coppergoddess13

Ladies- I just wanted to wish all the GP brides wonderful weddings. Due to recent financial issues that have arisen in my family, we are having to scrap the destination wedding in favor of something closer to home (a decision made just tonight). The resort looks amazing, and I hope you all have the weddings of your dreams! Enjoy!

Ladies- I just wanted to wish all the GP brides wonderful weddings. Due to recent financial issues that have arisen in my family, we are having to scrap the destination wedding in favor of something closer to home (a decision made just tonight). The resort looks amazing, and I hope you all have the weddings of your dreams! Enjoy!

I'm a little worried about the whole process of getting legally hitched down there as well- I'm almost ready to throw in the towel and just not tell anyone that we are getting hitched before we leave and do a symbolic ceremony down there. The legal thing is starting to seem like quite a headache!

When are you trying to book your wedding for? I booked for May in June or July of this year, so I was within a year- that might be the issue, if you are trying to get more than a year out?

Jo- I'm glad the thread helped you! When I first posted a few months ago, I felt really alone because no one else was getting married at the GP- it feels better now that there are a bunch of us! Anyway- for pictures of the restaurants, you can look at this link Restaurant Photos They aren't very artistic, but they show the basic idea of what the restaurants look like. If I can do a PIP here, this is a pic from Del Sol of the Portofino terrace that we've selected- looks like an AWESOME location:) For more pictures of the resort, go to the Del Sol post http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t4276 They have a bunch of GP weddings that they've shot that show great views of the resort! As for the locations- the beach ceremony is usually done on the Kantenah beach, the beach gazebo is over by the White Sands area of the resort (by one of the snack bars, apparently), and I think the garden gazebo is located by the Colonial Kantenah lobby. I was all set on the beach gazebo, but now I'm looking at the beach option as well because all my guests are staying on the Kantenah side (at least, that is where we are staying, and most of our guests are sticking close to us, if possible).

I've recently decided that it would be really nice if we could get at least a short video of our wedding. We won't really have much $$ to throw at a videographer, so I'm not expecting a movie quality cinematic masterpiece, but if anyone has a low cost, but still at least a little bit skilled, videographer they could recommend, I'd love some reviews and info or links to their websites. Thanks!

We are thinking about doing our first dance during a cocktail hour (hopefully we get 25 people total OR they'll let us pay for 25 people and have it even if we don't have enough people). We are thinking of doing the cake cutting and first dance and father/daughter dance during the cocktail hour because we want the photographers there, and our dinner isn't until 7 (our photogs are only there from 1-6). I think that during the cocktail hour, they provide a soundsystem, and you can rent a mic if need be (its under $100, so not bad). We are booked in the Kantenah side of the resort- I liked the wilderness aspect of it.

Jen and Tara- when are you ladies leaving for Mexico? I was looking at the thread thinking that there ought to be some weddings coming up, and then it hit me that it is actually January already. You both must be soooo excited!!

Sorry, this dress has been sold! Thanks for your interest!

It is now even more simple to do the dinner reception at the a la carte since GP has gone to an unlimited a la cartes per person, no matter the length of the stay. Candice- I wish I could help you out, but we may not even hit 20, let alone 40 people, so we are just doing a group dinner at Portofino. Best bet is to just talk with Rocio and hopefully it will work out. Back when we thought we'd be having a larger group to go, my FMIL was saying that if we had a few over 40, she was going to 'get into it' with Rocio if we couldn't have the simple dinner at Portofino, but that was just her being crazy, I think! Good luck with your planning!

For me, in my own personal situation, that would be a no. If my parents, or his parents, or my brother or his sister (all the VIPs) couldn't make it for basically any reason, we would plan something different. Its very important to us to have our very close family with us on our wedding day. However, everyone is in a different situations, and as some of the other ladies have mentioned there are reasons to go ahead even if they can't make it. It just depends on your situation!

Gemstone- Where was your FBIL's wedding held? On the beach or at their wedding gazebo? I'm really wanting the gazebo, but I'm concerned about its proximity to the snack bar and having a ton of observers, so if you observed anything on that, I'd love to hear it! Did the bride or groom say anything about dealing with the wedding planner?

