angi111111

Hi! We were married 11-11-11 at EDR....Claudia was great to work with! Our wedding day was amazing! AND We were one of 10 weddings that day. No worries ladies, they do a fantastic job to make your day special P.S. Rent the Donkey for your reception or cocktail hour! Our guests loved it & we got some great pictures!!

Hey girls! Just want to mention that the WC's all read this blog! We are frequent guests at EDR and had our Wedding there 11-11-11! I found this out in casual conversation with the WC. The WC's really do an outstanding job The closer to your date, the quicker they are to response. Just keep all of your emails and take them with you to your meeting. No worries, they really do try to make everything perfect! I would do it all again in a heartbeat! In fact we are going for our 6 month anniversary in May... It's that fabulous! Best wishes!

I to was trying to be not so cookie cutter and we didn't want the hassel of packing a lot of wedding extras. Our guests said they had planned on packing the items I was thinking about purchasing for OOT bags so it was gonna be a waste anyway...Honestly, don't stress about OOT bags. A nice tote bag to use around the resort is handy and can coozies or insulated cups decorated with your wedding theme seems to be what guests really used the most. Other guests took notice of our group with our matching cups & coozies. We even took extra to pass out, people had fun with that! We then placed a beach themed candle & mini beach themed photo album at each couples place at our welcome dinner. Inside the album we put a personalized Thank you note. When we got home, we printed off photos of everyone that we had taken during the week and put them in our Thank you's for our guests to use in their photo albums. We had a get together after we all got home and we passed the albums around and shared pictures. It worked out great! We then decided to use the $$ we would have spent on the extras toward an excursion for the entire wedding group (26 people) the day before the wedding. It ended up being the highlight of the trip, next to the actual wedding day. Also, We are huge St Louis Cardinal Fans, so instead of spending $$$ on wedding themed playing cards, we purchased Cardinal playing cards for each couple...and asked everyone to bring their Cardinal wear! It was a fun way to personalize our group AND a huge conversation starter with rival fans at the bars My husband totally liked that idea since he was not to much into having everything "wedding themed"

We were married in November at Gazebo 55 at 3:00 - I noticed very little wind, just a light breeze. And we noticed no breeze the rest of the evening and we were out on the beach til midnight. It really depends on the weather that day tho... It can be very windy along the beach. You will be protected at Tucanes, a lot of vegetation around the venue and it's set back off beach. The WC will have a plan B just in case so no worries!

We were there in November...here is a tip for free wifi in the public restrooms EDR will post a weekly newsletter. There is a password on it that will be revealed if you go to their Facebook page and "like" them if you have trouble with it just go to the front desk or concierge and they will give it to you, but you must tell em you did the "like" we were lucky enough, that the password lasted the entire week & we shared it with friends. We were all able to use our IPads & IPods on the beach and pool

Also, have them consider transportation costs as well to and from the resort... I met other wedding couples who had guests miss the wedding due to transportation issues.

They offered a grooms room to us, but we used a groomsman's casita. They still delivered appetizers to the room, plus room service is available the guys all basically met there and hung out by the pool. I had a girlfriend take some great pics for me. Worked out perfectly! The problem with the grooms room that was offered was it was a garden villa room far from the pool or beach. Boring for them! And he would have to make sure all personal items were removed and taken back to their rooms B4 the ceremony, so I didn't think that was very convienant. The girls and I had hair and make up done at the spa then walked back to our casita to dress. There we had champagne and appetizers waiting for us and a girlfriend did pictures for us as well. We had our photographer just meet us at Gazebo 55 and start pictures there. A decorated golf cart pick up me and my two bridesmaids. We called for a shuttle about 20 min prior to wanting to leave for the ceremony spot to take the other girls. It worked out fine... There are always shuttles running. But the WC really will try hard to accommodate or work out a plan. The WC that we email back & forth with for months may not be the WC you will have that day The Beach Bar is a favorite spot for us! It is a quieter bar on the beach in the casita section with lounge furniture. Also... You could use the martini bar or there is a little known new very nice bar in the casita section above the new D'Italia restaurant that is beautiful and overlooks the beach! Both have AC. There are several places your guests can hang out so, no worries! Some of those little details we decided on after we got there and made announcements at our welcome dinner. Our wedding day at EDR was amazing! I highly suggest when you wake up that morning have a quite hour or two with your groom & room service breakfast! Make sure everything u need is done or organized the night before and just relax and enjoy the moment & day! It will be an over whelmingly happy day that goes by so fast! Our entire day was 14 1/2 hours of wedding fun from the time we left the room that morning going our separate ways, til we returned that night to a beautifully decorated room with more champagne and appetizers! I wore my dress from 2pm til 2am! So fun! !

