Kriswim

Hi Jennie, It was much cheaper to have it at the Gran. Especially since we were all staying at the Gran!! Plus the set up is really similar. I saw a few weddings set up at the Royal and I actually liked my area better - more room and less wind. The Gran's beach is more protected by the hotel than the Royals. If you have any other questions just let me know! Thanks!

I finally posted my review!!! Here is the link to it! http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t43618

Quote: Originally Posted by loanmao Shannon....GREAT review!!! My FI and I are so close to booking the Royal for our wedding. We are also planning on staying at Gran Porto due to the many kids that will be attending. 3 of the kids are our niece and nephews, so we don't want to split the family apart. A few questions...did you have full access to all services at Royal? Why did you decide on having the reception at Gran rather than Royal? Would you recommend beach or gazebo wedding? Did you have kids at your wedding? Was the entertainment cheesy? I've been to an all-inclusive where the entertainment was super super cheesy. How's the night-life for 20-30 year olds? Did you spend much time around 5th ave? Thanks for all your help!!!! Can we see more pictures? Hi - If you stay at the Gran, you DO NOT have access to the Royal. BUT having your wedding there, I was allowed to book my services at their Spa ( highly recommend ) our private dinner and massage -which were inlcuded in our package - were all at the Royal. We decided to have our reception at the Gran because it was A LOT cheaper and just as nice!!!!!!! The entertainment at the resort was ok ( i think you are referring to the nightly shows etc). The stuff during the day rocked! The night Shows were good, but I have nothing to compare it to since this was my first all inclusive - my husband who has stayed at AI's before, said he's seen better. My family all enjoyed it though. Sometimes we weren't around when the shows started. The night life was ok - they have a few bars that we went to. The night life off the resort is AWESOME!! 5th ave is FILLLLED With tons and tons and tons of bars and restaurants that really seem to come alive at like 1am! We went to a bar just a few doors down the beach (next to the Blue Parrot) we went there b/c girls drank free from 9-12mid. Blue Parrot was trying to charge $20 entry fee! I could have hung out on 5th every night - but since we were staying at an AI it was silly to spend $ when our drinks were free!!! Also on Cinco de Mayo we went to Senor Frogs which was just ok ( but i think normally its packed - being that it was only 10pm and during the swine flu the place was empty.) It was so sad to see what the swine flu was doing to these poor businesses! We did a few shopping trips on 5th ave but its much hotter there than at the resort so we limited it. My husband and i went to the local MEGA grocery store for stuff for our OOT bags bags (we went to Wal-mart too but it was smaller than Mega, urther away, more $$ and dirty) MEGA ROCKED! :-) It's only 3 blocks north of the resort right on the same street!! I will post more pics!!!

Hey Erika, I will try to find some close ups of the bouquets...I'll see what i can find!

I used the resorts photographer (I had Ceasar) and I thought he was really good. We loved our photos!! I did see them walking around taking photo shoots of people, but it didn't bother us - I thought it would be cool to have a session like that on the beach ( if we weren't getting married there I might have done it!!) We bought our parents each a private dinner on the beach as a thank you and they came over and took pictures. Our parents ended up buying a few and thought it was so neat!! They loved it! :-)

