Karen

Happy Birthday!!!! Enjoy!

My thoughts and prayers are with you! Get better little jack!!!

I definately think to veil or not to veil is up to the bride. My stepmom in law and one of my friends did not wear veils and they absolutely looked beautiful and bridal. I went back and forth about the veil as I was having an informal beach wedding. But I went with a very simple fingertip length blusher veil ($20 at Davids) because I knew my hubby would appreciate it and it made me feel oh so bridal. But thats me. It was a bit of a pain in the neck on the beach. It constantly blew in my face. Jay and i had to switch places during the ceremony and during pics due to it but I loved how I looked and it was great for pics. Keep in mind there are all sorts of styles and lengths of veils. So try a few but go with what you like. Don't get fenced in by whats too formal or not. Its your day, if you want cathedral length, go for it!!!!

Thanks Everyone! Laura, I can't wait to see your pics!!!! And I continue to look at Jay...just amazed that he's my guy and now my husband. He bought a Mexican Wrestler mask in Cancun and was just walking around the house with it on. Now he's on the phone to his grandma on the porch. How can you not love that guy? I'm preaching to the converted....BDW is AKA Jason Lambert Fan Club. Phase II at Cancun was great but the resort was not as great. Our room was beautiful ...giant bed with canopy and all. It was good though cause Oasis Playa is adults only and mostly attracts Europeans. There were lots of topless women, guys in speedos, and drunk people making out in the pools. So dreams had this romantic, wholesome vibe and oasis playa had a sexy cosmopolitan vibe. It was actually a very good mix for the honeymoon. 'nuff said.

oops...just realized I did that post under Karens name. It was Senor Jason writing

I am un-hijacking my thread now! Thanks everyone for the welcome home and all the congrats. As for Laura and Michael....... We are both so glad we got to meet up with them. The two of them and their son are such awesome people. I only wish we got to spend more time hanging out with you guys. But, with all of your wedding activities and family and friends there it was difficult. We did get to see the Laura and Michael wedding though and it was fantastic. Of course all the details will be left to them. I did get some really great photos of the whole event that I will email from work tomorrow.

