SunBride

Quote: Originally Posted by rachelannmartin I didnt even see this other thread you started Steph! So we are needing a AHR after our March wedding at DT for around $100 people. But because we are already paying $15000 for our DW (paying for our siblings and two closest friends) we need it to be ummm, well "economical." Oh and did I mention that 120 people will be invited? We are thinking around May when the weather is nicer and to give adequate time for our photos to arrive (so 8 weeks after our wedding) do you think thats too long? Any thoughts/suggestions would be welcomed! Thanks ladies Well I would just reiterate some of what I already said and suggest that you suggest a casual get-together, either backyard style or I guess rent a room if you have to (since it may not be warm enough to be outdoors) and do a hors-d'oeuvres reception (find a place that will let you bring your own alcohol so that you can save a lot of money, something like a community hall). For us one big concern was people thinking that we were having a reception only so that we would get gifts, and I did feel like if people were going to be generous with cash (which I knew my family would) that they should get a good party out of it with dinner and liquor and everything. But like I mentioned before if that is a concern for you with having a cheap party than maybe just write something like "your presence is your gift" on your invitation. Some people will provide gifts anyways but at least there will be no pressure for those who are overly negative and always assume the worst.

Quote: Originally Posted by BC Bride2be Its not Savvyfashions..I changed that user name long ago, its BC Bride2be now! Oh yeah, I knew that, it's on the list of updates to be done asap.

Here are all the ladies getting married in january (yay, more photos and reviews!) Seahagamy - January 15 2009 SBlake - January 17 2009 Neen - January 17 2009 Savvyfasions - January 23 2009 Lauren & JT - January 24 2009 Melissa24 - January 29 2009 I may be missing some as the bride list hasn't been updated in over a month. I'm hoping to get one of the mods to do a bunch of updates which I have been saving either this week or next (so if you haven't been added to the list yet just hold out a bit longer)

wow, this sounds awesome. I made some Christmas balls as gifts and I didn't know how to do the writing, finally I just used a silver marker (it can be washed off, but who washes Christmas balls?). But I wasn't overly happy with how the writing looks. I still have my own to make and I would like to do something better. I want to use a stencil. Can some of you post pictures of the projects you are talking about?

Two ways to save a lot of money are to go with a resort that offers a free wedding package, and use whatever option the resort has for a free reception (usually the buffet restaurant would be free whereas a-la-cartes would have a charge, but this varies by resort). I totally could have done it for under 5000$. Mine was 12000$ (including everything, even the trips and clothes and rings) but I splurged on photo and video (3000$) and I could have saved more on a bunch of other stuff if I had to. I'm not sure if your budget is 5000$ plus travel costs or including travel costs. If you are including travel costs than I guess that only leaves about 1000-2000$ for the wedding itself (the rest being travel), which isn't much if that includes clothes, rings and all the normal wedding stuff, but I think it is doable at the right resort and if you don't go for many extras. If you mean 5000$ + travel then I think it's easily doable and will allow you to spend some money on extras such as decoration, more photos, etc but you will have to chose which elements are most important to you and forgo the rest. I think the idea of parasols instead of flowers for the bridesmaid is a great idea! Also OOOT bags can add up to be really expensive, and some people say their guests don't use them so that would be something to cut out. For decorations, just do something really small and cheap, like shells and sand and tealights, which will be cheap and easy to transport too (buy small plates to put them in rather than large, heavy vases). Good luck! You'll find lots of great ideas around the forum for less expensive options.

I wrote a review of our AHR, which you would probably find very helpful. Not many people review their AHR, so I did, and I was really detailed. I talk a lot about how I felt about the whole thing and whether it was worth it or not, and what I would do differently. The review is long, but it has lots of info about the planning and how it went and how much everything cost and a whole lot more. http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t27927

I'm so excited for you Neen! I know you've been planning for a looooong time. Can't wait to hear all about it!

