Mrs.Captain

All the men went on a guided fishing trip the morning of our wedding. It kept them busy while the girls were getting ready. I think they did a 4 hours charter from 8am - Noon. Our wedding was at 4pm, so it was perfect. It kept him busy while I got ready, etc. He originally wanted to go scuba diving that morning and I did put my foot down on that one. I worry more about safety with diving than fishing, but that's just me. It helped that his best man was having ear problems from their dive earlier in the week and told him I didn't want him going through that on the wedding day, so fishing it was!

We received an e-mail from Rocio or Erika (I forget which one) a few weeks before we left confirming the wedding costs (or an estimate of what they would be based on what we had chosen so far), so we could be prepared with how to pay, etc. We had to pay cash for the officiant and the blood test. You need to bring the cash for the officiant to your planning meeting with the wedding coordinator. The blood test fees are paid directly to the doctor. The rest they charged to our room, so we just paid when we checked out. Our photographer didn't stay for dinner, so we didn't have to pay anything for them to come into the resort. The resort security people can get confused about this. They resort issues day passes for people before 6pm and after 6pm. They tried to tell our photographer that they had to leave at 6pm, even though it was arranged that they would be on site until 7pm or 8pm. Make sure to tell either Erika or Rocio at your planning meeting what your plan is regarding the time frame for the photographer. They can then record it on their event plan for you. We had to have Erika talk to security to clear this when the photographer arrived.

Hello, The set-up in both Grand Azul and La Laguna looks like they are using the existing tables and chairs that "live" in those areas. You can ask, but it looks like it may be difficult to change out they types of tables. That being said, there are a few larger rounds, maybe 4 or 5 if I remember correctly, and the rest are squares. You could request that they keep all the rounds they have and see how many that seats. Good luck, Jen

Welcome. You picked a great resort to get married at. Happy planning!

Check out this thread: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t27733 There's tons of information there.

If you want to climb a ruin, go to Coba. They are going to stop letting people climb it later in 2009 (I forget the exact details). We did both Coba and Chichen-Itaz in January when we were there. Both were amazing! I think I enjoyed Coba a little more because we could climb it and the view from the top was awesome. We went with the tours offered through Palace Hotels (Palace passport). I wouldn't recommend paying to do their tours. I think other tour companies offer more in the way of side trips on the way there/back. However, if the passport is included in your stay, it is worth it for the price - free! It would have been nice to get the cenote or zip lining as part of the tour, but I'm not sure I would have paid full tour prices to get that when I didn't have to pay. Hope that helps.

If you want to climb a ruin, go to Coba. They are going to stop letting people climb it later in 2009 (I forget the exact details). We did both Coba and Chichen-Itaz in January when we were there. Both were amazing! I think I enjoyed Coba a little more because we could climb it and the view from the top was awesome. We went with the tours offered through Palace Hotels (Palace passport). I wouldn't recommend paying to do their tours. I think other tour companies offer more in the way of side trips on the way there/back. However, if the passport is included in your stay, it is worth it for the price - free! It would have been nice to get the cenote or zip lining as part of the tour, but I'm not sure I would have paid full tour prices to get that when I didn't have to pay. Hope that helps.

You'll love working with Tammara and Grant! Great choice on the photographers. Our ceremony was 20 minutes? We did the legal ceremony, so that included the time for document signing and thumb prints. I wasn't wearing a watch and not really paying attention to the time. I just tasked someone with letting us know when we had to be at the reception dinner.

Hello, Our ceremony was at 4pm and dinner at 6:30pm. We booked our photographer for 5 hours. They arrived at 2pm and took getting ready shots and stay until just after dinner started. We had the cake brought out before dinner started and did the cake cutting then so the photographer could capture that moment and the first part of dinner. I would recommend determining if you want any getting ready shots and how much of the reception you want them to capture and make your decision on number of hours based on that. We probably could have gotten away with fewer hours (starting at 3pm), but we liked the photographer and package they offered. Good Luck!

Hello, Our ceremony was at 4pm and dinner at 6:30pm. We booked our photographer for 5 hours. They arrived at 2pm and took getting ready shots and stay until just after dinner started. We had the cake brought out before dinner started and did the cake cutting then so the photographer could capture that moment and the first part of dinner. I would recommend determining if you want any getting ready shots and how much of the reception you want them to capture and make your decision on number of hours based on that. We probably could have gotten away with fewer hours (starting at 3pm), but we liked the photographer and package they offered. Good Luck!

I like them all, but I like your favourite one best. I like the sweetheart neckline personally and I think it fits you in all the right places. I say go for it! Good luck deciding! Jen

You can't really go wrong with a reception in either Gran Azul or La Laguna. For anyone considering between those locations who hasn't been there (and seen the layout), I would recommend choosing the location closest to where you and your guests would be staying so it makes it easier for everyone at the end of the night (everyone will be pretty exhausted from the partying, especially in the sun) to get back to their rooms and not have to worry about a long walk or the train system. Our entire group seemed to prefer hanging out a little closer to our rooms as the resort is pretty big. Cheers!

