Mexico Resorts Getting married in the Caribbean Reviews – Getting married in the Caribbean – Mexico Reviews

Just remember bad staff have the ability to completely ruin a vacation!

We were not told when our appointment with the wedding planner was and in fact had to seek out the wedding department as we had heard nothing a few days before our actual wedding. By us seeking out the information we were told we had a meeting with Sandra on Friday at 10:00 a.m. This was news to us as we had not been contacted previously. When we arrived for the 10:00 a.m. meeting, an office move was in progress and we were asked to come back the following day at 10:00 a.m. A note under our door in the absence of a proper inter-room telephone communication system would have been the polite way to handle this situation. Instead, we had to use our limited vacation time to arrange the details of our wedding that we had been trying to arrange for over 5 months rather than enjoying the amenities of the resort

West Jet is a wonderful company who actually care about their customers and felt horrible about our experience. They gave us a generous credit towards future travel and apologized countless times, even though it was not at all their fault! Thank you West Jet!

Also during our first meeting with Sandra we had discovered that the Platinum suite we were staying in had strict guidelines to the guests allowed in the building. If you weren’t Platinum, you weren’t allowed in. We understood the reasoning, but no where was this information given until you arrived at the resort. This would have been nice to know as we would have stayed elsewhere in the resort. We discussed with Sandra that our room being so close to the original ceremony site we had planned for all preparation for myself and bridesmaids to take place in our room (5219) along with our photographer and hair stylist (all who were non Platinum guests). We were told that this would not be a problem and Sandra would take care of this detail and they would make an exception as it was for our wedding. This information was never relayed to anyone working in the Platinum lounge. And when the group of bridesmaids, hair stylist and photographer made their way to our room they were rudely stopped in their tracks and told that security would be called to have them removed.

My mother also determined that we had been given the wrong name for the banquet hall (Hivaljo) and was finally given the correct information at 5:45 pm when the reception was to start at 6:00 pm. Despite all the hard work that the reception staff went through to make up for the disappointing ceremony the issues did not seem to stop. The reception halls were amazing with large vaulted ceilings and chandeliers. Unfortunately, adjacent to the chandeliers there were two dangling projectors 15 ft from the ceiling that made the room and all of our photographs appear tacky. A person’s eye is automatically drawn to the un-retracted projectors making the photos of this amazing banquet room unusable. The head table was about 6 ft too short for the 10 people in the wedding party (a detail that was made known ahead of time to the wedding planners.) We were shoulder to shoulder with barely enough room to eat. As well, the back drop was that of a fire extinguisher and exit signs – again not a fitting scene for our Mexican wedding! The buffet set up had a better back drop than the head table. The reception staff was very attentive to our needs however at times they were too attentive. The groom, when questioned how everything was going, simply stated “dinner was amazing however the ceremony was quite rocky.” The staff then proceeded to question the groom for details at a time when the groom’s only concern was to have fun and attempt to enjoy the rest of the evening. The DJ appeared to be slightly aggravated from the outset. He was standoffish when approached by the best man about a microphone for speeches and overall was not easily approachable. It seemed whenever someone asked him to play a song off of our playlist he didn’t seem very happy about it, it was like we were inconveniencing him. There were some major sound quality issues, severe enough to the point where people could not understand due to the halls acoustics.

We were not asked where we wanted to get married under the Plan B option. Instead we were blamed for having such a big group. Surely a resort of their size would have more suitable premises (Platinum Lounge, Piano Bar, a Hallway even!) for such an important and solemn event. Instead, the processional was along the lobby bar with patrons turned on their barstools watching me and my parents. There are very few photographs that show a beautiful Mexican backdrop for the ceremony. Most show vacationers sitting in the lobby bar and gawking at us – total strangers – and worse yet, taking our photos and videos.

We were always the ones calling and even those calls the afternoon of the wedding day when the alternate site plans were not clear were ignored by Sandra. Simple things went awry – the groom had to re-start the music with the correct song, the cue to start the processional was aborted causing a bridesmaid to stand by herself waiting anxiously for the rest of the wedding party and eventually returning herself to ‘do it again’ and the aisle was not wide enough for 2 when in fact there were 3 trying to navigate the space. Many of the issues could have been avoided had there been upfront and unhurried communication. After all, we paid thousands of dollars to have a spectacular Mexican wedding.

The Mexican rest. was very romantic on the outside as it overlooks a fountain and it is lit up at night. We dined inside because of the mosquitos.

cobble floor but the music was good and the other guests were having a good time too. We dint go on any excursions. We wanted to be safe and save our energy for dancing. The main hotel lobby has lots of brochures of excursions, day trips, etc.

The ride to the resort was pleasant and once there, we were greeted and handed cold towels and flutes of champagne. The heat was brutal.

regaled us with beautiful romantic Mexican music. It was fantastic at night under the full moon.

For our anniversary, they made a swan out of towels and spead rose petals on the beds; too bad they had the wrong date for our anniversary even though we told Cheap Caribbean the right date.

The resort has its own water filtration system. We drank both bottled water and the one they poured and did not get sick at all. You just have to use the bottle water for brushing your teeth and avoid drinking from the tap or getting water in your mouth from the shower.

Overall i would rate this resort good but not great

Louise & Derek

Enjoy the hotel, but DO NOT ATTEND THE TIMESHARE MEETING!

The only slight criticisms would be that it is more a good 4 star than 5 star luxury, it has a very average beach which gets a lot of seaweed and so is not ideal for swimming or snorkelling.

The hotel does not seem to have a business centre but you can have a Wi-Fi connection for $15/day or use the CyberCafe (6 modern terminals) for $10 per hour or $6 for 30 minutes. There is a small and very pricy shop for gifts, cloths and toiletries you have forgotten or run out of. There is a separate gift shop with local crafts.

I really enjoyed my stay at this hotel and will be coming back for sure!!

I REALLY ENJOYED IT

SUPER CLEAN AREA! FUN PLACE TO BE! ALL THE ACTION IS AROUND THE POOLS

The weather was beautiful! Very little rain!

The pools and grounds are beautiful and well-kept. Sometimes I felt that there was at least one employee for every person staying at the hotel. There was always someone doing something, serving something, cleaning something.

The bars are great, but limited hours. The lobby bar is good for relaxing, entertainment, a little bit of dancing, and drinks. The Hacienda courtyard has a great band and usually the coldest beer. The discotheque specializes in disco, so it may not be for everyone.

Also, the mini-bar isn’t a typically stocked mini-bar as some may be accustomed to. Usually there were two cokes/diet cokes and two beers. Occasionally a bag of potato chips and a candy bar. If you want more than this, just leave a note, or call the desk and request it. It shouldn’t be a problem getting what you want. We had a bottle of tequila one day.

Playa del Carmen is fantastic too. $10 from the resort and lots of food and shopping. Practise your "no grascias " for the vendors.

But, all told, I will go back again. Sooo much more to still do and see.

They have flamingos and crocodiles, it’s just a beautiful resort.

The Disco at this resort is also very nice. You need to take a shuttle to ge there but it is a 5 minute ride an well worth it!

There is also a lazy river at this resort, very very fun and a perfect place to get a beautiful tan. They provide you with a floatation device and it takes you through the river very nice touch.

There is also a coffee bar at this resort and you can go for a coffee at any time of the day, very yummy!

Best of luck as you research your ideal vacation!

bad ending to a great trip any questions email glgeddes@rfnow.com

There is lots to do on the resort, if you want. Our lives go 90 MPH at home, so we went away to slow down. There were a few Mayan Monkeys and several vino tintos, though. Another drink I discovered is called the Riviera Maya. It is go-o-o-d!

Bed was two doubles pushed together but we got to accept that and they put an egg crate mattress on the top for us so it was a little softer. We slept great!

We also went to the silver factory. Some items were reasonably prices while others were extremely expensive.

The only draw back to this resort in my opinion is the beach. If you like waves and a beach to go to walk on, this isn’t for you. The beach is a man made lagoon. It does have beautiful tropical fish and there is a restaurant and bar there.

cant wait to get back there

All and all a very pleasant and instructive excursion.

We hope everyone enjoy the place as much as we did.

This was our 6th visit to an IB resort, we have never been let down anywhere by the food.

ABRACOS ….SAUDADES

Both pools were cleaned daily by the pool staff. The pool staff worked all day long cleaning out the swim-up section leading to the main pool and also emptying and refilling the infinity plunge pools on the 2nd to 4th floors. Water temperature was very warm in the pools.

My pictures can be found on facebook at the following link http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=251290&id=515800235&l=64d393c2b5

Other pics can be found on the Facebook group called “El Dorado Maroma Magic”.

If anyone has any questions they can email me at gaudreaur+EDM@gmail.com

Bar service was excellent. Top shelf liquor here but you do have to ask for them. Bartenders will usually remember what you like to drink and how you like it prepared. Each bartender seems to have his own special drink. Order them all.. they are all good.

Thanks to Laime and Margarita who cleaned and turned down our room daily.

We are already getting ready to book for our one year anniversary.

The beach was very clean and you could choose where you wanted to swim. Some of the beach was sandy and some areas were rocky, great for snorkling. Because of the time of year we travelled, there was no issue getting a beach lounge chair or shade. The ocean pool was the best! Fish are able to enter and exit the pool making for some wonderful snorkling. The day we left was the best (of course), we saw lots of bright and colorful fish. A real gem!

We also took the Collectivo (local bus)from outside the Colonial lobby, on the highway, to Playa Del Carmen. You could also take a cab if you wish. Playa is beautiful with lots of local shopping. We purchased some souvenirs, don’t forget to haggle the price! The ferry to Cozumel was docked and we could watch tourists come and go. The beachfront is very pretty.

The only drawback was that the Dress Code, was not adhered to, ‘casual elegance’ was construed as turning your baseball cap the right way round. OK for Piggly Wiggly, bu

Again, the hotel is beautiful, and we really hoped that everything would have turned out well, but it did not. Maybe others have had good experiences- but please- at least try to find other reviews before booking your wedding here.

The wedding ceremony was amazing!! Our wedding ceremony was at 3pm, at 2:50pm the golf cart came to transport me and my photographers (Citlalli Rico from Claudia Rodriguez’s team) and my family to the marble wedding gazebo. The ceremony was extremely well organized. Thirty of our friends and family were gathered under the gazebo in white covered chairs. The aisle runner was strewn with petals and we hired the trio of Mexican guitar singers to play before and after the ceremony. The Judge, Jorge Carlos Denis Zapata, was very charismatic and spoke excellent English and said many wonderful words during our ceremony. My fiancé originally wanted a religious ceremony and although the Judge was not a minister or priest (and did not actually talk about God) we felt it was very spiritual. It was also fun to get fingerprinted at our wedding, just your thumbs. The view from the gazebo for the bride and groom (as well as the guests) is breathtaking. After we were pronounced husband and wife we kissed (until the Judge said, “Ok, enough!” very funny) and as walked back down the aisle together the guests threw petals that swirled around us. At the bottom of the carpet we were each handed a glass of champagne and we toasted each other, visited with guests and took photos with our photographer. Half a dozen people told me they cried at the ceremony because it was so beautiful (even a guy). I can’t imagine a more magical wedding ceremony.

