Heidilynn

Quote:

Originally Posted by FireyNurse 


Hey! No worries! I loved every minute of our planning and wedding, I love sharing the details to help others!

I just called the concierge and said I had my dress to be cleaned, you fill in the regular dry cleaning card and they send it away to be cleaned and then deliver it to your room about a day later. I even took more pics in my dress recently at home for a friends portfolio and because we were back in Mexico for our anniversary So i even took my dress back down and had it cleaned again!! Lol! This time it was 313 pesos or $24 us! Such a great deal! If I could get my junk together I'd consider doing all my dry cleaning there prior to coming home because its SOOOOO cheap!

Wow that is amazing! I will be doing that FOR SURE!!!! Thanks for the tip

Quote:

Originally Posted by FireyNurse 


Hey ladies! Glad to see some people on here actively planning! I miss my planning time! I was married almost exactly a year ago at the Barcelo! If you have any questions feel free to ask!

We stayed at the palace and with the exception of about 2 other rooms everyone else in our party stayed at the Tripical/colonial. We spent a ton of time away from the Palace for our first week with our friends and the entire complex is actually really all amazing! Our date as Nov 28, Victoria was our planner. We had 22 people and went with the strawberry package because having a reception in the beach was a MUST for us. It did threaten rain a little on our wedding day (forecasted 40% chance of showers) and after I was nearly in tears over not wanting to be in a banquet hall due to rain we were offered the pool activity area Palapa. The grill receptions are beautiful! Our ceremony was in the gazebo and our reception on coco beach (the beach in front of the coco bar at the palace), our other option was coral beach and it is also beautiful! It's a little higher up from the water with bushes, not really on the beach with the waves lapping at the shore sort of thing.

Also, as I saw your centrepiece, if you are looking at light weight options, I thought I'd share what we did. I wanted the beads in vases until I found a lighter weight example and copied it. It sounds odd but we used glass vases and then placed coloured cellophane in it (purple was our color) and then filled it with water and had a purple led light attached to an organza flower on top to illuminate it. Turned out perfect! Here's a pic:


The teal bottle was our guest book message in a bottle thing, not a part of our centre pieces.

Anyways, happy planning! Don't take anything all that crazy seriously because its soooo easy to change anything when you are at the resort, those planners are amazing and work miracles!

Also...dry clean your dress prior to leaving, mine was big with ruffles and stuff and it cost 112 pesos or approximately $10 Canadian and it came out looking 100% perfectly brand new!! And it sure beats paying the crazy costs at home for cleaning.

I'm happy to answer any questions if I can help!!

HI Firey Nurse,

You're always so helpful!! I never would have thought to dry clean my dress down there, did you have it done through the resort, or did you take it into town? Totally makes sense to do it that way, because it's ridiculously expensive at home. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaurenV26 

Hey ladies,

Have any of you been to the resort? We are having our reception at the Palmaras grill and I am wondering if we need a dance floor or not. I'm hoping the floor is alright to dance on so we don't have to spend the money but I have no idea since I have never been there!
Thanks:)

HI Lauren,

I've been before, and I would say you're fine without a dance floor. You can also Google image search "Palmaras Grill Barcelo" and some photos come up, you can see the floor Hope that helps! 

Hi everyone, i've been MIA lately, but with the wedding only 5 months away i'm starting to focus on some of the last details again. I wanted to have table numbers, but not name place cards, I thought i'll assign people to a table, but they can sit where ever they want at that table, the only thing is I don't want to pack a massive board with table assignments on it. Does anyone have an idea that requires little supplies, and minimal effort? I did do a search on this site, but nothing really caught my eye. 

I'm already bringing, chair sashes (35), an arch, linen napkins (35), vases for centrepieces (5-7), fans (35) and paresol umbrellas (12), as well as my cake topper, programs and table numbers. It didn't seem like that much until I typed it all out :S ugh, i told myself i wouldn't go crazy like this LOL

So anyways, any help for a simple and minimal supplies required seating chart, would be greatly appreciated! 

Quote:

Originally Posted by AshTess 
 

Hello Brides, 

My wedding coordinator Xhail is asking me if I have a seating plan.. 

Do we need to bring a master seating plan or do they do that? I am just wondering because she is asking for all the names. 

