Gran Bahia Principe Akumal/Tulum/Coba - POST HERE!

[whall82]

Hi Everyone

New to this site have just across it, it is fab me and my partner have just booked our wedding for October 2012, we have booked to stay in the Akumal side, please can any of you give me as much information as you can it would be very helpful.

1. If we are staying at the Akumal side does that mean we have to get married there (beach) or could we opt for the tulum (gazebo)

2.Would we have to hold the reception at the Akumal side or could we use the Tulum or Coba ? what restaurant would we use at the akumal, how much would it cost or is it free as it is a all inclusive.

3.How much are the added extras for evening entertainment as i have heard you can hold cocktail partys etc

4. Also beside the wedding what is the All Inclusive like can you use all the restaurants at the 3 complexs and the alcohol is it just locally produced drinks or is it branded drinks.

5. We are staying in a Golden Club Junior suite can anyone tell me what they are like.

Thanks very much in advance and if there is any other information you think i may find usefull please could you advise me or send any pics or info to redarmy2008@btinternet.com.

Thank You

[dfranklin]

Waybuloo: 

We also booked DJ Bijan for our poolside reception, but we are also having a private dinner during the poolside reception and a cocktail party on the beach before the poolside as well.

Did you provide him with a song list/requests before the wedding?

How was his sound system- was it loud enough?

Did he have any lights with him?

Thanks!!!!

[Megz]

Thanks so much for the info - I think we will go with the brazillian...and finding out we don't HAVE to book the $17 a head cocktail party is a huge relief!

What photo package did you end up getting??

 

I can't believe how quickly time is going by - 5.5 months to go!

 

[waybuloo]

Bijan was great, he brings all the lights with him & the system was definitely loud enough.  Every month in the lead up to our wedding I sent a postcard to all of our guests with little updates & a countdown & in the last one I asked each of them to email me their favourite all time song, I then emailed all those songs to Bijan & he played them all on the night along with a great mix of other stuff!!  Was a great idea because we really had a good mix of songs for everbody....Justin Bieber for my daughter....Temptations for my dad....hahahaha......but was really good.  On top of that I had also emailed him our first dance, he also has a microphone with him that you can use if you wanted to do your speeches at the party but we did ours at the end of dinner as they book your dinner for 2 hours & we had all finished after hour and a half.  I made a little 'drunken' speech at the end of the night using his microphone!!

Originally Posted by dfranklin 

Waybuloo: 

We also booked DJ Bijan for our poolside reception, but we are also having a private dinner during the poolside reception and a cocktail party on the beach before the poolside as well.

Did you provide him with a song list/requests before the wedding?

How was his sound system- was it loud enough?

Did he have any lights with him?

Thanks!!!!

 

[waybuloo]

The brazilian was fun....not only because of the dolphins but you all get these little cards, green for go & red for stop & you turn them over for when you want them to bring more meat (green) or stop the meat (red). Just something a little different than the usual.

 

For the photos we got 10 free in our package & then I brought another 57....this came to around $900, I can't remember exactly but I will find out for you....(my good old dad paid for these....bless him)  They edit 163 photos & it was hard to choose but my cousin took every photo that the photographer took as well so we uploaded hers to our laptop before we went to view the photographers ones & picked out only the ones that she didn't get.  To have all the 163 only on a cd the price was $2000.  It really depends what your budget is....on facebook are all our professional ones, I am just in the process of making the 'unofficial' wedding photo album so will post so you can see them as well.

 

Really you will have the time of your lives....I am such a perfectionist & did have a couple of bridezilla moments before we went but honestly everything was amazing.  5.5 months will fly by believe me, am so excited for you....I wish I was still planning!!

 

Originally Posted by Megz 

Thanks so much for the info - I think we will go with the brazillian...and finding out we don't HAVE to book the $17 a head cocktail party is a huge relief!

What photo package did you end up getting??

 

I can't believe how quickly time is going by - 5.5 months to go!

 

 

[waybuloo]

Hi ya.....this site is great!!  I wouldn't have known half the information that I did without it!!  I'll try to answer your questions as best I can:

 

Originally Posted by whall82 

Hi Everyone

New to this site have just across it, it is fab me and my partner have just booked our wedding for October 2012, we have booked to stay in the Akumal side, please can any of you give me as much information as you can it would be very helpful.

