El Dorado Royale (EDR) Brides - POST HERE!

[TheWolferts]

It was a promotion, so maybe they werent offering it when you signed your contract? Though my cousin got married at EDR October 2010 and I know they had that promotion. Did you book through DestinationWeddings.com? It might be something they have with the resort, because both my cousin and myself booked through them.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cvantine 

 

Um...we didn't get that! They gave us like a $100 off coupon when we left but I didn't get anything for the guests that we had booked. I wish we had, we had about 20 rooms also!

[jnitschke]

Catherine you are the best! Mostly, I just would like to see pictures of the area around Gazebo 55... like where we might approach from, what the sand you have to walk in is like, and what else you might see from the location... also we're doing our reception at Tuscannes, so some daytime layout photos would be nice. ... also any of the bars that people recommended for doing a cocktail hour stop over at would be great.  Any particular spots that would make for good pictures would be nice too.. my friend who is doing our photos looked at the map and was like "oh my god this place is huge, how will I know the best spots to do pictures at?" So, I told her I'd ask people to give us an idea of where to go to do those photos.. and see if we can scout out some pics of the places so she can see things like lighting conditions.  Thanks again Catherine, I really appreciate it.  We just found out that we can't go down for a trial trip.. so I'm kinda bumbed..

Originally Posted by Cvantine 

Hello, ladies!

 

It's been awhile since I've been on these boards - hubby and I got married October 29, 2010 at EDR - best choice we EVER made!

 

We are actually going back in two weeks for a mini vacation and I thought I'd offer my fine photography skills to any of you who might be panicking about certain areas or details. I know that one of my hugest concerns when planning was that I didn't know what anything looked like and there were limited photos on the web. I would have loved to have an insider down there to help me scout it out.

 

If any of you need pictures/information/anything at all, please let me know! I'll be there from July 27-30th.

 

Catherine

[jnitschke]

Heh... I was wondering what you found out about that... I found this great picture of sheers hanging from a palapa roof.... guess I'll write that off my list now... 3 grand... that's crazy.

Originally Posted by AllieH 

 

I would ask the onsite coordinator about hanging the starfish - maybe you'll get a better price. The quotes I've received for onsite set up have been absolutely outrageous. They quoted me $3,000 to hang sheers from the ceiling in Tucanes. Needless to say, we aren't doing that option...and I'll wait until we get there to discuss pricing for the rest of my onsite decorations.

 

 

[jnitschke]

I'm getting ready to draft my invites.  I'm wondering what everyone put in them.  Is anyone willing to share an invite or two with me?  I think i'm ok on the actual wording, but the extras you're supposed to include are a bit uncertain to me, how to do travel costs without it seeming crass or tacky, registries, rsvp...etc.  I'm also wondering how long before your booking due date did you make the RSVP for?  Plus, the timing of when you send them out... I'm getting married in May... so November?  hmmm... Input is very much welcome...  Thanks everyone!
 

[TheWolferts]

Have you sent out Save the dates? We sent out our save the dates about 11 months in advance to give people a heads up to start saving money and time off from work! We included our website address on the save the dates so people could get all of the travel info and registry info.

 

We sent out our formal invites 3 months in advance, which was 2 weeks before everyone had to have their hotel reservations made, so at that point, everyone already knew all of the info about travel, the resort, etc, so we didnt find it necessary to include any of the "normal" inserts that a wedding in the states would include. I had thought we might mention something about our registry within our invites, but my MOH who is very well versed in her wedding etiquette said that was a HUGE no-no, so we did not include that. We did have info about our registry on our wedding website though and we found that most people directly asked us where we were registered if the intended to give us a gift.

 

I cant find out final draft of our Save the dates, but below is an early version of our save the date. We found that most people that were actually interested in coming called us directly to get info about travel, pricing etc. It was kind of frustrating as we used a travel agent and had it all up on our website so we could avoid fielding everyone's questions, but I guess it comes with the territory of being the host of such an important event!

 

Front side included our "wedding logo" that we used on various things throughout the wedding:

Back side first draft. I cant seem to find a copy of the final draft, but I think we just changed the spacing, coloring, and added the resort name and login code:

 

Below is our formal invite:

 

 

 

 

Originally Posted by jnitschke 

I'm getting ready to draft my invites.  I'm wondering what everyone put in them.  Is anyone willing to share an invite or two with me?  I think i'm ok on the actual wording, but the extras you're supposed to include are a bit uncertain to me, how to do travel costs without it seeming crass or tacky, registries, rsvp...etc.  I'm also wondering how long before your booking due date did you make the RSVP for?  Plus, the timing of when you send them out... I'm getting married in May... so November?  hmmm... Input is very much welcome...  Thanks everyone!
 

[AllieH]

Ours were sent out on Tuesday, so late July for our November wedding. I went ahead and sent them for a number of reasons:

1) I had them done and was tired of looking at them (ha!)