I also have Xhail, she asked me a few months ago, and at that time the wedding was 9 months away, I just told her I didn't have it done yet, since we didn't have all of our RSVP's, she was fine with it

Quote:

Originally Posted by mellie14 
 

We were told that anyone not staying at the resort would be charged a fee of 95.00 for a day pass.  I am guessing it is fine if you have  few more.  I was never told anything about the limit being 10%. Hopefully it will be just fine!

Thanks for the info mellie14, I knew about the $95.00 but also wasn't aware of the 10% limit, must have been in the small print some where. I emailed my travel agent, she said she would try to contact Xhail and said "don't panic" haha, so i'm going to let her handle it for me

We have just had my fiances uncle, his wife, and their 3 kids RSVP to the wedding, but they will be staying at another resort, I know there is a fee for guests from another resort, but Xhail, my coordinator, "reminded" me that only 10% of the total guests can be from another hotel, I didn't know this. So we have 33 (including ourselves and the 5 staying at another resort) so we're only allowed 3 outside guests? 

Has anyone else ran into this problem? It wasn't our intention to have people stay at another hotel, but they have another wedding to attend that same week so they're staying in cancun instead. 

We anticipate a few more people booking before the big day, still 7.5 months away, but i'm not sure another 17 will book. 

Do I wait until close to the final RSVP date and worry about it then? 

I haven't panicked over anything thus far, but this is a little unnerving. 

Originally Posted by Lori Granados 

 

T

That's awesome!!! You are definitely ahead of the game! I can't wait to start planning all the details but I haven't booked my room yet. What location are you getting married at and what package did you pick? I'm having such a hard time deciding on the package because we were gonna go with the mint breeze and during our site visit we weren't too thrilled with the banquet hall and saw a reception in one of the Grills and we looved it but we are estimating about 60 guests

Hi Lori,

Our ceremony is going to be at the Coral Beach and the reception at the Coco Beach. We wanted to have our feet in the sand during the ceremony and reception, so that's what we chose based on the options. We're having the trees lit up and bringing a few simple decorations from home. 

We're going with the Strawberry Passion Package, I would have been completely fine with what was included in the Mint Breeze package but we also didn't like/want the banquet hall. 

We have 26 people including us as of right now who have put down their deposits, we might have a few more sign up closer to the date, but we're very happy with the turn out so far. We gave our guests the option of the colonial or Palace, they have ALL chosen to stay at the Palace. 

Best of luck with your planning, let me know if you have any questions, I have all the documents from my coordinator, menu options, chair sash colours, centrepiece options, bouquet options etc...

Heidi 

Yesterday we completed all the steps up to the spa appointments, which Xhail mentioned didn't need to be done until 2-3 months prior, and I don't want any for the wedding day anyway, as one of my bridesmaids is a hairdresser and one is a make up artist, so i'm feeling pretty ahead of the game, considering the wedding is just under 9 months away, 265 days to be exact but who is counting

I've ordered my dress, picked up the bridesmaid gifts, chair sashes, arch fabric, centrepieces, cake topper, and 26 people including ourselves are booked. AND we booked our honeymoon yesterday!!!!!! 7 nights at the Villa Rolandi on isla de mujeres, it's a boutique style hotel, adult only, ocean view suites, and jacuzzi tubs on off the balcony's. We're pumped! They're going to pick us up from the Barcelo in a private SUV and then we take a 42 foot yacht to the hotel. 
 

Things on the to do list still:

Groomsmen outfits (thinking they can go in the new year)

Groomsmen Gifts (trying to get my fiance on this now)

Need to order fans and paresol umbrellas

DIY table numbers and seating chart

DIY: Thank you sign to bring for photos

AND wedding bands

How is everyone else's progress? Is anyone else getting married on the 23 of April? We arrive with our group on April 20 and everyone leaves April 27th, and we change hotels for our honeymoon until May 4th. 

Originally Posted by julienelson0713 

 

 

I think Victoria told me to confirm 2-3 weeks before....remember, they are REALLY laid back down there. Last minute changes don't phase them! I sent invites out in September and asked that people RSVP by January, because that's when our travel agent needed the final payment. Once I had the final payment list from the travel agent, I sent that to the WC. She really didn't seem concerned about actual numbers until about 2 weeks before we arrived.

