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MelissaH

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    Barcelo Maya

    in Riviera Maya and Cancun Accommodations & Site

    Posted

    Here is a "Wedding Report" from one of the girls who's pictures I posted;

     

    Wedding Report - January 10, 2007

    « on: January 28, 2007, 05:59:51 PM » Quote

     

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    I posted my trip report in the “Trip Reports” section of the site, but I saved the wedding stuff for this section!

     

    We got married on January 10, 2007 at Barcelo and it was absolutely PERFECT! It could not have been better.

     

    We arrived at the resort on the 5th and met with Ana the morning of the 6th to go over the last-minute details. I had done a lot of preparation in advance so the meeting went pretty smoothly. It was difficult to pick out flowers – she showed us a huge book with tons of choose from. We finally chose white lilies with purple iris and they were beautiful. We also finalized the food, music, etc. I had told her over email that we wanted the mariachi’s to play and she acted like she didn’t remember that. She made a quick call and they were reserved. The only surprise that came up at the meeting was Ana said we had to pay $300 of the fee in cash because we had chosen a non-legal ceremony and they needed that to pay the judge directly. I told her over email that we chose the non-legal ceremony and she never mentioned this. Luckily we brought some travelers checks for emergencies that we were able to exchange into pesos at the front desk to pay the $300. However, had we not brought additional cash this would have been a problem because we had planned to pay for the entire wedding by credit card. Other than that, the meeting went well.

     

    My fiancé and I decided not to see each other on the day of the wedding. I spent the night before with my sister and future sisters-in-law. The morning of the wedding, I had breakfast with some family members and spent a couple hours on the beach. I took my wedding shoes to the wedding site and practiced walking down the aisle, which I’m sure looked pretty funny since I was wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and a baseball hat! Ana delivered the flowers to my room around 12:00. I got ready in my room with my mom and sister. I decided not to get my hair professionally done because I have naturally curly hair and felt I was the only person who was familiar enough with my hair to do it right for the humidity and wind. My sister and mom helped secure my veil and it looked great. My hair and veil barely moved the whole day, even in the wind. I did my own nails, too, and was glad I saved the money.

     

    We only had 8 guests at our wedding (our parents and siblings). Ana picked up everyone in the golf cart except me, my dad, and my sister at 2:40. She drove them to the wedding site and then came back for the three of us. The golf cart looked beautiful – it was decorated with flowers. It was an absolutely beautiful day – probably the best of the ten days we were there because the temperature was in the low 80’s rather than the upper 80’s. There were puffy white clouds in the sky and a slight breeze.

     

    We arrived at the wedding site at 3:00, which was near Captain Morgan’s. My sister went to the front to stand up for me; my fiance’s dad was his best man and already up there. The mariachi’s started playing the wedding march and my dad & I walked through the gazebo and down the aisle. Everything was so beautiful! I wasn’t nervous at all – everything just felt so perfect.

     

    The judge asked if we wanted the ceremony to be in English or Spanish and we chose English. The vows were beautiful and the judge was great. I hadn’t met him before the ceremony but I felt like I knew him. He had a very warm demeanor that put me at ease. His English was good so we didn’t have to worry about trying to understand. I was a little worried that the ceremony would be somewhat generic and impersonal, but it was the complete opposite! Everyone said it was the most beautiful ceremony they’ve ever been to.

     

    After the ceremony, we walked down the aisle and there was a waiter who served us champagne. We had requested to eat our cake on the beach so we took some cake pictures first and then they cut it. We chose the pineapple cake and it was the best cake I had ever had! The mariachi’s left shortly after the ceremony but I didn’t mind because they had speakers and were playing beautiful music. We took some group/family pictures on the beach and then my husband and I left with the photographer for about an hour to take more pictures around the resort. Our family members just hung out at Captain Morgan’s until we got there. The photographer did a wonderful job – we were very happy with our pictures (I’ll post some soon).

     

    Shortly before 6:00, we walked over to the reception which was in a banquet room near the Colonial lobby. I wasn’t sure what to expect because we had such a small group and were not having a DJ, dance, etc…We were pleasantly surprised by the way the room was decorated. It was very cozy – a U-shaped table that fit the 10 of us perfectly. There were candles on the table and on the floor, and beautiful music was playing. Each space at the table had a menu showing the courses with our names on it. There was a main waitress and two others that helped her throughout the night. The food was WONDERFUL! We ordered from the Santa Fe menu and had a green salad, the Mexican appetizer, beef tenderloin, and brownies & ice cream. There was also a bite-sized sherbet dish served between two of the courses and little chocolates after the desert. There was way too much food – I could feel my dress getting tighter! It was definitely the best food we had during our trip; everyone is still raving about the tenderloin saying it was the best piece of meat they’ve ever had. The waitstaff did a great job filling our wine and getting us anything we needed. We stayed in the room until about 8:30 (we had it until 9:00). It was such a cozy, intimate setting – they did a great job!

