El Dorado Royale (EDR) Brides - POST HERE!

[msbritbrit57]

We did pretty minimal decorations, and it turned out beautifully. We bought some bags of cheap seashells and sea glass to spread over the center of the table around some cheap aqua-colored candelabras. We also got some table numbers made out of seashells off of Etsy that were perfect. I'm not sure why Valeria is saying that you can't do the setup. That's complete bull. No one at the resort cared whatsoever that we did our own. The DJ, food, and chairs were all set up an hour before (and this is standard!), so you have an hour to set up after the staff is done.

 

As for DJ, we ended up getting Doremixx for our group of 33, and we have no regrets whatsoever. The flow was really great that way, and the DJ's music was so much better than any playlist we were going to put together. I can't recommend the DJ route enough.

 

Originally Posted by chiquita8302 

Oooh, that's great you got those on here! I will look around a little, and check out your links! I'm doing coral (and white), so no orange, but thanks for the offer

 

I have to agree- initially, a big part of the reason for doing DW was the simplicity, but it all gets snowballed into being something bigger. As for the decorations- we'll probably be minimal-ish as well.... the white table setup Valeria sent me pics of looks exactly like what I'd like, then with some lights and something for a centerpiece (i have been working on figuring something out for this as welll... thought about adding 1 lilly to something i could DIY, but each flower is $18.00 lol I just found that to be kind of a lot for ONE flower. But what do I know about flowers...), and hopefully that will do the job. It should be beautiful regardless, I really feel like you're right.

 

I'm still torn on the DJ versus iPod, too! How are you going to have your first dance announced, and all of that stuff? how are you going to handle the flow of the reception? I'd reallllllly rather not hire a 1500$ dj for 40 people lol but kind of feel like we might have to? Maybe you'll have some more good advice for me on how you're going to do it! ;-)

 

Valeria said absolutely we cannot do our own setup. Otherwise I woudl absolutely do so. She said that it gets in the way of the staff (which I'm sure is impossible, considering how in the way could they be just placing centerpieces and some candle bags??).

 

Thank you- i'm super excited for the dress part. I have been looking more online and there are sooo many pretty ones. I'm such a bargain shopper I'd love a good score on the dress, but that is something I will be wiilling to splurge on (within reason) as it's the ONLY day we get to do this- you have to LOVE it!

 

Keep us posted with how your OOT bags come along! I'm thinking we'll be doing those. Not sure what to put in mine exactly. I had been looking for mugs, but have found they're either expensive or chintzy looking... so I had kind of dropped that idea for now. I did find at Target coral colored mugs (slim ones wihtout handles, they're cute) that are clear all around them, so you can put a printout or whatever in to make your own decoration...

So I got enough for my BM's and will print osmething cutesy to put inside wiht their name on it or something! I think they should be fun and will make them stand out a little! For $9.99 they seemed reasonable compared to the mugs i've priced online.  What else are you putting in them? Are you worried abotu how to lug all this stuff down? lol!

 

And I know- I can't believe that I need to be worried already about whether or not I can get a dress in time, lol! 4.5 months will be here before you know it- hooray!!! I absolutely cannot wait--- now that everyone has gotten our invites, it's all everyone talks about when they see us for the first time, so it is so fun listening to them getting all excited and recruiting other friends to come- I cant wait. It is going to be a long winter until February, but once it's here, what a welcome break from the SNOW it will be!!! :)

 

 

[Jillsepher]

Ugh so ridiculous! I can't wait to see your favors. I'm still debating on what all to bring for the favors. We don't really have a whole lotta people that can take stuff with them for us. We'll see!

Originally Posted by AllieH 

Yep, that's what she told me - I had to have enough chair bows to cover both the ceremony & reception. 

 

response time is better, sometimes just a couple of days. I'm hoping it's because the dates are getting closer therefore we get more attention. Most things are planned, a lot of decisions are made thank goodness. I'm still trying to find a picture of a small cake that I can send them, rather than a "large round" one that is a single layer. of all things to drive me nuts, it's the cake! I figure we'll finalize the on-site set up stuff when we get there. I'm still not 100% sure what we're doing for a "centerpiece", maybe not much at all! 

 

we've got our airfare now, and our guests are starting to book theirs as well. still waiting for my favors to come in so I can work on the tags and such. and still need to order mugs of some sort. 

