TheWolferts

Have you sent out Save the dates? We sent out our save the dates about 11 months in advance to give people a heads up to start saving money and time off from work! We included our website address on the save the dates so people could get all of the travel info and registry info. We sent out our formal invites 3 months in advance, which was 2 weeks before everyone had to have their hotel reservations made, so at that point, everyone already knew all of the info about travel, the resort, etc, so we didnt find it necessary to include any of the "normal" inserts that a wedding in the states would include. I had thought we might mention something about our registry within our invites, but my MOH who is very well versed in her wedding etiquette said that was a HUGE no-no, so we did not include that. We did have info about our registry on our wedding website though and we found that most people directly asked us where we were registered if the intended to give us a gift. I cant find out final draft of our Save the dates, but below is an early version of our save the date. We found that most people that were actually interested in coming called us directly to get info about travel, pricing etc. It was kind of frustrating as we used a travel agent and had it all up on our website so we could avoid fielding everyone's questions, but I guess it comes with the territory of being the host of such an important event! Front side included our "wedding logo" that we used on various things throughout the wedding: Back side first draft. I cant seem to find a copy of the final draft, but I think we just changed the spacing, coloring, and added the resort name and login code: Below is our formal invite:

My now husband and groomsmen wore a Kenneth Cole, light gray summer suit from Macy's. I know they were a bit warm, but even my fiance admitted that they looked so sharp and well dressed that it was worth being a little warm! While linen might be a common option for DWs, we stayed away from linen just because it gets so wrinkly and stretched out. We were torn about whether they were going to wear their jackets for the ceremony and formal pics, but I think with the formality of my dress and the BMs dresses, warranted them wearing their jackets. Plus, the starfish lapel pin I made didnt stand out on the white shirts.

It was a promotion, so maybe they werent offering it when you signed your contract? Though my cousin got married at EDR October 2010 and I know they had that promotion. Did you book through DestinationWeddings.com? It might be something they have with the resort, because both my cousin and myself booked through them. Quote: Originally Posted by Cvantine Um...we didn't get that! They gave us like a $100 off coupon when we left but I didn't get anything for the guests that we had booked. I wish we had, we had about 20 rooms also!

Oh, one more random thing in the fine print for your 1 year anniversary stay. You can stay at any of the Karisma properties with your credit, except El Dorado Maroma. To use your credit at that property, you have to pay $175 plus 10% the total cost of your stay... which basically negates a small credit... This is really a shame since we had wanted to go to Maroma for our anniversary stay.

When we originally started researching resorts, we found that most of the resorts offered a B&G stay free type of deal and that most resorts actually average the number of nights your guests are staying and in what room categories and that is how your credit is calculated. Unfortunately, EDR calculates your credit by giving you credit based on the lowest number of nights and level of room booked. Meaning, if you had all of your guests stay for 7 days, but had one guest that could only come down for the weekend, you would only get the amount the weekend guest paid towards your room. I think that's complete nonsense and it still aggravates me, even 2 months past our wedding! It just doesnt seem fair that we or any couple for that matter could bring them 5 figures worth of business plus pay for a wedding there, and then get "penalized" for having a friend that can only make it down a couple of days.

I was adament about getting all of the charges taken care of before we went down there so I had Valeria add the set up fees to my spreadsheet and we paid that with our final payment. Also, just as an FYI to all brides, the resort gives you credit for a 1 year anniversary stay based on the number of rooms you book. We booked 21 rooms so we were expecting to get $1k towards our 1 yr anniv stay, but we got bumped down to the $750 resort credit because a few of our guests only stayed 3 days, and for the rooms toc ount towards your credit, they apparently need to stay for 4 nights... I am kinda peeved by this as several of our guests upgraded rooms once they got down there, opting to pay for a casitas and the majority of our guests stayed for 5-7 nights. I think we literally had 2 rooms booked that the couples could only make it down for 3 nights.

My fiance was also nervous that we would be really far away from our guests by staying on the Casitas side, but upon check in, we jsut asked if they could put us in a casitas that was close to the Royale side. They put us in the first set of Casitwas which was great because it was super close to the Health Bar which we ate at almost every day for lunch and super close the the beach vball courts which our group congregated around almost every day. It worked out great! As for the $180 fee, they charge a lot for any set up that requires a ladder and they also wont let you do it on your own because its a liability for the hotel to have you up on a ladder. If you really want the starfish hung on the alter, I would negotiate that the set up for any other items at your ceremony be included in that set up fee. We had paper lanterns hung at our rehearsal dinner and asked them to include the set up for the other items at the rehearsal within the high cost of hanging the lanterns and they agreed fairly easily. We did a symbolic ceremony and went with the free wedding package. We didnt really care for a lot of the addons for the cheapest priced package and felt that if we were going to spend the money, we might as well treat ourselves to a Casitas, but I do believe you have to stay 7 nights in a casitas to qualify for the free wedding package.

Depending on what you and your groom are wearing, I'd budget in a dress steam and a suit press. It wasnt very expensive at our resort and made everything look so crisp and well-kept.

I recently wrote a guest blog post for a prominent Wedding Blog (Romance in a Glance) all about my experience planning a DW! http://romanceinaglance.blogspot.com/2012/07/paradise-wedding.html

Thanks! It was really fun to write!

