Shandalier

Quote: Originally Posted by MrsVaughn2B The chair cost is insane, especially when you think about how much time they are going to be used. I have been looking the scenery is still really pretty chair bows or no chair bows. I ordered enough chairs for every guest and then some of them stood up anyway. It was a joke the whole weekend - "We paid good money for those chairs and then you a-holes didn't even sit in them!" We decided not to go with the covers or the bows and we are so glad we didn't spend the money there. I don't know that anyone would have noticed. The people who are going to make the trip are probably not the ones who are going to gossip about your chairs not being covered

Hey ladies! I have a $150 Gracias Certificate for any Azul or El Dorado properties. My husband has had it in his wallet since our October wedding and I had no idea. It has to be used by December 15 and we won't make it back before then, obviously. It says it can be given to a friend and I can't think of anyone other than you girls! It says "receive a $150 Resort Credit per room to be used at any of our luxury resorts toward a beachfront sky massage or a candlelight dinner on the beach or a suite upgrade or receive a vintage wine. Three-night minimum. Certificate must be presented at check-in. Presidential suite not included." Email me your address and I will get it out in the mail ASAP - I'll take the first one to respond! [email protected]

Quote: Originally Posted by KittenHeart Shanda that's so sweet of you to think of us, I hope someone is able to use the coupon I just looked through all your pictures, thank you for sharing them with us, I thoroughly enjoyed them! I hope you don't mind if I ask you a few questions: How many people did you have at your wedding? It looked like a lot! Did you lanterns in the plaza have lights in them? I couldn't tell or I just wasn't paying attention You looked gorgeous and your wedding looked extremely successful, I hope you do a review thread! I haven't heard from any takers on the coupon yet. I really hope someone uses it because I hate for it to go to waste!! We had 60 guests at our wedding - those are all the people you see in the chairs/on the beach. But let me tell you that we had at least another 50 or so watching the wedding above that wall. I thought it was hilarious - people in bikinis as some of our "guests." Our lanterns did have lights in them but I'm not even sure they worked. It didn't really matter because they had these huge spotlights to light the area once it got dark. We actually had to ask them to point that light up a little more because it was right in our eyes at times. The wedding was an absolute success! There were only a few snags along the way but no one noticed except me. Stay tuned for a review thread!

Hey ladies! I have a $150 Gracias Certificate for any Azul or El Dorado properties. My husband has had it in his wallet since October and I had no idea. It has to be used by December 15 and we won't make it back before then, obviously. It says it can be given to a friend and I can't think of anyone other than you girls! It says "receive a $150 Resort Credit per room to be used at any of our luxury resorts toward a beachfront sky massage or a candlelight dinner on the beach or a suite upgrade or receive a vintage wine. Three-night minimum. Certificate must be presented at check-in. Presidential suite not included." Email me your address and I will get it out in the mail tomorrow - I'll take the first one to respond! [email protected]

Oh, and here are our pictures!!! The Studio in Burleson Click on View your Pictures, password is mexico I highly recommend our photographer if you are planning to take one with you!! She took thousands of pictures!! And she can fly from DFW which is a relatively inexpensive flight for those of you in Canada or Europe. I am happy to give you her info or if you get it off the website, let her know Shanda recommended her. Let me know if you have any questions! Shanda

Hey ladies! I have a $150 Gracias Certificate for any Azul or El Dorado properties. My husband has had it in his wallet since October and I had no idea. It has to be used by December 15 and we won't make it back before then, obviously. It says it can be given to a friend and I can't think of anyone other than you girls! It says "receive a $150 Resort Credit per room to be used at any of our luxury resorts toward a beachfront sky massage or a candlelight dinner on the beach or a suite upgrade or receive a vintage wine. Three-night minimum. Certificate must be presented at check-in. Presidential suite not included." Email me your address and I will get it out in the mail tomorrow - I'll take the first one to respond! [email protected]

Hey girls! We got back yesterday from the honeymoon. Just wanted to let you all know that the wedding was absolutely beautiful!! Everything was perfect that day and we can't imagine having done our wedding any other way. We honeymooned at the El Dorado Seaside Suites and it was amazing as well. We spent more time in the room there than we did at Sensatori - not just for the reason you are all thinking! We were exhausted from the wedding! I'll write a full review very soon - I promise! Here is a link to just a few of the pictures our photog put on her blog. I'll post more soon... The Studio in Burleson

