Janjin

Hi @@LeanneP - I struggled with this as well since I wanted to assign tables but not seats. We decided to use maracas as escort cards. We got pretty "business cards" from Vistaprint and wrote out people's names and table numbers on them and attached them with ribbon to the maracas. Then for meal selection, I used gold and silver markers to draw small symbols on the bottom. I think a silver star was the surf & turk and a gold triangle meant chicken. I also gave my WC a list of who would be at each table and what their dinner selections were. I think it worked out ok.

@@sarahjayne07 - congrats on your wedding at Azul Sensatori! We got married there in November 2015. We weren't able to negotiate down the vendor fee. But our photographers gave split the fee with us and gave us an extra hour on top of our package. So at the end of the day it worked out.

Congrats and welcome @@sarahjayne07!! This is an exciting time. I got married on the sky deck in Nov 2015 - its beautiful! It will be dark at 6 though. In November, the sunset was about 6:05 and it got dark very quickly. So I'm sure the sun will set earlier in January. Something to think about if you want to be able to do pictures after the ceremony.

We had the red velvet at Azul Sensatori and it was great!!

ah yes @@amyzig2 - it will be haha. They should at least provide bottled water for you and your guest so that should help.

Thanks @@amyzig2! Our ceremony started at 4pm. It was hot but not overbearing. Once we were on the beach for pictures I was ok. I got hot again during the reception but I'm sure all the dancing didn't help. What time of year are you getting married?

Hi everyone - I just posted my review on our Nov 2015 wedding at Azul Sensatori. Please let me know if you have any questions!! http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/topic/79934-azul-sensatori-nov-2015-wedding-review/

Hi everyone! I just posted my review of our Nov 2015 wedding at Azul Sensatori. Please let me know if you have any questions!! http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/topic/79934-azul-sensatori-nov-2015-wedding-review/

