ChristieG

@ smokey82 - We paid extra to have an actual cocktail hour with light snacks in addition to the champagne toast. I can't remember the price but I did post a review in this thread and it included the additional costs. There were three packages to choose from for cocktails and food, we had 39 people at our wedding and I believe it worked out to be an additional $800-$1000 for the cocktail hour. Our guests loved the food and the cocktail hour and it allowed us to sneak away and have our pictures done. A thing to keep in mind is that the palapa is far away from the resort and they take everyone out on golf carts, so if you don't arrange for something for them to do or eat they will just be standing on the beach waiting while you take pictures.

@MRS 2012 We just packed out decorations in our suitcase on the way down. Some of the guys hadn't planned on taking carryon suitcases so we packed some and had the wedding party carry them down. We ended up paying $60 each way for additional lugguage but that being said I made no effort to keep within my weight limit. We didn't have any kids at our wedding but the palapa is certainly big enough to have a pinata. And in terms of meals, they weren't flexible on the meals when I was emailing but once I got there they were very accommodating. I am sure they will make you something special for the kids. I have a gluten allergy and they even made me my own dessert with cake mix I brought down for free in addition to the cake. In terms of the dj, once we heard we had to pack our own music we decided not to bother with the dj. We brought and Ipod for the ceremony and a laptop for the reception and the sound guy from the resort ended up staying the whole time anyways and he took care of turning the music off when we wanted to use the microphone and helped our friend who was in charge of music. I felt more comfortable having a friend do it since there wasn't much to be done and I was more relaxed since we had the opportunity to go over everything with him before hand rather than just see who the resort sends. If you do decide to do your own I would highly recommend a laptop, it allowed us to change things around and get rid of songs as the night went on since our speeches went a little longer than expected.

Here are some pictures of the inside of the palapa and wedding location in front of the palapa....

I noticed a bunch of brides are considering skipping dessert and just going for the wedding cake. I thought I would share with you that our guests loved the dessert and they also ate the wedding cake. The dinner portions were smaller so it was nice having a couple extra treats at the end. @LesleyF - We brought some of our own decorations. We brought hand made place cards and centerpieces for each table. We also brought photos for our guest sign in table and custom napkins that we used for our cocktail hour. I am so happy we brought these items as they made it more personal and feel like our wedding rather than just another wedding in the palapa. We gave all this to Aracelli the day before the wedding and she decorated for us. We also had her take the flowers used to decorate the ceremony location and she put them on our head table, the guest sign in table and the cake table.

@LesleyF I tipped the wedding coordinator, we gave her $50 US we had planned on giving her $100 US but she left the wedding 2 hours before it was finished saying she would come back and never did. As a result my friends had to cary some stuff back to our room for us that I would have had the wedding coordinator take care of.

@ Jemmabuls - I just sent you a couple pictures

@Denita - We had our reception from 5 - 11 (5-6 were cocktails) and we were still going at 11 so we all went to the disco. We had a bit of trouble getting in since the entire wedding party cut off their wrist bands but once they saw me they let the group in. The weird thing about going to the disco was that I didn't feel weird at all about being there in my dress and no one looked at me funny either. I thought I might feel uncomfortable but the entire group went and we had a blast!

GS - I only have a few pictures on my computer so this is the best one I have for now. It was taken by one of my bridesmaids sitting at the head table but it gives you an idea the size of the palapa. The post on the left of the picture is in the middle of the palapa. It also shows the "wrap" around the palapa. Menu for the palapa - You chose a soup, a salad and then we had a choice between steak or salmon. You then had a desert and they also served the wedding cake. There were no mosquitoes that I saw and no one complained about any. We saw few mosquitoes on our trip, I had a total of 2 bites in 2 weeks and I was out at night and never wore bug spray. If you want a better picture of the palapa or if anyone wants a picture of the exterior (I think we have one somewhere) please send me your email address. I have pictures on my husbands computer but for some reason I can't log onto the website.

@GSBride2011 That is great that you were able to book Claudia. I was so happy with her and hope you equally as happy. I didn't have to pay a penalty for not using the resort photographer but that being said I never booked them. Had you already booked them? Perhaps its a cancellation fee? I booked Claudia about a year in advance so I told them from day 1 that I was bringing my own photographer. 18 people might make the restaurant feel a bit empty but I personally think that that is better than sharing the restaurant. Not sure what the increased cost is but I think the French restaurant is the smallest.

