BrideNov2009

One more thing...if you go with Signature Vacations and fly with Skyservice please prepare yourself because you can not hang your wedding dress, you have to fold it and put it above you in your seat (which really is not that bad, I did not have to iron my dress for the day of the wedding) and if your travel agent tells you that she has given select seating to your group so you are all in the same area and can sit with your significant other don't believe her or him because it is out of their control once you get to the airport and Skyservice did not do that on the way going or coming home. They split up couples etc....but it all worked out because there will 32 of us and we just moved seats on the plane. I would highly reccomend Sunwing but sometimes that is not possible due to the price you get on your group rate. Just make the best of it because once you get to the resort is really all that matters anyway.

Hello, I got married at the Grand Palladium Riviera on November 19,2009. We did a private reception and had "DJ Bob" DJ our wedding. The photographer we used was Devin Card. The pictures he did for us our amazing. Our wedding was absolutely beautiful. Trust me, the wedding coordinator there knows what they are doing and you can tell specialize in this. We worked with Erika and she was great! At our private reception she stayed right till the very end. We did not have one thing go wrong at all. It was better than we expected. I highly reccomend this resort for a wedding. Plus, all our guest enjoyed this resort and was above their expectations as well. We had guest that came with us who have never even been on an airplane before or to an all inclusive. They are already talking about traveling again. It is a trip of a lifetime to have all your family and friends with you. I wish all of you brides the very best on your wedding day and enjoy every minute of being engaged. Your wedding day is here and gone so fast but you get left with the most amazing memories. We are now planning our honeymoon for February back in the Mayan Riviera again and who knows maybe even back to this resort. We travel every year to the Mayan and love it. All the best!

Hi everyone! I leave Saturday November 14th to November 21st. We are doing the private reception and have hired DJ Bob as well. I will let you know how things go when we get back. We are very excited : )

To all brides that were married at this resort... Can you please advise if you tipped on top of the package and private reception if you had one? My fiance and I are trying to figure out what other have done and if so how much? We leave November 14th and our wedding date is November 19th. We decided on the Civil Crystal wedding package and are finally relieved to know exactly what documents are needed. I will post incase any other Canadian brides are wondering. The internet can be pretty confusing since most is US based. This is if you have not been divorced, name changed or are a widow. OPTION 1 Bride & Groom must bring: • Passports (Current) • Tourist Cards (Provided on arrival to Mexico) • Photocopy of Birth Certificates (Without any Translation or Certification) • Blood Work (on Arrival)*** • Sign and complete some forms with basic information upon meeting with wedding coordinator on arrival. Plus, you need 4 witnesses with passports and tourist cards that they will get on the airplane before they land in Cancun. They have to be over the age of 18. My travel agent also confirmed: once you get married they will give you a copy of your license that you signed etc. then they have to have it legalized by their office there so often they will courier you the originals a short time after, this works in all of the islands, then you can file it here in Toronto with the Mexican consulate and have it translated should you wish to! Also, for all the future brides I have been emailing the resort since last November and honesty Rocio and Erika have been great getting back to me. Sometimes it takes a week but really when the wedding is still far out I am sure they are busy dealing with the current and upcoming weddings taking place. Paula was great to deal with at the Spa for hair appointments. You have to book in advance and pay 50% in advance too. The balance you pay on the day you get your hair done. You are also to stop into the resort prior to your appointment to discuss what you want done. It was very easy once I paid on pay pal I immediately received an email from Paula with confirmation # and was told to bring with me. I booked the bridesmaids and moms along with myself. Since we have 44 people coming we did the private reception and it add's up pretty quickly so we picked one of the cheapest dinner menu options which was $50 US per person. They will also accomodiate any people with allergies or vegetarians. They just ask to know in advance who these people are. We already sent them a list of all out guests who are coming and when since some are arriving on Nov 16th and Nov 17th as well. They are very organized. Rioco also sent me an invoice of what we can expect to pay and on there it has noted the private reception, our Crystal package the additional cost for over 8 people as well as what amounts we need to keep cash out for. $60 US cash take off the Crystal package to pay who they have coming from city hall. Also, the $200 US for blood work. Everything else you can pay by Visa, mastercard, travelors cheques or cash. We also got a DJ for our private reception. His name is DJ Bob. He is really great to deal with and you pay a $100 deposit and balance at your wedding reception to him. He charges 450 US. The band we looked into was 850 for 45 minutes!!!! So we decided to go this route. Thank god, we have been saving like crazy. DJ Bob has been great with keeping in touch and he is actually going to be our MC too at no extra cost. We just have to send him an email on how we want the evening to go. Our DJ is actually coming from Victoria BC - Devin Card Photography. He has been great dealing with and getting back to us through email too. We are looking forward to meeting him. He is coming the day before to do a walk around with us on where we want our photo's taken and has already done a wedding at this resort too. Sorry this is long but if anyone has any questions please know I am here and will help in anyway. It can be very stressful and overwhelming at times trying to get everything organized but I had amazing people on this site help me and make my planning much easier. Thank you

Anyone leaving out of Toronto Airport Nov 14th? We have a group of approx 35 leaving on that day with us to go to the Grand Palladium till Nov 21st. Wedding day on Nov 19th. Most of the plans all taken care of and so excited!!!!!

