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

The scoop:

Married Nov 2, 2008 at Las Caletas, Puerto Vallarta

What I would do again:

- Follow our dreams and have a DW no matter what people said

- Las Caletas - amazing every step of the way, and by far one of the best wedding decisions we made!

- Hiring Stephany of EyeSpy Photography - she was super cool and our pictures are awesome. And just 2 weeks after the wedding we have all of our pictures in a gallery already.

- OOT bags. They were a huge hit and people loved the thought.

- Hypercolored cups. They meant a lot to us as a couple, plus our guests loved them and they prompted a big game of flip cup during dinner. So fun playing and knowing that our guests were having a good time

- Keeping the decor minimal. LC is beautiful, it doesn't need anything extravagent. We did clear stones and votive candles and I loved the simple, clean look of the table decor.

- seeing Joe before the ceremony. We had a private moment alone before the ceremony and it was great. He bawled like a baby, it was so sweet. It was nice to have that minute with just us too. It was really the only alone minute we got during the wedding day, and we both were very glad we did it.

- no programs, announcement, garter, guest book, or bouquet toss. This things were not important to us, so skipping them was a great decision.

- hire the firedancers. AMAZING. would hire them again a hundred times over

- hire the hair person. spendy but worth it. another thing i'd do a hundred times over again

- blue flip flops. even though I didn't wear them the entire night, they were fun for our TTD pics

- using sand from LC for our sand ceremony. We love that we have sand from the place that we got married.

- buying a light and airy dress

- Joe's suit from Banana was perfect

- give a toast thanking everyone for coming

What I'd do differently

- Get nicer OOT bags. We bought cheap ones expecting that people wouldn't use them. We were wrong, people used them all week all the time. We wished we would have splurged on the nicer bags.

- Mail the wedding day timeline out to guests prior to their arrival. We put the timelines in the OOT bags and I really don't think people looked at it.

- write out the cards to my parents and MOH prior to leaving for PV

- plan an excursion instead of a WD

What I wouldn't do again:

- spend the time making a huge playlist for the DJ. he was amazing and i didn't need to waste my time on the playlist

- stress about walking down the isle! surprisingly the day of i was ZERO stressed! thank god. but the week prior i was a ball of nerves.

- suggest that people bring pasminas to the wedding! i didn't know how warm PV was in November!

- spend the money on a wedding website. We bought a domain name and paid 100 for our site. It wasn't used as much as I would have thought, and a free one would have done the trick.

Trash The Dress

What I would do again

- Trash the dress for sure!

- wonder the streets and do whatever the photographer asks you to do

- simple hair

- trash it the afternoon after.

- hire a photographer that had never TTD before. we hired Stephany of EyeSpy Photography. Even though she'd never TTD before she had great ideas and directed us very well

What I'd do differently:

- wear more make up! I just wore a little eye make up. And I really wish I would have put some foundation and blush on.

what I wouldn't do again:

- consider skippig the TTD because I was being lazy. I love our TTD pictures and if I would have been lazy and skipped them I would have been royally pissed off at myself.

This thread is so awesome and helpful!!!

Ok, I know I haven't done my reviews or posted my planning thread yet but this stuff is fresh in my mind so I'll start here. Pictures are coming I promise!

What I would do again

-marry Anthony

-Jamaica, Jamaica, Jamaica (1st of many trips for me, I can't tell you how much i loved it!)

-Destination wedding (my dream come true)

-Couples Swept Away (sight unseen!)

-Invite everyone- even if I knew they couldn't come

-have Sungold as my photographer (Damian & Paula are a blast)

-have a couture dress(there are some regrets about the shop, but the dress was awesome)

-Do a welcome bag instead of OTT bag. I included Blue Mt. Coffee, Appleton Rum, a coffee scoop, and a welcome letter in disposable gift bags I decorated. Can't go wrong with food/booze.

-Negril Escape Resort for my welcome dinner (see my review)

-Get my nails, toes, and waxing done the day before I left (freed up time in JA and they all looked great)

-tanning B4 going, I never burned at all and my dress looked good.

-The custom T-shirts. This was Anthony's idea, our guests loved them!

-The Guestbook Store custom guest book, we had everyone fill out the pages at the welcome dinner and they are hysterical!

-Our rings - we went "big" and they rock!

-The almonds- ok I know everyone else hates them but in our Italian families this is a tradition, I loved the way they looked in the mini straw bags.

-bubbles for ceremony- everyone used them!

-Most importantly- not stress over the details, everything was perfect and I enjoyed my vacation! I kept the mindset that whatever happened happened, and like I said EVERYTHING was perfect, no regrets!

What I wouldn't do again

-my regret is not about the wedding itself but about the year leading up to. I should have never let family interfere with our happiness, life goes by too quickly to spend it fighting. The people that came were truly the people who wanted to be there, if they didn't come, their loss. You cannot force people to feel a certain way or be part of something.

To all future brides, trust in yourself, your FH, and your dreams!

