My wedding so far...need feedback plz...long

I contacted a possible photographer (Vanessa Vargas) and she suggested I tell her a little about our wedding, so I did and it turned into a lot about our wedding. And i realized I have a lot to figure out still.

 

Pretty much I know what I want but don't know the order and I need to figure something out so I can decide how many hours we need to hire the photographer, videographer, musicians.

I was hoping for some feedback on my timeline. Any suggestions would be welcome. TIA

 

Dreams Tulum: Wedding in Paradise (free) Package and adding little extras

• We are having a small wedding with only those very close to us. It will be on the beach (unless it rains- then DT's backup-the chapel) and very casual.
• 15 people minimum including Tim and I.
• Tim and Erica
• Mom and Dad
• Mami y Papi
• E’s sister + husband
• T’s Brother + wife
• T’s Brother + wife + 1y/o baby
• T’s two single brothers

• 20 people maximum if 6 invited friends come.
• Symbolic ceremony at 12noon
• I want both my parents to walk me down the isle, and T's parents to do the same for him.
• We are having only one attendant each: my sister as MOH, one of his brother's as BM
• Colors: Pink dress for MOH and possibly MOB, unsure of everyone else, but want all guests to coordinate (ie: shades of bue and greens, with khaki pants for men)
• We will not be having a reception, and I am not sure about the timeline after the ceremony: ie: cake and champagne, pictures, dancing, eating..
• I want us to have Lunch or Dinner together at some point –most likely at the buffet (only place not charging service fee per person)- I am very budget conscious
• not sure how important pictures of luch/dinner would be to us.
• I am thinking of hiring a trio romantico (if I can find the rigth one for the right price) for the ceremony and maybe a little afterwards- so that would determine if we do first dances.
• I-pod music might have to be it and then I have no idea if/when we will do dancing.
• I want to do cake cutting and champagne toasts; either on beach or other area.
• If it is right after ceremony and we have live music still then maybe do first dances before or after cake.
• Not sure what is said during the symbolic ceremony but we would like to exchange rings, I Do's, modified lazo ceremony (to honor my mexican roots/parents), a ceremony or reading to honor Tim's roots/parents (traditional/German/Irish), a shell or stone blessing ceremony to include all guests and a sand ceremony for Tim and I.
• I do not plan on having bouquet or garter toss- Tim's a little dissapointed about the garter.
• First dance/father daughter dance/ dancing: I'm torn on this one; didn't think I wanted this, but after being in Sis's wedding and having a great time on the dance floor (after a few drinks) I am rethinking and also, Tim has said this is something he wants in our wedding-not quite sure how or when to work it in. We talked about doing the disco later in the day- but our wedding is at noon so it would be quite a while, not sure if we would have pictures other than ones taken by guests then.
• The more I think about it, the more I want a videographer for at least our ceremony and possibly for cake cutting. - My sister just sent us her wedding video and even though I dreaded seeing myself on camera, I loved it and it holds such special memories and we got to see things we missed.
• any good affordable (really affordable) videographer recommendations?
• Our main priority is having great visual memories of our guests and ourselves enjoying our wedding weekend, we want everyone to feel loved and know that they mean a lot to us as we join our lives and families together.
• We would like pictures on the beach and in other areas of resort.
• We would like individual and group pictures
• We would also like to do pictures with each guest/couple/family.
• Pictures of Tim and I at the Tulum Ruins would be nice, but not a necessity-maybe some mild trash the dress if we are feeling adventurous
• Pictures of us gettting ready would also be nice.
• Some direction with posing would be nice- I won't say who's side, but I have a pic of part of our group in which they are standing a foot apart from each other like they're strangers!LOL! I would like alittle more chumminess in our pics
• also having someone who speaks spanish would be great for my parents.
• We prefer having a CD of all images as opposed to having a ton of prints.
• a few really great prints would be nice
• I have some specific shots like wedding rings on a local newpaper showing the date, and all the girls with parasols that I would like.
• What is the best way to make a list of these?

Woah girl! I think the most important thing is to really take a step back and breath... I am a compulsive planner, so my suggestion is to separate everything into categories (ceremony, reception decor, photographer, videographer, music, food, cake (I think the cake gets it's own category). Next thing you do is set down a realistic budget. That doesnt mean what you wish you could spend - more like what you are willing to spend to get what you want. FI and I decided on a $ amount before talking about the wedding, and we found out that we were waaaay off the mark once we started the planning.