The wedding dinner was at El Dorado at 6pm. The starfish wine stopper favors (weddingstar.com) we had given the wedding planner were beautifully arranged and the food was very good. The cake was very pretty (although they misplaced the cake topper and had to find it) and the arrangement of champagne glasses in a heart was lovely. The only unfortunate incident occurred because we had the room booked from 6 – 8:30pm, but the service was slow. We weren’t worried because the wedding planner told us we could run a little over. Our meals did not come out until after 7:30pm and at 8pm we had still not had our champagne toasts or the wedding cake. Our best man asked for the champagne to be handed out for over 30 minutes, eventually he handed out the glasses out himself along with the groom. We started our toasts at 8:10pm and at 8:20pm the Hostess came over to us and was standing behind my new husband telling him we’d been there too long because there was a group waiting for the room for 9pm. She would not be quiet even when I was proposing a toast to the Groom. I finally had to tell her to get out. I said, “Please – leave – now” and I think she may have seen her untimely death in my eyes, so she did leave the room. We finished our toasts at 8:30pm, a groomsman grabbed the cake and we took a golf cart to La Laguna. We cut the cake and danced at La Laguna, a lovely large outdoor pool restaurant/bar. The rock band playing that night, Conclasse, happily played our wedding songs and we had our First Dance (“With or Without You” by U2) and Father/Daughter Dance (“Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond) and then the whole group danced for hours. We knew what songs to choose from because we went there earlier in the week and found out they would be there for our wedding and chose a couple songs that were great. We loved the band (and tipped them well) and they did line dances and the conga with us and everyone had a blast! Many people told me it was the most fun they had at a wedding. Later that evening we returned to our Royal Suite to find more petals around the room, plus our Jacuzzi tub on the deck was filled with rose petals and there was chocolate covered strawberries and champagne. It was a very magical ending to a wonderful day. The minor bumps were shadowed by the beautiful wedding ceremony and kind service we received. There is no wedding planner present at the restaurant, only the ceremony. A lot of my guests were mad about being kicked out of the restaurant (and openly voiced their concerns to the Hostess) but we tried to laugh it off and continue with our day. My advice to other brides is to laugh off the mishaps, they happen anywhere. When we handed in the survey a few days after the wedding, Management sent us champagne, a plate of chocolate strawberries and apologized. That’s nice; hopefully in the future they handle the situation with more consideration and courtesy. When I spoke to Rocio a few days later about it, she was very apologetic and was kind enough to send the Judge’s words from the ceremony to our room before we left (as we requested).

Overall, we are thrilled with our wedding experience at The Grand Palladium Riviera and would highly recommend it.

COST 10+/10

All I paid was 150$ for the blood test and 50$ judge’s transportation. Both paid in cash with the proper change. The only other things I paid for was getting everyone’s hair done (45$ each). Also Landy asked me for 5$ tip to pay the guy who set-up the speaker system and played our songs at the ceremony (no charge, just this 5$ "mandatory" tip). When I went to pick up my marriage certificate I tipped Landy for her services and the two men who set up the ceremony site. Even though we had some substitutes (no boutonnier for the groom, no flower arch on the gazebo, but we got two bags of petals and also flower arrangements for the aisle; and smaller flowers on the gazebo) and even though I asked for a more complicated gazebo decoration (I brought my own tulle for them to do this) they didn’t charge me anything for the substitutes or the for the extra work to decorate the gazebo! They also didn’t charge for me to change from vanilla or chocolate cake (included free) to Tres Leche, nor to have a small two tier cake (my request) instead of the small one tiered one I was suppose to get in the package. I got a flower bouquet different than the ones shown in the flower document Landy had sent me and didn’t get charged extra for that either. I also requested that they have the beach cleaned around the gazebo (they always pick up garbage like straws in the sand, but I wanted the seaweed/coral raked up) and said I would pay the guys to clean it but Landy said I didn’t have to pay. I couldn’t believe they didn’t charge me for any of this.

FLOWERS 8/10

I was really concerned about not getting flowers I liked so I ended up ordering natural touch silk flowers from Angel’s Accents. The natural touch flowers look very real, my family were all shocked at how nice and real looking they were. Since the bouquet and boutonnier were free in the package, I decided to take the bouquet anyways hoping it would be better than my silk one or to use as a centerpiece. I didn’t like any of the bouquets in the book so I wanted something different. I really wanted hibiscus, Landy said she’d talk to the florist. Landy got back to me the day before my wedding and said the florist said hibiscus wilt very quickly so they couldn’t do that. I requested birds of paradise and bromeliads. The bouquet was beautiful but it was only delivered (by Landy) one hour before the ceremony, and by then my photographer had taken a ton of pictures with my fake bouquet, so I didn’t want to change bouquets half way though my photos, so I used the real bouquet as a centerpiece for the dinner table. I definitely recommend asking for your bouquet to come earlier! I know Landy gets them in the morning, she told me so and I saw the ones from another wedding when I was there at 1pm. I don’t know why they wait so long to bring them to you. I didn’t want the flower arch that they normally do on the gazebo (this comes free even with the free package), I thought it was too much. I gave Landy a picture I saw where there was just a small palm leaf with a few flowers on each side of the gazebo, so that is what she did. I also requested some palm leaf/flower arrangements for the aisle and they were beautiful.

MUSIC 9/10

I had booked the Caribbean Trio, but Landy said that was something more appropriate for after the ceremony, not during (i.e. it’s not really walking down the aisle music) and since we only had 10 guests who would all be doing photos after the ceremony, I didn’t want to pay 350$ for the Caribbean Trio (for 45 minutes) after the ceremony. She said we could get the “Romantic Trio” instead, this is not in the info booklet, it’s the same people but different style of music and instruments, she said it’s more like serenading music and more appropriate for walking down the aisle. So we agreed to that for during the ceremony and a little bit after. But then we saw another wedding and they used the speaker system with Canon in D playing and the music was very beautiful and very clear so we cancelled the band (no charge, it’s always booked last minute anyways). We didn’t have to pay for the speaker system, just a 5$ tip (requested by Landy) to the guy doing it.

PHOTO AND VIDEO

We didn’t use the resort photographer or videographer. My photographer was one of my guests, and for a videographer we used Paul Schrank from playaweddings. We didn’t get charged anything for using outside vendors.

HAIR 9/10

Me and my 2 bridesmaids went to the salon to have our hair done at 9am. We had 3 different stylists and it took 45 minutes total for us to be done and out of there! The appointments started right on time. We had planned 1.5-2 hours for the hair in case they were late and in case it took a long time (I’ve had updos before that take over an hour). My two bridesmaids had shorter hair so their updos were smaller but I have long hair so lots to curl and still only 45 minutes. I told them to put lots of hairspray and it held up pretty good all day. The only problem is my veil wasn’t back from being steamed so I couldn’t get her to put it in. I slipped it in myself later and it didn’t stay well at all, it stayed for the ceremony but fell out like 20 times during pictures so I eventually gave up and took it out. Would have maybe been better if the hairstylist had put it in. I was very happy with my hair even though it wasn’t quite the same as my inspiration picture I had brought, it was close (as a side note, they have a bunch of hair books if you don’t bring your own picture). My bridesmaids were satisfied with theirs but not overly happy, probably because their hair is so short (less than shoulder length).

CLOTHES STEAMING / IRONING 8/10

The resort steamed my veil and dress and irnoned my husband’s suit and shirt for free as part of our package. They picked the stuff up around noon the day before our wedding and brought it back at 11am the day of the wedding. I called Landy at 10am the day of the wedding when we didn’t have it because I was ready to get dressed soon, but they came shortly after. As mentioned it would have been better to get the veil back sooner so that the hair stylist coud have put it in. Also when our clothes weren’t there by 10am, I was a little bit worried.

TIMING OF THE DAY 10/10

I originally booked my ceremony time at 4pm based on the sun setting at 7pm (as it did last year on the same date) as I wanted 2 hours of good light after the ceremony for photos. But I found out 2 weeks before that sun set would be at 6pm because daylight savings time was only starting a few days later (it starts on the first Sunday in April, whereas in Canada and US it now starts on the 3rd Sunday in March). When I met with Landy she was able to change it to 3pm. The ceremony started only a few minutes late, I think like maybe 5-10 minutes. 3pm was a perfect ceremony time (based on 6pm sunset) because it gave us sufficient time for photos (we had taken photos separately with our families for a couple hours before the ceremony since I didn’t want to see the groom before the wedding). Another good thing about 3pm is that it wasn’t too hot. The hottest time of day at the resort is from about 10am – 2pm. The sun cools down a lot around 3pm as it’s farther down in the sky. I’m really happy that I made my hair appointment for 9am and that left a lot of time for photos, I couldn’t believe how fast the time went by and how long it took to get all the shots I wanted. Having my hair appointment so early also made the whole day relaxing since we weren’t rushed at all.

CEREMONY 10/10

The judge spoke Spanish and Landy translated and there was a microphone so everybody could hear. The ceremony only lasted about 15-20 minutes (even though Landy had said 30). The only thing we added to the regular ceremony was our vows.

DINNER 10/10

We scheduled our dinner for the seaside grill at 6pm. I chose this restaurant since it was open air and near the beach. There are a few mosquitoes around but not that bothersome. We didn’t have a private reception and it didn’t matter, we had one long beautiful rectangular table for the 10 of us and it was perfect. They brought the chairs from the ceremony site (still decorated with bows) over to the restaurant. They meticulously set-up the table lining up each piece of silverware (my parents were so impressed as they watched them do this). They set up a small table next to it with the cake. The dinner and service was wonderful. Everybody was allowed to order from the regular menu since we were only 10 people. We got lots of champagne (they were very generous with this, we had gotten a bottle in our room the day we arrived, a bottle in our room the wedding day, a bottle for the toast and then more for dinner!). For dessert they asked if we wanted to order dessert on top of the wedding cake but we stuck with just the cake. It was tres leche and very delicious. There was way more than enough for 10 people, we only ate half of it. I asked Landy to clarify the new policy related to renting out restaurants now that they have the ballrooms (Convention Center), and she said from now on the only restaurants than can be rented for a private reception are the seaside grill and El Patio. You can no longer do a private reception at the other a-la-cartes (Portofino, Bordeau, Himitsu, Gohan). The cost for the private reception at these two places is 700$ or 750$ (can’t remember). If you have the Ultimate Wedding package you can also have your reception on the beach at no additional cost. The only free option for groups larger than 10 is the buffet, otherwise you pay a 18$ per person set-up & service fee to have dinner in any other restaurant (less than 10 people is free at any restaurant). In my opinion the buffet is actually not a bad option, our whole group ate at the buffet the second night and we had a large table off to the side and it didn’t feel like we were at the buffet at all, it was all candlelit and we got excellent service from the waiter for drinks and clearing plates.

DANCING

For the 1st dance, we planned on going to the Disco but we got there and there was not one person, and we were only 10 people, so not enough to get a good crowd, and it was very dark and they had a disco ball going and it wasn’t really a nice atmosphere for a first dance so since I could tell the parents were uncomfortable we just left and went to bed (I didn’t care as we will dance at our reception at home in a few weeks). What I wish we had planned instead was just to take the ipod dock station from our room (you would require batteries to do this) and do our dance next to the pool, or even right in front of the lobby. Both locations would have been beautiful for a first dance.

PHOTOS AT TULUM RUINS

So it turns out you can’t take wedding pictures at the Tulum ruins! I arrived at the ruins at 8am in my dress (the day after our wedding since we didn’t have time on the wedding day) and they wouldn’t let us in! They told me to change so I put on my bathing suit (there is a washroom at the entrance) and then when I got to the 2nd gate where they stamp your ticket they told me to put my dress in a locker! (it was in my beach bag, but they knew, all the employees saw me walk in wearing my dress) so we just got a refund and left. The employees were nice and polite about it but very firm about not letting me in with my dress on (even though we were practically the only ones there since they had just opened) I was so disappointed because the beach is so amazing and pictures from the look-out point near the beach and on the beach would have been spectacular.

CONCLUSION

I think it’s pretty clear that I was very happy with the resort and especially the wedding. Like I mention the only 2 big problems were the beach and the fact that the resort is far away a lot of things. I was really impressed at how hard the staff (Landy, the two men who did the gazebo set-up, the dinner waiter..) worked to make my wedding day perfect.

