MarieSam

3) Jennifer Smith of Turtle Bay Café is the best damn wedding coordinator, caterer, cake baker in Quintana Roo!!! She is God sent and can create the wedding of your dreams – food is unmatched, her cakes/desserts are to die for (her tres leches cake is like good sex, hehehe). And best of all – my wedding ended up being under budget – she is fantastic!!!! Contact her at www.marrymeakumal.com or www.turtlebaycafe.com 4) All my wedding vendors were awesome!!!! a.Stephanie Williams and her husband Isaac are the best photographers in the world and so, so wonderful!! Our families LOVED them and they worked so hard during the welcome dinner, our wedding and TTD session. I can't wait to see their pics!!! Check them out at www.stephaniewilliamsphotography.com b.Paul Schrank of Playa Weddings photography/videography is beyond wonderful!!! My wedding was about 80 minutes late (yep I had too many damn people getting hair and makeup) and Paul and his assistant stayed later than expected – about 2+ hours later. They were so accommodating and were everywhere throughout the festivities capturing all the important moments. www.playaweddings.com c.Charlie and Maria – shamans who perform the Mayan Wedding Ceremony are out of this world. If you are considering having this ceremony it is an experience you and your guests will never forget. Truly one of our best decisions! Everyone cried during our ceremony, it is a touching and incredibly spiritual way to get married – you will love it!!! d.Alfonso de Malaga is a great if you’re looking for a Spanish guitarist for your wedding! His rates are reasonable and he is so kind and excited to a part of your festivities. He can be reached at [email protected] e. DJ Bob is fantastic!!! He played 2 hours extra because our group could not stop dancing and he kept the crowd moving. He is a GREAT GREAT DJ and his rates can't be beat! www.weddingdjrivieramaya.com f. Karis Staley is a magician at makeup and hair!!! She worked her ass off to get me and my humongous wedding party ready. We started about an hour later than we planned -- not her fault at all, it was ours. But she made everyone look amazing!! I love her and would recommend her to anyone in the So Cal area or wanting to bring their own artist with them, she is worth every dime! http://www.projectwedding.com/vendor/show/karis-staley 5) Misc points: -- my daughter sang "The Way I Am" by Ingrid Michelson and brought the house down!! -- Tommy and I did a surprise First Dance that started off as "Spend My Life With You" by Tamia and E. Benet then mixed into a hip-hop routine -- it was a blast and shocked everyone! Without further ado, here are a couple teaser non-pro pics taken by my brother and other family members! Forgive my photo with my bridesmaids – my eyes were closing, lol. Will post more as I get em… My daughter and I Tommy and his dad wearing his “free” vistaprint “Father of the Groom” hat, lol. My cute ass parents, love em!! Will post more pics...hopefully later today!!!! Love ya all

This post is so overdue, I got home late Sunday night but it has been such a pain getting back into the swing of reality after spending two wonderful weeks in paradise! But I’m back and everything was better than I could have ever imagined – it was a little crazy leading up to the welcome dinner and wedding but both events were incredibly wonderful I know for sure I could not have had such a perfect wedding without this forum! Thank you all for your support, ideas and inspiration!! If I could bottle up my wedding experience, I’d share it with all you brides and grooms to be because it was truly the happiest days of my life I am going to try and post a full review sometime this week and then more in-depth reviews on different aspects of my wedding, including my uber late planning thread that I just didn’t have time to complete before I left. But I did take pics of everything so I promise to follow through on that gals! Until I get more time to post the full thread here are some of the highlights with pics of course : 1) Akumal is the most beautiful, best kept secret in the Quintana Roo –if you haven’t picked a wedding location yet GOOD GOD consider Akumal – it is a piece of paradise that you will instantly fall in love with!!! It's a small town with no big hotels, just a bunch of amazing villas, condos and smaller hotels. We stayed at the Casa Romero property (Luxury Villas and Townhouses on Yal Ku Lagoon: Akumal) and it was gloriously wonderful dream. The owner, David Poor, was the nicest man and so welcoming and hospitable. This was also where we held our Mexican fiesta themed Welcome Dinner – uber fabulous! Our pool at the Casa Romero villa and private backyard access to Yal Ku Lagoon: Our Welcome Dinner in the courtyard: The amazing beach I got married on: 2) Our friends Ismael and Silvia of Sauce Vacations (best transportation/tour company in Cancun/Riviera Maya) – are saints!! In a nutshell – they gave us a 14-passenger van to use for free throughout our stay, they picked us up from the airport (a party of 30) in a bus and drove us to Akumal, they provided tours and transportation for all our guests, they provided a taco man for our welcome dinner and a fantastic all-female mariachi band that was the bomb!!! We love this family, if you use them let em know MarieSam sent you and they will take extra special care of you – Here's their website:Travel and Tours Experts ¡¡ *****more to come with pics!!!!