 

As far as your timeline, I noticed that you are getting married in May. Are you totally sold on a noon wedding? I only ask because it is really freakin hot and humid in RM in May (high 90's), and I don't know if you are going to want to be out in that kind of heat in your wedding dress. If you are committed, I would strongly suggest using the gazebo! From what I know, weddings are usually around 4-5 hours, but it can be shorter without a full dinner. If you are willing to do a sunset ceremony, you could always do a sit down dinner (at one of the AI hotel restaurants). I am not familiar with Dreams, but do they have a club/disco in the hotel? I bet you could save tons of money by asking the DJ there to play your songs!

 

As far as the photographer, believe me, the photo poses are the last of your worries! Since you are anticipating 15 people, I don't think you have to worry about getting all your shots in. Looking over what you want, I think most of those are standard shots at a wedding. Once you commit to a photographer, email your list to him or her and that will be that Also, check with the photographer to recommend a videographer that meets your needs. I totally agree that you should atleast video the ceremony. If it is outside of your budget, what about asking one of your guests to grab a digital video camera?

 

I am starting to ramble... let me know if I can help with anything else

Vanessa got Jason & Karen in touch with a videographer that was very reasonably priced.

I bought a used (buy really small & nice) camcorder on amazon for $130. I'll have a guest record the ceremony. Then we'll have the camera with us all week to record other stuff in mexico. It doesnt compare to what a videographer would do. You always see them with their cameras on a pole getting good angles. But it's better than nothing. I will edit the footage myself.

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...o-salcedo.html

Thanks! Vanessa just emailed me back with Juan Alfredo's email

About the 12pm wedding...I'm the 3rd wedding that day, don't know what times the other two are but it was either that or 5pm and FI said he wanted it early. It's pretty much set. I will have parasols and hopefully the wedding canopy thingy; not sure if that is what is considered the gazebo at DT.

Galit- You're so right about not worrying about getting all the shots I want since there aren't that many people. My sis just said at her wedding she wished she had a list since she didn't get pics with people she wanted.

I do have a budget, it's just kinda wierd since we will paying about 10+ thousand for travel/hotel for ourselves and family. We are trying to stay as far below 20 as we can. I have given us about $1,200 for anything wedding ceremony and mini-reception related, like: more cake, champagne, flowers, decor, and music-anything not included in our free pkg. But I don't want to blow more than half on live musicians, really considering I-pod (will have later like Morgan's camera) and taking advantage of the disco DJ. Everything else is split into photography/video, attire, at home reception, with some left over for spending.

What do you think of splitting the wedding day? having the ceremony, then cake+ drinks, and pictures, and then leaving our guests while we do pictures at the ruins at Tulum and then meeting up with everyone around 6ish for dinner, evening show and disco?

I totally hear you on the budget! MY future inlaws (who are paying for the wedding) dropped a HUGE bomb on us when they announced that if we insisted on making everyone fly to Mexico, that they wanted to pay for every guest's stay (2 nights). FI and I found ourselves being the only ones who wanted to save them money! ... but I digress...

About your timeline: I think it can work as long as you talk to your guests and explain the timeline. I don't know if it's important to you or not, but you might have to ask your guests to stay out of the pool and dressed in their clothes (while you are at the ruins) for the dinner and dancing. Also, I would consider doing the champagne toast/drinks after the ceremony, but save the cake for the dinner celebration. I think saving the cake will make the dinner more "wedding-ish."

Ooh. I think I like that idea, even though I was kinda looking forward to doing desert before dinner just for kicks. I will have to try and work something out. I almost have the timeline figured out, I wil have to run it by my MOH and a few other people too.
How does this sound?

11 am- Get ready
12 pm- Ceremony
12:30- Champagne+ cake?+ first dances? + pictures
2 pm- Pictures at Ruins
----Snack/lunch before going
----everyone else can hang out, have lunch, swim, nap...ect
5pm-Get ready for dinner
6pm- Dinner + (cake?)
9pm- Night show ===> Disco

read the post about the ttd at the ruins (by matt adcock). This is a protective site, they charge 500$ to have pictures taken there. They only allow a few tourist pictures. I am affraid with you wedding dress, they might say no... also, you will need to walk alot before you get to the ruins beach...you will be very hot and with many other people... the best time to go there is at 9 am.

Oh no. 500 dollars or pesos? I can't for the life of me find that post. Do you have a link?