Ocean Coral & Turquesa Wedding-April 2016! Vendor, Misc Hotel Question

[SparkyM]

I'm a newbie to this forum and have never 'blogged' before (is that even what this is called?!?)

 

Anyway, we're excited to be getting married in April 2016 at Ocean Coral & Turquesa in Riviera Maya!  And of course, would like as much info as possible to help guide the way!  Any info from former brides, grooms, guests, etc. at the OC&T is warmly welcomed & much appreciated!!   

 

Specific current questions are:

 

* Anyone have a travel agent who you love who does/did a great job booking 30-50 rooms at this resort? At a competitive rate?  

 

* Several of our guests are bringing babies & young children.  Any words of wisdom on childcare and how to go about managing having nannies? Possibly from off property?  

 

* Still deciding on whether or not to bring our own photographers & videographer.  Definitely want to do a trash the dress session  the week after the wedding.  Any recommendations? 

 

* Anyone brought your own decorations, decor to this resort?  Did you bring it on the plane or have it sent ahead?  What would you recommend?  

 

Any thoughts, tips, tricks on ANY of these questions (or other info you think is important) will be received with MUCH GRATITUDE <3!    Thanks so much ~  

 

[lorishultz2016]

I am getting married in July 2016 and I am working with a travel agent that I love. and she works for Wright travel. Which is with this website. Barbara is really good and helpful. You might want to check them out. I'm glad I did. And with childcare I have not had to deal with it since mine are teenagers but I have seen people bring small children and there own nannie with them. Some resorts make you pay for people who are not staying there pay a few to be there for the day. And not know the people at first hand I think it would be hard to leave my child with. I think your guest should think about bringing someone they know and the kids know will make everyone feel better. As for the Photographers I am brining my own but I have seen photos from the resorts of there own photographers they make great photos but can be very costly so that depends on how much you want to spend on photos. As for decorations I had a friend who got married in Mexico this year and she brought her own and carried them on the plane but you have to remember the baggage policies of the airline and how many you can carrie on and check. I hope this helps.       

[Christie77]

Hello SarklyM !

 

I'm also using Barbara (Babs) at Wright Travel. She's amazing. I've heard a lot of complaints from Brides that do not  receive response to email and calls, but Babs is always super prompt with my inquiries as well as my guests. She's also super sweet! Really glad to have found her.

 

We chose the Occidental Grand Xcaret for our wedding after going on vacation and becoming engaged  there last year. We fell in love with it.They offer a kids club with loads of activities for the littles. Also, it's next to two ecological parks- Xcaret and Xplore which are both amazing expieriences. Our nieces and nephews will LOVE XCARET. We don't have anyone that has decided on using an outside nanny, so no advice there.

 

We haven't decided on a photographer yet. This is next on my list

 

Decor...some wedding packages include some decor. I think it depends on the resort and package you choose. I'm taking some additional decor to add a personalized feel on the plane with me. I've heard horror stories of sending decor ahead...so I'm not going that route. Also, I found a great lady named Katy who owns Love & Lace Wedding Decor on the  Cancun Brides and Riviera Maya Brides Facebook group, who rents some really amazing decor stuff for less than my resort. Her FB page Love & Lace Wedding Decor.

 

 

Happy planning!!

[Moments That Matter]

Welcome to our forum community and COngrats on your upcoming dw in our magnificent Mayan Riviera, SparkyM!!! You've come to the right place for lots of great info, advice, suggerstions and support from everyone here, so you're off to a wonderful start already - good job

 

You've also picked a beautifully picturesque wedding venue in the Ocean Coral & Turquesa - as you can see in these magical wedding moments that matter we captured there......taken from our Ocean Coral & Turquesa Wedding Album:

 

 

 

 

 

Wishing you happy research ~ ENjoy your amazing journey ahead - cheers!!! team MTM

[SparkyM]