Hi everyone! I'm a little late with my review but thought better late then never - sorry it's pretty long! Hope this can help future brides! Please let me know if you have any questions! Resort: Azul Sensatori Wedding Date: 11/20/2015 Dates at resort: 11/17/2015 – 11/24/2015 Ceremony & Cocktail hour location: Sky Deck Reception location: Plaza Zavas Guests: 75 (71 adults, 2 infants and 2 children) Travel Agent: Danialle at BeachBum Vacations Photographers: FineArt Studio Photography (specifically Diego Pedernera and Jorge Rodriguez) Photobooth: Quiroo Entertainment Décor: Katy (Love & Lace Wedding Décor) General stay: Our week at Azul Sensatori was amazing! The resort itself was beautiful and the staff is outstanding. The resort is small enough that you aren’t walking forever to get to the pools or restaurants, etc but big enough that if you want to “get away” it’s doable as well. The size of the hotel is one thing that drew us to this resort. There are 4 pools (1 is adults only, 1 is only for premium guests and 3 of them have swim up bars). The pools were great! We spent 90% of our time during the day at the pools and we all had so much fun. The bartenders and pool wait are amazing! They remembered all of our names and how we liked our drinks and kept the drinks flowing all day! The food at the resort was amazing! Our favorite 2 were the Mexican and the Italian restaurants. The wait time to get a table was usually very small, if any at all, as long as you didn’t have huge group of say 12 people. What my guests usually did was break up into parties of about 6 and then asked to be sat near each other. This seemed to work great. The breakfast buffet was yummy and the room service was good (order the quesadillas – they were amazing!). The beach was ok. The actual beach is pretty long but narrow. During our time there, the seaweed wasn’t that bad. There were a few days were there was no seaweed at all! The hotel is always on top of it though. I am not a beach person in general so it didn’t bother me at all. Most guests were at the pool most of the time anyway but we did have a few that went into the ocean and went canoeing, etc. Wedding Details: We arrived on a Tuesday for our symbolic ceremony on Friday. A handful of guests arrived with us on Tuesday and the rest arrived either on Wednesday or Thursday. It was a lot of fun watching and being on the lookout for everyone to arrive. The check in process went pretty smooth. Hubby and I were in reserved a premium room so after being handed some sparkling wine we were whisked away to our private check in. We didn’t hear any complaints from our guests about the check in process. 90% of our guests were in the same building which was great! That Tuesday night I had my hair and make-up trial at the Spa. My MOH came with me. This went great and got rid of a lot of my nerves. They use Mac products. I brought with me the foundation and concealer I liked and had pictures of how I wanted my hair and make-up done. The lady at the spa (I don’t remember her name) was able to recreate the look and I was happy. Once we were done, she changed my hair so that no one would see exactly what I was going to look like. We had our meeting with the onsite wedding coordinator on Wednesday at 11am. We brought a lot of stuff from home and rented items from Katy. Working with Katy was so easy. Her colleague delivered the rented décor on Wednesday morning and picked up the following Tuesday morning before we left. It was all very seamless. I completely recommend using her. We had about 4 suitcases of wedding items to bring to our meeting, which included maracas, guest book, centerpieces, photobooth frames, framed signs, candles, and a whole bunch of other stuff I’m sure I’m forgetting. The only décor items I paid for from Lomas were 4 flower arrangements for the ceremony (that were also moved to the reception), 3 bouquets (mine, MOH and 1 bridesmaid), 3 boutonnieres, and table overlays. We also had our welcome bags delivered by the hotel. We assembled the bags the night before (Hubby did most of it while I was at my hair/make-up trial) and chose to have the hotel deliver them at $4 a room because it was just 1 less thing to think about that week and I’m so happy we did! The meeting last about 2 hours. We went through EVERYTHING here. They were very thorough and we had the ability to make changes to the decisions/selections we made with Miami very easily. After going through the timing and details of all our events, we went through all the décor we brought. They noticed that I didn’t have any sheers for the gazebo and they threw them in for us for free! I had hand drawn pictures of what I wanted our guest tables, place card and guest tables and the sweetheart tables to look like and they loved it. They said it made it very easy to follow. And they executed it perfectly! The ceremony, cocktail hour and reception looked exactly how I envisioned! Our first wedding event was on Thursday night – our welcome party. It was supposed to be a s’mores bonfire on the beach. But around 1pm, the wedding coordinators came to find us and told us that there was a 55% chance of rain and they recommended we move it inside. The backup plan was a ballroom and I did not want that. After some back and forth, they agreed to have it under one of the outdoor gazebos, which was the backup location I really wanted. They removed the tables and chairs and set up the fondue and fruit, etc in the center but they left the bed swings. It ended up not raining at all but moving it turned out for the best. The gazebo was a lot more comfy and we had a great time. We didn’t bring or use any décor for this event. We figured the location would be enough. Wedding day! Hubby was given his own room to get ready in. My mom, bridesmaid, MOH, and I all got had our make-up and hair done at the spa. We all looked great! My hair and make-up were exactly what I wanted and they served us champagne during – can’t beat that. I can’t recommend using the spa enough! We finished getting ready in my room and had room service delivered there. From day 1 we knew that our wedding pictures were top priority. We decided to use FineArt Studio as our photographers and pay the vendor fee. We loved their portfolio and they sure didn’t disappoint! They were great at getting back to us with any questions we had before AND after the wedding. On the day, Diego and Jorge were great to work with and really put us at ease. You can tell that they really enjoy what they do and had tons of great ideas for poses, lighting, etc. They also captured so many candid moments with us and our guests. They fit in with our group so well that I don’t even remember them taking pictures during the reception but they got some really great ones. We received our pictures a week ahead of schedule and received more than double the expected number of pictures. We LOVE our pictures and would use them again and again if we could. We also had a photobooth at the reception and it was a huge hit!!! We used Quiroo Entertainment and Martin and Wendy were amazing to work with. They were very responsive before the wedding and everything was set up great. They provided the videos and digital pictures only a few days after wedding – great timing! They have photobooth that also lets guest record video messages to us. This feature was AMAZING!!! It’s so much fun to look back and look at the pictures and the watch the videos. The photobooth printed 2 copies – 1 for the guests and 1 for them to add with a note to a book and we also got all of the pictures digitally. There props were great and honestly there were always people at the photobooth – which I loved! All guests had nothing but great things to say about Martin and Wendy. If you’re looking for a photobooth, definitely book with Quiroo Entertainment! We didn’t have much more room in the budget for a video but wanted to capture at least the ceremony and since we got a huge discount with the Lomas videographer, we decided to use them. The video is fine but I am very very happy I didn’t pay full price for it. The video quality was just ok – I could have had a guest video tape the ceremony and have gotten a very similar result. Also, their service wasn’t very good. We only hired them for an hour. When his hour was up, he literally came up to me while I was taking pictures and told me that since they needed 3 business days to prep video it would have to be mailed to me (which I knew and was ok with) and that I needed to pay him $30 for that right then. I looked at him like he was crazy and told him that it was completely inappropriate to ask us for that (come on I’m in my wedding dress!). And that I would go and see/pay his manager the next day, which I did. Then not only was my video not mailed out for a month after my wedding once I got it, it had the wrong date at the end. They did correct it and send me a new video very quickly though. In the end, I wouldn’t really recommend them. The rest of the day was great! Everything went off as we planned. The weather was great and there were amazing clouds in the sky. The ceremony was fun and light-hearted – we had so many laughs and loved looking out and seeing everyone crying and laughing at the same time. For the cocktail hour we hired a mariachi band for the cocktail hour and used DJ All music with a MC for the reception. I hear the band was good and the DJ did a great job at the reception.

