Andi

Quote: Originally Posted by tvt The scoop: Married Nov 2, 2008 at Las Caletas, Puerto Vallarta What I would do again: - Follow our dreams and have a DW no matter what people said - Las Caletas - amazing every step of the way, and by far one of the best wedding decisions we made! - Hiring Stephany of EyeSpy Photography - she was super cool and our pictures are awesome. And just 2 weeks after the wedding we have all of our pictures in a gallery already. - OOT bags. They were a huge hit and people loved the thought. - Hypercolored cups. They meant a lot to us as a couple, plus our guests loved them and they prompted a big game of flip cup during dinner. So fun playing and knowing that our guests were having a good time - Keeping the decor minimal. LC is beautiful, it doesn't need anything extravagent. We did clear stones and votive candles and I loved the simple, clean look of the table decor. - seeing Joe before the ceremony. We had a private moment alone before the ceremony and it was great. He bawled like a baby, it was so sweet. It was nice to have that minute with just us too. It was really the only alone minute we got during the wedding day, and we both were very glad we did it. - no programs, announcement, garter, guest book, or bouquet toss. This things were not important to us, so skipping them was a great decision. - hire the firedancers. AMAZING. would hire them again a hundred times over - hire the hair person. spendy but worth it. another thing i'd do a hundred times over again - blue flip flops. even though I didn't wear them the entire night, they were fun for our TTD pics - using sand from LC for our sand ceremony. We love that we have sand from the place that we got married. - buying a light and airy dress - Joe's suit from Banana was perfect - give a toast thanking everyone for coming What I'd do differently - Get nicer OOT bags. We bought cheap ones expecting that people wouldn't use them. We were wrong, people used them all week all the time. We wished we would have splurged on the nicer bags. - Mail the wedding day timeline out to guests prior to their arrival. We put the timelines in the OOT bags and I really don't think people looked at it. - write out the cards to my parents and MOH prior to leaving for PV - plan an excursion instead of a WD What I wouldn't do again: - spend the time making a huge playlist for the DJ. he was amazing and i didn't need to waste my time on the playlist - stress about walking down the isle! surprisingly the day of i was ZERO stressed! thank god. but the week prior i was a ball of nerves. - suggest that people bring pasminas to the wedding! i didn't know how warm PV was in November! - spend the money on a wedding website. We bought a domain name and paid 100 for our site. It wasn't used as much as I would have thought, and a free one would have done the trick. Trash The Dress What I would do again - Trash the dress for sure! - wonder the streets and do whatever the photographer asks you to do - simple hair - trash it the afternoon after. - hire a photographer that had never TTD before. we hired Stephany of EyeSpy Photography. Even though she'd never TTD before she had great ideas and directed us very well What I'd do differently: - wear more make up! I just wore a little eye make up. And I really wish I would have put some foundation and blush on. what I wouldn't do again: - consider skippig the TTD because I was being lazy. I love our TTD pictures and if I would have been lazy and skipped them I would have been royally pissed off at myself. Tara thank you for this post! there are a few things I have been debating about...hairdresser, plastic cups, seeing Reggie (my FI) before the ceremony...you have really helped in my decision! It is so helpful to have these little tidbits from another LC bride!

Quote: Originally Posted by Duchess Doesnt the waiting get harder once you've seen it? YES! it already is so hard, I am ready to go back tomorrow! Quote: Originally Posted by verh0016 Britt & Andi - Where is your group staying for your March/April weddings? My fiance and I are going down for a site visit in Feb. to see LC and also to tour resorts. I know most brides on here have posted about Dreams and have liked it. However, I am a little concerned about the 'night life' because we have a party group. Most guests will arrive Sat or Sun for a Tuesday wedding and will then stay through the following Sat. We can make our own fun (not worried about that), but I am just interested in your experiences and why you selected the resorts you did. I worte to Tara (tvt) and she provided some insight, but the more - the better. Britt - I believe you are staying at Dreams and visitied it last summer? Andi - where di you visit on your trip? Thanks so much ladies! For our site visit we stayed at the Marriott CasaMagna. It was very nice but if your group is the party type group I wouldn't recommend it. Also it is not all inclusive which may or may not be important for you. For the wedding most of our guests including us will be staying at the Vallarta Palace in Nuevo Vallarta. It is all inclusive (which I am a big fan of). we chose the Palace because we had a great experience a few years ago at the cancun palace and decided that whenever we go to Mexico the Palace resorts are for us! Nuevo Vallarta is a little ways away from Puerto Vallarta (old town, malecon, etc) so you might want to take that into consideration too. There is also the new Dreams Villamagna, that one just opened this month I think...that one is in Nuevo too.

not sure if this is an option for you or not...but when I was in NYC a month or so ago I went down to China Town and got my pashminas for $3 each... it was the best deal I heard about and since I knew I would be in NYC in November I just waited and got them then...so if you have a trip planned that might be an option?

