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Cancun
Gran Caribe Real "Ultimate Luxury Package" w/ Chapel Ceremony
This is a review of:

Gran Caribe Real Resort & Spa All Inclusive

Detailed Ratings
Accommodation Value:
4.0
Communication:
3.0
General Location:
5.0
Wedding Sites:
5.0
Wedding Value:
5.0
theblushngbride

By theblushngbride, · 2,086 Views · 1 Comment

Pros: Everything else!
Cons: Food, Communication w/ Coordinator at times

My wedding was nearly a year ago. But I promised myself that I would give my review to help any future brides. Our ceremony was on Saturday 08/09/2014 at 4PM in the gorgeous Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel in Gran Caribe Real. We chose the Ultimate Luxury package because it covers up to 50 guests (you pay per guest after that) and we expected 80 guests. 70 guests RSVP'd and attended so we saved some extra $$$. The Ultimate package includes:  a wedding website, pre-wedding welcome cocktail, chapel ceremony, wedding cocktail hour, wedding reception, post-wedding brunch + some fun bride&groom-only activities--- not bad?). The resort is nice, clean, and has super friendly staff. My main advice: You have to be sort of a roll-with-the-punches kind of bride when you are planning a destination wedding because there may be a hiccup or two, but the trade-offs are worth it.

Here are my thoughts:

 

Overall

I would give the entire experience (coordinator, pre-wedding activities, wedding day execution, event décor, flowers, food, DJ, photo & video, and resort) a solid B+. We were thoroughly impressed by everything… we were shocked honestly. During my year-long engagement, I relied heavily on BestDestinationWedding.com’s reviews. The Gran Caribe Real staff, resort, and wedding events far exceeded our expectations.

 

Coordinator

Her name is Diana Rodriguez and I highly recommend her. She is such a sweet person and speaks near-perfect English. I had a lot of concerns and she always tried her best to answer as quickly as she could. Tried is the key word here. You have to be okay with communicating mostly through long email threads. I spoke to her a few times on the phone if there were any big issues but that was rare. And I visited the resort only once before the wedding (that is not necessary).

***Just a warning, a lot of the wedding coordinators at these Cancun resorts have other weddings going on at the same time as yours (Trust me, my then-fiance and I went to nearly every resort on that Cancun strip asking questions). Thankfully we were Diana's only wedding for that day (but I’d still suggest asking your coordinator about how she handles multiple same-day weddings). All-in-all, Diana was great and was very accommodating.

 

Chapel

STUNNING. Worth every penny! FYI I am not Catholic but my husband is. So for the brides that want this venue but are concerned about that, fear not… you CAN get married there... one of you just needs to be Catholic and prove it. Also you need a note from you or your hubby-to-be’s priest (which may involve a few couples’ sessions at the church but they are painless). Just ask your coordinator and your local priest/deacon. SIDE NOTE: we decided to bypass Mexican marriage license protocols (which call for blood tests, documents, a bunch of witnesses, visiting several offices etc… too complicated). We ended up getting our marriage license in our NJ town the day before our flight to Cancun.

 

 

DJ

We went with Doremixx and they were great. DJ Eliu Sanchez was our DJ and he did a great job…. Really! My husband and I both come from Caribbean families so great music and dancing were a MUST.  He also added some cool lights for the dancefloor. Here is their info:

infodoremixx@gmail.com

 

Photo+Video

We went with BlueLens Caribe. They were amazing! Everything came out as if it were being featured in a magazine (high end without the high end price) They are the most reasonably priced for the type of quality they offer! I highly recommend. Here is their info: info@bluelenscaribe.com

 

Food

Was average. The restaurants on the resort, however, were absolutely deeeelicious! But for the wedding it was just average to be completely honest with you. Do not go in with huge expectations with that. And only three people got sick out of 72 so that’s a lot better than many of the horror stories I’ve heard.

 

 

If you have any questions feel free to message me. Congrats, good luck, and hope this helps! :)

-TheBlushngBride

1 Comment


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