 

 

 

I was just going to do the chair covers with orange sashes but I'm still not sure if they will double charge me for this so we'll see. I have a hard enough time paying for it one time let alone twice! I'm still debating on whether or not to make my MOH's bouquet or buy one there. I'm having a hard enough time with one- can't imagine eight! I hope the dress shopping goes well! Let us know what you decide!

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Originally Posted by chiquita8302 

Jill- what are you doing for chair decorations? Just curious. I haven't really considered doing any chair decorations because they seem so expensive per chair... Alli- you're bringing your own sashes? That was the only thing I had thought of- where did you end up getting yours?

 

I'm working with Valeria now on picking our decorations. So far, i've picked my bouquet (Stargazer lillies with coral and white roses) and the bouquets for my girls (which for my 8 bridesmaids got expensive quick! I got some white paper lunch bags at Target (idea I found somewhere when I was trying to price out luminary bags online) that I'm going to do a trial with, but I guess that's all the paper luminary bags are. So... liek 30 of those with tealights. And I'm going to do the white lights to wrap the poles around Tucanes... but undecided if I'm going to find some cheap white lights to have them wrap for me or if I'm just goign to suck it up and pay the fee.

 

My FI can't believe how much they kind of nickel and dime you for everything. I would be okay with it if they allowed us to set up the decorations, but having to pay so much for setup makes it kind of frustrating. A lot of the decorations I talked to her about that maybe I could bring, (i.e. white lights for the poles at Tucanes- which I was quoted $300 for 6 poles if i borrow their lights, or $175 if I bring my own) are still pretty expensive just for the setup charges.

 

Overall it's getting more fun with the planning... much more exciting picking out flowers and decorations than it was trying to pick the resort or get the details out on the invitations. We've gotten quite a few people who've said they're definately going ot make it, and quite a few dissapointing No's because they can't bring their kids. I kind of regret not picking a resort that was kid friendly just so we could have those important friends there, but what are you going to do. I think it'll work out fine in the long run and will be what we're looking for. I will just miss having those few people there.

 

Next project: First appt to try on dresses is Weds. I'm going to a somewhat fancy (for NH lol) store that is having a huge sample/overstock sale on Aug 1st... so if I find something I like, I should be able to get a vibe from them as to if I'll be able to get a good deal!! Which I've just found out may be more important than just the cost--- they said it normally takes 8-10 months to get a dress in, plus alterations (which I'm not worried about because our seamstress is a miracle worker!)  and ummmm our wedding is in 8 months. Eek! I'm sure it'll all work out fine, though.

 

Hope all is going well with you girls! I like reading about your updates! Same for the new girls- how is all of your planning going??? :-)

 

 

 

 

[Jillsepher]

Originally Posted by ElDorado2012 

 

Hi ladies! We leave tomorrow for our wedding on Saturday (6/30)! I'm super excited!! I'll make sure to give you all a full review with pics when I get back

 

Hope you have a blast!!! Can't wait to hear about it!

[chiquita8302]

OOoohh those mugs are the prettiest I've seen, and I think the cheapest! I don't need 75, but I have heard some of the e-bay sellers will accomodate special requests. Esp. if htey've done 50 before! I'm pretty much sticking to coral and white/ivory for colors (I feel like teal kind of takes away from the pinkt hat i've always wanted if I were to use it as another color- but I may add some accent details in teal), so even the white mug with coral/pink writing would do the job for me. and the logo on it is cute! Thank you so much for sharing that!

 

I've never really given fake flowers much thought... off to google/pinterest i go again LOL I'm never going to get any sleep until February if I don't put down the laptop! My FI is a firefighter so he's gone at least 2 nights a week, and you can imagine how ummm ...productive... i am when he's gone hahah

 

As for the music... how will they announce that it's your dance? Other than like walking in/introductions and our first dance, and probably the mom/son dance, i'm not too worried about any MC'ing... the only other hting is the timeline, but it sounds like you've figured something out for that... are you just going to hit play and hope that the songs you've put in order are going to get everyone dancing and what not? I feel like with such a smaller group and a casual setting, it really may be fine. Especially since i remembe ryou said your friends are relatively big partiers at weddings like mine are lol.... I don't think they coudl have a bad time regardless.

 

I think that's a good point about talkign to the on-site coord- maybe they will be able to accomodate that, esp. if it's just simple things that won't put you in the way.

 

OOT bags sound perfect- from what I've read on here, those who go overkill end up saying guests didn't use most of the stuff. My friends have been on a powdered pedialyte kick as a hangover treatment, so I was thinking I'd add that in too for hangover relief with some excederin migraine (which we've sworn by since our college days lol)... and figured probably some other similar stuff like yours. I think I heard aloe was a big hit too, because people forget to pack it. I haven't started looking or anything- i don't even know how many people are coming!! but just trying to plan ahead

 

Thanks for sharing your ideas!!