Thank you so much! You're right they're super chill, I heard back from Xhail my coordinator and she said casually "around one month before" LOL

Originally Posted by iryna10 

 

Hello ladies just joined this site. My wedding is not till November 2014 so the WC little slow with answering my questions, any help would be great still working on my budget.

1. We will most likely have 25 to 30 ppl max so mint package is great bc more ppl included, but we want to have the reception outside. I am wondering if its possible to move the reception but keep the mint package, if so what's the cost?

2. Also if I upgrade to strawberry package ppl said that there is a fee $65. Is this fee for any additional person about the 15 that are included in the package

 

Thanks

Hi iryna10,

If you want the reception outside you need to book the strawberry package. 

And yes if you have more than 15 guests it's $66 per person. 

If you ask for the Mint Breeze, but reception outside, they charge you extra and it basically becomes the same price as the strawberry passion package. I wanted to do the same thing, so I just went with the strawberry Passion. We have 26 people booked so far, so we will pay $3500 for the package and then $726 for additional guests. 

Hope that helps! 

Does anybody know how many weeks before the wedding day you need to confirm the final head count for the reception? I sent out save the dates a couple of months ago, and mostly those who have booked already are those who will come, but I still need to send our formal invites. I was thinking of sending them end of Oct (wedding date is april 23) but I don't know when I should tell them to RSVP by.

Thanks!! 

Originally Posted by FireyNurse 

 

W

We didn't so OOT bags, too much to carry down and expensive to do, we did have favors, ill put a pic here, we purchased the bottles from michaels with a 50% off coupon, had sand and purchased the seashells online, they were super inexpensive to make. We printed the cards ourselves too.

 

 

And I'm not sure who was asking earlier, if it was you or not but here are our centrepieces. We brought them down ourselves, they are 2.99 vases from ikea, purple cellophane paper crinkled in them, filled with water. Then I made organza flowers and hot glued them to purple led lights (also bought for 50% off at michaels). Here are the centrepieces:

 

And as for the playlist, thanks, our guests were very impressed by the song choices and we were happy with the way the dance party took off! It was a bit of work, but so worth it in the end as it saved us a TON of money!

Very pretty centre pieces and gifts I think i'm going to bring vases, and floating candles, and have them scoop some sand into them. 

We will definitely be bringing our own playlist! I better start brainstorming songs now, LOL

Originally Posted by prisp 

 

Hi ladies,

 

I am wanting to get married there next March. Do any of you have 2014 available dates from the resort? I have e-mailed the weddings coordinator twice and haven't heard back. I am kind off anxious to know if I will even be able to have it there.

You'll need to wait to hear back from the coordinator, as far as I know available dates aren't posted anywhere. They'll get back to you, but they can take a week or so sometimes to email back. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by FireyNurse 


Yup the big lights were set up with everything, no charge, or else we'd have been in the dark!
As I said, the wrapped trees were never charged to us either. The Bride and Groom signs I actually made myself just printed the words on paper from word and put them in the frames, then hot glued our coloured ribbons on them!

That's what I figured, LOL 

Such an easy craft makes such a great photo opp and decor piece, I think I might steal your idea

I was scrolling through the photos and also saw that you posted your playlists, so thank you!! I will have to take a look through them. 

Did you do OOT bags? or Wedding Favours? I really want to get everyone something, but obviously want to keep costs low, and I want it to be something useful or fun, not something they're just going to throw away. Also nothing UBER heavy because I have to bring it with me. Thinking a cup of some sort, with a lid and straw, and maybe a fun pool toy, frisbee, beach ball, water guns? I don't know....... 

Originally Posted by FireyNurse 

 

 

Here are a few pics of our reception area, people can walk by but really we had no concern with people seeing us, we never noticed people in the darkness if they were watching. They aren't great but show a little bit

 

And if you see the pic back a page or so it shows our cake and you can see the tree wrapped in lights.

We weren't given any option either, just placed at coral beach. The day of the wedding when they told me if it rained they'd move is inside I almost cried! I was begging for different options and was told Coco beach was available if I wanted it. It's immediately on front of the Coco bar at the pool of the Palace.

