Maybeachbride

We rented the IPOD set up the offered too. It was GREAT! I made a playlist and just had a friend anounce us and such. I thought about buying one and bringing it down with us but in the end I just didnt want to add one more thing to carry down there!

We did a lot of our pictures together before the wedding. Our wedding was at 6pm and i wanted to make sure I got some shots with bright sun. We had our wedding at Gazebo 55 and after we took some group shots. Our reception was at 7 at Tucanes. After group pics and stuff we just sent everyone over to Tucanes to wait while we did some shots of us on the rocks and stuff to the right of gazebo 55 . This was at about 6:45 and they just served them drinks until we arived. I was SO happy we did most of our pictures early but I know that is not for everyone. I will also say that i was SO happy we went with James from Sarini. He was so familiar with the hotel that he had TONS of ideas for pictures and I did not have to try to stress over where to take them. Just an idea!

Quote: Originally Posted by amandances Hi Ladies! I'm approaching the 6 month mark and trying to settle on a photographer. Our Wedding is March 29th. Sarani is the only one of the "approved" vendors I liked but she herself has been booked since we first booked EDR last March. Her two associate photographers James and Lunic are available but I don't know if I like their work as much. Did anyone use them??? If you didn't use the "approved" photographers were there any outside photographers you liked? We'd be willing to spend the 3 night stay rate for someone really good. Also if you do use an outside photographer do they make you pay the 3 night stay fee for the photographer and assistant? I know it's either 3 night stay or $800. Would it be $800 total or photographer and assistant? 3 night stay is less. Thanks!!! Amanda We had James and LOVED him! He was so great to work with! I was very laid back so i didnt really have much in mind and he had some amazing ideas! I would totally recommend him to anyone!

Quote: Originally Posted by jennifandr5 Hi Ladies, Does anyone have any advice on communicating at the resort with eachother? I know some people mentioned hey tell- but doesnt that use wifi? I know it was mentioned that the wifi is spotty so did anyone come up with a system that works if our guests dont want to pay for wifi? Also, if you turn off your cell data on your iphone then will the text messages still go through? Is that also based on wifi? And another question is about high heels in sand! We are having our ceremony at gazebo 55 and we will have the bamboo runner. Does anyone have any input on how difficult it is to walk in heels over there? We also have our cocktail hour right there too in the sand... Lastly, did anyone bring string lights for decor at tucanes? we have a lot of those but i am wondering if there are ample places to plug them in?? Thanks!! We didnt do any extra lights for Tucanes. There was plenty of light and I never thought I needed some. Also one thing to remember with Tucanes is there are some kind of bugs once the sun goes down! We had someone leave the reception and go to the gift shop for bug spray! I would highly recommend either having someone bring some or having it on the tables. Another option would be if you use candles in the center pieces then use the citronella. That was the ONLY complate i had about Tucanes! The wifi is only free for the bride and groom so most of my guest did not buy it. We just communicated by calling room to room.

Quote: Originally Posted by JenniferM Does anyone know for the BBQ menu that is offered for private events, are all of the items listed included or is it pick and choose? So for example will we need to choose to meats and two veggies, etc. We did the petit gormet which is very similar to the BBQ and it was fantastic! There was as TON of food! We did not do a cake either because we already had so many other choices. I loved that they were there cooking the meat and it was not precooked! My favorite thing was the choclate cups filled with fruit! They were so good!

Quote: Originally Posted by JenniferM Oh and does anyone know about the kayaking and paddle boats that are advertised on their website? Are there really paddle boats and where do you put in at? Don't the sandbags get in the way? Yes there are paddle boats. They have a group class thing you can take at 10 am I think. My friends tried a few times but they class was always full and they would not let you sign up ahead of time. I think you can just take them out any other time as long as it is not too windy. We went snorkeling once and saw NO FISH! then the next day we saw a ton from the pier but it was too windy so they would not let us snorkel that day. I think it is is pretty much hit or miss. We did an excursion for scuba diving and it was AMAZING!

I did not pay for sheers but did buy the hanging flowers and they were very pretty. I brought my own chairbows and they just charged me $1 a chair to put them on which came out tons cheaper than $5 a chair. We had our welcome dinner at Cocotal and did not do any decorcations and I am not sure if anyone really noticed. Looking back at pictures they put a large candle in the center. They put is in the back section of the restaruant. They were pretty empty for dinner the night we went so it seemed private but it may just have been that night. Where is the welcome party at? We had our reception at tucanes and didnt pay for any of the extra tikis or candle bags.... There seemed to be plenty of light without them. One thing to keep in mind for the outside party are the bugs... i didnt notice them at all until our reception. We actually had a few guest go up to the gift shop and buy bug spray. It may be something you have on the tables or have someone bring with them just in case. It was one of the very few things that was an issue at our reception and it I could have easily had some bug spray available!

