missbliss85

Islandbride, I know exactly how you feel about the whole AHR thing. We got married in Mexico in late April (we had 9 lovely guests with us), and had planned on throwing an AHR for everyone at the beginning of July. We had made the announcement about having a party last September, and I even went through the trouble of mailing out STDs to everyone so that they had AMPLE time to think about coming out. Well, when it came time to send out invites to people, I had a number of people who had all previously told me that they were going to come suddenly decline...We had invited around 110 people, and I was expecting around 80 to show. About a month and a half before the reception, I was only at around 50ish people who were coming, and trust me, I know how you feel about people who were excited to be going to your AHR suddenly bail out. MY DH's aunts were super vocal about us not inviting them to Mexico, which was a big part in why we threw the AHR for everyone. And two of his aunts and their families didn't even make it! After all their moaning, they never came... So, my advice to you is to simply wait it out, and likely some more people will reply back to you. I found people were really bad at remembering to mail them back (I purposely gave them return envelopes that were already addressed and had stamps!), so you may end up chasing after people. In the end, I did enjoy myself at the AHR and did get to see some family and friends I almost never get to see anymore, but in retrospect, I probably never would have done one.

Quote: Originally Posted by 3kitties I don't normally use a TA, but if I can't make any progress on my own, that might be an alternative to try; thanks for the suggestion! They are VERY slow at responding to inquiries. I sent an e-mail last Thursday and still no response...grrrr . I know I have lots of time, but I'm excited and want some answers!!! I know that there are a number of TAs on this site that you could try, but the one I used was The Wedding Holiday www.theweddingholiday.com - Lorraine (the owner) is one of Karisma resorts top sellers, so she is usually able to swing some extra perks for her brides.

Quote: Originally Posted by 3kitties The Maroma looks beautiful! We've been to EDR twice and EDSS twice, but haven't yet visited the Maroma...it's in the 2012 plans! We've hit a bit of a snag with the wedding planning. We just want it to be the two of us, plus our two friends from England. Unfortunately Karisma won't let us use their room nights for the 15 nights needed for the free wedding package becuase the promotion isn't valid for Europe - even though we're from Canada and we're the ones getting married! And I'm reluctant to pay the price for the silver package just to have a very simple wedding on the beach! Now I don't know what to do!!! Argghhhh. I thought a DW was less stressful!!?? That's so annoying to hear that they won't let you use your friends as part of the 15 room nights. When we got married there, we had a friend who was booking from Austria, and I don't remember being told that his room nights didn't count towards our total for the free package. Are you booking through a TA? Maybe they can try and swing something for you - mine was able to get us a few extra perks included at the resort, like an upgraded room for free.

I really enjoyed reading everyone's different opinions on this topic. I love the simplicity of my beachy chiffon dress, and while I don't plan on selling it, I think I'm going to redesign it into a nice cocktail dress. I luckily got two wears out of it as a wedding dress (we had an AHR about 3 weeks ago), so I feel like I could still get more use out of it. My MIL also suggested that I use the remnants to make a christening gown for future children.

Quote: Originally Posted by DawnBuckley Hi there! Sounds like yours is all planned and will be nice! We tentatively chose June 19th for ours but now have to spread the word. We had 40 people at our wedding but there are a ton of people we invited from Montreal and here in Ottawa who said they will definately come so we could be looking at over 100 easily! That's why we are not too sure what to do. Doug wants to have it at our home here in Bourget. We have a big back yard and could rent a tent (which could be over $600) but what if it rains? He thinks everyone can just come inside. We do have a double garage which could hold a lot of people but the flow of the house is not that big for people hanging out in the kitchen area if you know what I mean. Also he wants to provide all the food which I am excited to do (lots of salads, ham cooked ahead of time, chicken on the bbq, etc.) but we only have one oven so what happens with hot hors doeuvres? LOTS to think about and Fast! I also have friends in bands which would be amazing if people could just get up and sing but for that I think we would need a hall. The Centurion was a place we were considering too. Do you mind me asking how much it is? THere is also the River Rock Inn here in Rockland. Unfortunately, you have to use their caterer and bar. We have to weigh all the costs. And like I said... I better hurry up! Which area of Ottawa are you in? What did you do for your invitations? Did you make them yourself? Did they have a wedding shot of you guys on it? I was thinking of doing that. Then I may mail them out and have people email or phone with a reply. Dawn Hi Dawn, I can't remember the exact amount for the Centurion, but I know that pricing depends on which room you book. We have the Adriatic room, which I put down a $1000 deposit for the date, and I think they required a minimum of $3200 on food and drinks for our booking (based on room size, etc.) You might want to take a look there, as they have about 5 different rooms, many of which can be combined into one larger room. I think the Centurion requires that you use their caterer and bar as well. I'm from Old Ottawa South (area of Bank St. near Billings Bridge) - my parents live about a 5 minute walk from the canal. For our invitations, since I sent these out before we left for our wedding, I bought a simple DIY kit from Staples and printed out the invites and RSVP cards on my computer. To make them look a bit nicer, I printed a photo of DH and I onto vellum paper and attached the vellum on top of the invite. Everybody's been complementing them, and kept asking me where I had them made! Right now I'm stuck waiting for people to reply by May 15th (I purposely made the RSVP date early so that I would have time to chase down the late responders). Leah