No taxes

All of the Gazebos are beautiful locations! Can't go wrong with Fuentas, presidential or 55. They are all on the beach & private. Don't worry! Alison04 is right! I do like the health bar because it overlooks the beach but it's smaller and not very private- it is located on a busy walkway along the beach. Tucanes is off the beach in the more garden area of the resort. It's very nice, lots of space and very private. Both are poolside We really enjoyed our cocktail hour on the beach at Fuentas gazebo... It's perfect to Have the ceremony at then flow right over into cocktail. If I did it again, that's what I would do. I loved 55 but since there was a wedding after ours we had to move down the beach which was fine, but to stay in one location would have been nice...just an after thought

Hi! No worries! I liked Fuentes Gazebo as well as Gazebo 55. Both are beautiful locations...so we actually choose to have our beach Mexican cocktail party there. We were married at 55 then while we did pictures our guests were directed to that location were the cocktail party.'I liked it because it was very private with all the greenery, there is a beach wall that our guests did pictures at and they were surprised when the donkey showed up! We used our IPod speaker for music and it worked perfectly for the location. Both locations are great! Tucanes is very nice as well! Private, big space, beautiful pool! I would suggest some floating LED lights for the pool if it is at night! It is also a centrally located spot which is nice to for guests who need to run back to their rooms definety have a few tiki touches &/or luminaire bags. I asked the WC for her recommendation for how many and set-up. Our Guests raved about the BBQ!!! It was wonderful!! Great choice! We opted to save $$$ and did not have a cake but just enjoyed all the mini deserts, another fun tip: I purchased glow necklaces & bracelets for the party! Fun! Everyone loved the idea, including the wait & bar staff! We tipped em $100.00 and they joined in the fun and kept the cocktails flowing!

Definetly try and stay in the Casitas! They are wonderful! And we were upgraded on our second night....We stayed 9 nights and went with the free wedding package...I had some extra expenses like colored sheers, flowers, private cocktail & BBQ on beach, table decor, tiki torches. All and all, it was still so much cheaper than a wedding at home. I picked tropical flowers and went with the basic bridal and bridesmaid size and they turned out gorgeous! $160 total for all 3 of our bouquets. It is $10 extra if you want your bouquet long stems with ribbon. I did this to match the sash on my dress and so happy I did. Our flowers were delivered to us while we were in the spa. You really don't have to spend a lot , they make it all very pretty. I saw several weddings with white ( free) sheers set up on beach gazebos and it looked very nice. Some of the Gazebo sites do not need sheers, they are white with lattice edging. Depends on the location you choose. I did not go with an aisle runner (extra $$) I just had rose petals in the sand- looked beautiful! The girls and I did get our hair and make up done at the spa. We were very happy with both. My stylist insisted i have fresh flowers in my hair and went outside and picked em herself! They really listen to you and you can bring a picture. The appointments are scheduled thru the WC and will be on your spreadsheet. We choose not to book the bridal suite, instead went back to our casitas and had appetizers and champagne delivered! Fun! I hope to post pictures, I'm usually on my iPad instead of computer tho!

Girls- just a note... I believe the set up fee for any decor you bring is $5 per wedding guest not per item. It was for me anyway which is why I we decided to not bring our own table decor. Just make sure you get it in writing in an email or on your spread sheet. Either way, they do a beautiful job setting up!

