tkuzma

No special arrangements need to be made! Sunwing is used to DW brides bringing their dresses onto the plane- they reserve overhead bins for wedding dresses. Just be aware that your dress may need to share the space with another bride's dress.

Hi bubblez, I was quoted two prices for sparklers through my WC: - 3 ft long sparkler= $8 each - Box of 5 small sparklers is $5/box Well I thought $8 a sparkler was insanity and the box of 5 was a steal! Hopefully you can learn from my mistake- I bought 8 boxes of the small sparklers hoping to take pictures of our guests forming an archway to walk through as well as several long exposure shots; however, the "small" sparklers are so small they last maybe 10 seconds, so I couldn't get the photos I had hoped for. Thankfully I only lost $40 on this endeavour.

Hey there, we told as many guests as we could ourselves and had the rest spread the word that we were going to meet up at the Mojito lounge as we wanted to say hello and had gifts to hand out. It worked out really well!

Hello again ladies!!! I am back after an amazing wedding week at the Azul Sensatori and a second incredible honeymoon week at El Dorado Maroma! I didn't want to ever leave As other brides before me always said, I now reiterate, none of you have anything to worry about! I was a bit of a skeptic before because I'm an obsessive compulsive perfectionist, but now I'm a believer that this resort has weddings down to a science, and they will do anything in their power to make your day an absolutely fantastic one! So now for a bit of a review... Saturday February 2 - Arrival Most of us (30 guests + bride & groom) arrived at the resort around 9 pm. The check-in process was a breeze. We were all greeted with cold towels & champagne, and they directed us to one of the ballrooms for paperwork, which was full of sweets and more drinks. My groom & I were upgraded without asking to the honeyroom suite- OMG I hope some of you are able to experience this suite (to die for panoramic views of the beach & ocean! After a quick bite to eat at Spoon, we all gathered at the Mojito Lounge to hand out our welcome cards and beach bags. Our group took over the terrace of the lounge, and we had our own little private party. Make sure to try the mango & kiwi mojitos! Sunday February 3 This was a beach day for our guests. Chris & I ran around (a bit with our heads cut off) trying to greet the remainder of our guests and making sure everyone was happy. We visited his dad at Azul Beach, which was a nice little walk- again a reminder you have to walk past the nudist resort to get here. We ate the beach bbq for lunch (actually, most days we ate lunch here!) and it is fab- a great selection and great service as well. Make sure to try the ribs. Dinner was at Zocalo (Mexican restaurant)- I think overall this one was my favourite (take into account that unfortunately due to commitments and time constraints, we never actually ate at either Tapaz or Le Chique). (Zocalo has fantastic tortilla soup & fish tacos at lunch). In the evening we had a crafting party with both of our families and wedding party back at our suite- we ordered in room service dessert, yummy! Monday February 4 Chris & I had to go into Cancun to meet with the priest that would be officiating our ceremony- this was a bit of a gongshow (we got dropped off at the wrong church, which in fairness, had almost an identical name to the one we needed to get to); however, the resort was very helpful in arranging for a private car with a driver for a return trip. My aunt joined us, and the driver took her around to several local markets. Our meeting with the wedding coordinator team was at 3 pm. Odette and her assistant Kristina were the ladies we met with. Both were very professional, attentive and methodical. We went over every item in our spreadsheets with them, and then reviewed the decorations that I had brought. This process took almost 2 hours, but I was extremely pleased to know that they wanted to make sure they knew exactly what our vision was and wanted to know in great detail how things should be set up and how we wanted to day to run. We had a ton of various decorations we brought, and the random amount we were charged for setup was $150. Only slight disappointment was that I had bought several dozen of various sized Ikea candles with me, but I was not allowed to use them because I didn't have candle holders, and they had none I could rent, so they went unused, and we rented their votives at the ridiculous price of $3/candle. We ordered room service dinner that evening as we were in a bit of a rush to get ready for our Smores Party which we had on the beach that evening from 7-9pm. This event was a hit with our guests, and well worth the $15/person price tag. The actual bonfire was puny, but that is the only slight complaint I had. The selection and amount of treats was impressive. We had our own personal bartender and about 4 servers and they did a great job. It turned out that the fire dancer show started at 9 pm right next to our party, so that was an added entertainment bonus. Tuesday February 5 This was Chris & my day to "relax" and to try to enjoy the beach. Haha, we still managed to find ourselves some tasks to complete and to try entertain various guests. As part of our wedding package, we were supposed to receive a 30 min sky massage. Somehow, we ended up receiving a 60 min massage, even though it was inside. Not sure how this happened, but no compaints from us Just a note to not expect an RMT equivalent massage like back home, but it's soothing nonetheless. In the evening, our wedding party had arranged a separate girls' and guys' dinner as a start to our joint bachelorette and bachelor parties. The boys had a great time at Zocalo- the restaurant printed them a special menu for the event (at no charge) and gave them a tequila testing. The girls met up at Zavas for dinner & drinks- the service was great, and they sat us at two long tables. This was actually the only meal I really did not like during my entire stay at the resort, but no big deal. After dinner, we all headed to Coco Bongo, which we arranged through the SunWing reps- just a small side note: we assumed we were headed to the Coco Bongo in Cancun, but SunWing only deals with the club in Playa del Carmen; no big deal, just a little bit of confusion. Mini buses picked up our group at 9:20 at the resort, and we left the club at 1:30. The experience was totally worth the $50/girl and $60/guy. Wednesday February 6 I started the day off with my bridesmaids with