2010 El Dorado Seaside Brides

[missbliss85]

Hi everyone,

 

Since I'm just about to formally starting planning out my wedding at El Dorado Seaside for next April, I was wondering whether there were any other brides who are planning on getting married here next year.

 

We're planning a rather small wedding (only 10 guests will be joining us) and we're scheduled to sit down with our TA next Saturday to start formalizing things.

 

Is anyone planning on having a cocktail reception between the ceremony and dinner?

[desouc]

Hello

My wedding is in a month at EDSS and I'm only having 7 guests.

Not sure if you've finalized any of the reception details yet, but I don't think it's worth doing a cocktail reception. I think you can maybe try to organize an informal one, but certainly don't pay for a private one when everyone has already paid for all-inclusive drinks, etc.

 

For my group, I am expecting them to freshen up back at their rooms and chill and have drinks while pictures are being taken on the beach. We'll regroup at 6pm for dinner at the Vida Restaurant for our formal dinner reception. I opted out of the private dinner reception since we would have to pay $70+ per person since we're under the 16 minimum required for the more reasonable $30-40 per person for the meal/reception.

 

 

Let me know what you decided.

Good luck with everything

 

p.s. are you wearing shoes for your ceremony and where did you decide to do it?

 

Carla

[missbliss85]

We did decide to do the cocktail reception, mostly to ensure that everyone stays around until dinner. We didn't decide to do the private reception, since it wasn't really cost effective for our group size.

 

The ceremony is going to be at the beach gazebo; originally we were thinking about the pier but decided to go with the gazebo instead for a bit more privacy.

 

I will be wearing shoes (which works out since we're at the gazebo) - I got these really nice teal coloured heels that were on sale.

 

You'll have to let me know how everything goes with your wedding - you must be getting super excited that it's less than a month away!

[desouc]

Hi

I got back a couple of weeks ago from my wedding trip and it was amazing

I wouldn't have had my wedding any other way

 

It actually rained 3 times the day of the wedding, but luckily it cleared up and we had gorgeous weather for our ceremony at the pier. A bit windy during the photos, but that was nice for the guys in long sleeves, not so good for the women's hair, but that's okay. I even got to wear my shoes (also teal!!) which I didn't expect... the surface around the pier is kind of hard so even though it was sandy, I could walk without falling.

 

Here are my pictures

Newlyweds - Feb 3 2010 - a set on Flickr

 

Oh, we used Mexican Wedding Photography and had Eduardo take our pictures. He was very open to suggestions and was awesome!!! He spent 3 hours with us and we negotiated with him to pay the 2 hour package price as long as we print our own pictures. So, we just got a cd with all the high resolution images from him which worked out great.

 

A few regrets:

 

The time and money spent at the spa the day of the wedding. What a waste of time!!! The girls there have no sense of what's attractive and their lack of English poses a communication problem. I just wanted a simple side pony tail but it was cumbersome to get the stylist to understand, even with a picture! Luckily, my bridesmaid stepped in and actually helped manage what the hairdresser was doing to my hair. I should have just done it myself. The nails was a different story altogether!! The lady who was supposed to give me a french manicure was using 3 brush strokes to apply the white polish on each nail, resulting in 3 edges!! I tried to ask for her to redo the white in a nice smooth curve fashion and she did not understand... I settled for one colour in the end because I didn't want to waste any more time.

 

The correspondence between my contact at Lomas travel (Valeria) prior to the trip was almost pointless! I emailed her back and forth for 3 months, sent her faxes of all my witnesses information, confirmed details for the big day, etc. But, once I arrived at the resort, I had to spend 2 hours going over everything with the on site coordinators. They had none of the witness information I sent before!! I was so frustrated that day! I must compliment the on site coordinators for all their help though! They were great and did everything they could to make sure the wedding day went as I wanted... Especially, sweet little Aracelli! The reception at Vida Restaurant (the latin cuisine) was amazing, and they even had some turquoise cocktails for everyone as they arrived prepared without me asking. That was their idea and my delightful surprise since that was my wedding colour : ) They also spread out the turquoise petals I brought (they were synthetic so they couldn't spread them on the walkway for the ceremony in case they blew into the water and got eaten by fish/birds) and displayed the turquoise wrapped presents I brought for the guests very nicely on the table. There was no need to bring any centrepieces, or pay anything extra for the reception dinner. It was great!