 

As for dresses- not really sure. I've done a little googling, but not sure if what I like online will end up being waht i like on me... so far the maggie soterro ones have been my favorite... maybe something liek this?? http://www.maggiesottero.com/dress.aspx?style=J1473&page=5&pageSize=16&keywordText=&keywordType=All or this http://www.maggiesottero.com/dress.aspx?style=A3476&page=11&pageSize=16&keywordText=&keywordType=All or lastly, http://www.sotteroandmidgley.com/dress.aspx?style=ASM3593&page=1&pageSize=16&keywordText=&keywordType=Any&collection=201201... but we will see. These dresses are all like 1200ish, which is not exactly what I was anticipating spending on a dress. I'm not a very fancy person, so I feel like once I get them on I could very posisbly fall in love wiht something much more reasonably priced! But if not... at least I knwo these exist, loL!

 

Going to glance at BM dresses while we're there too- I want to get things going in case it really does take as long as they say. Thinking maybe something liek this... http://www.venusbridal.com/bridesmaids/bella-maids/MF2135 if the coral color it comes in is pink enough

 

Oh yea, also... Did you see the template that someone else posted on here for the map of EDR and waht not for their welcome letter? I think I'm going use it for inspiration... http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/20443/welcome-letter-template-for-oot-bags-edr ...just in case it helps you work on yours!

 

 

 

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Originally Posted by AllieH 

I'm with you on the snowball effect. Dialing it back is more difficult - I'm blaming pinterest and all the amazing wedding photos that are out there.

 

What about using a fake flower? Those should be much less than $18, and the real touch lillies are absolutely gorgeous.

 

I'm putting my brother in charge of the iPod (we will have 2, in case one dies or freezes up on us), and a friend in charge of the timeline. Plus my photographer is a good bride/groom wrangler, so she'll keep us on track. I just can't see spending that much for a DJ. Frankly it isn't in our budget...

 

I've been told we can't do our own set up either, but then other brides have said they've been able to do it. I think it's going to be one of those things that we'll have to wait and see once we get to EDR and talk about it with the onsite coordinator.

 

I'm going to keep the OOT bags fairly simple - again, mostly due to budget. I'm doing shout wipes, aleve, tylenol, immodium, lip balm - and will put all of those into a fancied up brown bag. I'll have a "welcome to Mexico" letter, along with a timeline of the events stuffed in there.

 

I'm going to do mugs because I think it's the one thing that people will really appreciate onsite, and will use when they get home again. I'm looking at Factory 21 for my mugs - 50 for $110. I don't see a 50 listing right now, but the seller is also on eBay. http://www.etsy.com/listing/88493000/75-custom-destination-wedding-favor?ref=sr_gallery_14&ga_search_query=factory+21&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_min=0&ga_max=0&ga_page=1&ga_search_type=all

 

the downside of Factory 21 is that it's either a white or black mug - not much choice.

 

the other option I'm considering for the mugs is hitting dollar tree and grabbing a bunch of their $1 travel mugs (the only downside is their colors are limited to red, blue and black, but meh, this may not be so important to me), and then adding a sticker from this seller: http://www.etsy.com/listing/95216831/120-custom-glossy-waterproof-wedding another bride has used the sticker method and says they work really well.

 

We are using the grocery store type "green" shopping bags as the OOT bags - something that can be used at the beach, and also when they get home again.

 

as far as lugging it all down...we are going to have the mugs sent to my parents and have them bring those. they are traveling together, and we will pay for the extra checked bag. we will have 2 extra checked bags of "stuff" ourselves (4 total - 1 bag each of clothes, and 1 bag each of extras), and then I have a friend here in town who is going and can take another bag if we need her to. I will make sure we have all of the decorations for the ceremony & reception, and my friend/parents have OOT bag stuff (that assembly should be fairly easy to do onsite).

 

hope that helps with some ideas!!

 

what sort of dresses are you looking at? do you have a silhouette in mind? a style (DW typical, ballgown, lace, etc)?

