daniepps

 I got married at the resort in July and I used my iPod for the welcome reception, the ceremony and the reception and it all worked out fine. I just made playlists beforehand. When met with the WCs I showed them the ceremony playlist and told them what songs were supposed to play when a particular person/group walked in. They wrote everything down and it worked out. Â

They were on time with me but they did allow changes after I made the payment. I had more guests book their trip after my final payment was due so they allowed me to add more meals as well as change the number of meals I offered. However, I've heard some other brides say they didn't take out their payment until a few days before and sometimes after their wedding. Â

Just chiming in here. On the map it may look like the two locations are close but they really aren't. The music may overlap depending on how loud it is but you won't be able to see one another. Â Â I did a Pick and Choose Menu. I offered a pasta dish with shrimp and a chicken and salmon steak w/mashed potatoes dinner. (DELICIOUS!!!) The pasta was $20 and the other meal was $22. I had to give the exact numbers of each meal to the WC before my final payment was made. I was told there was no way to pick onsite since everything is paid for before you go. I also had to have some type of place cards that let the waiters know who was getting what meal. So when I sent my pre-wedding brochure I gave my guests both meal options and a date that we needed their decision. I used different color ink on the place cards to differentiate who got what meal. So mine had my name and "Pasta" in pink and my husband had his name and "Salmon and Chicken" in grey. The onsite WCs set up the cards on a table along with the favors I gave away (cigars for men, fans for women). Everything turned out fine. Here's a picture. You can't really see the ink color but it's the only one I could find. Â

I had a premium swim up and you get the butler service and the aromatherapy but the only major difference is the hot tub outside which we really wanted. We actually never used the one in the room but we used the one outside a lot. You also get free wi-fi if you plan to bring your computer. Â I had my reception at Zavaz Plaza and I really didnt notice any change in the temperature and it's not actually in between two buildings so I don't think that should be an issue. Â All drinks are included but their premium would be Absolut Vodka or Ketel One not Belvedere or Grey Goose. I also don't remember seeing Remy Martin or anything like that but they may have had Hennessey. Â I think it'll be worth it and I really don't think your guests hanging out will be a problem. We wondered how anybody would know that they weren't staying on the premium side if somebody did say something. Â With the towels if you're on the premium side you just give them your room number and get towels. Everyone else has to have a towel card. I never used the towels though because I brought my own. Â

I'm not sure what you get in terms of packages but I really don't think the Premium room is worth it unless you're going to get a Premium Swim-Up. The regular premium rooms are no different than the Jacuzzi Jr. or the Luxury Jacuzzi. The Premium Swim-Up has a hot tub outside as well as the pool and they say people can't come to the premium side if they aren't in premium rooms but our guests came and got in the pool outside our room every day and there was never a problem. Â

 I think suing them is great advice and I'm not letting it go so that may be the last resort. I emailed the manager but found out she's no longer in customer service so I'll be calling the office the first thing Tuesday morning since Monday is a holiday.

I was assigned to Susan White. She ws ok at first but at the end she ended up being horrible!!! She was always rather slow with her responses and yesterday I found out that she lied when she said I qualified for a promotion that was supposed to get me a refund of about $1200. She also lied and told me and my guests that if we booked the room by a certain date we'd be eligible for a resort credit. When we got to the resort no one there knew anything about the credit and when I finally got a response from her one month after my wedding she told me that I didn't qualify for the credit or the promotion because it wasn't written into my contract even though she was responsible for writing my contract!!! She is awful. I'd suggst staying away from DW.com all together. It seems like they have a lot of issues.

