Barcelo Maya Palace Brides

[JCWedding]

We had our wedding at the Barcelo Maya Palace in May 2015. While planning a destination wedding, we did a lot of research for local photographers in the area and finally decided to contact Octavio and his crew. Upon contacting him, he responded quickly, efficiently and was very friendly. We were able to find a package that fit our budget and needs (both photography and videography), and really felt that he would do the best job to capture our special day. Boy, were we right! Octavio and his crew showed up promptly on the day of the wedding and were amazing all day long. Each of the crew members were kind, friendly and made us feel very comfortable. They were willing to try anything we suggested and provided lots of great ideas for a variety of amazing shots! The video is a perfect overview of the day and has allowed us to enjoy the special moments over and over! We would highly recommend Octavio and his services to other brides who are planning a wedding in the Mayan Riveria. www.octaviomontes.com

 

Here are a few of my faves... (They each put smiles on my face for different reasons.)

 

 

Edited January 3, 2016 by JCWedding

[TaraW]

Lupita Aquino (Wedding Manager)

weddings@barcelomaya.com

ext 6767 when you call the hotel

[barcelobride2016]

Hi ladies,

 

I've also had the same issue with my wedding coordinator leaving as well.  I had been emailing Lillian for about 2 months without getting a response.  I finally emailed my travel agent to find out whether she knew if Lillian was still with Barcelo.  She called Barcelo and was told that Lillian was in fact no longer with the company and Scarlet was taking over for me.  Once I got the right person things finally started to move.  But it was a little annoying not being told what was going on, and I still have to wonder how long I would have been left out in the cold had I not contacted the travel agent.  with less than 3 months to go i'm now starting to feel a little stress since I still haven't done much.  The menu is now picked (yay!) and we just bought our wedding bands.  We still have to order our welcome kit stuff, party favours, figure out decor, get bridesmaid dresses, the groom's and groomsman's outfits.  But I'm sure it will all come together

[Alemike]

Hello and congratulations to everyone on their past and upcoming nuptials.

 

I'm so glad I found this thread. Our story begins with our wedding being booked at a different hotel. We decided to take a trip last week for the holidays to get some sun and to also check out the Place we picked. It turned out into a disappointment, even what we had picked where to have the ceremony and reception was switched to even having another wedding happening 50 feet from us. Needless to say I was stressed and so worried.

 

So our lovely travel agent sent us to Barcelo. We checked out the property, Abraham took us around, he was very nice! At the end of the tour we fell in love. They have so many options for everyone. We decided to put our Date on hold with them and luckily for us the date was available. July 1st 2016. He told us that in order to lock in the date he needed our reservation. We got that and sent the email 3 days ago but now is taking forever for them to respond. It's making me so nervous. As I kept reading this thread I realized how slow they are to respond. I hope they just respond soon.... I just can't handle anymore venue stress.

[kthomp0615]

Hi everyone!

 

I am so happy to have found this forum, although wish it had been sooner.  I have already seen so many helpful posts and ideas.  We are getting married at the Barcelo Palace on 2/29/2016, its coming to quickly and there are still so many things I need to do!  I have had a little trouble not only getting my wedding planner,Yasmin, to respond but also to get all the answers and correct attachments to view all of our options.  

 

We are getting married under the big white gazebo and plan to have our reception in the Palmeras Grill.  I asked for pictures of the grill but Yasmin has sent me pictures of what appears to be several different locations.  If any one has pictures of the grill I would love to see them, I only have about 35 guests attending and I am nervous that the location will be to big and not look right.

 

I am also working on my wedding welcome bags for the guest and am kind of stuck on what to put in them.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, we are trying to be budget friendly!  

 

Any tips, pictures or advice would be greatly appreciated!!

 

Thank you all and congrats to everyone!

 

Kristin

Edited January 8, 2016 by kthomp0615

[Alemike]

We finally got confirmation of our Date July 1st, 2016 at 5:00 pm so excited.   We are planning our ceremony in the gazebo and our reception inside Palmeras grill maybe we will change i to the beach will see.

