TATrisha

Which section of the Principe are you getting married at? The walk way for the Akumal side is VERY long. I played "Lost in this moment" from Big and Rich for 5 groups of people to walk down... it had to be restarted and played again. I would say that for flower girls who will walk slower in the sand and one m.h. you should go with a four minute song.

It was really windy and the waves were crashing in the background of our ceremony... so I would say that YES, it was necessary. However that's how they usually did it at my resort so it looked professional and they did a great job.

You can have my first dress for $100 if you want it. It's in the "selling, freebies..." section of the forum. I was going to use it as a TTD after I bought my second dress, but decided I didn't want to take down two dresses!!! Not to mention, I wanted my favorite dress to be the one in all the photos! p.s. it's a beauiful dress but it looks awful on me in pictures!

That is the exact order for me. Just an FYI, the signing took longer than expected. I played Bless the Broken Road (which was a mistake, but I really didn't care) and that's about 3:44 and they had to start it over and played about 30 seconds again. Just an FYI

Shawn and I go to Chicago all the time. I would actually say to check the free trolley's route. If you do that you can stay a whole bunch of places and then take the free trolley right to Navy Pier. We always love doing that. And do you want romantic dinner or a fun dinner? Ed Debevics is always my favorite for a fun night!

What I would do again * Destination wedding. Serioulsy, it was the best decision! * Private outdoors reception. It was gorgeous and something new and different. And there is just something about dancing underneath the stars that is special. * Mugs for our guests. Everyone used them and I thought that was really neat. * Buy a second dress! I really hated my frist dress so I'm very happy I bought the second one. I LOVED it! * Hire a DJ. He was amazing and I didn't need to worry about a thing! What I wouldn't do again * I don't think I would have put everything into the OOT bags that I did. Although people used them and loved them, I really think they would have been just as happy with the mugs only. * I wouldn't have stressed so much! Dang, if I only knew how perfect it would turn out I wouldn't have worried so much * I wouldn't bother with a veil! I didn't end up wearing it anyways because it was SO windy! * I would NOT have gotten a pedicure at the resort. My pedicure from before we left was still perfect and the resort didn't have very many colors available.

That's really beautiful! How sweet is that?!? I think it'd be best if you read it to him at the reception. That way you can explain how you just knew it when you met. I think the story behind it really gives it extra special meaning.

Yeah, I used to get all excited for every little thing, and then I was SO bummed when it didn't happen. However, our trip to New York I told myself that we were NOT getting engaged and I just fully let myself enjoy the time... and poof... we got engaged. Don't ruin your trip thinking about it. Enjoy every minute of it so you can tell your friends and family about the romantic amazing day you had which ended with a proposal!

Yup, I did name cards. I just set them on a table though and people picked them up from there. They did tell me how the tables would be set up, but that's only because I had the private reception. I'm not sure what they'd do for the restaurants. For my reception it was round tables of 10. I did my own programs. I did the fan option because it was so hot out.

I'm not sure how I got any of the drinks free to tell you the truth! The cocktail hour was supposed to be held poolside, but we had it in the theater instead because she said she'd make it private and it'd be free. well what the heck! why not It was nice too because then there was a change in scenery and the pool reception was a surprise when everyone got out there. it was really nice. My hair flower is from flowerclips.com I LOVED it!

