Wedding Decor

Ok - we are just beginning to plan for a May 2008 wedding, and I am curious about how you ladies are deciding on decor for your event. Are you working with a wedding coordinator outside of your event location or are you using the coordinator at the hotel? Are you bringing all of the items for the tables, favors, etc. with you to Mexico or are you getting them there? I'm sorry this is so vague, but we are just starting to plan, and I'm wondering how this all works!

Where is your wedding at? Some hotels have alot to offer in terms of decor on site, others not so much.

I'm getting married at Dreams and am not yet decided on my decor, but I'm sure I'll be bringing some stuff with me, possibly shipping some too, but not sure yet.

We are narrowing down our choices on locale. I'm wondering if services should be a factor? How difficult is it to plan decor and potentially have to travel with decorations such as luminaries, candles, favors, etc.?

Shipping to Cabo can get really expensive really fast, so you might want to consider limiting your decor/favors to things you can carry down with you and things that you or a coordinator can get for you in Cabo.

For us this meant having no glass vases/hurricanes just because I couldn't travel with them. But I was able to bring candles and some rattan placemat thingies for the centerpieces.

Think about things that are light/small and easy to carry on: fabric, shells/starfish, paper bags for luminarias, tealights, small candles, anything made of straw/rattan, ribbon....etc.

Then think of things you can buy once you get there: produce (we used limes but the options are endless), flowers, sand (free!), pretty dishes/platters from shops in San Jose, pretty Mexican rugs....things like that.

If you end up using a coordinator (or if your hotel has one) then you should be able to get help on this part. I wouldn't plan too much of this until you have your venue chosen.

The beauty of a DW is that you can do whatever you want. Remember that your location is gorgeous in and of itself, and therefore little or no embellishment is really necessary. That being said, we have seen brides do the whole spectrum of decor. There have been girls that shipped tons of stuff, had huge amounts of favors, stuff for OOT bags, candle holders, place holders, etc. And we have had others that did minimal decor, or worked with what was available down there. Janet1111's wedding was beautiful and she used limes for centerpieces which she purchased down there, as well as arranged her own flowers which she bought wholesale from the Flower Cart, a local Cabo vendor.

Many of the wedding coordinators have a ton of resources at their disposal, so you might find they can help you get what you want for pretty much how much it would cost you to buy it and transport it down there. Do you plan to have a WC? I am not, and so am at the mercy of my own creativity and what Dreams has on hand! However, if you look at the pics from Tammy (Host) who had her wedding at Dreams, she had minimal decor and it was gorgeous- I think that's the look I'll end up going for, understated elegance!

I love the fruit idea. I have seen pics of centerpieces with limes and lemons and think they look beautiful. So, it seems that most people are putting the looks together on their own. I think I can handle it, but was curious about how everyone was going about accomplishing the decor. Thanks for the responses so far!

I never thought of fruit! What a great idea! Hmmm.... plus people could take it back to their rooms with them (unlike flowers) at the end of the night and eat it later...

I need to rethink my centerpeices! Plus I bet fruit is a whole lot more affordable than flowers!

hey kash and ali...i posted the cutest centerpeices with limes in round vases and pink flowers...how cute would that be...and limes are inexpensive!! look in the picgallery for them.

ali i guess you have to decide what type of decor you want...alot of times, the WC's will have it down there...OR some brides that are getting married at the same resort around the same time may want to consider sharing costs for lights, etc...

limes are soooooooooo cheap in Mexico. For all the limes for all my centerpieces it was like $5 total. Plus each table had a $5 candle, a $5 placemat, and a $1.5 flower. So each centerpiece was basically .......$12. I had 7 tables, so I kept my whole table decor budget to less than $100.

Other fruit that would be cute is lemons/oranges, pears/apples, maybe even red/orange bell peppers if that fits your color scheme? Or maybe a big pineapple or coconut (yummmm pina colada!) The great thing about Mexico is you can get away with really bright vivid colors!

Janet, your centerpieces are proof that centerpieces don't have to break the budget.

We have decided to use our coordinator for the glass cylinder centerpeices and I will be bringing votives alreasy in glass holders. I think that each family member will pack a box since they get heavy. Other decor items that I will be bringing include:

• DIY packable arch
• Woven fans
• Tiny starfish
• Tiny shells
• Cake topper/cake knife

I really liked how the paper lanterns turned out so we may do that as well. We're going to try to pack as much as we can. I have heard mixed reviews about shipping.