    I am so pissed with dw.com right now I can scream!!!! I signed up with them in August 2009 with the intention of planning a wedding in St. Thomas but I found out they don't have many AI resorts so the TA with dw.com suggested AS and once I saw the pics I went with it. I booked my wedding date and a group room block in September and the deposits for the rooms were due in October. My TA told me as well as listed on my wedding website that anyone who booked before the time the deposit was due would receive a $50 resort credit. I was also told that if I booked at least 21 rooms I would be eligible for a free room upgrade. When the deposits were due I had 27 rooms booked. Sometime in January my TA emailed me and said she had applied for the Bride and Groom Stay Free promotion because it looked like I had enough rooms to qualify. I asked her whether the BGSF promotion was able to be combined with the free upgrade and she said she'd have to get back to me. She got back with me about a week later and told me that I did qualify for the BGSF promotion and I could combine it with the free upgrade. I also asked her how the BGSF promotion worked and she told me it was equal to the lowest booked room category and would be issued as a refund 10 days after I returned from the trip. By the time my final room payments were due I had a couple of guests cancel so we only ended up with 25 rooms. My detail sheet from the WC at the resort had me listed as being booked under the BGSF promotion.  When we got to the resort people started inquiring about the resort credit, the WC, event manager and front desk manager said they had no record of us being eligible for any resort credit. I sent my TA an email while we were still at the resort and she said she'd check into it. Needless to say there wasn't a resolution before all of my guests left. When I got home I sent her another email asking about the status of the credits and I also asked her when I could expect my refund from the BGSF promotion. Again she said she'd look into it. I never got a response so I sent her another email asking the same thing. This time she replied a few days later and told me she was working on it. Last Tuesday which was 20 days after we returned I sent her another email and let her know that telling me she's working on it is not telling me what the status is and I would appreciate it if she would let me know the status of the credit as well as the promotion. She replied on Wednesday and said she had to check with the office and asked if I could give her until Thursday to find out. I never received a response so on Monday I sent an email to the manager. By Tuesday when I didn't get a response from that I called the office and spoke to the manager who told me she was working on it and would probably have an answer later in the day. So yesterday I get an email from my TA saying that the office reviewed my contract and found that I didn't qualify for the resort credit or the BGSF promotion because it wasn't written in my contract. Furthermore, she said I wouldn't have qualified anyway because I needed 26 rooms for the BGSF promotion and I only had 25 rooms. I hit the roof!!!!!! If I have a TA and there's something that I qualify for that needs to be written in a contract, isn't it her responsibility to put it in the contract???? It literally took me 2 hours to send a response to her email because all I could think of to write at first were curse words. This is really unbelievable to me. I asked her if the resort had me listed as being under the BGSF promotion why wouldn't I qualify for it? Of course she hasn't replied. I plan to contact the manager but I was still angry today so I couldn't deal with it.  So to all you B2Bs please make sure any promotion your TA says you're eligible for is written into your contract. Apparently an email from the TA saying you're qualified and they received approval isn't enough and even if they list on your website that you and your guests will get a credit if they book by a certain time, that's not valid either unless it's in your contract. Â

I bought the stuff here and took it with me. Â We actually ended up with 7 suitcases all together and two were full of just wedding stuff. It really wasn't that bad taking everything with us. We paid $80 total for luggage because we both checked two and carried on one and gave the other one to one of our kids to check (they were on a different flight) so I really didn't think it was that bad pricewise. Keep in mind if you wait until you get to Mexico, a taxi ride to Cancun is $80 round trip and it's $60 round trip to Playa del Carmen so it may end up being cheaper to bring it with you. Â I actually can't tell you what the cake tasted like because I only took one bite after we cut it and fed each other a piece. My guests said it was good though. Half of the cupcakes were lemon. The other half were vanilla. Â I gave them two pictures, the one I ended up ordering and another cake which was just a 3 tiered square cake and requested a price for 40 people. I was quoted $568 for both cakes which is their standard 3 tier, 40 person cake price. Â What city are you coming from? Â

Here's a pic of the cake I requested as well as a pic of the cake I got. I think they did an ok job. (My cake is on the left) Â Â Â

We had the hostesses come down and spread rose petals when the song first started so I believe I entered around the end of the first verse. By the time I got to the gazebo it was the end of the second verse. I was a little upset becasue I specifically told the WCs to play that song all the way through but they faded it out when I got to the gazebo. I think they did it because I was running so late and the minister and videographer had another wedding they had to get to. Â For the centerpiece I went to Michaels and bought 10 round mirrors that were $1.99 each, 10 pink candles for $3.99 each and 2 bags of seashells for $6.99 each. They were very simple but things like centerpieces aren't very important to me. Here's a pic: Â Â Â

I bought centerpieces for 10 tables and paid $70 all together. The cheapest centerpiece the resort offered was $50 each. I thought that was just too much.

And if anyone has any questions feel free to ask away! You can ask on this forum or PM me. Â Â

I finally did it! Here's my wedding review. I hope it helps! Â http://bestdestinationwedding.com/products/azul-sensatori-hotel-by-karisma-all-inclusive/reviews#3821

I love, love, love Stevie!!! I came in to "You and I" and it wasn't cheesy!!!!! LOL We had them start the song and then rose petals were put down so I basically didn't start walking until the second verse. It wasn't too long and the WC's will fade the music if you want them to. I like "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" as an exit song. Our first dance was "Knocks Me Off My Feet".

