shellbelle

Congratulations on booking a date! I booked my photographer and videographer as a package deal from a reference I found from the Palladium Addicts website which has a list of photographers they recommend. They are called Playa Weddings and their website is Playa Weddings - Video and Photography in Playa del Carmen and the Riviera Maya. Paul and Rachel are a husband and wife team and live in both the US (where they are from) and in Playa Del Carmen. Having actual US citizens may make you more comfortable as you are from the same country. ) You can read about some of their references on their website as well as check out samples of their work, both photos and wedding videos, to see if you like their style. They were one of the few that offered both photography and videography together, so I thought it was a bonus. Good luck!

Just some information for any brides that are going the private reception route at Grand Azul or La Laguna... This information was provided from Rocio on April 10, 2009 for a wedding in December 2009. While I'm sure each reception can be customized further, this is just what information I was given as a starting point. ) The cost of having a private reception starts at $50 and goes up to $60 per person depending on the menu you choose from their gala dinner wedding menu list. For this price, you get the area from 7pm - 11pm (4 hours). You receive the tables set up with white tables cloths and wooden chairs and white fabric draped from the ceiling. Here is a photo that Rocio sent me for a sample of La Laguna with this setup (you can't see the fabric draped from the ceiling, but please refer to the image of the Gala setup to see what it would look like): There is also a 'Gala' setup which includes covered chairs and lights in the draped fabric from the ceiling. The cost for the chair covers is $4 US per chair and to have the lights is $150 US. Here is a photo that I found of the Gala setup (at the Grand Azul). The private reception also includes a speaker setup with a microphone so that you can do speeches and first dance, etc. If you want decorations for the tables other than what is provided (some simple flowers and candles), you need to provide them yourself. If anyone has anything to add about private receptions that you have found out, that would be greatly appreciated! Such as, I'm not sure if it is extra or possible to go from square tables to round? Anyways...Just another heads up that I sent Rocio an email about a week and a half ago and never received a response. Then just to see, I responded to an email that she had sent back to me previously (therefore not changing the subject line) with the same email I had sent before, and she responded within a minute! I think that any new emails I send to her keep going in her spam box but the old original one she has on file goes into her inbox. Very weird but just may want to consider that if you don't hear from her but have gotten a hold of her once!

Hey svetayasofiya, This is a quote I received from my travel agent this February for the Colonial/Kantenah parts of the resort. The prices are unfortunately high, due to the fact that pricing won't actually be published and available until June or sometime in the Summer. The rates you should be able to actually get once they are published should be much lower. For example, we actually stayed in the Yucatan Royal Suites for $1500.00 with taxes in last December. Go figure! 1 FEB - 1 week - GRAND PALLADIUM KANTENAH and GRAND PALLADIUM COLONIAL double rate $1932.50 pp child rate $1093.50 pp 2 week rate $2813.50 pp *please note that the rates below include the taxes of 266.50 per person The high cost of February is actually why we moved our wedding to November/December in the shoulder season. Unfortunately, I think the best thing to do is to wait until the 2009/2010 catalogues and rates are published before booking. Best of luck!

Hey Leah, Congratulations on your engagement! Here are some answers to your questions: Q. How early can you reserve your date? A. I was previously looking at a date in February 2010 and Rocio informed me that there wouldn't be any bookings for then until at least May 2009. Q. What should I expect from the Wedding Coordinator? I emailed her yesterday for some information, but it sounds like she takes a while. A. When we initially emailed Rocio for a date, we didn't hear anything back for about a week and a half. My fiance decided to call her in Mexico to see if she had received our email and then she responded quickly after. When we received the email back from her, it had 'SPAM' in the title line meaning that it had gone into her email spam box! After that, we just kept replying to the same email and sometimes she responded within the hour. So I guess if you are really worried, you could phone and check to see if she even received your email or not. But from reading the posts, everyone says that Rocio is wonderful to work with once you are in Mexico. ;o) Q. How many weddings do they have per day? I've heard 3-6. A. On the Palladium Addicts website, Rocio's message says that they can now do 6 weddings per day. Good luck!

