HBBRIDE

Looks like a perfect day! Thank you for sharing.

I have been to Hilton too! My ceremony and cocktail reception are on the sand and the reception at the Sun Fun Hut (We are having 40-50 guests). They are both nice but it depends on what you are looking for. The Sun Fun Hut is off to the side away from the main pool. There is a pool by the Sun Fun Hut but it is closed when weddings are in progress...at least the two weddings I witnessed while I was there...they closed down the area. The wedding reception I did see at the Dolphin Terrace is right below the main pool. They do not close the main pool and there are alot of lookie-lu's hanging over the edge of the infinity pool. The Dolphin Terrace is the middle of the hotel grounds..kind of. They both have great views.

Hi Girls, I am am getting very excited as our date is less than 3 months. I did pick all my food for my event but it was easy since we are doing the Mexican buffet, we will have tray passed hors d'oeuvres during the cocktail reception. We will also host a "welcome reception" the day before the wedding and we chose the "golf package" from the appetizer menu but made some changes. We didn't want a full dinner. We will also host drinks for the welcome dinner. For the wedding we will host open bar and will not do a cake. The dessert that is served with the buffet will come out later in the evening. Music: I went through Hilton for guitarist (for ceremony), mariachis (for cocktail hour - which is 1 1/2 hour) and DJ for dinner/dancing. I did find that the mariachis were more expensive through Hilton but I do not have an outside coordinator so this was convenient for us. I actually met with the DJ back in October and we are okay with them too. Flowers: this is another story....I was reccommended to Mazarte Floral and met with her in October also. I really liked her however her pricing was super high. I was quoted $280.00 for my bouquet and I just didn't want to pay that. Since flowers are not one of my top priorities I decided to look into The Flower Cart as someone on this board recommended. I have been corresponding with Francine and have recieved pricing that is much more reasonable. She quoted me $85.00 for my bouquet and $55.00 for my sister's. I didn't want anything too fancy just calla lilies for my bouquets and casa blanca lilies for my tables which I am ordering the by the "bunch" since I only need single stems for my tables. The correspondence is slow so I called Francine this week followed up by an email and have not heard back. I hope to have this booked/confirmed early next week. Oh...I will also order our bamboo canopy to stand at for our ceremony from The Flower Cart. I actually just heard from Emeline regarding my details today but will not have confirmed numbers until March 2nd since my response cards are not due until then. I have sent out half my invites and the rest will be out by Monday. I am a little disappointed at the moment...as I had wanted square tables of 8 and Emeline cannot find floor length white lienens for these tables so I may be to bring them from here if I can find them here...I just found this out today. I am now in search of these linens. My mom is making my napkins and table runners since I wanted olive green and that color was not available over there. Talk to you all soon!

Oh my...I am cracking up right now...thinking what do we have in store for us! Oh well...nothing I can do about it. We are getting married on Good Friday...right in the middle of spring break. When we chose the date we knew it was around Easter but we didn't want to wait any longer. This engagement seems so long to us as it is. I'll have to let you guys know how it goes!

If you want to go the Mexico route...I would suggest Playa Del Carmen. We loved it there and would stay there insted of in Cancun next time we go!

I also used this company to order Koozies and I am waiting for them to be shipped to me. I got the website from this board...so thanks ladies. I used artwork they already had.

Natasha, Thank you for sharing! This is great information.....especially the hem on dress....I plan on being barefoot during entire ceremony and cocktail recpetion since both are on the sand.....your advice is great! And...I too would like to have any additional tips from new brides...I will look forward to hearing from you Rebecca!

Rebbeca, What a beautiful bride you were! The pictures tell such a great story. Everything looked perfect. It makes me so excited!! Only 4 months from tomorrow. I can go back in your post and look but....who did your hair? Who did you use for flowers?

Hi Ana, I asked Raina that same question...and I did use her wording and changed slightly....I wrote: "Chic spring attire in shades of white, cream or khaki requested". I just got my invitations today and I am super happy with them. I will take pictures sometime this weekend and post them.

Juan, These pictures are fabulous! We can't wait for our turn!

We are also having a party in my hometown on Cinco De Mayo. This is close to 1 month after our wedding and after our honeymoon. We thought the 5th of May would be great since we got married in Mexico. This party is nothing fancy...but will be fun. It will be fiesta theme with Mariachi's and all!! And this is more for my parents friends and family who didn't attend the wedding.

Hi Sarah, Here is the website for the flip flops! Flip Flop Trunkshow.Com: sandals - shoes - footwear - women's sandals - women's shoes - havaianas flip flops I must say they are adorable!!! I am a flip flop girl....my heels come off at 5pm (sometimes 7pm) and I am in flip flops!!! You can get the actual flip flops in differnt colors (using same stones) so I will buy black to take on our honeymoon. I know I won't wear them much only after the ceremony and honeymoon but I couldn't pass them up! I did not show Matt as I want to surprise him. He will think I am silly but he will eat it up...that it says Mrs. Snider. I think they will make a great prop for a picture!