Ladies!! We're heeeeerrrreee! It's technically Thursday morning right now and we are in the room. We upgraded to a premium room and got a private concierge check-in. We arrived on Tuesday and most guests arrived Wednesday. Welcome reception in Spoon was just OK. Food took awhile and it wasn't fantastic. Drinks were flowing though, and I think that kept our guests happy. The servers didn't really even think about the whole "you are the bride and groom so we'll make sure you get your food first" thing either. On-site coordinators are super nice. Everyone here is super nice! One bad thing - we feel like most people are expecting a tip for EVERYTHING! Gratuities are included but we are tipping too. IDK if our friends are... More to come! Shanda

Carrie, We are doing our ceremony on the beach at the gazebo near the palapas (I think) and then the reception at the Zavaz Plaza deck. It is getting soooo close. Most of our guests are arriving on Wednesday so we could definitely meet for drinks Tuesday evening if you can. Since we are in Texas, a lot of our guests are just making it a 4 night vacation (Wednesday-Sunday). We are also leaving AS on Sunday and heading to either El Dorado Royale or Seaside Suites. Have you been to either?? Or heard anything? We keep going back and forth on those but we need to get it booked this week! I still have sooooo much to do! Shanda

Scooby - looks like we are getting married the same weekend! We are leaving on Tuesday, getting married on Friday the 2nd. Maybe we can meet up at a bar for drinks? Shanda

Quote: Originally Posted by meghan Shanda that's great that you got the rate reduced! Try to have fun being back at work! I'm a Grade 1 teacher, but don't start till next week so I have a bit more time off still to enjoy! Did your principal or board have a problem with you taking the time off to get married? I have to miss the last 2 days of school for my wedding and haven't told my principal yet ...yikes! I told my principal at the end of the school year in May and she is fine with it. The only thing that sucks is that I have a bunch of personal days saved up but the district doesn't allow you to take any more than 2 in a row (except under extenuating circumstances). What that means for me is this: I am taking off 9 school days. I am calling in "sick" the first 2, then I am taking 2 personal days, then the next 5 days I have to take unpaid! It sucks but totally worth it for the experience we are going to have. I can't wait! When are you planning to tell your principal? Do you guys have a similar policy?? At least you are only taking 2 days.

Holy crap - posting that made me realize my wedding is in just over a month!

Hey ladies! I haven't posted in a couple of weeks because I had to go back to work - booooo! I teach high school and it keeps me busy all damn day. I did want to let you all know that after a LONG wait on the whole rate special issue, they did lower the rates for all my guests. A lot of them had even paid the full balance already and they are issuing refunds! Hard to believe huh? I know it brightened up my day when I heard about it so hopefully it will restore some faith in those soul crushing money grubbers

Quote: Originally Posted by AshManahan I haven't found bugs to be a problem, except maybe in February/March in the morning. I'm sure I remember a few bites here and there but nothing out of the usual. Good idea though. What is Emergen-C? Us States girls don't have the same stuff over here. I'm thinking a few improted Sulpadene tablets would be a good idea, though Ash, They have Emergen-C here in Texas. My mom bought it in bulk at Costco or Sam's Club. Do you have those in Chicago? Most of the people I have heard that have taken it said it is one of the best things EVER to make your hangover feel better. I've never taken it so I don't know exactly what form it's in (pill, drink, powder you add to water). We are using little organza bags and putting in Tylenol, Emergen-C, Immodium, and Tums. We are tying a ribbon around it with a tag that says "Hangover Kit." I think it's going to be really cute! We are also doing a bottle of spray air freshener for each room. My guests are going to be drinking A LOT so we are tying a tag around it that says something like, "Too much drinking leaves the bathroom stinking" or something to that effect. I have heard a lot of girls on here say that they wish they had put an air freshener in their bags.

Quote: Originally Posted by AshManahan This will make you guys puke, but our single guests rooms are $555 for 3 nights! My singles can drink that alone in Patron for 3 days! This does make me puke - we still haven't heard back about them giving us the lower rates. My TA said she is going to some VP but it seems to be taking forever for him to get back to her. Stay tuned about how it turns out! We will have a pretty sour taste in our mouths if they don't work with us AT ALL on it!

Whoa!! Crazy stuff. I bet Chima just did it because she thought she would get voted out. I love reading spoilers. We watch BBAD all the time hoping they all say something to give away what is going to happen on the show. Good riddance to her!

If this helps, most of our guests are staying 4 nights.

Quote: Originally Posted by meghan When you are giving your quotes, are the quotes per person ? For our October 2 wedding we started telling people back in November 08 that it would most likely be between $1000-$1500 per person including airfare. We didn't give them the exact room rates until we signed the contract in late January. We quoted them per person but based on double occupancy. We have a lot of single friends going that are rooming with other singles. The price is much higher if only 1 person stays in the room so we tried our best to get everyone a roomie that didn't have one.