a 60 min sky massage. I ended up with the same masseuse as the day prior, and I asked him to apply a lot more pressure than previous, which was more of what I usually receive with my RMT. From 1-5pm I spent at the spa. I had a manicure & pedicure from 1-3 pm. I forget the esthetician's name, but she did really nice work. I have really short nails, and most esthetician's won't do a French manicure for me in Canada, but this girl did not even hesitate. The polish on both my hands and feet lasted with minimal chips until the end of our honeymoon! She also did my trial makeup from 3-4 pm. They use MAC products, and they have a ton of colours to choose from. She did a wonderful job, and was very receptive to changes suggested by me. At the end, they even took my picture on their IPad, so they could refer to it again the next day. Zenaida did my trial hair from 4- ~5:15pm. I showed her three different pictures, and she masterfully combined all 3 into a curly sideswept low updo, which I absolutely loved. Again my picture was taken, so they could refer to it the following day. We had arranged to do a walk through of the ceremony with Odette for $50 through Lomas prior to arrival as we weren't going to see the El Dorado chapel until the actual wedding day. She spent half an hour with us even though she had to run back and forth between 2 different weddings that day. It was a bit haphazard, but it worked. We then went with our families and wedding party to Sienna for a rehearsal dinner. Thursday February 7 - WEDDING DAY! I started at the spa at 9 am for makeup and then had my hair around 10:15. I was done around 11:30. The girls recreated my hair and makeup from the trials perfectly. I think you can be rest assured that the ladies with do a fabulous job for you even without a trial- like I mentioned before, I am OCD about details, so I needed the trials to calm my nerves. We paid for my bridesmaids and moms to get their hair done as well, and everyone loved their styles. My photographer, Dean Sanderson & his friend, Catherine O'Hara (who was visitng from Paris) arrived around 12:30 to start shooting details and us getting ready. I could go on forever about how great Dean & Catherine were the entire day. Their work is beautiful, and their attention to detail is impeccable! I don't have any pictures to show with you yet, but the pictures we saw on his camera were so beautiful. I would highly recommend Dean!!! We had two mini buses pick up Chris, his groomsmen and all of our guests around 2:10 for transport to El Dorado chapel. My bridesmaids, my parents and I were picked up in a limo around 2:20. The ceremony was at 3pm and was about 50 min. The chapel is simple, but so beautiful. We had minimal decorations, and anything more would have been overkill. They have AC built into the chapel, but unfortunately it wasn't working properly, so it was HOT! After the ceremony, we took pictures with family and guests until 4:50, when they were transferred back to AS. We stayed with our wedding party on Maroma beach until 5:50 taking more pictures. If you have a chance to visit Maroma beach, go!!! It has been voted one of the world's top 10 beaches, and it is indeed spectacular! Our cocktail hour was from 6-7pm on Zocalo beach- Chris & I didn't attend because of photos, but our guests said the food was great, and the resort did an amazing job with the signature cocktail we had requested, a pear martini. Our reception was from 7-11 pm at Zocalo Al Fresco- the terrace outside of Zocalo restaurant. I would highly recommend this location- it has a roof and blinds they can pull down if it gets too windy or rains, and it still has a wonderful view of the beach and ocean without actually being on the beach. Only downside as with all outdoor locations, it can be quite hot! I couldn't have asked for a better setup of the area and all of our decorations, if I had done it myself to be honest. Odette and her team paid amazing attention to detail, and Chris & I couldn't have been happier. Our wedding dinner was probably the best meal we had at the resort all week. We had requested the Mexican guitar trio for entertainment during dinner, and they did a great job. We also had a pinata, which was a huge hit. We brought our own decorations for the cake; we really enjoyed the cake itself- 1 layer chocolate, and the other hazelnut. The servers and bartenders were fantastic. We rented the amplifier system and played our own music off of playlists we created on our laptop, which worked out perfectly with our group size. It's so true what past brides say, the day itself goes by in a flash! So much planning goes into it, but at the end of the day, it is only a 24 hour period, which you can not prolong, so make sure to enjoy it!!! There were mini blips that happened, but overall I thought the day was just perfect! Friday, February 8 Breakfast in bed, which was part of our wedding package arrived at our room at 11 am. Food was plentiful, and it was presented in true gourmet style! Our couples' dinner on the beach was at 6:30 pm this evening- it's a 4 course meal in a private cabana. Second best meal of the week after the wedding meal! Not much else to say about this day- we were just so exhausted after running arround the entire week, that we slept for most of the day! Saturday, February 9 We changed the dinner reservation at Spoon that came with the wedding package into a brunch for a Thank You and Farewell for our guests. They booked us in at 10 am at Zavas. The food was endless and super yummy. Service again was exceptional. It was nice to see our guests one last time prior to them leaving to go back home and us moving to El Dorado Maroma for the next week. Well now, that is almost a novel! If you have any questions, please let me know I will post pictures as soon as I get them. I am going to start working on my Wedding Planning Journal, but it might take awhile as I am back at work- I will let you know when it's done. One final note- my groom was skeptical about a DW when we first started planning, but at the wedding reception he turned to me and said he couldn't have imagined doing it any other way. You will not regret getting married at Azul Sensatori! AS holds a lot of sentimental value to us, and we hope we can go back soon on one of our first couple of anniversaries. Oh, and if you can at all manage, try to go down to Mexico for 2 weeks! That first week just went by in a blur- it was nice to visit and introduce family & friends, but it wasn't until our 2nd week that we really got to relax and just breathe!

