McBradley

They will set up a great wooden runner for you to walk on during a beach ceremony. I wore heels for the ceremony and changed into sme cute white wedge flip-flops for the reception. We did a lot of shots barefoot - the sand is beautiful to walk on, just rocky as you enter the water.

Lots of room for dancing. There are columns (posts) throughout the terrace, so keep that in mind when planning the seating. We did 5 tables of 8, with our head table including our witnesses and us. It was great - plenty of room for dancing and mingling, and it felt nice and intimate. We taught my Grandpa to 'raise the roof' although he referred to it as 'holding up the ceiling' Priceless! Best of luck to you Tsasha!

Hi ladies, I am just back from my honeymoon and was at Azul for my wedding the same week as chloe (Chloe, it was great to meet you and I'm sure you were an absolutely stunning bride!) I'll give you a condensed review until I have some more time to get caught up with work. The Good: Overall, we had a WONDERFUL experience at the Azul, with 45 of our closest family and friends. My Dad wrote a review on Trip Advisor (Larry from Aurora) if you'd like to read it. Our guests were blown away by the quality of the resort. The drinks were fantastic, and the food was the best I have ever had, and I've travelled a LOT. We were thrilled overall with the resort. We had a 'welcome dinner' at Spoon restaurant the first day (our West coast gests were not arriving for another 2 days, so we had enough people to squeak in with the 'under 40' rule). The restaurant did an incredible job. When we arrived, they had a special champagne toast ready for the group - an unexpected, lovely touch. We had menus with a choice of steak, chicken or fish that the restaurant provided - all at no additional charge! That is the way they do their'set menus' for groups. One of my guests had food allergies, and they promptly altered the menu to accomodate her. They were wonderful, and the chef even came out to introduce himself to me and make sure that everything was fine. The week itself was a blast, and everyone loved the variety of food and drinks. I heard nothing but rave reviews about the service and quality of both the food and drinks. The wedding: Gilberto and Honey are incredible. We did our blood test (no problem) and met with them to plan out the day. They were super accomodating and very easy t work with. I got married on the beach, and added hot pink bows to the chairs. I LOVED how it looked; they even added hot pink gerbera daisies and tropical flowers to complement the colours. It really 'popped' against the sand and I thought it was gorgeous. The ceremony went beatifuly, and I had two of my friends do short readings throughout even though it was a legal civil ceremony. Gilberto helped organize it, and it went off without a hitch. We brought our own ipod with music for walking down the aisle and signing the book, and I honestly don't know who played it for us. We had a friend that offered to be in charge of the music, but I know that the resort will take care of playing your ceremony music for you as well. We had quite a group watching the wedding, and nstead of it othering me I found it really touching to hear them all wish us well afterwards, and to see that a few of the ladies even got a little weepy The reception was on the terrace at Zocalo al Fresco. I LOVED this set-up. The bar was there for people to have a drink while we were doing pics, there were bathrooms nearby, and we were off the sand but still had a beautiful ocean view. I chose a cheap menu - a $12 chicken entree with an endive salad, and I swapped the butterscotch cheesecake for dessert. It was wonderful, and everyone loved the food. I really don't think you need to spend a lot on the food - it is all consistently good anyway. I brought small white lanterns from home with scented hot pink tealight candles. They set them up around centerpieces filed with hot pink and orange gerbera daisies and lilies. I also had tropical rose petals scattered on the table tops. It was so pretty, and I was completely thrilled. They set u my lanters, etc. at n charge as well. We had a cake as well - the three tiered version that was supposed to only feed 30-40. It was more than enugh, even though we cut it later on in the evening. I'd recommend ordering smaller than you think - especially if you are also serving a meal. We played our own music. The staff was incredible. I felt like I had my own personal butler for the evening - my wne glass was never empty and I was constantly being asked if I needed anything. My family loved the staff, and we even took some cute pictures with them. The Bad: I was shocked in my meeting with Gilberto and Hney to fnd out that the vows I was provided by Fabio were the wrong vows. He sent me the 'symbolic' ceremony vows, which I spent 3 weeks revising and personalizing. When I got there I found out that the civil ceremony was nothing like what I had expected. That's why we had our friends say little speeches throughout, to soften it up and make it more personal. Also, my bouquet picture was not passed along by Fabio. My flowers were gorgeous (hot pink roses with greenery) but not what I expected. Ladies, make sure you are very diligent about your details. Another downside was the beach. It is NOT a swimming beach, although you can walk down a few minutes towards "desire" and the beach is much nicer. The sand is gorgeous, and we spent tons of time there regardless. Also, the resort has quite a few 'construction' glitches to fix. My blinds fell down, the door to my patio had the handle break off in my hand, and our A/C didn't work 3 days out of 7. Not big deals, but annoying. Overall, I loved my wedding and can honestly say that my friends and family were thoroughly impressed with the resort! Good Luck to all of the future brides, and I'll post some of my candid shots soon Krista.