Anyone getting married at the Grand Palladium November 2009? We are there the week of Nov 14th to Nov 21st - wedding day Nov 19th

Photographer...I know this is going to sound crazy but we actually have our wedding photographer flying in from Victoria BC. It was a lot cheaper than other prices we were coming across. Devin Card Photography | Wedding Photographer Victoria BC Good Luck and Congratulations too!

ChristinaP - We are staying in the Riviera Section at the Grand Palladium. My fiance and I have upgraded ourselves to the Royal Section and are only staying one week like our guests. We are going to go away on a honeymoon in the Spring 2010. Most of our guests are flying out of Toronto. I know my one cousin has received pricing around 1800.000 to 1900.00 all taxes in to fly out of Calgary but she is not sure she is coming since she has just had her baby last month. Some of our guest have inquired about hotels and transfer costs as well and my travel agent was able to give them pricing on that. Regarding a Photographer we actually have found someone coming from Victoria BC that we found on line and seemed to have good reviews. Recently it looks like he has done a wedding at this resort as well. Google "Devin Card" and his web site should come up. He was a lot more reasonable then some of the others that were mentioned on this site. The others looked great and looked like they did an amazing job but the cost savings really appealed to us along with his portfolio. Everything can add up so quickly doing a private reception like we have decided to do. To us it is worth it and just have to be realistic when it comes to some costs. Is anyone else down here the same week as us Nov 14th 2009 to Nov 21st 2009? Also, what documents do you need to get married for a civil wedding? I am told birth certificates and passport by some and that we need photo copies of the same for our 4 witnesses. I have also been told all we need is out passports. We are from Canada having a civil wedding in Mexico is this legal here too? I have been told that it is and then I have been reading that you need to get another piece of paperwork done before you go?? If past brides or anyone can shine some light on this that had or are having a civil wedding that would be great!!

Svetayasofiya - Congratulations on your wedding day! Very exciting once you get the date set. My fiance and I are getting married this November. The time of our wedding we went with was 4PM. That time of year the sun sets around 5:15PM so it was perfect time for us so it won't be too hot and time to get some pictures on the beach after the ceremony too! We are getting married at the Beach Gazebo. We are flying out of Toronto airport and the price we got was under $1500.00 all taxes in. We are going with Signature Vacations flying with Skyservice. I have a great Travel agent that I used. Her name is Dawn Fairbanks at Uniglobe Travel. She has been a lot of help and understand that you want a reasonable price as well and does her best for you. She does not work on commision either. She is great to answer as many questions as possible too. All our guest have loved dealing with her too. Here is her contact information if you wish to get in contact with her. Senior Travel Planner Destination Wedding/ Honeymoon Specialist Tahiti Specialist GI Vacation Consultant Uniglobe Discover Travel The Mindful Traveller Inc. 304 Stone Road West Guelph ON N1G 3C4 519 821-2136 1 877 224-9947 [email protected] I understand pricing is different based on the time of year but she may be very helpful to you in regards to pricing : ) We figure we will have about 50 people attend. We went with a private reception (7-11PM)and are booked in the La Laguna. We also hired a DJ "DJ Bob" ($450.00 US for 4 hours)he was a referal from another bride on here. With a private reception you pay per person. Depending on your menu option you go with this can range from 50-65 dollars per person. The wedding package we picked was the Crystal wedding package $1875.00 (approx all taxes in) It includes up to 8 people and from there you pay an additional $20.00 per person. The costing is for chairs, cake and champagne. We found a good deal on a wedding photographer who is flying in from Victoria, BC. He was the most reasonable and we have him for 8 hours on the wedding day. Plus he has a photo session included for the next day if you want it too. For this resort you only have to pay for the photographer and DJ if you have one if they consume. They do not have to pay to get on the resort to work. In our case we are paying the $50.00 for each due to the dinner menu we are going to pick for our recpetion because they will be consuming while on the resort. If you do not do a private reception and just do an a lacarte depending on how long your photographer is there and if they are going to consume I think you pay $60.00 for the day. I have heard nothing but good reviews from other brides that have been married at this resort. Erika and Rocio are great to deal with and it has been pretty much stress free. It may take them sometimes a week to get back to you with some questions you have but they do and give you responses below your questions. I apologize for some of you if this is repeat information. I just found it easier when I was trying to get all this information when someone posted it so I did not have to search and go back through all the postings. Happy planning!!!!