I am getting married in July 2016 and I am working with a travel agent that I love. and she works for Wright travel. Which is with this website. Barbara is really good and helpful. You might want to check them out. I'm glad I did. And with childcare I have not had to deal with it since mine are teenagers but I have seen people bring small children and there own nannie with them. Some resorts make you pay for people who are not staying there pay a few to be there for the day. And not know the people at first hand I think it would be hard to leave my child with. I think your guest should think about bringing someone they know and the kids know will make everyone feel better. As for the Photographers I am brining my own but I have seen photos from the resorts of there own photographers they make great photos but can be very costly so that depends on how much you want to spend on photos. As for decorations I had a friend who got married in Mexico this year and she brought her own and carried them on the plane but you have to remember the baggage policies of the airline and how many you can carrie on and check. I hope this helps.       

CONGRATS!!!  I'll be sure to loop you in on what I learn after ours :-)  And yes, you're comments are Super Helpful!  Thank you!!   Is Wright travel located in the US? 

Hello SarklyM !

 

I'm also using Barbara (Babs) at Wright Travel. She's amazing. I've heard a lot of complaints from Brides that do not  receive response to email and calls, but Babs is always super prompt with my inquiries as well as my guests. She's also super sweet! Really glad to have found her.

 

We chose the Occidental Grand Xcaret for our wedding after going on vacation and becoming engaged  there last year. We fell in love with it.They offer a kids club with loads of activities for the littles. Also, it's next to two ecological parks- Xcaret and Xplore which are both amazing expieriences. Our nieces and nephews will LOVE XCARET. We don't have anyone that has decided on using an outside nanny, so no advice there.

 

We haven't decided on a photographer yet. This is next on my list

 

Decor...some wedding packages include some decor. I think it depends on the resort and package you choose. I'm taking some additional decor to add a personalized feel on the plane with me. I've heard horror stories of sending decor ahead...so I'm not going that route. Also, I found a great lady named Katy who owns Love & Lace Wedding Decor on the  Cancun Brides and Riviera Maya Brides Facebook group, who rents some really amazing decor stuff for less than my resort. Her FB page Love & Lace Wedding Decor.

 

 

Happy planning!!

 

Brilliant @@Christie77!  Thank You!  Love the lead on "Babs" and the Facebook Groups.  You Rock!  

 

Occidental is one of the places we're thinking of honeymooning  (changing hotels after the wedding and staying an extra week).  Would love to hear more about it. 

 

And CONGRATS!  When's you're date?  

[Christie77]

Our date is May 14th   We will be married at the ruins (pics below) If looking at the wedding set up pic, the ruins are set to the right. Reception at the beach club (also pic below). The place is HUGE!! There are 11 restaurants, 10 bars, multiple pools. Adults only area, but kid friendly areas as well. A different show every night. We loved it last time.  If you're a Costco member, it's totally worth checking out pricing there. That's how we booked last time and it saved us tons of money. We didn't book that way for the wedding as I wanted a travel agent to organize the trip and field questions, but if it's just you two you'll save big time going through them. Google Costco travel and you can check pricing that way. It includes flight and all inclusive stay. 

 

Let me know, what questions you have and I'd be happy to answer if I can.

 

 

 

 

[SparkyM]

I am getting married in July 2016 and I am working with a travel agent that I love. and she works for Wright travel. Which is with this website. Barbara is really good and helpful. You might want to check them out. I'm glad I did. And with childcare I have not had to deal with it since mine are teenagers but I have seen people bring small children and there own nannie with them. Some resorts make you pay for people who are not staying there pay a few to be there for the day. And not know the people at first hand I think it would be hard to leave my child with. I think your guest should think about bringing someone they know and the kids know will make everyone feel better. As for the Photographers I am brining my own but I have seen photos from the resorts of there own photographers they make great photos but can be very costly so that depends on how much you want to spend on photos. As for decorations I had a friend who got married in Mexico this year and she brought her own and carried them on the plane but you have to remember the baggage policies of the airline and how many you can carrie on and check. I hope this helps.       

