taylorwd

Jennifer, Where were you when we were in this stage of planning! You would have been wonderful!

1. How old are you? 31 2. At what age did you/will you get married? 31 3. Do you have children? no 4. Did you think you would marry the person you are with now? I hoped so! 5. Were you ever engaged or married to someone other than the person you are with now? no 6. Do you want a garden wedding, beach wedding, or the traditional church wedding? at the beach but not on the beach 7. Where did you/will you get married? Riviera Maya, Mexico 8. First dance - classic waltz, slow and sexy, or fast and spicy? slow and sexy 9. How many guests did you/will you have? 22 adults 6 kids 10. Do you want/did you have an extravagant wedding or a simple wedding? simple 11. Vows - traditional or something you make up on your own? our own of course! 12. How many layers of cake did you/will you have? 2 13. Is/was your wedding/reception at a hotel? yes 14. When did you/will you get married - sunrise, mid-day, sunset? 4pm 15. Did you/will you have your reception outdoors or indoors? both, on a thatch-roofed terrace 16. Plan every detail down to the napkins or let someone else decide? I want to have them do it for me but they keep making me make these decisions!! I could care less about such things. 17. How did/will the bride enter? hadn't thought about it 18. Song to walk down the aisle to: She by Elvis Costello 19. Song to make your exit: song by the Ali'i Luau 20. Will you/did you have a solemn ceremony or a light one? light 21. At what age did you think you would get married? 30ish 22. Who to invite - practically everyone or a select few? family only 23. Wedding menu - fine dining or simply delicious? simply delicious 24. Champagne or red wine? Champagne--yuck! White wine toast, red wine to follow. 25. Honeymoon right after the wedding, awhile after the wedding, or no honeymoon? right away and at the same place 26. Was your/will your honeymoon be at a place special to you both or somewhere brand new to you both? new 27. Who will pay for the bills? both 28. Living together: Not before marriage or absolutely before marriage? well, we've been living together for almost 5 years now, so... 29. Anything else about marriage you'd like to say? We are the perfect compliments of each other!

Quote: Originally Posted by KittenHeart I am too! Who's your TA? I'd never recommend mine, I've already tried to switch coordinators and they begged me to give him another shot. He's about to be switched for real if I don't get my freaking quote... sorry, pent up anger! Too funny. I'm also with destinationweddings.com and would not recommend my TA. The company has been great to have behind us, but if I had known better I would have changed TA's. Mine is timely in responding and getting things done but really seems to know nothing about this business, even though she claims to have been planning DWs for years. I ask her questions, questions that I can't possibly be the first bride to ask, and she has no idea. Quite frustrating, really. I take it back, she was timely when our contract was on the line and money hadn't been put down yet. Now that we're locked in, we've definitely dropped on her priority list.

Quote: Originally Posted by amybermuda I was told the same thing. My TA was pretty close to refusing to book a block of rooms b/c she didn't want to take on the liability for it. Oh well, hope someone gets to use the 20% off! Hm, that's interesting. We went with the group contract and a block of rooms and it's been a lifesaver! In fact, our TA pushed for us to go this route. It meant our rates were locked in as well as our families, right from the start. No having to worry about getting people to book close to the wedding date--the planning is stressful enough without wondering when/if your guests are going to book! It's interesting to hear what other people are being told by their TA's.

Quote: Originally Posted by amybermuda DJs: What is this about 3500 for the bells and whistles DJ? I saw $1500 for a DJ on the price sheet and thats it, I didn't know there are options for DJs? I was really hoping that $1500 would include the balloons, glow bracelets, and the other props. Amy, When I spoke with Tiffany on the phone a while back, that's what she told me. No balloons, bracelets, confetti, or projection screen unless we paid the higher price. I don't see it in print anywhere; that was all verbal over the phone. In November or December, perhaps? I have the exact quote at home and not in front of me...it could have been $3200 and not $3500, but it was definitely over $3000!