Hello, My fiance and I are doing the private reception as well. All the information that has recently been posted about the private reception is exactly what I have been told by either Erika or Rioco. We are having our reception from 7 PM till 11 PM at the La Laguna. I have a great picture that Rioco sent me of the La Laguna decorated that I can send as well. For some reason I can not attach on here. I did confirm that what ever price for the menu option (range from $50.00 US to $65.00 US) that we pick for the private reception it does include alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages. I figured it did but I wanted to confirm to be on the safe side as it all adds up pretty quickly the cost. Regarding the dinner menu option list - you can only pick one option. We thought maybe you could pick two if they were the same price but that is not the case. They will also work with you if you have guests that are vegetarian or allergies so no worries there. If anyone needs the dinner menu, I can email it to you if you do not already have. We are having a DJ and Photographer. I have confirmed with Erika and Rioco that they do not charge for them to come in and work. How ever they do charge per person if they are going to be consuming. For those of you that are having the private reception you pay for them whatever dinner option you went with and those not having the private reception you pay $60.00 US each if they are going to be consuming (drinks/food) while working on the resort. We are having a civil wedding and have been told it is usually about 20 to 25 min. Also, I was asking about ways of payment and what they accept and they brought to my attention that we must have $60.00 US cash for the officiant out of the 1850.00 (civil crystal wedding package). So that was good to know. They take travelors cheques, mastercard, visa and cash. That was good to know too so you are not having to carry all this cash with you.

Hi Karie! Congratulations on your up coming wedding : ) My fiance and I get married at the Grand Palladium Riviera Nov 19,2009. We set up our wedding invitation as a boarding pass. It was a lot of fun to design. My friend actually is a graphic designer and does this. Her web site is: www.aprylsdesigns.com There are a few different options on there to help give you an idea. On the invitations we put the deposit amount that had to be booked ASAP to hold spot. When the balance had to be paid in full (2 months before departure date). We had our travel agent information on there as well so they can call and book or ask any questions. Instead of reply cards we just had an email address on there ie: [email protected] We also had information on the resort as well and what it had to offer on the inside along with pictures too! Since we did it as a trifold and it was on an 8 x 10 we could put the invitiatons in a regular envelope and only needed 1 stamp. We did our return address and the addresses on labels that we could peel and stick on the envelopes too. It has been working really well. Plus the travel agent sends me an email everytime someone books. We also had the time of the wedding on there too. If you check out the site I noted above and go to a boarding pass invitation you will have a better idea and be able to picture it. Hope this helps Candice

Hello again... Here is the travel agent contact inforamtion. She is great! Her name is Dawn and works out of Guelph, Ontario if interested. Senior Travel Planner Destination Wedding/ Honeymoon Specialist Tahiti Specialist GI Vacation Consultant Uniglobe Discover Travel The Mindful Traveller Inc. 304 Stone Road West Guelph ON N1G 3C4 519 821-2136 1 877 224-9947 [email protected] We appreciate your support! TICO 1:50013392

Hi Shelly, I am still part of this thread even though my fiance and I decided to not get married at this resort. Our wedding is this Novemeber 2009 and the quotes we got back a few months ago for this resort was under $1400.00 all taxes in. This pricing was given to us in Dec 2008. I am a bride from Guelph Ontario. I find that insane the pricing you mentioned above for this resort especially for January. Plus it is just a few months after us your wedding. We are actually getting married at the Grand Palladium resort this November 2009 and out price is under $1500.00 all included. I can give you my travel agent if you like. She is great to deal with. She is located in Guelph. Let me know ad I know it can be frustrating trying to get a good rate for your guests. Take care, Candice

Congratulations on the photographer!! We actually booked one last night. We got an amazing deal as well for the entire day from 2PM till 10 PM. We get the CD with all pictures, a hard cover album as well with 50 photos though. He also includes the next day as well for a photo shoot. Jennifer, we are getting married at 4PM too. How long was your ceremony? Leanne, are you doing a private reception or are you doing an alacarte reception? Due to the repsonse with people that are coming we have to do a private reception.

