What I would and wouldn't do again...

thanks for all the great info

wouldnt do again; i would not stress at alllllllllll....lol

would do again; DW all over again!

What I would do again:

- Destination wedding for sure! While I planning it, I definitely was doubting this, now no doubt in the world I would do it all over again!

- All my DIY projects, they were labor intensive but totally worth it.

- Wedding website with lots of information

- Send my DIY STD's one year in advance

- Hire Chris Schmitt as my photographer... all my pictures are unbelievable. He was a lot out of my price range but I'm SO happy with my pictures I can't even explain it

- Doing a BD shoot. It was so nerve wracking to take pictures in lingerie but it was so empowering and husband loved the book I had made for him so much!

- Buy my wedding dress.... out of my original price range but my experience was amazing meeting my designer and the dress looked amazing. It was very HOT in humid hot Mexico but it was worth a little uncomfortable sweating to rock it all night.

- Getting private dance lessons and choreographing a dance with hubby... we had SO much fun and bonded on a whole new level, he now loves to dance and I never thought that would ever happen

- Buy real touch flowers... wow I saved easily $4,000 or buy going with real touch and they looked amazing, no one knew they were fake and I get to keep my bouquet forever! - My bridesmaids were so excited to keep theirs too.

- Being obsessed with Etsy... I met so many amazing vendors, got some of the most unique items for my wedding and got some much custom made or personalized I'm happy with everything.

- Not getting married on the sand... I got married on a Sky Deck and it was so much more comfortable with everyone.

- Getting married at Azul Sensatori... despite questionable reviews on Trip Advisor when it first opened I trust my gut and went there anyways. It was absolutely perfect and gorgeous and accommodating.

- Speaking of Trip Advisor... I was obsessed with it for awhile and it was really stressing me out, I decided to avoid it at all costs and move on!

- Moving resorts after my wedding to Le Blanc. It is such an amazing place and helped us unwind and relax which was exactly what we needed.

- Staying 5 days before the wedding and 6 days after... really felt like a getaway, lots of time with friends and family and relaxing after.

- Giving OOT Bags... everyone flipped over them, used everything in them and had a blast.

- Enjoyed every moment of my wedding day, paid attention, made sure my husband stayed close so we could enjoy it together all night long.

- Having an after party in the pool after the wedding and then at a bar until 4:30am... had the time of our lives

- Do my own makeup. I bought Bobbi Brown makeup, got a lesson and practiced. My makeup looked exactly how I wanted it and I looked like me.

- Waterproof EVERYTHING! Makeup & eyelash glue, I sobbed walking down the aisle and after the ceremony my makeup had not budged, I couldn't believe it.

- Write the entire ceremony ourselves and write and say our own personal vows. It was a daunting task and I don't like any sort of public speaking but we had every single person at our wedding crying and it was such a wonderful bonding moment!

- Having a donkey at our cocktail reception... I was skeptical at the potential tackiness of this but figured what the hell! Everyone was in totally shocked and gave him lots of love and he was totally adorable

- Keep traditions. We slept separately the night before which was difficult but the anticipation made it very exciting and even more emotional the day of.

- Have my BD book delivered an hour before the ceremony by my MOH, my husband LOVED it and I had a photographer capture his reaction

- Have a welcome cocktail reception the night before the wedding where my MOH gave everyone name tag stickers with titles. As lame as that sounds... everyone ended up introducing themselves to one another and by the next day everyone knew one another and it was amazing.

- Have a farewell breakfast then following morning after the wedding. We were all slightly sleep deprived, slightly hungover but it was so much fun recapping and laughing together and almost everyone showed up which I couldn't believe!

- Do a TTD session in another dress. I had a blast

- Do zipling!!! So amazing, everyone should do this once.

- Doing P90X, got me in amazing shape and I looked just how I wanted for my wedding

- Decide to have my legal wedding day after the wedding in Vegas. It hasn't happened yet but everyone is so excited for my more casual Elvis Wedding and can't wait to go.

