beckyandbrian

Quote: Originally Posted by steph_n_taz Becky, I just watched your slideshow, and it is absolutely breath taking. I LOVE Elizabeth Medina's work. Can you please give me her contact info? WHat photography package did you purchase from her? IT looks like she spend a couple hours with you and Brian, which is fantastic. IF you can send me any info on how her packages are broken down, that would be fantastic! You looked stunning! She is definitely amazing and so extremely talented. Her contact information is on her website: Mexico Wedding Photography, Yucatan, Mexico, Elizabeth Medina photographer. I can PM you her email address if you have trouble contacting her through the website. Just let me know and I can send it to you. We chose the 6 hour package from her and also added on a TTD session for the next morning. I am not sure of her exact pricing because we booked our date last summer and I don't know if they are the same or if they have gone up from there. So, definitely check with her for pricing. She is so nice and makes you feel so comfortable the entire time. Thank you so much for you compliments on the photographs! Let me know if I can help in any way.

Quote: Originally Posted by antonia321 Becky!! Congratulations! How was your hair and make-up? I see you did it with the spa? Did you to any trials before? It might be too late for me but the mariachi info would be good. I'm sure I'll have more questions. My hair and makeup went great. I had a little of a difficult time trying to explain how I wanted my hair, but as long as you have a photo of something you like, it will be fine. My makeup was done by the same person and she did an amazing job. I told her I wanted smoky eyes and the rest was up to her and I loved how it looked. I didn't have any trials before - just the day of. I had my hair in the spa and then I had them come back to my room to do my makeup, which I am glad I did because I was more relaxed there. The mariachi band we hired was with Ajua Weddings (Destination Weddings and Wedding Planning Services in Playa del Carmen) and saved up about $150, so it's a great option if you can still book them. Let me know if I can help in any other way.

Quote: Originally Posted by Michelle&Steve Becky, your pictures are beautiful!!!!! I booked Elizabeth for my weddign and now im even more excited if thats possible! Im doing the TTD shoot the next day too :-) what time did you do yours? i dont think ill be able to get up early the next morning to do it at sunrise.. lol We got up early the next day and did the TTD session at 6am. It was totally worth it to get those sunrise photos!! It was so much fun, too:)

Quote: Originally Posted by JaimeLynne Becky - I LOVE your necklace and your dress!!!! Not to mention you got married at my favorite hotel in PDC! BEAUTIFUL pics Thank you so much! I think that the Royal PDC has to be my favorite hotel and I've never been to another - the resort was fabulous and I can't imagine a better one!!

I just wanted to give my two cents to anyone that is debating on photographers or on booking Elizabeth. She is so absolutely wonderful to work with and makes you feel so comfortable the entire time. She did the most amazing job on our photogaphs and I cannot tell you enough how highly I recommend her (our slideshow: Becky and Brian)! She is so talented and absolutely worth every penny and even more than she charges!!! You have to think that the only thing you have to look back on and the only thing you have to share with others is those photographs. You have your memories, but you can't show those to others and the day itself goes by so fast that you can't remember half of it! The photographs, in my opinion, are more important than the dress, the resort, the makeup, the hair, the jewerly, the food or anything else. Elizabeth Medina does the most artistic, gorgeous work I have ever seen and is absolutely immensely talented. If you are wavering at all on a decision, DON'T!! One word for her work (which everyone has said when seeing my photos): "WOW!"

Thank you everyone for all of your wonderful compliments! It is so nice to hear that other people love your photos and your choices as much as you do!! I really appreciate everyone's kind words! Thank you!!

