El Dorado Royale (EDR) Brides - POST HERE!

[StylingTrio]

@@jhercule We've worked with the wedding group at the El Dorado Royale in the past and can answer your question:  about purchasing day passes ahead of time or on-site and the answer is, you must go through the Wedding Coordinator to purchase guest day passes in advance or you may run the risk of a guest not being allowed in if they try to purchase it onsite. Hope that helps and happy planning! El Dorado Royale is a gorgeous place. Great choice. 

[acw271011]

Hi Ladies!!

 

I just got back from our April wedding at El Dorado Royale.  It was absolutely incredible!  We had 100 guests--our welcome party was at Tucanes, ceremony at Tucanes, and reception at Salon Royale.  As many of you have mentioned, the planning process is completely overwhelming.  Communication with the resort was impossible and 4 months before my wedding I was at my wits end and desperate for help.  Through the recommendation of a past EDR bride on this blog, I reached out to Stacy at Extraordinary Destination Weddings hoping she could work a miracle. She dove in headfirst, took the reins, communicated daily, fought for my vision, and enabled me to enjoy the wedding process.  As my husband can attest, Stacy proved herself invaluable and was the single best investment we put into our wedding. I can't even begin to tell you all the things that could have gone wrong and the resort flat out didn't do; having an advocate during the planning process and onsite was the sole reason we had an amazing experience.  If I could change one thing I would have hired her from day one so she could coordinate the reservations as well!  A couple other notes, the resorts decor prices are exuberantly inflated so we brought our own. Stacy brought the majority down for me and did the set up/take down to avoid their inflated fee's.  This was HUGE money saver!  Plus after the reception we could keep the party going with our guests and not have to worry about anything.  I also made all my own real-touch bouquets since the resort was quoting me $250 a bouquet. DJ All Music did an incredible job and turned the reception into a massive dance party, I highly recommend him if you have it in your budget.  Our welcome bags were a total hit.  They had the schedule for the weekend, koozies, sunglasses, a hand painted shot glass etc., but the biggest hit were the personalized tumblers.  Our guests used them all weekend for their drinks and loved them!  It's a huge resort so it was a great wedding guest identifier throughout the week.  I'll post some pictures when I get them back from our photographer.  And for anyone who might be interested, below is Stacy's info.  It was the best week of our lives and we absolutely couldn't have done it without her; I give her my highest recommendation! 

Stacy Norell (774-213-1850)

[email protected]

www.extraordinarydestinationweddings.com

Please feel free to message me with any questions, good luck to all future brides!

 

Congrats on being a Mrs! So glad your wedding was a success and that it all went well. Planning a destination wedding can definitely present it's own set of challenges, and the process can be overwhelming at times. Most of the resorts do have very good coordinators, some not so good, I guess just like anything anywhere. I'm glad you found someone that provided the support you wanted to pull your wedding together.

 

Looking forward to seeing your photos when you're able to post them!

[KimberlyD]

Hi Ladies,

 

I just got back from a friends wedding at another resort in Playa del Carmen, but made a stop at EDR to have a tour. It is a gorgeous property and I am super excited for my wedding to be here. With the advice of another lady in the discussion I am going to go with Love and Lace wedding décor since it is so much cheaper, but wanted to see if any other ladies used an outside florist. I was wondering if I could go into town and pick up the flowers on my own and bring them back to the resort or even have them delivered. I have asked my wedding coordinator, but we all know that I might not have an answer for a while. Any insight you have would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,
Kim

[ZandA2017]

Hello Brides!!

 

First off, I am SO happy that I found this thread!! This has been so helpful and such a comfort in planning a wedding from far away. I've been lurking for some time now, and trying to find answers to the different questions I have, but thought I'd throw out some more questions and get your feedback!

 

My fiancé, Zak, and I are planning to get married at El Dorado Royale May 20, 2017. Our ceremony will be at Gazebo 55, with reception at Tucanes. We're going to send out about 100 invites, so I'm expecting somewhere around 75 guests?

 

We are going to be down there in a few weeks to check the place out and meet with your WC, Paulina. So far, she has been good to deal with and usually responds within a day or two and has answered my questions so far. I'll have a detailed list of questions to ask her in person, but I wanted to find out if there are any questions you recommend that I ask when I see her? Also, in terms of 'negotiating', what are some things that you recommend that I try and negotiate? I have no clue what I can or can't negotiate!