What I wouldn't do again:

- Use DestinationWeddings.com... Wow ok, my first TA was HORRIBLE, he screwed so much up and caused SO much frustration, I really regret not using a BDW TA. I did request a new TA from them 5 months out who fixed everything and was pretty great to work with.

- Stress. Wow, I stressed a LOT, people not coming, people cancelling, no parents coming, drama etc. This was pointless. A wise bride (Nicole) told me to stop stressing, it didn't matter and my wedding would be perfect. She told me quote "you won't miss ANYONE once you're there" and she was absolutely right. All those people who didn't come or cancelled or fell out at the last minute didn't cross my mind once, I was having to good of a time to care. I wasted a lot of tears and restless nights.

- Not letting people help me enough. I am a control freak and a perfectionist and couldn't people do much for me which added to the stress.

- Continue to look at other options AFTER I had already paid for and decided on something, that just drives you crazy!!

I hope this helps! This thread was so helpful to me while planning my wedding

Holy cow! Sorry for the novel ladies!

This is such a awesome thread!! Cant believe I have just found it!!! I've sat reading all 50 pages worth! And already feel less stressed and torn!! Thank you all so much for you contributions!

Jodie.xx

Well after reading amys post.. Im going to use hers as a guideline! LoL. Hope you dont mind amy!

What I would do again:

*Destination wedding destination wedding destination wedding!!! It is the absolute way to go!!! At some points of course I think you doubt the whole idea but it was literally so worth it!

*The extensive research and time I spent on every detail for our wedding.. I loved every minute of it! I was also and still am obsessed with ETSY. It is a dream come true!

*Becoming a member of BDW!!! Lots of amazing people and ideas!

*Hire tropical imaging to take my BD photos and then to take us off Beaches property for our Wedding day photos and TTD photos!They were a dream!

I am soooo happy we went with all of those shoots also! I had second thoughts about BD and TTD and I could not be happier with the fact that we did it. Def budget great pics into your wedding.. its the best way to capture the memory of your wedding!

*Buy clay flowers! I loved and still love my wedding day flowers and I get to keep them forever. They are and always will be absolutely perfect.

*Letting my husband choose the site for our wedding. He chose the gazebo and it was PERFECT.

*We got to Beaches 5 days before our wedding. And we stayed 4 days after our wedding. I do wish we had one more day. But being there before an after was perfect. And it didnt feel rushed or like we missed out on anything.

*OOT Bags and MUGS! Our guests and all of the other guests loved our mugs! They were great and perfect for large drinks.

*Hiring Shenique Higgs for my makeup and hair. My makeup was legit flawless and out of this world!

*Not wearing my wedding dress for my TTD. Wearing a completely different dress. My dress would have weighed atleast 60 pounds wet..agh that would be horrible.

*Get a wedding DVD! Im soo happy we have this to remember by. Def a must have!

* Jillian Michaels became my best friend. I wish I had gotten really serious with working out maybe one month earlier than I did. But Oh well.

What I wouldn't do again:

* Stress. Stress. Stress. NOT WORTH IT! Wedding day was perfect and I felt soo at ease.

*Look at tripadvisor. People Bi$%! about anything and everything! Especially on the internet.

*Second guess every single decision.. my dress, the resort, length of stay, etc etc. But I guess thats the whole process, right?!

*Not settle for Beaches telling me no about bring Tropical imaging on property!

**The only thing that really bums me out about our wedding day is that I should have had our photog take pics of me getting ready. But the thought didnt dawn on me until we got home from our trip.

And I also wish we had gotten a group photo with everyone! I really wanted that and we did not get it.

But besides that our wedding was perfect and magical! I wish I could plan all over again!!! Good luck to all the future brides!

KittenHeart & *Meagan* Fantastic novels :-) Thank you, Going to read the previous post on this thread now, I love it x

I love this thread but it's stressing me out!! I was hoping to just show up and get married and that be it. There's so much extra stuff to make it special... now to decide on a budget and what's important to me. But there's SOOO much information/extras!! How do you pick/narrow it down!!

Thanks ladies! I have 9 months of planning. eek!

This is a great thread. So glad i found it!