We got married on 5-5-10 at El Dorado Royale, an adults-only “gourmet inclusive” resort located about 25 minutes south of the Cancun airport. We were joined by 16 family members and friends. I’m going to go out on a limb and say everyone had a great time.
For anyone even a little bit interested in a destination wedding, I highly recommend it. To take it a step further: if you KNOW anyone who is getting married, I would plant the proverbial bug in their ear and say, “Have you thought about a destination wedding?“ Because it was a whole lot of fun.
If you’re going to do it, you’re not going to do any better than our resort.
All the details are handled professionally, the place is gorgeous, and all your food (oh, the food) and drinks are included.
It’s an interesting process. You reserve a date and pay a small deposit. Then, you go through and select all the details: flowers, aisle runners, chairs, etc. Instead of contacting 15 different vendors, you can handle it all online. It’s as if you’re shopping on Amazon.com…
Turquoise chair covers? I need 12…*update quantity*…done. Photographer? Yes, please.
It seemed a little strange at first, but once we got down there we found that a highly competent wedding coordinator was handling all the details. We went through a checklist item by item to make sure everything matched up.
The setup was quite nice:
The wedding itself was perfect, and I know everyone says things like that, but I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better ceremony, better treatment, or a more beautiful setting.
We got married as the sun was setting, hence the difference in light levels:
Besides the ceremony itself, there were all sorts of little extras that the resort adds for weddings, honeymoons, and anniversaries. Examples:
Our jacuzzi, decorated on our wedding night
Breakfast in bed the next morning, which included...rack of lamb?!?
Candlelight dinner on the beach, including a custom dessert
The resort advertises itself as “gourmet inclusive”. This means all the food is both delicious and beautifully presented. They have 7 different restaurants, each of which serves a different type of cuisine.
The restaurant in the main lobby serves a breakfast spread that is just a perfect way to start your day. Everything from fresh papaya and pomegranates to empanadas and wedges of expensive cheese…you know, if you’re tired of all the chorizo, bacon, and cinnamon French toast with maple-infused whipped cream.
The dinners are all a la carte, and you can order as many courses as you want. If you’re in a group, you can even ask the server to bring out a sampler of everything and the chef will happily oblige.
Though the beer selection is limited to Mexican labels, you can drink premium spirits and crazy blender drinks all day. Their house wine isn’t bad either.
Most of all, it’s a wonderful opportunity to get a group of people together and go on a nice, grown-up vacation. How often do you get to do THAT?
Since we had 11 people willing to go, we were able to take a private tour of Chichen Itza:
Followed by an incredibly refreshing swim in a cenote (sinkhole).
There’s even horseback riding onsite:
All in all, it was an amazing experience. I highly recommend it to anyone who would like to get married next to the ocean in a tropical climate with delicious food, great friends, and waking up to this on the morning of your wedding.
3 comments:
Holy crap that looks nice. Congratulations!
Thanks, DLC. It was nice indeed!
So THAT'S where you guys went. Damn, I wish this weekend could work out! Thanks again for facilitating last month's cross-country booty call!
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