El Dorado Royale (EDR) Brides - POST HERE!

[murmel]

Hello ladies! I've been watching the website for a while, and we're just about to book with El Dorado, but I have a couple of questions for the experts. Does anyone know if there's a fee to have the reception at the Tucanes Bar? We're eligible for the private events. Are we allowed to use them on our wedding day? We have about 65 guests. If we can't use the private events on our wedding day, and we still want to have the reception at Tucanes instead of the Cocotal, are at least 40 people covered for dinner by the wedding package? We're just getting a little worried about the cost for so many people. Any help is appreciated!

When you purchase one of the wedding packages, there is a semi-private dinner at Cocotal included. To have a reception at Tucanes you must purchase a separate dinner option. You can find more information on the Official El Dorado thread. You can use you semi-private dinner for a different day...as a welcome dinner or a brunch for example.

[Tiff1037]

When you purchase one of the wedding packages, there is a semi-private dinner at Cocotal included. To have a reception at Tucanes you must purchase a separate dinner option. You can find more information on the Official El Dorado thread. You can use you semi-private dinner for a different day...as a welcome dinner or a brunch for example.

Thanks so much for your response! The semi private dinner is for only 40 people and since we're going to be well over that, and we would prefer to have the private dinner, I wasnt sure if they would give us any sort of credit to use it somewhere else. And what the actual fee is to rent the Tucanes because its not posted there or on here. We were also told us we can't use the private event deal the day of our wedding (free cocktail event or dinner/lunch every day) and I'm just checking that was the case for everyone who had enough people to qualify for the private events.

[LKocelko]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiff1037 




Thanks so much for your response! The semi private dinner is for only 40 people and since we're going to be well over that, and we would prefer to have the private dinner, I wasnt sure if they would give us any sort of credit to use it somewhere else. And what the actual fee is to rent the Tucanes because its not posted there or on here.

We were also told us we can't use the private event deal the day of our wedding (free cocktail event or dinner/lunch every day) and I'm just checking that was the case for everyone who had enough people to qualify for the private events.

Check out this thread Allie put together - it should answer your questions. I don't think you would get any credit, but you can pay extra (I believe) to add more people to the semi-private. You don't pay to actually rent out Tucanes, but rather you pay the per plate fee for the private event.

 

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/85364/official-el-dorado-royale-el-dorado-casitas-royale-thread

[AllieH]

Hi Tiff,

 

I don't think most of us had that many wedding guests or qualified for the free private events, so we probably aren't much help. I would ask your Lomas wedding coordinator about the semi-private dinner options with a group of your size, and how that fits in with the free events. Just guessing, you probably don't get the semi-private dinner since you DO get the private event each day. I'm not sure where these are held, if they are buffets, or if they give you an early or late dinner seating at one of the restaurant to yourselves. Definitely ask a lot of questions of your WC. 

 

As Lindsey mentioned, in order to have a private event on your wedding day, it sounds like you'll need to purchase a separate event - reception/dinner/cocktail to have it in Tucanes. Those are all per head fees, and I included a link to the last banquet package in the official thread. I haven't seen any changes or updates to it since the one I linked to. 

 

Something else to be aware of: Karisma is rolling out their new wedding packages this month. I haven't reviewed them in depth, and still have quite a few questions about how it will work, especially for brides who have already booked/planned their weddings or for those who are in the process of planning them. The website is here: http://www.memorablemomentsweddings.com

 

As I learn more about them, I'll be updating the official thread with information for our brides! 

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by LKocelko 
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiff1037 




Thanks so much for your response! The semi private dinner is for only 40 people and since we're going to be well over that, and we would prefer to have the private dinner, I wasnt sure if they would give us any sort of credit to use it somewhere else. And what the actual fee is to rent the Tucanes because its not posted there or on here.

We were also told us we can't use the private event deal the day of our wedding (free cocktail event or dinner/lunch every day) and I'm just checking that was the case for everyone who had enough people to qualify for the private events. 

Check out this thread Allie put together - it should answer your questions. I don't think you would get any credit, but you can pay extra (I believe) to add more people to the semi-private. You don't pay to actually rent out Tucanes, but rather you pay the per plate fee for the private event.