Quote: Originally Posted by meghan Hey Ladies, I am so confused about these price reductions....where are you seeing them? It seems like the amount I am paying....1499 plus 327 tax for one week in the lead in junior jacuzzi suite is a lot compared to what you are all paying. Where can I find these prices? These specials are on the website but only for certain dates (really soon). I doubt they have these specials as far out as the end of the year, and especially not yet for next year. I know I am just frustrated because we are leaving in 47 days and have been booked for 10 months. People who go online and book now can get it for 30-40% off!

Quote: Originally Posted by AshManahan Well, here's the scoop. They gave me two options. Keep my existing rates which give me about 60 amenities or think of it as couples massages for every one of my guests and about $8000 of wine credits. Option 2 is to take the lower rates. For my 30 guests it seems like this will reduce our room rate by about $5,000. The wine is marked up ridiculous. All of my guests are foodies and wine snobs so I can't cheap out in that department. So, I think I am going to risk it and take the cheaper rates and hope for less wine consumption. If I order less than $5k I've saved money. That is crap about the last rooms though. When I booked in July they claimed only 5 adults only jacuzzi juniors were left. Well, guess what, there are tons now! Uggh. This is getting difficult. I wish I never had looked at the price reductions. I think it was those chair bows that put me over the edge! Do you mind telling me who you spoke with at the resort that is giving you these options? I won't mention your name, but I want to give that name to my travel agent to see if we can get the same options.

Quote: Originally Posted by AshManahan Shandalier, I expect to hear back from them today. The way I see it, I can break my contract and rebook, but still save about $7,000. What really concerns me more is that we booked this resort because the prices were high enough that it ensured a certain class of people would not afford to travel there. Now, that is not the case. Also, How is it possible to cut your prices by 80% and maintain the same quality of food, liquor, and staff. The only thing keeping me going is that we are getting married the day after Thanksgiving which is historically very quiet in this area. Ash, I agree about the class of people that might be there now. Also, I verified with the resort this morning that they still had the availability for at least 25 rooms. I called in as if I were booking a new wedding and they quoted me the special rates. My TA then told me that they are doing it to sell the last few rooms. We feel like we are being duped here. Were you able to get anywhere with them? When is your wedding?

All of our guests are booked in the jr. jacuzzi suites. Double occupancy rates in our contract is $739 per person for 4 nights. The new special rate on the internet is $524 for 4 nights. Over $200 per person difference!! We are staying 5 nights at Azul, paying $1886 total for the 2 of us. The new special rate would save us around $575!!! Our contract includes taxes and hotel transfers. The problem we are having is that we are almost 45 days out and it would be quite expensive to cancel all the rooms. I am waiting to hear back from my TA tomorrow to see if she could negotiate anything. I used to work for an upscale hotel here in Austin and figured we would book the lowest room category and hope for upgrades. I think most of our guests want to be on higher floors so we opted not to do the swim up suites.

Quote: Originally Posted by AshManahan I am not sure if I should be happy or throw up...I just checked on the room rates because I have a guest who wants to stay an extra week. I thought I would check Karisma's website for yucks! Their room rates are almost $150 less a night than what I was given from my coordinator at Karisma, with my group discount. WTF I can't wait to see what they come back and tell me next. Ash, Same here!! I am fuming right now. We got our first quotes for room rates in October or November of 08. My TA sent me rates on January 9, 2009. When we decided for sure to sign the contract on January 20, the resort came back and said those rates no longer applied because they were given in 2008 - even though they quoted them again to my TA in January. So we signed the contract based on higher 2009 rates - it was only $15 or so per person per night so we were only mildly annoyed. At that time my TA fought for me to get the lower rate but they wouldn't budge and they ASSURED her that the rates would not go down this year and that was the absolute lowest we would get...period. Now I see my guests could be saving $215 for their trip!! Let me know what they say about it.

Quote: Originally Posted by MrsVaughn2B I asked Tiffany what happens if we have more than 40 people and she told me it is $25 for each additional person. If there is more than 50 people,she will have to request special permission from the resort. I am sure they will work something out for you. More and more charges!! So frustrating! I wonder what would happen if we booked it for 40 and then more actually show up for the dinner. I mean, would they refuse to serve them at an ALL-INCLUSIVE restaurant on site? Anyone have a clue about the size of the restaurant?

I have a pretty random question for all of you about the actual ceremony. We are planning for a friend, who was ordained on the internet, to marry us so we are not paying for the civil ceremony or blood test stuff in Mexico. We just want it to be more personalized by having a very close friend perform the ceremony. We also do not want to get married before or after at a JP. We were just planning to apply for and file the marriage license here in Travis county with the date of the ceremony we have in Mexico. Is that legit? I mean, will it be a legal marriage as far as the state of Texas is concerned?