EDR 5/16/08 wedding review and-with PICS:)

[shannon]

Hey guys- here is my review for my wedding at EDR-- let me know if anyone has specific questions. I don't have any pix from actual wedding day-we are waiting on photographer, but I'll post some pix from resort, and "wedding week"....

 

Review of wedding at El Dorado Royale- 5/16/08

 

I can honestly say we are so happy we decided to have our wedding at EDR. Everything ran so smoothly, and there was nothing major that happened that would make me not want to recommend the resort to future brides, or for a couple just wanting a romantic vacation. I tend to ramble, so I’ll try not to ramble and keep this as thorough, but short, as possible!

The Resort – A+

The resort is just stunning. It has such a “wow†factor for guests. We had some guests with us that travel a great deal, and everyone said it was the most beautiful resort they have seen. The landscaping on the resort is immaculate- they have people working on it constantly. We had a Casita Suite- and the Casita check-in was great- they grabbed our bags, whisked us off to a separate check-in, they gave us cold towels and champagne, and went over the resort information. Our guests had the “regular†check-in and they said everything went smoothly there, also. The pool and beach beds are such a cool idea. There has been some discussion about the beach not being enough beach or being too “rockyâ€, on tripadvisor. I grew up on the beach, and am very much a beach-bum and the beach was beautiful, there was plenty of beach to lay out on and walk on- the resort is so long, that it wasn’t crowded. The sandbags look like rocks- and they actually helped! We were able to swim in the ocean, and wouldn’t have been able too, if the sandbags weren’t there- it would have been too rough- the sandbags helped break some of the surf and made it possible to swim and snorkel.

 

The service there was incredible. Everyone was very friendly and very accommodating. We used the room service quite a bit, and it always came within 30-40 minutes and was always hot.

 

Our room was amazing-we had booked a Casita and got upgraded to a swim-up Casita. It was by far, the most amazing room we’ve stayed in. Our guests all had gardenview rooms and they were super super nice, also.

 

The Wedding and Wedding Coordinators – A+

I had my little spreadsheet that Valeria and I had gone over, and I had also printed off some pictures of some of the decorations, cake, etc that I had with me, also. We didn’t have to wait for the WC meeting- it started at 9:30AM sharp. The blood tests were done during our meeting- that was very quick and painless. Gloria was amazing to work with- she was very organized, and we just clicked right through the spreadsheet. We had brought votive and votive candles, cocktail napkins, our sand unity ceremony set, menus and placecards- and they labeled everything really carefully and had everything set up great at the wedding events. They came and picked up my dress and DH’s suit at 10AM the morning on wedding (it was only $40 US dollars for both my dress and the DH’s suit to be pressed- and they did a really good job), they dropped my dress off back at my room (all pressed) around 12:30PM, and dropped Vince’s suit off at his dad’s room (where he was getting ready) around the same time. Everything was really organized and ran really smoothly. We had the ceremony, then a cocktail party, the dinner, then the reception--- and there was a wedding coordinator at the beginning of each event checking to make sure everything was okay, and if we needed anything.

 

 

The cocktail party at the Sky Palapa was great---it was about 30 yards from the ceremony site (Faisanes Gazebo), so it was a great transition after the ceremony- everyone was pretty hot from the ceremony, so the Sky Palapa was covered –so it was cool and helped everyone cool down. We were able to get shuttles from the Sky Palapa to Fuentes, we just had to kinda go in groupings. They are on opposite sides of the resort, so a shuttle was needed! Dinner at Fuentes was great—they had the centerpieces set up beautifully- the wait staff was completely on target. We told them up front we had to be done with dinner by 7:40-7:45PM (Dinner started at 6PM), bc our reception started at 8PM and we only had our photographer until 8:30PM. No one felt rushed, but they definitely kept everything moving, and we were leaving Fuentes at 7:40PM on the dot! We walked to Tucanes, where we had our cake cutting and reception. We had tiki torches at Tucanes, and they made for a great entrance! The sound system at Tucanes was great- the location is just amazing. We were able to cut our cake, get our parents first dances, and our first dance in, before the photographer left at 8:30PM. There wasn’t as much breeze at Tucanes bc it isn’t right on the beach- but it is an absolutely stunning location for a reception. They had used our flowers from the gazebo from the ceremony as centerpieces, decorations- without me even asking! Vince and I opted out of the golf cart and decided to walk “home†after the reception- and we walked past a reception at the Health Bar--- that was a beautiful reception- and looked like another great location for a reception. It was more beachfront, so it looked like they also had a nice breeze.

 

I honestly couldn’t have asked for more attention than I received on my wedding day. There were 4 weddings on the resort, the day I got married, and 4 weddings the following night- yet, they truly made me feel as if I was the only bride (ever!) to get married there. The only time I saw another bride on my wedding day is on our walk “home.†The resort is extremely skilled in making you feel VIP! 