     

    After dinner, we went back to our rooms to change clothes and found our sisters had snuck into our room while we were off with the photographer and decorated with streamers and “just married” signs! It was so sweet! The hotel had also put rose petals on the bed and brought another bottle of champage and basket of fruit. We received a phone call saying that there was a package for us, so a bellboy brought it up. I won’t ruin the surprise, but it was a nice gift from Ana. We changed into comfy clothes and met everyone at the 9:00 show and just relaxed. After the show, we went back to our room and couldn’t believe how perfect the entire day had been.

     

    The next morning, we were expecting our breakfast-in-bed at 8:00 and it did not arrive. I called room service and they said they thought it was supposed to be delivered at 9:00. They brought it up around 8:45 – it consisted of fruit, toast, rolls, coffee, OJ, and champagne. Our “free” massage appointments were at 10:30 and they were great! It was a perfect way to end our wedding festivities.

     

    Ana and the Barcelo did a great job with our wedding. I would recommend this place to anyone looking for a beautiful ceremony in a beautiful setting. There were a few times before the trip that I had my doubts, but everything far exceeded my expectations. I cannot think of one thing that could have been better with the wedding or the trip as a whole.

     

    THANK YOU to all of the brides out there that answered my questions and helped me prepare for my wedding day! I know it would not have been as successful as it was if I didn’t have your help!

    Any Barcelo Brides?

    in Destination Wedding in Riviera Maya, Cancun & surrounding areas

    Posted

    The people staying at the Beach and Caribe sides of the resort have access to everything except the extra a la carte restaurants (they get 2 as opposed to 4) and the air conditioned buffet restaurants (they get an open air buffet which is really nice as well!).

     

    I believe they do only have the beach and chapel ceremony sites - I know their gardens can't be used for weddings (which is a shame because they're absolutely gorgeous).

     

    The Tropical is the same as the Colonial - beautiful beautiful beautiful.

    It's a little busier than the rest of the resort though because it's got the activity pool right in front.

    Any Barcelo Brides?

    in Destination Wedding in Riviera Maya, Cancun & surrounding areas

    Posted

    I absolutely love the Barcelo - I think I said this before but I was there last year and fell in love with it - it's just beautiful! The services is great, the food is great, there's so much to do, it's just awesome!

     

    No problems at all so far, everything's been so easy and smooth! (except maybe that the WC's are a little slow at getting back to me, but they're swamped with weddings right now so I don't complain)

    Witnesses Also Need to Be in Mexico 3 Days Prior?

    in Destination Wedding in Riviera Maya, Cancun & surrounding areas

    Posted

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by evonut View Post
    I'm not understanding why they need to be there three days PRIOR to the wedding--it's not like they have to get their blood test done or anything.

    I'll check with the coordinator--hopefully, this is not the case. Otherwise, it looks like we'll have to have 4 'bought' witnesses from the resort. :-(
    They needed the witnesses there to sign all the paperwork that has to be sent to city hall before the wedding, just FYI :)

    Tips

    in Destination Wedding in Cabo

    Posted

    We're only dealing with our WC, she'll be dealing with all the vendors, but we're planning on tipping her around $50 USD & buying her a small gift of thanks, and then we'll be tipping our wait staff at the reception.

    Last name confusion!

    in Wedding Etiquette, Traditions, to dos

    Posted

    I need some serious advice...

    This has been weighing on my mind since before we got engaged (so about a year now) and now it's getting down to crunch time and I don't know what to do...

     

    I don't know whether to keep my last name or take my FH's last name!

     

    - For one, I LIKE my last name - I've had it for 24 years, it suits me, and it's mine, ya know?? It's just a part of who I am!

    - Secondly, I don't like the sound of his last name with my first name - it just sounds weird.

    - Thirdly, hyphenating our two names just sounds ridiculous.

    -And last, but not least, his last name doesn't even mean anything to him (according to him!). He knows no one on his dad's side of the family and his dad hasn't been a part of his life since he was young and he has no desire to welcome his dad back into his life.

     

    He says it wouldn't offend him if I didn't take his last name, but I think I'd end up feeling really guilty about it. Help me girls! I have a month to make up my mind!! What would you do? :

    Barcelo Maya

    in Riviera Maya and Cancun Accommodations & Site

    Posted

    I was there last year and fell in love with it, it's a beautiful resort!

    I have booked my wedding there - the WC has been so great - they're totally swamped with weddings and take a little while to get back to you but they're very very helpful and accomodating.

     

    Here is the link to all of their wedding info;

    Weddings, Renewing your vows

     

    I think the only package that offers dinner outside of one of their a la cartes or banquet halls is the under the stars package - you get married close to sunset and then have a private dinner and dancing on the beach - from the pictures I've seen it looks amazing!!

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