2) Final payment for the guests is due to our TA in mid-August, so it's a good reminder that it's coming up

3) Many of our guests haven't gotten airfare, so it's also a reminder about the trip

4) RSVPs are due back to us by Sept 1st, primarily so we can get their entree choices for the reception/dinner (payment is due late Sept for that from us).

5) most of the people who are going already know, so it's not like the invite is a huge suprise.

 

We set the mid-August payment date about 3 weeks earlier than when payment is due to our TA's supplier. This is so we can have some time to chase down people who are late, and then can finalize the rooming list in order to figure out what our (Bride & Groom) final payment is with the credits and what not.

 

As for what to include, here's what we did:

1. Invite (friend designed, had professionally printed)

2. RSVP w/ dinner selections, return envelope (friend designed, had professionally printed)

3. welcome dinner RSVP (I designed & printed at home)

4. website reminder (I designed & printed at home)

 

Our invites didn't include costs or payment dates - I left that for the wedding website. You could do a separate insert with travel info such as the pricing, that keeps your invite cleaner.

 

I had registry cards made, but didn't include them, as I was told by some wedding-blogger friends that it's very poor etiquette to include the registry info in the invites. They said it makes it seem like you're asking for gifts (well, you are...but....).

 

I'd be happy to email you the pieces from the invites later tonight if it will help you. Just drop me a PM with your email address. I'm going to start a planning thread in the next couple of weeks, once the invites have been delivered, and will post them on the forum at that time.

Originally Posted by jnitschke 

I'm getting ready to draft my invites.  I'm wondering what everyone put in them.  Is anyone willing to share an invite or two with me?  I think i'm ok on the actual wording, but the extras you're supposed to include are a bit uncertain to me, how to do travel costs without it seeming crass or tacky, registries, rsvp...etc.  I'm also wondering how long before your booking due date did you make the RSVP for?  Plus, the timing of when you send them out... I'm getting married in May... so November?  hmmm... Input is very much welcome...  Thanks everyone!
 

[TheWolferts]

jnitschke-

 

Here are some pics from our wedding to give you a better idea of what the area surrounding Gazebo 55 looks like:

 

 

You do have to walk through about 50 feet of sand to get lined up with the isle.

 

 

 

 

I could only find one of Toucanes set up. We had our rehearsal dinner there and loved the location!

 

 

Our photographer gravitated towards the rocks on the beach near the salt water pool and the palm trees near the main lobby for a majority of our pics. She also took some formal pics of me near the Casitas archway There are a bunch more pics at http://www.andreanigh.com/blog/?p=5289 that include additional pics of the resort and the Casitas archway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Originally Posted by jnitschke 

Catherine you are the best! Mostly, I just would like to see pictures of the area around Gazebo 55... like where we might approach from, what the sand you have to walk in is like, and what else you might see from the location... also we're doing our reception at Tuscannes, so some daytime layout photos would be nice. ... also any of the bars that people recommended for doing a cocktail hour stop over at would be great.  Any particular spots that would make for good pictures would be nice too.. my friend who is doing our photos looked at the map and was like "oh my god this place is huge, how will I know the best spots to do pictures at?" So, I told her I'd ask people to give us an idea of where to go to do those photos.. and see if we can scout out some pics of the places so she can see things like lighting conditions.  Thanks again Catherine, I really appreciate it.  We just found out that we can't go down for a trial trip.. so I'm kinda bumbed..

[Cvantine]

Originally Posted by TheWolferts 

 

 

I DID use destinationweddings.com (big mistake, in my opinion). I will definiitely be following up with them! Although if there was a window to use it it has probably passed by now!

[TheWolferts]

I didnt mind working with DWs.com. My first TA they placed me with was awful so I demanded a new TA. I worked with Christine Kennedy and thought she was really helpful and accommodating.

What didnt you like about them?

 

Yeah the voucher needed to be used within a year of you getting married and the resort actually issues them to DWs.com, then they give it to you with the DWs.com stipulations.

 

 

Originally Posted by Cvantine 

 

I DID use destinationweddings.com (big mistake, in my opinion). I will definiitely be following up with them! Although if there was a window to use it it has probably passed by now!

[TA Wendy]

Hi Ladies, Just as an information point for anyone who might be looking for a TA, we at Wright Travel Agency are the TA wing of the BDW forum. Our agents are experts in the Destination wedding business, for many of us this is what we have chosen to specialize in and we know the area and the resorts extremely well!

Wright Travel was just named by Karisma Resorts as one of their VIP Agencies.. which means to you as a wedding couple that we are often able to offer additional upgrades, comps like free spa, or romantic dinners, as well as any and all promotions that the resorts may advertise or offer, and of course the lowest rates available!

Please let us know if we at Wright Travel Agency can be of any help to those looking to plan their weddings at any of the Karisma Resorts!

Happy planning!

TA Wendy