SammyMac

@@smfahey here are a bunch of pics from the wedding . Everything took place at Playa Azul. If you give me your email address I can share some more pics and send you some of the planning docs .hope this helps !

@@yooyooo and @@TaraW - I had the same sort of issues with reception but our experience at Bahia Príncipe was kind of similar so I just kind of chalked it up as part of the resort experience. @@TaraW they forgot our breakfast too and when we got it the next day instead it wasn't very good so you didn't miss out ! One thing I didn't mention which is still bothering me is there was a guy on our 4th or 5th day that kept pouring all his beer on the dance floor at the disco. The staff knew he was doing it and kept mopping up after him but they continued to serve the guy and not kick him out. One of my friends fell hard on one of the spills and fractured his ankle in 2 places and tore through some ligaments. The resort charged them 30 usd per day to use their wheelchair ! They also tried to get one of my friends to sign a letter releasing them from any liability. And then one of my friends went to the disco the next day and the same guy was dumping beer on the floor again. It's like they didn't even care about my friend's well being. I'll probably write them a letter and try and get them to refund the cost of the wheelchair to my friends. It was pretty upsetting.

Yes, our colours were purple. I was fully hoping you were going to creep ! I creeped so many weddings that week ha ha ha .

@@TaraW - beautiful pictures !!!! Wow I love your dress and you guys look so happy. this is going to sound lame but I also really love the upgraded chairs !! Ha ha

@@TaraW it sucks that you had to deal with that added stress but I'm so happy that at the end of the day you had an amazing time !!!! umm and obviously I'd like to see some pictures please !!

Hi ladies, check your mail

@kbehara2016 bride - I think the resort is pretty good at providing whatever you need for decor, but it comes at a price. You have to pay for your centerpieces for each table (which include the vase), and you have to pay for candles as well. From what I've heard just the basic sound system is fine, but we hired a DJ so I can't say from personal experience. It looked like there were lots of locations to choose from. I opted for the playa azul area because that part of the beach is fairly secluded and was a gorgeous location for both the ceremony and reception. I saw other weddings take place on the beach in different locations and they were just kind of in the midst of all the other activity going on. If you send me your email address I can send you some pictures of how it looked. I've heard the gazebo is really pretty for the ceremony or the coral area as well. Happy planning !

Hi! We got married on Monday, Apr 25th. Ceremony was at 5pm and Reception at 7:30pm both at Playa Azul beach. We chose the strawberry package and had 58 guests. A summary of our wedding : Yasmin our WC scheduled a meeting with us 2 days after we arrived and we just went through the spreadsheet one last time to make sure we didn't want to change anything. We dropped off our decorations - we brought candles, lanterns with lights (it would have been 900 usd to rent them from the resort!!!), seating chart, table numbers, and some stuff for our welcome table. I told Yamin what my vision was and she executed it perfectly. We asked how much staff would be working on the set up, etc and we just made sure to tip them. Hair and make-up - I hired styling trio. Best choice I could have made! Claudia was so great to communicate with, and she matched me up with Bianca for make-up and Alex for hair. On the day of the trail run I couldn't even decide between the styles he tried on me (and I'm extremely fussy with my hair), and Bianca was incredible with my make-up. The air brushing stayed on all night and had a nice dewy finish. I paid 500 USD for the vendor fee. It was a one time payment even though they came to the resort twice. Shuttle : picked up guests, groom and groomsmen at 4:15pm in the colonial lobby. Yasmin came to my room at 4:45pm with our bouquets. She drove me, the bridesmaids and dad on a golf cart to the site. She showed me a pic of the set up on the way - breathtaking!! Officiant : didn't get to meet her before the wedding. It was fine. Jared just told her a few things before I arrived so she knew we wrote our own vows and she let guests know that the ceremony was unplugged so only our photographer took pictures. She did a great job! Ceremony : 20 minutes long. It was lovely. They had champagne ready for everyone right after. We loved the huppa we picked out and the flowers matched my bouquet. We hooked our phone up to a speaker and we played 4 songs of our choosing. Audio sounded great. 5pm was a great time to get married - wasn't too hot, there was a nice breeze and sun wasn't too bright. Cocktail hour : we opted out of this and decided to pay for an extra hour of reception time. Do this! It goes by way too fast otherwise. We sent our guests to rancho grille which was a rocks throw away while we took pictures. DJ : We hired discomovil. He was amazing. He played all the songs we wanted and the songs he chose on his own were great! We used his light up dance floor and even with the vendor fee of 100 usd / hour it was cheaper than using what the resort offers. Centerpieces - we went with a pretty cheap option. The setting was pretty enough on its own plus we had some nice table numbers and candles of our own that they set up for us. Looked great. Pictures : lighting was great between the ceremony and reception. I brought my own photographer and didn't pay a vendor fee because he was a guest. Supper : was delicious! We got the beef wellington and the dessert was a huge hit!! we went with the luke warm half baked choc fondant. Cake : we went with the basic option - to be honest no one ate any cause we were stuffed. it was really beautiful though. Don't pay more to upgrade it to a bigger size. It was quite big. Lighting : I worry that without the light up dance floor and lanterns the lighting would have been pretty dull. After the reception we went to the sports bar and one of our guests brought his guitar. We had a big sing along with everyone in the bar and it was so much fun! Then Jared and I went for a little walk and ended up falling asleep on one of the hammocks It was the perfect night. If you have any questions let me know! Happy to help.