I have a question...how long do you feel we need a wedding photographer for?? If anyone can let me know that would be great. I am trying to decide on that now as the cost can get pretty high. If anyone could give me their thoughs on this it would be greatly appreciated

I have a question...how long do you feel we need a wedding photographer for?? If anyone can let me know that would be great. I am trying to decide on that now as the cost can get pretty high. If anyone could give me their thoughs on this it would be greatly appreciated

Hello! Congratulations on your wedding date. Are you doing a civil ceremony? I am looking into phptographers right now. We thought about staying two weeks but I think we are coming back and then going in February to St. Lucia...not 100% sure yet as that may change and we may stay the two weeks. As for the EDR that resort looks amazing and we thought of going there for 4 nights as well.

Leanne, we will be down there the same week as you! We arrive on Nov 12th to Nov 21st. Our wedding date is Nov 19th at 4PM. We should meet up for some drinks!! I was so relieved once we had our week and date picked too! Erika and Rocio are great at getting back sometimes it can take a week (that is the longest I have had to wait) but that could be they are busy dealing with the day to day weddings and wedding dates that are closer. Krissy, thank you for referring DJ Bob. We booked him over the weekend for our wedding as we want a private reception due to the number of people coming. Candice

Hello, Jennifer your picutres are beautiful. Did you use a photographer down in the riviera or bring one with you from home? Also, your dress is beautiful!! I am getting married here this November. We will leave with our guests on Saturday Nov 14th to Nov 21st. We are deaprting from Toronto. Is anyone else down here the same week as us? or crossing over by a few days?? We just have to get a photographer, wedding bands and I have to go dress shopping and get a dress. We did out wedding invitations as a boarding pass ticket. On the invitations we noted that we need to know who is coming 2 months before so we can make arrangements for our reception. We want a private one (we know it is 50-60 dollars per person when you go this route). Has anyone on here done a private reception here or planning on doing so as well?? I am just wondering as we want to do speaches (short and sweet), first dance, dj (looking into cost and looks like 645.00 US for 45 minutes!!!) I read on here you can rent a mic for 100.00 US too. It really all is depending on our numbers may look at an alacarte. For those of you that did or are doing the alacarte were you able to play music there (meaning did they have a CD player there for you to use)? Did you find the 2 hour limit in the alacarte rushed?? Any tips, pointers or information on this would be greatly appreciated. As for the wedding ceremony we know it is $20.00 extra on top of the wedding package for over 8 guests. As for the decorations my fiance and I are so excited we can just pick all this out when we get there. The flowers I am sure are going to be beautiful regardless. As for the cake they could stick a mexican bride and groom on it for all we care...LOL! Either way it is going to be beautiful with the ocean in front of us and all our friends and family there with us too!! I have 4 bridesmaids and we were able to get all the dresses for 90.00 all taxes in canadian through sears so I was really happy about that!! The guys are going to wear a white collared short sleeve shirt and kahki pants. My fiance and I have also decided we are going to do a trip for the guys along with the fathers and a trip for the girls along with the mothers while we are down there as a gift from us to them. It was hard to worry about bringing gifts with us and trying to pack it all in the suit cases. There are some good rates you can get for trips on line booking in advance instead of at the resort. Looking forward to hearing back any information or pointers as it is greatly appreciated. Thank you

Congratulations on your wedding date!! We are booked in with the Grand Palladium Rivieria and our wedding date is Nov 19,2009. All our invitations have gone out now and it is just up to our guest to put the deposits down. The hardest part was trying to go through all the resorts and get a good price for our guests. I can not get over how many weddings are taking place this November. Have you found a photographer yet? I am looking into that now.

Hi Jenny and Jo! Jenny, we are looking at doing a trip for our wedding party. The guys are going to go off and do a fishing trip. You can charter a boat for around 600 to 800 dollars that holds 12 people. You are out there for the day and get booze and food as well. For the girls not too sure what I am going to do while the guys are out on the fishing trip. Your suggestion about Coba and cenote sounds good to look into. When is your wedding date? JO, I agree it does all seem to add up and quickly too but it is so worth it. The reception pictures look amazing and I am very happy with the reviews of brides that have been married at this resort. My finace and I have sit down and narrow down all the extra's of what we want, don't want or need. I myself am not too concerned with the flowers or the cake. I am happy picking it out when we arrive down there. I do know a girl who is getting married in Cuba this April that ended up getting her flowers done by someone in Calgary. I seen a picture and what an amazing job! If you like I could email this girl and ask her to send me the contact information for you : ) I hope that you get a price you are happy for for your guests! I found that to be the most stressful thing. I spent a lot of time reading reviews on trip advisor and going back and forth with the travel agent as well trying to get good pricing. One of the resorts that 1st came back to us was a new 5 star Grand Riviera Princess for a good price but the reviews really turned us off for the money our guest were paying to the comparison of quality and serive at the Grand Palladium. The Grand Palladium was for sure the one in the end for my fiance and I and a great price for our guests. I understand coming from Calgary is more. My cousin lives out there and all taxes in for her was 1800.00 to come to ours. Not too sure if she will come. This is for the Grand Palladium Rivieria.