Quote: Originally Posted by jkcz0702 WOW your wedding picts are amazing! I am planning on getting married at the GB Akumal as well. How did you think it all went? Did you pick how to decorate the beach in your meeting when you got to mexico. It looks so pretty with the aqua. Do you know if they had other colors? How did you like the pool reception? We have booked our wedding for Feb 28, 2009 and are trying to determine if it will be windy/chilly at night or if we should do it inside but we want a private reception. I also saw in your photos someone playing a harp which musician package did you purchase? I wish you guys the best of luck and happiness!! OK, so first things first! I thought it went AMAZING! Seriously, it was awesome. I just wanted to cry it was so perfect! As far as the beach decorations... I brought that fabric myself. It's 10 yards, and I just showed her how I wanted it. They set it up perfectly. The flowers on the posts were an extra $40 each. The table flowers were included. The four flower stands going down the aisle were $40 a piece and then were used at the reception. They all looked amazing! As far as the pool reception... I'd do it again in a heartbeat! It seriously was AMAZING!!! And it was so fun how everyone would stop and watch or dance nearby... i felt like a movie star. It was so beautiful! The inside private reception place is the basement... and it's very low ceilings. I would recommend the pool. Perhaps just supply your guests with pashminas and then have it out there. I don't think it'd be bad. The harp... ok, this is the one part where I'm not too sure! I asked for the Jarachos... but then she couldn't remember if those were the mariachis or the trio... so I was charged for the mariachis... but I'm pretty sure that was the trio! Whatever, they were perfect! The only issue was they didn't play their full 45 minute set and they arrived 30 minutes early which left my guests sitting there for an hour fifteen in silence... BOOOO Quote: Originally Posted by CarrieRN Check out her wedding website for some pics! It is listed at the bottom of her review! They are gorgeous pics...but I feel that I speak for many of us BDWers in saying... WE WANT MORE!!!!! Anyhow, congrats Trish! Everything looked perfect. How windy was it on the beach for the ceremony and pictures? Did you get a chance to check out the Portofino restaurant? Did you pick your flowers from the book or bring pics of what you wanted? you will have more pictures soon... I promise! I had placed my full SD card in a "safe place" and then I couldn't find it! But i have located it now and hopefully I'll be able to download all of those to my wedding website tonight or tomorrow! Ok, how windy... VERY! I HIGHLY recommend you get your hair UP!!! and honestly, I couldn't wear my veil. We tried it the day before and it nearly strangled me! So, that was dissappointing, HOWEVER without the wind I would have died of heat exhaustion! It was truly perfect in the end. Portofino... no, I did not... however some of my guests did and they all enjoyed it. Flowers... I brought pictures of what I wanted and they made them perfect. The only difference was the bridesmaid flower picture I brought had green seedy looking things in them. They don't have them in Mexico so she used hydragea instead and they looked AMAZING! The bridesmaid bouquets were $35 each, my bouquet was included, mom's corsages (white orchids) were $25 each, bags of rose petals were $10 each (I bought four in addition to the one bag that's included). Anything else

The Dolce is not big at all! So I would say there is not room for dancing. I would not get the chicken parm... I didn't like it. And it won't be private... however with 50 people it'd probably be very full. It is right next to the 24 hour snack bar and is located right above the activity pool. The glassware is clear with green rims... umm... not sure what else i can tell ya

You should call your SS office first. Mine did NOT need to be translated so I just saved the money!

Alright... so, out of everything in our oot bags here are the things we know got used... MUGS! Everyone used theirs and the bar tenders really enjoyed them! It was fun! Some people used the totes, but not many actually. Suntan lotion! turns out people forget how hot the sun was! Not to mention it's a lot nicer to carry a little travel size on around with you instead of the big tubes. the SPF lip balm - savior to many, including myself! Shout wipes, those came in handy First aide kits... lots of blisters! Germ X Imodium AD Beach balls, beach buckets & accessories, squirty fish, and little footballs. That's what I saw being used. I'm sure the medications got used too... I just didn't know!

Well, I just got back from Mexico and the name change process went SUPER easy! No translations needed or anything. Now, Amanda, in regards to your question... my marriage certificate only has my maiden name on it... and it worked perfectly fine. Don't worry

Wow! She was one beautiful bride! Your pictures look beautiful like usual Juan. Very nice.

I love your slideshow! The balloon noodles at the end of the night look like they were WAY too much fun!!!

What great pictures! I'm glad I get to finally see some!!! It looked like SUCH a fun wedding!

