girlinthecity97

@@JMK923 - Congrats & hope your wedding exceeds your expectations/dreams!!! We are considering AS. Can't wait to hear about your wedding & see pics. @@LissaSou - we just came back from a site tour and AS was one of the places we checked out. The WC said the water is generally turquoise blue with a few dark spots where reefs are. While we were there, it was "splotchy" (dark in spots & turquoisish in spots) because it was raining. I haven't been to the other resorts you listed but felt AS was very beautiful (pics don't do it justice in my opinion), had great food (especially at the Mexican/Latin restaurant) and fit the expectations/interests of our range of guests (those with kids, those looking for a couples vacation etc...). My fiance liked the fact the teen club had almost every type of gaming console (from the latest xbox to playstation) and a pool table. The WC said they allow adult guests to use this if there are little to no teens staying at the resort. Since we are looking to get married in February, he's banking on being able to play. LOL Also, we LOVED the WC. She was so on point and made sure the staff at every restaurant had a signature drink and/or food samples for us to try. Hope that helps!

These are REALLY nice - I especially love the Spanish phrases card! Great idea!

GREAT job!!!! I love your blog and look forward to reading more and seeing more pics! I love your colors & peacock theme - very pretty!

@@UMassRN007 - CONGRATS!!!! Thanks so much for posting your feedback about him. This makes us feel even more confident!!! I can't wait to see your pics! We got to meet him while we were down for a recent site inspection and he was so helpful and great! If you don't mind my asking, how many hours did you have him for? I'm trying to figure out how long we should go with. I don't think I want a ton of getting ready shots but don't want to do 30 min if that limits the shots. Also, I'm not sure about how far into the reception we will need him. Any feedback/insight into your schedule is greatly appreciated! Thanks & CONGRATS again!

@strwbsprkl - thank you SOOO much and same to you!!!!

Hi Anya530 - did you try Zazzle or CafePress? ). You have to scroll through or type specific location names in the search but that's where I found some for Riviera Maya, Tulum, and Cancun. If you are looking for vintage style postcards, I would also try ebay and etsy. Hope that helps!

Thanks and same to you @@rvalenka

@@pandahugs - our wedding will be about 50-75 people. To @@JMK923 's point, the registry will help those like co-workers who may want to do a group gift. Regardless of how many things you do or don't get, I think doing one is fun and one of the "perks" of being a bride-to-be.

@@jwalsh - you will be there before you know it - especially if you an active thread on info you need or have questions/info on. Don't be a quitter like me lolol. Curiosity killed....

The receptions will be held at the restaurants or possibly on the beach like they do at the sister properties. There were Bali beds on the beach but none yet poolside. They did have the submerged tile beds/loungers in the pool. The 1st floor suites had jucuzzis and the ability to swim out into the pool.I also think they had the tile bed/lounger.

Thanks @jasstz - initial tops were Azul Beach, El Dorado Royal, Royal Hideaway Playacar, the JW Marriott (for a non-AI option), ME Cancun and Le Blanch. Since we are factoring in my niece - that ruled out all but Azul Beach and the JW. After talking with a TA and getting a chance to stay at Azul Beach, our final list is between Azul Sensatori (which was her recommendation based on what I was looking for and the pattern she spotted in my spreadsheet) and El Dorado Royal since my niece could potentially stay at Generations next door.

Yes - plan to look into pricing for EDR/Generations and compare it against AS. If it is comparable, and we can negotiate that any bookings at either go toward the same perks and discounts we may go that route. This way all guests win. Those with kids get a beautiful place to stay/enjoy and those without get the same but the bonus of being able to enjoy Generations if they choose. We would have our ceremony on the roof and reception at one of the Generations venues. The thing we loved about EDR was the beauty and fact you can have some alone time if we want. We met others who were staying there (EDR) and they all had rave reviews. One booked there wedding on the spot and another said they would too or use it as a honeymoon location if they liked another spot they were going to see. The only negative if you can even call it that is EDR/Generations is another 15-20 min down the road from AS and AB.

It is definitely a smaller resort-it had a boutique vibe and the pool was gorgeous. The rooms on the first 3-4 levels have mini infinity pools on the balcony. The last top levels do not. The ceremony site wasn't finished but overlooks the ocean and will be gorgeous. They are also putting a sky deck on top that I think will be as breathtaking as the one at AB.

@@talicea7812 - yikes!!! Can your TA help you with the Miami coordinator. If it makes you feel better, I met Paola the Azul Beach coordinator and she is very nice and strives to please. I also saw other members of her team in charge of doing the set ups and they were really on it! Everything looked great and seemed to be on time. I haven't gotten to the contract phase but I recall reading elsewhere on here you stand a better leg negotiating with the resort WC as they only charge for what is actually done. Having seen that they have staff charged with overseeing all aspects of wedding setups, I am guessing that is their reason for not allowing a guest to do it. Are you using the real touch flowers others on here have used? I am more convinced about going that route after seeing how "vanilla" the lomas arrangements were. @@MandM2014 - you may be able to get away with 26 but much more than that will be super tight. From what I saw, they call it semi-private because they close off one section of the restaurant and set the tables up so there is a small dance area in the middle.