 

As for the picture where we are toasting, that was after we walked back down the aisle from the gazebo and it's kind of an open area in the downstairs of the lobby.

Looks great! I'm totally happy with that location Thank you for the photos. 

Love your bride and groom signs! 

Do those big lights come with the package? 

Originally Posted by FireyNurse 

 

 

I was under the impression we had to pay $5 per tree to be lit up but at Coral they always are there and lit up so when we moved locations I was ready to pay but they never charged us.

 

As for the day pass, that's great if they don't catch it!

$5 per tree isn't bad, i'll pay that. 

My fiance likes the idea of where the Coco beach is, so we've decided on that for ceremony and reception, he doesn't want to risk them putting us in a banquet hall. And we kinda thought if the reception was at the coral beach, tons of people would be walking by to go for dinner, as all the restaurants are up there, but the coco beach area is a bit more quiet at that time of night. 

Do you have a photo of what your reception looked like? Or did you have a link to where you posted it. Sometimes I find the 400+ pages very overwhelming and hard to sift through, so I apologize if you've already posted it. 

Originally Posted by FireyNurse 

 

 

We had just 22 people including us, yes some of the planning feels sort of silly if it can all be done the days before the wedding but I think it helps them plan a little, changes are easy to make though if you want. On the coco beach we had lights on trees and it was beautiful too! It is just a minute or two walk from the Coral Beach. And the back up for there is the palapa where the ping pong tables are. Playa Azul for me was too far and wide open with no trees to light up, which I really wanted. The seating arrangements are super easy for them to set up and change, it's honestly no big deal!

 

You should definitely ask about where your ceremony and reception locations are, they never have me a choice and had placed me at Coral (which I was pleased with anyway) but if you have a preference you should ask as they may be planning several weddings on your date. There were apparently 4 occurring on our wedding day! We never saw anyone else married that day though.

My fiance really likes the idea of the trees and lights too, which I think would be beautiful too, after further review, I agree the playa azul is too far and I never thought about it being open and plain, totally makes sense, an area with trees would be better. And I think the coral beach for the ceremony would be nice too! 

Did you have to pay for the lights in the trees? I remember they were on every night when we stayed at the Palace in 2009. 

Originally Posted by FireyNurse 

 

 

Our reception was supposed to be on Coral Beach initially but the back up for this is in the banquet hall. Coral beach is the complete opposite of the Playa Azul location. Coral is in front of the palace, sort of up above the water a bit, beautifully lit up and great for smaller groups. If it wasn't for the banquet hall being our back up we would have stayed there. It threatened rain on our wedding day so we moved to Coco beach, this is the beach right in front of the coco bar (beach bar by the palace pool) and it was a great location. These two are closest to the palace resort. Playa Azul is the absolute furthest end from the Palace, in front of the Beach/Caribe resorts. It is past the little activities rental area on the beach. I had heard it was windier down there as well. There used to be a palapa there but it is no longer up.

 

I am not sure what the other location was called but I saw a few receptions there while we were there and it was in front of the grill at the tropical.

 

All the locations are gorgeous and I believe they give options but also place you based on the size of your group.

 

Happy planning!

Thank you!! I really don't want the hall as a back up, but I do like the Coral the best, we've been to the resort before, and between all those trees with the lights on them would be perfect, especially because we're having a small wedding. I'd like the ceremony at the Playa Azul because it is more secluded, no men in speedos, haha.

We're on step 3 of the planning already, reception, but we're still 9 months away, not everyone has decided if they're coming or not, so I can't really make a seating plan. I know that you go over everything in a meeting the day after you arrive, so is this just to humour us? Make us feel like we're planning? lol Did you feel the same?

For the ceremony location I just said "on the beach" I suppose I should ask what the options are and be more specific. 

Does anybody have a list of reception location options for the strawberry passion package? I have heard a lot of people talk about Playa Azul, but i'm wondering what else is an option. And also does anyone know where these locations are on the resort map? 

I'd like a visual as to where is location is actually located.

I've msg'd my coordinator, but I know that they sometimes take a while to respond, so I thought I would see if anybody was provided with a list from their coordinator already.

Thanks so much!!! 

Originally Posted by borgesn 

 

Thank you! How many people are you having?

