Azul Sensatori Brides - POST HERE!

[murmel]

What is everyone doing about flowers?

 

Im not happy with the Lomas selection.  Expensive and mediocre.  Is or has anyone ordered flowers from outside the resort and brought them in?

 

I read on other resort forums that brides were about to have the flowers delivered to the lobby and just went out to pick them up. I've been in touch with a local florist who is offering amazing prices for orchids.  Lomas would like me to pay for my first child for those flowers.

 

Unless you plan on leaving the resort to pick up the flowers yourself, I would be wary. Outside florists will not be allowed onto resort without you having to pay an outside vendor fee (currently $800/vendor). Some of the prices are insane, but if you look though all the options you might find some that are more reasonable. If you really want to use the other florist, be sure to have enough time and cab fare to get them.

[lolita2014]

Here is my bouquet, the bridesmaids bouquets, the corsages and bouteniers.  With the ribbon, and the charm and bling I added to my bouquet, I estimate the total bridal party flowers were about $115.

The small hanging corsages are found on the weddingsbylomastravel.com. Pepper55 used them for ceremony and reception decorations.  I'll have them place the flowers on the table surrounded by three votives.

I'm sorry, I don't know how to attach the photos so they are visible to all. You can the photos in my profile photo gallery.

Edited February 18, 2014 by lolita2014

[talicea7812]

@@CurlyKristen

 

part of my issue with the lomas flowers is that they charge a fortune for the orchids I want.  I talked to a local florist who only charges an additional $10 for the imported flowers I want...

 

Im sure they have a large selection...but I can't wait til we get down there to decide. these are details that need to be taken care of prior to our arrival.  Plus I don't want to run into extra charges once we get there.

[JMK923]

Hi ladies!! I've been home for almost a week now and slowly getting back into the swing of things! All our friends and family are still talking about how amazing and fun our wedding was. Azul Sensatori did such a phenomenal job with every aspect. I was blown away by how much more beautiful and larger the resort is in person, and how truly great ALL the staff were! They really made every effort to ensure you are taken care of. Here is my review/ book lol sorry it’s so long winded

 

Tuesday, February 4th:

 

Joe and I arrived at Azul Sensatori around 11:30am and were the first ones! We were greeted with cool towels and sparkling wine. The lobby was beautiful - there is a big lounge area, gift shops, Mojito Lounge and Tapaz are all in that same area as well as Vassa Spa which is upstairs. We booked a Premium Swim-Up Suite and were greeted by Louis from the Premium Concierge. He gave us a brief tour of the resort on our way over to the Premium Concierge building. The resort is immaculate! The grounds are the prettiest I have ever seen. They do such a wonderful job maintaining everything and it clearly shows. Once at the Premium Concierge building we were given a pager that would go off once our room was ready. While we were waiting to check-in we walked around the resort to see where the beach ceremony would be and the reception location at Plaza Zavaz. We then headed down to the Beach BBQ for a late lunch which was really good! They had BBQ chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, nachos/ cheese and a bunch of other stuff! We had a few drinks, and waited for our room to be ready.

 

At 3pm we were able to check-in to our room, and the process was flawless. Louis explained all the amenities that came with the Premium section, we got to select our pillow preferences and aromatherapy scents for our room. He also provided us with a letter from our Wedding Coordinator with our appointment time which was the next day. He was beyond helpful with everything our entire stay. Our room was AWESOME! It was extremely clean, updated and spacious. We loved our outside Jacuzzi and used it often hanging out with our friends, listening to music, etc. No one ever bothered us even though they were not staying in the Premium section. After we unpacked, showered and got settled in we decided to head over to Zocalo for dinner. Afterwards, I'm pretty sure we called it an early night since we were both so exhausted, and had guests coming the next day.

 

Wednesday, February 5th:

 

We woke up and just wanted to be outside soaking up some sun! We had breakfast at Spoon which was excellent (in fact, we had breakfast here just about every day), and grabbed a cabana on the beach. It was fantastic! I loved that you can reserve a cabana for some shade and they also reserve 2 chairs that are in the sun. They lay all the towels out for you, and have servers walking around taking drink orders all day. The service was of course superb!

