Katherine4-09

Quote: Originally Posted by Katherine4-09 Hey Andi! wow cool what time is your wedding? ours is @ 5 pm we are doing it on the beach and are now starting to look at photographers, hopefull by this weekend that will be taken care of. There is a forum under Riviera Maya I belive that is just for Azul senseatori brides you should find it, tons of great info! So you are flying down the 20th as well? My FH husbands parents live in Denver, we are going to be there xmas! I love Denver it's so nice. How many guests are you expecting? we are expecting 30-40, we are doing a private event, for the reception. and having our welcome dinner @ spoon the night before. Have you talked yet with Fabio the WC here in US? Or do you have someone else your dealing with? Oh yeah I forgot to ask u have your guests booked already? the reason I am asking is because few months back some of our guests started to book but all of sudden rooms were going like crazy... my fml called karisma down in Mexico, it appears that 2 huge corporations came and booked all the lower priced rooms!! Lots of our guests could not get rooms unless they wanted to be in really expensive rooms! So lots of my guests have booked at other resorts which is a pain in the butt, but I am going to use that too my advantage and see what they can do such waive the guest passes, they should not have let the corps book all the rooms knowing that 2 weddings were sched. for the 24th u know so annoying the week before and after are date is wide open! we were going to move our date but we had people already have their flights so that is not right u know anyway just wanted to give u heads up if u did not know that. thanks everyone for the congrts and welcomes love this site! such a great deal of info!

Quote: Originally Posted by Andi Hey Katherine! We are date twins! Early on...Azul Sensatori was one of our top picks! it looks like it is going to be a great hotel! welcome to the forum! Hey Andi! wow cool what time is your wedding? ours is @ 5 pm we are doing it on the beach and are now starting to look at photographers, hopefull by this weekend that will be taken care of. There is a forum under Riviera Maya I belive that is just for Azul senseatori brides you should find it, tons of great info! So you are flying down the 20th as well? My FH husbands parents live in Denver, we are going to be there xmas! I love Denver it's so nice. How many guests are you expecting? we are expecting 30-40, we are doing a private event, for the reception. and having our welcome dinner @ spoon the night before. Have you talked yet with Fabio the WC here in US? Or do you have someone else your dealing with?

I have some answers from Fabio on things I had asked him, he seems to be getting back to me with in 3 days or so which is good. Here is the info, maybe it will help some of u: Hey Fabio, Ok well we don't have approximate number of guests we will have that number by Feb, sometime. We are looking at about 30-40 people but that is not definite, we want to have a DJ so what are the options for the reception where we can have a dj? The beach is always an option and of course the Oval Deck right behind the Zocalo Also when will we know if we can use the dinner that is in our package deal as our rehearsal dinner? Yes, of course you wil have to keep in mind that is not a private event and it must be for a group of 40 people or less @ The Spoon Restauant. Do we need to book the photographer now or is that something you do? Yeah, we can do that now. Here's what you need to do; Review our approved photographers vendors list Category Photography & Video - List of products - Weddings in Cancun & Riviera Maya by Lomas Travel Select your photographer & phot packages desired. Send me an e-mail with the photographer selection and the package selected. I'll contact the photographer and get back to you with a confirmation. Those are some questions we have right now. Also we do have some quests who are staying at other properties, how do they go about getting their day passes for the wedding? Yes, each wedding pass (wedding day only) is $72 usd, payable directly at the Hotel. I will need complete names for each of the non hotel guest coming for your ceremony. All wedding pass guests must arrive not earlier than 1 hour prior to the ceremony. Day pass, (any other day) are $99.00 usd. Children pay 50% off an adult rate.

Quote: Originally Posted by Tracy_S To me I thought it was very moderate.. I wasn't looking to spend like 5000 or more on photography and she happens to have great deals!! I think so anyways... Category Photography & Video - List of products - Weddings in Cancun & Riviera Maya by Lomas Travel that is the link to her pricing on Lomas travels page... I personally think its worth doing if you are on somewhat of a budget! I'm sure if you contact her directly she would be able to customize what you wanted for your day as well... hope this helps!!! I actually went on their website and they emailed me with info so great! thanks for your help they look pretty reasonable, I don't want to spend a fortune on pics but do want a great photographer u know, I also have emailed all the photographers that the resort allows, I am waiting still to hear from Caribe, and then royal which I can't seem to find info on them does anyone know website for them? thanks

Quote: Originally Posted by Tracy_S Katherine4 I am also going to be using Mexican wedding photos and their website is mexicanweddingphotos.com... they have a contract with Karisma so you won't have to pay the vendor fee.. I have a question to anyone who can help... have any of you bought personalized sandalwood fans as favors? And if so which website and do you know if they ship to Canada.. I found a couple of websites with the fans but they do not ship to Canada.. if you could let me know that would be great! Thanks!! Thanks!!! how was there pricing? was it expensive or moderate?

