laura b

Oh, I love Babe's Noodle House! I also enjoy 100% Natural in Playa. And yes, Maggie, Dreams does have great food. It's actually the best food I've had at an AI. With the exception of the Brazilian restaurant at Grand Oasis. Not for the faint of heart.

They still haven't finished my dress that I bought from eBay, and it's been since the beginning of February. I'm bummed. But hopefully it'll be worth the wait and I won't be back at square one with three months til I get married and no dress!

I'm taking my dress on the plane...I'm going to use it as a ploy for a free upgrade!

Carrie- I'm an old bride, too, but in the respect that while I'm not married yet, I AM 37. Another year or so and my big puffy dress would just be obscene on me!

Trust me, it'll be here before you know it. I'm only getting married a month before you, and I'm freaking out that it's about 3 months away. Yikes!

I am also getting married at Dreams Tulum, people always forget. But I don't think Dreams is what you're looking for. Maybe something like Azul Blue? (but it will be way expensive). There's also a private island in Belize that looks awesome, little huts and they'll make it all inclusive for you if you want. www.cocoplumcay.com. that might be more up your alley. Hope this helps!

Just had to chime in on this one. I've been to several resorts up and down the RM, and my favorite by far is Dreams Tulum. It's a small, upscale-ish resort. I've been a few times and knew when I saw the chapel on the grounds that that's where I wanted to get married. I pay no attention to TripAdvisor. The people on there are just nuts, in my opinion. ("The ice in my drink melted once! One star!") If you want more accurate reviews, you should go to Locogringo. Those people seem to have their head screwed on a little straighter. Anyway, every resort I've been to has had a slight sewer smell in places (worse at night for some reason), and I have noticed a smell coming off the cenote at Dreams, but nothing that I would give pause over. Of course, I'm totally predjudiced because I'm having my wedding there in July, but that's my two cents.

Dang, I ordered my dress from Gianinarbridal back at the beginning of February, and they still haven't sent me even a picture of the finished result. When I emailed them last week, they said another 20-25 days. I guess that's what I get for going on the cheap. I hope it's worth it. In the meantime, I'm frantically searching for a dress for the nighttime reception. Yikes.

Another thing-- It is very confusing to me that extra guests are about $50/apiece since they all paid the all-inclusive food and drink price. Does that seem wonky to anyone else?

One of my close friends got married at the Iberostar Tucan/Quetzal. The wedding was lovely and the dinner was great, but I personally prefer a smaller, more intimate resort. Also, for some reason the bees at the Iberostar during the summer are insane! I just went there again last year and three of the five people in our group were stung just because they were getting drinks from the bar. Maybe they've got the bee problem under control, though. I've been to Grand Oasis Riviera Maya, Dreams Tulum, the Iberostars, Azul, and Catalonia Playa Maroma, and my favorite resorts so far have been Dreams, Azul, and GORM. They're all reasonable (except Azul is a little pricey) and have great beaches. Hope this helps.

Yikes. I'm getting married at Dreams Tulum, and the wc there has been great, but she never mentioned that using our iPod at the reception and wedding might incur more costs! I had better email her soon.

One of my close friends got married at the Iberostar Tucan/Quetzal. The wedding was lovely and the dinner was great, but I personally prefer a smaller, more intimate resort. Also, for some reason the bees at the Iberostar during the summer are insane! I just went there again last year and three of the five people in our group were stung just because they were getting drinks from the bar. Maybe they've got the bee problem under control, though. I've been to Grand Oasis Riviera Maya, Dreams Tulum, the Iberostars, Azul, and Catalonia Playa Maroma, and my favorite resorts so far have been Dreams, Azul, and GORM. They're all reasonable (except Azul is a little pricey) and have great beaches. Hope this helps.

Are you guys tipping before or after services rendered? (greasing the wheels vs. saying thanks, right?) I never thought of tipping the WC. Well, I thought of it but dismissed it. If we're bringing our photographer with us, do we still tip them? That whole thing seems really odd to me. Who else should I be tipping that I'm not thinking of?

I'm glad you had fun, too. I'm the same way...when they threw me a shower for my son (I'm a single mom...for three more months), I was very nervous and uncomfortable being the center of attention. That being said, my FH's sister wants to throw me a party and it sounds like a complete blast...sushi and drinks for the ladies, and then the men show up and it turns into a party with more snacks and booze. I would enjoy that, I think. My question is this: I want to invite people who aren't invited to the wedding (because I know they couldn't make it, work/kid/money constraints) just to celebrate with them. But isn't that entirely gauche? I'm thinking it is.

