My Wedding Review - Azul Fives 11/1/14

[kellymenning]

I'm sure I'm posting this in the wrong place, but oh well... I just wanted to give a review to those of you who are getting married at Azul Fives. First of all, it was amazing. Everything was perfect. The resort is fabulous. It's so beautiful and felt very tropical. It didn't feel like one of those huge, massive resorts which was great. We had 100 people so we took up quite a bit of the hotel, but it was perfect. I would highly suggest your guests make dinner reservations if they are there any nights without events.

 

There are lots of activities at the hotel, which made it really fun. They have different shows at night, so the night of my wedding, they had the Michael Jackson show. The hotel was nice enough to reserve a large area for us so we all got to watch it together after the reception. The food was great at all the restaurants. Tsuki was my favorite though. Lizards pool had really good food too, especially for when you're wanting to grab lunch in a cover-up. Seriously though - make reservations in advance for dinner. You'll need them. It's close to impossible to get reservations the same night you want to go to dinner.

 

Oh, a lot of Trip Advisor reviews talk about how their is construction, and it's disruptive. Not true. I barely noticed the construction. They're building some new restaurants, but it's way to the side where you barely go, so you won't even notice. The beach also isn't full of rocks, which I also read. And the lobby was very nice. So don't worry about the negative reviews you've read online regarding those things.

 

I arrived the hotel on Tuesday so I could check things out before everyone arrived, meet with the coordinators, etc. I was supposed to get married on the beach, but when I got there, it wasn't what I expected. It wasn't secluded enough for me and it didn't seem like a large enough space for all of my guests. I was scheduled to have my post-ceremony cocktail party on the Sky Deck, so I switched things around. I ended up doing my ceremony on the Sky Deck, my post-ceremony cocktail party on the Zky Bar Deck and the reception in the Garden/Pool area. All of those things were perfect. I've posted pictures of everything below.

 

On Wednesday, I met with Gabriela and Angelica, who are both on-site wedding coordinators. They are amazing. They are so helpful and seriously go out of their way to make sure you're happy with everything. The chef met with us to go over the food. I also had my wedding coordinator who I'd been working with during all of the planning, my travel agent and my friend. We literally met for 3 1/2 hours. We went over every detail and then went to all of the spaces. They even showed me where we would have events in case of rain. Fortunately, I didn't have to worry about that. They did mention over and over to me that I was very detailed and they appreciated it. I had sent my WC a 30 page packet of everything about my wedding from welcome bags to decorations. She said it was extremely helpful and they really seemed thankful I had sent it. If you want to check it out, you can go to the Azul Fives Brides facebook page. I posted it in the files over there.

 

For my decorations for all events, I used Love & Lace Décor. If you're interested in using them, you can submit a request either on their website at loveandrum.com/contact/ or through their Facebook Page. I rented almost all of my decorations from them and they were seriously beautiful. I highly suggest renting from her, especially if you're wanting to do lighting. I met her in town the day before my wedding coordinator meeting so I could give them all of my decorations during the meeting.

 

My first event was the Welcome Cocktail Party. It was great! We did it on the Zky Bar Deck. It was one of the complimentary events, so I was a little hesitant about it, but it was perfect! They decorated just like I asked them to. I just did some burlap ties around the cocktail tables, and some mercury glass candles on the middle of the tables. It was really simple, but it worked out great. I never tried the food, but I heard it was good! That night, we all went to the 70's and 80's show, which was hysterical. I highly recommend it.

 

Our second event was the Rehearsal Dinner. We did it at the Oriola Grill. It was great! The weather turned out really nice, so it was lovely. Everyone had a great time. It was Halloween so I let everyone wear costumes. I decorated that with a gold charger in the middle of everyone's table with three mason jars or vases of baby's breath. It was simple, but it was great. I did have my photographer come that night to take pictures, which I'm super happy I did.

 

I forgot to mention that earlier in the day, we did get to have a rehearsal on the Sky Deck so everyone knew where to go, etc. So that was helpful. They're happy to let you do a rehearsal if they don't have a wedding going on at that time.

