AllieH

such soft & pretty colors!!!

Get a good travel agent! Start with the team here at BDW: Wright Travel. There's a link to them in my signature. They can help you narrow down your options, choose resorts within your target price range and get all your guests booked. They are AWESOME with destination wedding groups. The 3 most popular all inclusive destinations for weddings are Mexico (Cancun/Riviera Maya or Cabo), Jamaica and Dominican Republic. All three have beautiful resorts and beaches, at a variety of price points. You definitely need an expert on your team to help you with the options.

I really like that head piece! Wear your hair exactly how you want to. Don't let anyone else tell you how you should do it. Do you have natural curls/waves? If so, you *may* want to think about a keratin treatment or brazilian blowout a couple of weeks before your wedding. The humidity in Mexico is no joke and will bring out any natural curls you have if you aren't used to styling in that climate. My hair is naturally curly, but where I live I can generally tame it straight. I have no hope of doing that in Mexico though. For my wedding I did a blow out, and never had an issue straightening it there. Other trips I didn't do a blow out and the curls were wild - I end up wearing my hair up most of the time. Just something to think about it!

@@NickiLynn1116 I skipped the cocktail and sent guests to the beach bar and martini bar in between. It worked out just fine, and saved us some $$$. Most of our guests were in pics too, but we did all of the family/friends formal pics right after the ceremony. It took maybe 15-20 minutes tops (my photog was super efficient with the group shots!). I figured I was paying for the private dinner, and a private cocktail was overkill at an AI resort. While our guests did scatter a bit (some went to JoJos for a snack, but most went to the martini bar), they all showed up in time for us to make our entrance for the reception. I really think it's a preference thing.

all of these items were previously sold, sorry!

congrats Sandy!!!! I hope this next week flies by, and you have a magical wedding in Cancun. Your planning thread is totally awesome. I can't wait to see your wedding photos.

Hi @@mkg51615 - EDR doesn't do airbrush make up. They use Mac or Lancome products. @@Tinab989 - Hi Christina! YAY for 12 days. You will love Fuentes and Tucanes. I think sending Valeria something would be greatly appreciated if you were happy with her work. As for the staff, I'd say $20-$40 per person is more than generous. Just depends on how happy you are with their service. I had my hair done at the spa, and was very happy with it. I had a rehearsal as well, and think it's worth the $$. Just make sure you take inspiration photos, and also take photos after your rehearsal in case your stylist doesn't remember exactly what she did during the rehearsal. They will also style it slightly differently for the rehearsal so you don't have to show everyone your "day of" look until the actual wedding day. Customs: take receipts for your gift bag stuff, based on each person/couple is carrying. The max amount of gifts you can carry in is $300 per person or $600 per couple. If it's over that amount you may have to pay import taxes. Whether or not they ask for more details about what you're bringing into the country and any supporting receipts is completely random. For example: when we went for our wedding and anniversary, we had to roll all of our bags through the X-ray machine. On our last trip in June, they were not scanning bags, just hitting the button - and once per family vs. once per person as in previous trips. I have heard of some brides having their stuff searched and needing to produce the receipts. So it's better to be prepared. HTH! Wishing you a wonderful dream wedding in paradise!!

@@NickiLynn1116 - thank you for your sweet words. I'm so glad I'm able to help you and other destination brides. I hope your big day is as magical as our was.

@@Lia33 - gorgeous!!!!! My opinion is that your tattoo is part of you, and there's no reason to hide it. It's totally a preference. Try on some backless dresses and see what you think. if you don't like it, then cover it up with a different dress. Don't make a decision without trying on dresses and seeing how you feel in them.

this is a total guess. since they are made for banquet chairs which look more typical of those found in hotels vs the style of chairs that EDR has, I think they *might* be too small. I also don't think they'd really show up against the white chairs if used alone. You could probably do them with a pop of ribbon color, but again I'd hesitate to purchase them because I'm not sure they'd fit either.

bubbles? the little confetti poppers? or if you have any friends going into PDC, you can ask them to try to hunt down sparklers for you. At one time Lomas had sparklers available - you could ask your WC about that too.

welcome!!!!

The weather in November was really nice during the day, and refreshingly cool at night. You may want a wrap for your arms in the evenings. Cool, but not cold at all. It did get warm at Tucanes, but if you step out by the pool you can catch a breeze and cool off a little. That probably had something to do with the huge dress I was wearing and all of the dancing I did. I can't wait to see your set up with the pool lights!!! I still don't understand why they are being so strict with the Casitas spa - it's been open to both sides of the resort all 3 times I've been there! You may not be able to get ready with them just because of the number. It'll all work out though. Maybe plan to meet back at your room for some of those "getting ready" photos together before the ceremony. You can pretend to be putting on make up, and all put dresses on together or something like that.

