thaodao

Hi girls, Sorry I've been MIA lately- school has been really hectic. Christi, I had my hair done by Perla at the Akumal spa and couldn't have been more happy! It was only $85 and my hair looked gorgeous.... PM me. I'll send you a pic... As for the wedding cake, it was only one tier and nothing special, but to tell you the truth, no one missed it- in fact, not one person had a slice, we were too busy dancing during the reception. We used the resort photographers Juan and Nestor. Everyone who has seen them are astounded by how beautiful they are! I spent $2500 on photos and they are DEFINITELY worth it! Again, I'd be happy to send pics your way. Good luck girls.... let me know if you need anything else.... Thao

DJ Bob was $550 for 3 hours...

Hey guys, A lot of you have seen my pictures and commented what a great pool-side reception party I had! I just wanted to send a shout out to DJ Bob who played at the reception. He came highly recommended and did not disappoint. We danced the entire 3 hours... it went by in a flash! If you need a GREAT DJ for your wedding, DJ Bob's email is [email protected] Cheers, Thao

Hi Christi, Just sent the ink of my photos.. Good luck, Thao

YAY!!!! Have FUN and CONGRATS!!!!

Quote: How much do you recommend I put in my budget for photographs? I have absolutely no idea what is an appropriate amount so if you can give me a ballpark around how much it will cost to use the resort photographer I would greatly appreciate it Thx! We budgeted $1500 for photos and ended up spending $2500. This may seems expensive, but trust me, they are worth it. This included coverage of my whole wedding day and reception till 11pm. We felt so bad and told Juan and Nestor they could go home after an hour and a half at the reception, but they were so professional and wanted to stay. I have had nothing but compliments on my photos!!! I've sent a few girls on BDW a link to my photos and would be happy to send you it as well. Just pick a price that you are comfortable with and Arrecife will work with your budget. Good luck and let me know if you need anything else, Thao

Hi Angie, Everything does happen for a reason... You won't regret chosing GPB! Good Luck, Thao