For those of you who haven't seen this yet (I must have been living under a rock when it was posted a few weeks ago) check out this thread for Niels' AMAZING wedding video. Seriously, this is 100x more amazing than any other wedding video I have seen (including my own, which I LOVE). http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t33812 If you have any comments, please post there rather than here just to keep things organized

Holy F***! That is insanely amazing! I thought my video was good but this blew it out of the water! Okay I have to ask (and you obviously don't have to answer) did you seriously pay 10K ? ? ? At least it makes me feel better to know that they were WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY out of my price range

I saw your post in our DT thread so I thought I would come over here and say welcome!

Welcome Gina! Good luck with your planning! Make sure to come on over to our Dreams Tulum thread: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t25646

anybody still voting? I'm now in 5th place and thinking I have a change to get to 4th. Anything higher than that will be a big challenge at this point, but I still have my fingers crossed that the others in front of me cheating by creating multiple accounts with the same name so that I may still win If not, maybe I or somebody voting for me may still win as a voter!

Mine is pretty bad, I'm at the in-laws, and they don't do anything to celebrate. MIL is in bed and the rest of us are just sitting around. SIL is gone to a party and we'll go pick her up later. For those ladies who are on here tonight, what are you up to? I'm working on my wedding photobook, so at least I'm doing something productive.

I'm totally leaning towards #3, I think it's got more of a wow factor than #1 (with or without the sash). The friend thing is a very small factor to make me chose another one (it's not really a factor though, I don't care that much, it's more just an annoyance). The price is a big factor to make me choose #1) My husband likes 2 better and doesn't care that it's more expensive I was just wondering if it was pretty unanimous with people thinking that #2 was best, but that's obviously not the case. So it's good to know that whatever I chose will be great! Thanks so much for your help ladies!

No, it's not a destination wedding, it's an outdoor wedding though. I just posted it here because I wanted all of your advice! There is actually another girl wearing number 1 too, but with the sash. But originally we were all suppose to wear that one, then the 4th bridesmaid chose something else so we were told to pick our own. So it won't be like I'm copying the cousin in #1, because we were all suppose to wear that one (plus I'll wear the one without the sash so it will be a little different). Plus there isn't the same dynamic as there is with this other friend of mine wearing #2. I do agree though it's a bit weird that there will be 4 girls, and 3 different dresses. It would be best if we were all the same or all different. Here is the similar one without the sash (it looks identical, but it's actually a different dress). It looks slightly less flattering as you can see a bit my belly but I think it's just cause I was slouching a bit. Also they didn't pin the chest part back enough (the sample was too big) so it's not as tight against the chest.

Thanks so much for that info, very helpful! It's good to read the good along with the bad, and it's good to know not to get my expectations too high. Did you get harassed right in front of the resort or only when you walked farther down the beach?

Quote: Originally Posted by Callie Thanks! Unfortunately, I do not remember the photographer's name- he just showed up at my room about 5 minutes before I was about to walk to the ceremony (I'm not sure if you can request a specific person before hand). I was so nervous at that point I don't even remember if he introduced himself. I think the 50 pics we ended up choosing are pretty decent...but just beware that the other 250 pics he took were horrible. As long as you don't mind only having 50 pics, it is a great way to save thousands of dollars! Good luck! Great pictures! You make a very good point about only having 50 good ones. This might help explain why some people are very happy with what they got (because 50 good ones is enough to please them) whereas others are upset because most of the pictures are no good. Quote: Originally Posted by jerzygirl85 Hi ladies, I am hoping to use Claudia Rodriguez as my photographer. I know some of you have used her. Any reviews on her and her work would be appreciated. I just want to make sure that I am getting quality work from her. Also, how long did you book her for? I am thinking 5 hours (getting ready, ceremony, post-ceremony and part of the reception??). Also, I am waiting to here back from Anabel or one of the other coordinators about finalizing my wedding date!! Hopefully I won't have to wait a month for a reply...lol I was gonna book her before I found somebody to bring for approx the same cost, I personally love her work. Based on my experience with my photographer I would say 5 hours is enough to get lots of great photos. However if you want her to stay for lots of the reception than maybe you would need more time. But for getting ready, ceremony, and other couple/family/group shots 5 hours is enough. Try calling the wedding coordinators rather than waiting for a response by email. It's such an important thing to wait so long for a response, and it would suck to find out your date was taken while you waited.

