El Dorado Royale (EDR) Brides - POST HERE!

[Beekmanbride]

Message me with any questions and remember to breathe. it will be amazing

[angi111111]

HI!

Our wedding is November 11th so we have not had our BBQ yet...but I have read many good reviews for it!

I think anything you decide on will be great, the food is fabulous at EDR!

Have fun planning...it gets stressful sometimes, but hang in there! 

[ElDorado2012]

Hi everyone! I hope I am doing this right... I wasn't sure if I was supposed to post a reply as I am doing now to join this forum, or start a new thread, or... Anyways, hopefully this works! I'm getting married at EDR on June 30, 2012. We are expecting around 60 guests and having the ceremony at Gazebo 55 and reception at Tucanes. I have a bunch of questions that I'd love you to answer if anyone can!

 

1. Has anyone had the classical guitarist (offered by Lomas) during the ceremony? Or, has anyone heard anything about the guitarist? I'm wondering if we can request songs to be played, other than classical music...

2. It sounds like DJ Doremixx is a better DJ to go with than the DJ's Lomas Travel "prefers", is this right? Has anyone had the DJs from Lomas?

3. What did everyone do for favors? I really wanted to have personalized match boxes, however we can't fly with them or ship them overseas, so I need a new idea.

4. What are the OOT bags I've heard you all talking about? Can anyone fill me in?

5. We definitely want to go into Playa del Carmen at some point during the trip to visit the bars/clubs with some of our guests. Does anyone recommend a certain place or places to go? How did you get there - cab, or...?

 

I'm sure I will have a bunch more questions as the date approaches.

 

Thank you everyone!!!

[Beekmanbride]

Hi El Dorado 2012!

Congrats!

Not sure about the guitarist, we used 5 of our favorite songs as the guests entered and for my husband, bridesmaids, groomsmen and I to enter on the complimentary sound system. We used my ipod and it went beautifully.

We used DJ Doremixx. I cannot tell you how important this DJ was for our wedding. He did so much more than just play music, he WAS the reception. He introduced everyone, got the party going and also gave us tips that we otherwise would not have noticed. PLEASE, if you spend any extra money do it on the DJ!! You should also consider having your reception on the beach with his dance floor, it was the hit of our wedding!! If you are on Facebook you can friend him, it's Ivan Gomez Doremixx and see our wedding on October 8th. Everyone is still talking about it. Since you are in June it might be a little warm for the beach though. 

We did Maracas as favors and incorporated them into the seating chart so when guests showed up to the reception the maracas were on a table and we tied a card to them that said their table #, our wedding date and a thank you note. They were loved by everyone and were a great noise maker when we walked in.The ones who didn't lose them during the party brought them home as souvenirs. 

We did out of town bags that were put in everyones room upon arrival that had bug spray, lip balm, a bath bomb, sunscreen and a welcome letter explaining the dates and times of the welcome dinner and wedding and different meeting points if people were interested during the stay. Example was a Friday afternoon deep sea fishing trip my husband was taking if anyone wanted to go. ( PM me and I can give you the template, it was a tri-fold brochure type). I can honestly tell you if I did it again I would probably not for go the OOT bags in place of paying for an excursion for the guests, like a night in Playa or snorkeling because a lot of what we gave them they already came with. I would just do the Welcome letter and let them know of the times of events, especially if you have 60 coming. We had 30 and getting the bags there and putting them together is the last of your worries for your wedding! Remember, this is your day and you feeling and looking good requires as least stress possible!

Lomas does a trip to Coco Bongos or a bar crawl into Playa that they take you and pick you up in a big bus. Check the website on the price. Do this on a night AFTER your wedding. It will be a fun night but your pics will look better and you will feel better at your wedding not doing this before hand. There really is a great nightclub/show hall on the resort called Guacamayas and you don't have to go into playa to have fun if all of your best friends and family are already there.

Have fun planning and remember to breathe. I am sad the planning is over and believe me when I tell you this place knows what they are doing, take the meeting with the planners seriously when you get there, answer their questions with exactly what you want and they will accommodate! So don't stress just get your groom, dress and family there and you will have the wedding of your dreams!!

 

Best Wishes!!

 

 

 

 

[Beekmanbride]

PS since you are having so many people ( we had 32 ) ask the resort to give you an updated list of names and room #'s when they arrive. It helped us in coordinating meeting places and times. Also don't try to go to the restaurants with big groups of people because it is hard for them to accommodate. Try to meet up with friends and fam after dinner at the martini bar or guacamayas!

 

Have Fun!

[TheWolferts]

KaRo,

 

My cousin got married at EDR in September 2010 and opted for the surf n' turf... It was sooo good that we didnt even have to look at the menu for what we wanted for our wedding reception! I highly recommend it! I also tried the mahi mahi option (I am not generally a fish person) and that was fantastic as well!

[TheWolferts]

ElDorado2012,

 

We are getting married May 12, 2012, but I am sort of a season vet with EDR as my cousin got married there about a year ago!