 

Scarleth was very helpful at answering our emails and phone calls.

 

Question about Rehearsal Dinner options?

 

I'm quite confused and heard mixed reviews of the spaces for rehearsal dinner.  I've heard you only have semiprivate space. 

 

We wanted to film ours because on that same day is my Fiances Father's Birthday he is turning 70 and we would like to surprise him. We wanted something a little more private.

 

have any of you guys had a rehearsal dinner outside of the Hotel? or are there any other more private options in the hotel?

 

Any advice would be appreciated

 

Thank you

[kimmyd2]

It looks like it might be Coral Beach, Kimmyd ..... the one at the Palace. Not sure tho!

 

What an absolute bummer about having to move your ceremony! I felt sick when I read that.  Thankfully there are lots of beautiful locations at the resort but it's so hard to make that mental shift last minute. If you like the location at the Palace and not all of your guests are staying there, they should waive that fee they would normally charge you per person seeing as they failed to tell you about the issue!! I'm sure that everything will work out though. Can't wait to hear about it and see pics!!!!

 

it sounds like there is a huge shift and shuffle happening amongst the WC group. I winder what the story is there?? I guess as long as they keep the brides happy, that's all that matters!!

 

Katie, I will get the name/email address to you when I get home this weekend. I travel 4 days on and 4 days off for work, and I'm away from my computer right now.

Hi @@TaraW, its been crazy thats forsure, but we finally got our new location finalized at the coral beach at the palace.  The manager Lupita finally called me yesterday and we got it sorted out, but we were left in the dark for over a week wondering whats going on. Anyways  It should be a pretty location as well, but i've come to realize I will just have to go with the flow, and what really matters is we are getting married and all of our friends and family are making this journey all the way to mexico for us.  Anyways countdown is on now and I can't wait!! only 9 more days until the big day!!  (and we leave in 7!! 

 

How is everyone else's planning?   

That image was captured at the beach location for the Barcelo Maya Palace. It's the same location - also used by this couple who booked their wedding at the Barcelo Maya Colonial, as seen here:

 

....from our Barcelo Maya Colonial Wedding Album:

 

 

 

 

It's a really beautiful spot - as you can see!!! Hope you find the perfect place for your Wedding Day Love Story Celebration - cheers!!! team MTM

 

Thanks @@Moments That Matter, beautiful pictures,  what a small world - Kathy and AJ did our engagement photos back here in Winnipeg, they are great!!  

We finally got confirmation of our Date July 1st, 2016 at 5:00 pm so excited.   We are planning our ceremony in the gazebo and our reception inside Palmeras grill maybe we will change i to the beach will see.

 

Scarleth was very helpful at answering our emails and phone calls.

 

Question about Rehearsal Dinner options?

 

I'm quite confused and heard mixed reviews of the spaces for rehearsal dinner.  I've heard you only have semiprivate space. 

 

We wanted to film ours because on that same day is my Fiances Father's Birthday he is turning 70 and we would like to surprise him. We wanted something a little more private.

 

have any of you guys had a rehearsal dinner outside of the Hotel? or are there any other more private options in the hotel?

 

Any advice would be appreciated

 

Thank you

Hi @@Alemike!  My wedding planner told me for rehearsal dinner you can have up to 25 people free in any select a la cartes with set menu or a dinner at the buffet with a sections reserved for your guests(over 25)... but it would be semi-private locations.  If you wanted private location I would suggest then you would have to pay for a private event, i think it would be under the cocktail hour attachment and you can have it by the pool or beach or another private location she gives you, but there would be a per person charge and it would be drinks and tapas which could be nice as well.  

OR if you do end up looking outside the hotel, I would suggest looking into some of the smaller boutique type hotel/restaurants in Tulum, I have been researching there for our honeymoon and some of the restaurants just sound amazing.

 

Good luck!