1. If we are staying at the Akumal side does that mean we have to get married there (beach) or could we opt for the tulum (gazebo) We stayed in Akumal & I got married at Tulum Gazebo.....however when we booked we were told that you had to get married on the side you stayed at.  I wouldn't book until the WC in resort had confirmed that the Gazebo was available on the time & date I wanted.  Once I had this confirmation I then booked with TA.....as I have said before bit of a bridezilla moment that was but for me the wedding location was the most important thing & I wouldn't have booked this resort if I couldn't have the Gazebo as for me it was a dream location. My advice is to contact your WC & request the location you want in plenty of time, the earlier you do this the more chance you have of getting time & date you want.....I know a lady who left it a little late & her wedding time was 12pm!!  Believe me this time is sooooooooo hot, I know I wouldn't have coped!!

2.Would we have to hold the reception at the Akumal side or could we use the Tulum or Coba ? what restaurant would we use at the akumal, how much would it cost or is it free as it is a all inclusive. We got married at Tulum Gazebo, then had our dinner at Le Gran Tortuga Tulum, then had our poolside reception at Akumal (so we were back near our rooms to stagger back to!!)  All the dinners in the restaurants are included as part of your all inclusive including your wedding dinner.  You only pay extra for wedding dinner if you want it outside as a private function.

3.How much are the added extras for evening entertainment as i have heard you can hold cocktail partys etc We paid $11 per adult for the first hour, then half that ($5.5) for any consecutive hours for the private poolside party. We had our party from 8.30pm until 11pm & they only charged us for the two hours. The DJ was separate, he was $300 for the evening.

4. Also beside the wedding what is the All Inclusive like can you use all the restaurants at the 3 complexs and the alcohol is it just locally produced drinks or is it branded drinks. Believe me we didn't pay for ANYTHING while we were there.  In all the brochures it says 'local beer & wines included', EVERYTHING was included!!  Smirnoff vodka, baileys, champagne.  All three hotels are all inclusive to you as well as the bars on the beach.  You can use all three hotels buffet restaurants no matter which side you are staying on & you can book any of the a la cartes across the whole resort.  Honestly it was the best all inclusive we have ever stayed at in the respect that everything was included!!

5. We are staying in a Golden Club Junior suite can anyone tell me what they are like.We also stayed in the Golden Club Junior Suites at Akumal.  If I had paid for this I wouldn't think it was worth it however we got it as a fee upgrade to all our group as part of our deal as I booked so many people in one go.  Basically you get 4 a la cartes a week instead of 3, you get bath robes & slippers in your rooms, the rooms are slightly bigger, you go to a different check in Lobby which is a lot quicker & you have access to the internet in the Golden Lobby.  As bride & groom you will also get rooms in the villas closest to the sea, overlooking the beach amazing!!

Thanks very much in advance and if there is any other information you think i may find usefull please could you advise me or send any pics or info to redarmy2008@btinternet.com.

Thank You

 

[Sunshine2680]

Hi Gals - previous Brides specifically - I know some have had colored lanterns for decoration at the reception
I just would like to know if you brought your own down? or did the resort have them?
I guess the same question goes for chair bows
Im trying to figure out how much stuff I'm going to have to bring down myself (its getting to be a lot!! OOT bags..favors..lanterns...parasols/fans...bows..place setting cards..etc!)
Not to mention the obvious things like dress..shoes etc!
Can anyone give a list of the things they brought down? And did they have issues with overweight luggage?

[tropicalbride2011]

Sunshine2680- I will try to answer some of your questions, but the locations definite result in some difference, I will get to that later.

Lanterns-If you would like them, you will have to bring your own, the poolside reception has the rope lights, but no lanterns

Chairbows - The resort provides white, if you want a different color, again, you provide your own.

I actually packed 1 suitecase, with wedding accessories only, and paid the $27 for an additional bag. My wedding gown was considered my "carryon" and was placed in the special closet in first class. We also had 1 carryon packed entirely with wedding decorations. I did give out my OOT bags the week before our departure, and even shipped one out of state the week before.

