Melaina

We did the Italian restaurant and the food was amazing (especially the fried cheese -- NOM!). The lasagna was to die for, too. The restaurant was the perfect size for our guest count (41 I think?) and the decor (black and white) was the most neutral of all the restaurants, meaning my decor didn't clash (silly reason, I know!).

Disagree 100 per cent -- it absolutely belongs on this website. When it comes to women, safety and sexual predators, ignorance is not bliss. The more knowledge you have about protecting yourself, the better.

That's awesome Glad it helped! Ahh, to think that just a year ago I was so excited for my own wedding. It goes fast, ladies... Enjoy every minute of it!!

One more thing: to find the URLs of your photos, maybe try TinEye. It's a reverse image search site... Best of luck! http://www.tineye.com/

Honestly, I would just bring the photos to Mexico when you go. Aside from the legal paperwork, I found that all the wedding planning was done when we got there, and, sadly, that all my pre-emails to the coordinators in the months leading up to the wedding were in vain. When we finally sat down with the coordinator, we went over everything: flowers, cake, decor, etc. Even though I had sent her all sorts of information in the months leading up to the wedding -- what colour of flowers I wanted, what flavour of cake -- it was painfully obvious that they hadn't really paid much attention to my requests. Yes, it's frustrating, but I PROMISE you that they'll work it out once you get there. They're a small shop and they're really focusing on the weddings that are immediately in front of them...Like the ones happening today or tomorrow. I was so worried that they wouldn't be able to fulfill my flower/cake/decor/makeup requests, but they do a damned good job of working last minute. It's Mexico time, right? Haha. As for hair and makeup, I couldn't even meet the woman until my wedding day. I showed her my inspiration pictures and she did a great job. Again, I know this isn't exactly what you want to hear, but you're better off putting your efforts towards other wedding-related things (I know there are a lof of 'em!) and saving a whole lot of stress. It sucks, but you're wedding will be great!! If you're still set on sending photos, I know they have a fax machine in the office...

The medical clinic wouldn't take anything but US cash for the bloodwork. The front desk (where you pay for the wedding services) would take almost anything, from cash to credit cards.

Hi Lindsay, Just popping in to say that we did the Transat package (Euphoria) back in March and it was great. We didn't have any surprise costs once we go there (we were prepared for the judge's fees, bloodtests, extra guest charges and DJ fees) and were quite pleased with the flowers, ceremony decor and food! The cake was a bit smaller than we thought, but we didn't even get close to eating the entire thing. I wrote a pretty extensive review when we returned (maybe in April), if you read back a couple of pages. Also happy to send you the Facebook link to my wedding photos so you can take a peek for yourself -- just send me a PM and I'll flip it your way. Let me know if you have any other questions M

We had champagne and light appies... at the wedding site.

Hey Mrs2012, I'm only partially helpful as I didn't have my reception in the palapa... For decor, we sent an extra suitcase down with my MIL. She was flying first class and got extra baggage allowance. Check your travel itinerary, too. My husband and I were each allowed an extra 10 kg each -- we used every last bit of it. It can get quite expensive for extra baggage (my photographer got dinged with a $150 bill coming back, going there was no issue). The on-site DJ sucked for us. He was actually just a daytime pool boy: showed up 45 minutes late, in his pool uniform (hello short-shorts!) and played every *important* song wrong (first dance, dinner music, etc). Please note that he had all the tunes on pre-burned CDs, clearly labeled. All he really had to do was push "play" on his laptop. Very disappointed. We had to pay around $300 for his services. We were asked if we had children in our group who needed special meals during our first meeting (we didn't, but I imagine this means that it is a valid request). Cheers, M

Hey weird... I booked through my travel agent (who also happened to be my mother in law). Interesting!! Have fun on your trip! Michellekeays: was your post directed at me? If so PM me and I'll give you the link to see our photos via Facebook!

Elissa is right. As long as you have your passport and haven't been married before, you're good to go. I stressed out about the birth certificate thing a few days before I left after reading about it on this website. Don't fret! I will say, though, to bring USD cash (they don't accept credit cards... Aracely told me they did, though) to pay the medical office for your blood tests. We brought pesos thinking that there was no way they'd take USD after the new law enactment thingy, and the peso exchange rate they gave us was ridiculous. (Front desk will not give you USDs either, only pesos or CDN.) The guy at the medical office actually asked for USD. Just as a note, out minister fee was $5,200 pesos (about $430 CDN) while another gals on here was $4,500. Not sure how Elissa got away with just $120... lucky! You might want to get it from Aracely in writing before you arrive...

Just PMd you!