Thank you so much for your response :-)  I'm having a small panic attack because the rooms for our wedding week have suddenly disappeared off ALL discount websites   We've got approx 6 rooms already booked and need to book about 40 more!!  It sounds like Barbara may have a strong connection with the hotel & distributors; I'll reach out to her.  Do you happen to know what time zone she's in?   Again, thank you so much for your response... gonna keep on breathing and keeping the faith.... #IthoughtDestinationWeddingsweresupposedtoBeLessStressful   LOL!   

Our date is May 14th   We will be married at the ruins (pics below) If looking at the wedding set up pic, the ruins are set to the right. Reception at the beach club (also pic below). The place is HUGE!! There are 11 restaurants, 10 bars, multiple pools. Adults only area, but kid friendly areas as well. A different show every night. We loved it last time.  If you're a Costco member, it's totally worth checking out pricing there. That's how we booked last time and it saved us tons of money. We didn't book that way for the wedding as I wanted a travel agent to organize the trip and field questions, but if it's just you two you'll save big time going through them. Google Costco travel and you can check pricing that way. It includes flight and all inclusive stay. 

 

Let me know, what questions you have and I'd be happy to answer if I can.

 

 

 

Thanks so much for the costco tip @@Christie77 !  Great idea :-)  I love how generous you and all the other amazing brides on this site are with sharing their golden information!  So helpful <3  Thank you!  I promise to pay it forward to other brides-to-be      

[Moments That Matter]

Sounds wonderful, SparkyM!!! that's what makes this forum community so great

 

Also wanted to give you a "heads-up" on bringing a photographer or videographer from home... that it is illegal for a photographer to come to Mexico and photograph a wedding without proper working papers. The same way people can not just travel to the USA or Canada and work. Cancun airport is aware of this and as you will see... scans all luggage arriving when you go through customs. People traveling with more than one camera will need to answer for the equipment. Im not trying to scare you... just give you the facts of working in a foreign country.
MTM has recently changed all the prices to accommodate couples who are working with a budget. We now offer a 50% discount on resort vendor fees! :-)

 

Here's what our premier photographer, Lincoln tells our wedding couples...."You may also be considering going with the resort photography team... often to save money. My only suggestion to you is that if photography is important to you at all... please find a professional photographer to come and capture your day.

A true professional photographer is not just an employee of a large company that works at a resort shooting weddings. Our job is our passion and we work to not only capture YOUR story but bring out the emotions and your personality in the day. Every wedding is unique and not just a 9 to 5 job which resort photographers shoot.

 

The reason I say this... is I was recently at a wedding where the resort photographer and I over lapped for 30 minutes during the reception. I later heard back from the bride who sent me her photos from the resort photographer and was shocked at how they came out and were delivered. I too was shocked at the quality and made a small FaceBook album comparing the different between what you tend to get using resort photography vs a real photographer.

Here is a link to my post showing the difference. Professional Photography vs Resort Photography.

Adding to that, here is another example where you can view the difference between Professional photography vs Resort photography.  There are not a lot of direct examples of this wedding as the resort photographer didn't capture anything we did!

Resort photos are blurry, dull, lifeless and a complete waste of your time and money!​

 

All that being said... I wish you the best of luck with whatever you decide."

 

Hope it all works out just the way you envision  - or even Better....Cheers!!! team MTM

[lorishultz2016]

She is on the west cost in Calf. And I hope she can help you. I know she was great. But i would book soon.

lori     

[Reblsnyder]

Hi SparkyM!

