Wendy's Planning Journal Iberostar Rose Hall Suites Wedding

[wendyjd]

 

We just returned from Jamaica and had an amazing time there.  Thanks to Tammy for creating and maintaining this amazing site.  And thanks to all the girls whose templates I used for all our wonderful wedding creations.

 

Mark and I were engaged over a year ago.  I thought he was joking when he proposed.  We have both been married before and I vowed never to do it again.  Then one evening while getting ready to go out he drops a ring box in my hand and just stares at me;  I didn’t know whether to laugh, cry or jump for joy.  I guess the answer is obvious now but at the time he wasn’t sure.  I did say yes after a few minutes of staring at it.  All this happened in our bathroom.

 

After a long decision (and some family drama) we decided on a destination wedding in Jamaica at the Iberostar Rose Hall Suites.   We took 7 people with us, during our week there we had a 5 yr anniversary, a 10 year anniversary and a 1 year divorcary.  My brother did not travel with us as he wouldn’t fly but his fiancé and his daughter were there to represent him.  We all had a blast and I can't imagine not doing a DW!!!  I have ZERO regrets about this decision.

 

We sent out save the date luggage tags, below is the thread with them (I can't find a pic to post here but its in the link):

 http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/54751/my-std-luggage-tags

 

 

For our invites, we decided to do boarding pass invites.  I know they are commonplace here but no one we sent them to had ever seen them.  Once again, thanks to the ladies here for the template… it saved many arguments with my new husband.  My mom and my brother’s FI helped me cut and assemble them one day which was a life saver.  I only sent out about 25 invites, can’t imagine making them for lots of people.  Below is the link to the invites:

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/56668/my-boarding-pass-invites

 

We used vistaprint for our AHR invites (we sent to people who didn’t get wedding invites).  That’s next weekend so I’ll let you know how that goes later. 

[wendyjd]

Continued:

 

I found my dress on my first shopping excursion, at Davids no less...  It had POCKETS and was shorter in the front, full length in the back.  It worked perfectly for our wedding.  I had the zipper converted to a corset back just because I like a corset back better and wanted pink on the dress.  I also found a second dress on craigslist for my TTD session, which was a blast.  I don’t have any pics of that yet. No one was there except the photographers, family was recovering.  Everyone on the beach and pool enjoyed seeing us jump in. 

 

Shoes were a different story all together.  Knowing the ceremony was going to be on the beach, I wanted wedges but dressy ones which are not easy to find.  While on a work trip to Vegas I found them and then ended up making the flowers for the shoeclips, I searched youtube and found a tutorial on making yoyo flowers.  They are really easy and just require a small amount of synthetic fabric cut into various sizes of circles then the edges are burnt with a lighter to make them cup up into a flower shape.

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/63738/diy-shoe-clips-could-be-hair-flower-too

 

I wanted pearls and some sparkle for the jewelry and happened to find a necklace I loved at TJ Maxx.  The bracelet was purchased from etsy seller PgsGemspiration.   It was perfect and she was a great seller.

 

 

For our OOT bags (which I never heard of before this site), we ordered from discountmugs.com.  I had a great experience with them, I’ve read negative reviews from others on this site.  We ordered really early  and ended up with plenty left-overs, I guess they will be our grocery bags.  Absolutely all our guests loved them.  My mom made smaller jute bags that I used for the “hang over kits.† I included aloe, tums, immodium, propel water packs, and ibuprofen in the hang over kits.  In the bag, we had flip flops, personalized cups/mugs (which were not needed or used, but they were from dollar tree), sunscreen, flashlights, koozies, an activity book, mints, gum and glow bracelets which we all wore the night of the the wedding.  Some even ended up in my bouquet on the cake table.

 

More to come

[Aumuller]

Congratulations! You looked amazing. I love your invites they turned out perfectly.

[wendyjd]

We ordered our wedding bands online, Mark wanted a simple hammered band and I wanted an eternity band.  Mine was from Mr Jewel on ebay who was great to work with.  We ended up ordering a second set from etsy which had our fingerprints on them.   We haven’t worn those yet but I plan to use it for work.  I can’t see wearing that many diamonds to the clinic every day.  I can't find a pic of hubby's band but here is a link to it:

http://www.forevertungstenring.com/tungsten-wedding-rings/hammered-wedding-bands/

mine:

 

I was able to be on Karla’s travelling starfish which was my something borrowed and blue.  I found a hot pink rhinestone starfish ring which I added to my bouquet as well.  I will always have a story to tell with the ring.  I put it in my carryon when returning from a trip to California and was searched at LAX because the TSA people thought it was a ninja/throwing star.  So I guess that makes me a ninja bride!!

 

I made a floating orchid backdrop to be used at the wedding but it was so windy that day that they knotted up and were removed before the ceremony.  We just had the pink and white fabric on the huppa but it really popped against the ocean.  We had the steel drum band perform as our music and it was worth it.  It added a true Jamaican feel to the ceremony.  We did the sand ceremony and to make it more islandy, we used red stripe light bottles instead of vases that we used to pour the sand into our vase.

 

 

I think that’s all but it seems like I did so much more over the past 6 months of planning. 

[jonesr1979]

Hey Wendy!

 

You looked beautiful. Love the pink detailing you added to the back of the dress. Everything looked amazing. Thank you so much from all the fellow IRHS brides. I am so glad i choose this resort and Marcia Roberts as well !!

 

XOXO

[eholt]

Love the pics.  Everything looks great.  I tried on that dress @ David's and loved that it was fun and flirty!  I am super excited about heading to IRHS each time I see a review.  Where did you have your reception dinner?  Details please.

[wendyjd]

I'll be posting a review of IRHS, just received notification from Tammy that it has been added as a resort.  I hope to have it done by next weekend, although that may be a lofty goal as our AHR is Saturday!!  We had dinner at Aunt Ruby's (the steak house)... was the worst service we had all week but the food was good.  Stay tuned, I promise I'll get a review done. 
 

Originally Posted by eholt 

Love the pics.  Everything looks great.  I tried on that dress @ David's and loved that it was fun and flirty!  I am super excited about heading to IRHS each time I see a review.  Where did you have your reception dinner?  Details please.

[lisa203]

Everything looked fabulous! Congratulations Wendy!

[sunstarsmoon]

wow I love your dress,  everything looked great!

[mistibuard]

I really, really like your dress Wendy!! Congratulations! I hope the AHR goes well.