 

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/85364/official-el-dorado-royale-el-dorado-casitas-royale-thread

[Tiff1037]

Thanks so much ladies! Believe me, I've been researching everything I possibly can before we sign anything. Allie's thread about the whole resort has been super helpful too! And after showing my fiancé your husbands ensemble, Lindsey, it's now exactly what he wants for his. Right now, our WC/TA are telling us we don't get to use our private events the day of our wedding for anything.. which we would have used towards dinner or at least part of the extra cocktail hours we still need to pay for. Plus, they're telling us there's still an extra fee to rent Tucanes. I understand if we need to pay for our dinner no matter what option we pick, but to also pay to rent the venue seems like an extreme. I saw a lot of girls on here say they were getting charged extra for fees that other girls weren't charged for, and I just want to make sure I'm not getting cheated on anything.. And once we sign, I know we'll have less power to negotiate anything. Thanks for the link to the new wedding packages, Allie. I'll start looking into that too!

[jnitschke]

Tiff,

I'm pretty sure that the way that it works is that you get to have one dinner reservation where they put your entire group at one of the restaurants, ours was at La Isla and was delicious.  Then if you would like you can also pay for a private event, we did a reception at Tucanes.  The cost for the event is the cost of the meals, there are no other fees to use the space.  It might be the case that you get credit toward a private event based on the number of guests attending, for us when we signed in 2011 we got a 20% discount on the event meals that we purchased.  If you read the contract from Lomas it will tell you at what level you get different perks.  That should help guide you.  In the end they will put everything into a spreadsheet and the cost of everything will be very clear, also they apply any credits you have to that spreadsheet... so in the end it doesn't what day you get you do something on the spreadsheet in the end you just make one payment... for instance we did hair and makeup rehearsals the day before the wedding, but they were still just on the general spreadsheet along with my flowers, DJ, meals, etc. 

 

After you sign your contract you will be given a Wedding Coordinator with Lomas and they can give even better descriptions than what a TA can tell you.  Whether you pay for the private event or not you still get the private reservation for your group at one of the restaurants.  We used ours to have a welcome dinner the night before the wedding.  Things you pay extra for at the private events, like a reception at Tucanes or a cocktail hour, would be for entertainment and decor.   If you bring your own decor they will charge you a fee for setting up the items you bring with you.  Although, most of us found that it can be considerably cheaper to bring and pay a set up than paying for the rentals at the resort.   Where I've seen prices fluctuate the most between brides seems to be on set up charges.  But, you can still negotiate prices with your wedding coordinator after you've signed your contract.  I also found that I got clearer and more accurate answers from the Lomas WC than my TA.  Lomas also has a live chat function and you can ask a lot of questions for clarification on there as well.  Hope this helps! -Jen

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiff1037 

Thanks so much ladies! Believe me, I've been researching everything I possibly can before we sign anything. Allie's thread about the whole resort has been super helpful too! And after showing my fiancé your husbands ensemble, Lindsey, it's now exactly what he wants for his.

Right now, our WC/TA are telling us we don't get to use our private events the day of our wedding for anything.. which we would have used towards dinner or at least part of the extra cocktail hours we still need to pay for. Plus, they're telling us there's still an extra fee to rent Tucanes. I understand if we need to pay for our dinner no matter what option we pick, but to also pay to rent the venue seems like an extreme.

I saw a lot of girls on here say they were getting charged extra for fees that other girls weren't charged for, and I just want to make sure I'm not getting cheated on anything.. And once we sign, I know we'll have less power to negotiate anything.

Thanks for the link to the new wedding packages, Allie. I'll start looking into that too!

[amanda50388]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiff1037 

Thanks so much ladies! Believe me, I've been researching everything I possibly can before we sign anything. Allie's thread about the whole resort has been super helpful too! And after showing my fiancé your husbands ensemble, Lindsey, it's now exactly what he wants for his.

Right now, our WC/TA are telling us we don't get to use our private events the day of our wedding for anything.. which we would have used towards dinner or at least part of the extra cocktail hours we still need to pay for. Plus, they're telling us there's still an extra fee to rent Tucanes. I understand if we need to pay for our dinner no matter what option we pick, but to also pay to rent the venue seems like an extreme.

I saw a lot of girls on here say they were getting charged extra for fees that other girls weren't charged for, and I just want to make sure I'm not getting cheated on anything.. And once we sign, I know we'll have less power to negotiate anything.

Thanks for the link to the new wedding packages, Allie. I'll start looking into that too!

