katken

AmandaMarie - Yes, I think Xmas lights would look really nice at Zavaz Plaza. I think they'd probably put out the same amount of light as the paper lanterns. Chong - Yes, we did pics prior to the ceremony. I had EM start at 3:30 to do bridal portraits and then I met DH at the walkway in front of the ocean at 4:15 p.m. We did photos of just the two of us from 4:15 to 5 p.m. The ceremony started at 5:30 p.m. It was perfect for us as I wanted pics of us before we were hot, crying, etc. It was nice to have the time to just focus on ourselves as once the wedding was over I was concerned about everyone else. I liked the stress free environment of doing it before hand. I'm not sure who initially asked the question about moving resorts, but we got to AS on a Sunday with my parents and one really close couple. More guests started arriving Tues. through Thurs. and our wedding was Friday. Sunday everyone left and we also moved resorts on Sunday to Le Blanc in Cancun for seven nights. We were worried about not liking the second resort as much as AS but it ended up being perfect for us. It was nice to have a change of pace and a change in the food. AS food is great, but after seven days we were ready for something else. Le Blanc is a lot more chill, serene and relaxing. We loved it so much we've already gone back for another week.

Hey ladies, I'm not going to quote the message about the lanterns because I have no idea what page it's on, but here's some more info on that and Zavaz Plaza. I had the pink paper lanterns, like mentioned above they charged a $50 cash set up fee to place everything including hanging the lanterns. I think I bought 8 small, 8 medium, 4 large and 2 extra large. They didn't use all of them. The extra large ones were placed around Zavaz Plaza near palm trees on the ground. It actually looked nice. I am not a DIY'er type of girl but my awesome BM is! She put together the LED lights for me and also created a pull tab that was easy for the coordinators to pull and start they lights. I thought they looked great. Better than I expected. Here is a link to an old thread about battery operated lanterns: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...anterns-47309/ Also, my BM started an etsy page to make the LED lights for lanterns! Fun For You by funforyou on Etsy Secondly, Zavaz Plaza is a good size for large groups. We initially had 72 booked before the swine flu hit, ended up with 60. Besides the beach, this was the only place large enough to accomodate our group. We love to dance and there was plenty of room. I think we had 8 tables, one sweetheart table, a bar, and the DJ and there was still plenty of dancing room. It was really hot the day of the reception, so pardon the sweaty guests: Lanterns in the background and plenty of space for dancing: That's all that I have on Photobucket. There are a lot more of us dancing, speeches and more at Zavaz Plaza in our video from Elizabeth Medina. You can just skip to the middle of the video to see photos from the reception. (It should say AZUL Sensatori on the opening slide, not El Dorado) http://www.elizabethmedinaphotography.com/KJ09/

I think it is called Zavaz Plaza. The other thatched roof area was not available for my reception. I don't know if the rules have changed or not for that. When I was there they had lounge type furniture there and they would not remove it to set up a reception. The blue glasses were just there. I wasn't super picky about the table set up so I didn't specify that at all. In fact, if I remember correctly I think those are the standard water glasses at the tables in the restaurants too.

Quote: Originally Posted by jaimeburns Hey all, I have been gone for sometime, but have a question for you all. My wedding is in Dec, and I am trying to get a lot of my planning done now because I coach college volleyball and our season is from Aug-Nov so I want to get as much done as possible NOW. Anyways, anyone who has been married there, I am thinking of having my reception in the area by the pools and I was wondering if anyone had had their reception here, if so, what kind of lighting was supplied if any. I am not wanting big center peices and I remember one bride saying she didn't have center peices and they put candles on the table anyways. There is a thatched roof structure and I was wondering if they put any lighting under there or do I need to ask(and pay) for that. Thanks!! Hi there, I had my reception by the pool and it was the perfect place for our group. We had 65 guests (so nine tables or so), I brought LED lights for the round pink decorations for the staff to hang and the DJ also brought lighting. We didn't have any trouble with being able to see our meal, etc. I thought it was perfect. Here is a pic for you to see, it's not totally dark yet, but you can still get an idea of the set up:

Quote: Originally Posted by dakotaAZ Hi!! I am new to this forum but am pretty excited because it looks like you all have a ton of great information!! We are getting married at Azul Sensatori, tentatively on April 2, 2011. I do have a couple of questions but my biggest one right now is the photographer, I would like to use someone other than the ones that are contracted through Karisma. Any suggestions I live in Phoenix and am not sure how to go about finding someone and so many of you have beautiful photos!! Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks, Alissa Hey Alissa, I got married at AS almost a year ago and I'm from Phoenix too. I'm not on the site much any more but I still get the emails with the latest posts and I was scrolling through and saw that you were from AZ and just had to say hello. Like the other girls mentioned, AS is a great place to get married and I was very happy with my wedding. I did have Elizabeth Medina as my photographer and to be honest, she was a better decision than the resort decision! I guess the rules have changed since I was married there, because I had no trouble at all getting her approved. I didn't even have to pay the outside vendor fee since she was staying the night at the resort (which was part of her contract). So I haven't followed all of the changes but one thing for sure is that the rules do not get applied equally, so if there is something you want, email Fabio directly and ask for it! You may just have to wait a week for a response. I'd be happy to meet for coffee or a drink if you ever want to pick my brain about the hotel, photog situation or just talk about wedding planning in general, just PM me! Congrats on picking a great place to get married! Katherine

This is a REALLY great deal...about six months late for me but I'm sure will benefit a lot of brides out there!

