Azul Sensatori Brides - POST HERE!

Haahaa!! Day and I work together so every time I’d get a box at work, which literally averaged out to 1 a day for the last 2 months, he’s ay “what NOW!?â€

I should mention that any crafting stuff he was totally hands on! We DIY’d our STD’s which were a prooooccess and he really put in some work. He put together all the throwie lights, cut all the menu’s and stuff. So just no real creative help I guess.

Yeah something happened between Karisma & Del Sol because Del Sol heavily boycotts the Karisma resorts. My photographer did a photojournalist take on my Vegas wedding and half traditional, half photojournalistic style for my Mexican wedding if you want to check out my Vegas pictures to get an idea, let me know and I’ll send them to you.

Otherwise you can check him out Chris Schmitt Chris Schmitt Photography | Intro if you mention you know me, he’ll hook you up! We’ve become friends since working together, he’s an amazing guy and hugely talented. He’s shot a few of us BDW brides actually and already has been to AS twice!

Thanks Amy, that’s a compliment!!

As much as I complained about DH not being involved in any of the wedding plans' date=' I would have gone crazy if it were the other way and he was in my face with his opinion all the time. QUOTE']

I agree, I can’t complain too much, he would have driven me INSANE if he ever argued with what I wanted to tried to push in his own creative side… yeah no.

Liked your photographer & your photo! I hope you win!!!

Ok, so I'm gonna talk about the photography thing, because it doesn't seem fair to me, and since I'm no longer staying at Azul Beach, I want to make sure the other brides are informed.

 

Basically, I was told that I had to use either the resort photographers (which I didn't really like) or bring someone from the states with me and pay for 3 nights minimum. I was NOT allowed to use a local photographer from Mexico. I was told this was due to the contract they had with the resort photographers.

 

I put up quite a fuss, as I really didn't like the resort photogs and felt like I was being steamrolled into using them. Plus, my contract didn't say anything about a minimum stay; it did, however, say there was a $500 fee to use an "outside" vendor, but that the vendor had to be approved by the resort first. So basically, they wouldn't approve anyone but their own photographers. After pointing out this discrepancy on the contract, Tiffany allowed me to choose a photographer off of an "extended list" that they use for their El-Dorado resorts. One of them was Claudia Rodriguez (who is fantastic!) so I chose her. She's moving over the Barcelo Maya Palace instead, and her rates are lower for that resort.

 

I have NO idea why they would allow certain photogs for some of their resorts but not others. I just want to make sure that any brides that are thinking of booking at AB or AS are aware of the policy before they sign their contract, so they can decide if it's worth it to them.

 

I still think both resorts are fantastic, but their photog policy kinda sucks (in my opinion)

This is the thing with this... it's not even really that true. Their policy is fluff and each WC for Karisma says a different thing. Amy Frommert (Afrommert) was told she couldn't have a DJ from Mexico, I hired DJ Mannia from Mexico and there was no issue and our weddings were months apart. I was nervous when I told the onsite coordinators about him but they accommodated him with no question and even let him onsite for a few hours the day prior to pick out his spot at my reception and he was treated wonderfully. I did pay the $500 outside vendor fee, but I'm POSITIVE after having been there now that you could hire a Mexican photographer, whoever you wanted for that matter. Do you really think that your photographer is going to show up at your resort ON your wedding day and they are going to say, “Oh you’re Mexican, sorry leave.†No way, that’s just not going to happen.

Know this AS/AB ladies, when you work with your coordinator whoever they are, never ASK, never! Just tell them, "I'm bringing an outside DJ & Photographer, please make note on my details sheet" they don't need details they don’t need names or the color of your vendor’s skin.

Another example, I wanted chiavari chairs, they quoted me and I said, "no, that's too pricey" and Kiara negotiated them down twice for me to an actual reasonable price for the chairs and pads on them. I got my cake negotiated cheaper as well. We negotiated my manzanita branch down 4 times as well. Managed to get my reception area approved regardless of the fact that didn't meet the minimum requirement of guests.

Just know that the outside WC's jobs are to control and coerce you into using their vendors since they make more money that way but once you get to the resort, they pretty much won't say no and they truly bend over backwards for you.

My whole philosophy while planning my wedding was to not really pay too much attention to the offsite WC, I knew if I was told something couldn't be done, I'd hold my tongue and mention it onsite, I got everything I wanted and more. So chin up girls, if you want it, know that it can be done!

This is exactly why you need to become a wedding planner in Mexico! Can you imagine? You and hubby could live on the beach and you could spend all day planning fantastic weddings for all us DW brides. I need you on my team!!!

Thanks Dani! I've been really curious about Cecile's whereabout, being that I have a pending email that went unanswered. I asked my TA about Cecile and and as much as I like her, she had no clue. So being my "NEED TO KNOW NOW" self, I emailed Fabio. Hopefully I will hear back from him soon.

Oh Honey, I hear ya....the goold ole boys network is alive and kicking here! I've seen some stuff happen that I know I would have been disciplined for had it of been me. :-) I'm really professional at work and we have one guy who literally has personal conversations loudly in his office while having his booted toes up on his desk. Myself and another gal are always cracking up because we're like, "If we had our feet up on the desks hackling like hens, one of them would be in our office in a heartbeat talking to us about disrupting the work environment and maintaining professionalism." I just have to laugh about the stuff the good ole boys get away with. ;-)

Thanks Amy! I used to love those shows too and they too used to have me sucked in. :-) I can't watch too many of them though because I become overly cynical and make all these pessimistic comments during the show. LOL I sit there and dissect every little thing and I make comments like, "That's so fake or That is not real!" It drives FI nuts to listen to my commentary when he's trying to watch TV! LOL For instance, I can't watch any CSI's AT ALL! When they take a fingerprint and pull up a person's location and personal history on a large screen pc in 10 seconds, I always laugh! But I do dig Locked Up and I am a First 48 groupie!!! LOL

Oh and thanks for the info on the hurricane season, how naive of me to not research this. :-( All will be wonderful though!