Quote: Originally Posted by jennrenn23 The Ceremony At ten minutes until 3, no one had come. Erik leaves to get some shots on the beach and Stacey and I decide to go down to the bottom level of the resort. We run into Carolina and Gilberto, who takes Stacey away. I wait with Carolina and her ever-present walkie talkie until they are ready. She tells me just how to hold my veil so it won't fly in my face (it was quite windy that day) and off we go when we get the signal. I will post pics when we get them, but it was breathtakingly beautiful, Stacey was standing down with the minister. He had a chance to talk with her for about 5 minutes and told her how important Jesus Christ was to us and made sure she understood to emphasize Him. He also told her this was not a Vow Renewal, but our real wedding. When I got down to the spot, and yes I wore flat Silver sparkly sandals, we faced each other and listened. The minister had the whole ceremony memorized and it was beautiful; much better than I imagined. We went over to the side table to sign the Certificate of Marriage (symbolic) and then it was over! Beautiful Day, indeed! She did not ask if we wanted to say anything special, so when we did the champagne toast, I told Stacey I wanted to say something. Of course, my long speech became about one sentence because I started crying so hard which made him cry. Later, we heard everybody at the resort (10 people, haha) had gathered at the retaining wall to watch and were crying with us! Awwwwww! Photos Erik kicked it into gear and had me laying all over rocks and jumping around and Stacey throwing me. He would show us the screen on his camera when he got something really special and WOW, he made me look like a tall supermodel sometimes! Oh, I am 4'11''...We actually decided against the TTD session because all of ours were so candid with no family members to photograph. Erik and the videographer were so easy to work with and wanted to know where we wanted to shoot and what we liked and Erik has perfect English. I think they actually stayed over time. Funny story-as we were walking around getting new places to shoot, a girl and her parents stopped us and said, "Are you a real bride? Or just models?" We laughed so hard. We hung out with them the rest of the week; they were from Jersey and she is getting married there Summer 2009. They kept calling us "the models." Hardly. Here is what we looked like HOURS after the wedding with fallen hair and dirty dress. We took these so they aren't too fantastic: My hot husband: Me Check out the "Pinch Bustle" ... very nice... Dinner Carolina came up to us in the lobby after the last round of photos and said she had a surprise for us and to meet her in 30 minutes. She made me close my eyes, and they took us down for the private candlelight dinner in our gazebo. No charge. Very beautiful. We had 3 waiters, Hector was our favorite! You saw the one photo above of the dinner. The prepared a 4 course meal with wines and champagnes and printed our names on the menu. It was very nicely done and we were grateful. We felt the only people in the world. All in all, it was great, and we were very pleased. I will post some other pics for you now. I met Andrea, who was the 4 PM wedding on November 8. I will not post her photos out of respect but it was on the beach and her colors were beautiful-I think a hot pink and kelly green? Really nice. We met earlier in the week and she was pretty anxious and upset about the calamity of the newly opened resort. I did not talk to her after the wedding, as we left Sunday, but she saw us watching closely and we waved vigorously and she seemed very happy. One comment-they did a legal wedding and had a microphone. Their female minister spoke very poor English and sort of halted her way through the ceremony. Our minister officiated the 5 PM wedding (see pic below) and she was MUCH better. Don't know if you could choose but her name is Alina Monroy, Minister, Community of Faith Church. Her email is actually printed on my certificate too: [email protected]. I will post this bride's photo as she is not on the site, but I will keep her name private. I wanted you to see her flowers, colors, aisle and chairs for those that want to see samples. Here is where Andrea's reception was held, same as the owner's friends' wedding reception. It is in the center of the resort, behind Zocolo: The 5 PM bride had her reception INSIDE Zocolo, like everyone likes, BUT the resort was at about 10% capacity. The outside patio was availiable for dinner for non-guests. The patio would be fine for a reception, not sure about where to dance? The bar is right to the right of this photo and it is right up from the beach gazebo. Here is the patio: Nobody last week chose this option, but the Rooftop Garden Patio is beautiful. It is just not down near the beach, but up off the lobby at the front of the resort: Two Last Photos One of the pool beds they were finishing midweek: and another showing how close Secrets Silversands is to Sensatori. This is looking just over the fence at the south side of the resort. We almost snuck over there a few nights to check out the nightclubs but never did: Things I would do over (maybe)-really short list *I really missed our family and my 14 year old son especially. With resort being so empty, it was very romantic, but we craved a little interaction later in the week. That is why we stayed 2 extra days, when all the Americans were coming in for the weddings because we met them and were having fun with them. So, perhaps I should have brought my family! *Pinned my veil better It blew off twice during my ceremony as the wind came out of nowhere! But it was funny and probably made some funny photos! *Had my hair down for some later photos with no veil I hope this can help you guys. Bottom line: the resort will be a First-Class facility in a few months. I believe everything you will read about in my resort review will be taken care of soon. You have made the right decision! Andrea might disagree! We will look forward to her review as well.... Best of luck and contact me for more specific questions anytime. Jennifer thanks so much for this review it helps alot! I have another question your photographer is he one you picked yourself and brought w you, or one resort has

