FutureMrsGarcia

@ I have Zaray too! So far she has been great and got rave reviews from my coordinator through Latin Asia! When do you get to beach palace? We are there 12/7-12/13.

My wedding is 12/12/15 and we are doing our ceremony at 4:30 pm. We wanted a 90 minute cocktail hour so pushed it back to that hour. Our reception is from 6:30-12AM.

@@Danielle1 We upgraded our cake to 3 tiers to feed all our people and then added some red roses and ribbon for a total of like $300. I think $700 is waay too much!

@@Danielle1 Yes, our ceremony is on the sky deck with the cocktails and reception on sky bar terrace! We are having 12 tables total (10 tables of 8 people and 2 tables of 6 people) and a sweetheart table which palace is providing. I am worried about the space but I have seen pictures where there are that many tables so I know it can be done. We didn't want the Palenque terrace because it has to be shut down by 10pm and we are planning to have our reception until 12AM!  We are renting decor for the welcome party from Latin Asia - dark brown tables, bamboo chairs, burlap table runners, centerpieces with lanterns and flowers and twinkle lights with hanging stars to create a romantic, rustic atmosphere. It's not cheap but we really wanted it to look special and set the tone for the rest of the weekend! We are renting decor from Latin Asia for the ceremony and reception as well. I cannot wait for it all to get here and just pray the weather holds out for us!!!! It looks like it has been raining almost every day the last couple weeks.

@@Danielle1 Yes we have a big group! We have 90 guests and 2 events (our rehearsal dinner is off-site) so ironing out all the details now. Will definitely do a review after we get back! My coordinator has told me 8 people at a table and no more so we have 11 tables. Will be odd with not filling 1-2 tables but I dont think we have a choice. Hope your planning is going well!!!

Hello Beach Palace brides!!! My wedding is just around the corner on 12/12/15 and we are in the process of finalizing menus!  So much left to do with so little time!  Does anyone on this forum have recommendations on what to get or to avoid? We are thinking the Mexican buffet with some substitutions from the Carribean buffet for our welcome beach party and the Italian buffet with some substitutions from the International buffet. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!

@@stephygirl Sounds like sooooo much fun! I can't decide if I'm gonna get in the pool at the end. I have a feeling some will try to push me in lol @@Danielle1 it stays open until 2AM I think! (Can't 100% confirm that) We are having our reception until 12AM because we knew people would wanna keep the party going until AT LEAST then (some will likely go even later lol). I think only one side is open to the public so don't see why you couldn't jump over there when your reception is done!

@@Danielle1 I'm actually planning on having 90-95 people and we are sticking with the sky bar south!! I have seen some pictures online and from my WC where there are 5-6 tables on each side with a light up dance floor in the middle and it doesn't look too cramped! I definitely do think that a party that large may fit better on the Palenque terrace but we love the space of the sky bar more and plan on partying until 12AM which can't happen on the Palenque terrace. I think you will be fine with your numbers!

FYI ladies there is 40% OFF sale at WeddingChicks.com right now! ONLY LAST 24 HOURS! PROMO CODE: 24HOURS

Hi ladies,

 

I hope I'm in the right place. I'm seriously considering the Beach Palace as my venue (in part thanks to @perianjay) but I really really want to get married on the beach (grew up on one, fiance proposed on one, need to get married on one). However, I've noticed that most of the brides getting married at BP chose the sky bar for the ceremony. Is there something wrong with the beach? Is it too crowded? Not private enough? Or just not very nice? 

 

Thanks in advance, this is kind of a deal breaker for me.

 

Hi @@CaroV! The pictures of the beach are beautiful - it's that turquoise blue carribbean sea! This is one of the reasons I chose the resort because I wanted a gorgeous beach for my guests if they were traveling all the way to Mexico! The issue with the beach is the privacy. I don't think it is that private but that may not be a deal breaker for you. I would look at the one of the recent videos posted on here in the last month or so (sorry I'm forgetting which bride it was) and check out her ceremony because it was on the beach. Personally, I think you can't go wrong with the beach or the terrace

@@Danielle1 So I just asked my WC this and she said that for over 50 people there are different buffet menus available! She emailed them to me and there are just more food options that the regular buffets. Let me know if you want me to pass them along to you

I'm getting married at Beach Palace and the sky wedding deck is on the top floor of the hotel and COMPLETELY PRIVATE!

@ - we are expecting at least 100 but maybe closer to 125. She said the max is 80. Do you think it can hold more than that? Maybe I should try to convince her!