Funny thing is when I asked about the smallest cake I was not offered this. I was told the $60 one that fed 6 people was the smallest we could get... It still amazes me how inconsistent they are about what they offer and prices...

I had the Profiterols Dorado with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and pepper foam. I was not really a big fan. The only part i liked was the chocolate. The profiterols were very dry! It was one of my least favorite desserts of the trip!

Ok so it has been almost 2 months from my wedding and I am finally getting around posting on here. First off I will say I LOVED EDR. The resort was AMAZING! I would recommend it to anyone! We stayed in a swim up casita and it was amazing! The only thing that was kind of a drag was how far we were from the rest of our guests. We arrived the Thursday before our Sunday wedding and stayed until the Friday after. I decided just to stay the whole time at the casitas instead of trying to change rooms and avoid the hassle of checking in again. It was so worth it! We spent a lot of time at the main pools while we were hanging out with our guests and didn’t really use the pool at our casita until people left after the wedding. We loved all the food and if there was something we didn’t care for we just ordered something else! Since our wedding was on Sunday we had a few days to enjoy the resort and our guests. Me and a friend did a dive excursion on Friday and it was great! Then after the wedding my friend and my new husband did another Dive excursion and it was awesome too!!!! We had originally decided on getting married at the presidential gazebo because they said it would be the best with the amount of guests we had. Once we got down there we decided we wanted Gazebo 55. They changed the location no problem and didn’t give us any hassle over it. I decided against sheers on the gazebo and just went with two flower arrangements on the posts. They then brought them back to the reception and used them as the decorations on the bride/groom table and the guest book table which was perfect! We also had hot pink chair ties which I brought. They charged me $1 a chair to hang it them but still came out cheaper than renting them and I used them on the chairs at the AHR we had. I did not have aisle runner at all which was fine. I had decided on flip flops but I ended up kicking them off right before I went down the aisle which my guest found amusing. I had sent a script for the ceremony in beforehand and did not even meet the minister until I was up at the front. I don’t actually think she followed the script exactly but I can’t remember now what she changed. I found out later that she talked to my husband before and told him that if she went by just what I had the ceremony would only be like 6 min long! So he told her she could add whatever. It ended up fine! We decided to take photos beforehand since our wedding was at 6pm and I wanted to make sure we had some good sun light plus I did not want to take forever after the reception. We booked with Sarani and just booked a 3 hour session. We ended up getting James Torres not Sarani. When she first emailed me I was a little bummed because I heard such good things about her but I was NOT disappointed. James was GREAT! He was so easy to work with and had such creative shots. We ended up getting 400 photos and 11X14 padded print as well. I was worried about not booking more time but it ended up perfect. He came around 4 and we did tons of shots before the wedding. Then he did the wedding and shots of our guests after. After the wedding we did another 45 min of shots beside gazebo 55 in the rocky area. They turned out great!!! He stayed for our first dance and to get some shots of the set up and food. It was plenty of time and I am so glad I went with Sarani! I would not hesitate to use her!!! I took my own artificial flowers that I purchased from a girl on this site. They were amazing and no one even knew they were fake so I don’t have any advice on ordering flowers from the resort. Although from what I hear I am glad I brought them. I also used them as decorations for the AHR and may possibly resell them! For the reception we had 24 people including us. We had it at Tucanes. We had 2 tables of 6 and two of 5 then a small half heart for us. It turned out great! We rented glass bowels for $10 each and then paid $10 a table for them to set up the centerpieces for the 4 tables. I brought a candle and shells from home and they provided the sand. I really liked how they set them up. Then we had pink and orange bows on the chairs we paid $1 a chair to set up. We ended up going with the petite gormet instead of the bbq buffet since it was cheaper. They had a minimum of 30 people but we just paid that even though we only had 24 guests. The food was great and there was plenty!!!! We did not get a cake since there were like 5 kinds of deserts. No one seemed to miss it. We didn’t pay for extra candles or anything and it was beautiful. We did rent the ipod speaker system and it was great! My friend announced us and I had a playlist for the music. It was simple and easy! If I had one complaint about the evening was the bugs!!! Once the sun went down I started noticing everyone was swatting. They bugs were so bad at the reception. Luckily two of the guest went up to the gift shop and bought some OFF. After everyone sprayed down it was fine! You may want to have some on the tables for your guests I wish I would have!!! I guess I just want to restate what most people are saying… KEEP IT SIMPLE! The place is so pretty and they will try to up sell you on items but it is not necessary! I am really happy with EDR and would recommend it to anyone!

Not sure if it is luck or what but I have not waited for lunch or dinner yet! As far as the sand bags, yes they are there but they don't bother me! I would recommend this place to anyone! More details when I get back but me and all my guests love it!!!!

We got married yesterday and everything was great! This resort is so amazing!

So glad to hear!!! I will be there on Thursday!!! Getting excited!!!

This is helpful thanks!!!