dean

My fiance and I got engaged in April 2008. From the very beginning, we knew we wanted to do a destination wedding, and Playa Del Carmen seems like a perfect area. We originally had booked Azul Fives (a Karisma Resort) for our Feb wedding. But after getting the run-around for 6 months, our TA rescued us 2 weeks before Azul Fives was about to ruin the most important day of our lives. She called and suggested we move our wedding and guests to Grand Velas, which we had never heard of. We were stunned. And pissed. Azul Fives had been reassuring us all along they were going to open in time for our wedding. They even put it in writing. But we knew there was trouble because they refused to send us pictures of where we were supposedly getting married and where our reception was going to be. And the only time they called us was 1 day before we decided to move. And that call was only to ask us to pay for everything in full - EVEN THOUGH THEY KNEW THEY WEREN'T GOING TO OPEN. The wedding departments at Karisma Resorts and Azul Fives are CROOKS. So we agreed to move to GV. I can't tell you how happy we are that we did. First, the property is stunning. The restaurants are amazing, and it has the biggest beach and by far the best sand. And as fantastic as the property is, the people and the service at GV are even better. There are too many stories of amazing service to share. I will just say that not only did GV treat my fiance and I like a King and Queen, but they also treated our quests like royalty. We are a very well traveled bunch, and no one has ever seen anything like the service at GV. They truly seemed to go out of their way to make sure our stay and our wedding was amazing. The best part of the people at GV is that they appear to actually have fun at their jobs. One quick story about the service. We did a sunset wedding followed up with an outdoor dinner on the grass lawn and a dance on the nearby patio. Even though we had 40 tiki torches surrounding the area of the dinner & dance, it seemed like it still might be a little too dark. So the morning of our wedding, GV moved 3 full size palms into the area and wrapped them with string lights. I'm not kidding. They moved them back out the next morning. I couldn't believe it. And as great as the property and the staff are, by far the best part about getting married at GV is Tatiana, the Wedding Coordinator. As I mentioned above, we had to move our wedding and our guests 2 weeks prior to our wedding. And not only did Tatiana help us pull off an amazing beach ceremony, outdoor dinner reception and dance following the ceremony, but she also planned a Superbowl party for us and our guests and a rehearsal/welcome dinner the night before the wedding. She was absolutely amazing. I can't imagine what she could do if she actually has a month or two advance. So, if you haven't figured this out yet, I'm the Groom. I have a feeling there are not that many dudes posting on the Wedding Forum. But given everything we went through with Azul Fives, to end up having such an amazing wedding experience, I really felt compelled to share our story. Trust us, you'll want to check out Grand V. It may be more expensive, but I can assure you that you will not be disappointed. D & M Feb 2009