Hi all, I haven't had the chance to post much this past week because I have been uber busy, goin bananas tryin to get too much stuff done. Well Tommy and I pulled an all-nighter Saturday night and left for the airport early Sunday. This has been a llllooooonnngggg day and we are exhausted but the villa we are staying at is REEE-DICULOUS!!!! It is incredible and we are so excited to be here! So far there are 30 of us staying on the property and the weather is perfect. I promise to post pics in the next couple days My planning thread will likely be a post wedding thread because I plan on swimming in the lagoon in our backyard all tomorrow and basking the beautifulness that is Akumal, hehehee. Just want to let y'all know I LOVE you each and every one of you and there is no way in hell I would be so prepared for this wedding if it wasn't for all of you *PS if we didn't have receipts for all our stuff (many fake ones) we would have surely had problems at customs , by the way we had 10 bags full of wedding stuff -- so future brides make sure to do this!!!!! Talk soon ~ much love to all

Shannon, I LOVE it!!! You look beautiful I was just gonna work on my BD book on shutterfly and you've inspired me ~ what size did you order by the way? I keep going back and forth on that. Also which cover did you opt for? FI will adore this, you look amazing!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by foxytv Oh they are absolutely magnificent! You are right, the styles are very different, but that's awesome b/c it gives you such a variety for your book. Are you incorporatin both shoots into one book or doing two separate books? You are ONE HOT MAMA !!!! I absolutely ADORE them!!! Quote: Originally Posted by foxytv MarieSam - Tom and I did pics before the ceremony and it was great. My photog gave Tom his BD book alone, before I got there and captured some of my favorite pics from him opening it! Also, the sequence of pics when he first saw me are truly unbelieveable, so I am glad you are doing pics before the ceremony. You really will get some truly treasured pics! Tami, it's so funny you say this because it was actually your set of pictures that I first saw on the forum that inspired me to do a BD book and have it given to him by my photog. I remember seeing Tom's face light up in one of those pics and I was hooked in -- he was in his dark blue uniform right? And how happy he was to see you in that first look session. I totally remember loving your pics so much!!! * Oh and yes I'm putting all the pics together to make one book I am keeping my fingers crossed our pics will be just as special and wonderful as yours

As always thank you girls for all your love ~ y'all are too much and need to stop it before I get a big head, lol. Quote: Originally Posted by BillysBride Wooooooooooooooooooooooooo Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! OK, girl..I gotta do it... "Don't stop-get it-get it! Don't stop-get it-get it!" Sookie sookie, Ma! You got the flames shootin outta my pc! Ugh, you are despicable. lol Seriously though, you look GREAT and those are so smokin'..Tommy boy is gonna lose his sensibilities and hunt you down before the ceremony. So I'd suggest saving these for..umm...later. Savannah, you kill me !!!! Tommy and I are actually doing a first look photo session before the cermony ~ so I'm hoping this book will get him pumped up (ok not in that way, that comment was not supposed to sound gross hahaha) and give us some romantic loving pics....so we'll see!!!!

what a fun bouquet!!! very chic and edgy but still delicate and beautiful. I LOVE it!!!

