pdcbride09

Hello everyone..I don't remember if I posted this in the past or not, but going to post it anyway. We keep going back and forth on the whole AHR thing. I feel we should have it..my finance on the other hand isn't really feeling it. I know a lot of people will not be able to make our wedding, so I feel obligated to have a little something back home. Just wanted to know who is actually doing this themselves and what the planning process is. We are getting married May 8, 2009, so I was thinking on having it in June, the first or second Sat. Also, if we do go through with it, what should we do for the bridal shower then? Should I send out invitations for the AHR at the end of March so that I can have a bridal shower in April for all the guests(for Mexico and here??) Or should I not invite the guests from the AHR to the shower I'm confused! Any tips/help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Thanks Guys! Yeah, I have a feeling everything will be ok..just that whole bus idea..we are thinking of the worst case scenarios of having the bus hijacked or something! You are right, it does seem to focus only on the actual criminals involved. I have to think positive. Just scary when it is another country.

So, I seen a post the other day on someone stating that there has been some violence in Mexico. Well..it's true. There has been a lot of kidnappings throughout the country, and now this brutal scene in the state of Yucatan. My fiance and I are a little scared now because we are planning to have our wedding in Playa Del Carmen. In order to get to Playa, you have to take a 40 mins bus/taxi/car ride down the highway. That's a long stretch. don't know if we are over-reacting or what? Here's the story 12 decapitated bodies found in Mexico - CNN.com

Your invitations have to the be the most original/fun ones I have seen! I wish I would have seen these earlier..i think I would've taken your idea for the RSVP card. I most definitely can't wait to see your review as I will be there in 5 months!!!!!

Yeah, you guys were married before going out there, that makes sense then. But I feel the same way about wanting to be surprised. But it sounds soooo tempting to do it!! I looove the way 5th ave looks, especially at night. Wish we could take pics at night, but know that's not going to happen. Probably will have to have our guests take pics. I really wish we could do the TTD session! If you don't mind me asking, how much was your charge you could PM me if you want. As for this cold, I work by NikeTown on Michigan ave, and usually walk almost 2 miles home. Yesterday when it was 13 degrees by the time I got out of work, I had to jump on the bus. crazy cold! but funny that you said you guys are relocating to AZ. I've been w/ my fiance for 8 years now and we were so close to relocating there. My aunt has lived there for 20 years now and I've been there sooo many times. I absolutely love it there. Good luck. What part are you looking to move to?

Yes, our dinner is going to be at Playasia on 5th here's the link: Playasia Restaurant, Playa del Carmen It looks awesome!! As you can see from the pics, it is very exotic looking and definitely no room for dancing or anything like that. I think we will all be sitting at one big table. We are getting married via Blue Parrot Weddings. On the beach in front of Blue Parrot Beach Club. We are a little worried that the beach will be too crowded and that their may be boats..but who cares. That area is too cute. That's what I heard, that the ceremony is only around 20 mins. so I think 3 hours will be enough for us then. I just don't know when we would be able to take pics on 5th ave. after the ceremony or before or what? grrr. I'm hoping we'll get enough of pics in there. I would LOVE to do the trash the dress photo session but that's too $$$. It looks like so much fun and I honestly think those pics always turn out better than the actual wedding day. How you liking this 17 degree weather we are having today? It's pretty brutal out there! Thank God there isn't a strong wind today! Especially for me since I work downtown!

I totally agree with everyone. My fiance keeps telling me that it doesn't matter that everyone shows up, as long as it's us and our immediate family we will have a good time. Question for you ladies: Any of you having a party back home when you return? We keep going back and forth on it. If it's worth it. We know not a lot of people will be able to go to Mexico, so we figure why not do it? That way people won't feel left out and also would be nice to celebrate w/ friends/family that weren't able to make it. What do you guys think?

Thanks for posting all of your pics! That really eases my nerves a bit. We booked Citalli for May 8th 2009. I'm just nervous that we won't have her for enough time. I booked her for 3 hours. But, we are doing our reception at a local restaurant in Playa..so no dancing or anything like that..just the normal dinner so didn't think I needed her longer than that. There ceremony only takes 30mins so I figured 1 hour of photos for the cocktail hour, 30 mins for ceremony then maybe 30 mins of getting ready?? That's two..then the rest I would assume would be extra. One thing, you took pictures w/ your husband BEFORE the ceremony? I was thinking about doing that and taking pictures down 5th ave..but not sure if I want to do that. I want him to be surprised too. I guess I can always ask Citalli. There are not many posts on here w/ Citalli's/Claudia's crew pics. So again, thanks from a fellow Chicagoan (brrrr) for posting! you guys look great!!