Quote: Originally Posted by DawnBuckley Hi MissBliss.... just got married on April 12 in Dominican Republic and we are also planning our AHR here in Ottawa for June. Haven't planned too much yet. Hoping to have it here at home but we may end up having so many people, we may have to consider a hall.Where are you having yours in the end? Did you send invites out? We ended up with 40 people joining us in Punta Cana so we have had a big party there but now want to do something with everyone else. Not sure if we will have wedding favours but I would like to maybe to a cupcake tree or something. Are you having a sit down meal? Hi Dawn, We decided to plan a somewhat "formal" AHR in Ottawa over the July long weekend. We're going to have some hors d'oeuvres for when people arrive, then we'll show a slideshow of our photos, then a sit-down dinner, a first dance (since we only had 9 people at our wedding, we didn't bother doing it then) and then dancing for the rest of the night. I also believe that our parents each plan on giving a speech, but other than that the rest of the night isn't structured. I did send out invitations, which I'm slowly starting to get back from everyone. I'm guessing that we will have around 80 people at the reception. Where are you having your reception? We booked at the Centurion Banquet Centre.

Quote: Originally Posted by svetayasofiya I finally got my pictures from Samuel last week. We are very pleased. We paid for the basic package of 5 hrs and got over 703 pictures (60 of which he digitally enhanced in his own artistic way). All our pictures are availble on his website (although not the friendliest to navigate). He sent us two DVD's with copies of our pictures via Fedex overnight. As I already said in my previous post he was great to work with, extremely professional but personable also. I would definitely recommend him to anyone wanting non-traditional wedding photos. My only complaint is we had to wait 8 weeks to see our pictures, lol Here is a small slideshow of 15 of my favourites: Picasa Web Albums - Christina - Wedding Febru... Your photos look lovely! I just got married last Thursday and had Samuel do our photography, and judging from the couple of pictures he showed me before he left, the pictures will be great! I did mention to him that a number of brides on this forum were beginning to book with him, and he seemed really happy to hear that his name is getting out there more.

Quote: Originally Posted by prairiegirl I got married here on Feb 6, 2009. The best decision we ever made. We only had 8 guests too, and just did it with the basic package.. it was so windy we didn't hear what we agreed too.. lol.. but the pictures turned out fantastic. All the best!! I'm glad to hear that you would recommend the resort, Prairiegirl! We're set to fly out next Sunday, I can't wait! I also found out that a travel agent I deal with for work had visited last year and said that it was gorgeous over there and one of his favourite trips.

Thanks Carla! I feel much more reassured in my choice of El Dorado Take care, Leah

Hey Carla, Your wedding sounds like it was amazing! Your photos are beautiful!! I decided to use Samuel Luna, which I'm looking forward to, since a few other brides here have had great things to say about him. I believe that I'm supposed to have a free manicure at the spa (courtesy of my TA), so thanks for the heads up about what kind of manicure to get. I've decided to do my own hair and makeup, mostly based on other people saying that it's sometimes hard to explain what you want done exactly. Thankfully I've got a group of women who are actually good at doing hair, lol. Did you choose which restaurant you had your dinner/reception at? My TA told me that we are booked at Arrefices, but after your comments, I'm wondering if maybe I can switch this once I get to the resort? I'm happy to hear that you would recommend the resort - I'm starting to get anxious, since April isn't that far off anymore. I'll let you know if I have anymore questions! Leah

Hi Cindy, I'm using The Wedding Holiday for my DW at the El Dorado Seaside in April. As Nicole mentioned, they are capable of doing all the bookings for your group, and their wedding coordinator works closely with your resort to work out all the details. I've had a very pleasant experience dealing with them so far, and just recently, they've opened their own DW shop where brides to be can find dresses, wedding favours and pretty much any other thing related to DWs. I kinda wish that they had the store open back when I first started planning in July, lol. If you have any questions, feel free to ask - I'd be happy to give you info about them!