After breakfast I headed up to my room to begin preparations for the day. My maid of honour curled my hair and then her and my BM pinned and styled it for me. It turned out amazing and lasted pretty good all day. (the resort stylist was too pricy for us $80US) We all got dressed and then at 3 the Photographer Alberto (www.claudiaphoto.com) showed up. He took a variety of photos and then left at 330 to go to the gazebo.

The little cart was supposed to show at 4 but by 410 we still didn’t have a cart so my dad walked to the lobby and got a guy to come get us, so we got to the wedding site around 420. We arrived at the site and it took my breath away, it was beautiful, as I hopped off the cart all sorts of people started to applaud, it was really sweet. The trio started to play and the girls headed up the flower strewn isle. I got a little choked up and my dad made me laugh and unchoke by explaining all about the birds and the bees as we walked the isle. I was laughing like crazy. The JP was great, he spoke English and he was wonderful, the ceremony was sweet and to the point, we exchanged rings and the JP allowed us to say our vows. My DH had his memorized, and I had to pull out a piece of paper to say mine. After our vows my brother said a few words and then the JP finished the ceremony off and we were introduced as Mr and Mrs. We had lots of photos after that and then dinner at the buffet. The dinner was fantastic. They had reserved two long tables for us and when we walked in all the buffet staff were standing at the entrance and applauded us as we entered. The staff were attentive and kept our glasses full and our plates clean. I wouldn’t have changed it for anything. It was relaxed and everyone had lots to eat. We said a few speeches during dessert and then they brought out the wedding cake. hmmmm, not to sure what I can say about it except, it tasted amazing. All I did with regards to the cake was hand in my cake topper and figured it would be a plain white cake – perfect. Well I guess the chef decided it needed to be jazzed up so he went to town on it and had all these edible maple sticks sticking out of it in all directions including a small stick in between the cake toppers grooms legs – it was the funniest thing we had ever seen. After dinner we went to the lobby bar where we had our first dance. Then we went to the La Laguna and danced the evening away to Quarzo. Quarzo is a coverband and they are really good, heaps better then some of the coverbands that play in local pubs. Everyone was dancing, the place was packed. After Quarzo left we went to the disco and the finally back to our room. Our room wasn’t decorated for the wedding as it was supposed to be but it really didn’t matter cause my girlfriends went up and made it look pretty for us.

It was a fantastic day and it exceeded all my expectations. We had a amazing time and I would go back to the resort in a heart beat. You will NOT be disappointed if you choose this resort or if you choose to be married here.

You may wonder why we were so near by. We were sitting on the beach listening to the waves and the wonderful Mariachi band dressed in their traditional dress as they played for the wedding reception. We saw quite a few waiters attending all the tables [we figured about 70 guests]. During the reception the resort put on a spectacular fireworks display which went out over the ocean and lasted about 15mins. It was very impressive for the people just staying at the resort and watching during their after dinner stroll.

I have travelled a lot in my life and would never expect my destination wedding to go off without a hitch but all of the problems that we had were due to the wedding planner. I feel that I can never get my wedding back but now have a story to tell my children and grandchildren. If you do decide to get married at this resort do it with caution and stick to what you want. If you don’t like the answer ask for someone else. If your wedding planners name is Alana ask for another wedding planner and remember if you’re doing a legal marriage in Mexico the certificate you put your thumb print on is enough to legally change your name in Canada.

donnamilner2001@yahoo.co.uk

If you plan on getting married in Cancun, on the beach, I suggest that you look this sight up. My wedding coordinaror Paloma, along with the Hyatt made my wedding spectacular! I explained my vision and they made it a reality. I could not have been happier with how they arranged that unforgettable day. My photographer, Claudia Rodriguez was the most amazing photographer along with her husband who does the videography. On our wedding day it was very windy and Claudia was concerned that we might have not taken the best pictures, so she drove two hours out of her way the next day to our honeymoon hotel, the El Dorado Royale to take more pictures of us that she knew we would love. Wow….she is the best!!!!

Speaking of the best…….the El Dorado Royale was what a honeymoon is supposed to be! We stayed at the Casitas, which were very romantic. The property is amazing!!! It is an all inclusive resort with five star restaurants to eat at every night. The staff were so friendly!!

If you are going to the Mayan Riviera, do some homework on this beautiful destination. There is so much to do and see you don’t want to miss out on all it has to offer!!! Playa del Carmen, Cozumel, Xcaret, Isla mujeres…..this is paradise!! Have fun…

Shortly after that we did a first dance(we brought a wedding disc with 15 or so songs on it which the DJ played. At 10pm the disco opened to everyone else at the resort, and we partied there until early into the next morning

FLIGHT

From Calgary we flew via Sykservice through signature vacations. Skyservice was not quite as bad as I had anticipated. The seats were tight, but we learned on the way home that rows 20-30 are the tightest. Anything before 20 and after 30 has a little more leg room, which really made quite a difference on our way home. The flight went reasonably well – it’s a long cramped ride, but worth it for where you’re going. Arrival in the Cancun airport at around 3:45pm on the Friday was quite smooth. We were the only flight that arrived to the terminal at that time, so while we were in line for about 20 minutes, it wasn’t too bad at all. (as a side note for future Mexico brides, we did carry down with us gift bags for all our guests. We had boxed them up into smaller boxes to distribute to some of our family and friends to check as baggage on the plane, which worked quite well. Our baggage, however, was too heavy. We were overweight and had to pay about $180 for overweight luggage, which we were expecting, so it wasn’t the end of the world for us. It was quite stressful upon arrival to make sure all the boxes were collected and got on the bus and to our room at the resort, but as soon as we had them in our room, it was all good. I did also carry on my dress, which I learned probably wasn’t necessary, other than the fact I would have been horrified if they lost my luggage. But, in terms of wrinkles, it didn’t make any difference. The airline would not hang the dress, so it went in the overhead bin folded neatly on top of bags, but fell off the hanger numerous times throughout the travels to the resort and for the most part sat at the bottom of the garment bag in a ball, but as soon as I hung it for a day, it didn’t need any pressing what so ever. My dress, however, did not have any thick heavy fabric, which also helped in terms of wrinkles). Cancun airport went smoothly, got through customs and collected our baggage and all our boxes. Unbelievably, no one in our group got the red light, which was great! Hopped on the bus and made one stop at another resort on the way to ours.

CHECK IN

Got to the resort and check-in went very smoothly. We were greeted with welcome drinks and given our room number and resort information and room keys. We were also given an envelope with a note from Mariela, the wedding coordinator, asking us to meet her at 10am the following day in the lobby to go over the details of the wedding.

ROOMS

Got upgraded to a GREAT ocean view room on the Quetzal side (we had originally booked on the Tucan, but truly, it DOES NOT make a difference. I have seen some reviews where people are dissapointed by which side they’re on – it really doesn’t matter – they do each have different decor to the rooms, and different sort of pathways, but they’re both beautiful. You have to be really picky to be upset about one side over the other). So, we got upgraded to the oceanview room which was great. They had left us a bottle of wine, a nice fruit basket and flower arrangement. The rooms was great. Yes, the bed was firm, but we really didn’t have an issue sleeping. Nice size bathroom with great stand-up shower with lots of water pressure. The only thing lacking in the room are drawers and places to put clothes and things – there are some shelves throughout, and lots of counter space, but more drawers might have been handy and kept us a little more organized. The night was pretty low key – had something to eat at the buffet, had a few drinks and went to bed.

WEDDING PLANS

The next day we were up nice and early (weather was perfect throughout the 2 weeks until the last day we were there). Went to the beach for a while before our meeting with Mariela. Met with Mariela and her assistant (Anna I think was her name). The meeting was great. They showed us pictures, we picked our decor (Traditional white or Mexican – we went with White), we picked our flowers (you can pick traditional bouquets, roses, gerger daisies, etc, we went with the tropical flowers and weren’t dissapointed in the least). They showed us pictures of cakes, we chose one, they gave us the cake flavours, we picked one. And we went over some of the other details of the day. All in all the meeting took 45 minutes. 45 minutes to plan a wedding – how wonderful!! The next couple days were great. Oursleves and all our guests were extremely thrilled with the resort – everything about it.

GREAT RESTAURANT IN TOWN…

Tuesday night the immediate family and wedding party went into playa del carmen for a rehearsal dinner (we didn’t really have a rehearsal dinner, we just wanted an excuse to go out with all of them). We did it at Yaxche restaurant – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! It was great. We were set up in the garden area. The food was the best we had in the whole 2 weeks in Mexico. SOOOOO good and the service was fantastic too.

WEDDING DAY:

Next day was the wedding day. I had always wanted to be sitting by the pool the morning of my wedding, so I made a special point of getting up and out right away so I had a couple hours at the pool. At 11:00 I headed up to my room for a shower. Headed over to my mom’s room with my bride’s maids and dropped off our dresses, then over to the spa to get our hair done. We all did our make-up ourselves in the spa while others were getting their hair done (they only have 2 girls doing hair, so we had to take turns). Though the ladies doing hair in the spa spoke very little English, they gave us a book of up-do’s and had us pick which one we liked and they did an ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC job! And no worries about my hair staying in place – they have some SERIOUS hair spray! They incorporated my tiara and veil into my up-do and I was really really happy with what they did. By now we were running a little behind schedule, so we rushed off to my mom’s room and got dressed. Flowers were delivered on time – WOW!! They were absolutely fabulous, I was so thrilled with them, could have never gotten flowers so beautiful here in Canada. The boys lapel flowers were delivered to the room where they were getting ready – also great!

PICTURES:

I know some of you brides to be out there are wondering about pictures – I was lucky, my uncle is a professional photographer and he came to Mexico with us and did our pictures for us down there. The resort does not allow off-site photographers unless they are part of your wedding group. I have seen the on-site photographer and the pictures done, which are great, but really you can’t go wrong with the scenery there, however, I do have to admit it was nice having a REAL professional photographer rather than the same one that takes pictures of the iguanas and parrots throughout the resort that day. I’m really not meaning to ‘diss’ their photographer, I’ve just grown up with an uncle as a professional photographer, so I really know the difference, but the albums that the resort photographer was doing looked beautiful – I’m just biased. I had my pictures with me and my bridemaids and my mom before the ceremony. We took a bunch of them throughout the resort as we made our way to the beach for the ceremony.

WEDDING CEREMONY:

We arrived at the wedding ceremony and had to wait hiding behind a building for a little bit because the guests wouldn’t take their seats! But, eventually we got underway. We were given a list of music for the processional by Mariela to choose from, but it was mostly filled with cheesy Mariah Carey and Celine Dion type music. Instead I asked her to just play some ‘Mexican’ music. She had a mariachi CD she used, it was great. We also cheated a little bit with the legal requirements. We legally got married in Canada prior to our departure, which saved us some of the paperwork. Usually, for a non-legal ceremony, they offer a ‘non-denomination Christian minister’ to perform the ceremony. This didn’t sit well with my husband and I as we wanted no religion in the ceremony at all. So, instead, since it wasn’t a legal ceremony anyways, we asked one of our close friends to perform the ceremony, it was a wonderful way to include someone so important to us and it was absolutely perfect. Following the brief ceremony we had a champagne toast and more hugs and kisses than I could ever count. Yes, there were on-lookers in bikinis and speedo’s during the ceremony, but to be completely honest, I only know this from some of the pictures and video, during the ceremony I was so wrapped up in everything that I didn’t notice at all. As well, Mariela and her assistant were very good at clearing most of the people away from the area for the ceremony. Champagne on the beach with mariachi music playing from the speakers – it was fantastic. We did pictures of the wedding party, family and bride and groom immediately following champage. It was so much fun!!!