 

Then it was our wedding day! They seriously did everything just like I wanted. It was absolutely beautiful. They charged me $500 for a set-up fee since I basically brought all of my decorations. I did buy the flowers from them though, and the dance floor. They charged me $300 for my light set-up because I basically had them lighting everything. As you'll see in my pics below, I did lights in the trees, a light wall, etc. It was absolutely perfect. The ceremony was perfect too. The weather was awesome. I got super lucky. For those of you who do your ceremony on the Sky Deck, make sure you tell the hotel's videographer to stay out of your photographer's shots. I'm a little pissed that the hotel photographer is in a lot of my pictures, but oh well. I'm just glad it was streamed live for those of our family and friends who couldn't make it were able to watch it. Just a tip - I would stay upstairs on the Sky Deck after the ceremony and take some pictures with your husband, bridal party, etc. I'm a little mad at myself for not doing that, but too late now.

 

My photographer was Derek Campbell with Photosincancun.com. He was AWESOME. I just picked him randomly and he was wonderful. He and his girlfriend, Lorena, did an amazing job. Some of the photos below are his photos, but some are from my friends. I'm sure you can tell which ones are professional. You can go to his Facebook Page to see his photos from my wedding. He also gave me a flash drive while I was there with all 3,000 of my photos, which is awesome. I just have to choose the 250 I want enhanced and he'll enhance them, then send them to me. He wasn't intrusive at all, which was huge for me.

 

The DJ I used was the $2,000 from Lomas. They were expensive, but totally worth it. No one ever got off the dance floor. Granted, I made a list of songs to play and not to play, so that helped. He didn't stray from it, which I had heard they can tend to do. He was awesome though. His name was Fernando Perez.

 

For my make-up, I had the hotel do it. I requested Flor, who was great. I highly suggest her. I did a rehearsal with her, which really helped too. I had a friend who came down do my hair. I did have quite a few bridesmaids who loved their hair. I thought they did a great job.

 

My flowers were perfect. They were beautiful. They did a great job with them.

 

I think that's basically it. The photos below pretty much sum it up. It was beautiful and wonderful and I seriously couldn't have asked for anything better. The only thing that I wish I'd done differently was take pictures upstairs on the Sky Deck, but that's it.

 

So photos....here we go. Sorry, there are a lot.

 

The ceremony was on the sky deck, like I mentioned. Here are some pictures of that.

 

 

Here are a few pics of my flowers. They put my bridesmaids flowers on the cake table after the ceremony and pictures.

 

Here are some pictures from after the ceremony.

 

Here are some pics of the reception and our exit. For our entry table, my escort cards were in these vintage suitcases. I did messages in little bottles. Then after everyone had their bottle, the coordinators put my bridesmaids bouquets in the suitcases. It was cool. Oh and I did paper lanterns around the pool and floating candles in the pool. Lastly, the pool has these lounge beds in the area. They were going to move them, but I told them to keep them because I thought they'd be cool with lights up the posts.

 

 

 

 

 

Here's one more picture. We got tired and laid in the lounge bed for a minute b/c we were exhausted from dancing...haha.

 

[SusanMarie813]

great review and photos

[calgarybride2015]

Beautiful!  Glad everyone was as you dreamed!

[veryvalentine]

Omg your pictures are so beautiful.  Stunning wedding!

 

I noticed your head table was just the bride and groom.  How did you sit your wedding party?

[TammyWright]

is it possible to add parts to their review page so you can use star ratings and push them up in the ranks:

 

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/reviews/p/21743-azul-fives-hotel/

 

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/reviews/p/21569-photos-in-cancun-photography/

[kellymenning]

@ I did do our sweetheart table just the two of us. I just put the bridal party mixed in with everyone else. I figured it would be nice to have some time with just my new hubby!

 

@@TammyWright I'm not sure. I never thought of that. I can try!

[veryvalentine]

@

 

I really like that idea. We will have approx. 30-40 people. it would be nice to keep us in the centre and then this way the bridal party can sit with their partners or guests.

[AllieH]

so beautiful!!! I'm really glad it turned out exactly how you wanted. thanks for sharing with us. 

[acw271011]

Azul Fives has now found its way onto my current list of possible resorts so thanks for your review! Your dress is gorgeous! Who was the designer and was it cool to wear, or did you find it was hot? Your pics are great! Congrats!

[kellymenning]

@acw271011  It was an amazing resort. I am so so happy I ended up having my wedding there. You'll love it! Thanks for the compliments! I loved my dress. It was perfect. The designer is Watters. I had all of the tulle taken out from the skirt so it was really comfortable and I wasn't hot at all. The weather was really nice for us. It was about 72 and only 65% humidity, which is really nice for Mexico. So I'm sure that helped!