We did decide to do the cocktail reception, mostly to ensure that everyone stays around until dinner. We didn't decide to do the private reception, since it wasn't really cost effective for our group size. The ceremony is going to be at the beach gazebo; originally we were thinking about the pier but decided to go with the gazebo instead for a bit more privacy. I will be wearing shoes (which works out since we're at the gazebo) - I got these really nice teal coloured heels that were on sale. You'll have to let me know how everything goes with your wedding - you must be getting super excited that it's less than a month away!

Descouc, if you're still looking for a photographer, you can check out Lomas Travel's wedding section (weddings.lomas-travel.com), as it lists all of the EDSS approved photographers...You can also opt to hire an outside photographer, but if you go this route, you'll need to pay $500 to the resort and get approval ahead of time. My wedding at El Dorado Seaside is April 2010, and we've decided to hire Samuel Luna as our photographer. Sascha Gluck is also an amazing photographer, and it was between him and Sam. I believe that Sascha has fairly good rates, so he might fit within your budget range. Just thought I'd pass on those tips. Oh, and similar to you we're not having a proper bridal party (there's only 9 other guests joining us - everyone else is going to our AHR)

My FI and I also are not big on having a lavish wedding ceremony, which is why we chose to go to Mexico and only invite our immediate family, and two friends. We did get a fair amount of flack from my FI's extended family (mostly aunts/uncles) who all thought that they ought to be able to go to Mexico if they could afford since. We felt it was best just to have our families see us wed, which is why we have such a small group joining us. We are planning on having an AHR so that our friends and family can celebrate and still feel like part of our wedding, even though they weren't invited to the wedding itself. The only "traditional" aspects to our reception back home will be dinner, dancing (we will do a first dance since our grandparents would want to see that). I don't plan on cutting a cake, having "formal speeches", tossing bouquets or garters, etc. It's basically just a nice dinner, with a slideshow of our wedding, and lots of dancing and drinking! As much as I'm not into traditional wedding notions, I think offering people an opportunity to celebrate your marriage, whether by holding a formal party or a more informal get-together is a good idea, since friends and family want to feel like a part of a major chapter in your life.

Hi everyone! We're planning a DW in the Mayan Riviera in April 2010, and throwing a AHR in Ottawa (my FI and I are both from here originally) in July 2010. I've already booked a banquet hall, but I'm trying to make it a more casual dinner and dance reception. We won't be doing anything too traditional, other than our first dance. Since the AHR is in the summer, we're going to let everyone know that they can dress more casually for the party. I haven't quite figured out what to hand out as favours...I was thinking of keeping things simple (and inexpensive) and just have candy favours in a cute box. I did spot some cute palm tree favour boxes at weddingfavours.ca. Is anyone planning on doing a slideshow of the wedding?

Hi ladies! I'm glad to see more people are booking Sam - I'm hoping to book him for our April nuptials. I'm just waiting to find out whether he's been cleared by El Dorado Seaside (they are charging $500 for using an outside photographer!)

Hi everyone, Since I'm just about to formally starting planning out my wedding at El Dorado Seaside for next April, I was wondering whether there were any other brides who are planning on getting married here next year. We're planning a rather small wedding (only 10 guests will be joining us) and we're scheduled to sit down with our TA next Saturday to start formalizing things. Is anyone planning on having a cocktail reception between the ceremony and dinner?

Congratulations and welcome to the forum! I'm sure you'll find lots of good ideas on where to have your wedding

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

Hi everyone, What a goldmine of useful information at this forum! My name is Leah, and we are currently planning our DW at the El Dorado Seaside Suites for April 22, 2010. Right now I'm in the process of selecting photographers; has anyone ever used Samuel Luna? Thanks, Leah