Noveau

Hey Everyone, I just photographed a wedding at the resort and thought I'd share some of the photos. It was hard to get a good idea of what the resort looked like for wedding purposes before I got there, so I hope it helps your planning! This is just a Facebook album, but enjoy. Wedding We also did a Trash the Dress at a nearby cenote and finished at the resort beach. Trash the dress Happy planning!

Oh, I forgot to mention that I have pictures of the regular rooms, too. And instead of hiring the DJ, this B&G just met up when the dance club opened, hung out there for an hour or so, and had some fun there. (But they had a reception at home... this wasn't their only reception.)

I was there in August and they were atrocious! I'm from Wisconsin, and thought we had bad mosquitos here, but that topped it. Here are a couple more pics. It was such a beautiful resort! I was down there for work, but definitely plan to go back with my hubby This is the private reception for less than 40 people. It really was beautiful. And, I might add, the cake actually tasted good! The big triangle is right where the private reception was held. All the portraits are right from the resort. Mostly White Sands, but it's easy to get to any of the three since there are frequent (short) shuttle rides. These were inside one of the adults-only suite thingies. I forget what they are called, but I think a Junior Suite? The resort in the daytime: The flowers were done by the resort and turned quite nice: After the ceremony, they had a champagne toast, which was really nice: If you guys want to see anything specific, let me know and I'll see if I can find it.

Hey GP Brides... I just wanted to pass along a tip from last time I was on the resort. If you are going to do a Trash the Dress session, there is a great spot that's sorta near the gazebo that's excellent if you go first thing in the morning before the sun gets too high. There are these awesome beach cabana bed lounge things... to get there, go to the gazebo and follow the path along the ocean to the right (as you are facing the water.) They were awesome for TTD shots without having to even leave the resort! Along the water was a good spot, too... to help get that tropical feel. Early in the morning is best because it's not quite so crowded on the beach and the light is the best. Lastly, one more tip that I haven't seen mentioned yet.... Grand Palladium doesn't spray for mosquitos as part of their environmentally friendly policy. BUT when I was there, the mosquitos were absolutely horrendous. Seriously awful. They sell a pleasant smelling bug spray, but it's quite expensive (almost $10 for a can), so I'd recommend bringing some along before you even get here. And furthermore, make sure you wear it a few days before your wedding because the bug bites show up in pictures if you scratch them! Here are a couple pictures of what I'm talking about for location: If anyone wants to see any pictures of things like the rooms or resort, I have those, too. Just send me a message.

Just trying out embedding an image of the ceremony and reception site. Darn it, can't get it to embed correctly. But if you click on the link you'll see one picture of the gazebo ceremony site, and one of the reception site at night. http://rebeccaeby.smugmug.com/photos...93_EwapE-M.jpg http://rebeccaeby.smugmug.com/photos...97_8o8qh-M.jpg

Hello everyone! I just got back from photographing a wedding at Grand Palladium (White Sands) yesterday and thought I'd give you all the update/thoughts I had about this location. I've been following this thread for several months, so thanks to all for the advice up till now! First of all, the resort is absolutely amazing. Gorgeous, great service, wonderful location... amazing. This particular wedding party had maybe 40-50 guests in attendance plus the bride and groom, and everyone agreed it was paradise. So A+++ there. The wedding location- very nice. It is a beautiful gazebo/pavillion area with gorgeous views. The only con I could see is that it was pretty close to the beach with all the chairs so it wasn't totally private. But it was actually kind of fun to see all the guests at the resort congratulation the couple after the ceremony and it really gave it that whole "beach" vibe. So... probably B+ here. The flowers from the resort were amazing. In fact, they were better than some of the weddings I've shot here in the states. Gorgeous. The bride was glad she changed her mind and decided to order them. Reception: nice. The bride told me that they do charge about $20 per person for the place she chose to have her reception. This apparently covers things like chair covers, cake, champagne, ect (even though it's an all-inclusive resort), so it wasn't horrible. Just kinda funny they'd charge for that. But it was a pretty site and a nice, intimate dinner. The biggest snafu that I saw was actually regarding the weather. After the ceremony, we were trying to snap a few quick family/friend portraits and it started pouring. Literally raining buckets. Most of the guests were already headed up to dinner at this point, so it was just a few of us left. We were trapped under the gazebo for about 20 minutes, hoping it would die down. The wedding planner/coordinators had already left so we were pretty much at the mercy of the weather. Finally, my photography second-shooter ran to the beach cantina to ask them to call a shuttle to come get us since it was quite a walk to the lobby. The resort workers were more concerned with putting plastic bags on the chair covers than assisting the bride to move to a more covered area. So she wasn't happy that the service was pretty poor in that aspect... that the wedding coordinator didn't stay till the end or help us move to a better location in the pouring rain. BUT... if it hadn't been raining, I think the whole ceremony would have gone off perfectly. All in all, it was a great location for a destination wedding, and I'd recommend it. If anyone wants to see some pictures, feel free to message me and I'll send you a link... I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post them directly on here.

Hi all! Question: aside from the three photographers mentioned a few pages back (I think on page 13?), do you know of any other good ones? (I didn't like any of them except Claudia.) I will be down at Grand Palladium in early August because I'm actually a wedding photographer myself, and will be shooting a wedding. But here's the catch- I'm actually a recent bride myself, and would love to do a Trash the Dress with my husband while we are down there. It's a bit hard to do your own pictures, you know? Also, those of you that have been there, if you have any fantastic locations that you know of for weddings, I'd love to hear it! I'll be doing a private session with my couple, plus looking for a location for my session (if we find a photographer!) I don't mind traveling off the resort if needed, but if there is a place on the resort, that's all the better! Thanks in advance! I can't wait to go down there!!!

Hi all! Question: aside from the three photographers mentioned a few pages back (I think on page 13?), do you know of any other good ones? (I didn't like any of them except Claudia.) I will be down at Grand Palladium in early August because I'm actually a wedding photographer myself, and will be shooting a wedding. But here's the catch- I'm actually a recent bride myself, and would love to do a Trash the Dress with my husband while we are down there. It's a bit hard to do your own pictures, you know? Also, those of you that have been there, if you have any fantastic locations that you know of for weddings, I'd love to hear it! I'll be doing a private session with my couple, plus looking for a location for my session (if we find a photographer!) I don't mind traveling off the resort if needed, but if there is a place on the resort, that's all the better! Thanks in advance! I can't wait to go down!

Hi All, This is my first post. I'm actually here for a couple reasons: 1) I'm a wedding photographer who is doing my first destination wedding at Grand Palladium in Riviera Maya in August. Since there happens to be a great thread here on that location, I was hoping to pick up some pointers or ideas for a creative "couple's private session" for my bride and groom while I'm down there. Shooting in a new location is always easier if you know what to expect. I'd hate to stick to only the beaten path when shooting their pictures, and we would love to explore OFF the beaten path! That's when you get the best pictures. 2) Since I'm a recent bride, I'm actually hoping to do a Trash the Dress session with my own husband while I'm down there. We live in Wisconsin, and not many photographers here offer TTD. So I'm hoping to find someone fantastic (but more affordable than Del Sol who starts at $1800!) for our session when we are there in August. I'm a bit picky (since I'm a photographer myself) so if you have any ideas for a location or TTD photographer that lives down there, I'd love to hear them! Bottom line: I LOVE weddings, both because of my job, and because I just got done planning mine. So I really wish I would have found this forum last year! lol