Kits55

I love the website you posted...I didn't think it would have a Hershey bar template but it does. Thanks for sharing!

I wish I had found this thread before my wedding...wait, on second hand, nope. I didn't finish 6 projects because I was so far behind so this would have added to the workload because i LOVE the Love Savers labels SO MUCH! Thanks for sharing. Did anyone else have problems having the Hershey bar label open as an "octet" file instead of Publisher?

Congrats and welcome! I was married at Secrets Maroma and we loved it. If you like forums you'll quickly become addicted to BDW...so beware!

Congratulations and welcome! When I was first joined the forum I was off to a slow start (hadn't picked a place and had never been in a forum before!). Once I picked up on how to use the forum to my best advantage, things got DONE! There were even too many ideas for me to do for my wedding. This forum rocks and you may become addicted!

Quote: Originally Posted by jaccat15 Hi!!! We are having a beach bonfire for everyone after dinner time so people can enjoy the resort on their own terms and meet us afterwards. We are thinking about having our bridal party and parents only do a hibachi table at the japanese restaurant but we're still thinking about it since it would be around 30 people including significant others and spouses. Cecilia said if we wanted, she would set us up with our own tables at the Caribbean night buffet which out by the pool terrace that night so we'll see. As for decor, I picked everything from Cecilia and am shipping place cards, fans, and the welcome bags ahead of time. I would rather not make this complicated and am leaving it up to the experts to make it a beautiful night Hi Jaccat: When I got married at SMB the charge was really high for the bonfire for our welcome dinner. Unfortunately it was so horrendously windy we couldn't have it anyway but I'm curious as to what they're charging for "set-up" fee and price per person these days for the bonfire? Things have changed so much even from a year ago, it seems so crazy!

The playing cards look great...good detail putting stickers on the top and bottom flaps!

Quote: Originally Posted by erinbrooke124 What is anyone using to print chapstick labels? I have a template completed, but I'm wondering if it's easier to print them myself or order them? It depends on how many you will need. If you only need say, 30 it's probably cheaper to buy your own blank address labels and do it yourself. keep in mind if you use an ink jet printer they will be likely to smear. Using a laser printer would be best for those. If you need a ton of labels then going through Vistaprint and paying for shipping might be a more economical option.

Quote: Originally Posted by mlynnea I'm taking care of my name change in MN too. It might be more expensive than the route you're going, but I'm just going through the Legal Name Change process through Hennepin County. It costs $320, but it's kinda unrelated to the marriage paperwork. So you don't have to deal with the document translation, etc, as it relates to the name change. I've submitted the initial paperwork, and then the next steps are to bring my spouse and a witness to meet with a judge for a "hearing" for the judge to approve the name change. Once it's approved, you receive a document that you basically send out to SSN, and make copies of the document for credit cards and driver's license, etc. My mom thought that a money saving method might be to go to a local MN courthouse and get a MN marriage license, which would I think be cheaper and easier for the name change, but I wanted my legal ceremony in Mexico to be the true ceremony, so I opted to go the route of paying $320. Here is a link to the site with all of the documents and some FAQ: Name Changes Let me know if I can help. I'm not all the way through the process yet, but my husband is a lawyer and has been helping me. Hey, thanks for the info. This could be really helpful for other girls in MN going through the name change process. I live in KS but am temporarily living overseas. To make a long story short I had to get a MN driver's license b/c my KS one expires soon and I have to have a valid DL for my international driver's permit. I didn't have any problems using my Spanish marriage cert to change my SSN but getting the DL was a huge pain. I also wanted our wedding to be legal in Mexico but now I wish I had done a symbolic ceremony just for the sake of simplicity. What's done is done and we're married now so that's all that matters! I have never heard of the Legal Name Change process so I'm glad you put that out there! Thanks for the help/ideas...you should definitely pass that info on!