Im getting married in just a couple weeks at Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya and I wanted to share a couple of thoughts with you regarding some of your questions. I wish I had found this site sooner because you guys ask all the right questions a head of time to help with preparing for you wedding. Hopefully your planning process is going well

 

Regarding bringing your own photographer: We had looked both in Mexico for a photographer (on and off the resort) as well as searched for destination wedding photographers. I had no idea there was such a big selection of photographers in general, as well as photographers who actually travel to be part of your wedding! I've been to a couple destination weddings and in all circumstances, they either used someone on the resort or someone local to the resort. The wedding resort photographer didn't offer the flexibility (IMO) for things like photographing different events at the resort (like a rehearsal, welcome party, reception, day after shoot, etc) and their pictures were subpar not to mention VERY EXPENSIVE for what you get. For a wedding I went to in Riviera Maya this past June, they used an off site vendor to shoot their wedding. The pictures turned out ok but the photographers were VERY RIGID with the amount of time they covered the event. Things were running behind because of the weather (i.e. the reception started about 1.5 hours later than planned), but since their 6 or 8 hours were up, at 10PM, the photographers left right in the middle of the reception! How awful for the bride and groom to miss out on those last few hours of coverage of their event.

 

Wanting to avoid all of this, and wanting to be more in control of the options available to me, I searched for destination wedding photographers that were willing to travel. I did find a bunch of people. both in the US and even Canada and other countries. We interviewed a few (not everyone got back to us), but we ended up picking James Berglie of Be Photography. He is based in Baltimore, MD but does a lot of traveling in the US for work, and of course will travel anywhere for a destination wedding. Surprisingly, I found out later that a couple of other people I know through a mutual friend used him for their destination wedding in Mexico earlier this year. Small world! What we loved about him, is that he is on the resort for a couple of days before the wedding and a day or so after the wedding, so we are getting a lot of wedding related coverage (more so than just 6-8 hours on the actual day). He will actually cover the rehearsal dinner/welcome party the night before for a couple hours, ALL Day on the wedding day (no time limit) and he is also doing this day after shoot. We are going to go off the resort (he does this with a lot of couples if you want the option!) The other thing that's cool is that if we had used him as a travel agent also for all of our guests (we didn't because we booked our travel agent first), he would offset any commission made on the guests towards the cost of the photography, so we could of potentially gotten our photos for free. Since we didn't have this option by the time we booked him, he discounted his photography rate and then tacked on the travel fees for him, so we essentially paid the same price as a local bride, except he gets to travel and be there with this the whole time and take pictures over multiple days. He also takes a TON of pictures, which I appreciate and his style is that of a photojournalist. You don't even know he is there, which allows people to feel more relaxed and natural, truly capturing the essence of the day! Here is his contact info in case you want to check him out! I will post pictures from our wedding once we get them

 

http://www.bephotography.net/

James Berglie: James@@BePhotography.net

http://www.bephotography.net/destination-wedding-photo-travel-cost-savings/

 

With regards to bringing your own decorations:

You certainly don't have to but I wanted to bring a few things to add a personal touch.

 

If you want to get decorations there, we did work with an offsite décor vendor – Planner One Events (based in Cancun). Some things are pricey but you just have to decide what is a necessity for you and what are things that would just be nice to have. From them we ended up getting a rattan aisle runner, mahagony tiffany chairs, centerpieces for cocktail hour, centerpieces for the reception, gold table runners, a rustic aisle runner, chair corsages for the ceremony and those string lights that drape across the tables at the reception.

 

Here is what we are bringing: I tried to pick things that were easy to carry, but that gave some unique personal touches: Spanish script table numbers and “novia/novio” chair signs that I purchases on etsy and spray painted them gold. https://www.etsy.com/shop/ZCreateDesignThey were super easy to work with and I was really happy with the quality. They will make you whatever you want. I am also taking a card box I made myself (but I made it stackable inside itself to make it easier to carry). Programs I made myself on raffia fans. A Mexico puzzle piece guest book that I purchased on Etsy from Bella Puzzles https://www.etsy.com/shop/BellaPuzzlesToo?ref=l2-shopheader-name. These was a little pricey but so awesome and worth it. I cant wait to display it in my house when its all done. I made menus myself that I am bringing which will be added to the tables and I also made my own table names and put them in gold frames (ikea and spray painted – they come apart for easy transport) which will be displayed on a table when you walk into the reception.

 

Good luck with your planning process!!! I’ll share some pictures when I get back 