Hi Everyone, I am back from our site visit trip to PV! It was awesome!! Las Caletas was awesome! Everything was just great and now I just am trying to figure out how I am going to wait for 4 more months before I can go back! There were two main goals of the trip, 1) for me to see Caletas just to ease my mind and 2) my parents were very nervous about visiting Mexico again (because of a bad experience in Cabo about 2 years ago). they did not even want to make the 2 day trip with me but i convinced them to go. Half way through our visit at LC while we were eating lunch my mom turns to me and says "I like it here, can we stay?" I just had to laugh. So anyway all turned out well on the site visit. I am not going to to a huge review or anything but I do have a few pics I can post later and/or if anyone has any questions just ask! There never were really any doubts in my mind about deciding on LC but now I KNOW that LC is the perfect place for us!

that is so awesome! congrats!

Quote: Originally Posted by amyh I didn't think the drinks were expensive, however I am from Los Angeles, so a drink here ranges between $9-$15 each. We got table service and it was worth it, again, I am comparing it to clubs here where table service is usually about $300 (only about $100 at Mandala). $100 for table service?! I think that is a good deal! (compared to the prices in the states) Amy how many people were with you when you went to Mandala?

I am sort of having this same problem too. From the beginning we told everyone that they DO NOT have to stay at the same hotel that we are going to (although deep down I am secretly hoping everyone does, I know that might be selfish of me a bit but I just can't help but thinking that way). In all honesty though if we do have people elsewhere it will be fine with us, but kind of a bummer because we won't spend as much time with them. Ok sorry I am getting side tracked, NO I do not think that you should have to provide other options to your guests especially if you have made it clear already that you will be staying at X hotel but they DO NOT have to if they do not want to. I think it is totally up to them to find a suitable hotel for themselves. I really do not think that you need the extra headaches of worrying about everyones accomodations!

Amyh suggested Mandala in another thread Mandala this place looks cool too! I am sure PV is like many other cities in that on certain nights certain clubs are more busy than others. does anyone know about this? and if so what are the best clubs to go to on a thursday or friday?

So I am so excited I just booked a session for my BD pics in February! I also just stumbled across this new lingerie line at Bebe. it is called the Pussycat Doll Collection by Robin Antin. I really like them! looks like maybe not all of the line is available yet but it is really cute! bebe.com : bebe : what s hot : lingerie main : lingerie all

We are planning on doing the same thing for our wedding weekend...20-25, nuevo to puerto but going to a nightclub or something one night. I have some links to a couple transportation places in PV (saved of course on my computer at home, and i am at work now). but I will post those links here later tonight. Also I am going to PV this weekend and was going to set up some transportion for this weekend to sort of "check out the company" and see if I want to use them again in April. When I get back next week I can fill you on how it all went

good job! they look great!

Of course we will! they are our "babies"....and they like to actually open their presents on xmas morning!

Quote: Originally Posted by JHarwood2Be I cannot wait for the holidays to be over! I'm ready to shop for OOT stuffers and decor and all this Christmas crap is in the way I totally agree...isn't it time yet for the spring beachy stuff?! Quote: Originally Posted by ErikDaGenErik i feel like the holidays are cutting my wedding planning time short! nervous!!! I couldn't agree more! I also feel like with the holidays so close our guests are forgetting to book their flights, rooms and RSVP! Our RSVP date is set for the middle of January and I am afraid I am going to have a lot of stragglers!