OOOOH! We honeymooned at Le Blanc in Cancun and had a fabulous time. Adults only, awesome food, very chic/sexy. It was so wonderful we're going back for Valentine's Day! Also, if you check out Trip Advisor, it's listed as #1 out of 150 or so hotels in Cancun. Everyone raves about this place. It's just awesome! view from the pool lobby bar lobby I swear I don't work at Le Blanc! LOL It's just THAT awesome!

Quote: Originally Posted by MrsVaughn2B Amy, First of all thank you for looking for those luggage tags for me at Michael's. I have been looking too but no luck. Plan B is going to be in full effect shortly. Second, I need full details on MAC and now you are going to get her on the resort without fireworks. Hey girls! I haven't been on in forever. But...If you have a chance for someone from MAC to do your makeup, do it. The resort makeup is literally like Wet 'N Wild products and I was not impressed. I ended up doing my own. Just my two cents! Good luck!

Quote: Originally Posted by Hoosierfan Hey past brides - Anyone have any luck negotiating with Lomas onsite at the hotel? I want to do votives for our reception, but they are quoting me $3 each - seems ridiculous as I could buy them for 1/3 of the price. My WC told me she didn't have lunch negotiating with them, but that I might have a chance when I'm onsite. We leave in 3 weeks for our wedding, and while I'd rather not add another thing to lug down there, I don't feel like paying $150 to rent little votive candles! Grrr! Any advice would be helpful! Thanks! Hi there! I had no luck negotiating on site. My husband tried and tried. They new exactly what the off site coordinators had quoted me and they stuck to it. That was just my experience, hopefully it is different for you!

Quote: Originally Posted by thefuturemrslutz Hi guys!! I was about to book Azul Sensatori, until I saw LE BLANC!!! Now I am so torn! Advice? We did AS for our wedding and Le Blanc for our honeymoon. Honestly, with the prices, I don't think anyone could have stayed at Le Blanc with us if we had our wedding there...and I really wanted to hang out with my guests before and after the wedding so having them stay somewhere else wasn't that appealing to me. Le Blanc is AWESOME though and if budget isn't an issue for your guests, or you don't mind them staying at other resorts and if you don't have any kids coming I would do it!

Quote: Originally Posted by Nicolem82580 Awesome pictures !!!!!!!!! You were such a beautiful bride !!!!! question where did u get those pink lanterns ?!?! I love them !!! I totally forget where I got the lanterns. I'm sorry I'm not much of a help. I just did a Google search and found them. For the EM question - Elizabeth is extremely prompt and it looks like she PM'd you for photo information. I would recommend her in a heartbeat. Hope that helps. Sorry I was so slow to respond to you ladies.

EEEEEEEK! I of course love this dress.... I think it would be very pretty in pink. It's very bridal even though it's in a different color which I think is nice if you're going to go with a colored dress. good luck!

Quote: Originally Posted by soon2BMrs.Prince Thanks for the review...it's so helpful in making a decision on a location. Do you think someone who is picky about food would have a problem with the food served at the restaurants? Oh goodness. I'm so sorry it has taken me so long to respond. It looks like you have made your decision already, but I can tell you that the food was amazing. We had many picky eaters and they were all satisfied. There are plenty of choices! Hope that helps!

Quote: Originally Posted by MrsVaughn2B katken, Over all how was the food at the resort? Was there anything you fell in love with or anything you don't recommend? Ooooh, I forgot to tell you that if you're an adventurous eater, Le Chique is a must! It was delicious. I recommend splurging on the wine pairing with your meal there. The house wine is terrible everywhere at the resort. The rest of the drinks are great!

Quote: Originally Posted by MrsVaughn2B katken, Over all how was the food at the resort? Was there anything you fell in love with or anything you don't recommend? Overall the food was excellent! We only had one OK meal at the Mexican food place (go figure) but when we went back again, it was great. That's also where I had my "40 person reservation." I used my reservation as a ladies lunch. The chef had a prepared menu of chicken or fish and they were both excellent. The ladies at the luncheon were able to choose which option they prefered once we were all seated. I know how stressful all of this is, especially if you're not able to do a site visit. We didn't go to AS before our wedding and I was sick to my stomach almost every day about the food, the resort, on and on. But honestly, I can't stress how wonderful AS is. We're planning on going back we liked it so much. So try not to stress. Enjoy this time, it goes by very quickly!

Hi Girls, A while back someone had asked about menus. I'm sorry it has taken me so long to reply. I think it may have even been a PM but I thought I would just post here for everyone. We did the BBQ Deluxe option for our menu. To be honest, I have no idea if it was good as I only had a roll all night long! It looked delicious and all of my guests seemed to enjoy it. The reason I chose the buffet BBQ Deluxe is because I wanted people to have access to food quickly. I didn't want a big formal sit down dinner, we wanted more time for music, dancing, and the DJ. Hope that helps!