Shannon Krista’s (Kriswim) Legal Wedding Review – Gran Porto Real / Royal Real Resort. May 2nd, 2009. Thank you to all the bides on this forum who have provided all the helpful information! By sharing ideas and concerns I was really able to better plan my wedding. I couldn’t have done it with out all you ladies! Hopefully, this helps you all as well! We were married at The Royal in Playa del Carmen May 2nd, 2009. ( Despite it being in the midst of the swine flu outbreak!) We had the ceremony at the Gazebo at the Royal and the reception on the beach at the Gran. All of our vendors were booked through the resort. We booked our wedding in February of 2008, so we were given 08’s pricing (big saver for us!). We stayed at the Gran Proto Real for 10 days. It was a cost decision for us to stay there but we absolutely LOVED IT! I am so glad we did a destination wedding. It saved us a lot of money and it was a lot less stress. It was something different and an event people will remember forever. Although the closer we got and people started canceling (b/c of the stupid flu) we were sad but still happy with our decision!! Resort: The resort was excellent. Our guests (and us) loved the staff and the resort. We ate all 5 restaurants, and they were good. (Il Pescatore – Italian, Marias – Mexican, the roof sushi bar, Beach Grill and Albatros – the buffet). In spite of the flu panic the hotel was Excellent. The service was like no other!!! Not one of our guests had any issues. Everyone loved being right by 5th! The pool area is awesome. The activities team really does try to get everyone having fun. Some people tired water aerobics and had a blast! This activity guy named “Chicken Little†was so funny! He rocked! There were fun bartending classes, bingo, bike tours, water volley ball, kayaking, Spanish lessons, dance lessons, mini golf, snorkeling, and water basketball! We were upgraded for FREE into an OCEAN FRONT view room – it was great!!!! What a view. We loved the extra space in the room and the extra balcony. Wedding: We originally had 40 people booked for the wedding. All but six were staying at the Gran. But by the time the wedding came around 18 people canceled. It was really sad and I cried but then I remembered why we were there – the most important thing was that Chris and I were getting married! We arrived Monday – plenty time ahead for our legal wedding, and met with Michelle on Tuesday. We made almost all of our decisions during this appointment. Our wedding was originally booked for 4PM. But we noticed that the sun doesn’t set until 7pm. We wanted pictures during sun set after the ceremony so we moved it to 5pm. So we could have the photographer for 3 hours and still get him for the reception. During our appointment with Michelle we also: -picked out our food – Stuffed chicken – cream of corn with Cilantro soup ( SOOO GOOD) -had our blood tests done (it was actually really easy) and had a really quick “physical†with the doctor (he asked us if we felt healthy, and if we had been to the hospital in the last 2 years...) -picked out our “free†centerpiece (she had a bunch of pictures and it came free with the ceremony package) - picked out the fabric design for the Gazebo at the Royal – she had lots of pictures to look at. -picked out the cake (Tres Leches – THE BEST CAKE EVER – everyone LOVED IT) -re-confirmed everything else (photos, videographer, miriachi band, dj) -picked out the music for walking down the aisle. (Resort’s music - canon in d) -I didn’t give her my favors until the day of the wedding and gave her the shells to decorate the tables on Wednesday. -asked about our food choices - she agreed with them and explained the other choices on the menu. She also mentioned that our menu choice was the most requested one. -Everyday I had a new count to give Michelle since people were cancelling and it was no big deal. On Friday I had to sign the contract (has to be done one full day before the wedding) She was so easy to work with! Here is a general overview of our wedding: -We didn’t do a rehearsal b/c the wedding party was so small and Michelle explained the process to us a few days before. -All week I could call her, email her or just run over to her office with questions and she got back to me right away! She was amazing. -My mom had trouble with her credit card – something about international transactions. But no worries! Michelle was there and worked it all out! My mom was stressing but Michele made it completely easy! -Friday we all met at Marias for dinner and had 2 tables set up for us. There were about 17 of us in all so it wasn’t a huge group. Since the resort was kind of slow – it wasn’t a problem! We bought our parents each a private dinner on the beach as a thank you. Since it was Chris’ parents anniversary that week they really enjoyed it. -We also bought them a nice piece of pottery from a local vendor. They really liked it. -We went over the Spa at the Royal ( SpAzul ) for the spa services. -1PM – Had my nails re-polished. They brought champagne to our room! My hair turned our awesome - I didn’t even go in with pictures. I just told the hair stylist I wanted it and up; it was perfect! I had small white orchids placed under my hair where my veil went – it was beautiful! My makeup was PERFECT! I felt like a Hollywood movie star! -She did all my services in 1 hour!! -About 2 weeks before the wedding I emailed Michelle with a list of everyone who wanted spa services. She booked the appointments with the spa ( must be done ahead of time b/c they book up – normally!) -Michelle dropped off the flowers and checked on us about 1 hr before just like she said – she came right to my hotel room! I didn’t even tell here where I was – she tracked me down! -We ordered room service so we could eat in the room and not have to rush off anywhere – such a good idea!!! 4:30PM - Michelle checked on the gazebo and made sure the guys were there. 4:55PM – We met at Michelle’s office and walked down to the gazebo. We met the judge at Michele’s office and luckily she spoke English – it was terrific! The wedding ceremony was beautiful. The legal ceremony in Mexico has such touching words. At the end, we signed the 3 copies, and did the finger prints on the papers. That was so neat! But I was afraid of getting ink on my dress!  We had the champagne toast, and chatted with our guests. Took lots of pictures and we even decided to do our cake cutting at this point so the photographer could get good shots and this way we wouldn’t forget about it later on. We got a few group photos in the gazebo, and then it was off to the beach. We gave our guests a chance to have their own photos - which they loved! We did photos with our families, and then they went off on their own. We did another hour or so of photos with our wedding party. Then we let them loose and did the rest of on our own. The photographer was very creative and really loved his work. Michelle helped coordinate all of this – thank goodness!! We then walked over to the Gran for the reception. The Mariachi band played for the first hour of the reception. By far the best part! I would HIGHLY recommend hiring them! Chris and I did a pre-first dance while the Mariachi band played a slow song! We got the best pictures! Then we sat down and ate. After the soup and salad we did our first dances and the after the meal we did the speeches. This was all down in the beginning so both the videographer and photographer could get pictures while they were still there. The service was OUTSTANDING – so fast and the food was hot! The food was excellent and the presentation was wonderful. The dessert was so good as well – we picked the chocolate shell!! The DJ was awesome. He picked out ALL the songs except 3 that we brought. A few were requested and he had them all! We bought maracas on 5th Ave and gave them out as favors! It was such a HUGE hit! We danced with them all night long – what fun!!! The DJ played for an extra half hour or so – one or two $20 bills helped – but since the resort was pretty quiet and we were the only wedding - it didn’t matter! Michelle stayed the entire time both the photographer and videographer were there to make sure everything went smooth. She helped run the entire event. I didn’t have to worry about a thing! Vendors & Pricing We loved all of our vendors!! Photography – Funever Photos - Photographer was Caesar – 2 hours plus we added an extra hour. He was really good. Videographer – 3 hours Miriachi Band - 45min - $450US DJ - 4hour package, (He was excellent!) Food/Drinks - $35 a plate Flowers: Pink Star gazers with off white roses! Perfect match to go with my bridesmaids dresses that were turquoise! Hair (updo) - $65 Makeup - $60 Nail Polish change - $25 I got tips put on my nails at a spa next door to the Gran – Health Beauty Spa. They were really nice and much cheaper!!! $45 for my tips, $120 at the Royal! We bought the Luxury package at the Royal. So worth it! We had a couples massage on Monday and a private dinner on the beach at the Royal Sunday night. It was so romantic! It was the best steak I have ever had in my life!!!!!! Advice/Tips The only advice I could give is NOT to stress – They do everything for you! We had made OOT bags for everyone and gave them to the front desk at the Gran each day our guest arrived. It ended up being so easy – I couldn’t believe I was stressed about it. The front desk even made me copies of my welcome letters for free! We bought a lot of the snacks for the bags at the local wal-mart – then realized form locals that the local MEGA grocery store was better and cheaper!! I would NOT go back to the wal-mart!!!!!!! We could walk to both. We took a cab back from wal-mart only b/c we had so many bags but it was only $3! It really was sad that many of our friends and family canceled b/c of the swine flu but in the end – we had a BLAST! Everyone kept coming up to us saying it was the most fun they ever had at a wedding! So worth it! Another tip – if you need your dress steamed so it far in advance – I waited until Thursday (wedding on Sat) and found out that Friday was a holiday in Mexico so no one was working that day! They couldn’t steam my dress. At first I was upset – but it didn’t matter!! It was windy on the beach and you couldn’t tell at all ( plus it really wasn’t that bad!) I was EXTREMLY happy with my decision to have my wedding split between the Royal and Gran. It was perfect! Hope this helps other brides. Let me know if you have any questions – I will be glad to help out in anyway I can!! Here are some non professional pictures:

I am finishing up my review. Just have to upload it!!! I used the resorts. Funever. They can email you their website and you can look at pictures if you ask them. They were great!!!!!!

Hey Girls! I am back!!! Wow! What a wonderful wedding! I am working on my review today. But i just wanted to post a quick hello! Everything went SOOO well! The wedding coordinators at the Royal are WONDERFUL! I met them all. Michelle (mine) is the best though!! SHE ROCKS! Truely she is the sweetest person and always is calm and reassuring. I will miss her! My weddig went off with a hitch ( minus the 18 or so people that canceled). :-( It was really upsetting to hear day by day all of our friends cancel but Chris reminded me that we are here to get married and that is the most important thing. And he was right! Well stay tuned for my review!!! Shay - i hope everything goes well for you and you get to enjoy the Dominican. It will all work out!

Sorry for the double posts! that's really funny about the report about mayhem at the cancun airport on monday were where there monday and it was really really calm. wow no wonder people at home are scared.

Hey Steph - I am still here!!!!!!!! Over 1/2 of our wedding guests have canceled. But the wedding will go on! Its so beautiful here we are enjoying ourselves!! Our parents and siblings made so thats the important part. We will just do something small when we get back. I was crying alot yesterday but my wonderful FI reminded me that's its about us getting married and that's what really counts. its a shame that the panic contiunes at home but its out of our control. The hotel has been really great. Its just a sad sad situation all around. Lots of weddings here have been either canceled or reduced. But ours will still go on. I think if you go on the webcam at 6:30 central time you will see my reception at the Gran porto!!! Who hoo - can't wait. Steph - your wedding in the Keys will be WONDERFUL!! its so pretty there - great sunsets!!!!! That's a great back up plan - we might have done something like that if we had more time to think about it but that's ok. Good luck!!!!!!!