Hi! Congrats on choosing EDR! Our wedding day was amazing! No worries about the alcohol! We had top shelf and you can also request, they will do their best to accommodate! Many of our guests like Captain Morgan Rum - yes! They have it at all the bars. If your guests like a particular liquor, tell them just to ask We liked the house wines and champagne - we are not real picky tho. But like the other bride said.... Once your guests get to the resort, it's not a big deal what they have! It is such a fun, beautiful place On the karisma web site you can download the private events menus. There is an international open bar liquor list... Hope that helps! Have fun! It will be a great day!

Hello Girls!! We just got back from the most AMAZING 10 days EVER!! I can not even begin to tell you how fabulous our Wedding was! My new Hubby and I finally got to watch the video yesterday and we both cried (and he is not a guy that sheds many tears ) Simply beautiful. I have no idea why I was stressing over things. The wedding staff is outstanding! We were married on 11-11-11 which happened to be a record setting day at the resort for weddings ~7 total!! I was kinda of nervous that some of our details would be missed with that much going on, BUT no! We never knew there was another wedding happening besides ours! We were treated like Royalty! Even up graded to the presidential suite!! AWESOME!! The resort also up graded some of our other guests!! So, please DO NOT Stress! Don't worry about all the details of packing alot of extra decor. This place is beautiful. I packed one smaller suit case with a few extra wedding items and that is it. Then I used the suit case to pack my wedding dress for the trip home. Everything made it fine. We did not have OOT bags. Again did not want to pack all that extra stuff or spend $$ on things our guests brought with them anyway. Instead, we had a welcome dinner at La Isla, at each couples table place, we put a small beach themed photo album with a "Thank you" note inside and a cute gel beach themed candle. The resort makes up a personalized menu card for each guest as well. Very nice! The next day we took all of our guests on a "Reef Snorkel Adventure" thru Lomas travel at Maroma beach. (20 mn bus ride from EDR) It was honestly the best $$ we spent on the wedding! We & Our guest had the time of our lives and the snorkeling was beautiful! And even better....It was completely private!! A perk I did not know about til we arrived! We had our own Catamaran and crew! It was a special afternoon that our guests are still talking about! I can Highly recommend this! Gazebo 55 was beautiful! I can highly recommend the Mexican Cocktail Hour with the donkey & the beach BBQ. Our guests said it was the best meal they ever had and the food just kept coming! We did not spend $$ on a wedding cake, but instead just enjoyed all the different dessert options on the BBQ menu. Honestly, I was stressing over the table center pieces as well, but at the last minute decided to save $$$ and the stress of packing items~ I choose a Tiffany blue table runner ($7) over a white table cloth with a rented white beach lantern ($20) and 3 votives around it with flame less LED votives I brought from home. With the table settings it looked sooo pretty! The bartenders & wait staff were great and even joined in the fun! We used our IPOD music for everything. We purchased a wireless BOSE speaker ($299) from Best Buy. It connects to your IPOD with blue tooth and it was perfect for the ceremony & cocktail. At the dinner/reception we rented the amp speaker system with mic and used our IPOD. The staff supplies a guy to help operate it and be the "DJ" if you like. The photographer was great!!! We used Caribe Photo, which happens to be the resort photographer. They were awesome and took some amazing pictures. To save $$, We choose the $500 dollar package. We ended up with over 350 photos!!! He was suppose to take pics for 90mn total but took pictures for over 2 hours! My husband finally cut him off so we could join in the party, but then he came to our cocktail hour and took a few more of us on the donkey! Soooo much fun! Tip: Save some $$ and have a friend video the wedding ~ it ended up being so much more personal. Like I said, we cry when we watch it! These are just a few of the details, I am planning on posting a review with pictures as soon as I have some more time. PLEASE do not hesitate to ask me any questions!! I will be glad to help! No worries ladies!! I'm still floating on cloud 9 one week after!!

