El Dorado Royale (EDR) Brides - POST HERE!

[rpingree001]

Just got married at Gazebo 55 on Saturday and it was beautiful!  They did a wonderful job.  I will post a full review at a later time when we have pictures but wanted to let all future jobs what a great job was done.  Only a few disappointments, but very small compared to the grand picture.  

 

And the casitas are the only way to go.  We stayed in building 55 last week on the villa side and now in building 31 on the casita side and the rooms are spectacular and service tremendous.  Worth the difference!

[punkie569]

Congrats on your wedding. Glad you were happy with your wedding. We stayed in building 31 (3116) too. Wasn't a fan of the open concept bathrooms but the rooms were amazing and the service can't be beat. Where else will they bring you lunch and fruit kabobs on the beach? Looking forward to your review
 

Originally Posted by rpingree001 

Just got married at Gazebo 55 on Saturday and it was beautiful!  They did a wonderful job.  I will post a full review at a later time when we have pictures but wanted to let all future jobs what a great job was done.  Only a few disappointments, but very small compared to the grand picture.  

 

And the casitas are the only way to go.  We stayed in building 55 last week on the villa side and now in building 31 on the casita side and the rooms are spectacular and service tremendous.  Worth the difference!

[CanadianLindsey]

Lol!!  We had lots of comments about those open concept bathrooms.  Not so romantic when one person is "sick"!!   Also one of my guests said he had water all over the floor of their bathroom (and all over his GF toiletries!) because of the open concept showers!
 

Originally Posted by punkie569 

Congrats on your wedding. Glad you were happy with your wedding. We stayed in building 31 (3116) too. Wasn't a fan of the open concept bathrooms but the rooms were amazing and the service can't be beat. Where else will they bring you lunch and fruit kabobs on the beach? Looking forward to your review
 

 

[msmarmar123]

What exactly is the Open Concept Bathroom?  Is it in all ER rooms or just Casitas?

 

Originally Posted by CanadianLindsey 

Lol!!  We had lots of comments about those open concept bathrooms.  Not so romantic when one person is "sick"!!   Also one of my guests said he had water all over the floor of their bathroom (and all over his GF toiletries!) because of the open concept showers!
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by punkie569 

Congrats on your wedding. Glad you were happy with your wedding. We stayed in building 31 (3116) too. Wasn't a fan of the open concept bathrooms but the rooms were amazing and the service can't be beat. Where else will they bring you lunch and fruit kabobs on the beach? Looking forward to your review
 

 

 

[CanadianLindsey]

 

 

Originally Posted by CanadianLindsey 

 

I should be posting my full review of EDR this weeked!   Sorry it has taken me so long future EDR brides, but as I started to write it, I realized I had a lot to say!!   And I wanted to add in some photos.  It is coming though, I promise!!!  

 

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/products/el-dorado-casitas-royale-by-karisma-all-inclusive

 

My review is up!

[CanadianLindsey]

In the Casitas rooms the ceiling is angled so the walls of the bathroom never reach the ceiling.  The toilet is in a separate room, but the doors are made of shutters so privacy is lacking and sound travels!  In the Royale rooms, some have a separate toilet room and a shower with a glass door(like in block 55 or 53), but the old rooms(block 1-9) have an open shower with no door.

[angi111111]

Thank you for such an awesome review of your wedding and EDR!! Very helpful!

It sounds wonderful....

[rivierabride430]

Hi all - My fiance and I are getting married at EDR on April and are beginning to stress about all the details the come along with planning a destination wedding. This is my first post to BDW. We have 60 guests already booked and that number can increase to as high as 75.

 

EDR has selected vendors through Lomas Travel that they provide. Has anyone used their DJ or Hair/Makeup vendors? Any other feedback or advice would GREATLY be appreciated from someone who previously got married at a Karisma property. We are considering using outside vendors as we can't seem to get enough information or a good feel of the vendors that are provided.  We are hoping that someone out there can either vouch for EDR's vendors or recommend others.

 

We did a site visit last April to pick the resort and fell in love with Gazebo 55 for the ceremony and Tucanes for the reception. Unfortunately, we found out last summer that both of those locations were booked by another wedding for that night  

 

As a newbie, I can't wait to hear from other brave destination brides/grooms. Please help.

 

Thank you, thank you!!

[MrsDimond]

Thank you for your review.  It was very helpful.  We are considering the EDR for fall 2011.  I would love to see photos if available.

 

Also, does anyone have any feedback on Caribe photo?  My DW agent recommended this vendor but I was a little underwhelmed by the website.

 

Thanks and congrats to all the brides!

[rpingree001]

I just got married there a few weeks ago and like you, was not impressed with the information I received on their DJ services and therefore hired an outside DJ and he was fantastic and it was still cheaper to use him than use the resort.  DJ Doremixx charged us $800 and I had to pay the $500 vendor fee and that was still less than the $1500 the resort was going to charge.  HIghly recommend him.  He's a little tough to respond via email but he eventually does and he did a great job and even brought balloons, masks and other props for the guests to have fun with. 

 

I used the Casita Spa for my hair and make up and Adrienne did a fantastic job on both.  Everyone loved my hair and make-up.  I did a dress rehearsal of it a couple days before so I knew exactly what I was getting. 

 

I will tell you this - if Tucanes is already booked, you may have a hard time finding a reception location big enough to handle your party unless you choose the beach.  I had 40 people and we had to go with the Health Bar for our reception (Tucanes booked) and we could not have squeezed any more in.  As far as I know, Health Bar was the next largest location outside of the beach.   Can you consider moving your date by 1 day? 

 

Regarding photographers - I used Claudia Rodriguez and they were fantastic.  Highly recommend.  I haven't received my pictures yet but they were easy to work with.  Only recommendation I have is if you want any specific poses, tell them in advance (so you don't forget).  I wanted some really fun specific shots and completely spaced it out during the shoot due to the excitement. 

 

Other big gripe - the restaurants were not very accomodating to large dinner groups (anything greater than 6 was a HUGE issue).  If you can use your free dinner option for any other night - I would take it so you can get a large reservation.  Anytime we tried to get 6 or more, the service quickly deteriorated and was almost rude.  Very disappointing for a resort catering to weddings.