Azul Fives Brides 2015

[ashhtayy]

@@acastello2

 

I'm not sure I will be much help but I'd love to try and answer your questions.

 

1. We and our guests are booking hotel + airfare all together. All guests will be getting the GI experience. Are you in the US? This likely will work differently for you. We are paying $1620 from Toronto for a deluxe room based on double occupancy (includes flight, hotel, all inclusive).

 

2. There is an extra fee of $1700 to use the sky terrace. No charge for garden, etc. In Canada we have to pay $950 for the basic wedding package (if you're in the US this is free). You can choose whatever decor package you want and that can be used at the location of your choice.

 

3. The booking process has been a breeze but likely only because our TA has done it all. I have had zero contact at this point with the resort itself. Last Wednesday I was first assigned my own WC. I've read they can be quite difficult to deal with because they take a long time to get back to you BUT that is because they are extremely overworked in most situations.

 

4. We are inviting 175 but there are a lot of courtesy invites there. We expect to realistically have 50-60 people attend. Our STDs are going out this week. Pic we can keep out costs to $10000 we will be VERY pleased. I am not sure that will be possible.

 

My FI and I had the hardest time picking a resort. We ended up making a list of our top 3 must haves and we ended up with Azul Fives. Our guests get SO excited when we show them the resort.

 

Other AF Brides - i think I answered everything correctly but please feel free to correct me!

 

Hope this helps!

[acw271011]

@acastello2  Congrats and welcome to the site! Azul Fives is definitely a beautiful resort and being Gourmet Inclusive means the food is one of the wonderful things about the resort! The resort is all inclusive regardless of where you're travelling from so I'm not sure I follow your question. The Gourmet Inclusive is the resort standard. As far as a wedding package, that is determined by your number of guests. Generally the resorts will provide for up to about 20 to 25 guests, and you still need to pay a per person rate for each guest above that number. Azul Fives is no exception. The $1700 fee is for the Sky Deck. If you have a small group you can also inquire about the Pier but there is an additional fee for that of I believe they quoted me $275 but it only holds 32 people, so would only suit for a smaller group. The Memorable Moments packages cost about $3000 but do have inclusions so you can go either a la carte or with a Memorable Moments package. The one thing you do need to know is that if you decide you want a better quality photographer than the one the resort uses, you will need to pay an additional fee of $800, which they call an outside vendor fee. That also applies to each and every vendor that you use outside of who the resort works with. The costs for a lot of what they provide or recommend are high. Additional flowers, or lighting or décor will add extra costs over and above so if you're budget conscious be aware.

 

There are a couple of venues for ceremonies - the beach, a garden setting, the Pier, Sky Deck or the Zky Terrace and my understanding is that a new one is either in the process of opening up or is already open, which is another beach venue. Many brides for privacy, and for the inclusions pick the Sky Deck. It does have a spectacular view of the Caribbean from up top.

 

I would highly recommend reading through this thread to get a feel for what the resort offers and what the ladies from the site have said about their experiences. if you don't yet have a travel agent, definitely get one! A TA will become your best friend as you go through your planning journey. They will take the stress from you of dealing with your guests questions and provide support for getting them booked. If you're in the US, your airfare will be booked separately from the resort. In Canada, it generally is a package of air, hotel and transfers. But as @asshtayy indicated, Canadian brides are required to pay the basic ceremony package cost of $950. Brides to be from the US receive that complimentary. Then you can build from there for what you want. As well, US brides have many more options available of free events depending on the number of guests/room nights booked. A travel agent is the BEST person to help you out with what you qualify for. You don't want to miss out on anything that you're entitled to!!

 

There are several ladies here with wedding dates fast approaching so I know they will chime in to pass on more details. Our vow renewal date is in October and we had originally tried to book for Azul Fives but we were a very, very small group (only about 8) and I just found that the resort wasn't geared to small groups. They seem to do well, from what I hear, with larger groups but I just found that for what we wanted I wasn't getting anywhere with them We're now going off resort for our ceremony and dinner but still staying at Azul Fives. It's still a gorgeous resort!

 

If you're in the US, the travel agents associated with this site are Karisma resort specialists and have top honours for being GI certified. They also have a couple of promotions running for bride and groom flying free. I don't know if it applies to you or not but you don't know until you ask. You can contact them through the link on the site - Wright Travel. If you're in Canada, there are several ladies here working with travel agents that they would be happy to provide a recommendation to you if needed.

 

Good luck and happy planning!