You gals are too much and sure know how to make a girl feel good about herself thank you so much for all the sweet compliments, I really hope FI will be suprised and love his BD book Quote: Originally Posted by LC_Rachel Gorgeous girl! I love the two different styles. Sassy and Sweet!! I absolutely love your make up all dramatic. You have the features to pull off dark eyes and bright lips. I look like a hooker when I try. You look like a hot pin up! Rachel your pretty self could never look like a hooker! I honestly thought I looked like a $2 whore whenever I've used bright lips in the past too, lol. But I think the key is having your makeup done by someone who can really put "the look" together. I thought I was pretty good at makeup application until I met these girls! They were true makeup "artist" and I'm sure they'd make you a super smokin pin up girl too!!! Quote: Originally Posted by H&F MarieSam I LOVE your photos! You look fantastic in both shoots (I wish I could look like you on only 3 hrs of sleep)!!!! Your FI is going to drop his jaw when he sees your book. Thanks so much for sharing. You've given me a lot of inspiration for my shoot next month. Thank you! Girl have a blast!!! Relax and just have fun with it ~ can't wait to see your pics, I'm sure they'll turn out super fabulous Quote: Originally Posted by JulieG You look sooo hot and soo relaxed and sexy!!! Tommy is going to love them. Aww thanks Julie - perhaps my sleepiness came off as relaxed, lol, cuz hun I was super nervous!!! I do hope Tommy loves em. And before I forget, I ADORE your siggy pic ~ now that's a future pinup beauty in the making Quote: Originally Posted by deefalvey MarieSam those are great!!! I have my shoot with Beth on Tuesday! Can't wait! Deanna, YAY!!! You will love Beth, can't wait to see your pics. I just know you're gonna look incredible! Quote: Originally Posted by tylersgirl MarieSam!!! I just now saw this thread! Girl.....U look freaking amazing! WOWWW! Your outfits and makeup look perfect. I love the black number. Also, the red shoes are amazing! Tommy is going to freak out! You are so beautiful and the pics look perfect. XOXO Thank you Des, you're such a sweetheart! The black outfit was my favorite too! Corsets are like magic, so glad I decided to wear one! The red shoes are actually my wedding shoes, heehhe. So Tommy will get a preview when my photog gives him his book while getting ready

Lisa how exciting and special that your aunt is making a dress for you, what a rockin diva you are You look so incredibly excited and happy in your pics, they totally made me smile I can't wait to see your dress progress, you are going to be an amazingly beautiful bride!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by tylersgirl Okay, I finally found my wedding shoes! They are Nina and I bought them at Dillard's yesterday. I am in love. They match my dress perfectly (it is light gold) and the heel is not too high. Here they are: Ok so I really try to avoid this thread because I am a freakin shoe addict ~ but Desiree these shoes are just so fabulous I had to comment. I LOVE em, they will look perfect on your wedding day!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by deefalvey I remembered this week, however I missed last week. I am so stressed out with wedding stuff and I still have 6 weeks to go. FI is traveling so much for work and he and I are fighting...his kids are sick and I am the one who has to come home early/stay home to take care of him, when I really need to be at work. When I am stressed, my weakness is food and I try to deal by eating. I hope this passes soon... Deanna, me too!!! I am so jealous of all the brides that stress and then lose weight ~ my mouth has been a freakin garbage disposal I didn't realize you were so close!! Can you believe how close we are? Exciting

i totally sucked this week, i think all the wedding plans are starting to get to me. i even forgot to weigh in...blah, not a good week!

Chanti, so glad you're ok I swear if this thing getting raised to level 6 with my wedding, I am gonna wanna shoot someone!!! I am so freakin sick and tired of the damn swine flu!!!!!

thanks girls, you guys are too sweet -- sorry the pics are so big, i'm trying to adjust their sizes. but photobucket is with me right now

ok girls, i made a separate post because i did two sessions and included reviews for both photogs...it's here: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t44125

That's all, why are these so huge? Sorry Mods, trying to go fix now!!!!