 

In the afternoon, we met with our on-site wedding coordinator who was Janet and we also met with Denise. They were both SO wonderful and really knew their stuff. Janet went through my entire detail sheet very thoroughly and answered all my questions. She really made me feel at ease and I had confidence that everything would go smoothly on our wedding day (and it did!). I was then assigned to Odette who was my wedding coordinator on our wedding day. She and I went through all my decorations that I brought down, and she made notes where each item was to be placed for the ceremony, cocktail hour and reception. She was amazing! Janet also informed me that she would need $250 for a setup fee, so yes, I had to pay the full amount and I really don’t think I brought that much stuff at all.

 

After our appointment, we were expecting some our guests to arrive that day, so we went back to our room and I put together their welcome bags then we headed back to the lobby. I will point out that the welcome bags stressed me out! I was trying to avoid paying the $4 per bag delivery fee by just handing out the bags as I saw people but it was driving me absolutely crazy! I suggest NOT doing this! Lol. I eventually just gave them all out at our welcome dinner, and it worked perfect. Anyhow, talk about perfect timing - all our guests that were arriving that day were in the lobby when we walked up. Some of them were able to get an early check-in, and others were not able to check-in until 3pm. During the trip, I did make it over to see some of our guest’s rooms. All our guests were in building 3 (I believe). They were really happy with their rooms - very clean and updated with nice sized balconies or walk-out patios. We went to Zavaz for lunch and ordered the gourmet burgers. Everyone thought the burgers were SO good! We all met up later that night at Spoon for dinner and then went to the Mojito Lounge, which was SO much fun! They had a great DJ and live singer every night and the mojitos were delicious! Service was a bit slow, but only because it was pretty busy most nights, and there were only 1 or 2 bartenders working at a time.

 

Thursday, February 6^th:

 

Today was the day that the majority of our guests were arriving – 32 people, including our parents! So, as you can imagine we were SO excited!!! For whatever reason (more so than other days) today was a total non-stop party day. We spent the early afternoon at the Adult Swim Up Bar, and then headed over to the swim up bar in the family section. Go figure, but the family swim up bar was WAY more wild than the adults only bar lol. At one point, the bartender was pouring tequila from the top of the patio down into our mouths while we were in the pool. We all had too much fun that day, but Joe in particular had entirely too much fun and didn’t make it out… Like, at all that night! I went out with a bunch of our family and friends to Spoon for dinner. It was SO much fun. The waiters brought bottles of tequila over to our tables (which they were nice enough to put us all close together) and before I knew it, we were all taking shots at dinner in the middle of Spoon lol. After dinner, Joe’s brother and 2 of our guy friends decided that they wanted to go out into Cancun. Oh the stories we heard the next day from their night… In fact, they had so much fun we all went out there another night! But, for the remainder of Thursday night, the rest of us ended up going to the Mojito bar which was tons of fun.

 

Friday, February 7^th (day before our wedding!!):

 

I spent about an hour or so in the morning putting together our welcome bags which I would be giving out at our welcome dinner at Spoon that night. Some of the gifts in each welcome bag contained wet bikini bags, mini beach scented candles from Bath & Body Works, flip-flop bottle openers, chapstick with our names and wedding date, door hangers, drink koozies and wedding week survival kits (I have pictures of everything that I’ll post).

 

After I got the welcome bags together, I had an appointment at Vassa Spa to get a manicure and pedicure. The gentlemen that gave me my mani/ pedi was so nice and friendly. The service overall was great, and the spa was really pretty. However, I did feel that for a mani/ pedi $150 (or maybe it was $115) but regardless, it was VERY pricey! I was especially upset I spent all that money and the next day (my wedding day) all my nails were chipped! I had tried to get a gel mani/ pedi at home literally the day before we left for Mexico, but due to the snow storm we got everything was closed. I would suggest doing this rather than having a regular mani/ pedi done at the spa, unless you do it the day of but even so it will probably chip the next day.

 

After my spa appointment, we (Joe, myself, our parents, flower girl and ring bearer) had a rehearsal walk through with Janet that I had requested on my detail sheet with my Miami based coordinator (Lynda), and reconfirmed with Janet when we met during our appointment. She did a great job walking us through the process, where we would all stand, where I would be entering from, where everyone walks down, etc. I highly suggest doing this because it put my nerves at ease knowing what I as well as everyone else was supposed to be doing.