[TinkerSofi]

@@acastello2

Hi Amanda, welcome to the forums. The previous girls have done a great job at answering your questions but here are mine in case I can add anything:

 

1. I noticed that this resort has a gourmet all inclusive package available. Did you select this for your guests at the wedding? If so how much is it additional?

 

The resort has a choice of gourmet inclusive or not, not for the wedding but for the whole stay. So technically you can pay the one price that includes your stay, all you can eat food and drinks or you could just rent a room and then pay a la carte at the restaurants or go eat outside of the resort. I don't know if I'd recommend going this way, I think if you want to pay for every meal there's much cheaper places you can stay at. If you're traveling from the US or Canada, or even Europe, chances are you'll end up with the all inclusive option. I'd recommend it as it's something off your mind and you know up front how much you'll be spending for the vacation, including the food. We didn't even consider the non all inclusive option so I can't speak about the difference in prices. I just think you're getting more bang for your buck if you go all inclusive. 

 

The wedding itself is a totally different story and in this case you can choose a buffet or an a la carte menu for it and you would choose that for all your guests. This is an extra price not included in your vacation. 

 

2. Does the wedding package you chose indicate where you get married? (sky deck, garden, beach) Is food included in the package or is it a separate cost?

 

The best way of looking at the Karisma weddings is by dividing it into ceremony and reception. Karisma doesn't work so much with packages. There are some, but you can totally start off with the basic, which is $950 (this has just changed and this is the price for all brides, even US ones) and then you can add things as you see fit. You can choose any location you want, but just be aware some have extra fees as the ladies above mentioned. For example the sky deck is $1700 for the ceremony. Usually more secluded areas have extra fees. 

 

Then we go on to the reception. For the private reception, the price of it is based on the menu you choose, and they have a wide range of prices for that. You can see them here: http://karismahotels.uberflip.com/i/183324-private-wedding-events-banquet-kit-3

These prices are based on a per person basis and they all include 4 hours of open bar. You also get to choose any venue you want, with some having extra fees as well. For example the sky deck for the reception has an extra charge of $15pp added to the pp price of the menu. 

 

After this you can start adding decor, the DJ or rental of the sound system, etc. and these are extra costs. You can also bring decor from home and pay a small set-up fee. 

 

3. Has the booking process and planning been stress-free and easy to communicate with the hotel staff?

 

 We also worked with a Karisma certified travel agent and she's been a dream. She has taken care of pretty much everything for us so it's all been pretty smooth. In terms of communication, it can be hit or miss depending on who you get. I had one coordinator first and she was great, taking 3 days to respond, the one I have now takes a week. However, I think this is pretty much standard for any hotel you choose so I wouldn't base my decision on this. 

 

4. Please you do not have to answer this question if it is too personal. How many guests are you expecting and approximately how much is the wedding going to cost?

 

We're having 40-50 people at our wedding and the wedding itself is costing us around $7000. To this, you have to add another $2000 for the photographer and videographer and then of course all the extras. All in all, I think we're going to spend around $15000. We're cutting on some costs but then upgraded other things. I'm not going to say it's a luxury wedding but probably much better than what we'd get here at home. 

Edited April 10, 2015 by TinkerSofi

[acw271011]

With everything @@TinkerSofi has been through with planning her wedding, @@acastello2 this is absolutely one of the best responses you'll get next to a travel agent!

[Layla79]

good question! I don't have the answer unfortunately but I was just looking at the map and there are some wi-fi sings around, so maybe it's free in those areas? 

If you pay for the always and forever package wifi is included ( up to 4 devices I believe) I was told $66 for the week to get wifi for guest and excellent reception even on the beach

[ashhtayy]

@@Layla79 that's great, thanks!

 

My TA is going to AF in two days. I will ask her to check while she is there. Because I'm so early on in the planning stages I don't know what else to ask her. There's probably 1000 more relevant questions to ask lol

[CaroV]

Hi ladies,

 

We are planning our wedding for May 2016 and have about 50 - 60 guests joining us and after a lot of research and spreadsheets comparisons I'm 90% on board with the Azul Fives. My only concern is that I don't think we are getting a great deal. Our packages came in at $2,000 from Calgary, and $1,850 from Toronto (1 bedroom suite). Also we are only getting the 21st adult free (hotel only) and no word on free events or anything like that. I mentioned it to my TA but she said that they don't have any offers at the moment.