 

Hi @@kthomp0615 welcome to the forum, you will find tons of info on here and scroll back many pages and there is lots of helpful advice from past brides.  In February I will be one of them and be adding all my tips and reviews!  Yours is coming up fast, you must be getting excited, time really flies in that last month leading up to the wedding.  My advice is too try to get everything done on your end and buy whatever you need to take with you now, then the last 2 weeks before you wedding you can relax, start packing and go over final details with your wc.. i have left everything to last minute, this week I was still buying jewelry for my dress and bridesmaids gift and organizing the wedding day itinerary so I wish I had just done all that a lot sooner. I have Yasmin as well and unfortunately she is still very slow to respond, our wedding is in 9 days and I have so many questions for her still and its been over 3 weeks since her last email..we ended up calling someone at the resort and talked to a manager to get things going along again, and it actually wasn't as hard to get a hold of someone in mexico as I would have thought!

 

For the welcome bags, I would keep it simple, I went to a dw before that had them and I didn't use much of it except some of the pepto and candy that was in it..my friend also had a travel sudoku, spf lip balm, but we didn't use that as we had packed our own already... but we really like that she had a really nicely written welcome/thank you letter and a brochure of helpful spanish phrases.  OH and tumblers were in the bag too but we had our own mugs, so didn't use those either but for newbies to mexico that would be a good idea if they are cheap for your budget...  Have fun planning!

Edited January 9, 2016 by kimmyd2

[Moments That Matter]

Hey kimmyd2.....wow, you're right about it being a small world!!!

Our premier photographer, Linc was AJ's mentor here in Playa del Carmen when AJ was learning the business.....and we agree, AJ & Kathy are super people and very talented!!! So cool to share their wedding photos of their wedding here last Feb

 

We're always here to answer any questions you may have for us, and wish you happy research!!! team MTM

 

 

....here's another lil "sorcerer's apprentice" Linc is sharing "pointers" with .....tho he may be a bit younger than AJ when he started.....hehe

 

....this one was taken from Linc's promo album for AJ - enjoy!

 

....and here, Linc was ®toasting AJ at their reception.....hehe

...and here's Linc on bended knee in the aisle between the front rows to get that perfect shot of a "rolling tear"...

 

Edited January 11, 2016 by Moments That Matter

[TaraW]

@@kimmyd2

 

Have a WONDERFUL WONDERFUL wedding! I can't wait to see pics and hear all about it!!!!  

Welcome to the forum, @@Alemike!

 

It's a definite adjustment to get used to the slow correspondence when you are trying to plan such an important day, but we all understand!!   I've read about some brides getting to the resort just before their wedding day and feeling like they could have planned everything in that first visit with the planner because they are so organized, and they wondered why they every stressed out to begin with. So hang in there! If you give me your email address (private message if you prefer) I can send along all of the documents I have. Your WC wont let you get ahead of the step you are currently on, but at least that will give you an idea of what's in store for you.  

 

Kimmyd2 has already shared some info about the rehearsal dinner, you just have to decide where you would like it now. We've been to the resort before and we really love the Japanese Teppanyaki restaurant, because the food is good, it's a fun environment and I think our group of guests will really enjoy it. It all depends on what you are looking for and wanting for that night - not sure it would be the right venue for you since you want to make it a surprise party as well. If you want something private it may be worth while to pay for that? But most of the restaurants aren't very big anyhow, so if you are booking a fairly large crowd you will probably take up the majority of the seats anyhow.

 

Happy Planning!

[jackiet2016]

Hey everyone!

 

I was wondering if anyone had the song selections that we are offered for the live music at the ceremony. We chose the acoustic guitar, but my WC Itzel hasn't gotten back to me on it yet! And our day is quickly approaching next week! If anyone could msg it to me or email thom_jackiek@hotmail.com that would be appreciated!

 

Also for the meal are children free? In other words, would they count towards the extra guest charge? We will be having 5 children! Thanks!!