Any Grand Palladium brides?

[lnf_munchkin]

The process to figure out exactly what your options are and what they are going to cost is very frustrating to me. Any past GP brides that can shead some light on this out there?

 

I would need a private reception for over 40 ppl. How much did your receptions cost you? How many people and where did you have them?

 

Thanks in advance!

[ChristinaP]

Hello All,

 

For a private reception over 40 ppl, you would pay $20 pp for every person over 8ppl (8 ppl included in package). I believe this includes chair covers too?

 

The private reception meals range from I think $50-$60 pp. Sooo this would mean that for 8 ppl, you would pay $50-$60 pp (depending on meal choice) and then $70-$80 for every person after 8. Make sense I hope? I think I just figured it all out...

 

Rocio sent me the "Gala Menu" options in a pdf file. There are a lot. I don't know how to do a link, so if you want a copy, PM me and send me your e-mail address in that PM. Please don't e-mail me as our network will most likely not allow the e-mail through.

 

Christina

[Sarah_K]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lnf_munchkin The process to figure out exactly what your options are and what they are going to cost is very frustrating to me. Any past GP brides that can shead some light on this out there? I would need a private reception for over 40 ppl. How much did your receptions cost you? How many people and where did you have them? Thanks in advance!

Yes, I agree, it's very frusturating!

I too am awaiting an email from Rocio with very similar questions.

From info I have picked up from this site and palladiumaddicts.com (you should check it out if you have not already done so....some GOOD info!) I think I am going to reserve part of one if the resturants for our dinner (so we won't have a super-formal reception dinner) and then have a private cocktail hour by the beach with our cake, sparkling wine, dancing, etc. I have no idea how much the cocktail hour is going to cost, but I'm betting it' less than $80 a person.
Does anyone have any advice on their cocktail hours? Are there any reasons this would be a bad idea?

[Ashleykmorgan]

I was married at the Palladium in June so I will share with you what my costs were, as far as I know not much has changed since then, but again, I cannot be sure as costs with Mexico weddings change all the time. Your options for reception are:

 

1. Reserve space in one of the restaurants for your group, everyone will have to have the same dish, you will need to tell Rocio in advance what this dish is. You cannot have dancing or music here, and it will not be private, they will section off space for you. As far as I know, there is no additional cost for you to do this.

 

2. If you want a cocktail hour it is to take place immediately following your ceremony, the cost for this is 15-20$ per person, depending on if you do just beverage service or appetizers and beverages. This will take place where your ceremony took place, not after dinner.

 

3. If you want a private reception with a dance you have two options, neither one are on the beach, it will be Gran Azul or La Laguna, they are beautiful areas overlooking the pools, Laguna is on the Riveira side of the resort, Azul is on the Colonial/Kantenah. This will cost you a per plate fee depending on the menu choice, but I believe minimum is 45 or 50$ per person. If you want music you can bring an ipod and use their speakers, which alot of brides do, or you can hire a dj. You can have this reception from 7pm-11pm.

 

I think I answered all of the questions, I know Rocio takes quite a while to respond, and it is super annoying waiting for answers, but trust me once you get down there she has it all under control. Below is a link to my professional pictures from del Sol, you can see the ceremony and reception site and tons of other stuff. I got married in the Garden Gazebo and had my reception at La Laguna with a dj.

 

..:: Pictage | Registration ::..

[ChristinaP]

Thanks for sharing your pictures Ashley- you looked absolutely stunning!

 

Couple questions:

 

- Did you and your girls get your hair done at the resort spa?

- Was the decor for the reception (candles, table runners, hanging lanterns etc.) from the resort, or did you bring anything yourself?

 

 

Thanks!

[Ashleykmorgan]

Thank you:) and to answer your questions.

My girls did their own hair, I wanted them to look like them, no updo wedding hair, they were cool with it, and I think they looked great. I am obsessed with hair so I used Doranna, a hairstylist I found on this site, she was hella expensive but to me worth it because I am a total hair person and I knew if I loved my hair then I would be happy. I would totally recommend her, she was AWESOME her website is Doranna Hair Stylist - Freelance Italian Hair Stylist - Playa del Carmen - Riviera Maya - Cancun - Tulum

 

The reception decor I brought most of it myself, the lanterns i made my dad lug down in this huge suitcase, the table runners were actually a wallpaper border that i ordered online, the vases were bought at the wal-mart in playa, the bride that got married the week before me and I split the cost of them, we brought down floating candles for inside of them. I also brought the tea light holders and tea lights, but the hurricane candle vases were the resorts, and were really pretty.

 

Any other questions email me at ashleykmorgan@hotmail.com

[Ashleykmorgan]

Thank you:) and to answer your questions.

My girls did their own hair, I wanted them to look like them, no updo wedding hair, they were cool with it, and I think they looked great. I am obsessed with hair so I used Doranna, a hairstylist I found on this site, she was hella expensive but to me worth it because I am a total hair person and I knew if I loved my hair then I would be happy. I would totally recommend her, she was AWESOME her website is Doranna Hair Stylist - Freelance Italian Hair Stylist - Playa del Carmen - Riviera Maya - Cancun - Tulum

 

The reception decor I brought most of it myself, the lanterns i made my dad lug down in this huge suitcase, the table runners were actually a wallpaper border that i ordered online, the vases were bought at the wal-mart in playa, the bride that got married the week before me and I split the cost of them, we brought down floating candles for inside of them. I also brought the tea light holders and tea lights, but the hurricane candle vases were the resorts, and were really pretty.