Hey Steph - I am still here!!!!!!!! Over 1/2 of our wedding guests have canceled. But the wedding will go on! Its so beautiful here we are enjoying ourselves!! Our parents and siblings made so thats the important part. We will just do something small when we get back. I was crying alot yesterday but my wonderful FI reminded me that's its about us getting married and that's what really counts. its a shame that the panic contiunes at home but its out of our control. The hotel has been really great. Its just a sad sad situation all around. Lots of weddings here have been either canceled or reduced. But ours will still go on. I think if you go on the webcam at 6:30 central time you will see my reception at the Gran porto!!! Who hoo - can't wait. Steph - your wedding in the Keys will be WONDERFUL!! its so pretty there - great sunsets!!!!! That's a great back up plan - we might have done something like that if we had more time to think about it but that's ok. Good luck!!!!!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by Shay2679 Air Canada Vacations announced the cancellation of all flights to Cancun, Puerto Vallarta and Cozumel tonight. We will NOT be having our wedding in that freakin gazebo, on that god damn beach, in Mexico. If I weren't so tired from all the crying...I'd ... punch something! I don't know what to do. Hello, This is Shannon's fiance Chris. We made it down here, we left Monday when everything was just starting to get heavy. We had most of out wedding party cancel including three of my best friends and Shan's maid of honor is on the fence. My parents and Shan's parents are in the air as we speak. I just did a quick expedia search and it seems like other flights are flying from Canada. It really isn't fair if they don't refund you and allow you to book with somone else, since they are still flying. I am not sure how consumer friendly the laws are in Canada, but I would demand the money back or demand that they put you on another flight since it is not a systme wide shutdown. You could also drive to like Vermont or another US airport. Just my two sense, sorry if you are frustrated, and I am sure you are hearing tons of advice. To the person that said she is sick of the "make the best of it coments", we totally agree. However when you are down here you realize they are kind of right. We are still having a good time. We just take our hand sanitizer everywhere, and Shan also brought wipes to wipe everything down. i am looking out the balcony and they are setting up for a wedding on the beach right now. So, things are still going on down here as normal. We also got Tamiflu prescriptions before we left just in case. It can also be taken as a preventive measure for those at high risk. We were thinking about taking it just in case but decided we will only take if we get symptoms. I read that Kids under 1 can't take it All that being said, there is no sign of an outbreak down here at all. When we arrived on Monday, the only people that had masks were the customs agents, now the cooks and food service people (not waiters) have the maks as a precaution. Our wedding coordinator said that they had a meeting of the hotel and restaurant association down here, and they decided to wear the masks as precaution, to make the guests feel better. She also said there were no cases of the flu down here. If you didn't hear about it before you got here, you would just think people are wearing masks for food safety. The beaches/pools/streets seem full. I am sure there are less people than normal, but we like it a little quieter, and shan found a beach chair easier . Other then that good luck to everyone, and if we can help let us know. If anyone wants us to take any pictures for reference, let us know. I know Shan has learned a lot from you guys, and I know if she could help any way she would. Ok, bye for now.

Hey Girls! Ok lots going - I leave in less than 2 days!! Whoa....then i hear about the SWINE FLU OUTBREAK in MEXICO!! WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now i am scared - we have (2) 3 month olds coming and 2 other toddlers....Should I warn their moms?? Oh man why now? i have enough stress!! PLus i had a dream last night that my wedding got all screwed up! argh! Anyway - I was told that i didn't need my docs translated!!! DO that have to be? Oh no - i am scared now....well i guess if they do then we can just have the symbolic ceremony and get legally married when we return. I can't stress about it - i have waaay to much going on these next two days...speaking of that - i am late for my final hair cut/color!! Let me know if anyone has heard about this new outbreak!!

I wanted to let everyone know about the swine flu outbreak in Mexico City, great timing as I leave in 2 days!!!!!! Has everyone head about this outbreak?

I agree don't stalk weather.com!! Shay - I leave in 6 days!!!!! omg! I haven't even started packing (tonight i will though!) And i just realized that I haven't done my wedding programs yet! eek - need to get on that - anyone have any good verbage?? The ceremony is so short i don't know what to put on it!! haha! I am stressing - but only about things that I have to do - nothing to do with the resort - Michelle has been WONDERFUL! I love her! Oh! and i found out that there is only ONE other wedding that day and its at 1pm! WHOO-HOO!! i will have the whole place to my self! yipeeeeeeee! We are staying at the Gran so no wifi in the rooms, but its in the lobby - knowing my FI he will be online everyday - so I plan to do at least one post while I am there! :-) Let me know if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer them! Shay let me know if you have any last minute questions before you leave - and I will see you there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are going to have to figure out how to meet up and when!!!!!