This may be hard @@ElizaS. I think there may only be 1 maybe 2 all inclusive resorts in PR. They aren't known for all inclusives unfotunately.

I'll be honest but I'll be a little offended if I didn't get an invite. A save the date is really just a heads up that an invitation is coming. A year out I may not think I can make it but things can change. And without an invite there is no opportunity to change my mind without that awkward conversation "hey am I still invited". And as soon as I get a save the date I'm already preparing to give a gift so the invite isn't that trigger for me. Just some thoughts from the other side of the coin.

Thanks @@acw271011 @@kimmyd2 @@dreamweddings!! It's so close and I'm so excited!!

Hi Ladies - I think we are ready with our ceremony script but I would appreciate any comments you brides may have!! Please let me know what you think. Thanks in advance!! Sorry it's so long!! Processional: 3:50 - Jamal and groomsmen arrive casually. 4:00: Jeffrey walks Momma Jo in Danny walks Mami in Christy & Sophia walk in Helen walks in Me & Papi walk in Officiant: Who presents this woman to be married? Papi: Her mother and I do **Daisy to hug her dad and hand flowers to Helen** Officiant: Jamal and Daisy, please turn towards one another, join hands, and in doing so, join your hearts. On behalf of Jamal and Daisy, I welcome and thank you all for gathering here on this beautiful day to witness their marriage ceremony. The fact that you all have traveled such a great distance to be here today is a testament to the amazing amount of love and support they have. All of you have given them much happiness, love, warmth, and guidance through the various stages of their lives. They would like to sincerely thank you all for being here to celebrate their big day. A special and respectful acknowledgement must also be made to those friends and family members who were unable to attend, or have passed on, but whose spirit remains alive and strong in all our hearts. Will Jamal and Daisy’s parents please stand? They have asked me to thank you for the wonderful lives you have given them, for the hard work and guidance you have provided, for your everlasting love, support, and encouragement. It is from you that they have learned the true meaning of love, friendship and family. **Jamal and Daisy to turn and hug their parents** Jamal and Daisy, you are here surrounded by friends and family. Some people here have known you your entire lives and some for only a few years, but no matter how long or under what circumstances, I can guarantee that everyone here knows what remarkable individuals and what a remarkable couple you are. As individuals you have shined throughout all your unique and colorful endeavors. That might have been enough had you never found one another, but you did and this is cause for further celebration, because as a couple you are able to bring out the best in one another. You’ve created a relationship that is beautiful, original, and meaningful. You’ve impacted each other and those who surround you on this happy day. Now we surround you and return the favor with our good wishes and our loving thoughts, as you state your intentions and declare your commitment to one another. A successful marriage takes more than just love. It takes trust, to know in your hearts that you want only the best for each other. It takes dedication, to stay open to one another, to learn and grow, even when it is difficult to do so. And it takes faith, to go forward together without knowing what the future holds for you both. You have chosen to walk through life together. There is no truer statement of love. The choice was not made by any one moment, but by being together you grew to realize that you belonged together and that you fulfilled each other’s needs. You have come to thrive upon each other’s presence, loyalty and wisdom. The foundation of your love is a profound friendship. A friendship you have nurtured until at last you realized that you wanted to be together always. The commitment you make today will be the foundation on which you will build your life together. I would like to invite up the bride’s brother, Jeffrey, to read a passage. Jeffrey: "Prayer of Love" My marriage prayer for you is this: That you will always remember the qualities that attracted you to each other when you first met and how you felt as your feelings of attraction turned into respect, admiration and finally love. That you will work hard to turn your feelings of love into acts of love so that nothing and no one can divide you. That you will always have kind and loving hearts that are quick to ask for forgiveness when you are wrong as well as to forgive when your partner is wrong. That your love might grow to hear all things, believe all things, and hope for all things, endure all things. I pray you place your marriage in God's hands, and that your love increases and overflows, beyond anything you can yet imagine. Officiant: Thank you Jeffrey. And now I would like to invite up the groom’s Sister Jasmine, for the second reading. Jasmine: The Art Of Marriage, By Wilferd Arlan Peterson A good marriage must be created The little things are the big things. It is never being too old to hold hands. It is remembering to say “I love you” at least once a day. It is never going to sleep angry. It is at no time taking the other for granted; the courtship should not end with the