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I think it's perfect. I love the contrast of NYC to mexico. It just makes you think the trip will be so perfectly relaxing. The wording is also great. That's a lot of what I was trying to say on mine. Great save the dates! We have the same wedding date! The other day I had a gatorade bottle that expired June 21, 2008. I was so excited to see my date in print & know that the day will be here as fast as gatorade goes bad I grabbed one & brought it home to my FI.

Quote: Originally Posted by lyrebard Has anyone thought about good ways to inform your guests before they go...you know, ways that don't scare them off and prevent them from booking the trip at all? (We have a couple of nervous Nellies/Neils in our group!) I was thinking about making a "travelling safety sheet" for everyone who books. I already have some safety tips on the website. I'm thinking of giving the suggestion to hang the do not disturb sign on their door during the wedding so no one will be in their cleaning at that time. But do you think that would just draw more attention to the room? It shouldn't be hard for people to take everything valuable to the wedding. They will have on their jewelry already & will probably want their cameras. So maybe I'll just recommend not leaving valuables in the room during the wedding. Ladies can eaasily carry a purse. I'm thinking of making travel packet for everyone who books & I can just include this info then.

I like the last one the best too (from last shopping trip). If you go back to davids, what about taking a picture of you in that dress & see if they have something like it? If I remember correctly, it was more $$ than you wanted to spend right? I think the main thing that makes it better, is that it's tight at the hips. All the others go straight down, but that one tapers in. I totally don't know how to describe dresses, but you all know what I mean. So maybe on the next trip, focus on finding other dresses that are like that.

Quote: Originally Posted by TiffJT It's definately unique! I agree with leveling off the boning. I think I wouldn't want the v in the back because to me it sort of looks like it was too tight to zip all the way up. When I ask my FH about an outfit he always says, "If you have to ask, you're not going to feel 100% confident, so don't wear it." So try it on and if you still have doubts if it's unique or "ugly" go with something you think is 100% gorgeous. I agree with that advice. My first dress was too casual. When i put it on I didn't feel happy. I just felt worried that it wasn't quite right. So I think when you try something on & don't really know how you feel, it's not right. Now that i look at pictures of me in my first dress I know it was all wrong. Is this a dress you can try on or would you have to order it?

If you can return, then definitly get the green ones. They are really pretty!

I really love that green dress! can you return the champagne ones? If not, I don't know if it's worth buying 2 dresses. The champagne ones are also great.

Quote: Originally Posted by jamisoncollette Get a cheap book, cut a square out of the center, and hide your jewelry in there if you must take it off. Thieves ignore the bad bed-time reading!Chlorine is bad for all jewelry but the small exposure of a pool for a week won't do major damage. The biggest concern is chlorine weakens gold which can then damage your prongs causing the stone to fall out. Again, this is usually prolonged exposure. great tips!

That is perfect! Did you take a picture of her ring? I wasn't sure where the picture came from. Did she know where her's came from?

Oh, it said 2 weeks 4 days. OK, it's right. Sorry to threadjack!

I just wanted to post to see if my ticker is off. RoSean is getting married 3 days after me, but I thought my ticker said 4 weeks.

really cute!

Quote: Originally Posted by BillysBride Ya, she has me down in her book for my date. She said they are working on updating package prices so she would send me a definite list for us to decide which we want to go with in a bit. If she can't shoot the wedding herself, I'm fine with either Erick or Citlalli. They both do incredible work, so I'm a happy camper either way. Did you find out who you will have? I hired Erick. I think their prices are less than claudia's. I could be wrong about that, but I thought she charged more. Erick & Citalli have a similar style. They went to the same school & are married. After seeing Susan's wonderful picture taken by Citalli, I'm really glad I went with one of them. I'm paying $1,050 for 2 1/2 hours with all my pictures on a CD. I didn't care to have prints. I always get great deals on snapfish & shutterfly, so I can just order all my prints myself. I'm really happy with the price & quality of their photography. I've also heard they are both really great to work with. Claudia has also been wonderful to communicate with by email.

Quote: Originally Posted by starchild I never took my ring off but it's silver....maybe someone here knows about gold. Chlorine is really bad for gold. I just remembered I have this necklace with a waterproof container on the end. Maybe that will work? I would look like such a dork though. I might as well slap on a fanny pack & put a line of zinc on my nose.

Quote: Originally Posted by SusanK The pictures were delivered to me yesterday via overnight FedEx (3 weeks post wedding). Some people do get their pics before they leave, but I'm guessing it depends on the package you go with. We had a custom package ($2000), which included an album of 250 4x6, some 5x7 and a few 8x10, plus and CD (actually two CDs) with 300 pics. I'm sure all of that takes time, especially with all the effects, so I was very pleased with how quickly we got them (in time for our Nov. 10 AHR). Like you, we didn't want to have to worry about bringing so much cash to Mexico, so we paid via Paypal. If you have a Paypal account, Claudia can send you a money request for the balance. So you just paid before you left? I'll do that then. I paid my deposit with paypal, but she said the pay the rest in cash or travlers check in mexico. I got a much smaller package. I am just getting the CD of pictures. So maybe I'll get mine before we leave. But either way, they are still fast. Our first AHR will be soon after so I want to be ready. BTW, your dress looks amazing in your siggy pic. That's one of my favorites.