Ok next session was with Kelly Melissa Photography. Kelly is another sweetheart who just start doing BD photos. We did our session at a hotel -- $30 (can’t beat that). I did my own makeup/hair and she took as many photos in as many outfits I wanted. This session was more of the traditional boudoir session -- very natural, from different angles, and more laid back. I brought lots of props, outfits, and was willing to do whatever my vision was. She was great, I went on 3 hours of sleep to my photo session which sucks because I think I look exhausted and shitty. But hey, I’m half naked, should FI should love em regardless right? lol She’s another So Cal photographer that is great! Onto the pics... *Kelly’s idea and I LOVE it!!

* dont know why some of these are coming up blurry, they look perfect on my comp Next BD session with Kelly Melissa...

YAY finally I got my photos for both sessions. Both photographers I used were great, but had very different styles, which is why I did the separate sessions. Both women are in So Cal, but Beth is going to start doing BD tours, which is awesome!!! ** If you’re ever apprehensive** Let me preface all this by saying I was really nervous about doing this at first -- I have a daughter and she did a number on me as far as stretch marks, body never being the same, blah, etc. So like most women, I have body/image issues. Both photographers knew from the start that all of this bothered me, so they took pics from angles that were flattering and of course smoothed/edited out any marks that I was uncomfortable with -- photoshop is virtual crack, I LOVE it. hahhaha. So if you have any qualms about your appearance, talk to your BD photog about it first ~ they will help calm your fears. The BD experience is liberating, and I honestly would love to do it once a year -- it’s so much fun First session was with Beth Cocuzzi aka Pussycat Pinups -- Boudoir Photography by Beth . (Package prices are on her site) She is FREAKING AWESOME!!!! I cannot even begin to say how amazing she is, both she and her hair stylist Tera. As soon as I came in they looked over the stuff I brought and gave me their opinion on what they thought would look best for pictures. FYI - Beth works outta her home in Huntington Beach and she has some awesome furniture/backdrops and was actually remodeling while I was there to add a new setting in her living room for BD pics. Anywho, Beth did my makeup and Tera did my hair. These girls are true pros at their craft! Then Beth took my pics and instructed me the whole time on how to be "sexy" -- I needed help! I had three outfit changes, two looks and a lipstick switch so technically 3 looks. Here are some pics - as you will see her style is more pinup/glamour. I told her I wanted the Maxim feel, which FI LOVES, and she went with it. I have tons more but these are my favs: * don't know why some are blurry -- they are perfect on my comp ? More coming on this session....

hahha i'm actually uploading them into photobucket as we speak...teasers within the next hour i promise, these files are HUGE, and taking forever

Aww day after me ~ Happy Birthday girl!!! Hope it's a wonderful one

Oh I LOVE those, I will take some off yoru hands -- I'll PM you now.

Lots of brides have had their photographer deliver it to the groom during the day-off getting ready process, then capturing his reaction on film. I've seen so many cute photos of the groom looking at the pics, that's my plan so I'll get to see his reaction without being in front of him

awww Tammy I'm so sorry, yanno I had my car broken into in front of my house like a year ago. My car was such a mess at the time I couldn't even figure out right away what they stole. But days, weeks later I started to recall things that were inside that had been taken. The dumb shit(s) happened to take some OOT bag stuff (straw beach mats - yeah why I don't know), my lucky business suit and a super nice $$$$ garment bag, and the irreplaceable -- a bag of like 40+ cards my FMIL received on her suprise 60th bday party which I was going to put together in an album as a keepsake. ugh i felt awful.... i know the feeling sucks right now, especially all the hassle of canceling stuff/cards etc., but just remember for the most part those things can be replaced. i'm so sorry you no longer have your cousin's pic but you've got those memories in your heart and lastly just remember karma is a biatch....the person who did that to you will get there's, and somehow luck will come your way twofold

You guys are too much! This forum is so special to me and you guys are so sweet with all your birthday wishes As for my big plans...not much to report, I'm kinda a dork that way. I have been working like a dog lately and am just having some family over for the Laker game!!! then believe it or not going to work my usual 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. shift, lol. Sadly, FI is across the county in Maryland today burying his grandfather who died last week It is not the happiest birthday, but we are coping and hoping his grandpa will shower us with love and happy blessings on our wedding day. So all of your thoughts make a girl feel so special Thank you everyone ~ much love to every single one of you