JUSTUSTWO

We packed our OOT bags evenly between DH & I and brought the bags in our own luggage. Since we had lots of stuff to bring with us, we were able to give some of our luggage to our parents who came the day after us. It worked out because most of our guests didn't arrive until 2 days after we did. In your case since you're leaving on the same day as your guests, I'd try to just pack the bags in your own luggage as well. You don't want to frazzle your guests by giving their bags out at the airport & then having them to figure out how to make space in their luggage! If you have a lot of luggage is it possible to give some to any friends & family who are traveling light? Or maybe you can hand them out before you leave & then you won't have to worry about it. There are lots of BDW brides who have mini-get togethers before they left for the DW & handed them out then.

YAY....Congrats on being a ROR bride! You'll love it there!

I actually did both when I was looking for my wedding day makeup. I don't think there was a big difference except that the counter at Macy's was a bit busier than the MAC store was. Macy's only had 2 consultants whereas the MAC store had like 4. If you have time, why not do both on different days & see how the experiences differ. I found that both consultants used different products so I was able to experiment much more. Also, don't mention that you're the bride. I would tell them that you are a BM or something, going to a DW. When I went to one store & told them I was a bride, they did not want to give me a trial & wanted me to schedule a "bridal consultation". At another store, I didn't have that problem but they did say that they typically make you have an appt if you're the bride. I guess it varies from store to store but that was my experience.

Quote: Originally Posted by KAYCE Hello Everyone, I need your help. I have been really thinking that I would like to walk down an isle way full of petals instead of having a runner. You may have seen what I am talking about on Tai Flora Services Ltd. - Jamaica's Full Service Florists. My wedding is suppose to be on the beach and I thought that having the white chair covers with a orange sash and then have the isle covered in petals ( a splash of orange, pink, yellow, and white) would be stunning. Almost so it seems that we are not even walking on the sand. I think that this would be beautiful but I am worried that the wind would blow all of the petals away . What do you think? Can anybody tell me what the weather is like personal in May? Thanks. I had the same idea for my ceremony setup on the beach. I had white chair covers with orange sashes & I used a mix of orange, pink & red rose petals for the aisle. I did have an aisle runner and then I used the fake rose petals scattered over the runner. Well, by the time I made it down the aisle, the petals were pretty much blown away. It was quite windy on the beach. Even as my FG was dropping petals on the ground, they were blowing away right out of her hand. Its so funny cuz we have pictures where its almost as if she wanted to run after them & put them back down! Maybe it depends on when you put them down & how many you use. I think Chandlyn put the petals down when they were setting up, like right before the guests came down to the ceremony site. I'm not sure how much time elapsed between the set up time & the time that I actually walked down the aisle but by the time I did, like I said, the petals were scarce and not what I had actually envisioned! I did get married in the beginning of April but I'm thinking that the wind would probably be the same in May. Check with Chandlyn & see when they would typically put the petals down, see if you can have them put down closer to the time that you are going to walk as opposed to when they are actually setting up. Maybe that will help!

Great review! Riu Palace RM is definitely on my list of places to visit. Your pictures are amazing & you looked beautiful. Love your dress! Thanks for sharing!

I used the CD player on the beach & it worked out great. We had about 30 guests & it was loud enough for everyone to hear. There are lots of threads around on music selections. Here's one of the latest ones: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t33216 Although this thread talks about what brides are walking down the aisle to, I figured it maybe helpful for song suggestions: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t32896

I rented the disco & my experience was good. I'm glad that I did because we had a ball. There were about 30 of us in total & we partyed until the disco closed which was about 2 am. We enjoyed having the 2 hours to ourselves but once it opened to the public we still had fun. I think you should take into consideration your group. Do they like to party? Will they want to dance the night away? Initially when we walked in there was that musty smell. If I had to do it over again, I'd have someone go to the disco about 20 minutes before & make sure that the air conditioner was on & that the place was ready to go & vented out. I'd also make sure that the dj was ready & had our entrance song cued, cuz he wasnt ready for us! So that would be my 1 piece of advice if you do rent it.

Glad that you ladies found it helpful!

Cute dress! Love it, perfect for a welcome dinner!

Quote: Originally Posted by karamelegirl How far in advance do i need to book my dinner at Mammee? Our reception dinner at Mammee Bay was excellent! Our entire group loved the food & the service. Although its "semi-private" it felt as if it was totally private and the other guests there did not interfere with us at all. As everyone has mentioned there isn't really any space for dancing but you could do speeches there if you wanted to. You should book Mammee Bay as soon as possible. Since there are several weddings a day it gets booked pretty quickly. Send Chandlyn an email & ask her if its available for the day & time that you want & she'll let you know.

I've been having insomnia for the past few weeks now & its crazy. I have it every night but Sunday nights are by far the worst! Last night I don't think I drifted off until well after 1am & I tossed and turned all night and woke up like every 2 hours until my alarm clock went off at 6am! Meanwhile DH was sound asleep all night!!!! My mother has been telling me to take Tylenol PM or Advil PM but I've been trying to avoid that cuz I don't want to get dependent on them if they work. But since it's not getting any better I think I'm gonna try to take 1 Advil PM tonight & see how that works. Carly, I'm just wondering what time did you take it last night? Maybe it wasn't early enough to keep you from being groggy this morning?

I don't know how I missed this thread, but all of your DIY stuff was amazing! Your dress is beautiful. I tried on the same one but went for another style from Casablanca! And your shoes are fabulous! Love the colors of the flowers & the table set up too! Can't wait to see how it all came together.

back & Congrats! Can't wait to see the pics & hear your review!! Glad that your wedding was great & hope that the drama wasn't too bad.

