AllieH

Hi Carrie - just the napkin! they folded them around our menu. they place & pick up each course, nothing plated on the table when you arrive. I have a photo I can share if you want to PM me your email address.

so beautiful Nicki!!!! thanks for sharing them with us. beautiful ! I'm so glad everything went well for you.

contact Wright Travel Agency - the team that owns this website! they are one of Karisma's top agencies, and often get extra perks. Reviews of WTA and links to contact them are in my signature. We worked with them on our anniversary trip, and again when we went for my birthday - they are awesome!

most folks bring their own overlays and/or table runners.

Miriam (Murmel) is right! The room list is a good idea. It's a big resort, but what we found is that folks generally gravitated towards the same places, so it's easy to find others. You can always do a round of calls to the rooms to meet at the beach by the volleyball court, or Fuentes pool, beach bar, or La Isla pool, etc. And most of our guests did get the wifi - so we'd message each other on Facebook quite a bit. Restaurants: D'Italia Casitas is our favorite overall - we will eat dinner there at least 3 nights during our stay. Fuentes and Santa Fe are also very good for dinner. Kampai is also pretty good. We did not care for D'Italia Royale (just not the same as Casitas) and we never ate at Jo Jos for dinner, just snacks or lunch. We found La Isla and the mexican restaurants "just ok" for dinner. Reservations: The concierge assigned to the building your room is in will make the reservations for the restaurants. Guests in the Casitas can make reservations for any restaurant for dinner. Royale guests can only make reservations for Santa Fe & Fuentes. Note that Santa Fe & Fuentes can be booked out days in advance, so you will want to book those as soon as you arrive. Our other favorites are La Isla and Las Olas (Casitas 32) for lunch, Santa Fe and Cocotal for breakfast. Room service is great any time. HTH!

keep in mind that the Azul resorts have their Lomas WC's out of Miami, while El Dorado/Generations resorts are working with Lomas WC's out of Cancun. Valeria is part of the Cancun group, and has always had very good feedback from BDW brides. @@ChiTiff - unfortunately they are working with many brides who have weddings before yours. It isn't that they don't care, it's that they are very busy. It's stressful for the bride, no doubts. Try your best not to worry - it will all come together as you get closer to your wedding. And once you get onsite, you'll meet with the onsite WC's, who will reconfirm (and change) anything you have planned. I would ask your planning WC about the free dinner included - it should be a plated meal, where you choose a couple of entrees, 1 appetizer, 1 salad and 1 dessert. Keep asking until you get the answer you expect/want. Persistence is key... use the "other brides have received and we really envisioned xyz..." line.

@@icoangel78 - Nov 30 is the official end of hurricane season. We were there for 10 days in 2012 in Nov, and had rain 1 day. 6 days in Nov 2013, 1 day of rain. don't get too hung up on the weather forecast - it's really not accurate until a day or two before, and even then it's often showers that move through fairly quickly.

Hi @@Twatts83 - unfortunately I don't know the answer. I would assume they will, but it'd be better to ask. If you can't get your planning WC at Lomas to answer, then definitely ask when you meet with the onsite WC. I bet they will take care of it for you.

I had the cups sewn into the lining of the dress. You can do it pretty easily - they were secured with a simple whip stitch (over/under-over/under right around the edge). or find another seamstress to do it for you. or sew them into a strapless bra.. lots of options! no reason to go without cleavage

yep. it's nuts. I'd rather pay $30 for a vase and $2 to fill it with shells than $60 for what they wanted... but it's all perspective. We knew a lot of decorations would be way overpriced. We kept it simple, and only spent $$ on the few things that really added to the evening. I wouldn't do anything different from a decoration perspective - it really was lovely.

we chose to rent a hurricane vase from the resort and brought shells and votives to put inside them. the resort filled them with sand for us. the price to rent the vases was ridiculous - $30 each maybe? but it was a lot less expensive than getting the whole centerpiece from them.

I can vouch for DJ All Music - they were fantastic for our wedding! let me know if you have any specific questions, I'm more than happy to answer them.

ick!!! I hope the forecast is wrong (usually it is...). if not, take some amazing rain photos and make the best of it. I've heard it's good luck if it rains on your wedding day.

@@kfracassi - when we were there over Thanksgiving last year, it started getting dark by 5pm, and full dark by 5:30. I think 3:30 is the right start time. You'll finish the ceremony around 4 (unless you're doing a Catholic ceremony, which may be later), and that gives you about an hour of day light for photos. You'll want to do formals with the families, bridal party, etc. and then couples photos of the two of you. You can send your guests to the Beach Bar for drinks in between while you finish photos, and then have dinner start at 5:30 or 6 (or later if you want). If you send them somewhere specific, then the onsite WC can send them to your reception site when it's time. There is enough entertainment to keep them occupied in between. If you finish photos early, you can join your guests for cocktails.

so beautiful!!! I'm really glad it turned out exactly how you wanted. thanks for sharing with us.

yay Nicki! don't be nervous - the hard part is done. I don't remember if you are in the Casitas or not, if you aren't, then definitely mention that you are getting married at the resort when you check in, and if there are any upgrades. Heck, ask if there are any upgrades regardless - it never hurts to ask! I'm so glad they changed the appointment for you. Recommendations... when you get there, if it isn't lunch or dinner time, and your room isn't ready. they'll send you to JoJos for lunch. it's a great intro to the resort. eat at d' Italia Casitas (skip d'Italia Royale - it is NOT the same). do your best to get reservations at Fuentes and Santa Fe Grill - they are fabulous. have lunch at Las Olas in section 31 - small little grill with great lunches. breakfast at Cocotal or Santa Fe is the best, or room service. I also love lunch at La Isla. (yes, I'm all about the food!!!) when you check in they'll give you the activities list and the restaurant times. keep those handy - very useful info. head out early before or after breakfast to put your towels on chairs at the beach or pool if you plan to congregate there (unless you're in the casitas - there's plenty of seats there for you). the BEST piece of advice I can give you? ENJOY EVERY SECOND.