 

We got married at the Gazebo on June 1, followed by dinner at Gran Tortuga, and a poolside reception, at the Tulum main pool. We were a small group totaling 21, and the restaurant was open during the reception, which was fine, we had the section closest to the dolphinarium and that was private enough. As for the poolside reception we requested the Specialty Cocktails, but at the Tulum pool, they set up a bar specific for your reception, the pool bar is closed by then, and the bartender only had exactly what was on the menu. For examply, I could not even get a Strawberry Margarita, because the Strawberry Daquiris and Margaritas are all pre-mixed.

I had preloaded the songs for my reception on my iPod, and we planned to only use the resort D.J's sound equipment, but that did not go as planned, which was my own fault as well. He played our "First Dance" song, then there was a CD with a "special" Father-Daughter mix, then it was to go back to my iPod, but he just played his own thing, which wasn't bad, but I didn't realize it until about 1/2 hour later, and never said anything.

Our wedding was perfect, and I will try to post some pictures. Jazmin really is amazing, and I'm pretty sure my decorating ideas nearly drove her CRAZY! But she did it all perfectly. I really was a perfect day.

 

Waybuloo-I did see your wedding and it was beautiful! You have a beautiful family! We are both very lucky!

[Sunshine2680]

Thanks for all your info! Good to know I have to bring some stuff of my own.
If I brought my own lanterns will they string them up? or do they have to come with string? rope?

With regards to the dinner at Gran Tortuga - do you do any kind of decor there? I have about 31 guests so far (including bride & groom) - do you just seat people like you would

at a regular wedding reception? or do they do just one big table?
Did you find it was a pain to go eat at the restaurant and then move again out to the pool?
Is that where you did all the speeches?
So given your experience - would you just have gone with the DJ?
Is there a way to have less drink restrictions at the pool side bar?
 

Originally Posted by tropicalbride2011 

Sunshine2680- I will try to answer some of your questions, but the locations definite result in some difference, I will get to that later.

Lanterns-If you would like them, you will have to bring your own, the poolside reception has the rope lights, but no lanterns

Chairbows - The resort provides white, if you want a different color, again, you provide your own.

I actually packed 1 suitecase, with wedding accessories only, and paid the $27 for an additional bag. My wedding gown was considered my "carryon" and was placed in the special closet in first class. We also had 1 carryon packed entirely with wedding decorations. I did give out my OOT bags the week before our departure, and even shipped one out of state the week before.

 

We got married at the Gazebo on June 1, followed by dinner at Gran Tortuga, and a poolside reception, at the Tulum main pool. We were a small group totaling 21, and the restaurant was open during the reception, which was fine, we had the section closest to the dolphinarium and that was private enough. As for the poolside reception we requested the Specialty Cocktails, but at the Tulum pool, they set up a bar specific for your reception, the pool bar is closed by then, and the bartender only had exactly what was on the menu. For examply, I could not even get a Strawberry Margarita, because the Strawberry Daquiris and Margaritas are all pre-mixed.

I had preloaded the songs for my reception on my iPod, and we planned to only use the resort D.J's sound equipment, but that did not go as planned, which was my own fault as well. He played our "First Dance" song, then there was a CD with a "special" Father-Daughter mix, then it was to go back to my iPod, but he just played his own thing, which wasn't bad, but I didn't realize it until about 1/2 hour later, and never said anything.

Our wedding was perfect, and I will try to post some pictures. Jazmin really is amazing, and I'm pretty sure my decorating ideas nearly drove her CRAZY! But she did it all perfectly. I really was a perfect day.

 

Waybuloo-I did see your wedding and it was beautiful! You have a beautiful family! We are both very lucky!

 

[andrea2006]

This is a great forum, I have read a lot of great tips on here so far.  I am really trying to book my wedding at this resort for Feb/March 2012 but things aren't going as planned.  I was hoping to go for about 10 days but the flights aren't very good for 10 day trips, it seems in order to get good flights you need to book the 7 day trips.  I was wondering how long previous brides had gone down for their wedding?  I am just worried that 7 days won't be long enough to enjoy the wedding and a honeymoon plus the time with guests.  My fiancee was worried that 10 days is too much, since all our previous trips have only been 7 days, but I just think we have so much more to do when this trip is for our wedding.