Jessie

We had 67 guests for our wedding. We hosted two private events - a welcome party on friday night (on the beach) and our reception on Saturday night (Plaza Zavas). For Friday night we got the beach bbq menu, and for the reception we had the family style menu. Both were excellent, and our guests raved about both of them. I went with those menus because I didn't want to stress about picking food for everyone, and there is enough food on both of those menus that everyone will be pleased with it. They are pricier, but since we weren't having an at-home reception, we didn't mind spending the extra money for the private events. I highly recommend both menus, but I have seen other brides recommend the pick and choose menus, so I think you can't really go wrong. One thing I will say - I ordered three tiers of cupcakes instead of cake (because for the same amount of people, cupcakes were $400 as opposed to $800, and their cakes aren't pretty anyway), and they were AWFUL. Exceptionally bad. Tasted like they had been sitting around for a week. The menus that I had at both events included various desserts, and they were decent (nothing spectacular). Dessert is definitely not their forte. Good luck and happy planning!

We were offered the Honeymoon Suite (in the family section) or a premium swim-up (we booked a regular swim-up). We opted not to switch because we were already unpacked in our room (and had a ton of stuff with us), we didn't want to move to the family section (although the patio and the view in the honeymoon suite over there is awesome, but otherwise the room is the same), and a few of our guests were booked in the regular swim-up section and we thought it would be fun to stay by them. Ask for it when checking in. Lorena checked us in, she's very sweet, and will get it for you if she can.

Um....I didn't do it, my husband did, so I'm not 100% sure, but I think he went to the bank and did it. Some banks have Western Union. I know it seems a little sketchy because that is not how we pay for things, but they are definitely legit, and you will have a record of your payment.

Elaine - We did pay through Western Union. We were wary of it too, but knew that past brides had done the same thing. So no worries!

I don't remember where I read the reviews.....but I know I've seen girls on this forum talking about the poor reviews. Try reading the Sensatori's resort reviews on this forum....I may have seen something on there. If I can find anything, I'll come back link to it.

We used our iPod and their sound system for our welcome party on the beach, and I thought the sound quality was great. I had no complaints about that, and they did have someone there to man the equipment all night (not that we really needed it at the party because we pretty much just played my husband's songlist non-stop). For our reception, at Zavaz Plaza, we hired DJ Doremixx. We had Ivan, who did an awesome job, and our guests were dancing to the very end, and begging for more when it was time for our reception to end. Our outside vendor fee was $500, so it was still cheaper to hire Doremixx than go with the resort's DJ, so it was a no-brainer for us. Of course, I have never seen the resort's DJ in action, so I can't speak to his skills, but he has gotten a lot of poor reviews. If it were me, I'd spend the extra $100 for Doremixx, since it isn't that much difference. Or try to negotiate Doremixx (or other outside vendor) down from the $800 they charge. All that being said, I think doing it yourself with their sound system is a decent option too. If you don't mind coming up with a playlist that you think you and your guests will enjoy and don't care about the extras (props, lighting, etc.), I think the sound system would suit your needs. Whichever way you choose to go will work out perfectly well!

GORGEOUS pictures Justine!!!

I used "Come Away With Me" by Norah Jones. Very mellow and beachy-sounding.

Congrats, Jessie!!!! I hope you and Chris have a wonderful time, and can't wait to hear about it when you get back!!

Does anyone have a sample symbolic ceremony script? My WC sent me one, but it is very religious and not exactly what I'm looking for. Just need at least an outline to work with bc I have to get my ceremony figured out and off to the girl who is doing my programs. I'm down to a month now and just trying to figure out all the hard stuff (for me), like writing the ceremony and figuring out the music. Congrats October ladies!!! I never thought we'd get here! Can't wait to see how your weddings turn out!!

I invitations came today! I love how they turned out: The ribbon looks black in the picture, but it is navy blue, and I love how the colors look together. Allison Barnhill Designs did them. They are awesome to work with, and make all manner of beautiful things. If you are not a DIYer (like me!), check them out!

I got my OOT bags this week. Here's how they turned out (and I apologize in advance for the pictures being so big....couldn't figure out how to post them smaller): I'm happy with how they turned out. The bags were a little thinner than I had hoped, but CheapTotes was very easy to work with and gave me a great price on the bags and the screenprinting, so I can't complain! I think they'll look great stuffed with everything!