Thank you so much!

Quote: Originally Posted by Mialonghorn Does anyone know where I can find these? I got one from lunabazaar but it's not very bright. One of my BM's made the lights for my lanterns and they turned out EXCELLENT! So good that she started and Etsy store. Here's her link! funforyou on Etsy - Fun For You! My reception:

Quote: Originally Posted by meghan Katken (and all you other brides) do you think it would be reasonable to purchase your own fabric and bring it there ? Even to bring your own fabric to make bows? I really want bows on the chairs, and coloured fabric on the poles, but I find the cost just keeps going up and up and I'm trying to keep it down lol Honestly, I was having so much fun with my BM's/family on the day of the wedding I would not have wanted to set this up by myself. I have no idea how you would do it without a ladder. Plus, there was a wedding before mine, so I would have had to stalk their's to know when I could set my things up. It just doesn't seem realistic. If you brought the fabric down, you could probably pay them to set it up, I just don't know if it would be worth all of the hassle.

Quote: Originally Posted by meghan Ash, I noticed you priced out 4 pieces of fabric for the set up...I'm wondering if 2 would be enough for what I want. Is it your impression that 1 piece of fabric drapes over the front 2 poles and the 2nd drapes over the back to poles? I know that is very confusing lol. If i knew how to post a picture, I would!! Anyone know? In my opinion, you really only need two pieces of fabric. Here's a pic of my set up with two.

Katken, thanks for the info! It's weird that Tiffany originally said to choose one color (and didn't include any more info), but maybe she'll include some of these details when she writes back. Did the cost of the ceremony include that pretty vase with your initials? Thanks! The sand ceremony vases are not included. You can buy them from the onsite coordinators but I don't know what those ones look like. I didn't even ask since I brought my own. I bought them at Say Anything Wedding Signature Plates, Platters, Frames and Sparklers I also ordered my guest book platter there too. With my BM's messages on it to start it out. Just a heads up...we were not able to negotiate any pricing. Although you are able to finalize everything with the onsite team, they do not budge on pricing. We tried. Also, you have to have most everything paid for by the time you go down. Any extras can be added and paid at the hotel (like the sand for the sand ceremony, extra charges for set-up, etc.) but my big expenses had to be paid in full before we left. I think the contract says 30 days out and we paid about 7 days out from when we arrived, but there was also the massive swine flu craziness so my numbers kept changing and Fabio was cool about me pushing back payment until I could get a for sure head count.

I don't have the text they used for my sand ceremony, although I remember it being nice. Here is a pic for you to see, it's two colors of sand. You can bring your own or buy it onsite from the wedding coordinators for $5/color. Hope that helps!

Girls, I promise your wedding will be great. The mixed reviews on Trip Advisor are soooo crazy. They are just picking apart the resort for the craziest things. It's not justified. I'm almost 30, have traveled extensively for work and for fun and I was so happy with the resort. If you are very picky and seeing one ant or seeing a hairline crack in the sidewalk is going to upset you, I don't think a beach wedding is good for you. Resorts along the ocean have to endure a lot of elements. These little things do not ruin the ambience of the hotel. It is really normal. I hope that calms your fears. But I promise, I'm a perfectionist and I was really worried about what my guests were going to think of the hotel and it all turned out so wonderful. In fact, a few of our friends want to plan a big trip to go back to AS for our one year anniversary. Keep focused on the positive. Having extra time with your family and friends at your wedding is the best thing ever. AS was the perfect location for us and I would choose this resort again if I had to do it all over.

Quote: Originally Posted by KittenHeart Bree - I do recall reading an AS review from a bride on this forum saying that they did get the front desk to hand out a letter to each person who checked in saying to come to their room with the room number so the bride/groom could personally hand them their OOT bag instead of the $4 per room delivery cost. I was planning on doing the same thing with the letter, I would ask your coordinator and I'm sure the onsite would be happy to accomodate. Just my thoughts I think it is $5 per room. We asked our travel agent representative who was doing the transfers from the airport to our hotel for our guests (American Express) to give us a list each day with the arrival times of our guests. The AMEX guy has a desk in the lobby of the hotel. We then met our guests (all 59 of them) in the lobby to greet them with their welcome bags. It was really fun to see everyone as they arrived and many guests commented on how nice it was for us to welcome them personally. On Trip Advisor a few people have complained about check-in and the staff being rude at the front desk. I promise if the bride and groom walk the guests over to the front desk for check in, there is no chance they'll be rude. We didn't experience this at all and it was great to make a nice first impression for our destination wedding with our guests.

Quote: Originally Posted by soon2BMrs.Prince Thank you for sharing your photos. You looked amazing and super happy. This is exactly how I envision our wedding day. Is Elizabeth Medina an outside photographer or was she provided by the resort? Thank you so much! She is an outside vendor. She advertises here on the site and also posted a comment on page #2 of this thread. You can PM her directly. She's fantastic and great to work with!