Quote: Originally Posted by Teesha Hi Ladies, I'm just wondering about the cost of sound system rental and set-up. I sent Landy an email asking about the price as we are having everything on the beach (ceremony and reception). This is the email I sent and the one I received back: Hi Landy, Thank you for the quick response. I just need something clarified; are we required to pay $150+$240 ($390 total) for music equipment set up for the ceremony and the reception? Wouldn’t the music already be set up for the ceremony and can just be moved to the cocktail and reception location (our reception is on the beach)? I’m just wondering what the extra cost is for? Dear Teesha: In relation with the equipment for ceremony this is just for play during the 30 minutes ceremony and is the service and the equipment rent it. For rent the equipment for the 3 hours reception the price I give to you is not per hour it is for the reception event and the price is extra 240 usd, they would set it up and leave it ready for you play in the reception. Doesn't this seem very expensive just for sound system set-up? We were planning on playing music off our iPod and don't want to pay almost $400. If anyone could help me clarify this, it would be really helpful. Thanks! Well as you ladies read in my review, I got the sound system free for the ceremony (5$ mandatory tip) and other brides mention spending 150$ for the sound system for the reception. So obviously they have increased the price a lot. It's too bad the price for the reception wasn't clear in the wedding guide (it just says 150$, without specifying if that is for the ceremony or reception, although the overall music heading says one 45 min set) because you could hold them to that price. I would complain that other brides in 2008 were only charged 150$ for the reception and that it's not in the wedding guide. They need to improve their wedding guide and be more clear about prices for stuff. I understand for vendors the prices change, but this is not a vendor, it's equipment rental, and it's unfair to you guys to have these surprises.

Yes number 2 is halter. Dress one has rouching (sp?) at the chest but number 2 has larger rouching around the side of the waist, which is one of the things I really liked as it's very slimming.

Yeah, I know, I liked dress 2 better too but it's quite a bit more expensive since it's long. Also one of my friends chose this one and I am a bit hesitant about looking like a copycat (even though I initially saw it online first she tried it on and chose it a week before me). We'll see what my hubby says and whether he thinks it's worth the extra 100$ to go with number 2!

Okay ladies, my best friend is getting married this summer and I get to be a bridesmaid for the first time in my life. She asked us to go for something knee length from the Dessy group collection in espresso. We each get to choose our own style. Here are my top choices. I could really use your help deciding Dress 1 (Dessy 6513): I'm actually thinking of going without the sash though because they sell pretty much the exact same dress without the sash for 40$ less, that one is D409 I'd also get the skirt altered to be a little shorter and more straight not A-line (to look like how I'm holding the one below) as the style above makes me feel like I'm going to church. Dress 2 (Dessy 2734) It's a full length dress but since she wants us to wear it short I just have the skirt folded up

Oh, I feel so bad for you Neen! I'm sure everything will come together for a perfect Dreams Tulum wedding!

I wouldn't be too worried. I remember a couple years ago there was the parents of the Canadian couple getting married who got their throats slit at the Barcelo. Very scary story, but since then a ton of people have gotten married at the Barcelo without incident. I think of it as being the same as most activities in Canada, there is always a risk, but not so high that it should make me too scared to go about the things I want to do.

aw, that sucks that they aren't offering half price upgrades anymore! I don't really know what you should say to try to convince them, other than saying that other brides have been offered that special price.

we went to a destination wedding on a beach (as part of a cruise) where there was no mic and I was really disappointed that we heard nothing of the ceremony. It was like we were only half experiencing the wedding because we were there and watching but yet we couldn't hear a thing. That being said, 500$ is completely ridiculous so you should definitely look for an alternative.