COCKTAIL RECEPTION

We had a cocktail reception planned to take place in the jungle from 5:15-6:15 with a mariachi band. In comparison to all the other costs, this was the most expensive event of the entire wedding – but worth it!! The mariachi band was unbelievably fantastic and fun. The food was good (appetizers), and drinks of course were great. It was QUITE costly in comparison to everything else, but quite cheap to compare to doing something like that at home. To us, it was worth it. Gave us some time to mill around and socialize with everyone after the ceremony and before the formal dinner. It was a lot of fun.

DINNER RECEPTION

We chose the steakhouse (la Marimba) for the dinner/reception because we wanted the open air environment and we just liked this restaurant from what we read in previous reviews. It was a GREAT choice. I did have to negotiate a bit prior to departing in order to get the entire restaurant reserved for JUST us for the entire evening (6:30-10:30). Because we had less that 75 people we couldn’t just have it for the evening, but because we were 52, Mariela allowed us to have the whole restaurant for the entire evening as long as it counted as one dinner reservation at an a-la-carte restaurant for each of the guests. This was fine with me, I don’t think any of the guests minded, in fact, most of them didn’t even realize that they had one less reservation. The table set up was fantastic, the flowers were great (we upgraded the flowers at the ceremony, and then they took the flowers from the ceremony and used them as centerpieces at dinner – it was great). In fact, I upgraded flowers anywhere and everywhere we could – they were really cheap and really beautiful. We had dinner, which was served, including appetizers and main course. We had ordered a DJ for the evening to have a microphone for speeches and play music for the dance afterwards (we burned our own CD’s for the dance as we didn’t know what to expect the DJ to have in terms of music for dancing). This was my one of 2 disappointments of the entire wedding – the DJ was REALLY cheap ($50 for 2 hours), which surprised me, but really, the DJ was nothing more than a getoblaster with 1 speaker. It was loud enough for the speeches, but pretty pathetic for dancing, but really not a catastrophic thing, we got over it pretty quickly. Just meant that dancing didn’t really catch on, most people just mingled and drank – if the music was louder, people probably would have danced more. The wedding cake was AMAZING!!!! It was beautiful (we ordered fresh flowers as decoration of course), and it was sooooo tasty. We went with the strawberry vanilla cake – basically it was like strawberry shortcake and soooooo yummy!!

AFTER 10:30pm

We headed over to the disco. Lots of dancing and fun, not much more needs to be said. All in all we had a FANTASTIC day!!

VIDEO:

2 days after the wedding our video was ready at the photoshop. We ordered the video not really expecting the most quality video in the world, but just so we had a video of the day. We brought our own personal DVD player, so we were able to take the DVD back to our room and watch it. This was the 2nd disappointment of the wedding (there were only 2, and neither of them are major as you can see). The video was pretty terrible. The editing was just soooo choppy and bad. We took the video back to the photoshop and told them how we felt and they said they would re-do it. So, we picked up another one a few days later and it wasn’t much better. All I can say is for $300US, don’t expect much for the video. I’m still glad we did it, even for the money, because I’m happy to have the video, but the quality is just pretty bad. REST OF THE TRIP The rest of the trip was totally delightful and wonderful and relaxing and fun. I can’t give any reviews about the a la carte restaurants because, if you can believe it, we didn’t eat at any for the entire 2 weeks except the steakhouse. We were pretty content with the buffet and we weren’t keen on having a reservation at a specific time – this isn’t the way we like to vacation in Mexico. We also ate dinner in town quite a few evenings. We liked venturing into town during the evening for a bit and you could find pretty cheap restaurants to stop and eat at. If you have any other questions about anything at all, please feel free to ask. I spent a lot of time researching a lot of things, so I know a lot about it all. Thank you to this board for all the great information I got and used in my research prior to my wonderful wedding – what a dream come true. Honestly. And now, we’re planning our next trip to the area next year – probably the Iberostar Tucan again – it’s the most amazing place – and all our 52 guests agreed!!

swhitton@royallepage.ca

You got questions then email me lauriealmi50@yahoo.com

We booked our hotel and made a deposit in August 2004. As soon as everyone in our party was confirmed, I contacted the RIU Hotel Wedding Coordinator who booked a wedding date for us – her name was Jessica and she was excellent – very prompt and efficient. You have to book a date as soon as possible since there are many weddings held at this hotel and surrounding RIU hotels, and dates become limited the more you wait. By law, we needed to be in Mexico three business days prior to the wedding so it worked out perfectly for us.

We arrived in Mexico late in the evening on March 28th. The following morning we had an appointment to meet Jessica, our wedding coordinator. We woke up and met Jessica at the RIU Palace for about ½ hour – during this time we provided her with our passports and paperwork and went over all the details for the wedding. She provided us with a binder of flower selections, cake choices and ceremony spots. We chose to get married on the beach of the RIU Playacar (we came all this way after all) as opposed to the garden areas. Although the beach was much less private, it was the reason we went south to be married in the first place. Our wedding was scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on the 31st. At 2 p.m., the flowers arrived and shortly after the hairdresser came to my room for an updo. She was fantastic – I would suggest you bring a photo along since their English is quite limited. At 3:30 p.m., I headed towards the beach area with my parents, my maid-of-honour and Emery’s best man. The ceremony was gorgeous, and quite brief. There were many (probably about a hundred) people taking photos of us and video taping as we were not in a private area. The Coordinator did a great job of cordoning off the area which we were to me married, but weddings like this attract almost everyone. This didn’t bother us in the least as we were concentrated on us, and our ceremony. If you want a more intimate ceremony, choose the gardens. After the ceremony, we had professional photos and a video taken in several different locations of the four RIU hotels – the beach photography was stunning. After the photo/video session, we met our family and friends at the Kiosko bar and terrace for a few drinks and casual photos before dinner. Dinner was at the “Steakhouse” à la carte restaurant and was perfect. We ate, had a toast, and made speeches before giving all our guests a gift for joining us. There was also a small cake cutting.

It was an amazing day and we would not have changed a thing. It’s a big day and a big deal – you should thoroughly do your research to ensure it’s one of the best days of your lives.

I would highly recommend the Barcelo for your wedding. Every detail was taken care off, stress free, hassle free and fun!! There is no other way that I would have had my wedding. It was an experience that all of us will carry with us forever!

** It has been almost 5 months and the Resort is refusing to acknowledge any of our coorespondence

Arrival

Emailed the resort weeks ahead requesting that we all stay in the same complex. Unfortunately we all got separated but this was not a big deal at all. We got upgraded to an ocean view room in villa 4. The majority of the group stayed in villas 9-11 which was close to the 24 hour snack bar.

Food and Restaurants

We’ve stayed at the Akumal side of the resort before so we were quite familiar with the facilities. Our group ate mainly at the Tulum buffet because they had larger tables. Our server Marcos was great the whole week. We ate at the Akumal buffet for lunch and it was nice and breezy. We ate at Coba buffet one night, and it was super hot. No breeze going through that restaurant. Selection at all restaurants varied and you will definitely find something to eat there. A lot of times for lunch, the group would eat at the snack bar because they served these amazing ribs. We also went to Coba pool area for lunch when they made Paella in front of everyone. As a whole group, we had a big problem trying to book a ala carte. We decided to split up the group and go to different restaurants. The Gran Tortuga Steak house was enjoyed by many. They said the steaks were gigantic and the service great. We all ate at the El Senador Seafood restaurant at the Coba side and had the best food. We weren’t supposed to but we requested two different entrees cause we couldn’t decide which one to order. The manager, Alfredo, was so accommodating to our large group. We also ate at the Oriental restaurant on a Thursday during the Fiesta night. Although they say you don’t, we got into the Fiesta for free by showing our reservation sheet at the entrance. The Don Pablo was also a nice romantic restaurant.

Activities,Night Shows and Excursions

As a large group, we were fine entertaining ourselves. We joined animation staff when they played volleyball, or had beer drinking contests. We also had fun watching our friends learn to dance some meringue. At nights after dinner, we would go and watch some shows and then head over to the live band while having a couple of drinks. After, we would all head to the La Rancherita disco at the Hacienda and dance the night away. Drinks are also included here, and everyone from all three sides of the complex are welcome. We stayed up late many nights trying to catch turtles laying their eggs. Usually happens around 3am and the ecological team can show you where it is. Saw the eggs but missed the turtles. Paid $30 to learn how to operate a Hobby Cat, after that, you can take it out as many times as you wish. Negotiated down to $50 for the parasailing. As for excursions, we went to Tulum on a Sunday so it was FREE entrance. We decided to take taxis and negotiated a deal for all taxis. Some went on the ATV/Speedboat tour. It cost $69 and they negotiated prices for all the pictures and DVD of their tour. We all went to Xelha. We bought the tickets from our rep but only paid for entrance which was $59 all inclusive. Others paid extra $139 for their dolpin experience at Xelha. Again, negotiated cab rides for everyone. Xelha is only about 10 minutes away. Went to Playa Del Carmen and took collectivos, $2 each way. At Playa, they opened a Walmart just west a couple of blocks off 5th Avenue. There we bought local snacks and super cheap liquor. We also had a girls night out and went clubbing at Blue Parrot. Entrance was $6 and this included 2 drinks. Just a note, collectivos stop running at 11pm so if you have to get back to the resort you have to take a cab. It will cost you $20 for 4 people. Some also went on the Coba Mayan Adventure tour and this was $89.

Wedding

My dress was steamed and pressed for $15, it takes atleast 48 hours so do it in advance or you will end up paying express prices. Went to the Bahia Spa and got my hair done. It was very pricey but well worth it. It cost $65 for an updo but if you have a veil it will cost $85. Put the veil yourself and this can save you money. My friend had a pedicure and it faded the moment she went on the beach, she went back and they gladly rescheduled for a free touch up. Ladies, ask for Guadalupe to do your hair. She did a fantastic job. Jazmin Ortiz was the coordinator and we met with her two days after arrival to discuss the location and flowers. We picked the site at the gazebo. Restaurant menu was picked ahead of time and flowers were picked that same day. We provided our own music and everything was nicely synchronized. Champagne was served after the ceremony. We booked the Mexican restaurant for dinner at 7. There were other hotel guests with us but not a concern. The band was also walking around playing to everyone. Food was great but the restaurant was boiling hot. We had to step outside to get a breeze. Our wedding cake was a Tres Leche Cake (three milk cake), and was delicious. The service staff at the restaurant did a good job serving the food while we made speeches and toasts. We rented the disco for an hour and upon arrival they gave us a nice cocktail. Had first dance and bouquet & garter toss there as well. Disco opened up an hour later and quickly filled with other guests. Wedding party had tons of fun. The following day, upon return, there was cake and champagne ready for us in our room. All in all, this is a great resort for large groups because there are a million and one things to do. They had many weddings that week and we are very happy at how well everything was organized. Your trip can be a lot of fun if you let loose and enjoy the sun. Email me for more info about the wedding or for pictures.

surashni@hotmail.com

Many hotels in the region have gazebos for the wedding. We were very attached to marrying in the sand beach. Gran Bahia’s "hammocks" area is on the beach and would let us be barefoot for the wedding. Yuritizia, the wedding planner was amazing and everything about the wedding flowed very smoothly. Though we were told by our Spanish speaking cousin that her translation of the wedding wasn’t quite as precise as it could be, it was still lovely. Also, the service is amazing – at the front desk, in the resteraunts, by the pool, everywhere. We also noticed several weddings having pretty receptions poolside, this was not offered to us, but that looked very pretty way to have a post-wedding reception. Oh, and the mariachis! We loved having a wedding with a mariachi band!

