AllieH

well boo to the frustrations you've had with the WC. the onsite team will be able to clarify everything for you when you arrive, and may be able to help add things back if you need/want them. for instance, I totally missed one of our entrees for the reception/dinner was incorrect on our spreadsheet, and we corrected it onsite. they recalculated the difference in pricing, and we paid it there. really no big deal! one of those things I almost freaked out about...

then you're thinking of all the right things. good luck with your planning!!! Just remember - it'll all be beautiful and worth it in the end. You'll forget (mostly) about the planning headaches and stress, and focus on how awesome your celebrations will be.

No, they aren't allowed due to the fire danger. The roofs of the palapas all over the property are all natural straw-based materials. I know - major bummer! I don't think there are any resorts in RM that allow these anymore..

I honestly do not know if they would allow you to use EDR locations for the ceremony & reception/dinner with a child present. My gut (guess) is no - you'd need to use the Generations locations to include the kiddo. EDR has a firm 18+ rule like Secrets. My MIL tried to get them to allow an exception for a 16yo and they refused (but this was before Generations was open). I'd suggest popping onto the Lomas Weddings website, and opening up a chat with the WC's to ask this question specifically. Even if you are restricted to Generations for the celebrations to include his niece, the rest of your stay at EDR would be amazing. And I hate to say this because it's so negative nelly - but what are the chances that the niece will really go? I say that because we found that NONE of our friends wanted to bring their kids, so choosing adults only was the way to go. I also found that in trying to plan around 1 or two particular people to accomodate their schedules...those were the ones who wound up not attending at all. So it was pointless to try to plan anything but exactly what WE wanted. Just my 2 cents worth! PS - Azul's Lomas WC and EDR's WC are different - while there are many of the same frustrations (which I'd say are pretty similar for any DW), the EDR WC are actually in Cancun, and tend to be a little better. FWIW!

Hi! glad you wandered over here. there's a ton of info on the Official thread too. We chose EDR for the following reasons: 1. Adults only 2. quality of the food (my husband & I are foodies, so food quality was important to us) 3. reviews on trip advisor Cons: 1. Working with the Lomas WC (in Cancun) can be frustrating - pretty typical for ANY destination wedding. Slow responses or responses that are difficult to understand. It's the most frustrating part of planning a DW (aside from getting your guests to book...). 2. if you want an elaborately decorated wedding, it could cost big $$. their add ons are pricey. BUT, you can view their prices before making your decision: http://www.weddingsbylomastravel.com/planning/ 3. If you choose to bring some of your own decorations, you'll get crazy high quotes for set up from the Cancun WC. It's much easier to negotiate this with the onsite WC when you arrive. 4. Their outside vendor fee is the highest in the area ($800, or having them stay as a guest for 3+ nights). 5. Many brides don't care for their approved photographers, and choose to bring their own photographers (as a guest), or pay the outside vendor fee for a photographer. 6. The EDR beach isn't the best. There are large sandbags along the beach to help prevent erosion. It's pretty rocky in some places too. There are spots where you can get in the water that are really nice. And now for the Pros (which in my opinion, far outweigh the cons): 1. Gourmet All Inclusive - top shelf liquors, gourmet food (amazing!!), 24 hour room service. All restaurants are included, no a la carte pricing (except for the candlelight beach dinner). House wines are included, but you can also choose to purchase from their extensive wine cellar. 2. Very clean and well kept property 3. Variety of price points for accomodations, and great wedding promos available. Make sure you use/find a Karisma GIVC travel agent - you'll get more amenities and they'll also help make your planning process easier (I recommend using Wright Travel Agency if you're in the US). 4. Size of the property is great for get togethers, OR newlywed privacy. 5. All fruits & veggies grown at the greenhouse on property. 6. All rooms have a conceirge - they will help you with reservations to the two restaurants that require them (Santa Fe Grill and Fuentes), and anything else you may want/need during your stay. 7. Service - the staff is beyond incredible, and will do everything they can to make your stay perfect. 8. The onsite wedding coordinators are angels. They will meet with you after you arrive to go through all of the details of your wedding, and make sure they know how you want it set up, what you expect, etc. And then they take care of it. 9. tons of locations for ceremonys and private cocktails/dinner/receptions - from beach locations, a chapel, poolside events, or ballrooms - there are many choices. The most popular are Gazebo 55 for ceremony, and Tucanes for receptions. The locations are beautiful, and honestly don't need a ton of decorations. 10. being adults only, we found that other guests greatly respected our ceremony and kept their distance (but watched and cheered us on)! 11. The addition of Generations Riviera Maya next door make it an option for guests with families. Adults have access to both EDR and Generations options (restaurants, pools, beaches, etc.). 12. Luxury. it's 5 star, all the way, whether you are on the Casitas side, or Royale side (Casitas are more upscale, larger and more private). I could go on and on, because I really, really love this resort (and it's why I'm the BDW abassador!). As I mentioned, we're heading back in June - this will be our 3rd trip since our wedding in Nov 2012. We looked at resorts all over the caribbean for the June trip, and felt that EDR offered the best product for the price. If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me.