Quote: Originally Posted by bellajovie Hello! I am new to the forum but have had a lot of questions answered by reading the threads--so thank you! Like mellyrobert, I would also like to see photos of a wedding at the gazebo since we are considering that as our site. Also, Ive been searching the threads, are there any brides who have had a legal wedding at Secrets Maroma? I would like to know how that experience was... Hey Bellajovie: I was married April 2009 at SMB in a legal wedding ceremony. We had our ceremony on the beach as well as the cocktail hour. It was a horrible experience but you DO have to be more organized as far as paperwork, blood tests, etc go. I only needed my passport in order to get married but there is A LOT of conflicting info on the forum regarding the documents you need for a legal wedding in Mexico. If you're thinking of a legal ceremony contact Cecilia well in advance for confirmation on what you will need. We had to pay a fee for the blood tests and it wasn't quite as fast as we thought it would be. There was a hold up with the doctor in the clinic (They did our blood test in our room) so he was over an hour late and we were waiting around to get to the beach and by then all the chairs were taken. We had my family (4 members) as our witnesses and luckily they arrived when we did so they "qualified" as witnesses. If you don't have people in MX early enough to qualify then you have to use resort witnesses and they each cost $20. Our judge was good, even in her red polyester vest suit. We had our Spanish license before we went back to the US but I think we waited for about 2-3 months for our English version license. Since then I've had issues with the US government accepting those licenses as valid (to change the name on my driver's license, new social security card, passport, etc). I even hired a translation company to translate the Spanish one and am still having issues. I don't know if it's just MN that won't accept them or if other states would give you a hard time as well. In MN they won't let me use the translation or any of the licenses for a new social security card or driver's license because our marriage license was not "approved" by the US Embassy in Mexico. It's a whole mess now and I do wish I had just done a symbolic ceremony and not told anyone!! Just my two cents I hope that helps. If you have any Qs send me a PM because I don't get the thread updates like I used to.

I had paper parasols for the ceremony but it was so insanely windy on the beach (basically everyone was being sandblasted during the entire ceremony) that I decided not to use them. We also did not use them for the TTD because we were in a cenote. If it's too windy you won't want to open the parasols at all or they'll only last as long as it takes the wind to catch them. If it's only a gentle breeze you shouldn't have to worry about anything.

I am in the midst of changing my last name, but I'm doing it from Africa. Does anyone out there know how I can get a "certified" copy of my marriage license? Or where can you get one in the US? My MIL has our actual Spanish to English marriage license but I'm not sure where she can get a "certified" copy to send to us so I can begin the name change process. TIA!

The vases are gorgeous! Where did you get them? I used small LEDs also and loved them! Great centerpieces. Quote: Originally Posted by LadyTrunck Alright- got them today! You can't really see it, but the vase second from left has an LED light in it. We are going to put some in all of them at different heights. The dots are scatter jewels. I love them!

I did not use the package bouquet as my bouquet but I did use it (I think as a centerpiece). By the time I got to SMB they had different flower options available to me and I actually wished I had used the live flowers instead of paying for a silk bouquet. The flowers in the centerpieces were very fresh and GORGEOUS. I'm not sure I have any pictures but I'll check and post them if I have some.

Quote: Originally Posted by kriztie707 What wedding package did you all pick for your wedding?? We are having a hard time deciding between the Secrets of Love package and the Secrets Ultimate Wedding package. Any advice would be great! Thanks!! I also had the same dilemma. I finally decided on the Secrets Ultimate Package b/c of the videographer....and he was WELL WORTH IT. We didn't actually have the "owner" do our video but the guy who did our video (he only told me his once so I can't remember what it is) was awesome. People LOVE our video and I'm so incredibly glad I have a video. I was against a video initially because it seemed so lame but once I saw other girls' videos I knew I wanted a videographer. The package photogs are a bit cheesy so if pictures are really important to you I'd suggest hiring an outside vendor. We also chose the Ultimate package for the Mexican trio (we used them during the cocktail hour) and the Gold "cocktail" hour although we did upgrade to Platinum for that. For whatever package you pick be advised ahead of time that for us the "late check-out" based upon availability got us an extra hour and we had to fight tooth and nail for it. I know the resort was not filling up because it was during the swine flu epidemic and people were actually LEAVING the resort. They were just being stingy. Also, we weren't given a groom's room for the night before the wedding even though we asked twice about it. My husband pretended to be sad when I asked for the room so I didn't push for it. I think Simistar maybe had to fight tooth and nail to get a room for her man the night before? We did use the couples massage and upgrade from 30 minutes to 60 minutes and only had to pay difference. It was nice!

Quote: Originally Posted by sasse75 I am planning on doing a ttd the day after our wedding. I am also planning on wearing my dress again at our ahr so I'm obviously concerned that my dress will be ruined and I won't be able to wear it. I have read through this entire thread and for the most part it seems as though the dresses came out like new! My questions is.....are there any brides who did a ttd in water and had their dress acually trashed so badly that they couldn't wear it again? I don't know if mine would be considered "unwearable" but the bottom is very dirty and the dirt refuses to come out. I swam in my dress then accidentally dropped the hem in the dirt. The dirt puffed up and landed on part of the dress so now the hem and bottom are dirty. When I got home I took it to a cleaner but because of the beading on my dress their machines would potentially tear the beading off. My dress is has big enough dirt spots that I would not even sell my dress at this point until I can try to clean it some other way. As for water stains, fabric being ruined, etc nothing else ended up badly.

