kellymenning
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Posts posted by kellymenning
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I bought plastic card holders and the wrist coil things from Amazon. Then I printed out the inserts.
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My first wedding coordinator in Miami was awful. She took weeks to respond. So then I requested a new one. She was better, but she still took about a week to respond. Some people are really patient, but considering what we're spending on our weddings, I thought it was a bit ridiculous to wait a week. And half the time, she rarely answered my questions. So my travel agent/wedding coordinator got me a new coordinator who has been absolutely amazing. She responds that same day. She's not actually with Karisma though. She's with Lomas, who does all the decorations, etc., but she only works with Azul Fives so she's been taking care of my detail sheet, etc. She even told me where my free private events were going to take place, which is awesome because they're not supposed to tell you until you get there. She rocks. I've heard that the wedding coordinators in Miami are better now because they have a new system in place, or something like that... If you don't like yours, you can always request a new one.
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Congratulations and welcome to our lovely forum!! The resort is Azul Fives in Playa del Carmen. The sky deck is really cool. They do charge a $1700 fee to use it, but I got them to waive it so maybe they'll waive it for you. My photographer is Photos in Cancun. www.photosincancun.com. The photographer is Derek Campbell and he's been great. I'm use the make-up person at the resort. The best make-up artist that I've read about is Flor.
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I am getting to the resort on Tuesday. All of my guests are arriving Thursday. I'm going a few days early so I can a) relax for a bit before everyone is there
work on my tan before everyone wants to talk to me when they're there and I can't lay out. Ha! C) meet with the wedding coordinator at the property on Wednesday. D) get all my welcome bags together and assembled there bc it's easier for me to do them there and E) do my trial make-up so I can make sure I like what they do. I've never been to the resor so I want to see everything before everyone is there. 
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That's so exciting about the new restaurants! My wedding is November 1, 2014 so I'll let you all know what they've done. I'll make sure to take lots of pictures and post a full review. 46 days! Eek!!
Our ceremony is at 3:30 pm on the beach
The cocktail party is from 4-6 pm on the Sky Deck
The reception is from 6-10 pm in the garden/pool area
The day of our wedding, the sun sets at 5:15 pm so the photographer recommended that for our timeline. I'm not thrilled about the idea of the ceremony being at 3:30, but we're not seeing each other before the ceremony, so we have to do all of the pictures between the ceremony and the reception, and I really wanted pictures when the sun is setting.
For those of you who are asking about photography, I'm using Photos in Cancun. photosincancun.com The main photographer is Derek Campbell. He has two other photographers who will be with him. His rate was supposed to be $2500, but he knocked it down to $2100 so that way it's like I'm only paying half of the outside vendor fee. He also added 2 extra hours to the wedding day photography. He was supposed to come for 8 hours, but he's doing 10 hours for me. He is also coming to the rehearsal dinner for no additional charge and taking pictures there. I only had to pay the day pass for that. He's been great, very responsive and is following my pinterest photography board so he knows exactly what I want.
I highly suggest him. -
Ladies, I need help finding shoes. Are y'all wearing flats? Any suggestions? We are doing our reception in the garden area so I can't wear heels because I will sink. Boo.
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I negotiated by email. But my travel agent did too because she works with the resort a lot.
For snacks, I was just going to go to the buffet and grab stuff and throw it in my tote bag. After all, food is included, right?
If I need to, I can go in town. I don't know if there is a walmart. Maybe? -
Even though we are getting married on a Saturday and technically, they aren't supposed to allow the free unlimited events for Saturday ceremonies, but I told them that since I'm having such a large group, I thought it was only fair. Plus, I only wanted the welcome cocktail party and the rehearsal dinner as free events. So the coordinator talked to her supervisor and got it waived. As for the sky deck fee, I would try and ask if they'll waive the $1700 since you do have such a large group and you're still going to pay the $15/person fee. Doesn't hurt to ask. Maybe they can at least lower the fee? They told me my group was too big to do our cocktail hour at the sky terrace. Mean people. We're doing the welcome reception on the beach, the rehearsal dinner at Oriola, the ceremony on the beach, the cocktail party on the sky deck and the reception in the garden/pool area.
Question for you - how are you getting all of your welcome bag stuff down to Mexico since you have so many people? I'm stressing on how to do that!
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How many people do you have coming again? I'm trying to do the same thing as you, but they're telling me I can't. Boo.
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@@TinkerSofi Stupid question. Where is the terrace? We're only doing our ceremony on the beach. Then our pre-ceremony cocktail hour on the sky deck and then the reception in the garden/pool area I think. Haven't nailed that one down yet though. So where is the terrace and how many people are you having?
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I begged my wedding coordinator to tell me where my private events were and she did! Even though we qualified for unlimited events, we're only using the cocktail party for our welcome cocktail party and then the rehearsal dinner. Sucks that it's a pre-set menu, but the joy of an all inclusive is that if someone doesn't like it, they can go eat whatever they want after for free!
Are y'all doing your ceremony on the beach or the sky deck? I'm torn about where to do it. I want to do it on the beach, but I'm sort of worried there won't be enough room for 100 people. Does anyone have any pictures or anything? I'm having a hard time finding actual weddings from there with a lot of people. Thanks!