 

We had a private dinner on the beach, the night after our wedding – as a sort of “thank you†to our guests, since this is was our guests last night at the resort. They did an amazing job with setting up the dinner. They used the flowers from the gazebo from our ceremony, and also used some of the centerpieces from our Fuentes dinner, as decorations for the private dinner. The waiters and bartenders were extremely attentive. The food at the private dinner wasn’t great, though—it was the only meal I was disappointed with- but the setup of the dinner and the ambience of the dinner made it totally worth it. **For both the Sky Palapa (on the beach) and our private dinner (on the beach) we had votive candles- and it was a waste- they couldn’t get the votives to stay lit- it was too windy.

The Spa – A++

I had the Peal Sensation (wrap and facial) scheduled the morning of my wedding. I would HIGHLY recommend a spa treatment the morning of your wedding!  I didn’t think I’d be really nervous, but I was- and the spa treatment was just amazing. Lulu was the best! After my spa treatment, I walked past the bar at JoJo’s on my walk back to our room, and picked up a Blue Hawaii drink to sip on my way back—it was just so nice to have some time to myself, to relax and reflect. I took a shower, washed my hair and then headed back to salon/spa for my hair and makeup. She replicated my picture of my hair perfectly. For my makeup, she asked me the color of my dress, the color of my flowers and did the color palette to match. I was very impressed with both my hair and makeup.

 

I had bought gift certificates for all the girls (10) that came to the wedding- so everyone had some sort of spa treatment--- from massages to pedicures- everyone was really pleased with their spa service.

 

 

Photographer- Cancun Studios – A+

My DH gave me a little bit of a hard time with paying a couple thousand dollars for a photographer (yes, he’s out of the loop on how much a wedding photographer costs). However, by the end of the night, he had apologized for giving me a hard time. Augusto from Cancun Studios was amazing. He took all the pix that I asked and much more. He had a very charming way that made everyone feel at ease. He got to the resort a little early, and made the timeline go really smoothly. I haven’t seen the pix yet!- but the experience of the photographer couldn’t have been better. I’ll post pix as soon as I get them!

 

Extra Amenities – A+

They do have jet ski rentals on the resort. We rented them twice- they were so worth it! They let you go as far out as you like. My DH loves jet skis, so that is something we do wherever we go- and this was the most fun- the jet skis were nice, and the ocean was just perfect! My mom and aunt went parasailing- (which was a riot in itself), and they said they had an amazing time with that. The snorkeling was good- we did that also. There weren’t a ton of fish, but it was really clear, and we got some good pix with our waterproof camera…

Restaurants – A

Our room was right outside Kampani (the asian fusion restaurant). We had breakfast there every morning. We loved it bc we were able to get “regular†breakfast- like frosted flakes, scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon , sausage, waffles, etc. –they had the paper there that we could look over while eating breakfast. Some of our guests had breakfast at Cocotal and said that was also really yummy for breakfast. The room service was great- we used room service quite a bit. Fuentes was great for our wedding dinner. We ate at the pizza cabana place quite a bit for lunch. La Isla was really yummy- we had dinner there twice. JoJo’s was the only place that we were really disappointed with, but it could have just been an “off†night for them. We had the fondue menu for our candlelight dinner and thought it was good. The candlelight dinner was our favorite dinner- it was such an amazing experience- just the 2 of us, sitting on the beach, drinking wine and eating fondue- and they had a sax player walking around playing “somewhere over the rainbow†and other arrangements. It was just so amazing!

 

 

*** as a side note- my dad did get sick the last night there- had to go to the doctor on the resort for a shot to help with the nausea. A few of us had “quirky†stomachs when we got back from Mexico- but I think that is normal for traveling overseas, just in general.

 

Overall, I would highly recommend this resort for any future bride—and I think I almost have the DH convinced for us to return for our one-year anniversary. It is truly an amazing vacation!! If anyone has specific questions –feel free to ask! 

 

the beach!!

 

more of the beach!!

[shannon]

pathway throughout resort

 

our room!

 

more of our room

 

outside seating at JoJo's

[shannon]

the pool right outside our Casita

 

pool beds at the pool...

 

entrance to mediterranean restaurant.

 

my bouquet!

[shannon]

pix of resort

 

the beach bed!

 

our honeymoon breakfast on our balcony

 

our cute dessert at our candle light dinner!

 

me and DH --- at our honeymoon candle light dinner!

[caroline]

It does look beautiful! Too bad we're headed to Jamaica!

[Ana]

congratulations!!! everything looks amazing

[pryzeless]

Thank you so much for the review. I am so happy that everything went so well for you!

[FYB87]

Congratulations! Your review was great. Love the teaser pics and can't wait to see the rest.

[Alyssa]

great review and great pics - i can't wait to see the rest!

[ACDCDCAC]

yay! i love how the honeymoon dinner was sort of enclosed! that looks really cool can't wait for more pics!