So, while I am patiently awaiting the picture of my dress from China to see if it'll work so I can pick flowers, colors, etc, I am also shopping for a reception dress. Since my wedding is at 10:00 a.m., I want a different, way more casual dress (short) to wear to the reception. And while I haven't fallen in love with any dress I've found so far (including the one I picked to wear to my wedding), I went shopping this weekend and TOTALLY fell in love with this Richmond dress I found. It is so crazy because it basically looks like a swimsuit coverup (gauzy tunic with plunging neckline and tie between the boobs) with lots of silver beads all over. It's so the opposite of what I was thinking, but I can't get my mind off of it. Of course it was $528, which is 3X what I'm spending on my actual wedding dress and way exorbitant seeing as you can fold it up into the size of a handkerchief. Anyone else seen any similar dresses (with a dropped waist) at a more palatable price? Remember, I am FRUGAL BRIDE. Thanks! Laura P.S. This is similar: http://www.fashionfm.it/images/galle...2006174214.jpg

Julie- I'm pretty jealous of you for getting Matt and Sol. Your pictures are fabulous! Were they crazy expensive? I'm now seriously considering getting a more avante photographer than the one the resort provides, although it is really not in the budget. Did you guys take the tulle that was hung from the palapas with you, or did the hotel do that? I'm planning on hanging some from a palapa for the FH and I to hang around in after our wedding. Didn't know if maybe that was something resorts did or we did on our own. Congratulations, and you should really be proud of the images that you guys brought home with you. They are all truly lovely.

TMelton- We are saying something like, Laura and Michael along with their parents would like to announce their marriage in Mexico on July 7th with a reception in Austin on August blahblah. Please join us in celebrating our union.

Pink sheer ribbon would be cute, too, with a little painted brown seashell. Thanks for the suggestion...I like that better than raffia. I'm not sure if we have a template or if we sort of just borrowed from an invitation website. I'll ask my FH (who put them together) and see if we have a template somewhere. A10calgal...Round Rock is okay, but Austin is way better, if you can afford it. I just moved to Round Rock from Austin recently, because it was the only place I could afford a house with a pool on a single mom budget and I work in Round Rock now anyway.

Here are my DIY invitations. Thinking about tying it together with some sort of pink raffia if I can find it.

This might sound like a stupid question, but it seems like you all are decorating for your reception dinner and stuff...I was kind of leaving that up to the resort. Is there something I should be taking into my own hands? Our invitation colors are chocolate brown and blush pink and my dress is ivory and blush pink. The FH will probably wear a tan linen suit with a blush pink shirt as will my son/ringbearer. I was thinking about getting blush pink paper umbrellas, but that's as far as I was going to really decorate. Should I be taking table runners and place cards and all that with me? Hadn't even thought of it.

Thanks, those are awesome. I had googled chokers as well, but didn't come up with the same thing. I'm anxious to get my hot little hands on my dress so I can see exactly what colors will look best with it. I am probably really going to regret a choker and a big dress in July, but once I make up my mind on something... Thanks again!

I'm looking for a necklace/choker similar to the one in this picture (this is also my dress). Any suggestions?

Sheaa- I am getting married at Dreams Tulum, so I obviously do like it quite a bit. When I was there, there was only the old part. I thought the old part was quite nice, very Spanish colonial. I'm actually more nervous about the new part! Apparently, they made it all swishy and fancy, and in a much different style than the old part (which is what charmed us in the first place). Apparently now they're painting the old part to look like the new part. In my opinion, they should have made the new part look like the old part. Very pretty and vibrant colors and beautiful architecture. As for the rooms, we loved our rooms (in the old part when there was only an old part). They, again, had tons of charm and were pretty nice for the money. The restaurants and bars are fantastic, we tried all of them and loved them all. If your wedding is going to be small (less than 20 peeps), I strongly suggest you book the chapel. It's gorgeous. Hope this helps. L P.S. Yes, they're weims. I noticed on someone else's pic that my sig pic is very dark. I'll have to post a lighter one. You have a puppy? How old? It must not be a weim if it's a good dog! (only kidding, I will probably only ever have weimaraners. They are my heart)

I'm not having dancing either, although I am bringing my iPod to set up. Instead, I've asked the wedding coordinator at Dreams to set up karaoke for us (since I know they already have the tools) and my FH and I are going to sing the first song. Cheesy, I know, but we both really have two left feet.

Jason is going to come to our karaoke thing after the wedding dinner and sing us Slipknot. Right, Jason? (No, seriously, you guys should totally crash our karaoke thing). Yes, that's right. I'm wearing a "Bride" bathing suit after the wedding. I'm wearing a great big dress for the wedding on the beach even though it's Tulum in July. I'm having a karaoke thing instead of a dance. I think Michael and I are going to get good at one song and do that instead of the couple's dance. Since neither of us can/like to dance. I am total white trash. Anyway, Jason, if you guys don't meet up with us for a drink or anything, I am totally going to kick your *ss. Because, remember, I'm...(see above).