Shay - I would double check b/c i didn't know this was going to be an issue until she gave me the times. Maybe the Royal has more hairstylist ( though that's where I requested our hair get done - SpAzul - but she booked us at the Gran )- so I am not sure. But I also had 10 people to try and fit in...so maybe that's an issue too. I am still trying to figure it all out. Did Lili tell you where your location was going to be - Michelle asked me where I wanted it - i just told her to pick the best/most private area. Hope it works out I will know in 12 days when i get there!!!!

Wow - this thread hit 100 pages!! I remember when Stephanie started this post over a year ago! This has SAVED my life - i love this thread so much!!! Did anyone know that the Royal's Spa ( SpAzul ) is under construction?! (Shay you might need to know this...) I was pissed b/c i was supposed to have a room to change into ( since i am staying at the Gran) but not the case anymore. Michelle my WC said she could find me an area but i don't think i want to chance it. It could be a game time decision when i actually see the space in 2 weeks - yeah! Well, I don't know what do to b/c my girls have to start having their hair done at 9am!!! my Ceremony isn't until 4pm! Argh - i don't know what to do - help!! I just watne everyone together but I may have to change that...9am is sooo early! I would hate for some girls to get ready at the Gran and some to get ready at the Royal - but I may have to. Unfortunately i think some girls may just decide NOT to get their hair done...which i really don't want to have happen. gerr - why is there only one person who can do updo's

Tguerre - Thanks so much for posting - that is perfect - I spent about an hr yesterday searching too for the welcome letters i have seen in the past. I thought I saved them but can't find my file. oh well! I only have 13 days until i leave so i have to get on this!!! Thanks again!

Veronica - where did you go to get massages? Was if off site? I would like to go there - only $30!!! Do they do other services too like Pedicures?

Hey Girls! Its been a while since i posted...but i have been SUPER busy with wedding stuff!! I leave in 26 days!!! OMG! We still don't have our rings...still don't have the guys outfits (thanks to a slacking FI). Everyone has replied - thank goodness! We have 38 adults, and 4 kids under 5! (2 of which are 3 months old!) Just wanted to let everyone know that my new WC is Michelle - i think she works at the Royal is SOOO AWESOME! She gets right back to me (sometimes with in the hour!). Everyday i email her with a random question and she responds - its totally eased my nerves! I still have to post my semi-DYI invites tonight - just never got around to it! Does anyone else have this problem: At my shower i had lots of people give me the guilt trip for having a destination wedding - like "sorry we can't be there - but ya know we have kids, or don't have vacation or don't have the money." OR "why are you having a desitination wedding anyway!" i feel like telling them - "so annoying people like you don't go!!!!!" oh well...i should be used to it but seriously one month away and now I get this? Does anyone know if they had to provide songs to the DJ? Or did they just have everything already Veronica - can't wait to read your review!!

I really LOVE This site - i have been using the links and ideas for months now!! Thanks for all your help ladies! :-)

Thanks for posting ladies! I love that PDF to Word doc converter!! OMG this is going to save my life! Thanks! :-)

Also, Shay, Congrats on all the weight loss! That's awesome...I am fighting to lose the last 10lbs! So hard....I love push ups they really work. Pull ups work too...I think the best is do and do a lot of interval training. Lean Protien works the best for muscle toning!

Ok - So i haven't posted in a while but have been crazy busy with wedding stuff. I got an email from Michel ( who is taking over for Micaela ) Has anyone heard about him? Also, micaela did tell me orchids are $25 each!! wow. Well i am gong to do it i love them. So Michel told me that they never got my deposit! Panic! So now i have to track it down - what a pain. No one has mentioned to me about paying any more $$...now i am worried we aren't pre-pared to pay any more for a few more months. oh gosh. I thought we couldn't use outside vendors (i.e : mariachi band) b/c we want to use one too - now i should find out about that! why is this soo confusing - i just wish we all would get the same answers! lol! I did however have my first dress fitting on Sat! woot! I LOVE IT! i can't wait. Also i finished my wedding invites - will be mailing them out this week! I will post pics this week too ( if i can get a minute to breathe!) :-)

Well, I just want to know if she'll do a rehearsal "walk thru" of the ceremony with us. I think she said she can translate the judge if he doesn't speak english well. Then i just wanted confirmation that she got/has everything from me - which i am sure she does b/c she would probably email me if she needed money or important papers!! LOL