Hey Ladies! I wrote a guest blog post about my experiences planning a DW and thought I'd post it here: http://romanceinaglance.blogspot.com/2012/07/paradise-wedding.html

I would just do it yourself if I were you. I am in the process right now and it really isnt that difficult. I would be reluctant to give the website all of the personal information required to change your name. I found a website on The Knot that lists out the steps and I thought that was pretty helpful. http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/planning-a-wedding/articles/name-change-101.aspx I wouldnt change your name though until you get back from your wedding and/or honeymoon. Your passport can take a couple of weeks to months to get back. I started with getting my SS card switched which took about 2.5 weeks, and I am actually headed to the DMV to get my new id/license. I'm sending in all my passport info on Monday, and once I get my id mailed to me from the DMV, Ill start changing all of my bank accounts over.

The humidity was bad, but I am used to humid and have thus learned how to tame my hair fairly decently when its humid out LOL so I didnt think that it was so terrible. The breeze on the beach takes away a lot of the added heat from the humidity, so dont stress too much over it!

Below is a picture of our centerpieces at Toucanes. We didnt have any issues with the candles blowing out as Toucanes is set quit a bit back from the beach. LOL We had our reception indoors and for some reason the tallest candle of every centerpiece went out early in the reception and then would not relight. Dunno what was up with that! Quote: Originally Posted by jnitschke

Since your reception is at Toucanes, you and your guests are still going to have to hike it from Gazebo 55 to the main area of the resort, so I say go with Martini Bar... P.S. their chocolate martini is AMAZING! Were you planning on having food at your cocktail hour? I dont think Guacamayas would be busy then, but you would be surprised with the humidity feels like even in November. My cousins wedding was late September and we were all quite toasty.

Allie- We had votive candles at our rehearsal dinner at Tucanes and they held up fine. I dont recall any blowing out and it was nice to have a little extra light since the ceilings are so tall, thus their light fixtures are pretty far away. Martini bar is nice for a cocktail hour since it is in the a/c but it is located at the main lobby, so depending on where your wedding is, it might be a hike. Also, if you choose here, make sure the resort is aware of how many people you expect so they can adequately staff the bar. My cousin ended up having her cocktail hour at Guacamayas because it was her rain location. It si the main bar for nightly entertainment so depending on how late your cocktail hour would be, it might be crowded. That being said, no one was at Guacamayas at my cousins cocktail hour and the space seemed really large adn empty with only the wedding group, and she had 55 people. If it were me, I would opt for the Martini Bar. It's elegant, cool (temperature wise and decor wise) and a good size to host cocktail hour.

Youc pictures turned out great! I love you centerpieces and you table set up... very elegant!

My grandmother made my veil. I think the total cost was $8. We picked out the tulle and had to buy an $3 metal comb at the craft store. She actually had a pattern for veil, but I cant imagine it would be expensive to purchase one. There were several patterns for veils at Jo Anns fabrics. I didnt want to pay a lot for a veil in case I decided not to wear it either, so this worked out perfectly and it had a little sentimental value because my grandmother made it.

I was torn between wearing a flowy, more traditional beach dress similar to your first dress versus a trumpet style dress. You said it perfectly, the trumpet looks a bit more sleek and glamorous, which is why I went with a trumpet/fit and flare. I liked the more flowey chiffon dresses, especially for a beach wedding, but felt that I could wear that sort of dress to any nice function, not just my wedding. When else can you wear a trumpet dress?! This was my dress:

We did the free wedding package because we did not care for any of the additional items in the cheapest package. Since they require you to stay in a Casitas for 7 days to receive the free wedding package, we figured we would rather spend the additional money on our room, rather than wedding things we didnt necessarily care for. We were so glad we spent the money on our room! I had stayed on the regular side of the resort on a prior visit, and while the rooms are nice, the Casitas are so much nicer and are well worth the money, especially for your wedding.

We got married at the El Dorado Royale in Riviera Maya, Mexico and it was fantastic! I had been to the adults only resort prior to our wedding for my cousins wedding and fell in love. It doesnt have a hotel-like atmosphere, but more of an exotic, secluded beach get away. While the resort it self is very big, it still has a intimate feel. When we initially looked at the prices, we thought it would be too high for our guests, but they run a lot of specials and when you book with a group, they give your 20% off the regular room rates. The bride and groom also get 20% off all of your private parties, so we got our rehearsal dinner and reception food and beverages for 20% off! For booking a certain number of rooms, we (the bride and groom) got a specific amount towards our stay. We booked 21 rooms and I believe got $1,350 towards our room! We also got the same amount to use when we go back to any resort within the Karisma Properties on our 1 year anniversary stay. I am not sure what promotions they are running right now, but they always seem to have great options! http://www.eldoradosparesorts.com/hotels/el_dorado_royale/

If you have to have your spa services done with your MOH then I wouldnt book at the spa. I was put in a separate room for the bride during my salon services, which at first made me really upset that I wasnt able to get ready with my girls; however, I ran over to say hello in between my hair and make up and it was a ZOO! There were 3 other weddings that day and people were crawling over each other in the small salon to get their hair done. After a couple of minutes, I went right back to the brides room where it was relaxing. They gave me some snacks, champagne and even camomile tea when I started to stress out! It was a great and relaxing experience in the bride room, so I am glad that they did separate me. The BMs didnt get their makeup done at the salon so they took their stuff to my room to finish getting ready and we got to finish getting ready together.