We were married in an intimate beach ceremony for two on 7/4/07. Things weren’t too complicated in the planning of our wedding since we eloped. We arrived at Dreams on 6/30/07 and stayed there until 7/8/07, at which point we moved the honeymoon to the Grand Oasis Playa in Cancun until 7/12/07. Here is a summary of our wedding experience at Dreams. Dreams Tulum Resort & Spa: Overall this place was wonderful!!! The grounds were beautiful and clean as was our room. The staff were so friendly and appeared to actually love their work. I don’t think we were ever not greeted with a smile by any of the staff. The food was great. We dined at all but one of the restaurants. There is 24 hour room service. No wrist bands or towel cards!!! This was nice. The liquor was all top shelf. We received a room upgrade to a Jr. Suite with an ocean view. The room was gorgeous and outfitted with minibar, free safe, spacious bathroom complete with large shower area, twin sink vanity area, and jacuzzi tub. We had a large terrace and the room decor was tasteful. We received turndown service every other night or so. Not sure about why this was not every night. After we returned from dinner on the night we arrived, we were greeted with a bottle of champagne, a plate of fruit, and a welcome letter from the general manager. The only downside to our room was that it was right over the disco so techno music was our lullaby almost every night. There were a lot of families here and a lot of Americans. The atmosphere was pretty wholesome and laid back. Almost everyone we talked to was there for a wedding or getting married there! There was entertainment nightly and by the pool during the day which was petty standard resort stuff. We loved that there was not a timeshare salesman in sight. The beach was very pretty and clean. We didn’t usually have a problem finding a palapa with lounge chairs if we saved them on our way to breakfast. It is rocky under the water so bring water shoes! Servers were very attentive when bringing beach side drinks. I recommend the Miami Vice (half strawberry daquiri and half pina colada). Spa (Hair & Makeup): Since the ceremony was at 10 a.m., my appointment was at 7:30 a.m. Victor was my stylist & makeup artist. He has worked on various television shows and has 20 years experience. His resume included working for the show Temptation Island and for Playboy. I brought a picture of a simple chignon, thinking this would best compliment the dress and be simple enough for anyone regardless of skill to replicate. What I loved about Victor is that he was sweet and listened to what I wanted but also advised me according to his expertise and took his own spin on the chignon style. I was so pleased on how I looked on the big day. Sandra (WC): Sandra met with us the night we arrived and we liked her right away. She was friendly and accommodating. During our meeting we picked out flowers, cake, and planned or wedding schedule including a wedding luncheon on the beach. I was so relieved and just felt so pampered after meeting with her. Sandra worked her bootie off for us and made herself available to us night and day. My only criticism of the wedding planning team at Dreams is that there is just not enough staff to accommodate all their weddings. There is just Sandra and her assistant Landy. There were usually multiple weddings every day. S & L would be there every day morning til 1 a.m. on average. I don’t care how good you are, balls will be dropped when there is under staffing. Our wedding went pretty smoothly and Sandra was very detailed oriented. She arranged for breakfast to be delivered to my room at 7 a.m. and for me to have mimosas while I got ready. My dressing assistant never showed so our photographer, Vanessa, was nice enough to zip me up. Other than that all our needs and requests were tended to. I was also very pleased that Sandra arranged for our blood tests (required per Mexican marriage requirements) to take place at her office. The med tech was professional, accurate with a needle, and left no bruises!! Sandra arranged for Jay to have his own room the night before. This turned out to be great as it afforded us the opportunity to reflect and chain smoke (lol) privately before the biggest day of our lives. Wedding Day: Our ceremony was scheduled for 10 a.m. but did not occur until 10:30 a.m. due to the flowers arriving late. I was transported to the wedding site via golf cart. The site on the beach was beautiful, relatively quiet, and secluded. The canopy was decorated in white fabric and pink and white flowers to coordinate with my bouquet of pink roses. I was very pleased with the flowers. Jason and I did not want processional music as we only wanted to hear the crashing of waves and birds chirping when we saw each other. Our Judge was English speaking and truly wonderful. Our ceremony was very religious (Christian references everywhere) despite the fact it was civil. I loved this but I’m not sure every one would especially if you are not Christian. Our Judge was very sweet and seem to really care that our marriage started off right and that it be a lasting union. Our song (Can’t Help Falling in Love by Elvis) played while we had our first kiss. Just beautiful!! Bystanders applauded and cheered. We had champagne and tequila toasts immediately after the ceremony. We then cut the cake, a mini two tier tres leche cake (so cute and yummy!). After that was photography and a private luncheon on the beach. I had surf and turf. Jay just had turf. We then called our family and hung out on the beach for a while then got ready for dinner...YEP I’m talking about the highly anticipated much discussed Lambert Wedding dinner. Jay arranged for us to have a private candlelit dinner at sunset on the beach in Akumal. The dinner was provided by the restaurant Lol-Ha which was near the dinner area. The dinner took place under a palapa that had crisp white cotton draping the four sides of the structure. An aisle of Tiki torches led to our dinner site. It looked like something described in a romance novel. There was live Flamenco guitar and dancing in the restaurant which we could hear from our table along with crashing waves. A stray kitty came to visit us and to taste my Mahi Mahi. The food was amazing and the whole experience was just so romantic. I was just brought to tears and could not stop smiling at my incredible husband. I must have done something good in my life to deserve this truly beautiful man. We had to leave this little piece of paradise to go in the restaurant to have Mayan Coffee after dinner since fire is involved in the table side preparation of this yummy after dinner drink! When we returned to our room, we found we had a very special turn down service. I won’t go into detail as it’s a nice surprise for any potential Dreams Tulum couple. The whole day exceeded my expectations and was truly the best and most romantic day of my life. Photographer: Vanessa Vargas was our photographer. She is an amazing artist who listened to our requests and exercised her artistic vision as well. Our photos were a mix of candids and poses with varied effects. She is very fun, sweet, and professional. The resulting photos have brought tears to my eyes, they are so beautiful. Vanessa also helped me get dressed and helped to keep me calm before walking down the aisle. We highly recommend her. Videographer: Juan Alfredo Salcedo did our video. He also was professional, kind, and fun. He got us to do things that we are usually too cool for such as twirling each other around. The editing, format, and packaging of the video are top quality. The video included our ceremony as well as cake cutting, toast, and spontaneous posing and playing around. We highly recommend him as well. We just had an overall wonderful time and couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful wedding day. If there is anything we missed or any other questions let us know. Follow the link to our pics! jnklambert - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Welcome back Laura! It was so great to see you guys and i hope your honeymoon was awesome!

And I'm crazy about him too! See why I'm going bonkers to change my name to his? lol.

lol....sigh...Jay is certainly one in a million...I agree....he should start a school or write a book...Jason's Guide to Romance for the Modern Man...whoops there i go hijacking again...sorry hubby of mine!