Thank you for the comments about the pictures and the dress! We used Tamm's Photos (Tamm's Photos - Wedding Photography Intro). Tammara and her husband work as a team and are based in the US, but travel to Mexico to shoot weddings. We had a great experience using them. My dress was from Venus bridals. It was one of the dresses in their bridesmaid collection. I highly recommend the Tres Leches cake (3 cream - it's a Mexican specialty). They gave us a choice of 3 flavours (vanilla, chocolate, and tres leches). We didn't specify anything else and they just decorated it with flowers for us. If you book anything through Renova Spa or Scuba Caribe via the internet before you go, you can get a 5% discount on their posted prices. Erika or Rocio can send you the list of service they provide. I'm not sure if they have a CD player/mic to use at the a la cartes. We didn't find we needed one. They just section off an area for your group. At Portofino (where we had our reception dinner), we were on a patio area separated from the main restaurant, across the walkway on the water side. Near the end of our pictures, should be a distant shot of where we were holding the reception. We had that area to ourselves. From what I saw there during the week, at the other restaurants, they set up the group in an area that is kind of separated from the rest of the restaurant. It's not in a separate room, but the area is separated from the rest of the diners. They weren't too strict on the 2 hour rule. I think ours ran over, I wasn't really paying attention. We had a REALLY REALLY slow eater in our group, so we were waiting for them to finish their course before they could serve the next course. The guys in our group did a deep sea fishing charter. We didn't do a planned girls activity. They booked it through someone based out of Puerto Aventuras, which is around a $10US cab fare away. I didn't really pay attention to the details as the guys had it under control. Cheers, Jen

The snow didn't stick to the roads. I barely noticed it driving to work as it was just getting started and it had stopped and pretty much melted by the time I drove home. I used the spa to get my hair done. I had a great experience. Others in our group used it while we were there for massage, etc. as well and also loved it. I do know another bride that purchased one of their packages and didn't have so great of an experience. It seems that with the package, you get one practitioner for all services, no matter what is getting done (massage, facial, mani, pedi, and hair). So, you might get someone who is good at part and just does the rest when they are doing a package. I would recommend booking services separately so you get someone who specializes in an area (i.e. hair). We decided to make most of the decisions down there so that we could see the location and get a feel for everything. I also didn't have my heart set on a perfect colour scheme or anything, so it made the planning stage very relaxing. The hardest part was getting guests booked and choosing a dress. We brought a cd with music for the ceremony. They have music there, but we decided to bring our own. We wanted to use acoustic guitar and guitar/banjo music to keep the feel beachy. You will need to pick at least 3 songs (processional, document signing, recessional), which you can do there if you want. Cheers, Jen

The snow didn't stick to the roads. I barely noticed it driving to work as it was just getting started and it had stopped and pretty much melted by the time I drove home. I used the spa to get my hair done. I had a great experience. Others in our group used it while we were there for massage, etc. as well and also loved it. I do know another bride that purchased one of their packages and didn't have so great of an experience. It seems that with the package, you get one practitioner for all services, no matter what is getting done (massage, facial, mani, pedi, and hair). So, you might get someone who is good at part and just does the rest when they are doing a package. I would recommend booking services separately so you get someone who specializes in an area (i.e. hair). We decided to make most of the decisions down there so that we could see the location and get a feel for everything. I also didn't have my heart set on a perfect colour scheme or anything, so it made the planning stage very relaxing. The hardest part was getting guests booked and choosing a dress. We brought a cd with music for the ceremony. They have music there, but we decided to bring our own. We wanted to use acoustic guitar and guitar/banjo music to keep the feel beachy. You will need to pick at least 3 songs (processional, document signing, recessional), which you can do there if you want. Cheers, Jen

Hi Carly, The $1850 rate was for 1 week. I forget what the quote for 2 weeks was as we changed resorts for our second week. We booked everything (wedding date, resort, etc.) in July 2008 for January 2009. You may find it better to wait a little bit to book if you are trying to get a package deal through one of the providers. They don't seem to have any prices available online yet, so it's hard to compare what you could get on your own vs. what the agent is finding you. We used a local travel agency in Victoria. What city are you departing out of? If you think the rate you were quoted was high, ask other travel agents for a quote. You could even try contacting TA Lindsay from this site. An honest travel agent will let you know the pricing trend and such. The beach is huge. Part of it is great for things like snorkeling with the reef and such and part of it is for swimming. The water on the beach behind us in the picture in my signature is from the beach that you can swim in. You can see other pictures of the beach in quite of few of our wedding photos. Our guests did deep sea fishing, scuba diving, snorkelling. Our guests and us did a combination of the following tours/adventures: Coba, Chichen Itza, Xel-ha, Xcaret, Rio Secreto. We waited until we arrived to make most of the decisions regarding the wedding (flowers, ceremony location, cake, reception menu). Erika just walked us through everything we needed to decide. The only stuff we really did before was choose the date and the reception dinner location as they needed to make the restaurant reservation. Cheers, Jen