WOW! Congratulations Beecher2Be and thanks for the note - you made my day!

Same with me - I'm still waiting on a few things but I feel confident that we will all be ok. I have not paid the final bill yet. I am not staying long past the wedding, we will be leaving on the Friday to jump on a cruise! Chloe, if you'd like to get together at the resort I'd be happy to share with you any insights I can - at the very least we should have a mojito to celebrate!

Here is the link for their private events - this should help you get an idea of pricing! http://www.karismahotels.com/wedding...t-kit-2009.pdf

Thank you for sharing that letter with us. My travel agent is looking into this as well, and I'll be happy to share any news/feedback I get from her.

I feel sick after reading that Trip Advisor review, as my wedding is just over a month away. I'm hoping for a miracle.

Very good point Beckerba! For those of us getting married within the next few months (myself included) we just have to be very open minded, and maybe give our guests a little 'heads up' that the resort may not be 100% yet.... If it doesn't rain and the drinks are flowing, I think I can manage just about anything. It's hard not to worry about everything, but I'll make myself sick if I keep dwelling on the negative. This is, after all, supposed to be one of the happiest days of our lives!

Hi BcBride! We've opted to go with a private reception (I want it to be 'private', and we have more than 40 guests). It is possible to keep it on the cheap if you choose one of their fixed 3-course dinner options. That is what we went with. It still includes a 4-hour open bar, and it allows us to have a private party. Having a dance floor may be an incremental cost depending on which location you choose for the reception. We're loading up our ipod which means we only have to pay $250 to rent the speakers/microphone for the reception, and we are skipping out on a DJ. A friend has offered to take care of the music for us (stopping and starting for speaches/etc.) I'm going to have my hair stylist create the look that I want here at home, and she will take pictures along the way. That way, the ladies at the spa will know exactly what I want! I'm also going to go for a makeup consultaion before I head to Mexico as well, and then I will attempt to do it myself. I'm too nervous about someone else making me look unlike myself on the big day. Hope that helps!!!

Wow - Amy, that dress is spectacular and you looked really beautiful! Congratulations to you both

So far I've had the same experience as well. Once we started to get into the details he was much more responsive

wow! Now I am getting totally excited!!!!!

Beecher2Be, I am in the EXACT same position as you, and we are getting married only a few weeks apart! I've also been very nervous about our rapidly dropping dollar, as all of the prices in the 'private event kit' are quoted in US$$. It's basically going to mean an extra 20% for us on top of the costs (based on today's value at least). We are expecting 50 people, so I will have to host a private dinner. I started to gather a few things myself, but feel stalled by the fact that the resort isn't open and I can't get many answers from Fabio. I can't really finalize my decorations until I know where I'm going to be having my reception! I took some time off next month (November) and am hoping to nail down my details once the hotel is 'officially' opened by phoning Fabio and working everything out in one call. I'll keep you posted on anything I find out, and if you want to send me a private message please do so - we will figure this out together!

Thanks for the review weddingchick!!