Quote: Originally Posted by Sensatori Bride Hi Polina, The same thing happened with me. I originally wanted to use Mexican Wedding Photos and she did not ask for a deposit. She told me that my date was reserved and to just stay in contact with the onsite wedding coordinator. I think they just add it to your final bill that has to be paid before the wedding. Mesita Hey Mesita does Mexican wedding photos have a website you can provide me, I am trying to get my photographer picked and want to see their packages and some actual photos thanks!

Quote: Originally Posted by Solidshan83 HI, I spoke with Fabio a few weeks ago as I had the same worries. He said the quotes we were provided package wise at deposit time are the prices we will pay. Shannon the deposit is this meaning the $200 you put down to get your wedding date? Cause we did that so long ago, and we were looking at the BBQ for the reception, can we pay the orignal price that we were given and not what it is now? Hmm I am going to email Fabio as well to see what his answer is?

Quote: Originally Posted by manders757 I am sure nobody wants to hear this but.... I have not been stressed at all about not getting responses. I know a bunch of people that have done the destinantion wedding thing and all of them agree that no matter what you plan before you get there nothing really matters. The onsite WC are amazing and as soon as you get there you do all your planning. Girls remember.... you only do this once(hopefully) and you have to enjoy it! I agree with you the whole point why we are doing a destination wedding is because they are suppose to be less stress, and less money then the traditional wedding. So I am not stressing over things like table set ups etc. the way I see it I don't think I need to decorate the tables with all this stuff when you look out over the beach it's a setting in itself. The only thing I want to spend add'l money on is the pics as these are for the rest of your life you know. I am even thinking of not having flowers for my BM maybe just MH it depends, but everything else I really don't want to have too stress out about. Give me couple of options for my flowers I will pick one same goes for everything else.

Quote: Originally Posted by JHarwood2Be I haven't really started with all that yet. I'm watching you girls duke it out with them in the meantime lol that's a good idea. I just figured out how the photograhpy works, so now am considering picking the silver wedding pacakge so I can pick the photographer we like. We had picked the silver wedding pacakge but then Caribe photos come w package, and then I would want to add on to that package so it would cost about the same and then we would get pics we love w photogrpaher we love.

Quote: Originally Posted by Polina You should pick the photographer you like and ask them for their packages seperately so you can see what they offer. Then once you make a decision you should book it through Fabio so you don't have to pay and outside vendor fee. We are using Claudia's for video and we made all the arrangements through her but had Fabio do the booking for us. oh that is good idea did not think of that. So far Claudia is not aval. for our wedding but her asst Alberto is and she sent us photos he has done recently and they are good I like all the diffrent shots he does. Does anyone have any of the other websites for ROYALE PHOTO • • • & MEXICAN WEDDING PHOTO • • • I can't seem to find any websties for them. So once we pick the photographer we like & package give info to Fabio to book? is this correct thanks so much!@

Quote: Originally Posted by jhawkev They are soooo inconsistent! I still have not heard a peep about planning mine and I have an early April date..argghh. Back to the email drawing board. Ditto, I thought the list looked a little small Thanks! And I'm even more confused about this photographer thing. They don't pick the photographer for you? But you need to go through them to book? yeah I am also pretty confused on the photographer thing as well, Fabio said depending on the wedding pacakge you choose certain photograhpers go with it which I think is crazy, you should be able to pick whatever photograhper u want from what they offer u know so I plan on addressing that, my FH and I are sitting down this weekend to pick the photographer we like best and then hope we can use them, and they are avaiable for our day I am the worst speller so sorry! lol

Ok I have some questions, most of the wedding packages come with the flowers for myself and my fiance' so why is everyone picking flowers? also everyone is planning on decorating the areas with things from home, how do you plan on getting that stuff too Mexico? I think I am just going pretty simple the destination says it all, so tables with table cloths with as close as they can get it to my wedding colors I will be happy.