I am from WI!!! I just noticed your thread, are you going through a travel agent at all? We did In Germantown, she was very helpful on everything. 

[pschopen]

I'm also from WI!! We live in Madison. We are getting married at EDR in January, and having 55 guests at least.... 53 have booked so far, with more that are still probably going to. We are having a semi-private dinner at cocotal. They are charging us $20 per person for anybody beyond 40 people! This is something we are not happy with. However, we are getting a lot of kickbacks through delta vacations and funjet vacations (which is who people are booking through). We are paying for a 2 hour cocktail party as our reception, and renting their stuff to use for our ipod. They have set up fees for pretty much everything. Just so you know, these are negotiable and we have been able to complain enough to get our coordinator to at least reduce the fees. Overall, I feel EDR has not given us any perks for bringing them more business, and instead we have had more fees. I'm hopeful that when we go down there and have our meeting before our wedding they will give us more perks or netotiate with us more regarding these extra fees. I mean cmon... we are bringing 55 people to their resort!!!!!! I know that all sounds pretty negative. I don't mean it to be, but it's just been our experience prior to going down there. The resort looks amazing, the coordinator has been in touch with me fairly regularly, although it usually takes 2 weeks before she will email me back regarding things. I don't know if this helps much... but just gives you a clear look at what's to be expected. -Paula

[Tiff1037]

Quote:

Originally Posted by amanda50388 
 

I am from WI!!! I just noticed your thread, are you going through a travel agent at all? We did In Germantown, she was very helpful on everything.

Amanda - That's awesome!! Small world! We were actually dealing with two travel agents at one point, but we picked La Macchia Travel in Kenosha because they told us about El Dorado, and we fell in love with the place!

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by jnitschke 
 

Jen - Thanks so much! All the info you gave is super helpful! I just found out that they switched the packages (if you book enough rooms) to going from free unlimited private events, to 20% off private events which sounds like what you had. It's also good to know about the setup fees and to make sure to budget that it. Their stuff is awesome, but so not worth paying that much money for. I'd much rather bring some stuff down and pay the setup fee. I'll start saving all my fun questions for the WC instead of the TA too. Thank you!! You have no idea how much that helps!

[Tiff1037]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pschopen 

I'm also from WI!! We live in Madison. We are getting married at EDR in January, and having 55 guests at least.... 53 have booked so far, with more that are still probably going to. We are having a semi-private dinner at cocotal. They are charging us $20 per person for anybody beyond 40 people! This is something we are not happy with. However, we are getting a lot of kickbacks through delta vacations and funjet vacations (which is who people are booking through). We are paying for a 2 hour cocktail party as our reception, and renting their stuff to use for our ipod. They have set up fees for pretty much everything. Just so you know, these are negotiable and we have been able to complain enough to get our coordinator to at least reduce the fees. Overall, I feel EDR has not given us any perks for bringing them more business, and instead we have had more fees. I'm hopeful that when we go down there and have our meeting before our wedding they will give us more perks or netotiate with us more regarding these extra fees. I mean cmon... we are bringing 55 people to their resort!!!!!!

I know that all sounds pretty negative. I don't mean it to be, but it's just been our experience prior to going down there. The resort looks amazing, the coordinator has been in touch with me fairly regularly, although it usually takes 2 weeks before she will email me back regarding things. I don't know if this helps much... but just gives you a clear look at what's to be expected.

-Paula

That's so funny! Wisconsin girls definitely know where to party!  

Are you getting your stay for free at least? Karisma just started a new package for 2014 where they're now including the bride/groom stay for free depending on how many rooms you book (and you'll definitely qualify): http://karismahotels.com/Specials/agentType/ViewType/PropertyTypeID/58
 

This helped us out a TON and really made us be able to afford having our wedding at El Dorado when we're bringing so many people. My TA made it sound like we could switch to new packages as they're introduced as long as it's before our wedding, so if you're not getting your stay for free, I would definitely ask about it.

 

You'll definitely have to let me know how it goes when you actually go down there. That's part of the reason we were doing SO much research before we signed so we weren't blindsided by so many additional fees that we may have not even thought of.

The good news is, we did do a site check in September and it's really the most gorgeous place and worth the hassle. We can't wait for our family and friends to see this place. You and your guests will have such a great time!

 

Thanks for all your help too and I'm looking forward to hearing how it goes for you!