 

Any other questions email me at ashleykmorgan@hotmail.com

[Sarah_K]

Ashley, thanks so much for the info.

Your pictures were awesome! (They made me really excited!).

[CassBob09]

Hey everyone...we got back from the GP a few weeks ago (and then a work trip to Aruba! just a few days ago) and I'd like to share a few things that happened so that you know what to expect. All in all everything went very well however; there were a few frustrations that should not have occurred and that may help you.

1. Even though we were emailing Rocio back and forth she never introduced herself to us. Instead we worked with Erika her co-worker. Kind of rude but, whatever.

 

2. We met with her several days before the wedding and went thru the catalog of flowers (there were nice options but Cassidy had brought some silk flowers as some that she wanted were not available). Her florist was able to reproduce what Cassidy wanted pretty well. We went thru the menu, the location of our dinner (Portifino...was very good), and discussed about our "reception" which is where the miscommunication began. We left w/ good feelings that things would go well...but more on this later.

 

We brought a box of favors, candles, and other items we made for guests and she put them out at each seat for the reception which was nice that we didn't have to worry about it.

 

3. Our ceremony was at the gazebo on the beach. It was great. We had about 21 guests come...7 standing for the wedding party and the others sitting. The gazebo was large enough to sit everyone in it. I had all the procession music on my ipod touch in a "procession" playlist. There were only 3 songs and they were in order. They had a couple issues playing it and I could hear the "clicks" thru the speakers as they clicked out of the screen I had setup as if they were playing with it. They played a few seconds of the wrong song at one point and then couldnt figure out how to get back for another. This aggrivated me greatly but, had to move on from it.

 

4. It was reaaaallly hot that day. Our ceremony was at 4pm and there were no clouds so the sun was right on the gazebo. We were all sweating. This was my second point of aggrivation because after the ceremony, Cassidy and I had so many ideas of cool pictures to take but the photographer decided to "relax" for an hour until the sun went down a bit. If I had a clear head and wasn't so nervous/frazzled I would have suggested we walked around to other areas and take pictures so basically we wasted an hour of picture taking. Not until the next day did we figure out what we did...sucks but we are staying positive that we got some good pictures. We'll see.

 

5. In the hour that we didn't take pictures we sat in Rocio's/Erika's air condition office and tried to figure out about dancing after the reception. She wouldn't allow us to use one of her speakers...even though they used a nice one at the ceremony she wouldn't allow us to use it after dinner. I had emailed her two times several weeks before and she never answered them (she even claimed we never asked this but I have all my sent emails). I had asked if we could do it in the disco before it opened or on the beach or in one of the "private reception" areas since no other weddings were going on. She said no to all. For the several days after we first met her when she said no i went to every "entertainment staffer" to try and use one of their speaker systems to no avail (they pointed me to their managers). Finally the DJ in the disco said he'd play our songs for us for an hour after the dinner and before the disco opened. VEEERRRY cool of him BUT it didn't happen because we couldn't find him after that. So back to Erika. She said there was no one to "watch" the speaker at that time because it was late...and she'd be the only one to do it. My thoughts: I'm paying you, this is your job so stay so that we can have this one day...our wedding day...to be what we thought it was going to be. Instead we had to argue about this. Cassidy started to get very stressed at this point and was on the verge of tears so we both walked out of the office and I made sure to relax her and reassure her that no matter what everything was going to be great...that we are there together and with our family and friends and we wont let anything get us down. Biggest point I can make is that no matter what happens that you don't expect...just step back, take a few deep breaths and realize it won't ruin the reason your there and you'll have a great time no matter what! Stay positive!

 

After several more attempts Erika said she'd get us a speaker...she set it up at night back at the gazebo and we got to do 3 dances...our first, the daughter/father and the mother/son dance. Unfortunately I had 1.5 hours of music I spent picking out and we didn't get to play it or dance to it. It was about 9:00 PM at this time and it was a nice 3 dances and we appreciated it...of course we would have wanted to dance to everything else but all in all everyone was pretty tired from a looong stressful day. If I had to do it over I would have just ran back to the room and got the little Ipod dock/speakers and took it out to the 24 hour beach bar right after dinner.

 

After everything was done and we had our three dances, several of us ran into the ocean to cool down from a hot day

 

Final notes: the day goes by super fast...I tried but couldn't talk myself out of being nervous the first half the day. Wish I could have handled it better but because of that you may forget a few things so maybe make a list. We wanted to do some pictures around the resort...like at the new church they built....but forgot. We also forgot to take some cool pics around in the nature walks. Go into your meeting w/ Rocio/Erika w/ every question you have written out. If you don't have a private reception, figure out ahead of time those arrangements w/ music. Finally, take your time and relax...enjoy every bit of it because it goes so fast! Good luck to everyone!

[Sarah_K]

Wow, thanks for all of the info. A LOT of good tips! I will be sure to refer back to your post as I am planning everything. Thanks again!