honeymoon, it should continue through all the years. It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives. It is standing together facing the world. It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family. It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy. It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways. It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo or the wife to have the wings of an angel. It is not looking for perfection in each other. ‘ It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and a sense of humor. It is having the capacity to forgive and forget. It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow. It is a common search for the good and the beautiful. It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal. And finally, it is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner. Officiant: Thank you Jasmine. Before this moment you have been many things to one another- best friend, lover, dancing partner, and even each other’s cheerleaders at the various races and competitions. Now you shall say a few words that take you across a threshold of life, and things will never quite be the same between you. For after these vows, you shall say to the world, this- is my husband, this- is my wife. Jamal, in the company of your family and friends and with their love and support, do you take Daisy to be your wife? **Jamal to respond I do** Repeat after me I love you Daisy. You are my best friend and biggest supporter **Jamal to repeat** and today you become my wife. **Jamal to repeat** I promise to encourage and inspire you, **Jamal to repeat** to laugh with you, and to comfort you in times of sorrow and struggle. **Jamal to repeat** I promise to love you in good times and in bad, **Jamal to repeat** when life seems easy and when it seems hard, **Jamal to repeat** when our love is simple, and when it is an effort. **Jamal to respond** These things I give to you today, and all the days of my life. **Jamal to repeat** I am forever yours. **Jamal to repeat** Daisy, in the company of your family and friends and with their love and support, do you take Jamal to be your husband? **Daisy to respond I do** Repeat after me I love you Jamal. You too are my best friend and biggest supporter **Daisy to repeat** and today you become my husband. **Daisy to repeat ** I promise to encourage and inspire you, ** Daisy to repeat ** to laugh with you, and to comfort you in times of sorrow and struggle. ** Daisy to repeat ** I promise to love you in good times and in bad, ** Daisy to repeat ** when life seems easy and when it seems hard, ** Daisy to repeat ** when our love is simple, and when it is an effort. ** Daisy to repeat ** These things I give to you today, and all the days of my life. ** Daisy to repeat ** I am forever yours. ** Daisy to repeat ** May I have the rings please? **Joey to hand rings to officiant.** Notice that these rings are a perfect circle, with no beginning and no end. They represent the unconditional love that you have for one another. Let these rings serve as a bond between you and wear them with honor and pride, as they are a visible reminder of the vows and promises that you are making here today. **Officiant to hand JAMAL daisy’s ring first** Jamal, as you place this ring on Daisy’s finger repeat after me: Daisy, I give you this ring as a reminder **Jamal to repeat** that I will love, honor, and cherish you, **Jamal to repeat** In all times, In all places, **Jamal to repeat** And in all ways, forever. **Jamal to repeat** **Officiant to hand Daisy Jamal’s ring** Daisy, as you place this ring on Jamal’s finger repeat after me: Jamal, I give you this ring as a reminder **Daisy to repeat** that I will love, honor, and cherish you, **Daisy to repeat** In all times, In all places, **Daisy to repeat** And in all ways, forever. **Daisy to repeat** Jamal, the engagement ring you gave Daisy almost a year ago was the symbol of promise and intention. Now, with the promise fulfilled and the intention realized, please place the engagement ring on Daisy’s finger over her wedding band to symbolize that the love that brought you together will always protect and sustain your marriage. Closing/Pronouncement Jamal and Daisy, remember to treat both yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together. Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves. Give to one another new experiences of joy. Challenge one another so that you may grow. May the love you hold for each other, now sealed in marriage, continue to mature with the passing years. May you never take each other for granted. Be slow to anger, quick to forgive, leaving no tracks of resentment behind each day. We who are present today, hope that the inspiration of this moment will never be forgotten. May all your days and years to come be filled with vision, joy and passion. May you continue to laugh often and enjoy each other every day, steadfast in hope and confidence, believing in yourself and believing in each other. May your love be a sanctuary and a source from which you draw strength to live your lives with enthusiasm and imagination. May the people you touch in your lifetime know how much you love and care for one another and may you love one another forever. In front of your friends and family, I have the pleasure of announcing you, Jamal and Daisy, as husband and wife. Jamal, you may now kiss your beautiful Bride!