We only have 18 people including me and my fiance as of right now. Deposits are due by July 31st, so people still have time, plus after July they can still come, but just might not get the same flight as us. I don't honestly expect too many more, maybe 10 more max. 

Originally Posted by borgesn 

 

 

Hi Heidilynn!

 

Thanks so much for your response! Ok so I see the prices for the packages but I don't see the price if I go over. For example, the strawberry package offers dinner on the beach for 15. How much is it per person after that? Maybe I'm just not seeing it?

I can't remember where I found it, but I do know if you go over 15 people on the strawberry passion it's $65.00 per person. 

We're doing the Strawberry passion, because we want to get married on the beach and have our reception on the beach, and it's the best option as the mint breeze doesn't have the outside option. 

Originally Posted by FireyNurse 

 

 

 

That's our cake, it's not a fabulous pic of the actual cake but you can see how the icing was done. We didn't request anything be done except put our topper on and that's what turned out. We had 22 guests and not a single person had cake, they LOVED the dessert and were stuffed from dinner! We asked the coordinator if the cake could be put in the kitchen and brought to our room the next day, they asked a specific time to send it and we said 2pm. They sent it on a tray all set with small plates and everything. We later ate some with the group when we all met up in the lobby bar one evening. But even then it wasn't all gone so we kept it in the fridge in our room and had delicious cake for the remainder of our stay!

 

 

Here is a second picture as well, it's less close up and you can see the size better.

Thanks so much for the photos! I'm not overly concerned about what it looks like, I was just curious, and wanted to know what to expect. We too will just be requesting that our topper goes on top

Thanks again FireyNurse, you're very helpful and a great resource for the rest of us!! 

Originally Posted by borgesn 

 

 

Ok this is how bad I am at this. It's my first time posting and I totally do not know how to even comment or reply. Lol. That being said, I want to get married July 12th 2014 at the Barcelo but I don't even know what the first step in booking is! Do I need to know which packet I'm choosing? How much is the deposit? Do I just book wedding and book rooms later? How accurate do I need to be with estimated guest count? Lastly, ( for now) how much is it pp for mint and strawberry package? Oh and has anyone else had their reception outside during July? Will it be too hot?

 

Sincerely,

Confused Amateur Bride

Hi borgesn aka Confused Amateur Bride  

Trust me, we've all been there!!! LOL

The package prices are on the barcelo website,  http://www.barcelo.com/BarceloWeddings/en_GB/mexico/barcelo-maya-beach-resort/wedding-packages.aspx

This was the email I received when I emailed the Barcelo inquiring about booking my day:

To book your wedding, please follow the next steps:

1. Once you have selected your wedding date ask for availability and email the following information to your wedding coordinator:

* Wedding date and time

* Type of wedding (Legal or Non-legal)

* Name and last name of Bride and Groom.

* Wedding package.

* Number of wedding guests.

* Hotel where the Bride and Groom will be staying at.

2. The wedding coordinator will put your wedding date ON HOLD. (Meaning that the date and hour is just ON HOLD, NOT CONFIRMED)

3. Once you have a date on hold for the wedding, you will have two months to e-mail us a copy of the Reservation Manifest/Invoice from the Tour Operator (confirmation must include name of Bride & Groom, arrival - departure dates and time, name of Tour Operator Company) and we will confirm the wedding date.

4. You will start the wedding arrangements with your Wedding Coordinator.

I look forward to hear from you soon and I remain at your disposal for any additional information you may require. 

I think they understand that your guest count is just estimated, and from what i've read from everyone who has already been married there, the coordinators are great, i get emails every couple of weeks asking me to make my next step/set of decisions, and then i've been told once you arrive, the following day you have a meeting with your coordinator, she runs through everything you've discussed, finalize numbers, and then you're set. 

It's really overwhelming at first, and even going through this forum can be really overwhelming, but just ask questions, and if you can get a travel agent who does a lot of weddings that also helps, as they can let you know what to expect. 

Every says trust your coordinator, they do SOOO many weddings, they know what they're doing! 

Hope that helps! 

Hello everyone,

I am on step 2, choosing the menu and cake. 

Does anyone have a photo of the cake that came with their strawberry passion package? The one that feeds 10 people. I imagine it's one tier and very basic, which i'm totally fine with, just curious to see how some of them turned out. 

Thanks!