and very basic.  I used roses, mums, and some greenery filler with a variety of other flowers for the BM bouquets. I brought my own garden scissors and twine and burlap to give it that beachy/pinterest look.  I would have purchased some baby's breath but they needed a few days in advance for that.  If you do go this route I would suggest going to the store a few days before to place an order or even emailing them with notice and then just picking it up the day of.  

 

 

Here are the centerpieces I worked on.  The vases were smaller than I would have liked but my dad found them and I just made them work.  It was impossible to find anything gold in mexico. 

You can see our mason jars with flowers in them as well.  We also bought bags of flower petals for about 100 pesos which is fab compared to 20 usd a bag.

 

Here are a few shots of the BM bouquets that I put together.  

Here is a shot of the BM bouquet 2 days after the wedding, still looking good!    The BM bouquet that I used to toss.  It survived the toss and a bit of back and forth. 

 

TBC.....

Edited July 3, 2015 by veryvalentine

[snswedding2016]

Everything looks so beautiful! It sounds like you had such an amazing time. I can't wait to hear more!

[veryvalentine]

@  aww thanks!  None of our guests took pictures of the sparklers as they were all engaged in the process.  

 

From a technical standpoint it all worked out well.  We were on the beach for the dance part and everyone was able to light the sparklers using the tiki torches.  totally eliminated the problem of having lighters and passing them out etc etc.  

 

I'm going to wait for my photographer's pictures before I finish my review.  He took 5000 pictures so I'm sure he'll have a few good shots to share.  hahaha.

[Pottswedding2015]

@@veryvalentine Were you able to find mason jars down there or did you bring them with you?

[veryvalentine]

Hi @Pottswedding2015 

 

I actually rented the hanging aisle jars from Katy from Love and Lace.   She rented them to me for about $3 each I believe.  I see that you are getting married at the Grand Sunset Princess!! yay!!  Are you excited?  Where are you events taking place at the Princess.  Feel free to contact me with any questions.  I just had my wedding there not even a month ago. 

 

One more thing that I would add is that if you were planning to look for mason jars in Playa del Carmen, while I'm sure they have them somewhere...I wasn't able to find them anywhere.  lol  That was another thing that I was really glad that we sorted out before we left. 

Edited July 14, 2015 by veryvalentine

[veryvalentine]

Our photographer said that  he is still working on our 5000 pictures that he took....poor guy, he worked so hard!  A few more weeks and we'll get to see them!! yay!!

 

Here is a picture of the bridesmaid bouquets that I made and I found a nice photo of our reception area as well!   

 

[Pottswedding2015]

Hi @@veryvalentine your bm bouquets are gorgeous! You did a great job. I am totally interested in doing my own flowers now! I feel like the resort options are just a little outdated. The resort had no problems with you doing your own? Did you ask them if you could bring them in? Just wondering how to go about that!

I have my ceremony booked for the riviera gazebo and I'm thinking of booking my reception at the chill out now that I am reading so many fantastic reviews on it. I am curious about the dancing there though... I see some brides rent the light up dance floor for the beach which I love but it's pricey. What did you do for a dance floor and did you get a DJ?

Also who did you use as a wedding photographer and did you get your hair and makeup done at the resort? Ah so many questions! Haha I'm so glad I came across this website it has been soooo helpful! Thanks so much for any input! Can't wait to see the rest of your pictures!