Snswedding2016 Planning Thread - Jan 9 2016 (Azul Fives)

[snswedding2016]

@ steal away!!! My guests feel involved and I think they love finding out fun and embarrassing stories about us!

[calgarybride2015]

Free U2 tickets, that is super awesome!! I am so glad your fiance could make the adjustment and you two had a night out. It's nice to let loose once in awhile, even if it is on a Monday

 

Love all the flower girl dresses, it's tough not to buy more and more for little girls.  Much more fun than boys that is forsure. You also have options now which is nice.

 

I love all the shades of blue, but the one on the left is my fave.  You can't go wrong with any of them and I agree that the swatches don't really depict the color the best. I also feel the camera and lighting make a big difference too!  

 

EDIT: I also love your FB idea We had our bridal party on our wedding website as well.  I think it would be neat to do a bio on all the guests actually hehehe!

Edited July 9, 2015 by calgarybride2015

[snswedding2016]

@@calgarybride2015 I was so happy we could both drop everything for a surprise date night! It was great! 

 

It's so true about the flower girl dresses vs. the ring bearer outfit. I had fun picking out the ring bearer outfit but once I made my decision I haven't kept looking. I'm still looking at the cute dresses they have right now - I really hope I don't end up buying a 3rd dress. haha!

 

I was actually thinking about doing little bios or at least the connection to the couple and a fun fact for each guest to put in the OOT bags. I figure this will help connect everyone together the week of. When I went to my cousin's DW a few years ago I met my cousin's wife's brothers named Brad and Chad…I kept getting them mixed up all week. I think a little blurb would have helped me separate them in my mind. 

[TinkerSofi]

That is so adorable that your niece thought it was an Elsa dress, you definitely know you picked the right one

[vancouverpetunia]

OMG your flower girl dresses are so cute. I may have to find myself a flower girl 

[mlklovestory716]

OMG I absolutely love your planning thread!! Loving the blue ombre concept! GORGEOUS!! Everything is turning out AMAZING!! You are super talented!! Keep up the awesome work.

 

I too I'm interested in Azul Fives but,  the hotel stay may be expensive for our guests. We've been working with destinationweddings.com and have been advised the hotel room (flight not included) will be $847/pp for 3 days. I'm not sure if this is a good deal.  I'm in love with the ceremony and wedding location options at this property but I do want to consider my guests pockets. The Sky Terrace looks amazing but $1700 is pretty steep. She had also pitched Hard Rock Riveria Maya but I'm nervous with this property this is currently at $697/pp (flight not included). There aren't many references of previous weddings and the reviews I've read are mixed.

 

 

 

Do you have suggestions/comments working with Azul?

[snswedding2016]

@@mlklovestory716 Thank you so much!! It feels good to get back in the swing of planning. I feel like I've been on a break for a while. 

 

Some of the American brides who have had their wedding at Azul Fives might have a better perspective than me. It's hard because I think generally the American trip prices are more expensive than the Canadians, that being said we do get less perks in terms of free events etc for the actual wedding. Our quote for January was $1630 (Canadian) for 7 days, flight included. How much are flights to Mexico from Florida? 

 

Also keep in mind if you like the Sky Terrace I posted in my thread, that is free of charge. It is much smaller though than the Sky Deck which is the one that costs $1700. 

 

As for dealing with Azul Fives/Karisma - it can be challenging for sure at times. Be prepared to wait for responses, it really depends on who you get as your wedding coordinator. My first WC was fantastic at getting back to me right away but then she went on maternity leave. I'm now working with a different WC who has been much slower but was the one to approve the terrace for me (when I was originally told I couldn't book it). Be persistent - if you don't get the answer you want and it is very important to you and you think you are justified in getting it, don't be hesitant to ask again. I did that and it ended up working out for the best. Working with Lomas (Karisma's vendor) is very expensive but there are great resources on this site on who to bring your own decor to save money or to rent it form Katy HK from Love and Lace. I also really like that Karisma has an online wedding builder where you get to log into your own profile and double check everything that you have set so far for your wedding. I know some resorts don't offer that and only rely on email communication. I also love that you can start planning right away, again I know a lot of resorts won't let you make your choices until much closer to the date. I'm a crazy planner (as you can tell) haha - so I loved being able to make all my choices up front!

 

I hope this helps a bit! Let me know if you have any other questions.

....just saw my ticker....ahhh!!! officially less than 6 months!!!!    

[TinkerSofi]

@@mlklovestory716

 

@@snswedding2016 I think what you said is right on the money. For us, AF was a little more on the expensive side for guests, but I don't regret it. I've only heard amazing things from people who have gone, including random people that I barely knew! When I told them we'd be staying at that hotel they would say that they had been there and it was an amazing stay. 

 

Just for the wedding, we paid between $5000 and $6000 USD, which I thought was very reasonable. We upgraded to the sky deck, so that's including the $1700 and the $250 per table to include their decor. I know the prices have gone up a little bit since we booked in 2014, but it gives you an idea that it is possible to have a cost effective wedding at this resort. At times it really doesn't seem like it, as snswedding mentioned, Lomas likes to charge a lot for things, but at least there's ways around it in most cases. 

 

It does really come down to whether you can get a good quote or not. I'd try asking different travel agencies if they can find you a quote. Wright Travel (the sort of owners of this site) always have great deals going on, and I know they work closely with this hotel. Also, if you're not picky about your date, you can play around with different dates and see what comes out as the best price and go from there. Your best resource is definitely a good TA. Ask if there are other recommended hotels with similar venues.

 

Another hotel that has an amazing terrace is Beach Palace in Cancun. We did a site visit there and it was gorgeous, but when we got quotes it was quite a bit more expensive than AF, which is why we booked where we did. I definitely wanted a terrace . It's also worth checking that out, as the prices are probably not always more expensive. 

 

I hope that helps! 

[acw271011]

@snswedding2016  Elsa and Frozen will win everytime! Two of my granddaughters are hooked! My daughter keeps saying if she hears "Let it Go" one more time she'll scream!! lol  We have video of both of them dancing to the song, but the younger one is just 3. She just follows her sister and just mumbles the words until you get to "let it go", then she just belts it out! It's hilarious but they're both the same - dressing up like Elsa and Anna overides everything!

 

@mlklovestory716  The ladies have given you some excellent advice! I'll add to that and absolutely recommend Wright Travel. Tammy is the owner and administrator of the site and is also a destination bride. Wright Travel have won awards for excellence through Karisma resorts and are a Diamond Level 5 GI certified agent. You can contact them here:

 

https://www.wrighttravelagency.com/go/plan-your-destination-wedding?lp-variation-id=0&keyword=BDWWTA

 

Good luck and happy planning!

[snswedding2016]

@@acw271011 haha my niece is the same, she's also only 3 and gets little words here and there and then just belts out the chorus. It's pretty cute! I was babysitting the other day and of course we watched it and when we were done I asked her what she wanted to watch next while we played with play-doh, to which she replied without hesitation "Frozen AGAIN!!!" - lol! Although for a while, anytime she came over she would only want to watch happy feet - I've seen 1 and 2 more times that I would like to admit.