Wedding Date: March 17, 2026 ~ Resort: El Dorado Royale ~ Photographer/Videographer: Cocoknot Photography~ Bridal Salon: Bliss Bridal, New Orleans ~ Tux Shop: Men's Warehouse Tommy Hilfiger

How did you select the resort? What were the deciding factors?

I knew I wouldn’t be able to do a site visit before the wedding, so I was hesitant to choose a resort I’d never been to. I had been to El Dorado once before and my parents go at least once a year, so I knew I liked it and that it would be a “safe choice” since I was going into it knowing what to expect.

Were there any objections from your wedding guests about your decision to have a destination wedding? If so, how did you handle overcome those?

The only “objections” we had were a few weeks before the wedding when there was increased cartel activity mentioned on the news. We had two guests cancel and two more “plan” to cancel then end up coming. Beyond that, we had no issues! I’m sure we would’ve had more “casual” friends come if our wedding was in the states, but all of our closest family and friends were there.

What were some of your biggest fears about having a destination wedding?

Not being hands on during the planning process, planning everything through pictures and an Excel spreadsheet and not knowing what the decor actually looked like in person.

How did you come to decide on your wedding date? Is there meaning behind it?

I knew I wanted a spring wedding, and two of my best friends work in the school system and were on spring break the week of my wedding, so I went with that week so they wouldn’t have to miss work.

Did you invite guests in a unique way, like a themed save the date or announcement party?

Other than beach design/colored save the dates and invitations, our invites were pretty standard.

Describe what it was like working with the wedding coordinator at the resort? What went well? Any challenges?

I heard that communication would be poor until a month or two before the wedding, but I didn’t have that issue. I started planning (officially decided to proceed with a destination wedding) about 13 months beforehand and was in contact with the resort wedding coordinator the entire time. Sometimes we would go weeks without emailing, but she was always very responsive any time I had a question and the handoff between her and the on-site coordinator was seamless. I personally had no issues whatsoever.

Tell us about your wedding attire – How did you find it? Who went shopping with you? How did you feel wearing your wedding attire?

I am a resident physician so my free weekends are very limited. I had one weekend available in March 2025 to find my wedding dress, and if I didn’t find it that weekend, I knew I wouldn’t have another chance until August. I booked three appointments and found my wedding dress at the second location (cancelled my third appointment). I ordered it that day, received it in August, had it brought to alterations pretty quickly afterwards and had it back before 2026. For my other wedding attire (welcome party, rehearsal dinner, change dress, etc.) I just intermittently shopped online and bought things throughout the year.

Describe the booking process for your guests. Did they find that to be easy to navigate?

The booking process was so easy. I never had a single complaint or question from my guests. Romance Travel Group was excellent with communication and answering all questions.

What were some of your biggest fears or things you worried about as your wedding date drew near? How did you get through this?

As stated above, I was mostly only worried about what all the decor would look like in person. I didn’t want anything to look tacky or cheap and I had to trust the coordinators 100% to bring my vision to life solely based on descriptions and pictures. They more than delivered!

Tell us about how you chose your bridal party and asked them to stand up with you.

We decided to forego a bridal party since all of our friends attending the wedding would’ve been in the bridal party. We knew if everyone was standing with us, we wouldn’t have any friends sitting in the congregation. Also, being in a bridal party is expensive and I knew our friends were already paying for the resort and flights. I did not want to add suits/dresses, MUAH, etc. to their costs. I don’t regret this decision at all! I did still have my friends matching pajamas (amazon) and we took “wedding party” getting ready photos.

Describe the meeting you had with the onsite wedding team when you arrived at the resort.

I had already had a teams meeting with my on-site coordinator about one week before our arrival, so when we met in person it was really just to confirm everything we talked about a few days prior. We decided on a good time via WhatsApp to get together and when the time came, she stopped by my room and we briefly went over the spreadsheet (maybe 20 minutes max). She then left to go work on things and I went back to the pool! It was seamless and easy and she was always available on WhatsApp if needed.