Quote: Originally Posted by heidi&alex Oh and Stephanie, Zulma has been a bit slow in getting back to me, but seems like a really sweet woman when she does. Becky (the girl w/ the slideshow) said that any fears she had were put to rest when she met Zulma and that she answered all and any of the questions she had when they met. Let us know when Zulma gets back to you! Hi girls!! I did just get married on March 1st at The Royal PDC and LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it!!!!!!!!!!! Honestly, there is not one thing that I could say negatively about the resort or my wedding. Everything turned out beautifully - better than I even had imagined. Zulma was wonderful and like Heidi told you, every fear I had disappeared when I arrived. The resort is spectacular and you are treated like absolute royalty. As you can tell from my photos, we were married on the beach at 2pm. We then had a cocktail hour immediately following in the garden are (actually a little longer than an hour b/c we made it until 4pm). We then had some time with our guests for some photos and gave them about 45 minutes to freshen up or relax and have another drink before meeting back on the beach at the ceremony location for our dinner and reception at 5pm. Our cost was $50 per person for Royal guests plus $10 extra per person for the cocktail. I believe the cost was $60 per person for Gran Porto guests. The price of the dinner/reception/cocktail was the same whether it was held on the beach, in the gazebo, in the garden area or in the ballroom. I do know that children are also welcome at wedding events, but we didn't have any children at our wedding. Our wedding was very small with only seven guests, but was wonderful. I know that Heidi was wondering about having a dance floor with only 30 guests and YES YES YES, have the dance floor. It is no extra charge and comes with the reception. No one will feel pressure to dance, but they will! As I said, we only had seven guests, but they ALL danced!! You will also be glad that you have a place for your first dance together (especially if you are on the beach). We did not hire a DJ, but I made CD's for the cocktail hour, the dinner, the first dances and the reception to be played. They had the sound system and large speakers set up (again included in the price and no extra charge) at both the gardens and also on the beach. I labeled the CD's accordingly (cocktail, dinner 1, dinner 2, reception 1, reception 2, first dance, etc) and numbered them in the order they were to be played and someone was there at all events for it to go off without a hitch. We hired a mariachi band (outside of the resort) to play as I walked down the aisle, as we walked back down the aisle as husband and wife and then they finished up their set during the cocktail hour (45 minutes is a set). Let me know if anyone wants their info because that saved me quite a bit of $$. Also, Heidi had a question about how things get set up if you bring your own items for decorations, etc. We brought our wedding favors, raffia fans, menus for the table, candles, centerpiece, etc and all we did was give them to Walter (for the reception) and to Zulma (for the ceremony) and told them what we wanted and it was all taken care of. Every little detail was in place as promised:) Like I have said, I highly recommend The Royal PDC and really will be glad to answer any questions. I think I covered most of the questions of Heidi (I still can't get your email to work for me!!), but let me know if there is anything else. I have LOTS of photos that we took ourselves of the resort that I can share, also.

Quote: Originally Posted by jreule Hey Becky Just saw your slideshow and your wedding was absolutley beautiful!!! Besides that, I LOVED your jewelry. Would you mind sharing where you got it?? And maybe send some pics?? Thanks so much!! PS Your personal messages are full!! Joleen Hi Joleen. I just deleted some of my PM's - thank you. Someone else also asked about my jewelry and it was actually purchased on ebay. But, it was an antique and they only had one of them. It was just from an individual seller, not an actual store or anything. My earrings I found three weekends ago at Dillard's on clearance for $5! They ended up matching perfectly. I really did get lucky!

Quote: Originally Posted by nylalany Do you know the brand of the suit? Also, how did you feel getting up at 6a.m. after your wedding? I guess I could buy another dress, but... I think the brand of the suit is Perry Ellis. As far as the dress, if you don't want to buy another one, don't worry about it too much because it really didn't do anything to damage the dress in the least. I felt fine about getting up at 6am the next day because I knew it would be worth it for the photos and we had the rest of our honeymoon to sleep in. Brian had a harder time than I did getting up, but he was happy to do it because he knew how much it meant to me:)

Quote: Originally Posted by JamaicaBride062108 Becky you are beautiful! I loved you altar with all of the flowers! Elizabeth did a fabulous job as always! Bryan kinda has a Dave Matthews look about him, or maybe it's just me. I can envision him serenading you, especially after some of the steam looks he was giving you in the TTD! That is so funny that you say that because Brian loves to sing and I always tell him that he can't carry a tune. I just showed him that and he laughed and said, "see people can tell just by looking at me that I am a true singer!" HA!

Quote: Originally Posted by nylalany Becky - where did you get your groom's suit? It looks really nice. And you shoes? Great photos - glad Elizabeth's my photographer . I wonder if I can get photos like your trash the dress session photos but right after the wedding ceremony, and without trashing my dress? We got his suit at Macy's at the end of last summer. It was pretty inexpensive (under $100 for all three pieces). It was a great deal. The shoes I purchased from another one of the members on this site. They are Beverly Feldman shoes. I think a couple of the other girls on here also had these shoes. We did the TTD the next morning at 6am. It was perfect. As far as without trashing the dress, I used a second dress that I found at David's Bridal for $99 and it actually ended up cleaning up perfectly. You can't even tell that I got in the water with it really. But, I was worried about ruining my dress, so I opted for the second dress.