If you like the Azul properties, but are concerned about how "kid friendly" they are, what about looking at El Dorado Royale/Generations Riviera Maya? They are sister resorts to the Azuls, all owned by Karisma Resorts. EDR has the luxury that it sounds like you want, plus being adults only. Generations is next to EDR, and is set up for families. Adults staying at Generations can still access the amenities and restaurants on the EDR side. It's really the best of both worlds. Let me know if you'd like additional information about EDR/Generations. While Generations is brand new (opened in February 2014), I'm hoping to get more insight while we're visiting EDR (again) this summer.

YAY Jenna!! Enjoy your celebration.

@@Meandhim - your dress is gorgeous!!! I think you need to wear nude undies to try to minimize the show-through. or, none at all!

100% THIS!!! We got your back - go forth & celebrate!

you can totally look at my pinterest boards and see where I got the inspiration for every bit of my wedding!!! It's fantastic for ideas & inspiration. What I was trying to say is that Pinterest is NOT good if it's used to build an expectation or set a standard of "what a wedding has to be" or "if my wedding isn't like this one, it's a failure."

aw Jenna. family....I swear. It kinda sounds to me like she's jealous - she doesn't want you to have the attention, nor does she want to spend the time doing anything a MOH should do for her bride. LAZY. Let your mom plan it, or heck - you plan it (cuz then ya get exactly what you want!). Whatever you do, do NOT let your sister's lack of action make you miss or regret something you really wanted to do as part of the celebration of your marriage.

yeah - do NOT use Pinterest or the wedding blogs to set any sort of standard. or ANY other wedding. While they are gorgeous, I also think they are unrealistic for many, many brides. (and many of the blogs are styled photoshoots - not real events!). use them for what they are - inspiration. do what makes you happy, and what fits for your style (and that other thing - BUDGET). trust me - the guests won't remember a $300 centerpiece vs. a $50 one. they won't remember the elaborate decorations or lack of. what they'll remember is how much love they witness, and how much fun they have at your wedding.

VistaPrint gave me fits trying to fit in their templates. I know, I know - just not patient or talented enough! I ended up using 123print.com and overnightprints.com for quite a bit of my stuff. Loved them! Lots of promo codes out there too.

check out etsy! I found my headband there, and it just happened to match my bracelet PERFECTLY. I found the bracelet, earrings & necklace at my bridal shop. Prices were reasonable because I just happened to catch a promo. and I agree with Jen - if your ceremony is in the sand, then you'll likely want a flat or wedge. I did these fab blue Stuart Weitzman wedges, and they were still a bit of a challenge with the sand.

@@NJBride2014 - it's GORGEOUS! I can't wait to see it on you.