Hello Jan2010bride, We are getting married in December 2009 and we sent our invitations out the middle of March. So it is about 8 months ahead of time which should be ample time to allow people to book vacation time off work, budget, etc. The rates for November and December 2009 are not available yet though, but we do have the wedding date booked with the hotel. On our invites, we put the exact date of the wedding and put a recommended vacation time for booking holidays. For example: Wedding to take place Wednesday, December 2, 2009 Recommended holiday booking time from Sunday, November 29 - Sunday, December 6, 2009. On our RSVP's, people put their email or phone number if they wanted to go. Once the rates are released, I'm just planning on giving the RSVP cards to the travel agent and have her call each guest and set up the booking. Takes the pressure off yourself and having to deal with money for everybody for deposits. Also, not everyone may be able to fit in your block grouping and if they atleast know the date, they can arrange to have a mini-vacation to make that. Hope this helps!

We are going to use the Beach Gazebo as well but due to the number of people we believe that are coming (my guests have until June 15th to RSVP officially so that we can plan ahead for costs), we are going to have to rent La Laguna. Fortunately, I believe the cost per person for dinner includes the chair covers and rental of the area but if they are extra on top of the $50 per person (ouch!), we will probably forego the added expense. Oh, I believe I finally figured out how to post photos! This is a photo of a walkway around the lagoon on the White Sands/Riviera side of the resort. You can actually see the top of the beach gazebo in this photo. More flowers!

Hi JennyPenny, It's nice to hear the someone else is getting married in December. ) We are leaving from Toronto Pearson Airport as well and I have run into the same problem as you for rates. Last year for a one week December 2008 vacation to the Royal Suites Yucatan, we paid a total of $1,535 (taxes included) per person. Obviously other sections of the resort were cheaper, but we wanted to treat ourselves and we thought that this was a great rate for staying at the Royal Suites. The rates that we got from our travel agent in January 2009 for the same time were for $1,500 before taxes for the Colonial/Kantenah side (older side) and around $1,700 for anything upgraded. This is because they have not published the rates for November/December yet and are 'estimating' the costs. I've spoken to a few other TA's and they say that the new rates should be out in another month or so. We ourselves are holding off until we get comparable rates to last year. I will try to attach some of the photos of the flowers and resort (if I can figure it out!) but if not, I'll write back tonight with a link to the photos. Do you know what location you are getting married at and how many people approximately you are having? Started to get excited too. ;o)

Hello GP Brides! It took me a few days but I read through all the posts (stupid dial-up!) and I just wanted to give a big thanks to everyone for all the great information! I'm getting married at the GP on December 2, 2009 and will be there from Nov 26-Dec 6. While I'm new to the wedding planning, I am not new to the GP. I vacationed there in December 2008 and it was actually where I got engaged! We stayed in the Yucatan Royal Suites and we absolutely loved it there! The flowers in early December are amazing for any brides getting married around this time. After staying in the Royal Suites, I don't think we could possibly stay any where else...having a golf cart chauffer you around everywhere makes it totally worth while! The entire resort is beautiful and very in tune with nature. We stay in hotels all the time and didn't want a resort with a hotelly feel. The GP is completely tropical and beautiful to stroll around, especially at night. The beach is very diverse with a section of coral for the snorkelers and a large stretch with no coral for the waders. If anyone has any questions about the resort or any of the locations to get married, food, etc., please don't hesitate to ask! Michelle

Hey Everyone! I'm a newbie bride2b from near Oshawa Ontario Canada. My name is Michelle and I'm getting married December 2, 2009 (finally! - this has been a project 9 years in the making!). We're getting married at the Grand Palladium Resort & Spa in the Riviera Maya. While I'm a newbie to the post, I'm not to the Grand Palladium. We actually got engaged there in December 2008! So if anyone has any questions about the resort, feel free to ask! I'll probably be hanging with other GP brides at the "Any Grand Palladium Brides" section. Best of luck to everyone! ;o)