 

[chiquita8302]

Hi! That was my first concern, but after talking to Valeria, EDR has plenty of flowers and what not that are coral. In general, it's easier to find hot pink instead of coral, but luckily I think it's kind of an "in" color right now so it seems like there is a lot of stuff. Bridesmaids dresses are a little tricky- a lot of coral colors are actually orange, where I want the pink color coral. David's bridal's coral seems to be one of hte only ones I've liked so far! I think we're actually looking for the opposite coral colors actually LOL but regardless of pinky or orangey, I think you'll do okay... Have you tried searching for slightly different colors? Like a lot of sites were grouping peach, tangerine, and stuff like that in with coral, whereas I was trying to go more towards the pink, coral, magenta-ish side of things. There are so many paper lantern makers out there I bet you'll find them. How are you doing the lights for them, though? Are you going to get the individually lit ones? The lit ones were def harder to find. In my searches, if I find things that sound like your color, I will post them for you!

 

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned to Valeria that I'm on here as well, but perhaps we'll have to revisit the setup fees. I think them setting up anything electrical and what not is fine, I get it, we'd be in the way... but putting a lantern on a table or some paper bag luminaries around shouldn't be something that we have to pay for. Especially when you consider that the point of a DW is to try to save money, all the while they will getting probably $50,000+ in revenue from rooms at a minimum from our party- you'd think we wouldnt' have to worry about the nickels and dimes so much. Or at least that's what I thought before I got this far along lol.

 

Allie- are you going to bring up the setup costs again before you get your total bill?

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by ONEILL12 

chiquita8302 -

 

My colors are coral and navy! Are you having a hard time finding coral decorations? I am! I found coral table lanterns at Target but we are only doing a semi-private dinner after our ceremony so I won't need to decorate for a reception. Our ceremony is at D'ITALIAS gazebo which isn't the same style as Gazebo 55. We wanted to rent colored sheers but it won't have the same effect on our gazebo. I want to hang some coral and navy paper lanterns around the gazebo but I am having a hard to finding a true coral color. Most are too pink.

 

Also, after seeing that some brides on here were able to set up their own decorations and avoid paying the set-up fee, I just told Valeria that my family would be doing the set-up. I also mentioned that I had seen on "a forum" that this has been allowed in the past at no charge (because I've heard that the Lomas people look at this thread). Valeria was ok with it and just asked for a description of the items we'd be setting up.

[TheWolferts]

Regarding the MOH bouquet... I opted for the orchid and sea grass bouquet for myself at $300 and got the BMs a white stargazer lilly and sea grass bouquet for $70 a piece. I didn't mind the flowers, but they fell a little below my expectations. I felt that my flowers looked a little yellowed and plastic-like and the BM bouquets used a lot of that junky filler green leafy stuff which I despise. Could I go back in time, I might have done something in lieu of real flowers, maybe not fake flowers, but I have seen some cute bouquets using old broaches and shells.

Originally Posted by Jillsepher 

Ugh so ridiculous! I can't wait to see your favors. I'm still debating on what all to bring for the favors. We don't really have a whole lotta people that can take stuff with them for us. We'll see!

 

[chiquita8302]

Have you seen anything like tthat before? I would totally ditch the flowers in lieu of something else, but don' t know what for. I think I''d still want my bouquet of some sort, but i'm not a huge flower person so would be interested to see a tasteful alternative!

Originally Posted by TheWolferts 

Regarding the MOH bouquet... I opted for the orchid and sea grass bouquet for myself at $300 and got the BMs a white stargazer lilly and sea grass bouquet for $70 a piece. I didn't mind the flowers, but they fell a little below my expectations. I felt that my flowers looked a little yellowed and plastic-like and the BM bouquets used a lot of that junky filler green leafy stuff which I despise. Could I go back in time, I might have done something in lieu of real flowers, maybe not fake flowers, but I have seen some cute bouquets using old broaches and shells.

[Jillsepher]

Nikki- did you get chair covers and bows by chance?

Regarding the MOH bouquet... I opted for the orchid and sea grass bouquet for myself at $300 and got the BMs a white stargazer lilly and sea grass bouquet for $70 a piece. I didn't mind the flowers, but they fell a little below my expectations. I felt that my flowers looked a little yellowed and plastic-like and the BM bouquets used a lot of that junky filler green leafy stuff which I despise. Could I go back in time, I might have done something in lieu of real flowers, maybe not fake flowers, but I have seen some cute bouquets using old broaches and shells.

[TheWolferts]

We did not do bows (im not a bow person) at the ceremony. I liked the look of the wooden chairs on the beach. I thought they looked more natural sitting on the beach than covered chairs. We did get chair covers for our reception and had colored tableclothes to add a pop of color. I think the colored table cloths with the chair bows might have been too much color. I used a lot of white in our wedding to as an accent color so it worked out well for us.