 

Ok, now for some more questions :-)

 

DECOR:

 

I love the resort, the grounds, etc. My one caveat is that I really want to 'personalize' the reception site in terms of decorations. I checked out the Lomas decorations. They are pretty, but not the look I was going for specifically. Plus I had read that going through them for decor was expensive.

 

The look I'm going for-rustic, with a LOT of lights. I have this vision of stringing an obscene amount of lights up to the point in the palapa. Any suggestions on where to get the lights-should I rent? Buy when I get down there? The amount of lights I want may not be possible to bring down from here in the states, plus what to do with them when we're all done? 

 

I would also love rustic wood tables instead of tables with tablecloths, chair covers, etc. I'll keep the tables simple-small bouquet of flowers, lots of candles. That I figured I could bring down or buy for cheap. 

 

Some brides had mentioned using Love and Lace, so I will definitely check that out. Do I rent from them, and then have the resort set it up for a fee? Anyone else have experience with renting decorations from around Playa Del Carmen? 

 

I had also considered even hiring an outside planner/event designer that I trusted to show her some pictures and let her go with it so that I wouldn't have to worry about it (I'm not a very good DIY-er! :-) Has anyone had experience with this, and is it worth it?

 

Also, has anyone had experience with an outside florist? I'm wanting simple/cheap bouquets that I feel like I could do myself or have someone from the resort do. I want wild flowers/succulents/whatever is cheap, tied together with something rustic and simple.

 

Everything else (ceremony site, etc) I'm not going to be picky about. I'll try and keep it simple.

 

HAIR

 

I know that I'll be picky about my hair. I'm going to set up a trial-run with the Styling Trio when I'm down there in a few weeks. I wanted someone to be able to come to the room, plus I liked their examples. I'm a little nervous going with someone at the salon, as I've read a lot of mixed reviews. Any thoughts from anyone who has used their services before, or gone with someone else?

 

 

Welcome Dinner

 

I read somewhere back a few years ago (sorry I forget the user who posted! ) that one bride had a BBQ welcome dinner in lieu of a rehearsal dinner. I don't know if this is a possibility, but I would love to be able to do a BBQ/bonfire welcome dinner on the beach the night before the wedding. Has anyone been able to do this or have advice for the welcome dinner? I want something a little more casual than a sit down dinner at a restaurant, but I'm not against that either if that's you guys recommend.

 

 

Sorry for this insanely long post and all these questions!! But I definitely appreciate any advice and have LOVED all of your posts and beautiful pics of your weddings! I guess my biggest questions is: should I hire an outside wedding planner, and what are the advantages? All in all, I don't want to stress about what the reception will look like, and I REALLY don't want me or any one of my guests to have to do anything on the day of the wedding other than relax and enjoy the day! So if that means bringing in someone else, I will. Do you think the resort did a good job on the day of the wedding setting everything up and keeping the day flowing smoothly?

 

Thanks again for any tips and advice, and I will keep you posted with any tips and advice that I learn along the way!!

 

Amy

 

 

 

[StylingTrio]

Welcome @@ZandA2017 to the BDW Community as well as congrats on your upcoming wedding at EDR next year! We know the place very well and it is a stunning location to have a wedding. You'll love it.

 

Next, I read the part where you are considering getting your hair professionally done by us at Styling Trio. So flattered first of all  and secondly, yes, someone will come to you for the trial and we have an expert team of hair stylists and makeup artists. Sounds like you've visited our site or perhaps saw us on our social media channels and have seen some of our work, here is another link that may be helpful: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/topic/80078-styling-trio-riviera-maya/ You can see some recent examples of our work. 

 

Also, here is a great blog article that someone on our team wrote about getting a trial before your big day. I thought you might find it helpful:  http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/wedding-tips/c/planning/q-a-should-i-have-a-hair-makeup-tr-r2342 

 

If you should have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. For the quickest response you can contact us at [email protected]  Or leave your questions here, I'm sure to see them and will respond as quickly as possible. 

 

CONGRATS AGAIN and HAPPY DESTINATION WEDDING PLANNING!

[elmekies]

For those of you that used Sarani- how did the canvas photo come out? We are in love with 2 pictures and debating to pay to get another one out on canvas.