Hi Carly, It was even better than we could have hoped. All but 3 of our guests stayed at the Kantenah. The other 3 stayed at the Colonial. We had all booked in the Colonial, but that's just how the room assignments worked out. The resort is laid out so that the Colonial and Kantenah are together and the White Sands and Riviera are together. Our entire group spent most of our time in the Colonial/Kantenah areas and really only ventured over to the White Sands/Riviera to explore and eat at one of the a la cartes over there. The 2 sides are almost a mirror image to each other (but not). Our package was $1850 + tax through Air Transat. We flew directly from Victoria to Cancun. I definitely saw some cheaper packages after we booked, but it was too late then. We used a travel agent, just to ensure that everything was coordinated. She started off great until everyone was had put down their deposit. Then things changed .... I would use an agent again for a group, but probably not for personal travel. The little red flags are now noticeable in hindsight. I would recommend (if you want to hang out with your group) to try to book everyone in the same resort. It made it so much easier to hang out with people. Our group pretty much had rooms really close together so even if you didn't plan on it, you were running into each other. It made it easier to coordinate hanging out. Also, we all headed to the same pools and areas of the beach due to the proximity. You can chose any of the wedding locations (there are 3). It doesn't matter which resort you stay at. Erika and Rocio will make transportation arrangements for you if you want/need them. Let me know if you have further questions. Jennifer

Welcome to the forum and happy planning. We just got married at the Grand Palladium a couple of months ago and had a wonderful experience (and are also from BC). Sorry I can't help with pricing as everything I had was for 2008 or 2009. Check out Palladium Addict as there is lots of information up there and they also post the wedding packages. It doesn't matter which resort you stay at, you can get married at any of the 3 locations (White Sands gazebo, garden/jungle gazebo, or Kantenah beach). We booked at the Colonial and got moved to rooms at the Kantenah. We decided to get married at Kantenah beach b/c we wanted to get married on the sand. The White Sands gazebo was a close 2nd choice. Erika or Rocio will make arrangements for you to get from wherever you are getting ready to the ceremony site. If you ask, they can also make arrangements for your guests to get transportation from one of the lobbies to the ceremony (we looked into this when we were considering the gazebo). Happy planning! Jennifer

Hello, It took us around an hour to get from the airport to the hotel. We weren't really paying too much attention to the time as we were having fun and drinking beer. We also stopped at the Barcelo on the way there. The water was very nice. There are a couple of areas down by the White Sands resort where you would want water shoes. But the beach at Kantenah was white and sandy and hardly any coral or anything in the water. We spent more time in the ocean then the pool as it was warmer (we were also there in January). Cheers, Jennifer

I did a barefoot/sandle combo. I wore the sandles down to the ceremony, kicked them off when we got to the sand (we all did) and then got them when we were done and put them back on for walking around the resort and dinner. Do whatever you want to do to be comfortable.

I found most of my stuff at the Dollar Giant store you mentioned and Dollarama. I almost got my tote bags at Micheal's, but found something for quite a bit less at a local discount store. I know quite a few Canadian's have had luck getting stuff shipped from Oriental Trading. I mostly just hunted at all the local dollar stores to find stuff. Good luck! Jennifer

Sunday was the day off during the week for the coordinators at our resort, so no Sunday weddings (legal or renewal). Like others have said, Sunday is probably going to be a difficult day to arrange. Good luck!

We didn't do any hors d'oeuvres for our wedding. Our ceremony was at 4pm and dinner at 6:30pm - same as yours, however we didn't have a steel drum band or anything. Anyone that couldn't wait until dinner went and got their own snacks at one of the bars while we were taking pictures. Good luck with your decision. Jennifer

We haven't had snow out in Sidney yet today, just rain. Is the snow sticking in town? I work in Sidney and live in Victoria. We used an acoustic guitar version (Acoustic Wedding CD ~ Top Wedding Songs Ceremony Music Downloads Guitar) of Air on a G String and Ave Maria for our processionals (BM & Me). We then used Somewhere Over the Rainbow for the signing of the documents and Better Together, Jack Johnson for the Recessional. I figured if I kept everything, modern or classic, to a guitar/banjo type feel it would all flow. Our guests loved our music selection and thought it was perfect. Do what you want to do and I'm sure everything will be perfect. Jen

Hi Julie, Thanks! We used Tamm's Photos. Tammara and her husband Grant came down to Mexico to shoot our wedding - they did 3 weddings our week. They are based out of Missouri, but do weddings in Mexico all the time. We did a half day (5 hour) package. I forget how much we paid, but it was less than $1500USD. My dress was a Venus Bridesmaid dress (ordered in white). I found when trying on dresses that every one I like was a Venus. I got it at a shop a couple of hours away from where I live, but probably could have ordered it from any that carried Venus. For the reception, we just paid the $20 per person for each person over 8 that is stipulated in the package. Cheers, Jennifer