Yes - it was still under construction but what we were able to see it looks very beautiful and impressive. It is all suites and on the same strip of beautiful beach as EDR. Every room had an unobstructed view of the ocean and the restaurants are being built on a pier so all will have ocean views as well.

Hi @@MandM2014 - I have to say, the Sensatori pics really do not do the resort justice! We toured both beach ceremony locations and they were beautiful. The first was more private than the second. The more private ceremony location was on the far end of their beach closest to the pier used for photographs. Denise, their onsite WC was AMAZING!!!! She said they station 2 attendants at each side of the respective ceremony areas to make sure guests don't walk through your ceremony and cut down keep them out of your pictures. To me, Azul Beach's beach was just a hair better than Sensatori. El Dorado had the most beautiful beach by far. To put it in perspective, both Beach & Sensatori have a good deal of seaweed that washes up and the beaches themselves are pretty short/shallow in the sense there isn't a huge distance between where you step onto the beach from the resort grounds and the ocean. Also, they are both in the same resort enclave - only minutes apart from one another and separated by one-two resorts and possibly an outdoor adventure area. To Denise's credit, she made sure the staff had cleared both ceremony areas of seaweed and both locations were decorated and set up for weddings or possibly demos because I ran into a group of what appeared to be travel agents when we went to the Sky Deck. You'll be able to get a better idea once I get the pics off of DF's phone and post them. If a beach ceremony is important, I liked the option of the semi-privateish beach area at Sensatori. There is only one area for beach ceremonies at Azul Beach. We have the same challenge re kids - my 9 year old niece is in the wedding. Since Generations is opening in 2-3 weeks, i understand there will be MANY promos and deals, so that could help you out. El Dorado Royale is right next door to Generations RM and you can use their restaurants, locations etc if you have at least 1 guest staying there. Also, you can get over there via the El Dorado Royale golf cart shuttles. We are getting nightly rate pricing for EDR and GRM to see if it's comparable enough to Sensatori out of curiosity.

@@MandM2014 - I too was in LOVE with Azul Beach based on pics and reviews UNTIL I attended the Karisma Bride's Dress Rehearsal this weekend at stayed at Azul Beach. I am now thinking of going with Azul Sensatori or El Dorado Royale. During the lunch at the Dress Rehearsal, I talked with a senior person from the Miami office. She shared that there is little to know flexibility when booking Azul Beach because the property is always in high demand for both weddings and vacationers. She eluded that there is more flexibility and consequently better deals to be gained by booking one of the other properties. I'm opting to go a different route based on the fact our room (Villa 9) had a persistent ant problem in the bathroom and it was a little too intimate. It rained for the 1st 1/2 of the trip and there was nothing to do. Thankfully, we had things we needed to get done but feel it is quite easy to be bored to tears there if I were a guests or just there for a vacation. I hear you about the fees, and while I was initially highly annoyed with DF for forcing the "memorable moments" package issue, I ended up being pleased he was bent on going that route. We learned it IS actually possible to go with one of those but make tweaks/customizations to your liking. for instance, we liked one that had the Tiffany chairs but we didn't like the chargers, chair colors, chair covers or table cloths. In speaking with more than one person there both from Lomas and Miami, we learned it's possible to change the chair & table cloth colors, ditch the chair covers and swap the charger for something more understated for no additional cost. Where it could become quite pricey (making the "Uniquely You" aka a la cart option more attractive) is when you want to do things like change chair styles, add a pricey style table cloth etc... As for the ceremony decor, we have decided we aren't going to add the corresponding Memorable Moments decor and either bring some things or go with a more basic decor option. I plan to write a more detailed review of the experience, sites visited (Fives, Beach, Sensatori, Generations, and El Dorado Royale), as well as other places we checked out and post pics. I had the opportunity to witness a wedding weekend for another person staying at Beach and have thoughts on that as well. If you go there, the staff works REALLY hard to make sure every detail is attended to and in place. It was beautiful.

These are really nice!!! Great job!

You did an awesome job! Thanks sooo much for sharing!

@@itswrightsc - you got it! After managing to get to 50, I caved and regret it. Right after I paid $30,I hit 100! Keep the faith! Lol

@@Bigleap35 - lol that's pretty funny! the way i got my fiance on board was to make plans to do the registry by myself or during an outing with my mom. out of fear i'd pick only things i would like, he caved. do you think if you make a similar "threat" under the guise of setting up the registry for his family members would help? lol

one word: FAB! I also like that you could wear these post-wedding as well. @@csho - those sandals are too cute and super fun! i also like the idea of using them as your "something blue".