If I could do it again, I totally would. The resort was great, Yuritzia – our planner – was fantastic and everything went smoothly on the big day thanks to her. We picked the perfect time cause it was hot during the ceremony but cooled down shortly after that and we were able to get in all of our pictures without having to rush. Our dinner was at Dolce Vita and the staff there were fantastic as well. I can’t say enough about the staff, the people and the resort as a whole.

Feel free to email me back at james_jenn@sympatico.ca if you have any questions for us.

Rehearsal Dinner –

We made some arrangements with Lomas Travel to take all 25 of us on a catamaran and a candlelight dinner on the beach. At the last minute, Lomas told us they had overbooked, and we couldn’t get the dinner on the beach. But it all worked out eventually, as they refunded part of our money, and arranged for all 25 of us to have dinner at Tequila at the resort after returning from the boat ride. The boat ride was great – there was an open bar, and everyone got the chance to get to know each other. The scenery was beautiful and very romantic. We had a great time at Tequila as well. Make sure to do “Tequila Boom-Boom” at the restaurant! It’s a lot of fun.

The Wedding-

David got ready in the best man’s room, while I got ready in our Ocean view room. My maid of honor did my hair and makeup, so I can’t give any recommendations about the spa services. We hired photographer Claudia Rodriguez and her husband for pictures and videography. She was very sweet – I haven’t seen the pictures yet, but I felt pretty confident in her abilities based on prior reviews from this site! She came to the room an hour before the ceremony to take pictures of me getting ready. The flowers came on time and were beautiful – and very much like the picture I had provided. One of the boutonnières was missing, but we called Antonella, and she sent it right over. The ceremony started about 10 minutes late because the judge was a little late, and then Antonella forgot to come up to tell us that the judge had arrived. But then we walked down the sandy aisle, and everything was absolutely perfect. I mean, it was better than I ever could have even dreamed it would be. The sun, the blue skies, the palm trees, the sand….I wore a very formal gown with bare feet and it felt great. We hired the Mexican guitar trio, which was just perfect. Very romantic and appropriate. There were white covered chairs set up in the sand and some tulle around the hammock pillars. Two tables were set up with white tablecloths, one for signing papers (it had a flower centerpiece on it that matched my bouquet) and one for champagne after the ceremony. We actually did all of our paperwork and fingerprinting during the ceremony, which was different. It was a very casual, laid back ceremony, so we felt comfortable. We were actually dancing and talking during the paperwork, it was just great not to be nervous or formal. The judge spoke in Spanish, and Antonella translated into English. My dear friend Heidi read a beautiful poem on the microphone, and David and I had the chance to say our own vows that we had practiced on the microphone as well. It was a great personal touch. The ceremony lasted about 30 minutes, and the trio played again at the end. It was really the most special ceremony, everyone was crying. The sound of the ocean and the view just took your breath away. Champagne was served while we had more pictures taken. Everyone had a chance to go back to their rooms before our 6:30 dinner at Frutos del Mar. I kind of wish we had started the wedding at 3:30 instead of 4:00 because we had to hurry the pictures before we ran out of sunlight. But Claudia went as fast as she could, and we got plenty of shots. All of our guests were seated at the restaurant, and they asked us to make a grand entrance so they could announce us. It was so nice; all of the other restaurant patrons were clapping and congratulating us. We had drinks, and then we had our first dance. They dimmed the lights, and Claudia had brought in CD with a romantic song since we had not thought to bring a special wedding song. Everyone watched us dance, and we felt like royalty! We had a really nice dinner, and after our soups, we cut the cake. It was a “Tre Leche” cake, which is 3 milks. It seemed like it had vanilla pudding in it – whatever it was, it was the best wedding cake I’ve ever tasted. The manager was very accommodating, and checked often to make sure we were happy. We all did “Tequila Boom-booms” and even a few funny games after dinner. It was really great! After dessert and coffee, we headed over to the Pakal Bar, where Antonella had saved us a table right in the front for 25. It was set up perfectly for us. We felt like VIPs again! We had originally considered renting out the disco, but someone else rented it before we decided. It was just as well, because we all had a blast dancing at the Pakal Bar! When the band left the Pakal bar, we followed them to the Hacienda, and danced like crazy over there as well! The staff led us in some line dances which were a lot of fun. After the band left the Hacienda, we danced to the DJ at the disco until 2 am. It was a fantastic evening. All of the other resort guests were so friendly- complete strangers were hugging and congratulating me. It’s such a happy, friendly atmosphere. The tram even made a special trip for us to take us back to our rooms at the end of the night.

The next day, a staff member brought a bottle of champagne and a heart-shaped chocolate cake to our room and set up a romantic table for us. They also brought our wedding documents and a paper copy of the ceremony in English.

WEDDING: First of all, air transat upgraded us to first class flying, because we had a good size group (44), which was really cool. In regards to your wedding dress, they will not take it on the plane, so you either pack it yourself, or have it wrapped in a box to check as luggage. When we arrived at the resort we had also been upgraded to the VIP area in the resort. (I was told after so many ppl booked you automatically get VIP at the resort). Anyway, we were booked in villa 66, which was by far the best villa in my opinion. It was ocean view and the closest villa to the ocean. It was really neat waking up to the sound of the waves, and sitting on the balcony. We were also overlooking the wedding location too, so that was nice as we got to see other weddings set up etc. before ours.

PAPERWORK: when we checked in, we found an envelope left from the wedding coordinator Karla, requesting we meet her the next morning at 10:30. When i was contacting the wedding coordinators via email, i received replies from several different people. At first i got emails from Fernanda, and Martina, and then the last month before our trip, i was getting replies from Karla. We went to the reception area to meet Karla, and as mentioned in other emails, they work on mexican time, don’t expect them to be on time. (Even though every other service at the resort was on time). We waited about 15 minutes and still nothing, so we got the front desk to page her and she finally came at 11:30. She apologized, and proceeded to tell us that the wedding the day before gave her a bad cheque, and that they are short staffed so they are very busy. So I understood, but at that same time…..not my fault. I had asked her about martina and fernanda, and she told me they were no longer at the resort. I was a little frustrated but whatever not a big deal. I had previously emailed her and let her know that our witnesses wouldn’t be there until after us, so we finished what paperwork we could, and had to meet her again monday morning with our witnesses and their info. So again, we show up at 9:30 monday morning at her request, and paged her, and she was 45 minutes late this time, which made me mad because she’s not just wasting our time, but our guests as well. So then we were finished with the paperwork portion, but the photocopier on the akumal side doesn’t print good enough so she had to keep our passports and we had to go back the next day to pick them up.

DAY BEFORE WEDDING: I requested to have my dress steamed and my own wedding music at the ceremony. Karla had instructed me to leave my dress on my bed the day before the wedding and someone would pick it up to have it steamed. I hadn’t talked to her since monday, so i finally called her on wednesday afternoon to ask her when she was going to get my wedding music, so she told me to leave it at the front desk, which was fine. Also by 4:00 my dress still hadn’t been picked up for steaming, but i just called the front desk and they had someone pick it up asap. We didn’t want the big wedding extravaganza, so we didn’t have a rehearsal or rehearsal dinner or anything.

WEDDING DAY: My dress was returned to my room by noon carried in by 2 staff, one holding the train up in the back, it was very nice. I had a hair appointment booked at the spa, i was booked in with a lady, and i gave her pictures of what i wanted, not expecting it to be perfect, but quite honestly she wasn’t very good and really quite snotty, and she didn’t listen to what i asked her, and i think i was very polite about it. She kept saying yes, but she never changed what she was doing, so i finally just quit asking, but she basically greased my hair to my head in the front which i did not like at all, but i decided just to get out of there and fix it myself. This is where i made my mistake because other brides had recommended booking victor and i didn’t specify him, and now i would stress to anyone getting your hair done, please ask for him. I had brought some clips etc, to put in my hair, but because i was frustrated by the end of the appt, i just said i would do it in my room myself. Well victor came over and he was so nice, and he wanted to put them in and he reassured me it would be OK, and if i still didn’t like it then i could put them in myself. But as everyone else told me, he was fantastic, both in personality and skill. The back of my hair looked good, it was just the front i had to fix, it was basically glued right to my head. So i managed to pull it out and fix it a bit on my own. I still wasn’t 100% happy, but i’m probably a little picky about my hair. Bottom line though, get victor. Also the hair appt. costs 80USD and a nail repair is 10USD.

Our wedding was scheduled at 3:00, which i highly recommend, as again in "mexican time", we weren’t picked up until 3:30. We were ready to go by 2:45, and we could see everyone on the beach waiting around. During the signing of the papers, we had music play, and the person playing the music didn’t have it hooked up properly so the song kept cutting out, which was a little annoying, but not the end of the world. We also had outside spectators which was fine from a distance, but there was one guy who came right into the wedding, and sat on the rock ledge at the front right beside my uncle who was videoing, i could acutally look right at him from where i was standing, and then he ran into us later and bragged to us that he was there at our wedding, like we were supposed to be complimented or something. You may want to get ppl in your group to set up a perimeter keeping non-wedding guests out. Anyway, at 3ish, there is a cool breeze that blows off the ocean. Like mine wedding, and every wedding we saw after was always running late. We watched a wedding one day that didn’t start until 4:30, and they ran out of sun for their pictures. It gets dark at 5:30. We had a photographer in our group, so he took our pictures, we did ocean pictures and we moved to another location of trees behind the seafood restaurant along the path and took pictures there, which i think turned out great. We also did some fun pictures, sitting on a beach chair, dipping feet in the pool, which looks neat. We only took probably an hour to do the pictures, but again, if your wedding is later, you’ll run into dark. Our reception was at the Arlequin restaurant, and i cannot brag enough how good the food and especially the service was. They were all over us, pulling one plate out and putting another down. We had also requested just a wedding cake and no dessert. We got the vanilla, and it was without a doubt the best cake i have ever had. We had several ppl in our group comment on how good the service and the cake was. We rented the disco for the evening because i thought it would be nice when you have a group. The DJ was 20 minutes late, and when i’m paying 170 USD per hour, i want to start on time. We had fun, but we also saw other wedding groups throughout our 2 weeks who just went to the live music bar and joined the disco at midnight, and they looked like they had a great time. Unless you have a really big group, i wouldn’t bother renting the disco. Our wedding day went extremely smooth, we all thoroughly enjoyed it, and we weren’t going to complain about anything until… we got a call 3 days after our wedding from a mexican waiter at the arlequin restaurant where we had our reception. He couldn’t speak very good english, but he got the point across that our wedding documents were there. We didn’t think too much about it as we thought we just misunderstood him. However my husband went to check it out. Sure enough, our official, legal wedding documents were at the restaurant. This is when we got mad. We called the wedding supervisor, to find out what was going on. We told her what happened, asking who took them there, that we knew nothing about it. So because it was sunday, we called her back the next day, and sure enough,she found out that the coordinator had dropped our documents off at the restaurant, but didn’t tell anyone. To me these are like a passport, i kind of thought they would be sent to our room or handed directly to us. So hadn’t this guy had called us on it, we would have never known where they were. What if someone had thrown them away? Because of this the supervisor gave us a dinner on the tulum side which we normally didn’t have access to, which was nice. We were still a little mad, but we just left it at that. In the end i can’t say a bad thing about this resort vacation wise. I don’t know if i recommend having a wedding here right now, even though i have nothing else to compare it to. I understand they work on mexican time, but being late twice? Dropping my papers off at a restaurant? No one called us to ask us how the wedding was, to settle the bill, nothing. I was very happy with the day itself, but they are very short staffed and a little unorganized in the wedding department right now, and it showed. They did take money off our final bill, so we did leave fairly satisfied. Hadn’t the day itself gone great, i don’t know if i would have been. Maybe in a year from now when they are fully staffed again, this would be the best place to be married, we did have a great day, but for now i would say keep it as a consideration, but look around. Please feel free to contact me to see pictures, or ask questions.

aryan31@hotmail.com, please use BPA as subject.