Hi @Danielle1  I originally expected approximately 70-80 and now we expect 100+ guests. When I talked with my WC she said that the terrace can fit 100 and even once they had 120 up there!!! Obviously I think 80 may be the comfortable max but I do think your numbers could work if you wanted it to. I am going to try to fit people up there because the terrace is one of the main reasons we chose Beach Palace. I plan to have a very short ceremony so hopefully people wont be too uncomfortable for long

@@Wafflesmom and @ Good to know! I will on the lookout and will let you girls know if I see one! Hoping for Easter or Memorial Day

Random question but does anyone know when Wedding Chicks normally has their sales? I really really love their custom tote bags for our welcome bags but dont want to spenmd $6.25 per bag.  Thanks in advance!

Does anyone know if I get out of paying the outside vendor fee ($800) if my photographer stays at the hotel with our wedding group? We have a friend who is a photographer, so he may just come with us and take the pictures. However, I don't want to pay for his travel and the $800 fee. Thanks so much for answering all of my questions - I have so many!!

Hi Danielle1 I think you can avoid the $800 vendor fee if you say your photographer is your "friend" and "guest" at the wedding. We are having one of our friends DJ and we are not paying the vendor fee. Hope this helps!

@@FutureMrsGarcia - it's not official.  I actually asked Marco specifically about it and he had to ask the Palace member team if it was free.  We were really lucky that they let us use it.  Not sure if other brides have asked about this or not, but it was a great back up room.  We had just under 50 people and that was perfect.  Not sure if they would have been able to comfortably fit more guest tables

 

The ballroom is really really awful.  Draping and lighting would make it a lot nicer but not sure if you can just reserve those without paying.  

Good to know about the Palace Elite room. I'm just praying and praying for good weather 

Have you gotten your video from Indigo weddings yet? If so, did you like it overall? I am looking for a videographer and saw you used them.  Thanks!

@@Danielle1 - For a symbolic, anyone can do it really. We had my husband's brother be ours and it was a nice way to include him. Most of our guests knew that it was a symbolic ceremony but it didn't really take away from it at all

 

We actually had the opposite experience for food haha. We thought the breakfast buffet was pretty good and Tequila was good in general for an all-inclusive. Anything Mexican tended to be delicious. We thought Wok was pretty bad, but we are Asian. Most of our guests liked the Terazza grill the best with the Italian second. Everyone also loved the Beach bar for snacks and the burgers they grilled by the pool. Overall, I think BP has decent all-inclusive food - not 5 star of course but better than some other resorts I"ve been to

 

Cross your fingers for good weather, ladies. Our wedding turned out fine but we are so lucky we got to use the Palace Elite room as our back up location. I do wish I had thought more about a back up rain plan. We had sunshine every other day though so we had a good week at least - when we were leaving, the forecast was predicting rain for almost the entire next week!

The ballroom looks horrible but could probably be improved with draping and lighting...I wonder if there is a way to reserve these extra decorations "just in case"?.

@@Danielle1 So I'm expecting up to 100 or maybe even more and I just reserved 20 rooms at a time! If my second group of 20 gets booked quickly then I will prob do 10 more. I say your best bet is to reserve more than you expect because you don't want guests trying to book and the place is full! I think you can give back up to 20% of the rooms you don't use (would check that in the contract)

@@FutureMrsGarcia we didn't have any of the buffet menus, here is the plated menu we had:

 

Grilled vegetables over garden greens with soy vinaigrette

Crab bisque with brandy

Stuffed chicken breast with seafood and coriander sauce

White chocolate tulip filled with seasonal tropical fruits

 

Both the sky bar and Palenque terraces are nice. Both were windy but that was because it had been windy for the first 4 days of our trip and only about 70 degrees. The last few days were not windy at all and it was 85 degrees. You just have to hope that the weather is in your favor, lol. I would suggest the Palenque terrace if you want your tables to be closer together because the terrace is very large and can easily accommodate a large group (and you'll still have plenty of space for dancing). If you don't mind your tables being separated the sky terrace is nice too. The pool separates the area so your guests won't be as close together and you'll have to walk around the pool to access all of the tables. I think it may be a little cramped with 100 guests. On the other hand, you'll probably have to spend more on décor/lighting if you do the Palenque. What time will your events be? The Palenque terrace has a great view of the sunset (not sure about the sky bar terrace).

Oh I am soooooo hoping the weather is in my favor! I would say that is THE MOST nerve-racking thing about this - not knowing what the weather will be! Regardless, I know its not under my control so I will try my best to be the easygoing bride that goes with the flow  

So my wedding day looks like this : 4pm ceremony on the sky deck, 4:30-6 cocktails with possible mariachi band and then 6pm-12am reception. The pics I have seen of the sky terrace mostly show tables on one side of the pool and so I'm wondering if we will be too spread out with tables on both sides...I want my guests to be able to hear speeches and interact and that may be weird with the pool in the middle. The only concern I have about the Palenque terrace is the fact that all the lagoon rooms overlook it so its not as private but not sure that will really matter.

Ok.. hopefully I have better luck! I know what you mean though because i've been to resorts before that had hit or miss food. Some nights good, some nights not so much. Le Blanc is a great resort!

