Dreamgirl's EDR Wedding Review (long)

[Dreamgirl08]

Location: Riviera Maya Mexico

Resort: El Dorado Royale Resort and Spa

Wedding Date: April 5th, 2009

Online Wedding Coordinator: Valeria Martinez

Onsite Wedding Coordinator: Gloria

Both ladies were amazing to work with

 

 

Our EDR wedding and stay was better then I could have ever imagined Every one of our expectations for the wedding were met and exceeded by the resort. I'm so happy we chose this place for our wedding and honeymoon. We truly did get the best deal I feel at the end. We had 10 guests join us for our wedding day, 12 with us. We were mainly all friends. Our parents unfortunetly could not attend, so we're throwing a Back at Home Reception sometime in the next month or two. For now, we're just taking it easy as there is so much to do in settling back down. Sorry for the long review, but I just thought I'd post a nice long one since it's been awhile for EDR. We're happier then ever, and I so didn't want to come back home . The service and food at EDR gets a A+++ from me. They are so welcoming and friendly, and the food is always well presented. Ask for Fernando at the Bars, he's GREAT!

 

 

We arrived Thursday April 2nd, 2009.

 

Friday April 3rd - Meeting with coordinator:

We were legally married in the states 1 week before we left, so we didn't have to get bloodwork done or anything. We just had to go over our Spreadsheet which was very quick. We were told that our wedding would be the only wedding on Sunday, which was nice. (There were 3 on Saturday.)

 

I had my spreadsheet from Valeria, and we went over everything line by line. They had everything correct. We went over the schedule for the day of the wedding, and John was told to be at the ceremony site 30 minutes before the ceremony.

 

We had our music for the Ceremony and for the Reception on our I-pod. We gave our onsite wedding coordinator a list of the songs to be played at their given times. This was not a problem at all. The songs for our ceremony played beautifully and on point. Unfortunetly for some reason, the songs for our reception did not register into the I-pod back home....so LUCKILY we had planned for this by taking our Laptop with us just in case. We could have also done CD's, but then your risking there being scratches on it. Consider this with your music if you aren't doing a DJ. But honestly, guests didn't even notice. The Amplifiers we rented from EDR were GREAT!!!

 

 

OOT Bags:

Everyone loved the bags and contents. We went with these for our OOT BAGS. They were great, and honestly both John and I didn't see people re-using their OOT BAGS after the wedding, especially the guys. So this is why we chose these. We only had 10 guests so it worked out great. We paid to have our bags delivered to our guests rooms, but then we realized that deliveries are done throughout the day, and our guests were never really in their rooms half the time to recieve them. They were out having fun. I don't recommend having your bags delivered. It's really just a waste of money I think. Your better off handing them out upon your guests arrival. We really didn't have this option though, since all of our guests arrived at different times. But we did organize a Meet & Greet for Saturday April 4th, which is when we should have done it. But delivering them is nice if you can pull it off.

 

We didn't do a rehearsel dinner or anything since our group was so small, but the day before the wedding we did head to Guacamayas Bar for drinks and such. Their really isn't any nightlife at EDR besides Guacamayas Bar. There you can have drinks and dance to music. We saw a Band playing music there many times too. They do play a variety of music, but mostly English. We stayed up late that night and I was forced to have to party till late because my poor cousin's flight was delayed and she didn't arrive until 5 hours before this. So we had to stay up late and hang out with her. My 2 bridesmaids stuck it out with me too, thank god, but I really wish we could have all gone to bed early that night and gotten our beauty sleep. I think I looked tired the day of the wedding. Also I highly recommend for the bridal party to sleep with you on the night before the wedding, that way things are off to a better and faster start for the day of. We had to rush on the day of the wedding because we failed to do this. Just a suggestion that I think can make a BIG difference.

The Big Day (Sunday April 5th:)

I woke up early and called for Room Service. I wanted to make sure that our Casita Suite was clean and presentable for the pics. I highly recommend this.

I left John sleeping, and headed out for my pedi and hair appointment at the Casita Spa at 11:00 a.m. It was the last time I would see him until the ceremony. My appointment went swell. the girls at the spa were so nice and professional. I had the same lady for both my pedi and hair. The pedi is $55, but so worth it, she turned on the chair massager and offered me cold water while she did her thing. And I loved my hair. I showed hair a pic of what I wanted and she did an AWESOME JOB! I have alot of hair and she pulled it off beautifully. Our Casita Suite was 2817, so we were literally and luckily steps away from the Casita Spa. So this helped alittle, but it was SOOOO...windy that day, that come to think of it this really didn't help at all. Once I got to the ceremony my hair was all over the place thank god I opted for an updo though.