Were your guests wowed by the resort and the all-inclusive concept? What was their reaction upon arrival?

Our guests did enjoy the resort overall, but there were a few hiccups. Dinner reservations were almost impossible to get. You can no longer book them on the “app” (it has to be through your concierge) and not the day of check in you’re only allowed to book that night. Even as the bride and groom, they wouldn’t let us book anything beyond our check in day. The following morning when I met with our next concierge, we attempted to book dinner for the nights at the end of our trip (so we were attempting to book Wednesday and Thursday dinner on Sunday morning) and there was only one reservation available at one restaurant at 9 PM. We ended up going to the buffet almost every night (and most of our guests did too). I knew the reservation thing was going to be somewhat of an issue after my visit in December 2025, but it was really terrible and disappointing. Also, on two separate occasions, once with myself, husband and our two friends and another instance with my parents and grandparents, we showed up for our dinner reservation only to be told there was no reservation listed for us. This happened on two different days with two different parties and two different concierges. To make matters worse, both restaurants were almost completely empty at the time! I’m not a complainer, so I just moved on and went to the buffet, but it was embarrassing to have our guests tell us they could never get reservations anywhere.

How easy/difficult was it to travel with your wedding attire? Did you carry-it on, where did you store it? Did you get a lot of comments at the airport?

I bought a Wally travel bag on Amazon and it was amazing. I put my dress, veil, my husband’s suit and my mom’s dress in there and it tri-folded very neatly. It was light and easy to carry and fit perfectly in the overhead bin. The clothes looked fine when we arrived to the resort and took them out the bags. It was such an easy way to transport everything.

Tell us about your wedding – did you have a traditional wedding with a cocktail hour, dinner reception and dance? What was different about a destination wedding compared to a wedding at home?

We purchased the package that included a semi-private rehearsal dinner, welcome party, cocktail hour and reception. In hindsight, I wish we either skipped the rehearsal dinner or had the rehearsal dinner and welcome party on two separate nights. The welcome party set up was beautiful but I felt so bad because no one (including myself) ate anything because we were so full from the rehearsal dinner. Our ceremony on the day of the wedding was super quick and simple (less than 15 minutes). We had a family friend officiate and did not have a bridal party so that definitely sped things along. On the day of, our reception, cocktail hour and ceremony all got moved to indoor venues due to weather, but it ended up being amazing regardless.

What was the best part of having a destination wedding?

Ease of planning, having someone else take care of almost everything other than my “ideas”, no set up or clean up to be done by myself or my family/friends

What is your most favorite memory of your wedding experience?

Our wedding reception! It was so fun. I think I was really stressed the days leading up to the wedding, so once we were at the reception I was finally relaxed and ready to have a good time. Also, our photography team was absolutely phenomenal. I cannot say enough good things about cocoknot. We received 100 “sneak peek” photos within one week of our wedding date and they’re all perfect. I was really nervous about photography because my husband hates “formal” pictures and I’m also kind of awkward in those situations, but they were so funny and nice and made it such a good time!

In what ways did Romance Travel Group make the planning less stressful for you?

Fielded all questions from guests about travel, transportation, etc. and kept me updated frequently without me having to ask for updates. I cannot imagine planning this wedding without them.

What would you do differently? What advice would you give to couples just starting the planning process?

Again, I would either skip the rehearsal dinner or do it on a separate night than the welcome party. I would also pay the extra $4 or $5 (whatever the resort charged) to handle giving all our guests their welcome bags on check-in because we did it ourselves and were carrying around and passing out welcome bags all week, and even came home with 1-2 bags we never gave away to guests we didn’t see very often outside of wedding events.

What surprised you the most about having a destination wedding?

The “stress” of feeling like you need to talk to / entertain all your guests!

Would you recommend Romance Travel Group to other couples who are considering a destination wedding?

1000000%. Seriously no complaints or issues with them whatsoever!!!

Is there anything Romance Travel Group could have done to make the experience even better?

No notes!! Everything was fantastic!