weez

Sorry this has taken so long, but wow, do things ever seem to have been hectic since we got back! Anyway I hope I include everything in this review and if anyone needs to know other things just ask away! Beware this is quite long! Travel We left Toronto airport early on Wednesday morning, along with all our family and friends (who were on the same flight which was nice) and flew with Air Canada, they were very good. I love the fact you get extra luggage allowance with them! I, like most others wanted to carry on my dress, and while it was a bit of a PITA I felt better knowing it wasn't going to go to Zimbabwe or Timbucktoo! They had a place to hang it up on board and it came out actually quite well. It didn't need to be steamed at all. Transportation Once we arrived at Cancun airport we sailed right through customs, all of us pushing the green button which was quite a feat considering there were 10 of us! I was a bit worried about that, and had everyone set up behind me to take my case with the OOT bag items in if I had pushed red! However things went smoothly! Once through that we went directly outside where we were picked up by our transport, we used Lomas travel, and they were great too, infact we used them quite often throught the week to take group tours and they were really accomadating to say we had a large group. Our transfer to the resort was direct and we were there in 25 mins! The Resort I cannot say enough about this resort and how amazing it is! It has been getting such good reviews that I was fairly confident about it before we arrived but it exceeded our expectations. Everyone was greeted with a cold towel as soon as we got out of the van, and a glass of champagne once we got into the lobby,mmmm good! Hehehe! We had booked a casita suite and they picked us up in the lobby and whisked us away to a separate check in. We were able to go to our room right away, which was a bonus as check in isn't till 3. The casitas are amazing if anyone is going to stay at this resort I recommend spending the extra dollars to get the upgrade. While the other rooms were nice too, the casita's just went above and beyond! Everyone loved the resort in our party and our favorite restaurants were D'Italia and El Cocotal. Although they were all great. All meals at EDR are a la carte so no buffets was great (its an all inclusive). I was also told that they are the first all inclusive in Mexico to receive the 4 diamond award (correct me if I am wrong?). My family flew in late that day from the UK so I was incredibly excited to see them all (only get to see them once in a while!) Wedding coordinator I dealt with Faith before we arrived and she was great to deal with, (she is part of Lomas travel) answered all my questions and e-mails really quickly and eased my nerves more than once! The onsite WC is Abigail, and also she was great. We talked to her at check in and set up a time to meet the next day, whereupon we sorted all the last minute details and changed a few things. Again they were all really easy to deal with and had lots of helpful suggestions. This helped! We had our blood tests done on Thursday too and am happy to report that it wasn't as traumatic as I first thought! LOL! We chose our flowers and decoration. We also changed our wedding location, prior to our arrival we wanted the beachfront gazebo but....having seen the tropical location we decided to switch, the beachfront was just soooo windy and our new gazebo was really pretty, we also switched our cocktail reception location as it was just too hot to have food outside! Between Abbie and the Lomas travel team I had no worries! OOT bags! These d@*m things ended up causing me the most stress of everything! LOL! They were however a great hit as people were not expecting them! Thanks to all you guys for your help with the OOT bag items! The biggest hit though were the pashminas (thanks Glenda!) the girls loved them! I also included general meds, sunscreen, welcome letter, spanish phrases (were also a hit!) pic frames, koozies,etc.... Spa There is an on resort spa at EDR too so I had my hair done there, it turned out quite nice though not what I had planned! I was starting to panic about halfway through but it worked out okay in the end lots of hairspray though! LOL! Ended up wearing my veil after lots of debating and am so glad I did. I was quite adamant at first that I didn't want to wear one, but once I tried it on I loved it! Really made me feel like a bride! Did my own makeup, I felt more like myself that way! Ceremony The ceremony was about 15 mins long which was perfect for us....the less fuss the better! It was in spanish though and then translated into english by one of the Lomas team. We didn't have our own vows but I am sure you could have fit them in too. I do remember that it was wicked hot though, so take note, 2pm is a really stoopid time to get married in Mexico! hehehe! I almost passed out right after the ceremony, and had to sit down for a minute (my drama queen moment!) All in all it went well though and everyone said that it was really beautiful. Photographer This was my one big regret.....after lots of thought we decided to go with the resort photographer and while my pictures are ok I wish I would've saved and taken someone with me. We had to tell him what we wanted in evey pic and most of the pic's were formal poses, not really what I wanted but we did save a lot on this so oh well...... Flowers Picked out my flowers once we were there for the decoration and our bouquets. I wanted something colourful and they worked out really well, they stood out well in the pics and I was very happy, they had lots of decoration choices depending on your budget too. Cake I picked this out before I left and although we got the free wedding package we had 6 different cakes to choose from and ours was really nice, only got it at the reception though not sure what happened to it then?! Dinner Our dinner was held at the resort also and was wonderful, we had 15 guests total and they sey up one big table and decorated it with the flowers from the gazebo which looked really great, we were able to choose our menu at our meeting with Abbie, and they had special menus printed up which was nice, everyone got a choice of 2 dishes for their main course too which went over well! Once we got back to our room we were amazed to find a trail of rose petals leading up to our bed and to the filled jacuzzi tub which had lit candles and more champange! Great suprise! Honeymoon dinner As we were just spending a week at the resort ( no extra time for more honeymoon, boohoo!) we decided to make the day after the ceremony our honeymoon day! We had a special breakfast in bed, and at night we had an amazing candlelit dinner on the beach, it really made it special! We had a great time and the only downside was saying goodbye to my family at the end of it (they live so far away and I miss my mom!) so lots of tears then but it was worth every minute of stress and double guessing! Hope I didn't ramble on for too long! It was fun reliving it all though!