Quote: Originally Posted by Saraha WOW I cant say enough about how amazing your pics turned out, You made a gorgeous bride! The emotions really showed in the pics which is really cool. I have a question, I LOVE your jewelery were did you get it? Thank you everyone!! I, of course, love them, but it is so nice to hear that everyone else really thinks they are great! As far as my jewelry, if you can believe it, I purchased the necklace on ebay. It was listed as an antique necklace by an individual and I ended up finding it there and there was just the one. I paid less than $30 for it I think with shipping! The earrings were a last minute find. I had another pair and they had a bead missing. So, I went to Dillards probably two days before we left and found those on clearance for $5! They matched perfectly with the necklace, like they were meant to go together. I got pretty lucky!

Hi everyone. I just got an email this morning from our photographer, Elizabeth Medina, that our slideshow is up!!!!!!!!! I was two hours late for work because I just kept playing it over and over again:) Elizabeth was so wonderful to work with and truly gifted. I recommend her to anyone that hasn't made their photographer choice yet. She was amazing. Becky and Brian

Here is the link to my Mom's dress. We got it at David's Bridal. I love it!! She is doubting whether it looks good, but it looks so great on her!! David's Bridal - Mother of Bride 255343 Chiffon side ruched tiered dress with brooch detail.

Quote: Originally Posted by thomastaci22 This is what I wrote for our wedding webpage. Milford, Ohio is a suburb of Cincy where we both grew up. Hi Staci!! So excited when I saw your post - I graduated from Milford HS also. I am probably a bit older than you (graduated in 1995), but was so cool to see someone from my hometown!! Congratulations on your engagement and your house!! Very cool and lots of big life changing events all at once! Have you decided on your wedding location? Again, CONGRATULATIONS & welcome to the forum!!

Quote: Originally Posted by DanielleNDerek Becky I would be stressing too. Try to relax, i'm sure everything will fall into place. I agree with Yolanda about calling the wc and letting her know how you feel. On a side note, your dog is so cute. is it a french bulldog? adorable! Danielle, Thanks for the compliment on my dog! Yes, he is a French Bulldog. Absolutely my baby - still thinking I am going to try to sneak him in my suitcase for the wedding!!

Quote: Originally Posted by heidi&alex Becky if you want I can call there on Monday... we have free long distance to the US and Mexico and I'm going through the same issues so I could try to talk to the manager. Another option for you may be phone cards... my FI's family is in Germany and Australia so we make a lot of long distance calls... phone cards are definitely the way to go. So much cheaper! Let me know, though, and I can definitely call them on Monday about my concerns and yours... with emphasis on you seeing as your wedding is just around the corner. Let me know! Thank you for offering that Heidi! That is so nice of you! I emailed the reception coordinator who is really fast at returning my emails and asked if he could help and he told me that he spoke with the new WC and that she is just really busy with the change in jobs and that she will get back to me very soon. So, we will see if that happens. That was yesterday, so if I don't hear back from her by tomorrow afternoon or something, I think I am definitely going to print off all of my past correspondence (a LOT of emails) and make a list of things and call her using a calling card. I just want this to be organized and on track so it is one less thing to worry about. I really appreciate your offer - that is really such a nice thing for you to do. But, I am going to go ahead and get a calling card either way and if I don't hear back tomorrow with all of my answers, I will just make the call. Thanks again for the offer!!

I have tried emailing photos of things I like, but I get no answers. I sent an email last night explaining that this was making me extremely nervous and I would really appreciate someone returning my emails...nothing yet. I guess I am going to resort to calling on Monday if I don't hear back. It is so expensive to call there, so I want to make that my last resort. I know that in the end the only thing that matters is us being there together, but after you spend so much money on a wedding and so much time planning...it is just so frustrating and it just should not be like this!

