Back from my wedding at the Barcelo Maya

[MagsieMexico]

Hi ladies, thanks, it was wonderful!!

 

2009 bride -- to answer your questions:

The grill restaurants are only open to 6pm, so, they just hold them open after that for you, so it is private. I'm not sure if you need a minimum number of guests for this, I doubt it, it was just one of the options for the under the stars program.

 

As for timing, we had the ceremony on the beach at 4.00, followed by a cocktail hour directly afterwards with hors d'oeuvres. That went til 6.30, which I was worried about (it was about an hour and 45 minutes of cocktail hour), but it was actually really fun because we had mariachis at the cocktail hour, so people really enjoyed it and some even danced then!

The cocktail hour and the ceremony were right next to each other, and then the reception was a few minutes walk down the beach so they all flowed nicely one into the other.

For the rain venues, she will show you your options on the day you arrive. Ours was one of the theatres and it was nice I thought...

 

Good luck, it will be wonderful!

[morenaindc]

Philly Bride - when is your wedding again?

[heather007]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MagsieMexico Hi ladies, thanks, it was wonderful!! 2009 bride -- to answer your questions: The grill restaurants are only open to 6pm, so, they just hold them open after that for you, so it is private. I'm not sure if you need a minimum number of guests for this, I doubt it, it was just one of the options for the under the stars program. As for timing, we had the ceremony on the beach at 4.00, followed by a cocktail hour directly afterwards with hors d'oeuvres. That went til 6.30, which I was worried about (it was about an hour and 45 minutes of cocktail hour), but it was actually really fun because we had mariachis at the cocktail hour, so people really enjoyed it and some even danced then! The cocktail hour and the ceremony were right next to each other, and then the reception was a few minutes walk down the beach so they all flowed nicely one into the other. For the rain venues, she will show you your options on the day you arrive. Ours was one of the theatres and it was nice I thought... Good luck, it will be wonderful!

Thank you so much for posting this. I'm in the process right now of working things out with our wedding co-ordinator, we have Gabriela. I'm currently awaiting her approval of my photographer, that we are bringing from here and already placed out deposit down on, so hopefully it will get approved. I'm so nervous about it.

~~

[2009bride]

I love the vibe of where you guys had the cocktail hour - looks so much fun! What was the name of this spot? And was your ceremony at where you stayed in the resort - the Palace?

[bride2b-mexico2010]

sounds amazing!! congrats...too bad about your hubbys ring tho.

[AmandaB]

Woo-hoo and congratulations. Welcome back!

[MagsieMexico]

The ceremony was in front of Captain Morgan's bar, so it was NOT at the Palace -- on my first day, Ana showed me the possible spots around the 5 hotels, and that was the one we liked.

 

The resort is huge if you're going from rooms to rooms in other hotels, but if you're just walking the length of the resort on the beach, it's not as big, so you can easily have your wedding on the beach by one of the other hotels.

 

The cocktail hour was at the Captain Morgan's bar, right by the ceremony.

[2009bride]

Margaret,

Was the cocktail hour at the Captain Morgan bar private for your guests? I'm asking because your pics looked like it was private for your guests on the terrace yet my WC told me that after 7 is when I can have it private. I'm a little confused. My ceremony will be at 5. Having cocktail hour at 7 seems like too much of a wait.

[MagsieMexico]

My cocktail hour was supposed to be on the beach, and they moved it onto the deck of the Captain Morgan's grill because of wind. It was private, but I have no idea if it was supposed to be or not...

 

However, she did tell me that the reception could only be private after 7 (though that ended up being 6.30...) For the cocktail hour, I never asked, but it was private from 5 to 6.30pm on the deck of the Captain Morgan's grill.

[2009bride]

I really love how your wedding flowed through so nicely and hope that mine will be the same!

Can I ask you another question - did you find that when you got there things added up in cost more quickly? Any hidden fees that you weren't aware of? I'm doing my budget and am getting a little nervous that it might exceed what I can afford if I come across "unexpected" costs. I don't want to go over spending $10k on this wedding. I have about 30/40 guests.. do you think that's a reasonable number?