 

The rest of the day Joe and I hung out on the beach together. We took a walk down to Azul Beach and honestly, I did not think the beach was all that ‘better’. We actually went into the bar and ordered drinks, so I peeked around a little bit. From what I saw, I personally like Azul Sensatori much better and I’m glad I decided to stick with it as I was back and forth between the 2 resorts for a while.

 

We had our welcome dinner at Spoon at 7:30pm. My girlfriend does airbrush makeup and hair, so she brought her entire airbrush kit, and did my hair/ makeup for our welcome dinner (as well as did my makeup for the wedding day). The welcome dinner at Spoon was AWESOME! It totally exceeded my expectations. The room they had sectioned off with the curtain was perfect, and very pretty. I did not bring one single decoration with me for this dinner. When everyone arrived they were served drinks (I believe they were peach Bellini’s, and they were fantastic!) They had a table setup with all the welcome bags. The dinner reservation was for up to 40 people, and was included in the package I purchased. It was a set menu that was actually really cute (it had our names, wedding information and a pretty design on the cover). For the first course, we got to choose from either a Caesar or garden salad. Then, we were served potato leek soup. For the main courses, we could choose filet or chicken. And for desert we got cheesecake. Everything was delicious, and everyone really enjoyed everything. My dad tipped the staff very well, and they brought us all kinds of bottles of wine and even served us chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream. They were so accommodating and just went above and beyond to make everything as wonderful as I could have ever imagined. We handed out our welcome bags at the end and everyone loved their gifts and raved about the dinner! It made me feel so great because I put so much time into everything.

 

After dinner at spoon, we all headed to the Mojito Lounge. I ended up staying out until about 12:30 then went back to rest up for our big day!!

 

Saturday, February 8^th (WEDDING DAY!!):

 

Joe and the guys went out scuba diving that morning and into the afternoon. He booked this through the resort and they all had a great time. I thought it was a pretty good idea for the guys to go and do something. He later went into his ‘getting ready’ room that he received with the package we purchased. It really came in handy for him. I hung out in my room ALL day getting ready. I slept in a little bit and got up around 10am, took a shower and dried my hair, as I had an appointment to get my hair done at 12pm. I had the stylist from the spa come to my room and she did a really great job. I asked her to make a few tweaks, and my hair turned out beautiful (I will post pictures of it). Odette called my room around 12:30 to ask if I needed anything – she was very attentive, and I told her I was okay at the moment. At around 1:30pm, Odette came by my room to drop off my bouquet. The bouquet was GORGEOUS! She told me that she would return back 3:55pm to get me (our ceremony started at 4pm). My girlfriend came to my room at 2pm to do my airbrush makeup. My photographer (also one of my girlfriends) came at 2:30pm to start taking pictures of me getting ready.

 

At exactly 3:55pm, Odette showed up as expected and walked me, as well as my photographer, over to our ceremony site on the beach. I could hear the processional music playing as I waited for my queue and I was really holding back the tears at that point. Once I started walked down the ramp onto the beach I could see the ceremony setup and it literally took my breath away. I ended up getting the ‘Pure Glamour’ package and it was even more stunning in person. I received so many compliments from everyone. Azul did a great job setting everything up, and everything I had requested (cocktails, drinks, my decorations/ signage I brought) was all setup PERFECT!

 

The minister we had during our ceremony was fantastic. She followed the script I provided the wedding coordinators exactly. The sand ceremony went well and the personnel responsible for the iPod music (I brought my own iPod and playlists) played all my songs on point.

 

After the ceremony, we had a champagne toast and took a ton of pictures on the beach! We hung around taking pictures for just about an hour and then everyone went up to Zocalo for our cocktail hour on the patio at 5:30pm. I got a complimentary cocktail hour through my travel agency which was for up to 50 people with tray passed hors d’oeuvres and wine/ beer/ soda. I provided my own bows for the cocktail tables as well as beverage napkins and brought my own speaker and iPod. I purchased small centerpieces from Lomas for the cocktail tables and they were really pretty. Everything setup for the cocktail was great! The food was good and I’m pretty certain that guests were able to order mixed drinks too.  Everyone had a great time, and I highly suggest this area for a cocktail party.