And I emailed Fabio as soon as I realized Cecile is MIA. Hopefully I hear back from him soon.

Yes, Beaz.....our wedding weekend will RAWK! I love that word for some odd reason! LOL You are on a ROLL with your group! That is wonderful and I'm sure you will have the best time! You don't have to worry about us taking up many rooms and I assume we are one of the smaller wedding groups that weekend. We only have 21 confirmed as of today, so you are packing 'em in!

I like them both! They have a very rustic yet modern color feel to them! Can't go wrong either way IMO!

I have assigned him tasks.....hate to make it sound like he is a child. But that is the only way I could tame his comments and involvement with things. I saw early on that he was going to cause me some irritation with his comments, so very early on, I picked out things for him to do. For instance, when I started looking at pictures of bridal gowns online and my BM dresses, he started making comments about what he thinks I should wear. I told him flat out, "You don't get to have any say so at all about my dress, so please don't go there." He got the point. I have since assigned him the task of locating and reviewing a DJ and their costs. He is also responsible for locating GM attire. And he is responsible for getting our life insurance policies updated. I only ask his opinion about wedding stuff if I really need it otherwise he will go on and on. Love him, but he is a talker. LOL

LUCKY YOU!!!! How are you feeling being that your ceremony is right around the corner? ? ? ? ? ?

I too didn't see any difference in the two packages aside from the flowers and a free 5X7 photo. If you are bringing or hiring your own photog, there really is no need for their free photo. And if you totla up the cost of flowers for a bride and groom, they in no way equal $950.

Really? You're TA selected that package for you? I asked our TA if we could have that package and we got this long, drawn out response about how she didn't know if it was applicable to previously booked couples. She seemed to think it would not be available to us because we booked 2 months ago or so. I'm really frustrated with the term of things and how things tend to be so undefined.

I'm right there with you! I am itching to tap into more creative activities! I find them to be very therapeutic and I just don't get enough fun stuff in my daily life. I bought a really nice Nikon and I keep saying I am going to learn how to use all of the features on it, otherwise I could have just bought a point and shoot. :-)
Oh absolutely, I heart nurses! One of my BM's, whom I've been friends with since Jr. High, is a L&D nurse. Her circle of friends are mostly nurses and I've had several convos with them about their profession. They are all so dedicated, passionate, and knowledgable about their field and I have nothing but respect for nurses. They don't get enough credit IMO.

I emailed Fabio to see what is up with Cecile. As soon as I get a response, I will let you know.
Your quotes about your FI made me laugh! Gotta love 'em!

Sure, headed over now to check it out and vote for you.

When we were selecting a photog, I feel in love with Del Sol's underwater TTD sessions. I often wondered what happened between them and Karisma because that's a pretty severe business move to ban them altogether from your premises. :-/
Our TA took our photog choice to our WC and had she and Fabio put in writing that she was permitted to photograph our wedding as well as the terms of her stay. As many of the other girls suggested, I would have them put whatever their final decision is in writing because they seemed somewhat wishy-washy on what the "actual" policy is/was.

I whole wholeheartedly agree with you here! I wish I would have known about the photog issues and restrictions prior to booking. I'm not sure it would have changed my photog decision, but just to know their policy up front would have been nice. I'm over it now, but I cope with things better when people are honest and forthcoming about things rather than disclosing policies after you have me legally obligated. A good photog was second to a good resort for me, even more important than the dress, so I had a little heartburn as we went through the photog debacle. But it is what it is and we will all have fabulous weddings regardless of who is behind the lens! :-)

Argh! I'm so frustrated (sorry if this is a bit of a rant). I've been going back and forth with Carolina about what wedding package we would qualify for, as well as promotions (since you ladies all mentioned the bride & groom stay free).

 

So, she sends me the link. But it's only for USA brides. (I'm Canadian and although my fiance is American he lives here in Vancouver w/ me - but 1/2 our guests are coming from the USA... so I don't understand if we could still qualify). So... she sends me the link to Canadian promotions. And there's a GREAT Canadian bride & groom stay free promotion - - it applies to every Karisma hotel EXCEPT AS!!! aaaargh. I'm hoping that we might be able to negotiate out some kind of combo of the two promotions or something?!?

 

Anyone around here had any luck with their negotiations with the WC's at Karisma? I just want what I think is fair - since it seems to be offered to almost every other bride. And I'm in kind of a bizarre situation with the Canadian/American stuff. Suggestions anyone? TIA

Okay help me understand the process here please.....I thought we had to finalize all of our details and payments with the Miami WC's prior to arriving? Is Kiara at AS or in Miami? I thought AS WC's had no say about prices and that was all solidified prior to our arrival. Help me understand here please, because I'm ready to start negotiating! ;-)

I'm not help here, Beaz because I am in America, but I had a quick question out of curiosity.....why do the packages differ for Canada vs. America and why does it matter to them?

I think it has to do with the different tour operators that book the trips from the 2 different countries. But seriously, why would they be almost identical packages but only the USA one was available at AS?!

Sorry, no advice here. We're bringing a photographer down from home.


I can't WAIT to hear all about it! I'm so excited for you! Can't imagine the butterflies you must be having these days.

Sounds like you're FI has a great niche area. That's one of my job frustrations actually - that I'm not in a specified trial area enough for my liking. But... we all need something to work towards right. ;-)