Photography was another must that had to be booked early on. After reading all the reviews I knew that I wanted to have Claudia Rodriguez do the photography for our wedding. She was amazing! We opted for the largest still photography package and the pictures turned out amazing. Claudia met us at the honeymoon resort the following week and delivered all the photos (about 250 4×6 that she put in a photo album), as well as the enlargements and all the negatives. I cannot say enough about Claudia’s services—it was truly amazing.

One to two months prior to arrival Fernanda would again confirm the wedding date, number of guests, set menu, restaurant, if we wanted live music at the wedding ceremony, Rancherita Disco (for reception after the wedding), full names, etc… In addition to confirming all of that, I faxed all the documents to Fernanda in Mexico to be sure that we had everything necessary. (Our travel agent told us that a prior wedding took place there and the medical certification was not completed and so the wedding was not valid in the US). So needless to say, I made sure I had all the proper documents. For US bride and groom must have valid US passport, birth certificate (with parent’s names listed) with an apostille attached (and it must be translated into Spanish and typed and signed/dated by the translator), and the Mexican Tourist Card that you receive when you are on the plane to Mexico. For US residents, you can order a certified copy of your birth certificate from the Vital Statistics website. After receiving the birth certificates, you need to send them to the Secretary of States Office in the State you were born and they will attach an apostille (a document certifying that the notary who notarized the birth certificate is in fact a notary). I would allow AT LEAST THREE MONTHS so that you are not rushed with getting all of this done. We arrived at the Cancun Airport on Saturday November 6, 2004, and the wedding was the following Friday November 12, 2004. Guests arrived during that week before on different days and we knew everyone’s flight schedules so we could meet and greet everyone upon their arrival and give them their welcome bags that we made. It is quite a long journey by bus to the resort because the BPA is pretty far down on the Mayan Riviera from Cancun. We were so pleased upon arrival because the lobby was just absolutely amazing (the pictures on the website don’t do it justice). The staff had mimosas lined up at one of the tables in the lobby and we were greeted with a very warm welcoming by the entire staff. We had not problems checking in at all at the hotel. There were some people in our group who had booked through different vendors (Apple Vacations vs. Fun Jet) based on the city in the US they were departing from. The guests who were Apple Vacations were “gold club members” and so they had to check-in at a different lobby at the resort and they were also allotted more ‘ala carte’ dinner tickets. That was the only discrepancy. We made contact with Fernanda on Sunday and sat down with her and discussed the plans for the wedding. We were able to choose the wedding location, flowers, and book spa appointments. We also made a date later in the week with meet with her with the 4 witnesses and all of their documents. We went and did the blood work that day as well and it was $140 versus $100 because the blood work was done onsite as opposed to going into Playa del Carmen to get it done. My husband absolutely hates needles, but everything was sterile and there were no problems at all. Thursday November 11, 2004 In lieu of doing a rehearsal dinner (that is not a tradition in Mexico) we chartered an 85-foot catamaran for a snorkeling sunset cruise for about six hours off the coast. We had planned this well in advance after reading Sue Dyson’s review. We booked this through Paradise Tours with Kim Gill (office@paradisetours.info). Kim was so responsive and took care of all the details. We had an open bar, which wasn’t opened until after the snorkeling portion, and we had sandwiches and snacks prepared for us by the company. Everyone had such an amazing time. I sent out invitations in advance with response cards so we would know an exact number of guests because they charge a base rate for chartering the boat and then a PP rate for the open bar and food. Friday November 12, 2004—Wedding Day Greg and I had treated our mother’s to Caribbean massages and I had treated my wedding party (3) to French manicures and I had my fingers and toes done. I opted not to have my hair done at the resort, instead I had practiced a simple up-do with my hairdresser in Denver and my mother was able to practice with me the day of the wedding and she did my hair for the wedding. My maid of honor did my makeup and the girls in the wedding had their hair down and just put a bobby pin in their hair with a flower attached. (Prior to heading to Mexico I went to an arts and crafts store and bought faux off-white colored flowers and then glue-gunned them to the end of bobby pins). We had 2 flower girls and 1 ring bearer and so we had ordered flower petals for the girls’ flower baskets. We were also able to get our dresses and Greg’s suit and the groomsmen outfits steamed for the wedding. They we supposed to pick it up on Thursday morning, but we arrived back from the catamaran trip and the clothes were still on the bed! We called Fernanda and she took care of everything. The wedding was scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m. so Fernanda had the flowers arrive at my room at 1:30 p.m. and sure enough they were all there. We had ordered extra flowers for the ceremony site and those were all delivered there and setup, but she had the boutonnieres, corsages, bouquets, and flower petals delivered to my room. There was a delay with our arrival to the ceremony site because the little golf cart that is supposed to pick of the bride, father of the bride, bridesmaids, maid of honor, flower girls, and ring bearer did not arrive until 4:30 p.m. so we were late and we were rushing through pictures after the wedding because the sun was setting. I would recommend starting the wedding at like 3:45 p.m. because things are just done at a slower pace in Mexico. We had a live mariachi band play as I walked done the isle, and from what people tell me, they were playing beforehand as well. The ceremony lasted about 30 minutes and then we had a toast of champagne on the beach and then we went onto the rocks for pictures. Our dinner was at the Dolce Vita and was scheduled at 6:30 p.m. It was just amazing. We cut the cake and did toasts at the dinner and then at 8:30 p.m. we left the restaurant, headed to the front lobby and waited for the trolley cart to pick us up for the Rancherita Disco. We had the first dance, bouquet and garter tosses at the Rancherita. Everyone had such a great time. At 11:45 p.m. they closed the bar for 15 min or so to clean before opening the club for the public at midnight. We all stayed there until they re-opened the bar and partied with resort guests. When we arrived back to our room that night (early a.m.) our room was decorated with flowers, a chilled bottle of champagne and a chocolate cake. This was truly a dream come true and we plan to go back to the BPA for years to come. Many people who have gone to all-inclusive resorts complain about the food and say that the drinks were ‘watered down’, but that was far from the experience we had. The food was amazing and there was such a variety to please everyone’s taste. The service was outstanding and the resort accommodations were exceptional.

Feel free to email me if you have any other questions, please write BPA in the subject line. elcarp3@hotmail.com

Best of luck! -Erica

Resort Selection:

In the spring of 2004 I was thrilled to find Debbie’s Carribean Resort Reviews since I really had no idea how to begin searching for a resort for the wedding. After reading all of the reviews, I had narrowed it down to the Palladium and the Bahia Principe Akumal. The final decision maker was 2 comments made by others which were that the Palladium charges for each guest at the reception and the photos of the Bahia Principe Akumal on certain websites did not give it justice. Thus, the Bahia Principe Akumal it was.

Contacting the Resort Wedding Planner:

Luckily with all of the resort reviews, I was able to find the website address to begin the process. The e-mail address is: grupostulum@tulum.bahia-principe.com and website address is: www.bahia-principe.com. All I did was send them an email to let them know that I was interested in having my wedding at their resort and sent them a wish list of a few dates. I received an email back advising me that all of the dates I’d chosen had been booked already so I had to look through my calender to find others. This is a very busy resort for weddings, so the sooner you figure out what you want to do and book with them, the better off you will be. What you need to keep in mind is that you (and your witnesses) must be in Mexico for three working days prior to getting married – so if you arrive on Saturday, you won’t be able to get married until the Thursday.

1. The Wedding Planner will send you a package advising of all prices, what is included and what you are expected to provide. You may initially be assigned to one wedding planner throughout or deal with 2-3. I spoke with Martina, Fernanda and Karla. Once at the resort, I had been assigned to Karla – she was great!

2. After providing our names and the resort requested (Akumal or Tulum), we were then advised that a file had been opened in our names. The Wedding Planner sent us a questionnaire with the following questions: Which Resort: Akumal or Tulum; Full names of Bride and Groom; Date of Ceremony – Civil or Religious; Name of Tour Operator; Arrival/Departure Date; Time of Wedding; Number of people + their names (to arrange rooms); Restaurant to have dinner at (if at Akumal you have a choice of one of the 3 A-La-Carte Restaurants, unless your group is over 17 people then you will go to La Dolce Vita – but choose a set menu from one of the three restaurants at Akumal); Dinner Hour; Kind of Music (CD or additional cost for live music) and do you want to rent La Rancherita (disco bar).

3. Just before the Wedding date all details were confirmed by the Wedding Planner again.

Booking and Charter Company:

We booked with Air Transat through Discount Travel Warehouse in Vancouver. The reason for choosing this Travel Warehouse is that they are ‘no frills’ and offer 10% off the prices that you see in all Charter Company brochures (ie. Air Transat, Signature etc..). We did not get an additional group rate as Discount Travel Warehouse already provides such a large discount. I have used this company for various vacations since 1999 and they have proved to be trustworthy.

Air Transat – We flew from Vancouver International Airport on November 14th, 2004 and only ran into one problem which was the ‘wedding dress’ issue. I won’t go into too many details but since it was a ‘warm’ wedding, my wedding dress was very thin and was in a garment bag. When I got to the airport I requested to hang it up in the plane possibly in the closet where the crew would keep their coats but was told that was not possible. The agent offered to put my dress in the ‘fragile’ section instead. When I arrived in Cancun, I found my garment bag in a ball on a baggage carrousel under a very large/heavy suitcase. The bag had been gouged in various area and had a long streak of dirt on the back. Fortunately, I had wrapped my wedding dress in plastic drycleaning bags prior to putting it in the garment bag – so the only damage were a few beads and stitches pulled off – which I was able to fix.

My point – If you choose Air Transat, be sure to pre-arrange your weddding dress details and bring a sewing kit just in case.

Photos

After reading the amazing reviews on those who had used Claudia Rodrigez before, I decided that since my photos would be so important, I wanted to be sure that they would be well done and that was the one thing I was willing to pay a little extra for. I checked out Claudia’s and wrote to her. Claudia was absoloutly wonderful from the start. She was so helpful in providing little tips to us even prior to our arrival in Mexico. For more information on my review, please see her website. Anyone who has seen our photos have all mentioned what a great job the photographer did. Our DVD and Special Highlights were also amazing. The Special Highlights was a last minute decision – but the best decision. It is the perfect thing to show anyone who wasn’t there and only lasts about 5 minutes (or 2 songs).

The Resort

We arrived at The Bahia Principe Akumal on November 14th, 2004 and I was amazed by how beautiful the resort was. We were greeted at the door with Champage and orange juice while we waited to check ourselves in. Since many of our relatives were from Saskatchewan and Ontario, they had already arrived the day before and were waiting in the Lounge for us. The staff were always very polite and would go out of their way to ensure we had whatever we needed. The Bahia Principe is a huge resort which is almost in a Triangle. On the waterfront is the Tulum Resort & the Akumal Resort and between them both near the highway is La Hacienda. Tulum and Akumal are about a 5 minute walk on the beach, 15 minute walk on the roadway, or 5 minute trolley ride (which comes approximately every 15 minutes). You can catch a different train to La Hacienda which also comes about every 15 minutes. La Hacienda is pretty great as well – it is the Resort’s own shopping center. It is quiet, clean and has a photo shop, internet cafe, La Rancherita Disco, Sports Bar, Pharmacy, Doctor and numerous shops. The Sports bar is mainly open outside which tables and chairs everywhere and a band that plays in the evening where you can dance. After the Sports Bar closes, La Rancherita opens until about 2am. Because it is part of the resort, all drinks are included. Both the Tulum and the Akumal resort were so beautiful, between the Lobby, Restaurants, Lounges, Pool and Beach. The washrooms were very clean as was the rest of the resort. I don’t think I could put it’s beauty and quality into words – it was immaculate. There is a 24 hour snack bar at both resorts where you can continuously order drinks, pizza, ribs, fries, tacos, hamburgers and hotdogs all day and night. There are various places closeby to visit such as the town of Tulum, Xel Ha and Playa Del Carmen. You can can take the Collectivo (a large white van) into Tulum for 15 pesos each and Playa Del Carmen for 20 pesos each. We took a cab to Xel Ha for $8USD.

