EDR truly gave us the wedding-moon of our dreams. The phrase we heard over and over during our stay is "anything is possible in Mexico", and the staff of EDR/EDCR really do mean that. 

Resort/Accomodations: 

We stayed in a swim-up casita suite for 10 nights. We had casita 3036, and it was the perfect location - right next to the presidential suite, so it was kind of private. Steps out to our pool, and a few more steps out to the beach. It was a bit of a haul to the main part of EDR, but we would either call (the bellmen) for a shuttle, or consider it the EDR fitness plan. 

The resort is VERY clean, and they have an army of staff keeping it that way. It's honestly the first resort/hotel I've ever been to where I felt the advertisement photos did not exaggerate the property. It's just that beautiful! 

One thing to add - we always used the outdoor shower. We flooded the bathroom twice when we showered inside, even though we were pretty careful, and my parents said they did the same thing. not sure what's up with that poor design, but it was a pain. Thankfully the weather was nice enough to shower outside!! 

Food & Drinks: 

I can't say enough about how amazing the food was! There were some things that weren't so great, but overall it was fantastic. Our favorite restaurant was D'Italia Casitas - service was superb and we loved all the dishes we tried. Casual dining we loved JoJo's - the calamari was my favorite, and my husband loved the tuna ceviche. JoJo's also has a ceviche bar during the day. Most of our breakfasts were ordered from room service, though we did eat at La Isla one morning, and Kampai a couple of mornings. A secret - ask for the fondue menu at La Isla for dinner. We didn't really care for Rincon, must have been an off night. Our welcome dinner was held at Cocotal, and it was wonderful! We never made it back here for dinner, though we will next time. 

Do check the restaurant hours each day as each restaurant has it's own schedule. 

Another tip - have lunch as Las Olas corners in the Casitas #31. We loved the wraps and sandwiches there!! My friends also highly recommend the health bar for morning smoothies. 

We weren't impressed with the "pizza" at the pizzeria, but the hotdog was a yummy find. We would go back for that alone (I know, a gourmet hot dog - but it's true!). 

One of the things we loved about EDR/EDCR is that all of the restaurants are included in the pricing; there is no "a la carte" for the restaurants. There are bottles of wine you can purchase, but we found the house wine was just as good if we really wanted wine. 

We loved the Beach Bar and Martini bar for evening drinks, and Gaviotas Seashore Bar (across from Kampai). 

The Wedding

We chose a Monday for our wedding, and that was a smart choice. There were 5 weddings on Saturday, and 3 on the Sunday we were there. Ours was the only Monday wedding. This meant we had all of the staff's attention and assistance all day. 

I had a hair rehearsal and my mom & I had our "day of" hair done at the Casitas Spa. We had the entire place to ourselves, no need to hide away in the bridal suites. We were very happy with the end result! (photos courtesy of Lotus Blossom Photography)

Our ceremony was held at Gazebo 55, and the wedding staff did a great job with the set up. It was very simple, with chair sashes, paper lantern aisle markers, fans, kleenex packs for guests & two parasols. We felt the setting was so beautiful, a ton of decorations weren't really necessary. We did not have a bridal party (we felt all of our guests were our bridal party!).

We had an iPod with the songs for the ceremony - set up in playlists. They had a sound system w/ someone to run it (off to the right, in white), the minister and a microphone for us. This was included in our package (not an extra charge). 

After the ceremony, we did our formal photos & bride/groom photos while our guests went to the Martini Bar for an informal cocktail hour. 

We chose to have a private reception at Tucanes. I loved that Tucanes was more private, but it was pretty hot (even in November!!). We brought the decorations - chair sashes, paper lanterns, table runners, cupcake stand & toppers, table #'s, menu's/thank you cards, shells & candles for the centerpieces. They supplied the glass vases & sand for the centerpieces. They did the set up of the place card/favor table, guest book/mad lib table and cake table for us (they reviewed the locations/way they would set it up with us during our meeting with the onsite coordinators). 

here are a few photos of the set up: 

Our meal was from the pick & choose dinner, and it was one of the best meals we had there!! Most of our guests had the filet & lobster tail, though a few chose the pork chop, and our vegetarian guests had the pasta. The dessert we chose was the Tres Leches cake - it was delish! honestly we didn't need the cupcakes, and many of them were not eaten at all. 

We used DJ All Music, one of EDR's vendors as our DJ. It was a lovely gift for our MIL, otherwise we would have gone the iPod route. The DJ's & MC were awesome!! They stuck to our playlist, and they kept the events happening at the right point in time. I didn't have to worry about the flow of the reception, or whether or not we got through everything. All I had to do was enjoy our dinner, our drinks, and the party. And it was awesome. 

It was truly a dream wedding, and a dream stay at this amazing resort. I would choose to do it all over again. We can't wait to go back to EDR for our anniversary.