Quote: Originally Posted by *Casey* Quick question... how do yall keep finding these coupons and codes? Do you just keep checking the websites? It seems like a lot of the time they don't advertise it enough. Just wondering Quote: Originally Posted by Bianca My fave site for quick codes is Coupon codes and discounts for 20,000 online stores! RetailMeNot.com. Other than that I am always on Slickdeals. Its my other addiction. I do also recommend Retailmenot.com...one of my other faves is Free Coupons, coupon codes, online coupons and promotional codes - CouponCabin whenever I am shopping online I always do a google search for a coupon code too...you know just to make sure I have the best one! For example...if I am shopping at Kohl's I will just google "Kohl's coupon code" to get multiple sites with codes! I saw that tip one morning on the Today Show or something like that, they said that if you are shopping online and there is a place for and offer code then that usually means there is some sort of offer code floating around somewhere...so you just have to search to find it!

Quote: Originally Posted by brittbrodin Wow - you'll be in PV in 4 days!! How exciting Can't wait to hear all about it! woo hoo I know! I am starting to get excited! I do have a couple questions for everyone...our trip to PV is going to be quick (arrive sunday afternoon, visit LC monday and head home tuesday afternoon) Can anyone suggest some good restaurants that we shouldn't miss?! Looks like we will be staying at the Marriott which is pretty close to the Malecon and downtown right? Also are there any suggestions for good nightclubs? I really want to check out a nightclub or two while we are there because in April we are planning on taking all of our guests out one night to a club. aaaagh! I just realized last night that I need to get all of my questions for Nicole out of my head and on paper so that I don't forget to ask anything while I am there!

I am a PV bride too getting married at Las Caletas! Any questions just ask!

Quote: Originally Posted by jweekley Andi -I went to Priscilla of Boston. I was completely blown away by how gorgeous the store was. And...when I got there four roses (for my mom, sister in law, cousin and I), a huge silver platter with wine glasses and champagne, chocolates and gummy bears (weird, but it's my thing) were waiting for me. Vanessa had it all delivered with a really sweet note. It was incredible and what she had written completely put my mind at ease. Within 40 minutes I had found the most gorgeous dress, my mom had purchased it and we were on our way to a bar to celebrate. All of this wedding planning stuff is so much more fun than I had ever expected. How fun! That is a nice store, in a very nice area too! I have to agree with you, this planning is a lot of fun...and in my opinion it is so much more fun to plan a DW! SOOOOOO much less stress! actually I am not stressed one bit!

good find! I love kohls!

oh this weekend was not good! We had my work holiday party on saturday night and I drank a few too many drinks there So I was hung over yesterday and didn't exactly eat that great.. then tonight I did not go to the gym as planned because it is snowing here and roads are getting crappy!!!! To top it all off I just booked my Bpic shoot for the beginning of January! UGH I NEED TO GET MY BUTT IN GEAR!

Quote: Originally Posted by jweekley Thank you guys so much for all of your stuff girls. It definitely helped. I'm SO excited -I went to Denver this weekend to shop with my mom and sister in law for my dress and found THE ONE after about 40 minutes. It's so funny. I never really believed in that "when you see the right dress you'll know" stuff but it was so true for me. That is awesome! where did you find the dress at? (I live in Denver that is why I ask!)

Congrats to Laura and her new hubby Josh! They were married yesterday at Dreams Tulum! I have a confession, I was blog stalking her photog's site in anticipation of a sneak preview and there are now some there! Rafael Ibáñez Laura and I work together and I hope she doesn't mind that not only am I sharing the pics with everyone here on BDW but also the people in our office! (Sorry Laura I HAD TO!) I can't wait for more pics! You looked beautiful and I hope that the day went smoothly and was everything you ever imagined it to be!

Hey Everyone I am joining in on this one! I NEED to lose a good 15lbs before the wedding! I work out pretty consistently but dont always eat that great. I HATE running but know as far as cardio goes it is the best for me so last week I started running BLAH! I just keep telling myself that I have BD pics, wedding dress, wedding pictures and a week of swimsuit wearing coming up, if that is not enough reason for motivation I don't know what is!

OMG! she is so freakin cute!!!!!!!!!!!!! I want to come over and play with her!!!!! Congrats on the new addition! I love labs too they are great dogs!

I do like them both...the second one though I love! Go with your gut...which one do you really like better? which one do you feel more like a bride in?!

I don't know how I missed this thread before! SERIOUSLY $8.99?! that is a gooooood deal, and on-demand?! I am totally going to check this out!