We were married at Secrets Maroma Beach and the beer came in glass bottles.

Congrats and welcome to the forum Abby! You're one step ahead of a lot of the brides that join the forum...you already know where you want to get married! This forum can definitely help you calm your nerves as well as give you endless ideas on DIY projects you can do for your wedding if you like that kind of thing You can also find great vendors on the forum as well. Good luck and happy planning!

Hi May, congratulations and welcome to the forum! There are almost limitless possibilities when it comes to getting married in Mexico and the DR! Some questions to help you start thinking about how to narrow down your search: 1. What is your budget and how long do you want to stay at your resort after the wedding (are you having a weddingmoon, honeymoon and wedding at the same place?) 2. What is the budget you would like for your guests 3. Do you want all inclusive 4. Do you want adults only? 5. Do you want there to be lot of off resort activities? (in this case Riviera Maya might be better than Cabo) These questions helped me get started when I was overwhelmed by options when I first started doing research. Hope it helps! Good luck to you and if you have any questions I'm here!

Eyes Wide Shut: Tom Cruise

Wow, what a beautiful wedding set-up! Thanks for the honest review and I'm so happy to hear everything turned out so well. Your dress was beautiful and fit you perfectly. You and are DH make a really attractive couple and you look so happy in your pictures It sounds like you had something to look forward to when you got home...a healthy grand daughter and another grand baby on the way!

Welcome and congratulations to you! This is definitely the place to come if you need answers or ideas for DIY projects! If you need any help you can PM me

Welcome to the forum Michelle! I just typed a super long post but then my internet connection said it was a broken link so I lost it all! Briefly, I, too am from MN!! I don't currently live there but I grew up there and lived there for 18 years. I LOVE MN! I was married this past April at Secrets Maroma Beach. I'm not sure what kind of budget you are thinking for for your guests but our guests paid around $1178 per person based on double occupancy for 4 nights. They also had to pay airfare but nothing other than that besides tips and personal purchases. SMB is not one of the cheapest but it's extremely nice and worth the money in my opinion. I personally think all inclusive is the way to go even though I always have sticker shock when I initially see prices for resorts. When I remember that all food, drinks, desserts, and activities are free of price with an AI (all inclusive) rate I understand. Also the service at SMB was fantastic. My FI and I hired a company to help us and it was such a PITA I would only hire someone on here to help me or it all myself. I love doing things myself but if you don't have the time or patience to search then check out the forums on here as much as possible. The BDW people helped me out SO much. Every time I had a question I'd do a quick search on here. If I couldn't find the answer I'd post a question and almost within a day I'd have multiple responses...this forum is amazing! Your daughter can definitely be a part of your wedding! She could be in the wedding party and/or double as the "ring bearer", read the speech for the sand ceremony if you're having one, etc. The possibilities are endless! With that in mind, it should help make your search for a location easier...you'll have to stay at a place that is kid friendly! Good luck! You can PM (private message) me if you have any questions.

Welcome to the forum! I hope you learn as much as I did before my wedding. I had almost 10,000 questions before I got married and I would always turn to the forum before anyone else for answers! lol I always ran a search and if I couldn't find anything I'd post a question. Everyone on here rocks! Have fun planning!

wedding showers are so much fun!! It looks like you had a great turn out...it's so great when you get to see everyone before your wedding, it makes it that much more fun The cake looked delicious!

I had my MOH back out about two weeks before the wedding. She was so wishy washy the entire time that I wasn't all that surprised. Her loss unfortunately for her, especially because she LOVES the beach! In my case I just had the guys waiting at the "altar" with my FI and then my girls walked down together (I was REALLY lax) because it was my sister and cousin and they are really close. For someone who is all about symmetry and anal about this type of thing it turned OK for me in the end. One less person I had make things for! lol Whatever you decide to do I think you'll end up being happy. It might take a couple of days for this to wear off but like someone else said, you know what kind of friend he is now. If he can't get over something that happened a long time ago, even after a kid and wife then he needs to grow up. I wish you a beautiful, wonderful wedding!