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Hi Ladies! It's been a while since I have posted and I have less than 4 months to go. I am starting to panic, I dont have bridesmaid dresses picked yet and only have half started my OOT bags and centerpieces! Yikes! Time to get my bum in gear! I just have a quick question that maybe one of you lovely people can help me with becasue Elsa hasn't gotten back to me yet. We are doing our legal wedding ceremony here at home before we leave (not at our house, but in Red Deer) and so when we are in Mexico it will be a "symbolic ceremony" but still technically our wedding. It will be the date we use as our anniversary and everything, of course. Since it will not be a civil ceremony I was just wondering if any of you know if we have to pay the extra $600 to have a commissioner, JP or Minister present? I have been reading in some other forums that it's not required for a symbolic ceremony as we will just be exchanging our vows, and that we could have someone (a close family friend) do the speaking of the ceremony. I have emailed Elsa to ask her about this situation and haven't received any replies so I was wondering what your opinions are or if any of you have dealt with this situation before? Thanks girls, Amie

Hi Ladies! I hope everyone is doing well I was just wondering if anyone used the resort photographer for ceremony pictures and if they had any reviews? We are still trying to figure out our photographer situation and we have a few idea's but are considering the on-site photographer for the ceremony! If anyone has any feedback that would be great! Thanks so much ladies! Amie

Hey Ladies! I don't know how I didn't find this board before but I'm Amie and me and the fiance are getting married at the Gran Porto Real in Playa del Carmen on November 8, 2013! Right now I am slightly overwhelmed with everything and don't even know where to start! We have 23 confirmed booked guests and possibilities of additions to add on later, but I am not going to worry about that! I received all my forms from the Wedding Coordinator but I don't even know where to start with those! And the fiance is in school until mid-April so I have decided not to go much further until he's back to work! I have plans for OOT bags, Welcome packages, key card holders, luggage tags, etc. We are going to take a mini road trip to the states this summer to see how much we can get for cheap! My fiance's parents have a house in Phoenix as well and will be there the majority of the summer and able to bring us back anything we have shipped to them! Happy planning everyone! Any tips and suggestions on anything and everything will be helpful!

I finally received contact!! I had to send a couple e-mails to a couple of different people but I think I am on a roll now! Ready to get things done and and finish planning a wedding!

Hii Ladies! I haven't been on in a while, I've been super busy between school, work and taking care of my daughter! The wedding still feels so far away yet I know it will be here fast (November 8, 2013)! Seeing your conversation about not hearing from your WC got me worried so I sent a quick e-mail to Elsa to see if she will get back to me. I was in the position where I thought my wedding is too far away for them to even care about right now! Being a WC at a resort, they are taking care of weddings on a daily basis, so I know they have it all under control and once the date gets closer they will be more and more helpful (I hope!). But being the bride I am like you ladies, and want to know total cost, additionals, meal selection, etc. Soo I did it, and I e-mailed her! *fingers crossed* I will let you ladies know how it goes! For the brides who have already gotten married at GPR, what is your take on the contact with the WC?

If you don't mind me asking, where did you order your chair sashes from and how much did you pay for them (per chair). I have found a few websites so far but am not 100% sure yet and don't want to make the wrong move! Thanks!!

I think we are leaning the same way for Photographers as it sounds much cheaper to pay there way then to pay for a photographer in Mexico (though I agree, they look amazing and know the best places for a TTD!) and pay a vendor fee when they can just be a wedding guest!! Besides booking the resort, the wedding date/location, most of everything is just ideas in my head at this point in time! I am looking forward to everything that will come of this next year and all of the projects I have in my mind from reading the posts on the website! It has given me so much inspiration because when I started knowing I wanted a Destination Wedding, I knew NOTHING. It's gonna be great though!

That is so exciting Stina! When is your wedding date? I see sometime in June, but have you picked a day?! Do you have your photographer and all picked out already?

Hello Ladies! I just thought I should share all of my fantastic news with you as I am so excited!! We are officially booked for our trip from November 6-13, 2013 although hubby and I might stay an extra week (with Aubrey) because we are vacation spoiled and have never stayed anywhere less than 2 weeks. It just doesn't seem like enough time when you're only there for 7 days! We'll see how planning and budgeting and pricing works out for the extension but I really hope we can work something out!! Our wedding day will be on November 8, 2013. I know it is shortly after we arrive but there are two reasons. One is that we will just be having the symbolic ceremony there as we will be legally married here before we leave and two because I would love to have it at the start of the weekend and spend the rest of the week celebrating and hanging out with friends! It's going to be fantastic! I just cant wait for the rest to come along, I know it will happen fast! But I already have so many ideas running through my head, OOT bags, bridal party gifts, parent gifts, DIY's for the ceremony and reception! Busy busy busy!

Hey Ladies!! Thanks for the information about photographers... we still haven't decided what to do but we do have some time to think about it! On an exciting note that I wanted to share with you all though is that we received our pricing (that is at an excellent rate!) and once deposits are paid by November 22, 2012, we will booked for our trip November 6-13, 2013 and the next step will be to follow up with the cordinators and book my day! Does anyone have a day recommendation? We are going to legally get married at home so it will just be symbolic ceremony so I am not sure how many days we have to be there before the actual day! I am so so excited to be one step closer to all of this! You ladies have given me so many great ideas, I cannot wait for everyone to pay deposits so I can move along with the rest of my planning!!

Hello Everyone! It's my first post in this forum, I'm fairly new to BDW! My fiance and I got engaged in January 2014 while we were on vacation in Phoenix and took a road trip to Palm Springs, California where he proposed! We plan on getting married here at the Gran Porto Real in November 2013! We are just waiting for pricing back from our TA to book the dates and than the wedding, then it's a go! Reading all of your posts here has helped so much in the decision to pick this resort, so first I want to say thank you for that! I just had a question about photography for you ladies, did anyone use the photographer provided by the resort for the photos of your ceremony? I know I have time but I cannot decide if it would be beneficial to bring my own photographer, use the photographer on site, or pay the vendor fee and have a photographer come into the resort and do my pictures for the day! I want to do a TTD, it's a must for me actually. One idea I have been pondering is to use the photographer provided and get the ceremony pictures that come with the wedding package, and then book a mexico photographer for the TTD and leave with them for the day (the day after the wedding) and go to a TTD shoot else where. That saves me the vendor fee and I still get pictures for both. I have also contemplated asking a guest to take pictures of the ceremony and then again, booking a TTD with a photographer in Mexico. Just another option. Does anyone have any ideas, information, or reviews? What did you ladies do for your weddings? Did anyone use the photographer provided and how was it? Thanks All, I look forward to hearing from you!

Hi All! My name is Amie and I am from lovely Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. My fiance and I got engaged in January of this year while in Palm Springs, California. We have known for years that if we got married we would have a destination wedding. We have picked the Gran Porto Real Resort & Spa in Playa del Carmen for our wedding in November 2013. I am waiting to hear back from the supplier with pricing so that we can book ASAP. Any tips, help or ideas would be great, there is a lot of information on here and I'm not sure where to start! Thanks Everyone, I look forward to all the useful information and helping as much as I can too =)