Hi @@NickiLynn1116 - I ended up not bringing the topper to Mexico because I was afraid it would break en route. But you could bubble wrap it, and then take super glue with you just in case. I brought the cupcake tier with me. Lomas has them available to rent, but I'm cheap. They filled the 3 tiers, and then scattered the rest of the cupcakes on the table. I have a picture of the table I can send you. We gave the DJ a list of songs we wanted, but DJ All Music does have a huge PDF of the songs they have. They would try to find the music if they didn't have it available. I'm sure if you wanted to turn control over the song choices to them, they'd be fine with it. I'm a little more of a control freak, and knew the songs we wanted to play. If you'll PM me your email address, I'll send the DJ spreadsheet and the pic of the cupcake table.

the hair rehearsal is worth the $$. just make sure you bring a picture of what you liked/approved from the rehearsal to the salon on your wedding day. the stylist won't remember... trust me! I'd suggest you request your appointment times for your wedding day. The WC tend to leave less time between appointment and wedding than really needed (especially if you're doing a first look and couples photos before the ceremony or want to do something entirely reasonable like eat lunch). I posted a pic of our set up at Tucanes a couple of pages back: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/topic/5182-el-dorado-royale-edr-brides-post-here/?p=1867533 Lighting is perfect for a party. Pool is very dark though, so I do wish we'd put either tiki torches around the pool, or better yet - floating lights in the pool. don't be nervous!!! the onsite wedding team will take great care of you and make your day super special. if I can answer any more questions, don't hesitate to ask! my wedding was a couple of years ago, but we've been back to EDR twice since we got married, most recently in June.

congrats!!!! such an exciting time. enjoy every moment of the wedding planning, and don't stress about the small stuff. and 90% of it's small stuff.

it's a great question!! My advice is to stick with the most common flowers - roses, lilies, or orchids, and in the most common colors (e.g. blue orchids are a challenge, but white or purple are feasible). Oh, and birds of paradise are plentiful there. They'll have carnations and such too. More unusual flowers like ranucullus or dahlias might be harder to find and thus even more expensive. As Tiffany said, many DW brides go the real touch route and do fake vs. real. then there's no question about what you're getting, and you can take it home with you. That was my choice, and no one even realized they were fake. and now they sit on my mantle. (or heck, you can resell it if you aren't the sentimental type).

they've gotten better with the $5pp being a more consistent quote recently. I wanted to pull my hair out over the set up fee quotes I got during my planning - some of them were simply outrageous, so I stopped asking and just dealt with it onsite. I had my hair done in the El Dorado Casitas Spa. we did both the trial and the day-of. it came out pretty close to what I wanted, and I was happy with it. No way I could have done an intricate undo like that. And it didn't move all day/night...not in the wind on the beach or the heat of dancing and partying. A friend did my make up for me.

a tip from past brides - take the $5 pp quote, and don't get into details about the decorations you want to bring with your WC. review them in detail when you get onsite and they will stick to the $5 pp (unless the $400 is less than $5pp based on the size of your group). the set up fee is by far one of the most subjective fees we've seen from Lomas, and generally the onsite WC is much more generous than your pre-planning WC.

a great TA is worth the extra step for payment. We've worked with @ and Wright Travel twice in the past, and wouldn't hesitate to do it again!!

Hi @@CharBec - Miriam has the reception locations in the official thread: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/topic/72018-official-azul-sensatori-thread/?p=1709028 The only photos I've seen of the Memorable Moments packages have been on the Lomas website. I don't know that any of the BDW brides have chosen them yet. http://www.weddingsbylomastravel.com/MemorableMoments/ HTH!

@@lauralane - absolutely the onsite WC are easier to work with vs. Lomas. I'm not sure if Generations' Lomas folks are in Miami (like the Azul properties) or Cancun (like the El Dorado properties). Either way, rest assured that the onsite WC will make your dreams come true whatever they may be! You will still want to work with your Lomas WC in the interim to outline most of what you want for your wedding - events, locations, spa appointments for hair/make up, etc. They will create a spreadsheet of all the details (and costs) for you, which you should receive as you get closer to your wedding. You will review this spreadsheet and the rest of the details with the onsite WC team when you meet with them after you arrive (generally the day after arrival). For example: I missed that our spreadsheet had one of our entrees incorrect, and we had paid the price for that entree. Onsite we caught the error, they made the change, and Lomas updated our spreadsheet. We then paid the difference onsite. And they did take our decorations from the ceremony over to the reception site without us asking or even thinking about it. HTH!

no I can't imagine it'd be a money line like that with such a big group!!! and I know what you mean about the cruise ships. and no way would I expect our guests to tip the staff at a private party...that was totally our job.

It wasn't anything negative!!! The staff stood by the exit to say good bye to our guests that they've served food & booze to for the last 4 hours. We didn't do a grand exit or anything - just a last dance and then everyone filed out to move on to the next bar. Since they were lined up, it was easier to tip everyone vs. worry if we missed someone. How many staff you have will depend on the size of your party. I think we had our WC and 3 servers/bartenders for about 36 ppl. If this is a concern for you, talk to your onsite WC about the best way to do it when you have your meeting with him/her. Then he/she can instruct your team.

Hi @@hdm116 - your countdown is on! Tip whomever you feel went out of their way to give you excellent service, and try to tip those you see more frequently (e.g. pool bartender, beach butler, shuttle driver). Tip the bellman who delivers your luggage, and the one who picks it up and takes you to the lobby when you check out too. I'd also tip the concierge if he/she helped you set us reservations or something special. And don't forget to tip housekeeping - generally at the end of your stay. Our most frequent tips go to: Bartenders - we tip $1 per drink generally. This is an easy way to keep the drinks coming, and have them made exactly how you like them! Waiters - $5 for the two of us depending on the level of service Shuttle drivers - $2-$3 if they pick us up en route as we're walking. We'd tip more if we called them from our room vs. waiting at a shuttle stop. We usually take $100 in singles with us for a week. Everyone is really grateful for tips, and we want them to know we appreciated them taking care of us. After the reception, the staff will line up for you to tip them all individually. at least that's what they did for us. I don't know if they trust each other to divvy it up equally