Quote: Originally Posted by Afrommert taylorwd, THANKS, ill check into that for sure? Do you mind me asking how much you guys paid?? I'm so so happy to hear rave reviews about Paradise Catamarans!! Thanks, Amy! To answer your question, we are taking 20 people on the 2 hour sunset sail. The base price for the sail is $600, plus $200 round trip transport for everyone from our hotel, plus $10 a head for open bar. We could add the option of food for $10 a head as well, but we're up in the air on that one. Truthfully, if it weren't for the thought of destroying my dress, we'd probably be getting married on one of their catamarans! They sound like great people.

Quote: Originally Posted by Reya My Fiancée and I decided to give every "family" a photo album once we get back home. This way we don't have to take anything with us. We're planning to add a few pictures into it, a thank you note on the inside cover and to make something to put into the window in the front of the album like "Jamaica 2010" with our Monogram or something, this way they can put their pictures of the WHOLE week in there but will always remember that it was a part of our wedding This is a really great idea!!

We did finally decide to scrap the OOT bags. We just booked a sunset catamaran trip for all our guests, instead! We think the memories of a sailing trip will be much more lasting than any trinkets we could give them in bags. Money better spent, in our opinions.

I'm getting married at Azul Beach in April and we chose it specifically b/c it doesn't pump out wedding after wedding in one day. They do no more than one wedding a day. As has already been said, it's a very small AI resort, only 98 rooms. We wanted a resort where we'd actually be able to spend time with out guests and see them while we're there; we didn't want them a golf cart-ride away! However, it is quite pricey. All Karisma resorts are a bit expensive. If you want to talk more about it just PM me.

Quote: Originally Posted by marak The outside vendor fees of some resorts were a HUGE turnoff for me on principle alone. Too bad, as the listed resorts were my favorites before I found out their policies. I know a few, if anyone else would like to expand or correct... 1. All of the El Dorado ($500 and 3 night stay of vendor) 2. Azul resorts ($500 and 3 night stay of vendor) 3. The Royal PDC (not sure how much, they just hopped on this bandwagon) 4. Barcelo Maya ($500 and 3 night stay of vendor) 5. Palace Resorts - do not allow outside vendors I think the other girls are right though, it is a personal thing what will be prioritized. Just an fyi, Azul resorts is $500 OR a 3 night stay. Not both. At least, that's the way it stands today. Karisma seems to change things on a whim!

Quote: Originally Posted by Afrommert amy f, mia is NOT good. Mine was too... Anyone have any cool ideas about organized excursions the week of your weddings? Im not sure but i think i want to plan somthings to do, but noone will HAVE to do them if they dont want. For sure shopping is one for the girls, maybe golfing for the men, I heard there was a really cool MUST CHECK OUT bar/resturant at throws an awesome beach party off site, I gotta find out the name of it... We just booked a sunset catamaran trip for all our guests the night before our wedding. We looked into all the standard stuff: Xel-ha, Hidden Worlds, Xcaret, Tulum, etc., and just couldn't afford them. The catamaran is very reasonably priced, in my opinion, and comes with open bar and food options. It's Paradise Catamarans if anyone's interested!

Quote: Originally Posted by daniepps Tiffany sent me the packages they offer and that was the cheapest price. I didn't know it was an option to bring in a DJ. I can do $500-600 but anything more than that is out of the question! I too was quoted by Tiffany the crazy price of a minimum $1500 for a DJ. One with all the bells and whistles is $3500. We're going with an ipod reception b/c we just can't stomach paying that much. I think the music options at Karisma resorts is where they really get you.

Quote: Originally Posted by suzannepdc Hi ladies - I am a bit of a lurker, but am getting married at the Azul Beach Resort on 4/27/2010 (only 98 more days!) Anyway, do all have any idea where the Azul Beach thread disappeared to? I have to finally make some actual decisions and give Tiffany some information by next week and looked to get the email of someone that got married there in October and it's vanished. I emailed the administrator yesterday, but have not heard anything. I think Amy is the only Beach Resort person, but I thought maybe you girls might know where it went! Thanks! Hi Suzanne, The thread mysteriously disappeared back in mid-December. I emailed the administrator about it but never heard anything. It is a shame b/c there were great pictures on there! And I want to say that there are plenty of Azul Beach brides out there, but since they took our thread away we're all homeless. I think the bride you're looking for that got married at AB in October is Bree. If you PM me I have the links to her pictures.