BigBop - Love your pictures! Your hair and makeup look so gorgeous.....even the day after!

Love your pictures, Jaime! You guys look so happy and like you were having so much fun!

Everything looks great, Herbie!! Nice job!! Have a wonderful time!

I agree. The policy is COMPLETELY ridiculous, and I get mad every time I think about it. It is just throwing a lot of money away on nothing. But, I know at least as far as the DJ goes, Sensatori's preferred DJ cost so much ($1500), that you can get away with hiring an outside DJ for maybe just a little bit more. In my contract the outside vendor fee is $500. DJ Doremixx charges $800 for 1-5 hours, so it costs me $1300 to hire him. So it is cheaper than the DJ you can hire through AS. Now that the fee has increased, that isn't necessarily the case, but it still might cost you just a little bit more to hire a good DJ than use Sensatori's. So it isn't much money wasted. I haven't looked into the photographers, so I don't know how their prices compare. My uncle is a wedding photographer, so he will photograph my wedding and I will not have to pay the outside vendor fee since he is staying at the resort for 3 days. I know it is soooo frustrating. It's a terrible policy.

I booked Doremixx. AS was resistent bc they are allegedly banned from the resort now, but they finally agreed. Even with with outside vendor fee (my contract is under the old vendor fee of $500, before it was raised to $800), Doremixx was cheaper than AS's preferred DJ (who does not get good reviews). I've made it a point to complain (to my WC and TA) about their ridiculous vendor fees, the quality of their preferred vendors, and their seeming inability to maintain relationships with quality outside photographers and DJs. And I will continue to do so anytime I am able to have a conversation with others in the Karisma organization. They need to start thinking about some of their ridiculous policies. That being said, it seems that the past brides have all been very happy with their weddings at AS and AB, so I know everything will work out beautifully, no matter what. It's just the planning can be frustrating at times!

I was originally looking at chiffon dresses, and I found one that I almost bought. Then I tried on a dupioni silk Sottero & Midgley, and I liked it just a tiny bit better (and agonized over the choice for a while). The dupioni is a great fabric, and not heavy. It was heavier than chiffon, but still lighter than other silks and satin. I just really loved the fit of the Maggies that I tried on......the inner corset is an awesome thing for those of us who don't really have much of a natural waist! Where are you located that they don't sell them? I think lace can be very pretty on the beach too. Keep looking....you'll find something!

Thanks! I think I've got it worked out and they will allow me to have DJ Doremixx. What about the mariachis? Has anyone else booked them? Does anyone know if we are allowed to use outside mariachis? Of course, AS/Lomas charges more than DOUBLE what all other mariachis in the area, but I think my contract only specifies that an outside vendor can only be used for DJ, photography, and/or videography (for the small outside vendor fee, of course).

Ok, now I'm getting irritated. I was told that I DJ Doremixx is not allowed at the resort. How many of you upcoming brides have booked them? Has anyone else been told no for DJ Doremixx? I refuse to pay $1500 for their (seemingly) crappy preferred DJ!!

Your sari is GORGEOUS!! So pretty. And your AHR dress was very pretty too! Nice job with everything!

Oops....I meant $10 for $50 worth of stuff. Not such a great deal if it were as I said below!

Hey Girls! Livingsocial.com (a website similar to Groupon, if you're not familiar) has a VistaPrint coupon today.....pay $10 for $10 worth of stuff. Just thought I'd share bc I know a lot of us use VistaPrint for various projects!

The bags turned out great! I got a quote from cheaptotes.com to screen-print the bags for $3.00/bag for a multi-color design (a pretty good price for screen-printing, in my limited experience), so I think I'm gonna go that route because my DIY skills are not strong.

Justine - I haven't ordered them yet, but I'm going to get OOT bags from cheaptotes.com. They have a canvas tote for $.89. I don't have a sample of them yet, but I've heard from other girls on here that they are good quality. I just e-mailed them to find out how much it would cost to have my custom map screen-printed on the bags. If you're interested, I'll let you know what the quote is.....if it is cheap enough it might be worth it for you to have them print your bags instead of having to deal with the iron-ons yourself.