Hi girls! I’m back from my November 3, 2010 wedding at the Gran Bahia Principe Akumal. To all the brides that are still debating which resort to have their wedding at, all I can say is that if you chose this one, you won’t regret it! We had 66 guests not a single person had anything negative to say! Everyone was impressed by the service, resort and professionalism of those who work there. Ok, I’ll get to the review… Check in/Front Desk We arrived Sunday October 31, 2010 to the Golden Junior section at Akumal in the early evening and were promptly offered a drink while we waited to be checked in. We got the best room in the resort with a beautiful ocean view, which was close to everything! Martin at the front desk was awesome. We saw him through out the week for miscellaneous stuff. It seems like he is always there… and he always has a smile on his face! Martin was like our personal concierge! He handled all of our guest’s requests and even set up a last minute scuba dive excursion for eight of us with no problem whatsoever – we even got our own private boat! INCREDIBLE! The Resort It’s HUGE! You’ll need to take the golf cart train to Tulum and Coba, they run until 3am! You can eat and go anywhere within Gran Bahia Principe. Tulum has a great lobby bar that we frequented and Coba has a better buffet than Akumal - do some exploring. I’m sure there were tons of things available at the resort that we missed. Everything was super clean and all the staff was super friendly! There are lots of activities you can do within the resort such as, snorkeling, Hobe cat sailing, windsurfing, kayaking, ect... There were plenty of lounge chairs available and you don’t have to walk far to get a drink. We loved the resort and I am sure a few of the girls in our group will be booking their wedding at the GBP. The Wedding Coordinator Eugenia is AMAZING! She had everything under control. In the months leading up to our wedding she presented all of our options to us and answered all of our questions. She always responded to our emails quickly and addressed all of our concerns. Upon arrival, Eugenia met with us and had copies of our email communications. She was so organized and it was easy to trust her with our big day. All we had to do was make a few decisions and that was it. She took care of everything else. We brought our own paper lanterns for our private poolside reception and she took care of hanging them for us. Eugenia absolutely made our wedding stress free and the best day of our lives! We LOVE the service she gave us – First class! The Wedding Photography- Arrecife Mexico Studios Some of you may or may not remember our battle we had with GBP about using Claudia Rodriguez photography (an independent company) for our wedding. At the time we booked, we were not informed that we could not use an independent photographer- GBP provided us with a form that indicated the photography was optional. We were informed only 2 months before our wedding that our only choice was to use Arrecife photography (the resort’s exclusive photographers). We were devastated! Pictures were very important to us! Arrecife promised to give us their VIP service and asked us to trust them. We were tired of drawing all the negative energy to our special day so; we reluctantly agreed to use them. *Fast forward to our meeting on-site at the GBP* After our meeting with Eugenia, we were introduced to Roccio (manager) and Juan (photographer) from Arrecife photography. Juan immediately set our minds at ease by showing us his portfolio and describing his artistic style. We then found out that both Nestor and Juan were shooting our wedding! This is where I eat my words and apologize to Arrecife for causing such a fuss. The pictures are STUNNING!!! I can’t begin to even tell you how gorgeous they are, but I would be happy to send you a few sample pictures (just PM me). Girls, if you are worried about the resort photography and contemplating about bringing your own photographer, there is NO NEED! Leave your photographer at home and trust Arrecife. They know the resort, the lighting and have expertise to capture your special day and give you incredible pictures! In fact, my friend (who is a director of photography for commercials) stated he was very impressed Juan and Nestor’s knowledge and technique and would not hesitate to hire them. We ended spending more than we thought we would on photos- only because we could not decide on photos we didn’t want. We ended up taking 90% of the photographs- they were worth EVERY PENNY! My advice to GBP brides: Don’t sweat it if the wedding coordinator doesn’t get back to you right away- she has it under control. Use Arrecife for your photography! They know what they are doing and have the edge of knowing the best places to capture your special day. Budget a little more money for your photographs. We ended up spending a lot more than we expected, but when you see your photos, you won’t want to leave any behind TIP! They all work so hard. Hope this review helps, but if you want to PM me for some wedding photo samples, advice etc… please do so. Good luck!!! You won’t regret choosing GBP for your destination wedding. Take care, Thao

Hi Abbie! I'll try and answer as many questions as I can... 1. DJ Bob's email is [email protected]. We are using him as well and he comes highly recommended! 2. I have lanterns for the pool side reception... I ordered 24 in my wedding colors (hopefully this will be enough). The best place to get them is http://asianideas.com/. We live in Vancouver and they were going to cost $4-6/ lantern. Through Asian Ideas, we spent $2/ lantern. Of course the shipping to Canada is a bit pricey, but we have friends in Seattle and shipped to their place. My fiance put LED lights in to illuminate them. I'm leaving in 8 days for GBP, so I'll let you know how the lanterns turn out. 3. We got the groom's linen suit from Mexx... and it is beautiful! The groomsmen are wearing tan pants and a white shirt. Kitchenwitch and Patourn, I can't believe you guys are leaving for Mexico tomorrow! YYAAAYYY!!! Have a great time and CONGRATS!!! Please let us know how it turns out! xooxoxoxo Thao

Hi Abbie, I just sent you the catalogue. I hope it helps. As for the meal choice, we could only pick one entree as we have so many people... I think you can only pick one entree as well??? We are hiring a private catamaran for a half day. For 60 guests, it was $2600... a little pricey, but I think it will be a lot of fun! Let me know if you need anything else... Thao

Hi Kitchenwitch, You sent me a PM, but didn't include your email... Could you send it to me? I can't believe your wedding is so soon.... Thao

Pm me and I'll send you the catalogue Thao

Hi Abbie, We have 60 people and are having dinner at Dolce Vita as well. We've picked the chicken dish... everyone loves chicken- right? Our wedding is less than a month away. We are having the private pool-side reception and hired DJ Bob. I'll let you know how it goes... Thao

 We are having the poolside reception as well! Are you using the resort DJ?

  PM me and i'll send it to you....