Well ladies, I am off to Mexico in 7 hours!!! Gotta go and finish packing and need a little bit of a nap!

Hey there, I chose a bouquet of white roses and tulips- I'll post pictures of what they came up with at the resort after the wedding.

OMG, we are doing the legal thing tomorrow and leave for Mexico on Saturday! Where has time flown to?! BM dress update- so the dress we ordered is floating in an abyss somewhere, with a wishy washy delivery date from anytime now to 30 days- ridiculous no? So I hate House of Brides- do not order from them ladies!!! On the positive note, we found a dress just yesterday that is long, chiffon and in the same colour family as the original; and the seamstress at the store is awesome and said no problem that alterations can be done for tomorrow evening! Thank you to all you ladies who had your fingers crossed for me and offered lots of helpful advice and suggestions!!! Lots of love

Congrats jreist!!! Can't wait to hear more about your wedding and to see more pics

Hi there, I am having a Catholic ceremony in Mexico. We are staying at Azul Sensatori (initially we were expecting children to come to the wedding so we needed an all ages resort) and having our ceremony at El Dorado Maroma (both Karisma resorts). The Karisma WCs made planning this quite easy. My wedding is in 11 days, so I'll let you know how it goes soon.

Rachel was just thinking of you! Hope you had an absolutely amazing wedding day! Hooray you're married!!!

Holy moly- I haven't checked out this thread in awhile- can't believe I'm the next one on the list!!! We leave for Mexico in 1 week!

Hey there! Yes, most definitely this is a common theme in planning destination weddings. One of my bridesmaids dropped out on me halfway through the planning process. I was also disappointed at time, but like you said, it's your day and you will have a fabulous time with your new husband and the people that do join you!

Congratulations Aynat!!! You made a beautiful bride

Such a good song!

So the dress has shipped- I was jumping for joy for a moment and then stopped- they did not send it using an overnight service like I asked for and which they promised. They sent it using some sort of International Priority Service- trouble is, my fiance just had something shipped using this method, and it still took 12 days to receive it. Keep your fingers crossed for me ladies that Customs lets this dress get through into Canada ASAP!!! to the forum and congrats on picking the AS! I think you are the 1st 2014 bride here

I vote for the bejewelled starfish! But then again I'm not impartial as I will also be adding a sparkly one to my bouquet