@donnaalec11 - I sent you the photographer info in a PM . We asked for them to 'wrap' the palapa and they took white fabric and wrapped it around the entire palapa basically covering the railings. It made a huge difference and I am very glad we asked them to do this. One of the tables was infront of the opening/entrance to the palapa and that table found it a little windy so they moved their table over a bit and were much happier. I found out about all this later so I guess they moved the tables before I arrived. All in all it was a little windy but more of a breeze. We had place cards and other decorations on the tables and none of them blew away so the wind wasn't all that strong.

@denita - We booked our photographer about 10 months in advance, she commented on how we were booking early but we really wanted her and she is popular so we wanted to make sure we got her. We also booked through Air Transat with the Euphoria package so the prices for the dinner would be the same, unless you want to get the lobster dinner which is more. The ceremony time worked really well it started getting dark by 6. I started contacting the wedding coordinator rather early but that was because I had little information on what was available. Now that there are more brides sharing information it should be easier for you. I would suggest though booking your location for the reception as soon as you make up your mind in case there are multiple weddings on your date. @MJKH - The resort photographer didn't get in the way at all. The funny thing was I completely forgot about them and didn't even notice they were there until they said goodbye to me at the end of the ceremony. I forgot to tell Araceli that we didn't want them but I am assuming they knew to stay out of the way as our photographer was there with two assistances and since our photographer (at our request) asked a family member to sit down who was standing directly dehind us taking pictures as we were saying our vows (in every photo) I am sure the photographer would have also asked them to move without us even noticing. Claudia was extremely professional, I didn't notice any of them as they were taking photos, guess I was a little wrapped up in the moment.

@denita - We booked the photographer for 8 hours which I felt was a good amount of time. The packaged I believe was $3450 or something like that, we then paid $200 for her and her assistant to come on the resort and anohter $140 for them as additional guests to the wedding so they could have a meal. When all was said and done and tip I believe it was $4100. Here is her website if you are interested http://claudiaphoto.com/ Araceli has worked with her before and only had great things to say about her.