 

 

Makeup-I did my own makeup. I wanted a very soft and natrual look for my big day, after all it is right on the beach, so I just bought the very best makeup there is. For me that's Bare Minerals and MAC. I liked how my makeup turned out.

And honestly, it was so hot that day, it was atleast 85%, so I just didn't feel like putting so much stuff on my face. Plus, John hates make-up period. He's always liked me natural, thank god for that right.

 

When I got back to my room John was gone, he had already headed to his bestman's suite. My bridesmaids arrived mins. later and we began to help eachother get ready. There are no radios in the rooms, only an alarm clock with like 5 or 6 radio stations, neither of them played good music. I wish I would have bought my radio with CD's or something. We were so in the mood for music, but had to do without.

 

 

Pictures –At 3:30 that day, my photographer Elizabeth Medina arrived to our Casita and took pictures of us getting ready and everything. I knew exactly what I wanted. I respected her vision with many things as I know she is AMAZING, but I also gave her some of my own suggestions as to what I wanted. She was so attentive too. I Love Her!! The girls and I were kind of rushing but we still managed to pull it off...haha!! I was so caught up with getting ready and stuff that I forgot to have my Boudoir Gift delivered to John . So Elizabeth couldn't possibly catch this on the day of the wedding, but luckily we also had her for a TTD Session for the day after. So I gave him his gift on the morning of our TTD.

 

After she finished photographing us, she headed to John's room where she photographed them getting ready. This gave us some extra time to finalize things back at our room. We got to the Ceremony Site 15 min. late because we were picked up late by the WC, but this didn't cause any problems. They just made the necessary changes to the timeline that day. On our way to the Gazebo in the Golf Cart, people at the resort were yelling CONGRATS!!!!

I really did feel like a princess that day

 

 

At about 4:30 pm our bouquets were delivered to the room. I was so amazed with how beautiful the bouquets were. They were so lush, colorful, and fragrant. I absolutely loved my bouquet!!! it looked beautiful when I put my bouquet jewels in it. I highly recommend Bouquet Jewels, they give it that extra classic touch.

 

Ceremony -

When we got to the Gazebo, my bridesmaids immediately had to walk down the aisle when we arrived to ceremony spot. They walked down to Sade's

"By Your Side", which had everyone in tears.

Gazebo 55 was BEAUTIFUL!!! it was in a perfect spot by the beach.

The way they decorated it was exactly how I envisioned it. Just 1,000,000 times more beautiful. And with the music playing and seeing everyone's jaws drop as I walked by them, that's when I secretly exhaled and proudly congratulated myself for all of my hard work. I could see John all teary from a distance, and I tried to keep myself together, which I did until the vow exchange came. I totally got choked up and had to pause for several seconds during this point.

 

The ceremony was performed by a female judge. She was so sweet and professional. We really didn't care much for either a male or female, but feel that her voice was very soft and soothing for our ceremony. Perfect for the ambience.

 

 

El Cocotal –Dinner was at 6:30. When we arrived the flute player played at our table and it really helped to set the elegant ambience of the restaurant. The table set-up was exactly what I had asked for. Absolutely Beautiful! Dinner was so delicious. We had the Vegetable Tower for a starter; the classic caesar salad; and for our main course we had the option of either slow roasted pork or caramelized chicken breast with orange and thyme mushroom. John had the roasted pork which he absolutely LOVED, and I had the Caramelized Chicken which was also delicious. Everyone loved the French Style Apple Pie.

 

 

Tucanes Bar –

We had a 2 hour private Chocolate Fondue Cocktail event set up here. We opted for the cocktail tables with white linens, and just votive candles and rose petals on the tables, which was stunning. They moved the hanging corsages to this location to decorate the cake table and bar (later we asked the bar manager to deliver these to our mom’s rooms, which they did). We ordered the 2 tier cake mainly for the pictures only, We did toasts, did our first dance, and all of us danced and had a good time.

 

Our service was amazing during this event. We had shots going around the whole time, and the bartenders always made sure that guests had a drink.

Those 2 hours flew by so quickly, and guests loved our choice for music.

We really did pull it off, THANK GOD FOR MY LAPTOP.

We were all so wasted....HAHAHAHA!!!!