We spent about $22k and our budget was $15k. But in addition to our trip and the wedding we also paid for our 3 children and the photographer's trip and fee. I didn't order flowers or centerpieces from AS. We had 50 people and had a cocktail/welcome reception and dinner reception after the wedding. I think you could probably do it for $15k with some serious budgeting but I think $10k is unrealistic for what you want. Â I originially thought that it would be a discount off of our room but my TA said we had to pay everything in full and then the discount would be issued as a refund 10 days after we return. I'm guessing that since you used the room for your photographer you wouldn't get a refund.

A question to past brides: Â Did anyone qualify for the Bride and Groom Stay free promotion and if so how long did it take you to get your refund? My TA originally told me 10 days from the time we get back. It's now day 19 and the last I heard was that she's "working on it." I'm really getting irritated with her because it seems that now that the wedding is over her response time and the energy she seems to be putting out is really lacking. If I don't get a reply today I think I'll contact her manager.

1) Since we brought our photographers with us, we did pay for their meals. I'm not sure what I would've done if we used a Mexican photographer but I think it is customary to provide a meal for the photographer. Â 2) Our wedding was scheduled to start at 3 but started around 3:30 and was over around 3:50. The reception was scheduled for 4:30 but we didn't get it started until around 5 because we were still taking pictures. We took pictures for about an hour but that felt rushed so I'd say anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours is enough time. Â 3) I would say start everything as early as possible. My ceremony was scheduled for 3pm and I started getting ready at 9am and was still late! My MOH started my hair at 10 (I had a weave done). She finished that around 12. Then I got my eyelashes done which took about 45 minutes to an hour. I then left the room and went to the spa to get a polish change. That took an hour and 15 minutes. I got back to the room at 2:15 and still had to get my hair styled, make-up done and get dressed. We finally walked out the room at 3:20. So all that to say while it seems like nothing should really take a long time, everything takes longer than it normally does on your wedding day. So for a 5:30 ceremony I'd say you should get started no later than noon. Â Us women have it so bad. The day before our wedding there was another wedding at 4pm. The groom and groomsmen from that wedding were in the pool taking shots with us until 3:15. There's absolutely no way we could get ready for a wedding in 45 minutes!!!!

You should get the TA before you get a date. The TA can be your go between with the resort and can request your date from the resort. And if you're not stuck on a particular date the TA can tell you what dates will be cheaper than others.

REALLY?????? I don't think I got anything back. Â

A day pass costs $80 but I believe it's cheaper if someone is coming for a wedding. If you have a big group staying at the resort and maybe only one or two who need a day pass you may be able to negotiate free passes on the day of the wedding.

I thought you only gave parents gifts if they contributed and since ours didn't we didn't get them anything but I'm waiting for our pro pictures to come back and I'm going to get a nice mother/daughter picture frame and put one of the pictures of my mother and I in it and give it to her. I don't think my husband plans to get his mother anything. Sorry if I'm no help. Â

We got legally married three days before the Mexican wedding. I had no interest in doing the blood test in Mexico and didn't want to have to wait to have everything translated. And if we got legally married in Mexico we would've had to get there two days before we did which would've cost like another $1000 for 2 nights at the resort. I really didn't expect anything special other than signing of papers but it was kind of emotional, however, it didnt take away from the day in Mexico. I think if it's easier to do it here you probably should. Â Here's a pic from our legal ceremony. The decorations in the room are awful. LOL Â Â Â

 We got three cards and only one of those was given to us at the reception. The other two were brought to our room. I probably wouldn't worry about getting a card box. I asked my mother beforehand to hold any cards we got. Maybe you can do something like that and then put them in the room safe when you get them.  All the dresses, including mine came from David's Bridal. The pink is called Candy Pink but I think they're discontinuing that color. Â

Someone asked about the adult side vs. the family side vs. the premium side. We had guests all over the resort. As a matter of fact since the resort was sold out most of our guests were upgraded to the premium side ( I wasn't too happy about that because we wanted to be on the premium side alone but that's another story) but anyway. It really doesn't make a bit of a difference where the rooms were. Everyone pretty much gathered at the adult pool swim up bar everyday no matter where they stayed. We also had a swim up suite so in the evening we told everyone to just meet at our pool and we did more partying there, not sure if we were supposed to do that but we did and it was all cool!