Hello Ladies, I got back last night from 2 weeks at the Grand Sirenis and am now happily married. Our wedding was on February 22, 2011 and we had our reception in the palapa and ceremony on the beach in front of the palapa. Overall Impression The Resort is a good size, not too big as some people say. Prior to arriving I have requested a third floor room for myself and my fiancé. When we arrived at the GS, I got the impression they didn’t know that we were the bride and groom and when I complained about our room they suggested I go through the rooms assigned to our friends (we were the first to check in) and take one of their rooms. I was not happy with this solution and kept our second floor room they gave us while many of our guests got third floor rooms (they didn’t request them). I found front desk staff in general to be rude and not helpful at all. The pools are great and the spa is nice. The animation staff are great and keep things interesting by the pool. The food at the GS is not up to the standard we are used to when we travel to Mexico. We’ve been to Mexico five times now and must say the food was not up to the standard we are used to. Also to make matters worse about 95% of our group got sick while we were there! I was one of the only ones not sick and that is only because I have a gluten allergy and found it hard to find things I could eat and packed some of my own food. Wedding Planning Araceli is very nice and easy to talk to. When we arrived we had a letter saying that we would be meeting the next morning but I asked to meet with her right away and she accommodated this request. Make sure that you take all your emails! They changed the price on a few items for me and they tried to tell me certain flowers were not included after they told me they were. Thankfully I had all my emails and it all got worked out. Also make sure that you know what is included in your package as they don’t volunteer anything you have to ask for it. We were supposed to get a courtesy room for the groom but we never did so he just got ready in the best mans room, not a big deal but annoying since it was something we were supposed to get. Araceli took us to go see the wedding locations and we chose the beach in front of the palapa. We wanted to do our ceremony at 4 pm and reception to start at 6pm but Araceli really encouraged us to push our ceremony back. I didn’t understand why until I saw the location and realized that they have to shuttle all the guests out there and if you have an hour and a half between the ceremony and the reception there is nothing for them to do and no where for them to go since it’s a little hot and far to walk back to the main part of the hotel in heels! We decided to have cocktails and appies from 5-6 in the palapa and then start everything at 6pm as planned. The additional cost for this was $325 pesos per person. By choosing the drinks and appies our guests were then able to order blended drinks which I found out they were originally not going to be served at the reception. Wedding Day Everything went very smoothly and on time. We were lucky that we were the only wedding that day so we had 100% of Araceli’s attention. I went and got my hair done at 1pm and when we were done the spa called Araceli and she picked me up in a golf cart with my flowers and drove me to my room. The groom and groomsmen were picked up at 3:15 and driven to the ceremony site, followed by all our guests and finally a 3:55 they drove me and my bridesmaid out to the site. The ceremony site and palapa were extremely private, we didn’t see anyone else the entire time. The minister exceeded all my expectations and the ceremony was great and everyone loved her. After the ceremony we did the champagne toast followed by a group photo and then when the wedding party snuck off to do photos Araceli made arrangements for everyone to make their way into the palapa. All our guests enjoyed the cocktail hour and it was nice as it gave them a place in the shade to socialize. Hair I booked my hair appointment for 1pm and it took her an hour and a half. The lady who did my hair did an amazing job, she doesn’t speak much English and I forgot my photos of how I wanted my hair done, but she had pictures to show me and it all worked out. Flowers I was very happy with my bouquet and bridesmaid bouquets. Mine was much smaller than I had expected but all in all it was fine. We had pink and white roses and a bunch of green flowers and leaves. I was very happy. Photographer We used Claudia Rodriguez and would highly recommend her. She was amazing and put together a quick slide show to show us and our group at the reception some of the photos. The photos that we saw were soooo good, she by far exceeded my expectation. We went and saw the pictures taken by the resort photographer and were very happy we didn’t use them. They had taken 130 photos of our wedding ceremony and we were supposed to pick 25, at first we thought how can we only pick 25 until we saw them and well it was hard to come up with 25 of them that we wanted. When I went back to pick up the photos they tried to hand them loose to me, I had to then remind them they were supposed to come in an album and after it being pointed out they “remembered†that I was supposed to get an album and asked me to come back. Food The food at the wedding was very good. We had the lobster soup to start, the fruit salad and then guests had a choice of steak and salmon. We chose the brownie with ice cream for dessert and it was a huge hit. Everyone also said that they loved the wedding cake. I have a gluten allergy so I brought my own cake mix and they made me two little deserts, one to cut for the cake cutting and one to eat. My special deserts looked great and it was a nice of them to do at no charge and it allowed us to feed each other cake. Music We rented the sound system equipment and brought an ipod for the wedding ceremony and our laptop for the wedding reception music. They provided all the cables and there was someone there to help out and show our guest in charge of music how to do everything. Decorations The decorations were great and everything was set up as I had requested. We asked that they wrap the palapa in fabric to help with the wind, which they did and it made a huge difference. We brought out own place cards, center pieces, photos for the guest sign in table and so on and Araceli made sure they were all put out exactly as we had requested. Extra charges to remember: - Pre-dinner cocktails and appies - $325 pesos per person - Rental of music equipment $400 pesos per hour - Rental of the palapa $11050 pesos for 4 hours - Each additional hour of open bar and palapa rental $60 pesos per person per hour - Dinner for the extra people not included package $715 pesos per person - Flowers on the cake $250 pesos - Minister $4500 pesos - Carpet for ceremony $325 pesos - Entry to resort for outside photographer $1000 pesos per person - TAX!!! I had to pay $5000 pesos in tax. It’s hard to think about what else to write, so if anyone has any questions please feel free to ask and I will be happy to answer them. Although I wasn’t happy with the stress leading up to the day and the difficulty with communication and planning, it was all worth it as everyone worked out exactly as we wanted and we both say we wouldn’t change a thing!

Well I got frustrated and called Mexico myself. I just got off the phone with Araceli and have a few answers now: @ corbeil - you have to tell her your menu choice when you arrive and have your meeting with her. For us we have 39 people so Araceli said that everyone didn't have to have the same entree as Blanca had originally told me. She just to let her know how many steak and how many fish when I arrive at the hotel. - One thing she did mention that she says Air Transat never tells the Brides is that the cost of the minister is not included. She said that cost would be $4500 pesos. If you are doing a spiritual ceremony, instead of legal, she said someone at the hotel might be able to do the ceremony but she didn't know the cost. - Cost for the stereo equipment is $400 pesos per hour or the dj is $650 per hour. Blanca had quoted me lower rates if we were getting the 3 course meal but Araceli said these are the rates. - If anyone else has a gluten allergy like me, if you bring your own cake mix they will make you an extra gluten free cake at no cost. - We rented the palapa for 5 hours, the additional 1 hour is $100 pesos per person per hour. Araceli sounded really nice! I feel sooo much better now that I talked to her.

@JennNew - They are letting you get married in the palapa? I asked for that and they specifically told me I was not allowed. Well actually Blanca offered it at first and then came back and told me they don't do ceremonies in the palapa. We've also booked the palapa for the reception/dinner but like you I am wearing heels which is why I had my heart set on the palapa.