mummergirl's totally after-the-fact planning thread

being selected motm has resulted in extreme feelings of guilt over never posting my planning thread or review yet, despite having been married now for 3 months. thank you all for loving me anyway. anyway, i thought i should probably suck it up and do it already! i can't thank the ladies of this forum enough ... i both love and hate you for having so many great ideas ... you made my life hell with DIY, lol! in the end, i got lazy and scrapped most of the projects i was planning on anyway ... i had procrastinated way too much and then swine flu hit and i was more concerned with whether or not there would BE a wedding, KWIM?

here goes:

the proposal that started it all (may 18, 2007):

we started to plan a halloween '09 big-fat-at-home-traditional-wedding, and quickly discovered we'd never be able to afford it. after much deliberation (and finding this forum!), we decided on a DW, may 28 '09, at dreams cancun resort and spa, mexico.

the venue (this gazebo pic had me at hello):

we pretty much told everyone thru word of mouth and chose to forgo STDs in favor of sending out our actual invites months early. this did *not* happen, LOL. i saw some fabulous BDW'ers DIY pocketfolds and decided i must make some of my own. PROJECT FROM HELL ... mostly because i am a graphic designer and wanted them to be *perfect*. i ripped off the floral design idea from Wedding Invitations, Bridal Shower Invitations & Announcements by Wedding Paper Divas and changed it with my own colors/fonts/layout and took forever getting it just right. i *finally* sent the project to a local printer i was set on using (totally running out of time at this point) and a week later he informed me he couldn't match my colors with the process he was using! so then i was forced to contend with the color printer here at work and EVERY SINGLE SHEET of cardstock getting jammed in the printer, and the two-sided insert brochure and rsvp postcards not lining up front-to-back ... anyway i was in tears. the printer guy felt bad and offered to still cut everything for me, which was nice, but then he cut everything CROOKED! again, in tears. (i am a graphic designer! my printed items can't look like ass!) anyway it was simply too late and i just had to send them out crappy. i was so dismayed with everything that i never even took pics of the finished product. so picture all this stuff in an opalescent-apricot-colored envelopment, tied with sheer orange ribbon and a shell:

the dress, aka "something new" (allure 8531):

on me, 2nd fitting:

not AT ALL what i set out to buy (didn't want strapless or satin), but it was the one that made mom cry. oh and that's not my actual veil ... wasn't sure if i would wear one in dreams cancun's gale-force wind so i didn't want to spend the cash. my sister ended up making me one that she gave to me the morning of the wedding.

the ceremony shoes (had to go with slutty red shoes to offset the purity of the traditional wedding dress, lol!):

the comfort shoes:

to be continued ...

hair inspiration:

and hair flowers (red silk orchids):

jewelry:

necklace (something old. i used to steal this marcasite necklace from my mom all the time!)

i somehow spaced and didn't ever get earrings for the wedding! ended up borrowing a pair of studs from my mom on wedding day.

BM dresses (david's bridal/apple red. i told the girls they could buy short, red, department-store dresses off the rack, something they could wear again and not expensive, but they decided they wanted long BM dresses and chose these):

groomsmen's attire was all so last minute i don't even have pics from before the wedding. we had a tough time because they are big boys ... i had to find stuff fitting up to 3X. here are the boys (red shirts from jc penney--just happened to perfectly match BM dresses, cream linen pants from K&G) ... don't ask me why they didn't get their pants the right length:

something borrowed [starfish bouquet jewel passed to me by the lovely diana (dc22173). she included a tiny journal to track his travels ... see this thread to possibly get one passed to you: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t19677]:

here it is in my actual bouquet:

something blue (i had nothing so last minute i sewed a blue ribbon on my lace wedding undies ... and i used actual thread, not hot glue):

the wedding rings (super cheap! sterling silver matching bands bought off ebay, $60 for the pair. was sold on the sentiment ... they display the claddagh and say "mo anam cara" which means "my soul mate" in irish gaelic. DH picked them and i couldn't say no. he thinks i'm his soulmate!):

to be continued ...

the sand ceremony:

the sand ceremony script, read by DH's godmother:

"Before the two of you met, your lives were on separate roads ... each going in different directions and seemingly leading to different destinations. But somewhere along the way (through some twist of fate) you did meet, and you fell in love. Today, you find yourselves standing here together at the threshold of a new path, and have promised to forever join your once separate journeys into one.