 

When we got back to our Casita, Our room was covered in rose petals – floor, bed, and Jacuzzi tub. There was soothing music playing from the t.v. We had another bottle of champagne on ice waiting for us by the tub. The party wasn't over just yet, as we had arranged for a night out on the town of PLAYA DEL CARMEN. We hired a private van for coming and going for this. They charged us $150.00 I believe. I highly recommend doing something similar if your still up for it afterwards. This was so much fun!!!!!!! We headed to this bar called "Karabar" which is an indoor/outdoor bar with hookahs

(which are my favorite). We drank, danced, and smoked flavored tobacco that night till we were all so beat. We walked the streets of la quinta avenida of Playa that night, and headed back to the resort late that night. 5 of our guests were leaving that very next day, so this was a good idea. It was really the last time we would see them again until we would get back home.

 

Honeymoon Breakfast –We were told that our Breakfast in Bed was delivered to our suite the next morning but they had missed us since we were out shooting our TTD session with Elizabeth Medina at the beach. I should have mentioned this to them, but I forgot. They were kind enough to reschedule another Honeymoon breakfast in bed for us later that week, free of charge.

 

TTD –We were like 2 irresponsible teenage kids partying out til late the night before...(how funny), so we hardly even slept that night. Once again, I think I looked tired for this...hahaha!! But oh well I tried my best to look like a natural beauty that morning and we both just kind of rolled out of bed and got back into our wedding attire as we headed out for our TTD with E.M. This is when I gave John his wedding gift. I was kind of upset that it happened this way, as I had planned for him to recieve it on the day before, but it still worked out beautifully. The beach at EDR is extremly rocky as there is hardly any beach left. The waters have pretty much washed it all up by now. Still Elizabeth was able to find a great spot to shoot our TTD. I highly recommend Trashing The Dress. I never thought I'd do such a thing, but it turned out that I was the perfect candidate for it. Even my beach sandles & purse got trashed...haha!!! DH quickly adjusted to the situation too .

 

After this, we changed and headed to one of the pools where we hung out all day and slept on one of the poolside beds. VERY RELAXING. We were certainly in need for some major relaxation.

 

 

I loved EDR!!!

Our wedding was and honeymoon was by far the best expierences of our lives. Hiring Elizabeth Medina and going with EDR were the 2 best desicions of our wedding planning. I know that EDR can get under your skin at times, but trust me, their services are well worth it. Their expensive but well worth it. I had a couple who recently got married and honeymooned at Aruba and they said that EDR was 20 times better then their resort, for almost the same price. My tip for you future EDR Brides is....BE EXTREMLY ORGANIZED AND PREPARED FOR ANYTHING. KNOW THAT EVEN THE MOST CALM AND COLLECTIVE BRIDE WILL EXPERIENCE A BRIDEZILLA MOMENT, BUT THAT YOU MUST STAY FOCUSED AND HAPPY, THE WEDDING TRULY DOES FLY BY. NOTHING...I MEAN NOTHING EVER GOES EXACTLY AS PLANNED. BUT THAT'S OK..BECAUSE IT HAPPENS EVEN TO THE BEST OF US. I'M OVER MY LITTLE UPSETS BY NOW. JOHN AND I LAUGH AT ALL THE FUN WE HAD EITHER WAY. TRUST ME HAVE FUN WITH IT NO MATTER WHAT..

 

Thanks to all of you on BDW for everything!!! PM me if you have any specific questions I'll try my best in helping you. I promise to post pics once I get the hang of doing so. My slideshow should be ready in a few weeks too. I still have yet to post my planning thread for you Brides-2-B, I have pics all over the place, so I will try to gather my pics and post asap. Cheers!!!

 

 

Linda

[Soon To Be Mrs. Gomez]

Yeay!! I'm happy your day went well. Yes. I want to see pics.

[DRod0214]

wow, im so glad it all worked out. I too am worried about the music. that is like one of our top three concerns. we are definately bringing more than one backup. thanks for the great suggestions

[Rhonda]

Linda,

Thank you so much for your review! I am so happy to hear your wedding and honeymoon were amazing! And that you loved EDR! Congratulations!!! I can't wait for my own wedding (very soon ) I would love to see pics when you get a chance!

[ikupoo]

I'm so happy for you! Congratulations

[tylersgirl]

Congrats! Sounds like you had a fabulous time

[ehegwer]

What a great review. Let us know when the photos are ready!

[Dana_C]

That was such a great review. I'm glad you had an amazing experience- can't wait to see your pics!

[beach2009]

Congrats and glad to hear you had an awesome experience.

EDR looks great and I'm sure we'll be vacationing there in the future.

[Susanandmo]

Great review! I'm so happy to hear that all went well.

 

Congrats.