Wedding Planner

The next day it was pre arranged that we would meet our Wedding Planner, Karla, in the lobby at 1100am. We were requested to bring our witnesses (2 for the bride and 2 for the groom), with our Tourist Cards (that you receive at the airport) and passports. We also had to provide our Birth Certificates translated into Spanish. Please remember that both you and your witnesses must be in Mexico for 3 working days before your wedding. We had actually not heard of this until we were approached by another couple, Tyler & Julia, advising that there guests would not be arriving in time to satisfy those dates – so they requested that we be their witnesses. Although it worked out great that we were able to meet another couple, I would imagine they might have felt a little stressed at that time. While with Karla, she showed us photos of flowers and later brought us to the ceremony location, which was right on the beach in a more private area. We were advised that my husband, the groomsmen and guests arrive 15 minutes prior to the ceremony start time and I, with my bridesmaids, would be picked up at my room with a Trolley and taken to the Ceremony location. Karla gave us a slip of paper and told us that we could see the doctor in La Hacienda at the resort to have our blood taken. Karla arranged ahead of time to have my dress, the bridesmaids dresses and my husbands suit to be picked up for steaming. The Resort did a great job with that. I brought my own CD for our Wedding Music. The resort played the Wedding March for our first song and I had three others that I requested they play for the downtime while we signed the papers and when the ceremony was over. The blood test cost $140USD for the two of us and although I did not have a bad experience, they could not seem to find the vein in my husband’s arm and ended up squirting his blood all over his arm. He had a bruise on his arm for the entire two weeks that we were there. Really, this was not a big deal – it’s just something that we now look back and laugh about.

The Wedding Day

I spent the night with my bridesmaids and my husband stayed in our room the night before the wedding. We just arranged in advance not to be in the same place at the same time for breakfast and planned that he would be out of the room 2 hours prior to the wedding so that I could get ready. I had my hair done by Victor at the Salon and he did a really nice job. He told me that he has 15 years experience and it shows. My flowers did not arrive at the room until a little later than we were expecting and the groomsmen were calling over every few minutes looking for them – not a big deal at the end of the day. Claudia arrived at my room for ‘getting ready’ photographs and video. She arrived right on time and was always patient and helpful. Once our guests were ready at Ceremony Site, Karla called my room to tell me that they would be on their way to pick us up. Our Ceremony start time was at 3pm and the trolley took a few additional Mexican minutes to show up. We did not have a rehersal so really just guessed as to who would go where, when we arrived at the site – it made it fun – but if you are concerned about that you may wish to make a plan ahead of time. The Ceremony was beautiful and the JP was really nice. While she was speaking to us in Spanish, she looked at us the entire time. Karla did the translation after the JP finished what she was saying. We had to give a thumb print while signing the papers which was unexpected but fun for the photos and DVD. At the end we all just walked to an area behind the Ceremony location, had Champagne and took Photos. Claudia and her husband have been to that resort so often that they organized us and took us everywhere that they knew would be great. Again, our photos and video were amazing. While we were waiting for the reception, our group just went to the Snack Bar for a few drinks and to socialize. When it was time for dinner, they were completely organized and we just walked in and sat down. The dinner was really good and the Maitre D had a funny tradition he made us do with Tequila when we were done eating. We did not rent La Rancherita but had everyone go to the Lounge where they play Live Music everynight and have a dance floor. I guess the Wedding Dress gave away the fact that we just got married, so the band played us a cute 1st dance song. Although there were other people around from the resort, the Lounge was still very beautiful, relaxed and we all had a great time. When we got back to our room, there was Champagne on our little table in our room and our Marriage Certificate was laying on our bed. The 1st night after the Wedding, they also sent someone to decorate our table with a table cloth, napkins, Champagne and a cute chocolate Cake.

Overall

We and all of our guests had a wonderful holiday and great time at the wedding. Some of our guests told us that it is the best trip they have ever been on. For me, it was hands down my best trip ever (besides the wedding) and I still find myself wishing I were back there. I could not find enough wonderful things to say about the Bahia Principe Akumal/Tulum, their staff or their Wedding Planner Karla. It was everything I had hoped it would be! The food was great both in the Buffet and A La Carte Restaurant. The only problem was during a certain time of the day – they would be lacking on beach towels – and if that’s all that one can complain about, then you are pretty well off.

Suggestions

If you are thinking of having your wedding in Mexico try to remember the following: – You are on Mexican time, everything happens slower there than anywhere else – If you are high maintenance, you may be disappointed – it is Mexico, they have certain ways of doing things at the resort and given the language barrier if you ask for something they aren’t expecting – you might not get it. – if you are looking to have a great time, relax and let someone else do everything for you – this is the place to go – don’t forget the in Mexico your body plumbing may either get backed up or work a little more than you’d like – bring the appropriate remedies – if you have guests at both the Tulum and Akumal Resort, try to see if you can get them a different wrist band which allows them to eat at the Buffets in both resorts – otherwise they only time you can eat with your guests at the other resort is when you book an A La Carte together. Requirements (copied directly from the information provided by the Bahia Principe) 1. VALID PASSPORT, drivers license will not be accepted by the official. 2. BIRTH CERTIFICATE and the translation into Spanish; the birth certificate should show also the names of the parents of the couple. 3. DIVORCE PAPERS or DEATH CERTIFICATE and the translation in Spanish. The copy of the original document has to have an Apostille. 4. TOURIST CARD (Clients get this card upon arriving to Mexico). 5. BLOOD TESTS (Sexually Transmitted diseases – VDRL, HIV, Blood Type) and MEDICAL CERTIFICATION. It is recommended to get these papers done here in Mexico (cost aprox. 50,– USD per person) as soon as they are not valid after 15 days. If you bring these papers from outside of Mexico, you will need an Apostille, they are not valid after 15 days and have to be translated into Spanish. 6. FOUR WITNESSES: two for the bride and two for the groom with passport, drivers license will not be accepted by the official. The parents of bride and groom cannot be witnesses. The witnesses have to be older than 18 years. ** All the translations have to be done by computer or typewriter, not handwritten. They have to show the name and signature of the person who did the translation.**

I’m sure I’ve forgotten to mention a few things so if you have any questions, please contact me at shelbydawn@shaw.ca and I’d be more than happy to help you out. Good Luck and All the Best.

We just got married at the Bahia Principe Akumal resort in the Mayan Riviera on Wednesday, November 10, 2004. We had about 46 people in total join us from Vancouver, 2 from Prince George, we were very fortunate! Everyone could not believe how beautiful the resort was. Pictures cannot do it justice. Fernanda Nino, our wedding coordinator did an amazing job. We had been corresponding with her via email for over a year and she answered all my questions promptly. The spa services were wonderful, even though they do not speak much English. I had 4 bridesmaids and their hair and make-up were stunning. They took extra care of me with my hair and make-up and I was very impressed. We were not happy that the blood test cost $140 US for two instead of $100 for two. Apparently, this has been misadvertised so I would check on this before you get married or contact the resort so you know the costs ahead of time. It is a very simple procedure that is done at the resort. It was a bit painful for me, but I think that is because they do have the best techniques with taking blood. It isn’t that bad. The wedding day was seamless except that it poured rain at 2pm but cleared up right away before we took pictures. After that, we had amazing weather for pictures, clouds, winds, sun. We got married at 4:30pm so we had to take pictures before it got dark (In November it gets dark around 5:15pm). The photographer we hired was Claudia Rodriguez and she takes the most amazing pictures. She is very thorough, efficient and professional. She is the person to hire if you get married in Mexico. Her shots were very unique and candid. I have a photojournalism educational background so I was highly impressed. Back to the ceremony, the music was played perfectly, champagne was served right after. (I recommend ordering champagne right after, it is a really nice touch) There were no glitches, we were so lucky! The judge and wedding coordinator did an awesome job with the spanish/english translations. They had a microphone so everyone could hear the ceremony. There were even rose petals in the sand. Our reception was at the Dolce Vita (Italian) and the service was great! They made a special menu list for us and each guest. It listed everything we were eating that night. You do need to pick this in advance. (Usually the day before the wedding they will ask you) We used shots glasses with our names on them as our favours and they set those up in front of each place setting in advance. Before dinner, they made us do tequila shots off each other which was really cool. We didn’t eat our cake but it looked good, we were on our way to the LaRancherita disco for dancing after the dinner so we didn’t have enough time as we rented the disco from 9-11pm. I would highly recommend renting this out $300 US I believe so you can do your dancing. There is no other place to do this for a large party and it is really fun. We brought our own CD collection as they do not really have that great of a selection. The disco only really plays Rave music so bring your own. As for the legalization, you need to only get the short form of your Canadian birth certificate translated into spanish. Approx. $100 for 2. I do recommend getting it apostilled by the Mexican Consulate ($50 Cdn)It is good to have just in case. We got our marriage certificate the day after the wedding and we need to find out how to make it legal in Canada. That is something I am working on. Also, we didn’t find it necessary to have a rehearsal dinner.

The resort specializes in weddings (they do many all the time) so my advice is to trust them and not to worry so much like I did. One last thing, you need to have 2 witnesses for both the bride & groom. Passports are mandatory for the witnesses. Also, I would advise all your guests to bring a passport. Please email me at tashabailey@shaw.ca if you have any questions.

It was a dream wedding! As long as you aren’t a bridezilla and want a laid back wedding, this is the place for you. I’m sure if we had any demands, they would have met them, but we didn’t. We just went with the flow and everything that we dreamed of was met and beyond! Remember that you are going to another country and they do things a little differently. Sit back and enjoy it!

FYI: when flying home, do not trust the Cancun airport duty free shop – Yes, you even need to beware here. They made us believe that on top of the one bottle ea. that is allowed that we were also allowed Kaluha – no matter what type of alcohol you take back you are only allowed 1.4L ea. – They managed to scam a number of us, who either had to dump their bottles or pay duty ($33 per kaluha bottle) at Canadian customs.

The day of my wedding, it rained. I was not concerned as the rain in Mexico seems to come and go and right before the wedding, it did clear. I had breakfast with my 4 bridesmaids and Glen had stayed over with his groomsmen. I then went to the hair salon around 10 am with two of my bridesmaids who swam in the pool at the spa while I had my hair done. We all got ready in my room which was a lot of fun. My parents arrived around 1 pm along with the photographer and I had photos done with them and my bridesmaids. We used Claudia Rodriguez and I would highly recommend her. We were to be married at 2 pm. The cart did not arrive until 2:15 pm to pick me up but I was not really concerned. Our plan was to have the wedding in the garden (very private) versus the beach but because it rained, they moved us to the Kantennah lobby overlooking the flamingos and waterfall and this was beautiful and we were not disappointed. Glen and I said our own vows during the ceremony and we were very glad that we did as it made our ceremony even more meaningful to us. We also had two of our friends do readings/poems and Rocio was very accommodating for this. We ended up doing pictures after the ceremony until 5:00 pm or so and then I went to check on the reception set up. Rocio had done an excellent job and I put out the decorations that I had brought with me and set up the tent cards as we had assigned seating.