Ok... it's only 3 pages in Word... but it could have been 15! I decided to cut out a bunch of stuff, but if anyone has any questions at all or needs to know specifics about the resort just let me know! I'd be more than happy to answer any questions!!! Engagement Photos A+ Leigh Miller took our engagement photos in Central Park. First of all, she is WONDERFUL to work with. She worked with Shawn prior to me and since he doesn’t have a cell phone and was keeping it a secret from me, I’m sure it was difficult to communicate with him. But, none the less Leigh was professional and did everything he asked for . Our photo shoot was a breeze. She was so easy to work with and our pictures turned out lovely. Everyone loves her work and made wonderful comments. Save The Dates A Well, it’s kind of weird to give this an A since I did them myself, but I’ve had very many compliments! My work printed them for me on beautiful cardstock and they turned out great. My loving parents, Shawn, and I took two hours and cut everyone out by hand so they’d be perfect… and they were. Only problem, I’m an idiot and put the wrong phone number for our travel agent! Wedding Website B+ Our wedding website (ShawnandTrishaWedding) was fun to create. I’m not sure it was worth the $85 I paid for it through ewedding.com, but I like it. I think it really got Shawn interested in the planning of the wedding and provides a lot of information to our guests. From what I hear people like not having to call us for every little question. They also enjoy Shawn’s random pictures he occasionally posts of completely NON wedding related items! Photographer A+ We hired Amore Photography for our wedding. We wanted wonderful pictures at a fraction of the cost, and they fit the bill! I found him through the BDW, but he was soon banned. None the less, he had never shot a destination wedding before and offered a wonderful deal. He quickly sent me a portfolio with some sample shots, album information, and a contract. He (and his wife) replied very quickly to e-mails prior to the wedding. For the wedding Bryan arrived on Wednesday. We met up with him on Thursday afternoon and he took some shots of us getting our nails done and then we went to the rehearsal dinner and he did some more shooting. Friday was wedding day. He met up with us at the salon while we were getting our hair done. It was quite amusing to see how confused he was  Since this was his first destination wedding he was NOT used to seeing multiple bridal parties getting ready at the same time and he took a few photos of some random people. It made us all laugh pretty hard  Our wedding photos went well… I think I haven’t seen them yet! But he was hopping around during the ceremony and I think he captured everything. Afterwards we went straight to business with shooting all kinds of fun bridal party pictures. In retrospect, I’m very upset that I didn’t get a family photo… but that’s totally my fault. Saturday morning we met for a TTD session. He had scoped out some areas in the resort that we used first, and then we headed to the Tulum Ruins. Well, that didn’t work at all. And we knew it wouldn’t going into it, so I wasn’t too disappointed. We ended up going to the public Tulum beach just down the road which was breath taking! And the ruins were VERY crowded since it was a Saturday and the public beach was empty. I can’t wait to see the pictures from that! Wedding Dress 1/ Bridal Boutique F I purchased my dress from Expectations Bridal in Hartford WI. I wouldn’t recommend this place. It’s a very oddly run store and I didn’t feel comfortable at all during the trying on, measuring, ordering, or follow up appointments. I ended up hating the dress Wedding Dress 2/Amelishan Bridal This place was amazing and I got my dream dress! They were very accommodating and I ended up ordering a brand new dress design for Spring 2008 and it arrived in two weeks and they altered it in a month. Such sweet people here. Not to mention I love my dress! I would wear that thing every single day if I could pull it off! Wedding Invites A Well, of course I gave myself an A! I made these myself and although they aren’t the coolest invitations and they aren’t perfect, I’m SO happy that I did them on my own. It cost me $200 for 89 invites. The feeling of accomplishment was well worth all the sweat and tears that went into making the stupid things  One word of advice though, DON’T procrastinate if you are going to make them yourself! I had over two months to do these but decided to finish them in three days. That’s a lot of cutting, folding, and taping to do in three days without going crazy! Another regret is the fonts I used. I’m retarded and somehow managed to use 5 different fonts! I wish my RSVP and both envelope fonts would have matched my actual invite. Ah well. Nobody noticed. Custom Mugs I ordered my mugs from discountmugs.com. The ordering process was very easy, although I had to specifically request a proof prior to printing. After that it was smooth sailing. When I had questions they would call me right back, never e-mail. It was very reassuring. When they arrived I loved them! And all of our guests used them every day and thought they were awesome. I also got many comments from other guests at the hotel who wished they had them! The Hotel – Gran Bahia Principe Akumal A++++ There were 10 of us (and two babies) that checked in at the same time. My parents and Shawn and I had booked Club Golden which are the condos right on the water, so we had a separate check in. So as our bridal party did the normal check in, we went straight to the Club Golden area. It was beautiful and we were given condo 65. AMAZING! It had a gorgeous view and I could see the wedding set up right from my window. We were also just a hop skip and jump away from the activity pool, restaurants, and the 24 snack bar. It was awesome. The rest of our guests ended up spread throughout the resort in random villas. It kind of stunk that nobody was together, but oh well I guess. The grounds of the resort are amazing. Lush and well managed with lizards running all over the place. I’m not a picky food eater… I eat pizza and watermelon and I’m happy… so I thought the food was great. Shawn too. We end up eating at two alacart restaurants. We chose Les Gourmet and Dolce Vita. Les Gourmet was fantastic! LOVED it. Dolce Vita was alright, again, we aren’t very picky. As for the wedding portion of the resort… Yurítzia is the wedding coordinator for the Akumal section. She doesn’t ever reply to e-mail messages and our meeting with her was very stressful. HOWEVER she saved us over $5,000 as she didn’t charge us for the cocktail hour or the open bar during our reception. She also gave us amazing deals on our flowers (which I LOVED) and in the end the wedding was everything I had imagined and so much more! She did an amazing job and I just wanted to hug her at the end of the night! It was awesome. There were some issues with the blood tests. We went the first time and were told they were out of supplies so we were to come back at 4. Ok, came back at 4… we were told to come back at 6. At 6 they finally got us in and it was quick, painless (well, to me anyway!), and we were done! I was really surprised by this since I have terrible veins. The wedding location that we had chosen was the hammock spot on an unswimmable portion of the beach. It was beautiful with the waves crashing and we knew there wouldn’t be Speedo men or topless ladies in our pictures  The day of the wedding Yurítzia decorated the location just as I had asked and everything looked beautiful! I was so pleased. Our cocktail hour (which she demands be two hours… which I don’t recommend!) was in the Akumal Theater Lounge. It has huge windows which can be opened so that you get a nice breeze, but it was still pretty toasty. We also had the trio playing during this time. They were really great and I am glad we spent that money. After the cocktail hour we moved to the private dinner reception. This was $46 a person and was located by the pool. It was beautiful decorated, however we really couldn’t see what we were eating! That was amusing. The food was delicious though, and the cake (three milk) was really good too, very moist. After we were done eating we started the reception with the traditional dances and then we just partied until 10:30. At which time… Shawn and I did our special dance! We preformed the final dance from Dirty Dancing (I’ve had the time of my life.) We have been practicing for a REALLY long time and everyone loved it. They all cheered VERY loud and we got the perfect reaction! It was amazing. 10:30 the music stopped and we headed to the Hacienda to take some night time photos and whoever wanted to stay out and party could (we were too tired and had our 8:00 TTD session the next morning!). The wedding was perfect and amazing and we couldn’t have asked for anything better! We were so thrilled! If anyone has any questions, please feel free to let me know. We are slowly getting pictures to trickle in… so I’ll post as soon as I can. If you are interested you can visit our wedding website which I keep updating with new photos. Shawnandtrishawedding.com