Okay cool...don't want to be known as the name change crazy lady...lol

I never changed my name after my divorce either and paid taxes with no issue. And there are plenty of married gals who keep their maiden names. I was just passing along info that was on the Social Security site (i believe). Not trying to alarm any one either. Just trying to be helpful thats all. Sorry if anyone misunderstood.

Oh boy you guys! I want to tell you all about the wedding dinner surprise but I wouldn't do it any justice without a full description of the wedding day (including pics) which I want to write with my husband who has now gone to sleep. Definately this weekend. But I will give you this teaser. I have the most romantic husband ever. Imagine an aisle of tiki torches leading you to your destination, there is candle light, your feet are in the sand, drapes of crisp white linen surround you, the strains of flamenco guitar and crashing waves serenade you as the sun sets on the best day of your life. More details to follow. I'd say thats a pretty good teaser.....wouldn't you? P.S. Did I just hijack my husband's thread? whoops! lol!

I know! I'm still trying to figure out how to sign my new last name. What's funny is anytime I ordered room service or called for a bellman, I would say "This is Mrs. Lambert". Nobody cared but I liked saying it. I tell everyone i meet that I was just married including supermarket cashiers. People either yell Congrats or look at me like "who cares lady".

You know for me it just feels like I'm in limbo being Mrs. Karen Lambert but having to sign Karen Skorupski (which is my last married name..I was married before). Get your social security changed soon!!! It could hold up tax return stuff (it is only July..but still). Oh and I found out I have to pay $67 to change the name on my passport since it is over a year since it was issued. Isn't that cool? Don't mind me I'm cranky cause i'm tired and not on a Carribean Beach anymore.

Hey y'all! We want to have an album custom made from the pics provided to us by our incredible photographer Vanessa Vargas(learn the name! know it! love it!...honestly she's not only a great artist but a sweet person and a BDW member). We are going to post photos btw this weekend probally. But anyhow we have looked photoworks and picaboo so far, Those companies look like they do a great job. Any other ideas or reviews on those two companies?

So I have been back from Honeymoonland one whole day and decided to rush off to change my name. Jay and I were legally married on 7/4/07 in Mexico. Social Security was a breeze. DMV is a whole other story. New York State DMV won't acccept a foreign marriage certificate as proof of name change. I need to gather other types of proof of name change such as utility bill, bank statement, credit card bill, so on and so forth. So it might be a month or so until thats settled. The credit card and electric company were no problem. Trying the bank and cable company tomorrow. The whole DMV thing made me sad and Jay had to assure me over and over that we are legally married. I wouldn't change a thing though. I love having a Mexican marriage license....It's so unique and special...unless you live in Mexico....lol.

Yippee Skippeee! Welcome to my dear lovely friend and sister from another mother Renee!!!! Love you sweetie!

Hi All! Weeeeer'e back!! We got back at 2 a.m. this morning after 13 hours of travel so wer'e a little groggy. Just want to let you know that we had an amazing wedding and honeymoon! Thanks so much for all your good wishes! We will post a detailed review and pics soon but we haven't even gotten a chance to look at our pics yet. So stay tuned!!! Love, Mrs. Lambert (don't pay attention to my sig )

Oh BTW, Laura if you are out there somewhere send Jason or I a PM today with your contact info so we can get a drink together at Dreams! We'll warm seats up at the bar for ya!

Hi Everyone! Well Jay and I are leaving for Mexico tomorrow and will be married on Wednesday (7/4/07)!!!! I can't tell you how excited I am to finally marry the love of my life! I can't believe it's here already! I also want to thank all of you for all of your support, friendship, and assistance over the past few months. You have helped us to create the wedding and honeymoon of our dreams. We will be certain to write a nice detailed review and post lots of pics when we return as Mr. and Mrs. Jason Lambert!!! Thanks again everyone and God Bless!!! Love, Karen

I scored 47! The Off-Beat Bride: You are someone who dances to her own beat and wants a wedding to reflect that. You see your wedding and a special and personal creation and intend to put your signature touch on every part of it. Because you are so creative and have so many ideas, you probably are an independent operator and would not enjoy hearing the input of others about what you should do or how you should do it. In fact, you probably want to just surprise them all with the result. Since you will probably be paying for it yourselves, you have some assurance of being able to create what you want on your own.

Oh thanks for answering the hair and makeup Q on the other thread. Sorry but the repeat Q.

Oh thanks for the info about the spa! I will definately get the cart back to the room. Don't need my face to melt off. Its really a load off my mind that they do beautiful work. Your hair looked great in the pics.

Oh and thank you so much for your review. Your dress was so beautiful. It looks like you guys had a great time!