So exciting @@Ybonilla!!! How are you doing?? What do you have left to do??? What are you doing for decor?? How many guests?? Ahhh tell me everything!!!! hahahah

Haha yea @@BreeShort I feel the same way!! No pressure. Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Are there any brides getting married here on or around November 20th??? Getting so close - so exciting and stressfull!!

Are there any brides getting married here on or around November 20th??? Getting so close - so exciting and stressfull!!

Congrats @@Aliyedwinramirez ! Can't wait to see pics!! And for the review of course!! Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

So exciting!! Can't wit to hear all about it!! Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Update: So my room block deadline has passed and we officially have 70 people coming to Mexico!! 66 adult and 4 kids We may have 5-6 stragglers join as well but we're excited!! Welcome bags: We decided we wanted to go the practical route with the welcome bags and not spend too much money on things we knew our group wouldn't really keep or use (and we want more money for the photobooth - more later). So we're adding: - advil - pepto bismal - sunblock - spf chapstick - bug spray - bandaids And we're going with kraft paper bags. This is our inspiration: We printed stickers from Vistaprint and will make matching name tags. We are doing 1 bag per person and having the hotel deliver the bags to the guests. Photobooth: I'm so excited!! We just signed a contract with a company to provide a photobooth during the reception!! I LOVE photobooths at weddings so I'm happy we found one in budget - it's going to be so much fun!! They print 2 copies of each photo so that 1 can be added to a scrapbook that guests will sign fo us. And guests can record video messages to us and we get it all on a USB drive as well!! Can't wait!! 65 days and counting...

Aww I absolutely love your story and it's more evidence of things happen for a reason!! Love your dress and you look amazing in it!!!

Fun story!! Congrats!! So sorry for the loss of your brother! I lost one of my best friends 2 weeks after getting engaged so I know how it is wedding planning without someone important in your life **hugs** What hotel are you getting married at?

I agree with @@TinkerSofi and @@calgarybride2015! I have a similar ring and I'm planning to either get a second band on our anniversary or maybe get a second band in our first child's birthstones (when that time comes).

@@RandL2015 - love everything!! Seems like you have everything under control!! I really need to get organized. That's this week's to do - create 1 massive to do list and assign due dates - I do better with structure lol. Where did you get the monogramed tote bags and backpacks and the robes? I may have to steal some of these ideas!! @@malyna - that does suck! But like @@RandL2015 said good thing you caught it early! My dress hasn't come in yet. It's scheduled to be here 9/20. Fingers crossed we're on time.

@@acw271011 - I just got their regular business cards and I asked Vistaprint customer service to copy the same design from my thank you cards on to it. They were great and did it in a few minutes!