Originally Posted by Jillsepher 

Nikki- did you get chair covers and bows by chance?

[AllieH]

oooh I missed that welcome letter - thanks!!! 

 

I loved Maggie, and actually chose one of the shops I visited because she carried Maggies. unfortunately, Maggie did NOT love me! I also had a crush on Justin Alexander, but similar no-love results.  lol You have three different styles, so that's good - stay open minded, and try on different silhouettes and designers. they are all cut differently and will flatter figures in different ways. 

 

I almost passed up even trying on my dress because I thought it looked plain and boring on the hanger. I'm glad my friend convinced me to try it on! and then other dresses just made me laugh and laugh.... 

 

I won't revisit the cost of set up again before our payment to Lomas. I'm just going to deal with it onsite. I had to push to get a quote up front - unlike Valeria, my coordinator doesn't like to quote ahead of time. Then the quote was pretty outrageous (high!!!). so I'm done with that topic for now. 

 

I'm thinking that I want a vertical tie for the chair sashes, vs. a horizontal bow. but we'll see - it may be one of those details that I decide I don't care so much about at the last minute! 

 

 

Originally Posted by chiquita8302 

OOoohh those mugs are the prettiest I've seen, and I think the cheapest! I don't need 75, but I have heard some of the e-bay sellers will accomodate special requests. Esp. if htey've done 50 before! I'm pretty much sticking to coral and white/ivory for colors (I feel like teal kind of takes away from the pinkt hat i've always wanted if I were to use it as another color- but I may add some accent details in teal), so even the white mug with coral/pink writing would do the job for me. and the logo on it is cute! Thank you so much for sharing that!

 

I've never really given fake flowers much thought... off to google/pinterest i go again LOL I'm never going to get any sleep until February if I don't put down the laptop! My FI is a firefighter so he's gone at least 2 nights a week, and you can imagine how ummm ...productive... i am when he's gone hahah

 

As for the music... how will they announce that it's your dance? Other than like walking in/introductions and our first dance, and probably the mom/son dance, i'm not too worried about any MC'ing... the only other hting is the timeline, but it sounds like you've figured something out for that... are you just going to hit play and hope that the songs you've put in order are going to get everyone dancing and what not? I feel like with such a smaller group and a casual setting, it really may be fine. Especially since i remembe ryou said your friends are relatively big partiers at weddings like mine are lol.... I don't think they coudl have a bad time regardless.

 

I think that's a good point about talkign to the on-site coord- maybe they will be able to accomodate that, esp. if it's just simple things that won't put you in the way.

 

OOT bags sound perfect- from what I've read on here, those who go overkill end up saying guests didn't use most of the stuff. My friends have been on a powdered pedialyte kick as a hangover treatment, so I was thinking I'd add that in too for hangover relief with some excederin migraine (which we've sworn by since our college days lol)... and figured probably some other similar stuff like yours. I think I heard aloe was a big hit too, because people forget to pack it. I haven't started looking or anything- i don't even know how many people are coming!! but just trying to plan ahead

 

Thanks for sharing your ideas!!

 

As for dresses- not really sure. I've done a little googling, but not sure if what I like online will end up being waht i like on me... so far the maggie soterro ones have been my favorite... maybe something liek this?? http://www.maggiesottero.com/dress.aspx?style=J1473&page=5&pageSize=16&keywordText=&keywordType=All or this http://www.maggiesottero.com/dress.aspx?style=A3476&page=11&pageSize=16&keywordText=&keywordType=All or lastly, http://www.sotteroandmidgley.com/dress.aspx?style=ASM3593&page=1&pageSize=16&keywordText=&keywordType=Any&collection=201201... but we will see. These dresses are all like 1200ish, which is not exactly what I was anticipating spending on a dress. I'm not a very fancy person, so I feel like once I get them on I could very posisbly fall in love wiht something much more reasonably priced! But if not... at least I knwo these exist, loL!

 

Going to glance at BM dresses while we're there too- I want to get things going in case it really does take as long as they say. Thinking maybe something liek this... http://www.venusbridal.com/bridesmaids/bella-maids/MF2135 if the coral color it comes in is pink enough

 

Oh yea, also... Did you see the template that someone else posted on here for the map of EDR and waht not for their welcome letter? I think I'm going use it for inspiration... http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/20443/welcome-letter-template-for-oot-bags-edr ...just in case it helps you work on yours!

 

 

 

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