I was thinking of bringing a lock that we don't put on the luggage until we get to the hotel. So it doesn't need to be a TSA lock. We can just lock up the valuable stuff in a suitcase. I know it's not totally safe, but it might help. Just a little lock that keeps someone from easily opening it up. Ofcouse they could roll the whole thing away. I'll probably hide the camera cards somewhere too. Taped to the top of a drawer? Not that anyone wants to take a camera card. But really, my pictures are the most valuable thing to me when I travel. We will also be snorkeling off the beach. There is a lagoon near the hotel. So we won't have a boat to leave stuff in. Taking the camera to the pool sounds like a good idea. There will probably be some family members sitting in a beach chair we can leave our bags with. I still don't know what to do with my ring when we are swimming. It's gold so I should let it get in the pool.

Quote: Originally Posted by jilly76 Susan, you look gorgeous!! Your pictures came out so good! I wanted some of my pics to have the color flowers and everything else black & white, but whats his name didn't do any, I might have to experiment myself! Jilly, here are the steps of how to do that. It's really easy once you know how to do it. http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...-tutorial.html Great pictures Susan! I hired Erick (Citalli's husband). How did you get your pictures? Were they mailed to you after the wedding? I've heard some people say that Erick delivered them to them before they left mexico. I am so excited that they deliver them so fast. Also, how did you pay the remainer of what you owed? I don't want to bring that much cash, so I was thinking of getting a travels check. I think that was an option for how to pay. I would almost prefer to pay with my credit card in advance. I don't know if there would be a problem with that. I don't feel like Claudia's team would let me down so I don't see any reason not to pay upfront.

Quote: Originally Posted by starchild I really agree not to bring anything of great value if at all possible. You don't need a laptop or costly jewelry (other than wedding jewelry). Try to keep anything fancy with you at all times. Don't leave currency in the safe and have your man wear a money belt. They are inexpensive and well hidden. It sounds silly to go that far, but we have never been robbed at any resort. There is never anything other than clothes/toiletries sitting in our room. The hotel staff aren't getting paid a whole lot of money and if a situation presents itself some people might go for it. That's just the way it is so travel safe ) What do you do when you are out snorkeling or at the pool? Normally when we travel we keep everything valuable with us & use a money belt. But I wouldnt know what to do when we go snorkeling. Do you think bringing a lock for your suitcase would help? I will have my camera & a camcorder. I don't know that I will want to keep them on me at all times. I plan on getting extra tapes & memory cards, so I can keep swapping them out during the trip. So if my camera or camcorder gets stolen, I won't loose all the pictures/ videos. When I was in mexico before we always left up the do not disturb sign so our room never got cleaned (it was only 3 nights). Then we just called for clean towels.

OK last post I promise! Here is one of the first posts I had on the forum when ABR was my top choice hotel. It's kind of funny to go back & read it, because I now "know" the people I was talking to then, but at the time they were strangers. It also feels like 10 years ago & it was only 3 1/2 months ago. Wow, I feel like I've been planning this wedding a long time!!! http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...ya-resort.html

Akumal: Akumal Beach Resort - Traveler Reviews - Dream Wedding at the Akumal Beach Resort - TripAdvisor I'm going through all my book marked pages. I think this is the last of my information. Search "Akumal beach resort wedding" on trip advisor & some good information comes up. I contacted people through tripadvisor for more info. They sent lots of pictures, advice, etc. This was for a different hotel though.

Akumal Beach Resort Lots of great info including prices by date.

Akumal Bay beach photo tour, aerial images Here is an aerial view. I like how the hotel is all along the water so everyone is near the ocean. I also read that even when all the rooms are sold out, you can feel like the only people at the hotel. People who stay here are often out doing other things away from the hotel. It's very close to yal ku lagaoon which is supposed to be a great place to snorkle.

OK I found my notes. For Pros I had good location, good price, good food, nice atmosphere and a good hotel WC. For cons I had that the wedding package was $1000. That's typically for a legal ceremony, but since we are only doing symbolic I wanted something less. Other cons were they don't have a gazeebo, the rooms are not that nice (but they are well maintained) and the distance from the airport. I also looked at Grand Oasis Akumal which does free weddings, but you'd have to make sure your guests did not book the jungle rooms. They have terrible reviews. There is a lot more info on ABR on locogringo & tripadvisor.

This is the first place i started looking at. Akumal sounds great. The resort is older & not as fancy as some other places, but it sounds really nice. If you are looking for laid back & more peaceful, this might be a good place for you. I think the reason why I picked a different place was that their wedding package was more expensive & the drive from the airport would be over an hour. It sounds like the kind of place I'd want to stay at on another trip though & might be a good choice for your wedding. the hotel is long so all rooms are along the ocean. I'll dig up some of my old info when i was thinking about having my wedding here.

Quote: Originally Posted by BillysBride We would rather not wait. We need an exact budget, and the only way to have that is to decide everything now. And since most every place we contacted was fine with booking early AND honoring 2008 prices if we did so, its just a better idea all around to do it sooner rather than later. The WC is suggesting some place in Playa, which I never even said we would be willing to do it in Playa. I'm not. This is starting to stress me and I never get stressed. Ugh. OK, tomorrow is a new day, and I will buckle down and start researching again from the beginning. I'm sure the Tankah will re-open by next year...I just don't think I want to wait to book. I understand not wanting to wait. What type of place & what price per person are you looking for?

Everyone has already said what I was going to say, but those group TTD pics are awesome! Was it the day after the wedding? How long will your pro pictures take?