Here is wording with incorporating the children..... Blending the Sands Ceremony #2 - Bride, Groom and Children Minister: _________ and _________, today you are making a life-long commitment to share the rest of your lives with each other and honor your children as well. Your family relationship is symbolized through the pouring of these individual containers of sand; one, representing you, _________ and all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be, one representing you, _________, and all that you were and all that you are, and all that you will ever be and another container for each child. There are children who will share in this marriage. The gathering of this new family will have a deep influence upon them. We realize that in order for the home to be a happy one, it is essential that there be love and understanding between the children and the adults being married. As you each hold your sand the separate containers of sand represent your lives to this moment; individual and unique. As you now combine your sand together, your lives also join together as one family. You may now blend the sand together symbolizing the uniting of the children and bride and groom into one. Just as these grains of sand can never be separated and poured again into the individual containers, so will your marriage and your family be.

Hi Sarah, We found my mom's dress at Macy's. I am constantly looking (wherever I go) since my sister is my only bridesmaid (well matron of honor). So I know I can get something off the rack. Then we came across this dress for my mom....I think it is just perfect for her!! I have to give some big credit to Tammy for showing us her Birthday dress too!! I think my sister is going to wear that dress. It is SO darling!!! We found it at Nordstroms...we are trying to order it in her size. SO thank you Tammy!!!

Matt & I will incorporate the "blending of the sands" into our wedding. There are a couple websites out there to buy kits from but they are expensive and don't look all that great. I bought a really cute small vase and will use that and then order the sand or Michael's carries colored sand. "Blending of the Sands" is what I will use instead of unity candle (since we are not getting married in a church as my dad would have liked). So therefore we are including our parents in the blending. We will have 6 different colors of sand and since Matt's parents are divorced....we will have the mom's go up with their sand, then the dad's, then us. We thought this would be a great way to blend our families. His mom is so excited to be included in the ceremony!!! We will use something similar to this...... Blending the Sands Ceremony #3 - Bride, Groom and Parents Minister: _________ and _________, today you are making a life-long commitment to share the rest of your lives with each other. Your relationship is symbolized through the pouring of these individual containers of sand; one, representing you, _________ and all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be, and the other representing you, _________, and all that you were and all that you are, and all that you will ever be. As you each hold your sand the separate containers of sand represent your lives to this moment; individual and unique. As you now combine your sand together, your lives also join together as one family. At this time, I would invite the parents of _________ and _________ to come forward. These four vials of sand represent the bride and groom and each family. You may now blend the sand together symbolizing the uniting of the two families into one. Just as these grains of sand can never be separated and poured again into the individual containers, so will your marriage and your families be. Visit this website for more wording for sand ceremony.... Blending of the Sands Ceremony

So detailed...I love it! And I thought I was detailed. Thanks!!

Yes, thank you! Janet, I will probably use your timeline as my guide.

Matt proposed to me two years to the day we met which was February 20th. This February it will be 3 years and we are getting married in April...can't wait!

Christa, Those are super cute. Envelopments are super popular right now. We are actually using envelopments for part of our invitations. I went yesterday to see our proofs and then tomorrow my mom will be in town so she will see and then I will order. I should have my invitations to post in a few weeks.

Sarah, They do not have the color linen I would like so I have to order from someone else or bring my own...or change my color!! I want an olive green color...I saw it in a magazine from another cabo wedding...I'll try and scan it cause I love everything about it!! I am having square tables or one long one (depending on # of people) so I only need colored runners so my mom might make them.

Karla, All of your pictures are amazing!! Thanks for sharing all of your information. I had some of the same questions as the others. I really loved your hair. I am still debating on veil or no veil and I really like how yours looked! The flowers in the hair is a must for me. I will take a look at the website you posted.

Hi Kashmira, We are actually doing the Mexican Buffet for our dinner. We love mexican food knew we wanted this no matter where we got married. We have gone to Cabo the past two years with my company and have the Mexican Buffet each time. It was super good and much to choose from!!! I have always wanted plated but with Buffet people have options and can have seconds of whatever. We will have tray passed hors d'oeuvres at our cocktail reception which is on the sand. We are also having our "Welcome Reception" at the Hilton the night before the wedding. We are having it at the Blue Marlin Terrace and we will serve cocktails and the "Golf" package which is under their Canapes & Hors d'oeuvres menu which includes: Cocktail suasage in puff pastry Meat ball in BBQ sauce Chicken Wings (in place of fried won ton) Mini Ham & cheese quesadillas Mini potato croquets Mini hamburgers (in place of stuffed vegetable tempura gondolas) Mini Pizza We are not having a rehersal dinner and instead we are having a welcome reception for everyone. We will have a slideshow at the welcome reception too! So our guests will know it is not a full dinner...we worded it "sip, munch & mingle"

Here are my shoes to wear after the ceremony...once I am the MRS.!!! I didn't plan on wearing fancy shoes since...1. I want to be comfortable 2. both my ceremony and cocktail reception both are on the sand 3. I will be dancing all night! I probably should wear heels for pictures since I am 5ft tall and Matt is 6'5....but I went for comfort. http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=d2b8lf6.6o41xm2e&Uy=-g4yk1a&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromsha re&Ux=0

Here are my save-the-dates. I saw something similar on-line and I thought I could put them together myself. I had the actual cards made but did everything else myself. They were fun to do! http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=d2b8lf6.cbsf13hy&Uy=eqav dw&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&U x=0

Okay, now that I know how to work kodak gallery...I can post my stuff!! Here is my mom's dress: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=d2b8lf6.2ado7iie&Uy=jawg y7&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&U x=0