Before each of you there is a container of sand. Each container represents the separate journeys you once were on. They also represent your own sets of friends and families, that until today were apart from each other. I now ask that you blend these individual containers of sand together.

As the sand has blended together, your lives too are joined. Your once solitary journeys have become one of companionship, as you now set forth on a single path together into your future. Your friends and family are as one as well. You will now share those who are a part of your lives as you walk hand-in-hand along the path of your marriage. Enjoy the journey always. May you remain as inseparable as these grains of sand throughout your days."

fans (couldn't be bothered with wrapping the handles, too much work!):

corsages for the moms, grandmother, and godmother (diy silk):

bubbles:

chair bows (purchased from wedding linens direct home page highly recommended):

actual setup:

programs (done DIY last minute when claudia finally gave me the order of the legal ceremony--which was WRONG anyway, lol!):

to be continued ...

oh how i heart you lisa. Seriously your such a trooper for doing this AFTER the fact. Love it all, but you already knew that

I'm probably jumping in mid thread, but so glad you did this Your invites are really nice, and I love your bouquet, it was gorgeous. I took a look at your pics the other day, but I love to see everything laid out like this. Everything looks great!!!

the guest book (a shutterfly photobook http://share.shutterfly.com/share/re...0IZtWzhy5asnIA ... see thread for more info: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...0-2#post776450):

silver pop streamers (walmart) for our reception entrance:

can't find the pic of them popping right now but it's in our slide show (see siggy)

cake serving set (from mom) and monogram cake topper (ebay):

take-home cake bags (oriental trading ... no one used these, lol):

mini-maraca escort cards (holy crap i was painting these still in the wee hours of the morning the night before we left! purchased from oriental trading and hand-painted. thank god i scrapped the idea of painting that flower design and just put it on the tags. i absolutely recommend just ponying up the cash to buy a beautiful custom maraca from mishka http://mishkadesignspv.blogspot.com/...er-name.html):

the OOT bags/favors:

the bag (purchased from target, pic courtesy of billysbride i think):

the card inside:

chrome heart luggage tags (ebay):

koozies (bought from oriental trading--poor quality--but i bought them after failing at making my own DIY with iron-on transfers):

to be continued ...

OOT bag stuff continued:

mini-maraca bottle-opener keychains (ebay):

puzzle books (dollar store) and spanish/english pocket dictionary (ebay):

shell soaps (pier one):

mexico postcards (group purchase split with other BDW'ers! http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...0-2#post653639)

beach balls (oriental trading):

baggy of stuff (hand sanitizer, bandaids, gum, shout wipes, rolaids, etc):

DIY bookmarks:

BM & GM gifts:

i got my bridesmaids gift certificates to the resort spa/salon (had originally also purchased these bracelets http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...761#post720094 and got screwed by bad chinese company ... do NOT get enticed by their super cheap prices ... they sent me the completely wrong items and i had no recourse or way of tracking anything ... ugh)! DH paid for his groomsmen to go golfing, plus gave them personalized golf tees/balls (sorry no pic).

i think that's it! whew! now i know why i put this off so long! i had centerpiece and cake inspirations too but i ditched centerpieces altogether and just took whatever cake the resort would offer, so not worth posting here. overall, it was a fantabulous day, and i'm soooo glad i chose a DW!

our wedding pix are available at http://tomlisa09.shutterfly.com

or check out our photographer's slide show at www.momentsthatmatterphotography.com (click "galleries," then "dreams cancun, thomas & lisa"). lincoln and lori of moments that matter photography were a pleasure to work with ... i can't recommend them enough!

WOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!

I have tears of joy reading this! I thought the day would nver come for your planning thread!!

Everything looked great, I bet your guests loved it, Coug!!

Everything looks awespme Lisa!!! Where did you get your comfy shoes and sand ceremony set?

Awesome, thanks for sharing. Great ideas!