Quote: Originally Posted by trayce2222 It appears that either way (DJ or Ipod) one of the guests will have to "play" DJ. Here is a question and the response I received from Tiffany. I have decided to go with the Ipod since the sound system and mic are only $250 and the DJ is $1300.....something to consider! DJ-I have received a copy of the playlist. How do I make my selection of songs and get it to the DJ prior to the wedding? How many songs should I choose to last throughout the reception? Does the DJ make introductions, announce toasts, 1st dance, etc? I have attached a song list that the DJ plays. If you have any other songs please send them to me and I will pass it along and see if that is possible. The DJ will only be making a few announcments you may want to have one of your guests do the announcments that the dj does not do thanks Tracy for you info. I am torn on what to do here, I am definatly going to email Fabio and the coord. down at resort with info on the DJ. I have a friend who DJs so I am going too ask him if he can make some cds that we can take down to mexico to play, I really dont want to have to ask one of our guests to be a VJ so to say I want them to relax and have great time not be part of the help u know. UGH I really don't know now about this DJ thing or ipod, I don't want to have to play my own music and make annocements. Have they given you what annocements the DJ makes? thanks

Quote: Originally Posted by JHarwood2Be In hindsight I guess we should of placed deposits for everyone early on. I just didn't want to deal with reminding everyone to pay up. Maybe I'm naive, but I really didn't expect it to fill up this fast. I was getting so excited about the wedding and the planning. Now I just feel a little defeated. I just need to keep remembering that no one is as excited about the wedding as we are. That we should be grateful for the ones that will be there and that I will be marrying my best friend! Hey I am getting married the day before you! exciting, the reason our dates for rooms are getting sold out so quickly is because 2 huge corporations have gone ahead and booked most of the hotel. They are doing some conference there, my future mother in law called down to the resort and found that out because I was stressing as rooms were getting sold out so fast and I did not understand why. So at least this gives you some kind of insight. What I have my 2 travel agents doing is periodically in the end of Dec/beginning of Jan start looking for any of the rooms on the lower catergory that get released by the 2 corps so that guests of ours who are in higher catagories or have not booked yer might be able to get something cheaper. good luck to you... where are you on your planning process? any suggestions or info you want to share with each other, since we are a day a part that is awesome!

Does anyone else feel that with all the money you are spending at azul Sensatori they are not that accomidating? I mean they really have way too many rules about things anyone else feel the same way? Why is there only one Dj for instance, I really don't want to have to pay $1300 for a DJ that sucks and basically will just be taking music off my Ipod which I can do myself. I also don't want to have one of our guests keep having to change the ipod or put new cd in etc. it's crazy! love everyone's opnion,

Quote: Originally Posted by trayce2222 Here is the DJ playlist..... Thanks so much Tracey wow they have alot so that is good, you would just pick songs from the play list and then the DJs will play it? Do you know if you can specify in what order songs can be played?

Quote: Originally Posted by trayce2222 Hi Amy, Would you mind sending me the timeline/spreadsheet? [email protected] On the spreadsheet, is that where you got to pick all of your extras? I have my list made out, but if you have it all in a spreadsheet that would be so helpful! I am also booking everything through destinationweddings.com and I am so glad we are using them. Another friend of mine used them and they just got married at the RIU Palace RIviera Maya. Please let me know how you like the hair and make-up! Thanks so much!! Hey tracey, My FH and I are also using destinationweddings.com we are getting married 4/24/09 who is your coordinator? I like them but there are things that I don't like about them. What are your thoughts about them so you feel they are handling everything you thought they would etc..? thanks!

