stbKeras

Hi Tia, My email address is: [email protected]

Here are the three elements we went with. Riviera Gazebo, La Fondue restaurant and beach reception. As you can kind of see in the gazebo picture - resort guests are respectful and stay clear of the gazebo.

Yes I can definitely answer any questions you have!

Yes you can have a beach reception without food. They call it Beach Cocktail (I think) lol. Just ask your WC for the pricing on a beach reception with no food. She should send you a price list for different types of bars to choose from. This price includes the bar, beach set up, and bar tables. We didn't want to spend $85 per person for the reception with the food. It was $33 per person to do the reception without.

They call it a Beach Cocktail. If that is what you want, just ask your WC for pricing on a Beach Cocktail Reception with NO food. They will then send you a price list for the bar which includes the location on the beach, bar tables and the set up.

Hi Ashley, My email address is [email protected]

We did our grand entrance at the restaurant. I don't think we were suppose to ...but we did anyways. As far as the beach reception went, we made a lay out of the 3 hours and gave it to our MC. He did a good job making sure everything stayed on time. You are kind of on your own at the reception so I would definitely recommend asking someone to be your MC. We got most of the time consuming stuff done in the first 30-40 mins (First dance..daughter/father dance...speeches). We threw the rest in randomly in between dancing. And the other stuff doesn't very long...cake cutting takes 5 minutes...garter/bouquet toss takes 5 mins.

Good luck with the bargaining - they are pretty good at saying no. lol The reception was cost per person, but I can't remember the rates.

Hi Katie! We paid $1500 for the dance floor. Its kind of pricey but worth every penny! How much have they quoted you? It was $1500 for the beach reception which included the bar, set up of the tables and chairs. It was the resort DJ and it cost $650. We had an MC and he dealt with the DJ. We just brought our ipod again with the songs for first dances and he showed the DJ what song to play at certain times. The microphone was included with this as well. The after party at the resort disco was great. Not all of our guests went to the disco but it didn't hurt that we had a large group with us. By that time you are sooo wedding pumped from all the events earlier its hard not to have fun. Especially if you stay in your wedding dress! The disco was like being at a mini club. There are other hotel guests there of course but it just added to our fun. We also went to the sports bar before & after the disco for nachos and hot dogs. If you think of any other questions just let me know!

Hi Ladies! My husband and I got married at the Grand Sunset Princess on May 4th. I have to say that there is not one thing I would change about the day! It went so perfectly! We got legally married in Canada before our departure and went with the Symbolic Package. We had a group of 50 people. WC: We had Emma and she was absolutely amazing! There was a bit of a language barrier during the planning stages but nothing we didn't figure out in the end. She sticks around for the majority of the wedding day to make sure everything is going smoothly. A week or so before your arrival she will email you with an appointment to meet her before the wedding day. At the appt she goes over all the small details. We went over the vows - we wanted short and sweet and no religious points. You also bring any decorations that you would like to have incorporated. I brought cake topper, ribbon and fake flowers to decorate the cake and it turned out better than I could have imagined. The other decorations I brought turned out great too! For music at the ceremony all you need to bring is an iPod and Emma writes down the songs in order you would like to have them played. Photographer: We chose to hire an outside photographer, Dean Sanderson, who was great! I haven't seen any pictures yet, but I will post some once I get them. It was a $200 fee to bring him on the resort for the day. He was super helpful and some of the pictures he showed me during the day looked amazing! Ceremony: 2pm - We chose the Riviera Gazebo. The location is not private, but during the ceremony you don't notice it. You get so wrapped up in the moment that everything outside of the gazebo doesn't matter. Also I looked at the other gazebo and I wasn't a fan. It is only semi private located in the Chill Out area of the beach. The music at the ceremony was right on point, the only issue we had was that our iPhone over heated and they had to wait for it to cool down. The minister was absolutely fantastic and had many beautiful things to say about the union of marriage. And our vows were very beautiful as well. We chose not to do a champagne toast after the ceremony, it seemed crazy to spend $400 on alcohol at an all inclusive resort. So the whole group took a stroll down the beach and grabbed drinks at the bar and tacos from the beach grill. After that the wedding party took off to take photos on the beach. Dinner: 6pm - Because the size of our group the only restaurant we could fit into was La Fondue. We also looked into the Chill Out but it was $100 per person and we did not want to spend that kind of money. It was not a private dinner, but we were tucked into a wing of the restaurant that our whole group fit into. The servers were great and were very involved with our guests. The food was OK - but I found all the food at the resort just OK. Most of guests said they enjoyed it though. They have options for vegetarians and other special requests. Beach Reception: 8pm-11pm - We chose to do this because we still wanted to have the traditional first dances, speeches. As some of you have noticed it is extremely hard to find detailed information about the beach receptions. It was located in the main entrance of the beach where the beach bar is located. We paid to have the Domestic Bar Service but once our guests were tiping a little extra they started bringing out the good liquor. So it was definitely a shot in the dark when we booked it, but I have to say this was the best choice for our group! We booked the DJ who was great, he played current music and when our guests requested older music he played that as well. We also rented the dance floor which I am really glad we did. They bury it in the sand so that it is flush to sand around it. They set up bar tables around the dance floors. I also requested two large tables with chairs and they fulfilled that at no extra charge. We were able to fit in all the speeches, first dances, cake cutting and garter/bouquet toss. After the reception was done we decided to make our way to the Disco on the resort. All in all the day went perfect and as smoothly as it could have. Of course there was minor hiccups but nothing that even slightly bothered us or anyone else. Most of our guests said that it was one of the best weddings they have been to and that it was nothing what they were expecting. The one thing I would say is not to stress too much during the planning stages! As long as you have the major pieces decided the rest can all be figured out when you get there. The resort does an absolute amazing job on their weddings and I have nothing but good things to say about them. I'm sure I forgot to mention other details, so let me know if I can be any help for the brides to be Robynn

I talked to Emma and she has agreed to add two large tables & some chairs at no extra charge. We also went with the dance floor.

Hi Ladies! I am getting married May 4/2013. We booked a private beach reception with bar & DJ services. Seems they have high tables included but no chairs. Has anyone else done a private beach reception? I'm worried about my guests not being able to sit down. How hard is it to dance in the sand? Is the dance floor worth getting? Also contemplating the Chill Out lounge...but its a big $ difference. Any input would be great! Thanks!