Ohhh nooo!!! Sorry to hear that Sylvia! That really sucks. And the resort's response is totally unacceptable. I hope you follow up with them for sure. It shouldn't matter that you are'nt the "registered guest" for them to take action regarding your complaint! When a friend thought she had a bed bug problem, she called an exterminator who told her that one thing people never do that we all should do is check beds while we're on vacation. What she told me was an eye opener & has totally changed what I do when I travel. It's really annoying cuz who wants to check beds when on vacation? But, its definitely something we all should do every time. He said to always check the head board & the bed itself. If you see those black specks that I'm sure you saw when you did your research, the bed may have bed bugs. He also said to do this especially on cruises. His most important bit of advice was regarding luggage. Bed bugs can get in your luggage & you can unknowingly bring them back home with you! You should never have your luggage on the floor & should always use those luggage racks that some hotels provide. Also, when you return home, never put your luggage directly on your bed & always wash your clothes, even those that you didn't wear. Lastly, try to empty your luggage in another room other than your bedroom, then vaccum the luggage out, with a vaccum that has a hepa filter, and then when you go to store the luggage, after it has been vaccumed, put a garbage bag over it & tie it. This helps to keep any bed bugs out. I'm telling you, after her scare & hearing his advice, I went out & bought one of those covers for my mattress & box spring, just to be on the safe side as they can travel from apartment to apartment through vents, light fixture's etc....sigh!!! Anyway, sorry for the long rant, but I hope your feeling better soon & I hope that the hotel takes some action on your complaint!

Lots of us have done monograms on our OOT bags. It was pretty easy & I was thrilled with how they came out. Try to do a search for OOT bags & I'm sure you'll come across some threads with pics & tips on how to do it. You can buy the iron-on transfer paper from any office supply store. I got mine from Staples & I think they are the Avery brand. Once you print the monogram on the paper, make sure you cut as close to the border of your monogram as possible. Also, make sure you follow the instructions which should be on the paper & flip/mirror your monogram image before you print! Also make sure you put something between the bag & the hard surface that you are ironing on, like a towel. When you go to start ironing, keep the iron moving around and apply some slight pressure. Move it all around the monogram, from end to end. Don't linger in one place to long as that might make you end up with some browning. I'd keep ironing until your sure that the paper has adhered to the surface of your bag. Then put the bag aside & let it cool. Then you can start the next one. DH & I had an assembly line going. I'd iron them on and he'd peel them off as they cooled. It was quick & easy! Hope that helps & good luck.

Leia, your video was great!!! You & John are just too cute. You can tell that you guys had an amazing time by the way that you two were smiling throughout the video. Thanks for sharing!

Everything was beautiful! Love your dress & the BM dresses. That was a great color that you chose. And the flowers complimented them perfectly. Also loved that cake. The setup really looks nice in the Plantation. You & your guests look like you had an amazing time. Everyone had a wonderful smile in all of the pics! Congrats!!!!

Welcome & Congrats!!! You're definitely in the right place & will find lots of info & help from other ROR brides. Happy planning!

Quote: Originally Posted by microbmen drbrainfreeze do you know if your friend had a price for the wedding in writing before the deposit was given? or was the deposit given with just a general estimate of total cost? Thank you very much to everyone for your input. When I was initially looking at Half Moon, I was actually told the same thing. Since we were looking to book the villa's, they said that the deposit was standard procedure & was a room block & once our guests began to book their rooms, the deposit that we made would then be applied to our wedding costs. At the time, I think they wanted a deposit of about 8k. My hubby was hesitant to do all of this because we really didn't have a clear understanding as to how much the ceremony would cost us. The WC assured as that most weddings there would run over the 8k deposit. She did send us information & a pricelist so that we could estimate how much the entire wedding would cost. After going thru all of that we decided not to book because it just seemed like it would go over the budget that we had set for ourselves. So all of this is to say, that yes, their procedure of requiring a hefty deposit is "normal" but there are lots of resorts that don't require that much of a deposit. If you arrange a group block yourself with a group contract, some resorts will make you deposit one nights stay per room. We actually did this for our guests at ROR. But if you use a TA you can possibly get group rates and you can have your guests put down their own deposits.

I think 4.5 inches is fine. Mine was 5 inches. When I was trying to figure out what size to get, I found that most websites said that the size of the topper should be based on the size of the top tier of your cake. So I asked my WC about the top tier & she said it was about 6 inches. Based on that, I went with 5 so I'm sure you're good going with 4.5! I also blinged it out & was happy with the results.

You change the image into a "mirror" image by going into your printer settings. When you go into your printer settings there should be an option there that allows you to change the image to flip/mirror. Make sure you chose printer options or it may say printer properties. Under printer options/properties you should have choices on your paper options from landscape to portrait & also the mirror/flip option....It's tricky to find but thats how I was able to do mine. Hope that helps.

I am glad that I went cheap. I also got my bags from cheaptotes and was very happy with them. I also agree with Starchild in that some people are unlikely to use the bags again & again, especially if they have your personalized logo/monogram. So since I used a monogram, my thoughts were why spend so much $ on a higher quality bag that most people are unlikely to re-use!

Congratulations Indigo! Glad to hear that your day was beautiful! You are really great for updating BDW! Can't wait to hear more about it & see your pics! Enjoy the rest of your stay.

You should also try department stores. I was able to find mine at Macy's & it really did the job and was less expensive than the ones that I found at bridal shops.

Congrats on all of your hard work paying off!