What I would do again:

- Choose the Paradisus Palma Real. I was so happy with the resort and all my guests loved it.

- Hire Photosouvenir. Severine was great and I love all of my pictures.

- Fire Dancers. My guests were surprised and talked about them all night.

- Make the "Getting Ready for Punta Cana" booklet. My guests loved them and were prepared for their vacation. All week they kept quoting the booklet.

- Do all the projects like menus, program fans, oot bags. I think my guests really like the personal touch.

- Have a sitdown dinner. The food was incredible and it was nice for everyone to just sitdown and relax after the ceremony. The wait staff was incredible.

Things i wouldnt do again:

- reception location was the terrace by the pool which was really nice but I always wanted the reception on the beach which was what i originally planned. I chickened out because of some of the extra costs and i was afraid the lighting wouldnt be good enough. I should of looked into it more. In the end my reception was under budget so I could of had it on the beach and been on budget.

- get so much stuff for oot bags. I bought a ton of stuff from Oriental trading that was kind of cheap. I could of not bought that stuff and bought something nicer. Also guests didnt use the rafts, i think maybe one did. I way over did it.

- got married at home first. I didnt want to hurt anyone's feelings or upset anyone by getting married home first. But it would of saved us some money and I would have my marriage license now.

- Gotten ready earlier so i had more daylight for pictures. We rushed to take our pictures after the ceremony and there were some shots that we didnt get a chance to take. If we gotten ready earlier we could of taken pictures before.

Hello!

Here are some tips for future brides:

1.- Choose a theme Think about your favorite things: colors that make you happy, symbols you find meaningful, items you cherish. Whether it is an image, shape, pattern or color, find your wedding theme and use it on your wedding stationary and throughout your wedding decor.

2.- Don’t overlook small details Infuse every detail of your wedding with your personal touch. You can use fun plate settings, monogrammed napkins or original seating-assignment cards to make your reception feel one-of-a-kind.

3.- Have familiar faces Ask the little ones to pass out programs or fans at the ceremony. Ask the guys to escort the mothers and grandmothers. Ask a close friend to emcee the evening. It makes all the difference to be introduced as “Husband and Wife†by someone you cherish.

4.- Personalize your wedding vows There are many ways to write personal wedding vows. Your minister, along with your wedding planner, can help you build the best speech for your ceremony. Try to get as involved as possible in the process, and don’t forget to honor the loved ones who couldn’t make it to the wedding.

Wow- what a great thread! I just spent the last 2 hours reading each one from the beginning (and took notes)! This is such great info- thanks!!!

This is truly one of my favorite threads ~ it's such a valuable source for so many brides-to-be! Thanks to all the brides who contribute, your opinions and ideas are like gold for all us still in the planning process

What I would do again:

•Marry DH of course

•Sticking to a DW no matter what

•Wear my great dress & blue shoes

•Wear a birdcage veil—it was different and I loved wearing it

•Hiring Photosouvenir for photography & video-they were awesome!

•DIY invitations-I thought I did a good job

•Our wedding color-Choc. brown & baby blue-everything looked nice together

•Programs and Fans—I saw guests using them while they waited under the hot sun!

•OOT Bags

•Get married at home first—less hassle and money!

•Write our own vows

•Use Smartypants Boutique for the bridesmaids spa wraps-they turned out great!

•The Guestbook Store custom guest book, we love reading everyone’s responses

•Spent the night before seperately and not see each other on the day of the wedding until I walked down the aisle with my dad

What I would do differently:

•I really wish we would’ve invested more on our OOT bag contents; I feel like I really dropped the ball on this one and our bags looked cheap (IMO). But DH tries to console me by saying that most guests were not expecting anything so it was a nice surprise anyway

•Prepare a list of must have shots for Photosouvenir; they did an awesome job and capture many moments but I wish I would’ve also told her that I wanted more pictures of us with my family (since so few came) and with our daughter.

•TTD! I didn’t get to do one & I regret it every day

•Get trip insurance on DJ & prepare a play list just in case DJ doesn’t show up (like what happened to us!)

•I would not procrastinate and wait to the last minute to do all the DIY stuff!

•Hire the Dominican Trio like I originally wanted but didn’t do (don’t know why) but I heard them and they sound great.

•Pick a different city for the honeymoon. We ended up being 10 mins. down the road from our wedding resort. I wish I would’ve been more creative and chose a different town so we can explore more of the Dominican Republic instead of just Punta Cana (we were there 11 days)

•Mail a “Getting Ready†booklet or letter for guests prior to them leaving.

•Have someone (relative or friend) in charge the day of the wedding---to make sure that things are going smoothly while I’m getting dressed or away taking pictures (bc the WC sucked at doing her job, sorry!).

•Have a sand ceremony; I also dropped the ball on this one, I waited too long and then couldn’t order the containers, etc on time :sad:

What I wouldn’t do again:

•Work with Lissette from Dreams Resort. I don’t even want to elaborate (that’s a thread all on its own)

•I wouldn’t let family and friends comments/opinions get to me about our decision to do a DW