Hi! I'm getting married at Azul Beach in April. I can tell you that a lot of people have trouble getting resorts to respond to them directly. I'm using Destination Weddings Travel, and they took care of all the initial communications for me. Now that the planning is underway, I work with the hotel's WC in Miami (who is TERRIBLE in my opinion). My WC aside, I've had a couple people do site visits for me who were in the area and they just raved and raved about the hotel staff and coordinators once you're down there. I think you just have to get through the state-side people first.

Hi! I'm getting married at Azul Beach in April. I can tell you that a lot of people have trouble getting resorts to respond to them directly. I'm using Destination Weddings Travel, and they took care of all the initial communications for me. Now that the planning is underway, I work with the hotel's WC in Miami (who is TERRIBLE in my opinion). My WC aside, I've had a couple people do site visits for me who were in the area and they just raved and raved about the hotel staff and coordinators once you're down there. I think you just have to get through the state-side people first.

Quote: Originally Posted by Beach Bride 80 OOT bags are completely optional, I have been to dw that did them and others who didn't. If you pick one thing that you want to do for your guests such as a mug or beach bag and want to give it to them ahead of time with a simple thank you note that is a nice alternative to packing everything to your destination. A lot depends on how big your guest list is. In all honesty most of the items in an oot bag guests will already have with them and they would probably rather have you keep that money and use it towards other aspects of the wedding. Good advice thanks!

Does anyone know what happened to this thread? I used to be subscribed to it and now I can't find it anywhere! Did it get moved or something? It was called something like, "Any Azul Beach brides?"

Quote: Originally Posted by KJT1985 We spent $10-15 on each of the guys shirts from TJ Maxx, bought fake flowers for $100 total that we're taking with us, aren't having a reception there (just dinner together at the buffet). I'm not taking centerpieces, decorations, or even a cake topper. And what else is there to pay for? My dress, shoes, veil and jewelry was all under $300. Wow, I'm really impressed! That's some impressive shopping and sticking to your budget! Like you all, we keep going back and forth on the OOT bags. I just hate giving things people will never look at or even use. It's wasted money and wasted effort. We're not one to do things "just because." The current front-runner is a tote bag per family filled with: two beach towels for the adults, a bottle of tequila (Mexico wedding), key card holders, and goodies of some sort for the kiddos. But even with only 22 adults and 6 kids, this is adding up really quickly! Also, finding large decent beach towels this time of year is proving to be quite challenging! We may just scrap the whole thing and take everyone on an excursion! More fun and better memories!

Congratulations, Kendra! Yes to what everyone has said! I think the most important thing is to be up front with everyone involved from the beginning. Less stress over the money part of it if they know it's coming. Make sure the people you care most about are on board before picking your date or signing anything. Also, make sure that when you pick a resort to go with, you know up front what the stipulations are about using outside people and/or tailoring your wedding to your wants. We've learned the hard way about not asking the right questions up front! I don't think planning a DW is any less stressful, lol! After all, you're essentially planning a vacation for two families. But all the vendor stuff is much easier. And this site it a big help! Good luck!

I really hope we get to work together!

Quote: Originally Posted by suzannepdc Congrats! We're getting married at the Azul Beach Resort 10 days after you - on April 27! YEA - April brides! Well, Suzanne, we may overlap! We'll be at the resort until Friday the 23rd.

Thanks for the link, Robyn! Would love to see your wedding pics.

I hope someone answers this b/c we're in the same boat! Of the two, I think I prefer Matias Cano but neither "Wow's" me. He's significantly more expensive than Caribe, however.

I spoke with my Karisma WC yesterday and the official word on photographers is: from Mexico you can only use Matias Cano or Caribe. You can bring someone from outside the country and pay for a 3 night stay for the photog, not straight up $500. I agree that Caribe's work looks very average. There's a whole thread on this photography issue, search "Boycott El Dorado"

I ordered from them almost 2 weeks ago and have yet to get any communication from them. I tried calling them to add to my order but the phone numbers they have listed on their website didn't work. Can anyone give me a number they reached them at?