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Hey! Welcome to our little forum! I would definitely recommend using a travel agent or a travel group. Using one of those type groups will definitely help because they can get a block of rooms for your group, group rates, etc. Then once you've booked Azul Fives, you'll get assigned a wedding coordinator who is with Karisma properties who owns the hotel. The coordinator will be based out of their Miami office, but will get everything set up for you for the wedding. Then when you get to the hotel for your wedding, the on site coordinator has everything from the Miami coordinator and takes care of you from there. Since most of your guests will be traveling from NJ/NY area, I would say it'd be best to use a travel agent or destination wedding travel group. I don't know if any travel agents will actually coordinate your wedding for you. Other people may know that.
Also, since June is a relatively off peak season travel month, then you should be able to keep the costs down. Our wedding for 110 people is costing us about $17k for everything at the resort (ie food, decorations, rehearsal dinner - which we got included b/c of our group size, welcome cocktail party, post ceremony cocktail party, reception, etc.). I think with your size group you may be able to get some events free.
Hope that sort of helps. Sorry if I sort of rambled. I'm not an expert on the hotel so other people on this forum could definitely have some other ideas and suggestions for you.
Good luck!
PS - I'm super impressed you're taking the lead on this stuff. Your fiancee is lucky!! It's a lot of work.
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Yet another question for you girls - do we have to rent a dance floor? I wish they provided a free dance floor. Everything is adding up so quickly! Yikes!
Also, does anyone know where we can see other brides reviews with pictures who got married here? It would be so helpful if there were some.
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Question for you all - for those of you doing your reception outside, did you have to get lighting? Or do they have lighting? Thanks!
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I had two wedding planners from Karisma originally, Andrea and then Lucy. Both sucked so I talked to my travel agent who does weddings all the time and she got me a new wedding planner. Ana Maria. She's with Weddings by Lomas though. She's been a HUGE help. Can't hurt to try!
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Yeah, I think the only reason they waived it was because I have 110 guests, not including us. They said that's a pretty big group for a wedding, plus I'm paying the $8/person fee for the cocktail party anyway. We're using the Sky Deck for the post-ceremony cocktail party only. It's too small for our reception so we're doing that in the pool/garden area. It doesn't hurt to ask them if they'll waive it. I basically told them I think it's crap that they wouldn't waive it since it's such a big group. I think they got tired of me complaining and pestering them.
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I did a lot of research on resorts and Azul Fives was one of the cheapest I could find. My rate is $489/person for 3 nights all inclusive. I'm having 110 guests so I qualified for the unlimited events. So I'm doing the welcome cocktail party and the rehearsal dinner at no additional cost, which is great. They also waived the sky deck fee for me since I have so many people coming. But I think their room rates are pretty good, especially when I compared to other hotels. Good luck!
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My wedding is November 1 so I'll try to send some pictures when I get back. Yay!
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Hello! I'm also getting married in this hotel, and I did have the opportunity to visit the place before booking it.
I did take pictures but I'm new at this and I don't know how to attach them!!! , Anyone?
I think you just post, but don't quote a post. Do a new one. Then you'll see a paper clip type of thing at the bottom. I think. If you can't do that, would you mind please sending them to my email at khmciver@@gmail.com? Thanks!
Hello! I'm also getting married in this hotel, and I did have the opportunity to visit the place before booking it.
I did take pictures but I'm new at this and I don't know how to attach them!!! , Anyone?
I just figured it out. When you are replying or posting, click on "more reply options" and then you'll see the paper clip at the bottom where you can attach stuff.
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Hi everyone! Are we allowed to bring matches into Mexico? I know they said we can't bring sparklers, but I can't find anything about matches. Also, I assume bottles of aloe, hand sanitizer, etc. are okay to bring in (they're for my welcome bags). If anyone has any helpful info, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!
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I believe the gazebos are the same size as over at Sensatori- so check with official Sensatori thread and you should see the dimension and recommended lenghts for shears for decor. Also, Fabricland in Northland Shoppes apparently has a good selection of bolts, for a cost of about $25-$50 for the entire bolt... or amazon has been helpful for many brides.
@@kmk2016 - Question for you. This may be a really stupid question. What is a bolt? Ha!
My wedding coordinator sent me the dimensions of the gazebo with a picture of it. If you want me to email you the picture, let me know. It's 8.10 ft wide, 9.4 ft long and 8 ft tall. I hope that makes sense.
Ooh I just saw I could attach the photo! So I did!
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I wish I knew the answer to that too! $100 a sheer is ridiculous! I keep hoping I'll find someone who has had their wedding, where they bought them and what size. If you find anything out, please let me know. Thanks!!
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My Oot Bags
in Wedding Registry, Wedding Gift Bags, and OOT bags
Posted
So cute!!! I love all of it! How did you do the activity bags and what did you put in those? That's a great idea! I have 65 welcome bags to take with me and I'm a little panicked about how much stuff I have. Between the decorations, welcome bag stuff, etc., I have 8 suitcases of stuff. Ridiculous. I have friends who can take 2 bags so I don't have to take all of them with me. I did buy super cheap suitcases and I'm leaving them there. Better than hauling them back.
Love your welcome stuff! Great job!