Oh help I am hope less at this! LOL!

Oops sorry! first attempt to actually get pics up not sure how to turn them around!!

Hope this works!

Thanks everyone! Everything was amazing, although work has been hell since I got back! LOL! This is the first time I have been able to get on the computer since we got home! Will try to get my review done and please be patient I will do my best for all you picture hounds!! Hehehe! Bottom line is though that the El Dorado is really great and is absolutley recommended! -Lou

Congrats Christa! Hope everything went well for you, sure it was amazing! Cant wait to hear your reviews! Have a ball on your honeymoon!

OMG! I didn't realize you and I were getting married on the same day! I know exactly how you feel all this planning and all of a sudden its here! I feels weird to know that by this time next week I will be married!! Good luck with everything and I hope its everything you dreamed of! Have fun!

Alcohol, and lots of it ! Just kidding but right now its the only thing thats keeping me from snapping! A big glass of wine at night helps a lot! Hehehe! This site also relly calm me down its nice to know others are going through the same stress' as me! Hope you feel better soon though?

Is everyone giving their BM and MOH gifts out on the wedding day? If so when is the right time to do it? Wasn't sure if anyone was giving their gifts in with the OOT bag goodies? (see... I told you I was stressing about silly little things! LOL!)

The Colonial is soooo nice you are going to love it. We stayed at the Barcelo last year and really had a great time. That side of the resort is really pretty. Its big enough that your guests aren't in your lap all the time but you can still see them whenever you want! Hope you have a great time too!

Thanks Jason, this place looks real nice.....might be a good day out for all the girls! I think we saw it last year and may take a trip back !

Gracias! Thats exactly what I was looking for! Thank you guys!

Quote: Originally Posted by MagsieMexico Weez, I had no idea that you were from the UK originally! Em, I also am from the UK, London, and LondonSam is on here too, so we have a little contingent now!! I actually am planning to book my hotel separately, so am not worrying about the tour operators too much, you can but charter flight seats direct to cancun (google charter flights), and then just stay wherever you want... Anyway, am very glad to have a fellow brit, and welcome! Yep, but a northern lass......! LOL! You know the English always had a desire to take over everything, why not this board! Hehehe!

Quote: Originally Posted by pinkemi25 Hey, I was born in Chester but i live in Corby now which is in Northamptonshire, good to see a fellow brit on here! We are hoping to honeymoon at the EDR it looks amazing! we would have married there but we will have nieces and nephews coming ( dam sprogs!! ) Its great that you are managing to get your family to go to your wedding, i am having some problems with family politics at the mo but i'm sure it will sort itself all out eventually!! anywho, maybe good to keep in touch so i can sneak a peek at your piccies!! hugs em xx Yeah we dont have any kids going so it worked out good for that resort. (haven't heard anyone say sprogs since I left home! Hehehe!) Always around on this site so ask anything you need!

Hi Em, we are getting married at the El Dorado Royale in the Mayan Riviera (near Cancun) My family are all coming in from the UK and we cant wait! Where are you from in good old Blighty? I am originally from York, but have lived in Canada for around 7 years! -louisa

Just wondering what you are all giving to the best man or groomsmen for their gift? I know this should be on my FI's list, but he keeps putting it off because he can't think of anything to get! Any ideas?

Hi neighbour! We are also getting married in the Mayan Riviera, but a couple of days before you! I live in Guelph so practically next door! Welcome! We stayed at the Barcelo last year and really liked it, have you been there before? Wish you all the best! Louisa

Very funny! Thanks for sharing! Most of them are too true.

The royal looks really great too Anny! We had it narroed down in our final 2 for the wedding but finally went with the El Dorado, damn it now you got me doing the second guessing thing! LOL! You guys are going to have such a great time!

I think it sounds great Tammy, the couple of word tweaks that Ann suggested will be perfect. It couldn't come at a better time too, I am wrestling with my welcome letter as we speak so am going to steal some of your thank you lines too! Thanks!

Ooops! I forgot to say that your pics are great! Thanks for sharing! I love the gazebo soooo much. The long aisle to the gazebo is especially great, you are going to blow your FI away walking down that walkway towards him!

Anny, is the Hacienda del sisal right in Cancun? It looks really neat!

Congrats to both of you! It's nice to have even more people to bother! LOL! Know you'll do a great job.

You made it hard Ann!! Lol! I really liked dress number 2, I even looked at ordering it myself but the shipping and duties to Canada add up to almost half the price of the dress! So my quest continues......... Only have 6 weeks left though aaargh! Really have to get my but in gear! All of these were nice though, not bad prices either. Hope you can narrow it down soon!

Phew! I really didn't want to get matching bands, we totally want different styles so its a relief to know you guys are not either! Am late enough getting our rings anyway!! Lol!