I thought that I was freaking out over all of the nominal crap before, but I emailed my WC about a week and a half ago and never heard back. So, I emailed the reception coordinator and he informs me that she has now moved to another sister resort. Okay, why does no one feel the need to communicate this with us?? So, I am told of a new WC that I email and a couple of days later get an email from yet another person who states that she is my WC!!! I have been waiting for flower pics and pricing to decide on bouquet and groom's flower, centerpiece, chuppa, ceremony decoration, etc. and have NOTHING. I have emailed both of the "new" WC's daily and have no responses. I am trying really hard to not freak out, but I have this idea in my head that I am going to get there and still have no idea what anything will look like or cost and that is just way too much stress to deal with on top of the normal stress. Has anyone else had issues like this? Tell me that it turned out okay

I am walking myself down the aisle. I don't know my dad and he obviously will not be at the wedding. My Mom will be there, but I don't really think that I want her to walk me down the aisle. There will only be a total of 7 guests, so I'm not really worrying about it too much (at least yet)!

Quote: Originally Posted by foxytv I called the bridal salon in early January t ask when I should have my first fitting ... and she told me to wait and call back the first week in February to schedule the first appointment. I won't need much in the way of alterations ... just taken in from the bust to waist and the bustle added. The length and everythig else is perfect. But I know what you mean about stressing regardless. As we get closer, it seems like I am stressing about ssoo much more than I need to. I can't imagine what it will be like when we are just 2-3 weeks out! lol I know!!!! I am starting to wonder how I am even going to make it to the wedding. I already can't sleep at night and can't possibly focus. Imagine if it were a huge 250-300 person wedding in a church at home. I would have already ran!!!!!!!!

I just found a lot of 10 pink clutches on ebay. The link's below...not sure if you like them. I thought they were pretty cute and you can't beat that price for ALL TEN of them!!!! LOT OF 10 FUCHSIA PINK CLUTCH PURSES--NEW - eBay (item 250208959409 end time Jan-29-08 18:54:08 PST)

Quote: Originally Posted by LC_Rachel I agree- don't panic until it's time to panic!! Side note- I haven't had alterations yet. Should I panic? hehe How long did it take for her to alter it? They told me not to come in til the end of Feb but I'm was planning on making an apt sometime begin Feb. It scares me to wait that long. No, you shouldn't at all. See, I am thinking closer to the wedding the better for accuracy that is. But, I understand being worried about waiting too long. Believe me, I would worry no matter what the situation was or is. As far as the length of time, I would say it took about 5-6 weeks of alterations and that is me coming in once each week. She would do one small thing at a time and then I would come in each week, try on the dress and approve it before moving forward with the next step. But, I had a LOT of alterations...way more than normal. So, you should be fine if you wait until until Feb...that would put you right where you want to be. Listen to me...I can tell you not to worry at all, but can't seem to get myself to believe it!

Quote: Originally Posted by Tlseege Calm... breathe! You are stressing about stressing. That's kind of amusing! I would say don't worry about it. Try it on with one of your girlfriends 2 weeks before the wedding. If it really needs alterations done (I doubt it) then I'm SURE you can find a place that will do last minute small alterations. Don't let yourself stress about it. I truly believe it'll be okay. You are so right!! That is the absolute truth...I AM stressing out about stressing!! I didn't realize that until I just read it, but it very accurate. I am freaking out over things that haven't even happened yet. Wow....I am turning into a crazy woman. This is just the least of it, too!! HA! You are right, it will be okay....I just have to keep telling myself that every minute or so:)

Okay, I am 5 weeks (& a couple days) away from the wedding and the woman that has been working on my alterations is finished with the dress and wanted me to come pick and up and pay for it today. I am sooo worried that my weight will fluctuate within the next 5 weeks because of the stress and chaos. I asked her if I could leave it there a few more weeks and come back for a final fitting 2-3 weeks out to make sure everything still fit perfectly and she told me NO! She said the dress is finished and I have to come pick it up. I even offered to pay her now and just leave the dress there and come back for that final fitting (to make me feel better mostly). She still said NO!! So, I just went and picked it up, but now I am freaking out and thinking I started my alterations too early and I am just trying to figure out what the norm is? When should your last fitting be? If I do end up trying it on a couple of weeks out and I need alterations, is that normal that I would have to take the dress back in and ask her to do it again? Or is it customary for the person doing the alterations to hold the dress until the end? And, finally, how many of you did need those last minute alterations?? I think I am just getting so close that I am FREAKING OUT!