Quote: Originally Posted by JHarwood2Be *****post concerning resort photographers***** So I know the big question is should I book the resort photographer or my own? It all depends on what you want and what your needs are. If you are wanting photos of the ceremony and immediately after, then the resort photographer will probably do. If you want photos of getting ready, all the way to the reception then you might be better off booking your own. It looks like Karisma is expanding their options greatly. They now have coverage for 8 hours, which I don't remember seeing before. Category Photography & Video - List of products - Welcome, Guest Weddings in Cancun & Riviera Maya Caribe Photo Professional weddings and events photographers company Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Cancun, Riviera Maya - Mexico</em></tt></strong> is their main photographer. You can see pics of recent weddings by clicking on "just married". Here are their packages for Azul- Category Photography & Video - List of products - Welcome, Guest Weddings in Cancun & Riviera Maya Royale Photo professional wedding photojournalist photographer in riviera maya is the next photographer listed. You can see in the gallery many photos of Karisma weddings. Here are their packages for weddings at Azul- Category Photography & Video - List of products - Welcome, Guest Weddings in Cancun & Riviera Maya Claudia Rodriguez, Photographer, Cancun & Riviera Maya is an option. Claudia and her team are known for awesome wedding photos. Sadly it appears that you will be paying a premium for her services. She charges an extra $900 on her packages to shoot Azul, which I just found out last week. Here are her packages for Azul- Category Photography & Video - List of products - Welcome, Guest Weddings in Cancun & Riviera Maya Lastly MEXICAN WEDDING PHOTOS There are a lot of examples under "Photos". Here are the packages for Azul- Category Photography & Video - List of products - Welcome, Guest Weddings in Cancun & Riviera Maya Request for them to send you an entire album from some recent weddings so you can determine if you like their style and if they capture what is important to you. Search through the EDR and the Azul Beach threads and see if there are any mentioning of the resort photographers and check out their work. I know choosing a photographer was almost as agonizing as choosing the resort. I'm not an expert on this topic, but I thought I could help by putting it all in one post. The Lomas website can be a bit confusing! I have question maybe u can answer, maybe not however Fabio has told me that certain photograhpers come with certain wedding packages, which I think is crazy has anyone else experienced this? I don't want to fly someone down as I think it would cost way more. So I am ok with choosing one the resort has but I want to be able to pick the photographer please help

Quote: Originally Posted by manders757 Hey guys... I am so excited I asked my wedding coordinator to get me the playlist for the DJ at the resort so I could make sure I liked what they played! I dont want to dance around to salsa all nite. Anyway... they have a great list of music. I can tell already we are gonna dance all night!!!! Hey Manders Can you please send me list of songs DJ would play as well appreciate it [email protected]

October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 winwinbride - Jan 10, 2009 February 2009 shannonmarie09 – February 28, 2009 March 2009 manders757 – March 14, 2009 April 2009 Lucky1 – April 8, 2009 mitchell.johanna - April 18, 2009 Katherinehealy4-09 - April 24, 2009 5 pm JHarwood2Be – April 25, 2009 Polly….Prince – April 26, 2009 teethdh – April 26, 2009 May 2009 MGP - May 5, 2009 milejilo – May 8, 2009 weddingchick – May 9, 2009 pepper55 – May 24, 2009 June 2009 Jenkatherine - June 12, 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 l enka14 – November 14, 2009 rtswan – November 26, 2009 December 2009

Quote: Originally Posted by milejilo I just sent Nancy a long email.... I asked her tons of questions about the DJ and I asked for their website and references. It's just so frustrating that we have to use their vendors and we're at their mercy. I am hoping they use the very best, but at least put my mind at ease and show me what you are offering me. But, the Lomas website does not really do that... Hopefully I'll get an answer soon. Hi I wanted to ask if you got any answers on the DJ that you sent to Nancy, like website or references of the DJ. We want a DJ but not if they are not good and basically just press play on an IPOD I can do that for no $$ it would be great if you can email me with the info they sent to you or respond here thanks!

Quote: Originally Posted by rtswan Congradulations !!! I am waiting on my confirmation as well. It's a new resort so don't know if their salon will be good and I am worried about the make-up and hairdo. Are other brides to be going to do your own makeup and hair? I am thinking of flying someone to the resort, but it's just soooooooooo expensive to pay for their fee, hotel, and airefare. I plan on getting my hair and make up done there, however I am coming prepared with make up I wear, and pics of things I like for my hair as well as make up to give them ideas. plus you can also get a trial run on both, which is great cause then u can decide what you like etc.. congrats!

disregard that post, I see you are not getting married at Azul but congratulations to you! we have the same wedding date

Quote: Originally Posted by Andi This hotel was initially in our top choices as well although we completley changed locations...but anyway this hotel looks so beautiful I can't wait to see everyones wedding pics from there! HI, wanted to know if you ended up picking this resort as we have the same wedding date! Exciting, I know that they only allow 2 weddings a day at the resort, how many people are attending your wedding and what time are you having it? Ours is booked for 5 pm so excited!