 

I also checked their website but it looks like the free events and bride and groom stay for free are only available to US residents and in the case of the free events it is only available if you get married from June 1st to December 22nd (so, for hurricane season only)

 

We live in Canada so I think it is very unfair that Canadian brides don't get these offers. Has anyone had better luck? What TA are you using?

[ashhtayy]

@@CaroV

 

Hi! I was dead set on an March - May 2016 wedding at Azul Fives. Prices were astronomical in March and April. We are also a group of 50-60 traveling from Toronto and Vancouver. TA was able to find an unreal rate leaving May 29th and I bit...but...there was an issue with rooms. We couldn't prepay for more than 14 deluxe rooms so I felt the chances of them having room for all our guests was slim. For that reason we pushed it back a week (did not want a June wedding but loved the resort enough to push it back).

 

We're paying $1620 from TO and $1820 from VAN. Also getting every 21st free (which sucks because some brides get ever 11th free) and getting cocktail hour for free (or photo credit or spa credit - cocktail hour is best bang for our buck). To get the extra free (one of the three I mentioned) you need to have a GI certified TA. I googled and found mine.

 

Save the dates just arrived and am sending them out next week! Ah!

 

@@CaroV PS. I also did spreadsheet comparisons. My fiancé thinks im crazy but this process (selecting a resort) is so overwhelming I'm not sure I could have done it without all the number crunching and insane organization of quotes.

Edited April 15, 2015 by ashhtayy

[TinkerSofi]

Hi ladies,

 

We are planning our wedding for May 2016 and have about 50 - 60 guests joining us and after a lot of research and spreadsheets comparisons I'm 90% on board with the Azul Fives. My only concern is that I don't think we are getting a great deal. Our packages came in at $2,000 from Calgary, and $1,850 from Toronto (1 bedroom suite). Also we are only getting the 21st adult free (hotel only) and no word on free events or anything like that. I mentioned it to my TA but she said that they don't have any offers at the moment.

 

I also checked their website but it looks like the free events and bride and groom stay for free are only available to US residents and in the case of the free events it is only available if you get married from June 1st to December 22nd (so, for hurricane season only)

 

We live in Canada so I think it is very unfair that Canadian brides don't get these offers. Has anyone had better luck? What TA are you using?

Hi! That's great that you're considering AF. It's a very nice hotel from what I heard. I'm also from Calgary and yes, as Canadians we don't get any perks. To be honest the whole free wedding events is great to have but I don't consider it a must anymore. You can easily meet people for drinks and have informal cocktail parties. I wish we had them but it's not the end of the world. The only thing you can get if you book through one of their certified travel agents is a free spa package (with your hair and makeup and their trials included), or a free cocktail party. This really helped us out a lot. 

 

We got every 11th person free, but sometimes it depends on the tour company as they are the ones who make that offer. Are you planning on traveling during high season? That can also really affect prices. We paid $1700 for the cheapest room from Calgary. This was before their prices went up. My TA told me that because they've done all the renos to the hotel the prices have gone up so we got a really good deal. If you want I can give you her contact info. She's been great with us, so maybe you can see what she can offer you. I don't know if it will be any different from what you already have though. 

[Layla79]

@@CaroV

 

Hi! I was dead set on an March - May 2016 wedding at Azul Fives. Prices were astronomical in March and April. We are also a group of 50-60 traveling from Toronto and Vancouver. TA was able to find an unreal rate leaving May 29th and I bit...but...there was an issue with rooms. We couldn't prepay for more than 14 deluxe rooms so I felt the chances of them having room for all our guests was slim. For that reason we pushed it back a week (did not want a June wedding but loved the resort enough to push it back).

 

We're paying $1620 from TO and $1820 from VAN. Also getting every 21st free (which sucks because some brides get ever 11th free) and getting cocktail hour for free (or photo credit or spa credit - cocktail hour is best bang for our buck). To get the extra free (one of the three I mentioned) you need to have a GI certified TA. I googled and found mine.

 

Save the dates just arrived and am sending them out next week! Ah!

 

@@CaroV PS. I also did spreadsheet comparisons. My fiancé thinks im crazy but this process (selecting a resort) is so overwhelming I'm not sure I could have done it without all the number crunching and insane organization of quotes.

I am assuming that these quote are all taxes in? If your getting only every 21st room free then maybe your TA is using westjet or air canada. Transat is the only tour operator that works directly with Azul Fives and they are the ones that do every 11th free. I also found buy shopping a few TA's I was able to get better prices