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The Halekulani is a beautiful hotel. I've been to a couple of business functions there and they were all very well done. The only problem with the hotel: it's in Waikiki. I used to live on O'ahu and I can't stand Waikiki. The turtle bay hilton on the north shore and the ko'olina resort on the West side of the Island have a far less touristy feel.

Name: Bre Wedding Date: January 19, 2008 Time: 3pm (one hour before Shea's!) Location: Presidential Gazebo (had booked Casita's but our group is too large for the new, smaller location) Cocktail Reception: White Glove at Gaviotas 4pm-6pm Private Dinner Event: Tucanes (no alternate rain location chosen yet) Guests: 30

I have a colleague who did not want a shower but settled on a very small get-together with the people that wanted to give her one. They had a nice luncheon with a specific request for "no gifts." She said it was a nice way to spend time with women that wanted to celebrate the special time in her life. maybe you can just suggest a very small lunche with you FMIL and FSILs? Then there won't be a ton of people paying attention to you but you have a nice chance to spend some quality time together. make it your own version of their tradition.

I bought Bare Minerals last weekend at one of their stores and so far I really like it. Going to the store was great b/c she showed me a couple of options for eye make-up including one for the wedding. It did cost a quite abit for everything but I think it will last for a while.

We are having thirty people at our wedding at the EDR in Janauary. For the cocktail reception, we are having it beachside at Gaviotas, then moving to Tucanes for the dinner and dancing. For a photographer, we have hired Vincent Guihard, Sol Tamargo's associate photographer. Rather than paying the $500 fee (which by the way is not stated in the contract), we have taken the advice of Matt Adcock and are booking a room for Vincent the night of the wedding at a cost of $300. Kind of a bummer but we wanted pictures of the whole event, not just the ceremony and a short time after. There are plenty of threads on this topic in the forum. If you have confirmed your date and time, your WC should be able to give you all the info you need about different types of receptions available. I've read that some couples had a dessert buffet at EDR. It's not listed in the materials I got, so if you have something in mind, don't be afraid to ask. Good luck and have fun planning!

Quote: Originally Posted by kitesurf_bride I think you could fit 15 people there but I have to stress that it is VERY public. You would have people walking right by you on the sidewalk the whole time. There is another Gazebo that would fit a smaller group. It is located closest to the presidential suites. It has a lot of greenery around, but does have a rock wall in the back. I thought it was really pretty though. Maybe your WC could send you a picture? I recall this being very, very close to the presidential suites. Is that correct? Will it fee like we are up against a building? Thanks!

Quote: Originally Posted by kitesurf_bride Bre, I am sorry your bummed about the gazebo! I was too, but there really are a few others that are beautiful as well. Forgive me for not remembering their exact names. Maybe you can ask your WC for pictures? I really like Gazebo 55... it was private and no sandbags. There is also another gazebo... its closest to the presidential suites which I almost choose (I had never heard mention of it before). There is a lot of greenery around it but there is a rock wall behind. Its very beautiful though. Thanks. I'm sure we'll be able to work something out. My major concern though is that I've had my dress hemmed to wear 3 inch heels and I'm not sure how I'll pull that off in the sand. We actually stayed by Gazebo 55 when we did our site visit and it is pretty. I was just hoping for a walkway. In the end I know it's just a little thing so we'll fix it or I'll just have to get over it! You're photos were great though. THanks for sharing and writing the review!

THank you so much for sharing your review and photos. You looked so beautiful and you and your husband look so happy! Thanks for posting the picture of the Casita gazebo. It looks like the only location at the whole resort that I wanted won't work for my 30 guests. Not good...

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Quote: Originally Posted by maggiemaylou For our private reception locations (we are wanting to do BBQ deluxe I think), they sent us all beach pictures. I am not real thrilled with the thought of eating in the sand. Any suggestions? You may want to consider Tucanes. From what I have read this is a popular spot for groups 20+. It's in the center of the resort, but oddly private. There is a palapa building that dinner is served under. It's also next to a pool with a large patio for dancing. Though in June, you may want to consider using the Royale Salon, especially if you are going to have dancing, b/c the humidity could be really high. Quote: Originally Posted by maggiemaylou Also would love your thoughts on this: We are using "free" dinner the night before for our "rehearsal" dinner. Do they actually let you rehearse? We are doing a symbolic ceremony (legal in the states week before) - any idea as to who conducts this ceremony and is it in English? The wedding is at 5pm, and depending on cost, we are going to try and do cocktails/appetizers at 6:00pm and dinner at 7:30pm. This may be pushing it and their packages don't really allow for our time frame. We also want to have some dancing like a normal reception (with drinks of course). Any thoughts as to how we could pull this off? We are doing a legal ceremony and were told that they do not do rehearsals. Apparently this isn't a common thing in Mexican culture. They will walk you through it all when you meet with the planners when you arrive on site. If your ceremony is at five, you can do cocktails starting at 5:30 going to 7:30. With your dinner event from 7:30-11:30. The private dinner dinner event is when you would do dancing.

The first dress is stunning! I agree with the other posts that you should wait. I too ended up with a completely different dress than what I had imagined (and bought for my first dress at Filene's Basement bridal sale). Plus, you should have plenty of time if you order in december and your wedding is in July.

