El Dorado Royale (EDR) Brides - POST HERE!

[MalaikaandMike]

Hi Everyone.

 

I am new to the thread. We'll be having our wedding at EDR in April of 2017. We are doing our ceremony at Gazebo 55 and reception at Tucanes.

 

 

I've decided to bring my own decor because everything just cost too much at the resort and I've been styling events for years now and I think I can do a better job of getting exactly what I want for much less.

 

We are trying to decide if we should have a cocktail reception between the ceremony and dinner. Our ceremony starts at 5 pm with a tentative end time of 5:30 pm and reception can't start til 6:30. If we do a cocktail reception it will be the Mexican Donkey cocktail reception or our guests can go to the nearest bar and grab a drink (FREE for everyone) until the reception begins. What do you think?

 

Also, we are doing the Petit Gourmet menu for our reception. Does anyone have any reviews on that menu?

 

Lastly, has anyone used Bridal Moments for their photo & video services?

 

Thanks for all your help in advance. I'm excited to have some people to bounce ideas off of!!

[Moments That Matter]

Welcome to our forum community MalaikaandMike, and Congrats on your April EDR wedding next year!!! You've come to the right place for lots of great info, suggestions, advice and support with your planning process, so well done already:)

 

We have so many wedding couples ask us about the timeline for their Big Day, we've complied a suggested one on our webpage, with a link here: FAQ webpage

 

For optimal time to catch that amazing GOLDen light of sunset for a newlywed photo shoot, we suggest the wedding couple leave 1 to 1.5 hours before sunset time....here's a link to April 2017 sunset times  fyi

 

Here's a sample of what we're talking about.....taken from our MTM Blog posts:

....from the El Dorado Royale Casitas Wedding Day Story Album:

 

 

 

Happy research, and all the best with your wonderful journey ahead - cheers!!! team MTM

[Starum2288]

Hi all! I am getting married at Generations/El Dorado in a few months, and I just wanted to see if any past brides have any suggestions or tips on making things as smooth as possible for the big day. For example, advice on communicating what you want with the wedding coordinator.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks!

[KimberlyD]

Hi Ladies!!

 

Has anyone had trouble communicating with their wedding coordinator in the past month or so? My wedding isn't until October, but I will be in the Riviera Maya in May and was supposed to set up a site visit, but Carolina has been MIA. I have sent her three emails, and then called the number on her signature box, but no luck. Is anyone else having problems getting a hold of them? Also, does anyone have a direct number to their office?

 

Thanks!

Kim

[HilaryRobin]

@@KimberlyD I told my travel agent about how poor Carolina was with responsiveness, she informed Lomas and they switched my WC. My new girl is much better. My suggestion is to complain and get switched, because it seams Carolina is not going to change. Sorry to hear you're having trouble as well!

Question on gift bags. Did any past EDR brides request the hotel to give gift bags to your guests at check in? If so, how much did it cost and did the hotel do a good job?? Trying to decide if we should rely on the hotel to do this correctly or try to give them out ourselves at a welcome party. Appreciate your advice!

 

@@LoLoJabs

@@jhercule

@@jcook123

@@Tagliatti01

Edited April 30, 2016 by HilaryRobin

[LoLoJabs]

@@HilaryRobin we just handed out our bags at the welcome dinner

[Tagliatti01]

@@HilaryRobin

I was quoted 4 dollars PER bag for the hotel to hand them out and I had 80 guests, so we handed them out ourselves. Usually at dinner each night or at the pool during the day! Good luck!

[Starum2288]

I was told that they can not handout bags at the front desk but they can put them in people's rooms.

 

It is $4 a room.

 

 

[jhercule]

Does anyone know if you have to purchase day passes ahead of time from your coordinator OR if you can purchase them on-site?

[altay]

Hi Ladies!!

 

I just got back from our April wedding at El Dorado Royale.  It was absolutely incredible!  We had 100 guests--our welcome party was at Tucanes, ceremony at Tucanes, and reception at Salon Royale.  As many of you have mentioned, the planning process is completely overwhelming.  Communication with the resort was impossible and 4 months before my wedding I was at my wits end and desperate for help.  Through the recommendation of a past EDR bride on this blog, I reached out to Stacy at Extraordinary Destination Weddings hoping she could work a miracle. She dove in headfirst, took the reins, communicated daily, fought for my vision, and enabled me to enjoy the wedding process.  As my husband can attest, Stacy proved herself invaluable and was the single best investment we put into our wedding. I can't even begin to tell you all the things that could have gone wrong and the resort flat out didn't do; having an advocate during the planning process and onsite was the sole reason we had an amazing experience.  If I could change one thing I would have hired her from day one so she could coordinate the reservations as well!  A couple other notes, the resorts decor prices are exuberantly inflated so we brought our own. Stacy brought the majority down for me and did the set up/take down to avoid their inflated fee's.  This was HUGE money saver!  Plus after the reception we could keep the party going with our guests and not have to worry about anything.  I also made all my own real-touch bouquets since the resort was quoting me $250 a bouquet. DJ All Music did an incredible job and turned the reception into a massive dance party, I highly recommend him if you have it in your budget.  Our welcome bags were a total hit.  They had the schedule for the weekend, koozies, sunglasses, a hand painted shot glass etc., but the biggest hit were the personalized tumblers.  Our guests used them all weekend for their drinks and loved them!  It's a huge resort so it was a great wedding guest identifier throughout the week.  I'll post some pictures when I get them back from our photographer.  And for anyone who might be interested, below is Stacy's info.  It was the best week of our lives and we absolutely couldn't have done it without her; I give her my highest recommendation! 

Stacy Norell (774-213-1850)

info@extraordinarydestinationweddings.com

www.extraordinarydestinationweddings.com

Please feel free to message me with any questions, good luck to all future brides!