One more week for me! angi111111. Angie. Depart 11-7. Wedding 11-11. Mexico El Dorado Royale

Congrats!! You will have lots of time to read up on ideas and tips! I found this forum to be very helpful We leave Monday for EDR! Our wedding is Friday! We are actually going to start the fun the night before & stay with friends at Harrah's casino then shuttle over to the AP early in the morning! We should be on the beach by 2:00pm ~ hopefully! I am anxious and excited and a little stressed, but that is mostly just stressing over the packing process~ yuck! I'm going to start tomorrow so that should help....The plans are all complete with the WC! We have 24 people traveling with us.... Quote: Originally Posted by leslidowd12 This is soooo helpful. I just booked my wedding for Sept 1, 2012 so I'm not in a rush to make the little details about my wedding. Its great reading everyone's reviews and ideas so that I can take all of those into account. Looking forward to everyone's upcoming weddings and new pictures :-)

hi! We signed-up for the bus trip after we were at the resort. You can do this thru the concierge. I would also ask your WC about this since you have a large group. I have a group of girls who are planning on taking this trip, but they are going to sign up after we arrive. No charge, but we did tip the driver a few $$. The bus drops you off at the main shopping district with restaurants, bars, etc. I honestly can not remember names of places...We asked our concierge where he recommended us to go for dinner and it was great! Good Mexican food and music. There is bottled water by the sink...We have slipped a few times and used tap water with no problems. We did remind our guests to use the bottles tho...AND know that the shower water is salt water. Take a good conditioner for your hair or wash your hair in the spa.. The cost at the spa for Bridal hair $86 / Bridal makeup $86 and you do not have to be a casitas guest to use the casitas spa

eeeek! There is a Hurricane headed right toward the resort!! OH NOOOO!!!!

Hi! Our wedding is planned for 11-11-11 I do not know anything about the music you mentioned... I suggest just reading thru the reviews. Sounds like the DJ is the way to go with a big group. I have seen a DJ playing at events at the resort in past stays, and everyone seem to be having a Fun! I can tell you that in the past we have done several tours with Lomas Travel and have never had any problems. They are professional and take good care of you. All of the excursions we have done were well worth the time and $$$. We decided not to do OOT bags. I did not want to hassle with carrying everything and getting them to our guests. And I figured our guests would bring most everything we would end up putting in the bags anyway. We did purchase a small Beach themed photo album and Beach themed Gel candle to give our guests at the Welcome Dinner....AND So, we decided to put the $$$ toward a group excursion the day before the wedding. It is the Reef Adventure Catamaran trip thru Lomas. We booked the trip thru the WC and added it to our package. You can review the trip on the Lomas web site. When we stayed at EDR Maroma, we actually watched the trip go out everyday and it looked like a nice, fun, & not to long of a day trip. Plus, it leaves from the beach were my FI proposed, so we wanted to incorporate that as well. Now, we just hope for great Weather We have also done the EDR Bus trip into Playa. It is scheduled a few times during the week. Both to Cancun and Playa.You sign up, the bus leaves and returns after about 5 hours (I think) If you have a large group, they may make special arrangements? Otherwise. I suggest signing your group up early after you arrive at the resort has it fills up fast. The bus takes you to "5th Avenue" It is a strip of shopping, restaurants, entertainment, etc. We ended up walking the strip, and had dinner in about 3 hours time. It started raining so we got a cab and negotiated a $20 ride back to EDR. Its great to have so many options! Have fun planning! This is a great forum for suggestions, tips, and just to vent!

You guys look great & Happy! Love the color you choose! You dress is gorgeous! Thank you so much for the advice and tips. It really helps to put my mind at ease... The flowers are pretty to! We went with Tropical bouquets....looks like you did to?? We leave in exactly 14 days!!!

Gorgeous Girls!! I love the color of your sisters dress!

HI! Our wedding is November 11th so we have not had our BBQ yet...but I have read many good reviews for it! I think anything you decide on will be great, the food is fabulous at EDR! Have fun planning...it gets stressful sometimes, but hang in there!

11-11-11 I will marry my hero @ El Dorado Royale Riviera Maya Mexico!!! Praying for a beautiful day for all of us!!!