You can reach Lomas through their website: http://www.lomastravel.com/ I'd suggest using the chat feature during business hours if you can - that's the fastest way to get answers from them. Karisma brides (El Dorado/Azul properties) can request it directly through their Lomas Wedding coordinators. Samba Catamarans: http://www.sambacatamaranes.com/en/

feel free to DM me with any questions! we stayed for 10 days for our wedding-moon, 5 nights for our 1st anniversary, and we're going back for 5 more nights for my birthday. all within about 19 months... so yes, we LOVE it there. seriously romantic, fantastic for couples, amazing food, service is out of this world. like Dina said, the beach isn't the best, but that's honestly the only negative.

I'm super biased for EDR - we are going back for our 3rd stay this June. I'll echo everything Dina said. They do have a honeymoon package that includes 2 for 1 massages, deluxe breakfast in bed (they have 24 hour room service included too), candle light dinner on the beach, and a romantic suite decoration. I don't know anything about the other two resorts. All I can say is we keep going back to EDR because it's the best we've found.

You really just need to talk to that photographer, and see if she'd like to attend as a guest, or work the wedding. And if she's willing to work it, then you can work through the financials of it. We brought our photographer with us, and she's a dear friend of mine. I told her that I wanted to hire her to shoot our wedding, but only if she'd also be able to enjoy the event as our guest as well. Luckily she agreed to do it for us. We paid for her travel (air & hotel), and agreed on a fee for her services. We negotiated only for day-of photographs for a specific time period. She was gracious and threw in photos of our welcome dinner, and also getting ready photos. So you really just need to talk to your friend and see if she's interested, and then what you can work out financially.

hi and welcome to BDW! hot pink is a popular color with destination brides. be sure to browse (or search) the invitations section of the forum - TONS of inspiration there. happy planning!

yes! I stuck with corset-backs because they have more support than a zip or button back (I had nightmares about a zipper busting on the dress...). I didn't really need a bra at all because I was laced in nice & tight. but...I have a weird shape too - I actually added "cutlets" to give me more bust. the sales team should know what support you will really & truly need.

you'll find it!! most shops have foundations (long line bras or strapless bras) you can use to try on dresses - if you need them. most corset dresses won't need bras, and some dresses have a bra built in. if you have a long line bra or strapless, you may want to bring it along just in case.

Don't make a decision until "you know"! If it takes trying on 100 dresses, and revisiting shops, then just do it (I know - sounds like a total pain in the butt). But when it's your dress, you'll know it. If there's some doubt, then don't say yes just yet. Sometimes the indecision comes from having such a strong vision of what you want, and not being able to let go of that vision, even if you don't love that particular dress, silhouette, or whatever. 99% of brides "just know" when you find THE dress. can you picture yourself walking down the aisle in it? do you feel pretty (or sexy, or sassy, or whatever you're going for)? those are the questions to ask yourself as you try on dresses.

Hi @@TinkerSofi! Setting your budget is the first place to start. Once you have that, you can begin to narrow down designers. Since you have your eye on a ML gown, try on something with a similar silhouette that is within your budget first. Once you know your budget, start looking at prices for gowns/designers. Check out Davids Bridal online, also Alfred Angelo's gowns online. I found that looking at gowns on Weddingwire.com too - they give you price ranges for the various gowns. Once you've identified which designers you like, you can then find out which stores carry that designer's samples (and if they carry samples in your size too). Even though you have your eye on a particular gown, go into dress shopping with an open mind. Try on every silhouette, and multiple designers. Once you start putting dresses on you'll have a better idea of what you like, what looks best for you, etc. Most brides have found that the dress they end up with is NOTHING like they initially pictured or had in mind. Most importantly - enjoy the process.

hi Hannae, I know you can book this through Lomas. You may also want to check out Samba Catamaran - we have heard great things about them from tourists and also from the locals.