I'm glad to hear a good review of them! I'm doing the dinner at Portofino for our wedding, so I'm glad it was as awesome as it seems on their website!

I'm really glad I'm not the only one doing the legal ceremony! I know it might be disconcerting for you going down to do it, but I'm really hoping that your experience will be positive!! Then any tidbits you can share with me will just make me that much more ok with the whole experience:)

Another question- for those of you doing the non-legal ceremony... has Rocio allowed you to do a lot of personalizing of the ceremony (given you contact info for the officiant or anything)? We were going to do the legal ceremony, but its pricier and I'm a bit worried that we won't get any sort of personalization in it because I can't seem to get contact info for the officiant from Rocio, and... I want it to reflect us more. If not, and suggestions on officiants in the PDC area we could bring in?

Ooh! I should get started on my welcome book soon. I'm currently in the process of finishing my invites up. Yesterday my dad and I sat down and got 23 of the 40 I need done, so it won't take too much longer on assembly. Then I just need to get everything packaged and mailed out. That sucks about your ring! I hope it comes in in time for you!! Its ridiculous how they can make such mistakes when this is you WEDDING BAND we are talking about! *fingers crossed for you**

We went with Portofino because it has a gorgeous balcony that we've basically reserved for our group, and on palladium addict they said they have some of the best food on a consistent basis. I was wanting to do Mexican, but apparently the Mexican restaurant is one of the restaurants that needs to be improved (which doesn't seem right). As for hair, I think I'm going to make my appointment for 11 or noon for a 2pm wedding. We aren't going to see each other again after we wake up, so that should give me time to get the hair and make-up done. You'll have to let us know what you decide! Thats crazy that you have only 1 month! How is the rest of your planning going??

I'm thinking about going with a symbolic ceremony instead of the legal ceremony we've been planning, but I'm worried about accepting whichever officiant they give me from the resort. I was wondering if anyone has recommendations for a freelance officiant I could hire from the PDC area to come officiate my wedding in Puerto Aventuras. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

So which ceremony are most of you doing- civil or symbolic? I was going to do the civil ceremony (my mother threw a fit), but that adds an extra, no joke, $800 to the cost of the wedding, and I'm trying to find a way around it. For any of you doing the symbolic ceremony, do you get to personalize the ceremony, or do they put you in contact with the non-denominational minister at all beforehand? Thanks ladies!

Tara- I'm sure Tamm will have some suggestions b/c she works down there a lot (you did book with her, correct? I don't want to reread the whole post:). In either case, I was considering going to Xel-Ha park and getting some pictures (they will let you in for pics if you sign a waiver), or Akumal. Playa would be a great idea too! My other current obsession is finding someplace to rent horses so that we can do TTD on the beach AND on horseback (I own horses, so thats why its so appealing to me!). One other idea might be Cozumel? I know it takes a while to get there, but its a GORGEOUS island, so it might be an idea!

Oh wow! Yet another reason why I'm just going to have our dinner at Portofino! WAY more affordable for us:)

I don't know about dinner under the stars, but you can do a private dinner. It costs an extra $45pp (or $55, depends on the meal you choose) for the private reception. I think the options are covered, but they are open air, so you would still get the gorgeous outside feeling.

Quote: Originally Posted by mexicobride2009 Does anyone know how we should be bringing down the music for the ceremony? Do they only have a cd player or will they have the connections to use my ipod at the ceremony? I know that Rocio said we could bring a CD of the music we want to use down for her to put into a cd player. I do not know if they will have anything available for iPod hook-up, but at least you can get a few songs on CD, which will be all you need for the ceremony at least. I'm also going to bring a CD with some music for the cocktail hour(s) that we are having, and part way through we'll have my brother (man of honor?) switch out the CD.

I ended up at the Grand Palladium Resorts. The only thing that it doesn't quite meet on your list is that its 15 minutes away from Playa, and the nightclub on site is not supposed to be that great. However, it meets a lot of your other requirements- I was also trying to keep costs low for my guests, the resort has several gorgeous pools, and there is 1.5 miles of private beach. I would definitely look at trip advisor reviews- they can be useful in the decision making process. Good luck!

Wow- going through the archives of this thread has given me some great ideas! To all the Mrs.s out there, please keep the advice coming!