@@FutureMrsGarcia Just a tip.. I heard the carribean buffet wasn't amazing. Looks like we will be there the same week

Yes I think you are there right after me right? Sooo exciting! I think all of our friends will be glad to get out of the cold in December!

I also have seen carribbean isn't so good but heard Mexican is! Seems to be mixed reviews about Italian...I think I am doing Mexican for my welcome beach party but not sure about rehearsal dinner or reception...

@ I'll admit that this was my first time at an all inclusive, so I really didn't know what to expect. After reading a lot of mixed reviews about the hotel food I've come to the conclusion that it may just depend on when you stay at the hotel and who happens to be the restaurant chef at the time. I thought maybe I was being picky but everyone in my group agreed that the Tequila restaurant dinner was pretty bad (we had dinner there twice); breakfast was mediocre. The hotel was fully booked but Tequila was never full, however Wok always had a wait and they had much better food. We ate at the Sky Bar twice; the first time it was just ok but the second time there was a different chef behind the bar and the food tasted great so I really think it depends on who you get. The food at our wedding was pretty good though; I'm guessing this is mostly due to us having a plated dinner.

All of the food at Le Blanc was 5 star; even their "snack" foods on the pool terrace and beach were elaborate and delicious.

Sorry to hear your experience wasn't as great as you wanted it! I have also seen mixed reviews but in general on tripadvisor there seems to be a lot of positive reviews. I think my guests are not expecting a fine cuisine and all know that an all-inclusive has its limitations. Which buffets did you choose or what food did you have for your plated dinner that was good??

Also what did you think of the space on the sky bar terrace for a larger group - you think it could accommodate 100+? Was it very windy? Do you think it is less windy on the Palenque terrace and better suited for a group that large? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Congrats!

@@Danielle1 I'm having my wedding at beach palace and am expecting possibly up to 100 people! I was worried about the number but have been reassured by my WC that the terrace and Sky bar area can hold than many people. Also I have looked at some Del Sol photography archives and there were a couple weddings with 100+ guests at beach palace and it looked fine. Hope this helps!

@@ParinazSerri Thank you for this amazing review!!! I saw your pictures and you looked absolutely gorgeous!!! I loved your color theme!

I have just a couple questions. Where did you have your reception and other events? How many guests did you have? We are expecting approximately 80 (my fiancé thinks 100 might actually come but that number makes me super nervous!) and have our reception planned for the sky bar terrace. Looking at pictures we will probably have to have tables on both sides and dance floor in the middle but was wondering if the set up might be better on the Palenque terrace....any thoughts on this based on your experience??? Do you think the sky bar terrace would be too cramped with this number of people?

Thanks again for your review and congratulations!! ))

@@tygrrlily Just saw your facebook album and the pics are gorgeous!!! You looked amazing and the whole celebration looked like so much fun!

@FutureMrsGarcia How many guests are you having at your wedding? If you have less than 25 total then the plated dinner is actually mandatory (no extra cost).

I think we will have approx 70-80. We will likely just go with the buffet with some substitutions. It sounds like a plated dinner outside the restaurants is a bad idea and we can't have a party larger than 30 at any restaurant

I asked about the plated dinner but was advised against this due to the distance from the kitchen to the sky terrace would mean the food would go cold. The buffet options are fab and offer lots of choice x

Good to know! I think the buffet is the best option I also think we only get one entree option for the plated dinner so that really restricts some people because we will have vegetarians etc...

@tygrrlily  The shoe game sounds fun (with definitely some restrictions for my rowdy group of friends)! I definitely some sort of game would be a good idea for one of our events. May be hard to do if 80 people actually come...

Thanks for the thoughts on Adrian. I dont think I am going to pay the extra $250 because its soo pricey anyways and they offered to have him there for the trial to give his input without any extra charge so I think that will be perfect!

Our group is going to be primarily people in their early 30s that need some entertainment so I think Beach Palace will be ideal because of its proximity to other bars/clubs/restaurants if they want to g out/explore. Also the pics of that beach look amazing!!!

Thanks again for all your advice!

thank you for your kind reply, I will double check my contract however I dont recall any mention of extension prices - perhaps I have missed this (fingers crossed!) You are right though, all the little amounts soon add up.

 

I will also check out Latin Asia Cancun, how did you find out they are a preferred Palace vendor? Is there a list anywhere as I have just been going off the vendor catalogues they have sent me so far.

 

thanks for the advice - this is so helpful! x

thank you for the tip although I just checked and cant see it anywhere on my contract. Do you mind advising where abouts on yours it states the price please. thank you x

@@zoeknight20 I found mine under the section "Additional Costs" and "Private events". Hopefully it is in the same section on your contract!

So my WC from Palace ONLY told me about Zuniga for decor but I researched Latin Asia independently and then when I asked she told me they were a preferred vendor. It seems like they want people to work with Zuniga but there are other options