Hi all, No, I wasn't charged any fee (because my photographer was a guest staying at the resort). There was some confusion earlier on and Blanca thought that he wasn't staying at the GS -- at that time, she said that it would be a $100 USD charge for him to come onsite (same cost as anyone else coming onsite). Personally, I think the "new" $300 fee is RIDICULOUS. $100 max -- and ONLY if it's a photographer not staying at the resort. Had they introduced that before I got married there (taking into mind all the other price discrepancies that they've been called out on.... $500 "tax," different judge fees depending on the bride, etc), I might consider taking my business to another resort. I'm sorry you ladies are going through this :(

We had our wedding and reception at the same time, and the sun starts to go down by 5:30 p.m. We found that we had enough time for photos, but the photographer we brought in was fast (he's a news photographer during the day). You could always do shots before the wedding, or the next day if you don't have enough time. I wouldn't recommend that on-site photographer, but you've probably already seen my comments about that. The photos we got are basically useless. Also, there are a few different photographers who run out of the same shop -- so perhaps one of the other photographers were better? We had the female, but I know there is a male, too. Have fun -- it's a beautiful place to have a wedding!

Ah, that's awesome! You totally should've come in... we had a few drift in, thinking that the restaurant was open for business

Congrats! Sounded like you had a great week. I laughed so hard about the blood tests... it was a gong show for us, too, but we ended up paying them. They never got back to us on the results, so we're just assuming that everything was fine...

Welcome home and congrats!

We did the four hours (6 to 10 p.m.), but since our DJ was 45 minutes late, it was actually more like 7 - 11 p.m. We didn't go anywhere after, we were POOPED! I think some of our wedding party went to the disco there and they had fun (we went to the disco earlier in the week and shut it down... hahaha). I hate to say it, but I chose the Italian JUST for the decor. It was beautiful and the food was amazing!!

Yes, we booked private and paid just over $11,000 pesos (about $1,000 I think)? Of all the extra costs, this was one that I was totally sure on. I'm with you and I didn't want randoms at the wedding... It would've totally changed the atmosphere. Since the restaurant is so small, I wonder if they'd even bother putting any other guests in there? I honestly would only recommend NOT doing private for one of the bigger restaurants. We had 40 people and it definitely didn't feel too large. The dance floor was even a little too tight at the end of the night I walked by the Bayou restaurant which I was there and a non-private wedding was in progress. They didn't have a screen up, but the restaurant is quite large (the biggest, I think?). They had a nice little corner set up for them and it looked kinda private.

Hey GS, I wasn't charged a $300 fee (ouch!), but my photographer stayed at our resort. At first, Blanca thought that our photographer wasn't staying at the GS so she told me I had to pay the $100 visitor's pass to have him onsite -- fair enough, but $300 is RIDICULOUS. I'd fight that one for sure. I think you could set up the Italian so it wouldn't seem empty... maybe half the restaurant for your tables and half for the dance floor? We had 40 people throughout the whole room, so half of that (and half the room) would look great, I bet. It IS a smaller space -- I was a bit surprised at how intimate it was. I've attached a crappy photo below to give you an idea of the size -- you're looking at about half of the restaurant.

Supposedly it depends what region you're getting married in. Quintana Roo, thankfully, only requires the bloodwork.

Hey MJKH, In response to substitutions, we found that they were NOT flexible at all. (That was one of the reasons we still got the photos from the resort fotog: we asked to sub a video or live music services instead, and they refused to consider it... so we got the photos taken even though they were useless.) We didn't want the resort fotog to get in the way of our own (backgrounds, etc), which is why we requested them to shoot when our photographer would be off with us. Hope that helps

Tax?? As far as I know, we were never charged any tax for the services... That's really strange. Also, just looking at my receipts here and our judge fee was $5,200 pesos while yours was $4,500. Also, don't forget the blood test fees: $180 USD for both of you. I agree with ChristieG's comments on the service. Aside from the wedding coordinators, we found the staff very unhelpful and rude. (For example, when my mother in law checked in -- who is also a travel agent and booked all 40 of our guests -- they bluntly told her that they had no idea who she was and she didn't have a room. Gah!)

Oh, and I forgot to tell you about the drunk snorkeler... haha. Supposedly she floated right by our ceremony and when we first kissed she was like "YEAHH!!!" There were also a few onlookers, but my sister in law's spouse tried to bounce most of them out before the ceremony

Hi Donnaalec11! We only checked out the private beach location and it was perfect. My dad scoped out the chapel in case of rain and he said it was STUNNING. My aunt posted some pics this morning: I'll paste them below to give you an idea of the space. Sorry they aren't great