Mexicobride2009! When you read this you will be now be a "Mrs"!! Congratulations to you and your fiance. I would love to hear all about the chain of events on your wedding day as well as what you reccomend and any advice at all. Looking forward to hearing from you

Hi JO, What week in November are you getting married? Maybe I will see you down there as we are there the week of Nov 14th to Nov 21st. We are planning on doing a private reception right now as the numbers we are getting back are around 40 people. I think you need 25 people at least to do a private reception. I know the a lacarte is included in the wedding package up to 40 people which is nice because you do not have to pay additional per person if under 40 people and in an alacarte. This is great if you do not want to do a private reception but you will have other guests in there as well but at least you will have an area for your group. It really is up to you and your fiance and want you want to do. It sounds like you guys are going with the private reception like us. I know you have to pay 20.00 per person for the ceremony part on top of the wedding package you pick if you have over 8 or 10 people. For the private reception I have the menu and costs of each dinner option. They do not have any $45.00 dinner options on there...which is to bad. Looks like they upped the pricing this year. Last year there use to be $45.00 per person option. I can email you the menu if you like. I am surprised to hear for a private reception only 2 1/2 hours. I wonder if that is because it is in an alacarte restaurant. I read on here somewhere that someone else is having a private reception from 7 to 11pm. I think at either the Gran Anzul or Lalaguna?? not 100%. If anyone knows that would be great : ) I thought when you have private you could bring a cd and play music or even a DJ. I am now wondering if this is for certain sections when doing a private reception now. I have heard that you can rent even mics for speaches under $100.00 too. I still need to find all this out as well. My fiance and I even said that to guarantee we get our first dance in maybe we do it right after we get married on the gazebo as they will be able to play music there. Ideally we would like to have the first dance right before dinner. I think for the cake we may have it down by the gazebo by the champagne and cut it there. Reason is we do not want a professional photographer for more than 2 hours and this way we can get a photo of cutting the cake. I have been advised to send off a few questions at a time to the coordinators. Also, untill we have the #'s which the resort needs to know a month before that is when you start picking your location for reception. I am hoping to hear back from the bride that is down there right now who would have been married yesterday to see how her wedding went and what she reccomends as well.

Hello Jenny! I have read somewhere $2.00 or $4.00 for covers for the reception per chair. I am not to sure on bows though if they are included in that price. I went with a Uniglobe Travel agent out of Guelph. Her name is: Dawn Fairbanks Senior Travel Planner Destination Wedding/ Honeymoon Specialist Tahiti Specialist GI Vacation Consultant Uniglobe Discover Travel The Mindful Traveller Inc. 304 Stone Road West Guelph ON N1G 3C4 519 821-2136 1 877 224-9947 [email protected] Dawn was great about getting us pricing. We are departing from Pearson on Nov 14th. I had the same problem not being able to look at pricing on line that far out. Dawn was able to go to the charter company and get us pricing from them. We are booked in the Grand Palladium Riviera Section. Junior Deluxe Suite comes with Jacuzzi, king or two doubles, table chairs couch all in same living space. The cost our guest are paying is just under $1500.00. If guest want a Suite (which is just the same as the junior but only thing is it has a seperate livinging room). Not too sure what the pricing is on this but our guest can ask Dawn when they call up to book and if they are interested she can look into the cost for them. Same goes for the Royal Suites. Dawn has great contacts with these wedding coordinators at the resorts down there. Which is a huge bonus!!! We were not picky on the day or week we just knew we wanted midddle to end of November if possible but also the week with the best rates for our guests. Once we picked a week we immediately emailed the resort to get a date and time for our wedding. Within 12 hours I had a response from the resort and they confirmed our CIVIL wedding (not too sure if you are doing that). I was so suprised to hear back so soon as the wedding coordinators at the resort Ericka and Rocio have to contact city hall there to get a time. We were happy to get 4 PM as reqeusted. Once we had this confirmed we went back to Dawn and put our deposit down. Let me know if you need anything else.

Coppergoddess13 - I am so sorry to hear this. All the best and I am sure your wedding will be wonderful where ever you have it!!!