 

The reception started at 6:30pm and as I walked up to Plaza Zavaz it also took my breath away! Everything was setup so beautifully. I brought chair sashes, paper lanterns and string lights. They had a table setup for our guestbook, a bird cage for cards (which I purchased through Lomas), and sandboxes (which I purchased through Lomas) for our place cards, and they transferred our floral arrangements over to this table. I also brought Mr. and Mrs. signs for the back of our chairs. The dinner tables were setup so pretty! I purchased centerpieces through Lomas and they looked beautiful. I hired DJ All Music and they did a great job. The MC met with me briefly along with Odette and reviewed the schedule of events (introductions, dances, speeches, cake cutting, etc.) to make sure everything was correct – which I was happy that she did because I had not timed anything out and just told the MC to follow the typical sequence of events. They did a great job with everything and kept the party going all night! They passed out balloons and glow sticks which everyone LOVED!! For dinner, we had the BBQ Deluxe Buffet and everyone raved about the food. Everyone thought it was the best meal they had the entire time they had been there. The staff was very attentive, and we made sure to tip them well. I ordered a cake and it was beautiful – exactly what I wanted. I didn’t eat any of it, but other guests did and seemed to like it. It was fondant, and our flavors were Oreo, vanilla and red velvet. The bar setup was immense and the bartender (who was from the Mojito Lounge) made really good drinks. The reception was over at 10:30pm and we did a ‘farewell’ with sparklers. Just to point out, if you want to use sparklers make sure to get the big ones! I got the little ones and they burnt out in literally in a split second – it was pretty comical!

 

After the reception, we all went to the Mojito lounge to continue the party! Joe and I didn’t stay late and I’m glad we didn’t. When we went back to our room, there were rose petals from the doorway all the way over to our Jacuzzi with candles. It was so romantic and I’m glad we got to enjoy it rather than staying out partying all night. It was beautiful and the perfect end to our wedding night.

 

Sunday, February 9^th:

 

We woke up to our Honeymoon breakfast which was spectacular! We also received this as part of our package, and it was really nice. We spent the day hanging out by the pool and on the beach. We ventured into Cancun that night which was a BLAST! I’m really glad we ended up doing this. It was only a 20-25 minute drive from the hotel and the driver waited for us the entire time. We went to Congo and it was SO much fun!

 

Monday, February 10^th:

 

Most of our guests were leaving today, including us. We made sure to say bye to everyone we could and then we were off to Secrets Maroma Beach for our honeymoon for another week. And, I will say – Joe and I agree that we would hands down go back to Azul Sensatori again before we go back to Secrets Maroma Beach (although the beach was amazing there!!), but overall it didn’t quite compare to Azul Sensatori J We did our ‘trash the dress’ shoot while we were at Secrets, and I can post pictures of that too in case anyone is interested in that location for a ‘trash the dress’ shoot.

 

Well, I think that about covers it! I’m sure I left a ton of stuff out but please, PLEASE know that you have nothing to worry about at all! I have been to many resorts and I can honestly say that Azul Sensatori is my favorite. Your wedding day will be absolutely perfect, and everything you ever dreamed of! I did mean to mention that during our meeting with the onsite wedding coordinators we did discuss a ‘back-up’ plan in the event of rain. I was glad to hear that they are handling this better now, as another bride had some mishaps. Luckily, I didn’t have to worry about it as the weather was literally perfect the entire 2 weeks we were there! Let me know if any of you have any questions! Also, just to add… I did not eat at Sienna, Tapaz or Le Chique simply because we didn’t have time. However, based off of what our guests have said – Sienna is okay, Le Chique is okay and Tapaz was really good!

[michandwarr]

Congratulations JMK, your wedding week sounded wonderful and is all that I am hoping for too! My date is exactly two months away. Your review was really helpful - I was wondering whether they used an ipod for the ceremony music and now I know! I think I will also now request the walk-through the day before...it sounds like it was really useful. Disappointing to hear about the set-up charge..$250 sounds pretty steep!

