Just booked at Azul Beach!

[TammyWright]

you should sign up to attend one of the azul/karisma webinars that TA Jennifer hosts.

[lalanyc]

Congratulations!!! I did a site visit there during my last trip and it's a beautiful property. Your guests will love it!

[amybermuda]

I got the free wedding package - it had everything I needed. And you get upgraded as a wedding couple.

 

Yes, I ran out of rooms for my wedding so have your guests book early!

 

They ran out of rooms 3 1/2 months before my wedding!!!

[prettypigpig]

Congrats! there are so many hotels to choose from. I am so happy for you that you picked one.

[taylorwd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjb0arder13 Oh my gosh that's so exciting! April will be here before you know it. I hope everything is as beautiful as they make it look on the website. Are you getting married on the beach? Did you get the "free wedding" package??

While I haven't personally been to the resort yet, two different people went and checked it out for me while they were down there and they just raved and raved! I have never heard anyone say that AB is not beautiful!

I am not getting married on the beach. I'm getting married at what they call the "Sky Garden Gazebo" location, just above the beach. We wanted grass instead of sand, and I'm pretty sure that we raised such a fuss (looooong story) that they created this location just for us! It's now one of the options they offer to all brides, I think. If we get down there and don't like the location we'll just suck it up and get married on the sand.

Like amybermuda, I too am doing the Free Wedding package. I priced it out and it made more sense for us than the other packages. We're also getting the upgrades as are our guests. However, our guests are getting the upgraded rooms b/c of the contract we negotiated and not b/c of the resort's promotion.

[cjb0arder13]

Quote:

Originally Posted by taylorwd While I haven't personally been to the resort yet, two different people went and checked it out for me while they were down there and they just raved and raved! I have never heard anyone say that AB is not beautiful! I am not getting married on the beach. I'm getting married at what they call the "Sky Garden Gazebo" location, just above the beach. We wanted grass instead of sand, and I'm pretty sure that we raised such a fuss (looooong story) that they created this location just for us! It's now one of the options they offer to all brides, I think. If we get down there and don't like the location we'll just suck it up and get married on the sand. Like amybermuda, I too am doing the Free Wedding package. I priced it out and it made more sense for us than the other packages. We're also getting the upgrades as are our guests. However, our guests are getting the upgraded rooms b/c of the contract we negotiated and not b/c of the resort's promotion.

I didn't even see/notice the Sky Garden Gazebo location...I'll have to ask about that. Is it listed somewhere on the website? I've heard the beach can be a bit windy, esp in the time of year I'm going, and I don't want sand being flung in people's eyes...that would be a party foul for sure.

I do think a lot of the "add-ons" are pretty expensive, but I'm guessing that's the case for most resorts. I'm going to try to keep things as simple as possible to keep costs down. I'd love to just get a bunch of wildflowers from a market in Puerto Morelo for my bouquet and my bridesmaids, since the cheapest one from the resort is like $60...but I don't know if they're even available.

[cjb0arder13]

Quote:

Originally Posted by amybermuda I got the free wedding package - it had everything I needed. And you get upgraded as a wedding couple. Yes, I ran out of rooms for my wedding so have your guests book early! They ran out of rooms 3 1/2 months before my wedding!!!

I'm so sorry Amy...I read about your struggles with the place selling out, and the hotel giving you the run-around...that is so LAME!!! Actually, that inspired me to send out my invites super early to avoid that same situation. We're not booking a block of rooms either, because honestly I can't afford to put a big deposit down for that many people, but I AM going to emphasize in my invites that people should book early. With my TA (who is great, by the way) all that's required to hold a room is $150 deposit per person, which locks in your dates. Then when (if) the prices go down later in the year, he can adjust and lock in at the lower rate.

And if people choose to ignore me and wait until last minute, I'm not going to stress about it. I'll make sure to include in my informational letter that if they don't book at our resort, they'll have to pay a fee for a pass for every day they want to hang out at our resort, including the wedding day.

I'm really going to try for as stress-free an event as possible. We just want people to come and have a good time, drink, swim, tan...all the good stuff! I really, really want to do the donkey cocktail hour after our ceremony...I think that would be a blast! I told my fiance about it and he was like "SOLD!" haha.

[taylorwd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjb0arder13 We're not booking a block of rooms either, because honestly I can't afford to put a big deposit down for that many people, but I AM going to emphasize in my invites that people should book early. With my TA (who is great, by the way) all that's required to hold a room is $150 deposit per person, which locks in your dates. Then when (if) the prices go down later in the year, he can adjust and lock in at the lower rate.

The way we did it was that we got a block of rooms but our guests paid the deposit and not us. It was $150 per adult, and that was due about 6 months prior to the wedding. Then everyone paid their remaining room balances about 2.5 months out.

The upside: We knew we had enough rooms for our guests.

The downside: If rates happen to go down before the wedding, the rates are locked in at whatever we negotiated at the beginning. So far this hasn't been an issue for us. The current rates are still higher than our rate.

[taylorwd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjb0arder13 I didn't even see/notice the Sky Garden Gazebo location...I'll have to ask about that. Is it listed somewhere on the website?

I think you have to ask to see it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjb0arder13 I'd love to just get a bunch of wildflowers from a market in Puerto Morelo for my bouquet and my bridesmaids, since the cheapest one from the resort is like $60...but I don't know if they're even available.

That would be very pretty if you can figure out where to get them!

[amybermuda]

Haha the Donkey sold it for FI and me too!!!!

 

Yeah even if people dont come or book or have problems, you warned them. I gave 10 months notice plus a couple emails. It was a GM who los out on a room - I mean, come on! Oh well, he knows it was his fault waiting. I still feel awful, but a little part of me feels like he deserved it!

 

I think you still get your bride bouquet for free in the free wedding package.... Not 100% sure.

 

Have fun !!!!!