As soon as the reception started, Glen & I had our first dance before dinner and we were glad that we did this as our photographer could take pictures as she was there for the first 20 minutes or so of the reception. We wished we had also cut our cake before dinner so she could have taken pictures of this as well. We had a microphone for speeches and the band let us play our own music for dancing until 11 pm. We then had to leave the Gran Azul so we all went to the disco and later ended up at the Beach Bar until 3 am. It was a perfect wedding and perfect night and our photos are amazing. Our friends absolutely loved the resort and many said that they would go back again. It was the best experience of our lives and we had such a great time all week with our family and friends. You can check out our pics on www.kataandglenn.com if you are interested.

The wedding-

Rocio took care of everything for us. We chose to get married in the pavilion on the White Sands beach. We picked this location because there were no beach loungers around it and the beach bar is right beside it. It turned out to be a fairly hot day, so we were glad to have refreshments nearby and washrooms. We met with Rocio 2 days after our arrival and made all of our decisions regarding flowers, location and dinner. After, we met the doctor in the Kantenah lobby and he took our blood samples. I have to admit that seemed a bit sketch… he took our blood in the lobby, where anyone could see. Everything seemed sterile enough and I wasn’t worried, but that part did seem a little odd. Rocio was with us the whole time, so that made us feel better about it. Wedding day- We spent the morning on the beach trying to relax. I wasn’t too nervous and managed to eat some cheese fries from the beach bar, but my husband couldn’t. About an hour before the wedding I left to get ready and found our flowers waiting in our room. At 3pm sharp the golf cart arrived at our room to pick me, my mum and the bridesmaids up. After a short trip we were there. Everything looked stunning! Very white and blue. We requested not to have the red carpet because I felt that it was a bit too bold for the look we wanted.

Alberto, our photographer, was also there. We booked him through Claudia Rodriguez and he was amazing. I was a bit worried because I hadn’t heard from him since leaving for Mexico, but everything went very smoothly. We also had a videographer that was book through Claudia. We haven’t seen the video yet, so I can’t comment on it (should be arriving shortly).

The ceremony was quick and simple like we wanted. All we had to say was, "I do". The JP guided us through the whole thing, which was very helpful. He spoke English as well, so it made the ceremony a bit quicker. He was very professional and made it a lot of fun. When asked if we had something special to say to each other we both just said, "no", which made everyone laugh. Neither one of us wanted to write our own vows so this was perfect! After the ceremony we had champagne, mingled with our guests, then did some photos with Alberto and videographer by the salt water pool on the Riviera side. Pictures took about 1.5 hours. It was hot. I recommend bringing a small towel or tissues for the bride and groom to dry themselves off with. You don’t want to look shiny or wet in your pictures! Also, bring water with you when you get your photos done so you don’t dehydrate. After pictures we met our guests in the White Sands lobby for some celebratory drinks. We also went to Churchill’s (which is right off the lobby) to do some shots of tequila. First the women, then the men. We had a great time! Following that we took a train ride with Ivan to the Kantenah lobby for our buffet dinner at Tikal. We are glad that we chose the buffet because it gave our guests more food options. It was also cheaper and there was no one else in there! We had our own private section and the staff served everything but the food (drinks, cake, etc…). And we could eat/drink at our leisure. It was fantastic and very relaxed. Then we went to the Colonial lobby for more celebrating and then off to the disco around 11pm. We were exhausted but it was a lot of fun! It really was the wedding day of our dreams and I’m certain that our guests enjoyed it as much, if not more, than we did. Rocio was super and took care of every detail. If you are booking a wedding at the Palladium in Mexico…. RELAX! You have made an excellent choice!

We are looking forward to going back to the Palladium next year for our anniversary, and hopefully every year after that!

The meal was booked for 8pm. To our surprise, we actually had the terrace at the Portofino restaurant. Rocio had kept it a secret. We were so ecstatic. It was a perfect ending to a fairytale wedding. The food was delicious. We were all absolutely stuffed and struggled to eat the wedding cake. It was definitely the nicest of the speciality restaurants. We had speeches before we cut the cake. A Mexican trio came along and played music for us for no charge. This just added to the romance of the setting. The terrace was empty barring our party. It was just so romantic. We had the chance to have a first dance in one of the restaurants after the main bamd had finished but we were all worn out and retired to our rooms. The final surprise came at the room. The maids had scattered red rose petals everywhere. On the floor, on the bed, in the jacuzzi, on the toilet etc. It was stunning. I would definitely recommend this location for a destination wedding. A sample of our wedding photos are on Sol Tamargo’s website in her blog.(www.soltamargo.com/blog)

Our wedding was originally for 1pm on March 3/06, but there was a cancellation for the 3pm spot, which is what I preferred. Rocio asked if I would like it and she even called Claudia (the photographer) to see if she was available. She was so it worked out perfectly.

The night before the wedding my mom stayed with me and my FH stayed with my dad. We woke up and had a leisurly breakfast, then my mom and I went to the spa to hang out in the pool, hot tubs etc. This place is like something out of the movies…..unbelievable. Then at 12pm I got my hair done in an updo. I was really happy with it, and I had even forgot to bring pictures. The girl didn’t speak any english, but thank god the salon manager was there and he helped translate. After that, we went to my room, I had a relaxing bath and got ready. Claudia and her brother in law Alberto came at about 2pm to start taking pictures. Around 2:30 they headed to the wedding location. We picked the one with bamboo on the beach. It was just more laid back for our group of 12. My dad had already come to my room as he was going to come with my mom and I in the golf cart to the location. I was completely ready to be late for the ceremony as everyone had warned me about being on Mexican time. At 2:45 there was a knock at the door and it was the golf cart. He said everyone is ready and it looks like a rain cloud is coming, so he will be waiting for me. Well, I had been ready for a while and was ready to go. We went to the wedding site, my mom sat down first then my dad and I walked down the sand to see my FH for the first time that day. I wasn’t nervous or anything. I was so relaxed it was scary. The ceremony was in english and took all of 15 minutes. After that the Mexican trio we hired played, we had a little dance in the sand, had some champagne and then took pictures. It had started to rain, so we hid under a palapa for little while. Claudia and Alberto were so patient. We waited for the rain to stop, then we took more. It worked out really well, because the rain cloud had scared most of the people off the beach, so we didn’t have to worry about them. All in all, it was the best way to get married. Rocio was very professional and answered any of our questions. Claudia and Alberto was awesome to deal with too. Our pro pics won’t be here until next week or so (I will post more when they come).

I will post the link to our web page to you can see some non-pro pics. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me elm1818@rogers.com. http://www.piczo.com/ErinandRichard?g=17358830&cr=2

Thanks again for all of your help,

Our clothes arrived on the Tuesday. Wednesday we got married. I spent the morning having breakfast with my mom, and tanned at the small pool with some friends. My sisters and I got ready in my room. I read a lot of the reviews about the hair salon and no one liked what they got, so I had my sister do my hair. Rocio delivered the flowers to my room, and I had one of my sisters run the groom and best man’s flowers over to them. Claudia, the photographer, called my room at 215pm from the lobby and said she would see me at the beach. Our guests, and the groom met at the wedding gazebo at 245pm. We picked the Gazebo on the Kantenah side, on the beach. It was so beautiful. The flowers were stunning. The stretched golf cart picked my sisters and I up at my room at 310pm (the wedding was to begin at 3pm….remember, its Mexican time!) The whole ceremony was about 25 min. This included signing and finger prints. The justice of the peace spoke Spanish, so Rocio translated for us. They served champaign after the ceremony. Claudia Rodriguez took photos throughout the ceremony and after along the beach. Again, she knows exactly what she is doing and it only took about 20 min. She’s definitely worth the money.

We had dinner at the Portofino, the new Italian restaurant. It was my favorite meal of the whole week. We had chicken cesar salad, minestrone soup, chicken stuffed with procuitto and cheese, and champaign and cake for dessert. We had some guests that were vegetarian/vegan, and ordered them separate meals. It was all great. We had a section of the restaurant to ourselves and they had set up two long tables for us. We went to the disco for 11pm, and had our first dance (we brought a CD with us). A live band played that night, starting at 1130. They were absolutely amazing. The whole day was perfect; both of us wouldn’t change a thing. As for the resort itself, I would recommend it to anyone. It’s really beautiful, and the food is fantastic! We had guests ranging from ages 23 to 55 and they all loved it. The beach is beautiful and there are always tones of chairs. There are four resorts within one another. The Kantenah, Collonial, White Sands and the Riviera. They are all Palladiums. The a la carte restaurants are spread throughout and you can eat at any one you want. The resorts are pretty big, so you can either walk off the big meal, or they have this “crazy train” that runs every 5-7min. The train runs from 7am to 2am. It stops anywhere in the resort you want. Some of our guests took day trips and had a great time. I went Parasailing with my mom (which I highly recommend), and went to the lagoon (a short taxi ride from the resort) to do some snorkeling. Again, highly recommended and a lot cheaper than the tours. You can rent snorkel gear when you get there. It was my husband’s favorite part of the trip…other than the wedding.

If you have any questions, you can email me at katwatt@sympatico.ca.

As for our photographer, we hired Claudia Rodriguez. We chose her #3 package. It turned out amazing. We don’t have 1 bad picture. She is very friendly and really knows what she’s doing. We have had so many people look at our pictures and comment on how great of a job she did!! I also have to recommend everyone to do the video. We had not originally planned on taking it, but we are so happy we decided to do it. It is worth way more than what it costs. Believe me. The memories that we have with that film with last us a lifetime. I strongly recommend anyone booking their photographer or video to book through Claudia. Her team is great and you will not be disappointed in the least. They’re amazing at what they do!!! For our reception we had rented the Grand Azul. It was really a wedding or our dreams. Everything looked classy and we had our own privacy. We had an amazing meal, and an awesome dance. They have a singer and band play for us until 11pm. They were great. You could also play any music that you wanted to. Rocio is there the whole night making sure everything goes off without a hitch.

We had a magical wedding and everything was perfect. I was expecting to at least have to deal with something going wrong since we were in a foreign country, but there was not one problem. I strongly recommend going to the Palladium, and if you want a catholic wedding get married at the xcaret chapel. Father Bernard spoke fantastic English and everything was beautiful. I would not change a single thing with how our wedding took place!!

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to email me. rondeau_lise@hotmail.com

I would highly recommend a wedding there!

The Manager of the Riu Palace Hotel where we were staying (Karima) was fantastic and saved the day totally by permitting us to have the ceremony in the hotel’s beautiful little chapel. She also arranged for our room to be decorated, sent us champagne, booked us a lovely table for dinner which was decorated with flower petals and swans made of white table napkins and even had the staff gather around our table to sing congratulations to us whilst presenting us with a yummy chocolate wedding cake!

Unfortunately on arriving home and looking at our photographs we were completely devastated to see how dreadful they are. Every single one was dark and dreary looking. The focus is not great and some have been taken so far zoomed out that you would have trouble recognising who is actually in them! I have requested a refund from Michael Maurus and his wife Petra but he has had the cheek to offer me a mere $30 despite the fact that those photographs can never be retaken now and this experience has almost ruined our memories of the day altogether. Michael Maurus is unapologetic and whilst the photographs on his website look great DO NOT BE FOOLED! If you book him as your photographer you will not get photos like those on his website, we didn’t!

For us, most of our family and friends could not attend, so the pictures and video were extremely important to us. I decided to go with Claudia Rodriguez as my photographer and videographer. She was extremely responsive and provided all the information upfront. A few weeks before we finalized the scheduled for the wedding day, and she was right on time the day of my wedding. Her calm presence was very much appreciated, and her husband Mike ended up taking our video. The results of the pictures and video were out of this world. The pictures were more photojournalism style, and truly captured the emotions of my wedding day. The video captured every important and funny moment of our wedding day. I highly recommend Claudia’s services to anyone getting married in Mexico. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at sarasned@hotmail.com

sam_ormsbee@hotmail.com

If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me at tmancinelli@vtllp.com.