Heather Just checking in to see how are you doing seeing that your wedding is a month away! anything change since the last time we spoke? I am really looking forward to your review as you know we are getting married at the Blue Parrot as well! Look forward to hearing from you!

ohiobride, We are actually using Blue Parrot Weddings for our ceremony/reception! I honestly have not tasted their food, but we did go the beach club last year when we went on vacation. Playasia looks BEAUTIFUL and that is where we are having our reception dinner. We are getting married on the beach in front of the palapa there too. I'm hoping the food is good but I also heard great things about it. Have you seen pics of the place? We also seen the fire dancers when we went and that was cool to see. Goes by fast. But fun for guests to watch. I like this website for local Playa Del Carmen news: Playa del Carmen News,Real Estate,Tours,Golf,Hotels,Restaurants,Nightlife - Playa Maya News,Playa del Carmen,Mexico

Hello! I highly advise using a wedding coordinator. I don't know how you can do a destiantion wedding w/out one. I am using Paula from Blue Parrot. She is very thorough in her responses. But it looks like you are going to have your reception at an AI resort. I just looked online about 2 weeks ago and noticed that at the Viva Wyndham Maya, they have a very reasonable wedding price. Although it's not rated pretty high as far as resorts go. I was VERY close to switching to Viva Wyndham for our wedding. The most expensive package is $1390 for 10 people, then it's an additional $25 pp after that. That includes your meal and all your drinks!! that's a deal!! Especially if you are only having 20-30 people like us. But we decided to keep it at the Blue Parrot Beach Club. One is because we already put a deposit down(for the second time, we switched coordinators) and 2 because it is in town and you are near everything. You can find really good deals in the actual town versus the AI resorts. We didn't feel comfortable having people pay so much to stay at the resorts. Plus you are more obligated to stay there to get your monies worth! Happy Planning!!

Hello! Just wanted to know if anyone knows what the weather is like the first week of May..and also when the sun sets Also..how warm would it be at 5pm? Thanks!

JillianS I hear your pain on this situation. We actually put down a deposit ($300) to have Ajua as our coordinators..we were all excited and pumped especially since they were so speedy in their emails and also thought it was awesome that they have their own planning site. Everything was fine..until we received an email from Stephanie stating that they were raising their prices. She stated it was due to fuel costs..so certain things changed. I believe that their wedding coordinating fee is really high. But at the time we thought we were getting a deal.. But we started to realize that it all added up and we too realized that it would be near $6k w/out the dinner!!! so we started to look around and then I seen on here that someone was using Blue Parrot Weddings. I did contact them before Ajua, however, they never returned my email. Looked like I had the wrong contact information. So..the BDW member on here gave me the info..and now we are using them. The ceremony will not be on a secluded beach..which I'm a little bummed about but it does save $550 that Ajua charged. Also, their services and packages start at $1589 i believe?? That includes their coordination services, beach set up, videographer for 2 hours, your bouquet and his bout, altar set up and a mexican duo for the music for the ceremony!! great deal! So far Paula(wedding coordinator) has been awesome! She is great at answering your emails and does NOT charge a $300 "pre-planning" fee that Ajua does. Insane. If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me!

Thanks Guys! Now I have a dilemma w/ one of the sentences in our invite. I got it from this site..however, my fiance is saying it is not correct in the way it is worded..what do you think Invite You to Share the Sun, Sea and Memories of Our Wedding Day He states that when you break down the sentence, it reads like this: Invite you to share the sun of our wedding Day Invite you to share the sea of our wedding Day Invite you to share the memories of our wedding day I think he is looking way too much into this..what do you think??

Salsa bride: Thanks for the offer, but we are going to just have the civil in mexico and then the church back here at home!!! thanks again!