[jhercule]

@@ZandA2017 Decor and lights >> Love & Lace Wedding Decor. The owner's name is Katy and she's awesome to work with. We rented a lot of items through her - including string lights (we rented 12 for Tucanes). We also brought decor from home (Etsy, IKEA, Save on Crafts, etc).

 

Flowers >> Maya Floral. Marvin was awesome to work with and came in WAY less than what Lomas was quoting me. I was so happy with everything and he just dropped them off to my (then) fiancé the morning of the wedding vs. setting them up (avoiding the outside vendor fee). We rented bottles for our flowers from Katy and he had them ahead of time, so he just arranged everything pre-wedding. But he also does have a variety of vases and such to rent from him.

 

Setup / on-site team >> My on-site coordinator Maricarmen (Mary for short) was PHENOMENAL and totally understood how we wanted everything to look. Not sure if you can request your on-site coordinator, but if you can - ask for Maricarmen. We talked through all of the decor, showed her everything, had pics printed out for her of how we envisioned it, and she took tons of notes. I wouldn't have changed a thing. She totally understood and once we met with her, our worries about "will this go right? Will they capture our vision?" were totally gone.

 

Photographer >> Not sure if you already have one booked, but we went with an outside photographer (Quetzal Photo) because I loved their work. We originally booked Sarani, but once I found Quetzal (on Instagram actually...), I fell in love. And even with the outside vendor fee, it was less than the Sarani packages and I think we're going to love love love our end result.

 

We just got married at EDR on Saturday (June 11), so all I have are FB and Instagram pics at this time (just search for #jesswedswess on either social media site to see some pics). But will do a complete review in the coming weeks with photos.

 

Let me know if you have any questions!

[KimberlyD]

@@jhercule Congratulations on your wedding! It is relieving to hear that everything went great! I am also renting stuff from Katy, I think by your suggestion, and yes she has been awesome to work with. I have a couple of questions for you!

 

1. How much did they charge for total setup? I went for a site visit and was told it was going to be $50 per string of lights to set up, since it was so much I only rented 5 strands from Katy. But if it's going to be less I would love to have more lights.

 

2. How much were your flowers? I reached out to Martin who Katy had suggested and he quoted me about $130-$190 for my bouquet, which was high but only $25 for my center pieces. So just wanted to see if that was reasonable!

 

I can't wait to check out your pics!! Congrats once again

[Jacquelyn05]

@@jhercule I just looked at your photos on Instagram!! Amazing! Everything looked so great. What menu did you go with for your reception? And who was the DJ!? Everything looked beautifule and it truly looked like you had an amazing time. Thanks in advance and congrats!!!

 

 

 

@@ZandA2017 Decor and lights >> Love & Lace Wedding Decor. The owner's name is Katy and she's awesome to work with. We rented a lot of items through her - including string lights (we rented 12 for Tucanes). We also brought decor from home (Etsy, IKEA, Save on Crafts, etc).

Flowers >> Maya Floral. Marvin was awesome to work with and came in WAY less than what Lomas was quoting me. I was so happy with everything and he just dropped them off to my (then) fiancé the morning of the wedding vs. setting them up (avoiding the outside vendor fee). We rented bottles for our flowers from Katy and he had them ahead of time, so he just arranged everything pre-wedding. But he also does have a variety of vases and such to rent from him.

Setup / on-site team >> My on-site coordinator Maricarmen (Mary for short) was PHENOMENAL and totally understood how we wanted everything to look. Not sure if you can request your on-site coordinator, but if you can - ask for Maricarmen. We talked through all of the decor, showed her everything, had pics printed out for her of how we envisioned it, and she took tons of notes. I wouldn't have changed a thing. She totally understood and once we met with her, our worries about "will this go right? Will they capture our vision?" were totally gone.

Photographer >> Not sure if you already have one booked, but we went with an outside photographer (Quetzal Photo) because I loved their work. We originally booked Sarani, but once I found Quetzal (on Instagram actually...), I fell in love. And even with the outside vendor fee, it was less than the Sarani packages and I think we're going to love love love our end result.

We just got married at EDR on Saturday (June 11), so all I have are FB and Instagram pics at this time (just search for #jesswedswess on either social media site to see some pics). But will do a complete review in the coming weeks with photos.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Edited June 16, 2016 by Jacquelyn05

[KimberlyD]

@@jhercule I just stalked all of your pics!! You are gorgeous and everything looked amazing!! Helps me realize the stress I am feeling now will be worth it!