 

We are going with DJ Doremixx and I cannot tell you enough great things about them! My cousin opted for a "Lomas approved" which turned out to be not so great. They had spent a lot of time deciding on specific "walk out" songs for each of their wedding party couples, and they DJ got them all mixed up. You didnt have the option to request songs during the ceremony as the language barrier was so severe that communication was almost impossible. Obviously I have yet to meet with DJ Doremixx in person yet, but what impressed me about them so far were the hundreds of rave reviews they have and their professionalism. Within a day of our signing our contract with them, DJ Doremixx had emailed my wedding coordinator (I was CCed on the email) to set up a time to come by the property to make sure that everything we had spoken about would work in the space we are having our reception. They also sent me some great spreadsheet to help me organize the music selection and timing of the entire reception. I cannot tell you how much time this saved me  having everything so nicely organized!

 

We are doing OOT with general items they may need while down there. I found that the gift shop had such high prices that it was almost easier to do without! We thought about doing an excursion instead like Beekmanbride mentioned, but our friends and families are all coming down at different times and days, so I didnt want to make anyone feel like they needed to be down there for anything other than the wedding day.My mother is an artist and actually designed our save the dates, so I am ordering blank canvas totes and having her hand paint the OOT bags. We are doing one bag per room, so that our guests (i.e. the girl staying in the room) can use the bags to carry their books, sunscreen, towels etc around the resort. Since the resort is so big, Im hoping that the bags act as a "name badge" for guests that may not know one another, but will see the similar big and associate it with a guest of ours! We havent decided what we want in them yet, but I think bug spray, sun screen, advil (i definitly used all of the advil in my cousins OOT bags she prepared for us!), and I was even thinking of putting some "tummy tamer" meds for people that may experience "Montezuma's revenge" (

 

 

Since we are doing OOT bags, we aren't going to have favors at the reception. At my cousins wedding, I found that there wasnt much additional space at the tables to set anything (even a small purse), so I cant imagine I would have been happy keeping track of a favor all night. I think we might do personalized drink coozies (sp?) and put them in our OOT bags. I think the guys would use them and they squish into a suitcase for easy transport back to the states. I originally wanted my mom to etch in some art work into some martini glasses, but I thought people would have too difficult a time getting them back home in one piece.

 

We are also doing signature drinks at our cocktail reception after the ceremony. I know an open bar is included with the cocktail reception packages, but our WC said we could close off the other options and have 2 or 3 signature beverages only passed around at our reception. I want to print up small recipe cards with the drink recipes on them for guests to take home. I figure they can easily be stuffed in pockets or little clutches so our guests wont have to keep up with them.

 

 

 

For my cousins wedding, some of us went out to do excursions (scuba, snorkeling, sailing, etc), but no one went to the bars or clubs. My concerns were: 1) I didnt want to be taken advantage of money wise while not on the resort property, 2) I did not want to chance getting any bad water and being sick and 3) we paid a lot of money to get unlimited beverages and food so I didnt want to be paying to go elsewhere. If you do decide to venture out, I recommend setting that up through the hotel as cab drivers tend to overcharge the tourists!

 

 

 

[KaRo]

Beekmanbride, thanks for the tip and for posting the pic! Where did you get the bridesmaids' dresses? Love the colour!

[ElDorado2012]

Thank you for the great information!!! I think the idea of having maracas and personalized coozies sounds so cute!!! I'll definitely look into DJ Doremixx...he sounds like a better option. TheWolferts - can you tell me which excursions you would recommend? Did you use Lomas to book those? Beekmanbride - what deep sea fishing excursion did your husband go on, was that booked through Lomas, or...? My soon-to-be father-in-law had mentioned wanting to do something like that.

 

Have either of you ladies been at the resort (or in the area) in June? I'm curious just how hot the weather will be... I've been told it will be windy on the beach and really humid and hot throughout the resort (since the wind doesn't make it in the resort area). How windy is it at the beach? I was looking up average temps for June there and it seems like it's usually only in the 80's. I know the humidity makes it feel a lot warmer, but some people are saying it's going to be super hot and sticky and I want to make sure I prepare my guests with accurate information...plus, I won't have the groomsmen wear jackets if they are going to be dying in the heat.

 

Beekmanbride - how did it work using your ipod for the ceremony? You just put a certain number of songs on a playlist ahead of time and then had the WC play them as you walked down? How did you coordinate the timing of everything (i.e. to have a different song playing for when you walk down vs. when the bridesmaids walk down)? It was free to have the ipod hookup and speakers?

 

TheWolferts - you said you did a cocktail reception after the ceremony - did you do a sit-down reception too? If so, what food option did you choose?

Beekmanbride - what food selections did you make for your reception?

 

Also, (sorry I'm asking so many questions...) for the table numbers, favors, etc. that you brought, did you have the resort staff set everything up for you or did you have a guest do it? If you had the resort do it, was the fee $5 per guest?

 

Thank you so much!!!!!

[marissasmum]

My daughter arrived yesterday at the EDR, our group will join them on Sunday. They will be getting married at gazebo 55 on Oct 25,2011. I have been lurking for more than a year. And have got so many ideas from here. Thanks it's finally our turn. Will post planning thread later, thanks again