Hello! I was wondering if I could get some help w/ my invite. I need to know how to word the ending. We are having a cocktail hour then the dinner. Do I say: Cocktails/Dinner immediately following Ceremony or do I just say Cocktails immediately following Ceremony

Robinhood! We are actually having our dinner at Playasia..since we are only having 20-25 people, it is not enough to rent the Palapa/VIP terrace, or the lounge area. I don't mind that either because Playasia looks absolutely beautiful!!! We were there last year(Playa) and walked past the restaurant and it looked beautiful. you should see it on blue parrot's website. ..:: Blueparrot - Beach Club ::.. go to videos on the top right corner and you'll see Playasia. Another plus to having a dinner versus a reception is that we don't have to worry about spending so much money on alcohol!! The alcohol is probably going to cost more than the actual meal..but that's ok. Also, we will not have dancing/and all the traditional stuff so I think we are either going to go to the beach club after dinner or another lounge on that street. I can't wait!!! I haven't tasted any of their food, but I'm sure it's great. I just sent my deposit to Paula(wedding cooridinator) yesterday. You have to give them your credit card number, a copy of the front and back of your credit card as well as a copy of your driver's license. A little scary! So I'm hoping everything goes smoothly! Have you booked a photographer? flight? hotel? we still have to do that as well as mail out our invites!!! I decided not to send STD'S because I know everyone that said they are going..so I'm just sending them the invite for Playa.

Corvette79 Thanks! I actually JUST booked w/ Claudia last night. However I chose Citalli as Claudia was not available! I'm sooo excited as Citalli's work is great as well. And when I think about it..8 or 9 more months of them working on more weddings will make their work that much more better. Believe me..it was soo hard. I was really close w/ going w/ Zasil studio..and a part of me thinks..hmm..should I? but I know Citalli will do a fantastic job. I know I have a lot of planning. We haven't even booked our flight or hotel!! so we have a lot to do! I love reading all the planning threads..although it makes me feel like I can come no where close to theirs. I am definitely not a planner..so we'll see what happens.

I wish it was open bar for cocktail hour, unfortunately, they only do by consumption, which I'm assuming is why so that they can make more money, so bummed about that. I think we are going to do have open bar for 2 hours..and if we are still there another hour, it will be by consumption. It's insane how expensive drinks are in Mexico. Just like here in the states. You would think you'd be getting a better deal, but nope! Guess that's what you get for having your wedding in a very touristy area!

I think cocktails for cocktail hour too. But we can do by consumption for that as well..and it's only an hour. Sad thing is that the bar will be more than the actual dinner! I hate knowing that. But we'll see when the time gets closer. But good idea! Thanks for you help!

OK..so..have another thought.. We have to decide whether or not to have a by consumption bar of just have an open bar. The majority of our guests do drink..maybe only 2 don't out of 25. I just don't know if it's smarter to do an open bar or by consumption. We will be having a cocktail hour before the dinner. We also will only be having a dinner only..no dancing or anything like that..just a sit down dinner. So I don't know what to do. Open bar is like this: First hour: $14 Every Hour after: $12 By consumption examples: Beer: $3.50 any mixed drink: $7 Martini's are $10 Wine: $7.50 I would think we would need an open bar for 2 hours and then maybe the third hour have by consumption? I really don't see us being there longer than that. What do you think? Also, for our cocktail hour..we can choose what to serve. We don't want to look cheap..but want to keep the costs down all around. the drink prices are the same..Should we just offer beer? Or does that look cheap?? Any thoughts would help. Thanks!

Hello Nicole and welcome!! I seen you are a fellow Illionoisan! Where about? and where are you getting married??

Ok..this may be a really senseless question, but was wondering where do you get ready for your wedding? My fiance and I will be obviously staying in the same room prior to our wedding, so where do either of us go? Do I stay in the room and he goes to someone else's room? How is this done

Quote: Re: Photographer Needed for How Long -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I booked my photographer for 4 hours. Here was my logic: 30 minutes of getting ready 30 minutes ceremony 30 hour of bride & groom/family 30 hour cocktail hour 2 hour of the reception I might need to throw in an extra hour (it's an option) depending on how the day is running. That's a good time frame..however, are you having more of an actual reception where there will be a first dance/cutting of the cake and more dancing? we will not be having that..also..did the photographer inform you that that time time log is sufficient?? Also..who are you using?? Thanks!

Elizabeth, We were told that you cannot have a catholic ceremony outside of the church in Mexico that they require it to be inside the actual church. Do you have any more information on this? Thanks!