I have a wedding dress for sale too. It's on this forum some where. http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t14366 It's a size 8... but it's VERY small! I would say it's a true size 6 or possibly a 4. Let me know if you'd be interested.

Pictures of which restaurant? I can probably help you out.

well, i´m still here... but we did the xelha and i would totally recommend that. we swam with the dolphins there and it was amazing. we also tried to take ttd pictures at the ruins and it did NOT work... but we went to the public beach just down the road and i would highly recommend that for a day trip. they have beds you can use for the day and all kinds of activities... plus it´s just gorgeous!!! in regards to the private reception... it´s 46 per person plus the cost of alcohol per person ON TOP of the normal wedding package. however it was SO worth every single penny! everyone thought the food was ammazing and the reception was too. it was so awesome and i wish i could do it over and over and over and over!!!!!

was fantastic!!! It was so amazing and so much more than I had dreamed of. Anyone who is getting married at this resort will love it!!!! I´m still here, but Shawn is taking a nap before dinner. I will write all about it and show pictures when I get back... but, in case anyone was wondering it was perfect!!!!

I know this is an old thread... but while it´s sunny and beautiful here in Mexico here I sit trying to find a mother/son song for Shawn and his mom!!!! Goodness gracious!!!!! You ladies have given us some good ideas. Thanks! oo... and stop posting so much!!!

Thank you all so much! I leave in less than two hours and I need to still take a shower, so this is me... signing off! Have a great week!!