Quote: Originally Posted by brandoo So this is a totally ADD post (I'm all over the place, but I've got to get it out while I'm thinking of it) but I looked at Lomas web-site to try and figure out how much a bouquet with orchids would be... $250?! Holy Cr#@ (can you use curse-word inuendos on forums?... how do forums work? I best not get kicked off for that). Anyway, if mine is $250, what the heck will they charge for my bridesmaids?! And then some floral decoration? I will NOT drop a grand on flowers. No. All of this stuff is really adding up... maybe I'll carry one of those cute monkeys from the resort instead of flowers... may have fleas, but they're cute and free! Orchids are really expensive but it's because they have to import them. Cymbidiums are typically expensive in the states too in my experience b/c it takes forever to grow them. If you want your BM to have orchids, consider mixing it with another flower such as roses. This should greatly decrease your costs.

Quote: Originally Posted by AlmostMrsForbes I love your invites - the blue and brown are gorgeous! If you don't mind me asking - which design did you use on Mygatsby? Or did you DIY? They are the Nancy 2 layer square invites with metallic paper. I would advise ordering a sample ($10) if you are considering ordering. Some of the colors look different on the swatches than on the computer. My FI really liked the metallic paper on the sample, so we ended up going with that.

Quote: Originally Posted by MrsV-to-be Bre - are the orchids very expensive? It depends on what kind of arrangement you are getting them in. For a boutonnière it's the same price as a rose. But for a bridal bouquet of all cymbidium orchids it is $250, while all roses is $50. For our cocktail centerpieces I got quotes for just four roses in a small vase wrapped in a palm leaf and for the same with a couple of orchids. It was $25 for all roses and $35 with orchids. In all fairness to Lomas, my experience has been that outside of Hawaii, orchids tend to run pricier than many other flowers.

Quote: Originally Posted by shannon Awesome- thanks for info....... Is anyone planning centerpieces/decorations for dinner/reception- do they do the decorations for you - is it something you choose? -or something you add on- does anyone have information about this? Thanks guys!!!! Hi Shannon-- You need to order centerpieces/decorations from your WC. Here is the website that lists their options (under amenities): Weddings in Cancun & Riviera Maya Some need to be ordered up to two months in advance if they contain flowers that have to be imported, such as orchids or calla lilies. We are working with Valeria and she emailed us photos of different linen options. She also says that when it comes to any type of decoration, if we send them photos they will work on getting it. Hope this helps!

Quote: Originally Posted by kitesurf_bride Shannon- I just returned from my wedding at EDR (I will post a full report soon!) to answer your question... Fuentes and Cocotal are both inside. Fuentes is upscale Mexican and Cocotal has different menus every night (so you may want to check with your WC about which menu that you would have on which night). I wish I had pictures to show you, but you can see a couple on the Karisma website. Just my opinion... I think Fuentes would have more character. And, its right on a large pool and has big windows all in front so if you look out at night you see the pool and fountain and trees all lit up. Hope it helps! Maybe your WC could send you pics? Are there windows now like at Kampai?? I can't realy imagine why they would enclose Fuentes. It was my favorite restaurant. We ate breakfast there every morning. I told FI we'ed be walking from the Casitas when we go back in January- but now maybe not DO you have any photos you can post?

Susan-- those are stunning pictures!!! She did an incredible job. Can I ask where your groomsmen got their suits??

Quote: Originally Posted by jfwolfe72 Did Valeria contact you to ask you about things to finalize or did you have to reach out to her? Since we've picked the location for the ceremony, are having the "free" wedding reception at El Cocotal, having a Welcome Mexican cocktail party the day before the wedding, and having a private reception for the cake and dancing after the free reception, what else do we need to do? I don't want to get down there and get all stressed w/ what we have to plan! Yikes! I hope the resort knows the drill well enough and will take care of everything for us. We can't wait to hear your review! I too am working with Valeria and she is great. She is however more reactive than proactive so you should go through a standard wedding checklist and see what if anything you might need or want. I just did my floral order since some include orchids and those have to be ordered 2 months in advance. I think if you layout as much as you can in advance, the hotel does enough weddings that hopefully they will be able to handle everything smoothly. But IMHO, I'm not expecting them to go above and beyond with additional things that we not discussed in advance. It should be great though!!!

Jilly-- your post is what made me think of it again! Makes me wonder... b/c she did kind of leave the door open that it could happen...

During our site visit in May to the EDR, the staff mentioned the hotel was splitting the Casita's into their own resort. I've also seen some mentions of this on the forum. I asked my travel agent (Christine from DestinationWeddings.com) about it. The following is the response she received yesterday from Karisma. "Hi Christine, Thanks very much for your email. This was something the hotel was considering doing in the past but not any more. The hotel will not be split into two. If this decision were ever to change, it would not impact any existing groups so there is no need for your bride to worry. Thanks for checking and for your support of Karisma Hotels! Warm Regards, Faith Faith Wishnie Director of Wedding Services Karisma Marketing, LLC "

We considered Azul briefly but I heard they had less than 100 rooms. I didn't trust some of our guests to book in time to get a room during the peak January season. Also, we wanted a bigger resort so all of our guests wouldn't feel like they had to spend time with other guests. It looks amazing though!

I lived on O'ahu for five years in Kane'ohe and Honolulu (Nu'u'anu Valley). Both were great places to live. Lani'kai is really pretty too and Kai'lua is a fun little town. But absolutely adore Kaua'i, especially Hana'lei Bay. IMHO, there is no spot on earth more beautiful and serene. I would recommend it without hesitation to anyone. I used to visit family there about one a month and it is a place you never tire of. Try to avoid going in the winter months though, when it's rainy.

Quote: Originally Posted by Wisco4 Very cool! Thanks for the link, I could spend a few hours today on there It sucks you in- be careful! The design gallery also lets you play around with combinations. Oy, I'm never going to get any work done...

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Came across this website with a very large photo gallery of tablescapes. There are some fantastic ideas. BBJ Linen