 

After the ceremony, my guests took some pictures with us and then simply hung out by the bar. The ceremony was at 3, and we had everyone meet us at the restaurant for 6. Worked out just fine.

 

One other change I would make is to skip Arrecifes restaurant all together! We ate there our first night, but the food and service were not horrible, but poor. The latin (there's also a mexican one that's not so good) and italian restaurants were my favourites, and for a group of 10, they can accommodate you as long as you give them about 2 hours notice to set up tables and get organized.

 

When we got back, we had a nice at home reception in the party room of our condo building. It was great. We had our wedding cake there (no point in doing it at the reception since everyone had dessert as part of their meal) and we gave out nicely packaged gift bags we prepared (they included small bottles of tequila, vanilla and habanero sauce we brought back from Playa Del Carmen).

 

All in all, I would recommend El Dorado for a wedding ceremony. All the staff are super attentive, everything is clean, there's lots of fun stuff to do around the resort for free and everyone in my group had a great time.

 

Let me know if you have any specific questions about the wedding experience, the resort, the tours we did, etc.

 

 

Carla

[missbliss85]

Hey Carla,

 

Your wedding sounds like it was amazing! Your photos are beautiful!! I decided to use Samuel Luna, which I'm looking forward to, since a few other brides here have had great things to say about him.

 

I believe that I'm supposed to have a free manicure at the spa (courtesy of my TA), so thanks for the heads up about what kind of manicure to get. I've decided to do my own hair and makeup, mostly based on other people saying that it's sometimes hard to explain what you want done exactly. Thankfully I've got a group of women who are actually good at doing hair, lol.

 

Did you choose which restaurant you had your dinner/reception at? My TA told me that we are booked at Arrefices, but after your comments, I'm wondering if maybe I can switch this once I get to the resort?

 

I'm happy to hear that you would recommend the resort - I'm starting to get anxious, since April isn't that far off anymore.

 

I'll let you know if I have anymore questions!

 

Leah

[desouc]

Hi Leah

Your wedding is just around the corner!! I hope it's everything you dreamed it would be. I'm sure you won't regret El Dorado for your venue. I would try to see if you could switch the restaurant. I had asked to use a restaurant other than Arrecifes for my reception and requested the Italian one (Mia Casa) cause I had heard such great things about the service and food. However, I think that restaurant is very busy and popular, so they moved me to the VIDA GARDEN RESTAURANT. It worked out well though as the food and service were incredible here also. We had an option of some steak or coconut salmon for our main course, and everyone was pleased with the food! You should be able to change the restaurant when you get down there since you're group isn't too big. But, if you want to give them a head's up before you arrive, that wouldn't be a bad idea. They should not charge anything extra for changing the restaurant by the way.

 

 

Good luck with all the last minute arrangements!

[missbliss85]

Thanks Carla! I feel much more reassured in my choice of El Dorado

 

Take care,

Leah

[prairiegirl]

I got married here on Feb 6, 2009. The best decision we ever made. We only had 8 guests too, and just did it with the basic package.. it was so windy we didn't hear what we agreed too.. lol.. but the pictures turned out fantastic.

 

All the best!!

[missbliss85]

Quote:

Originally Posted by prairiegirl I got married here on Feb 6, 2009. The best decision we ever made. We only had 8 guests too, and just did it with the basic package.. it was so windy we didn't hear what we agreed too.. lol.. but the pictures turned out fantastic. All the best!!

I'm glad to hear that you would recommend the resort, Prairiegirl! We're set to fly out next Sunday, I can't wait!

I also found out that a travel agent I deal with for work had visited last year and said that it was gorgeous over there and one of his favourite trips.

[Jen Wilson]

Carla,

 

As for restaurants at el dorado, which one's are the best? I believe you mentioned the Italian & Latin one's. Are there any others? My finace & I are getting married at GRP & him & I are moving to el dorado seaside for a few days after. Any tips on making our short honeymoon even more memorable at this resort would be helpful.

 

Thanks,

Jen