@@AprilRosemary2016 - I got my guestbook off of etsy as well as printable itineraries for my guests. You don't get charged the vendor fee a second time for the trial run (at least I wasn't charged twice) but I would confirm with you WC just so you have it in writing.

@kirstendw2016 - hang in there I know the lack of communication can be frustrating. I've been waiting for my WC to respond for a couple weeks now to a few questions I had and its daunting with my wedding coming up in less than 2 months now. But I've heard from so many past brides who dealt with the exact same thing and then when the big day finally came everything turned out perfectly so I just keep telling myself it'll all be ok. My problem is I keep changing my mind about everything! I was in a wedding in Tulum a few weeks ago and the sun was blinding. I couldn't even look at the groom. Sensitive eyes. So I've been playing with the idea of a sunset or dusk wedding. It would be so beautiful with tiki lights going down the aisle but with sunset being at 710 and dusk being at 740 that would mean a late supper for guests and hardly any time for pictures. Planning is hard.

@@KirstenChrisDW2016 - I haven't heard anything good about the resort photographer. I've heard great things about Mike Cantarell. Just googling Barcelo Maya wedding led me to getting a feel for the different styles and photographers out there. Personally I'm flying my photographer there from home. Just be mindful of the vendor fee. Don't worry too much about Abraham not being responsive. That's pretty typical. You're in good hands I promise. Where are you at in your planning exactly?

That's a great idea! I'll ask them how close they are. And if the vendor fee is only 150 that's manageable compared to the 500 for photographers. I cannot believe how quickly everything is coming up! It really is flying by isn't it ? I haven't made the welcome letter or bags yet, or thought about centre pieces at all. Oops!

Hey ladies ! I have a question about the vendor fees. So I'm thinking about sourcing out Styling trio for hair and make up for myself and my bridesmaids. There would be 2 stylists and I for sure want a trail run. My concern is that if I have 2 different stylists come in on 2 different days would that be 2000 USD? That seems insane to me. So I'm thinking what if i book a room for the night before my wedding in my name? Would that help avoid the vendor fees? That way they would have bracelets and could do my trail hair the day before. Has anyone done this and is it allowed? Thanks

@@TaraW - where are you directing your guests for cocktail hour? I've asked Yasmin where the closest grill or bar is and having a hard time getting an answer ha ha and I know you and I are getting married at the same location. By the way I just left Mexico today. My best friend got married at Bahia Príncipe Tulum which is only a few minutes from Barcelo. It got me so excited for my wedding and also was a wake up call that I need to finish planning !!