ugh -that timing is no bueno! I would keep asking Marisol, tell her you aren't available on Saturday at all. and if she still can't (or doesn't, or won't) change it, go straight to the wedding planner's office when you arrive and ask to move it. If they aren't in the office or are busy (meeting with another couple), ask your concierge to call them and help you reschedule. Then you follow up with a call and ask to reschedule. I would 100% expect the onsite WC team to work with you as much as possible. I'm surprised they wanted to meet on Saturday honestly - that's usually a busy wedding day and the onsite WC are bouncing between brides getting ready and venues setting up. With the suitcases, worst case the bellmen can store it for you - ask them NOT to deliver those to your room (or ask them to take them back to the front when they arrive). The WC really don't have a lot room in their little office to store a lot of stuff.

Hi there - your wedding is still quite a ways off, and your experience thus far with the Lomas planners is typical. If you have your venues selected, you are in good shape. The rest of the details will come together as you get closer to your wedding date. The onsite WC team will help tremendously. Unless you're having an off-site wedding, there isn't a huge need for a third party wedding planner. Meanwhile, the slow response time of the Lomas team is just one of those things that goes with a DW. Have you tried the chat feature on the website? Brides have also been able to get some of their questions answered that way. I'd also suggest reading through the Official Azul Sensatori & EDR threads for info on Lomas weddings. While you are at a different Azul resort, the Lomas planning is the same among the resorts. Only some of the allowed vendors differ between the Azul and El Dorado resorts. This may help answer your questions. Lastly, ask the other AB brides here. This is a fantastic community, and everyone is willing to help. A DW is typically a frustrating experience while in the planning stages. It's hard to wait, when all we want to do is plan and get the decisions made. Everything will work out beautifully though. We used a Lomas-approved DJ, DJ All Music and were very happy with them. They played the music we requested and kept everything moving along for our reception. Our guests (and us) had a fantastic time. There are other reviews of DJs among the RM pages - do a search on DJs and you'll see some of the other choices.

I don't have any words of wisdom on the make up. At that price, it may be worth hitting Sephora for one of their airbrush systems and learning how to use it. If I were in your shoes with that big of a bridal party, I would probably be more comfortable requesting a rehearsal with the onsite WC just to run through where they will wait to walk down the aisle, what the order of the ceremony will be, etc. I'd ask when you have your meeting with them. worst case scenario - choose someone you trust (MOH?!) as the designated cat-herder. give the bridal party a time to meet you at the ceremony site, and give your cat-herder the order you want them to walk in. have a copy of the ceremony (if you do it yourself) and do a quick run through. the WC will help cue everyone on the day of. I didn't prep either of our families for our ceremony, pretty much forgot all about it!! at some point leading up to the wedding I told my brother he was walking with my mom, and my groom was walking in his mother & sister. thankfully the WC took care of all of that for me before I got to the ceremony site. she had my dad waiting at the sidewalk to walk me down the aisle as I requested, and it all went off without any issues. they were super helpful for us.

@@Ydolem - you are most welcome. and that's the conclusion that most Karisma brides come to. honestly though the settings are so beautiful, there's no need for thousands of dollars in decorations.

YAY November brides! I know of several brides who used the Health Bar - it's a great space. Presidential gazebo is nice too. Gazebo 55 is the most private of the gazebos because it's way off at the end of EDR's beach. not completely private, but none of the wedding locations are. Whichever of these you choose will work out really well! they are 60" round tables that seat 8.

yes - this is the norm for Karisma resorts. They have been charging $5 (USD) per person for set up of decorations brought by the bride & groom. if the only thing you're bringing is the lanterns they may do it for a flat fee of $150 or so, depending on how many you brought. These fees go to the staff to set up for the wedding. Depending on how many people you have, plan on the $5 pp and take it in cash to your onsite meeting with your WC along with all of your decorations. Generally the onsite WC are more flexible than the Lomas planners in Miami.

@lisanthonypoppy - Paying up front is pretty common in the US as well as Mexico, whether it's a resort-based wedding or private vendors (fyi - resorts are hiring private vendors on your behalf, so this is really a moot point). If you've found something different to be the norm in your area, that's great. good luck with all of your planning. hope your day is magical.

Pretty normal for wedding vendors to expect payment in full up front. This situation isn't really different than if you had your wedding in your home state/country. If there is that much concern about the vendors not delivering, then perhaps another vendor should have been chosen. Read reviews to find a trusted vendor, and make all payments in a way that will allow the charges to be disputed if they don't deliver (paypal or credit card). We paid our resort for all of our wedding selections including DJs, excursions and spa services about 2 weeks prior to the wedding.

@@travelgal78 - hi Leslie! definitely plan the day of stuff now with your Lomas WC now. . I would go ahead and tell them what time you want to start the day-of appointments, they almost never leave enough time. you can also schedule the stuff you want to do the day before with your Lomas WC and they'll add it to your wedding spreadsheet to pay for ahead of your visit. Keep in mind they usually have specials (pricing) for the spa once you get onsite, and they have had same-day openings on each of our 3 visits. You could book with your concierge, or wait until you see someone selling the spa services to visit you by the pool (it happens daily!). It may be worthwhile to wait until you get there to schedule those services to save a few $$.