DreaP

After receiving several updates I though our day should be shared! We were married at the GBP Akumal on July 2, 2010. My planner wa at first Paloma, then switched to Eugiena. I had decent contact with both of them over the year of planning and sent/received an email the week before we left confirming all of our plans. We arrived on June 27, only to find that they had no record of our wedding. After 6 hours of flying and an hour of waiting to check into the "Golden Club" I just broke down. So I headed to our room to calm down and regroup. Our was not terrible, but it was a family room with 3 beds and no view, not what you are expecting when you bring 12 people to the resort and are having your wedding/honeymoon there over 2 weeks. Thankfully I had printed off all of the email conversations with myself and the coordinator and sent my hubby with them to the Golden Lobby. He then demanded to speak to Eugiena and to have everything straightened out. Eugiena spoke with the staff and had promise that everything would be fixed by the next afternoon. We did not realize though that our guests were all dispersed over the Akumal resort...we assumed that everyone would be close but they were is 6 different buildings. Nobody seemed to mind thankfully so we left it at that, The next day the hotel pulled through on their promise and we received our new room (3rd floor on the Ocean with a king bed), had our meeting with Eugiena and felt confident that things were taken care of. Our wedding day was a bit of an adventure too! I called for a hair appointment 3 days before, then called on the morning of our wedding to confirm the time, they did not have my appointment. I again was freaking out!! After 2 more phone calls they had me in earlier than I originally booked but that was fine. The girl did a great job and my hair did not move all night. As for the photographer, we flew ours down knowing that we would most likely not like the photos from the hotel. She took us up to the Hacienda for pictures and our "first look." What an awesome back drop for photos!! On the way back to the Akumal Lobby our tram broke down and it was pouring rain, we had 30 min. until our ceremony started. The guy was trying to fix it but was having no luck so we asked him to call another car. He said 2 minutes, it was actually about 15. We ended up being a couple minuted late, which worked out okay because the Pastor was also late! That gave me just enough time to sit at the snack bar and down a beverage to help calm my nerves!! The ceremony (deluxe) on the beach was awesome. The Pastor was cute and did a great job. My bouquet was beautiful and the location was done up nice too (arrangement on the table, tule on the posts/chairs, rose petals on the ground, music) The only down fall was the photographer. He was just like paparazzi, ducking and weaving and was super invasive with his camera. Our photographer had to ask him to move a couple times so she could get a chance for a shot, he replied that he couldnt or he would loose his job. So we just let him do his thing. The reception we had at the Dolce Vita, it was great! The only had 2 other tables in with us and they were not even close so it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. Over all even with the couple of bumps along the way it was a fantastic day. All of our group is still laughing at all the mishaps and really enjoyed our time at the resort. A couple of tips: bring your emails, confirm all your appointments the day before preferably in Spanish, fly your photographer down (we paid $4000 Cnd incl. flight and had her and an assistant the whole day and coverage for our home reception, fully edited, & approx 700 images just of our day in Mexico with more to come), bring make-up fixative (try Make-up Forever) it so humid that you need it & an updo is well worth it due to the wind! I know this is very lengthy but I hope it will help someone out! Cheers!

Has anyone had an experience with Ivan Luckie photography? Any info you could pass my way would be great! Thanks

Thanks for the information! I just received an email back from him too...his prices seem almost too good to be true! Does anyone have any new feedback about him or anyother pictures?! I hope Im not being overly cautious, I just feel I need some more information to settle my nerves!! Thanks =)

Thanks everyone!

Thank you soon much for the advice and help! I really appreciate it!

Welcome fellow newbie christykelly03! I can relate to your situation. My Mom said for me to do whatever I wanted when we were just engaged, then when I broke the news that we were going to Mexico she started laying down the guilt trip b/c they are paying for it. Dont budge on your decision if thats what you both really want to do, the day is about your union and comittment to one another and should be focused on what you both want in my opinion. In my case, so far neither of my parents are attending our wedding in the Mayan...I was really disappoined at first but I have accepted it now. I am lucky to have supportive in-laws to be and a few close friends that will be attending. We have also planned a party when we get back and will do a small jp ceremony there too, nothing fancy at all! Hopefully that will satisify the parents in the end!

Hi everyone, We are getting married on the Akumal side on July 2,2010! I was wondering if anyone had an idea of how the bouquets are (quality/colour wise)? I was just sent the catolog and was kind of put off by pictures and lack of detail. Any information would be helpful! Also if anyone has a lead on a good, reasonably price photographer that would be greatly appreciated...Im feeling really stressed out over this whole photographer issue! Thanks!

Thanks everyone for posting so much info! Its really helpful! Im still feeling overwhlemed though with all the photographer choices. Are there anyone with photographer experiences at the GBP in the Mayan? Thanks!

Hi Everyone! My name is Andrea, I am from Vancouver BC. My wedding is set for July 2, 2010 at the Gran Bahia Principe Akumal in the Riviera Maya Mexico! This site has been an awesome resource for me so far! I hope it will help me to settle some of my jitters and I help another bride in the same situation after my wedding is finished! Right now Im stressing about finding a photographer on a budget for our big day. It seems as though things are going to be very pricey and it may be cheaper to fly one out instead. Its really nerve racking making so many decisions based off of emails! I look forward to hearing everyones input! Cheers!