 

Two quick questions I was hoping you could answer. Do the safes in the room take a key or are they keypad type? Also, did you happen to notice if they have a lot of natural flowers around the resort? I was hoping to maybe pick a few to make some boutonnieres there. I've purchased some but could use a few extra and at $30-45 a pop it adds up! Thanks so much and congrats again!

Michelle

[JMK923]

Thanks so much!! I'm so glad my review was helpful for you! Your wedding day is coming up so soon! It goes by quick so remember to take a step back and take it all in.

 

Just to clarify, I brought my own iPod for the ceremony music and they appointed someone to play my playlists accordingly.

 

For the safes you get a key which was kind of a pain. And if you lose it they charge you $150 to replace it which happened to one of our guests!

 

I didn't notice too many natural colorful flowers. The only ones I did notice were the ones I picked for my hair for our welcome dinner one night lol and they were bright Fuschia pink. Not sure if that color would work for your boutonnières but those were the only ones I recall offhand.

[Jennypert]

Hello JMK and Congratulations! Your wedding sounds absolutely wonderful. Please post pictures soon. I am really interested to your bouquets and the decorations for your reception since we will be using Plaza Zavas also. I just have a couple of questions. Did the resort provide personnel to work the iPod during the ceremony? We have all our ceremony music planned on the iPod using the WeddingDJ app but I thought I might have to draft one of the guests.

 

Also, which centerpiece arrangement did you buy from Lomas? I've been debating the cost of Lomas versus the hassle of bringing our own.

 

Finally, a comment - I've been to Secrets Maroma although we have not stayed there. We thought it was fabulous. So, if you say Azul Sensatori is better then that is wonderful. :-)

[JMK923]

Hi Jenny! Thanks so much, we had such an amazing time. I will definitely post pictures - I have a bunch from friends and family, but they were all taken on their phones and the quality isn't too great. I was trying to hold out and wait for my photographer! If I don't receive any from her soon I'll just post the ones that I have.

 

Yes, the resort provided someone to work the iPod during the ceremony. I sent one of my friends down ahead of time to give the iPod to the person which I was instructed to do by my WC because they will not take the iPod. They do not want to be liable for damage, etc. So, my friend just showed the person all my playlists which I had clearly labeled. Everyone said the music was perfect!

 

For the dinner reception centerpieces and cocktail table centerpieces, I provided my Miami based WC with pictures of the ones I wanted (I found them on Pinterest). But, they charged me for BC-05 and BC-08 even though mine looked nothing like those pictured on Lomas' website.

 

Don't get me wrong - Secrets Maroma was definitely top notch! The resort was beautiful, the rooms were amazing, food was excellent, shows at night were pretty good and the beach was GORGEOUS! I think we just overall liked the atmosphere better at Azul and we liked that they had more swim up bars, larger pools and just more going on during the day. We also agreed that the staff at Azul was WAY better than Secrets, and I think that is also another factor that really impressed us. The service at Azul made you feel like royalty. It was just overall more fun for us at Azul we thought.

[michandwarr]

Hello All, I was wondering what everyone is doing in regards to food for their DJ and photographers? I think I read somewhere that you can by a "boxed lunch" for around $10.00 but I'm wondering whether that's rude or not! My gut is saying it is.

 

Jenny, for my centrepieces I only have five tables so I have ordered four of BC-08's (in white and like pink) which will be centred around a hurricane vase. I then ordered freeze-dried rose petals which will be scattered around the hurricane vase. I'm hoping it will look good! I'm also bringing my own lace table runners and organza chair sashes.  I wasn't a fan of the hanging corsages that were included in my package so they let me substitute for the centrepieces..that really helped with the cost.

Edited February 24, 2014 by michandwarr

[talicea7812]

@@JMK923

 

Sounds like you had a blast. Loved your review! and cant wait to see pictures.

 

So you can walk from sensatori to beach? about how far? I was actually interested in doing that but didn't know if it was possible.  and are you able to eat and drink there?

 

You mentioned they charged you the full $250.  What did you bring down?

 

Thanks for your help and congrats on being a Mrs.