Jennifer Davis

Oooh! Excellence Punta Cana! I LOVE that resort. I went there last December for a little R&R. Congratulations and good luck!

Great job. They're fantastic!

Threading works much better than waxing and lasts longer. It's a pinch more painful than waxing but so worth it.

If you love it, then you should wear it! I think it is a fabulous dress!

Quote: Originally Posted by luckygirl So I finally talked to Julie today and when I asked her about the dress she said someone else had asked her....it was you...LOL. So, I'm glad she was able to confirm for you what Islamorada bride already told you. Good luck. Thank you so much! I PMed you when I found out. Did you get it? You absolutely rock for pointing that out on your photographers website. I can't thank you enough. Julie's pictures are beautiful. Are you going to use her?

Quote: Originally Posted by Davematthews16 My girlfriend was set to stay at our house and watch the animals the week we're in Mexico, and she just informed me that she cannot do it. My animals are like children and I don't trust just ANYONE with them. UGH I'm in a total bind now Everyone else I trust is going to the wedding. I can't take them to a shelter either (they are all rescues and would totally flip out, and I would be worried about them the entire time) YIKES!!!!! My sister lives in Denver and she takes her dogs to a doggy day care near her house that she swears by. (aside: we have both grown up with pets and are childless so our pets are our kids too). Anyway, they go on vacation all the time and leave the pups there for long periods and she says they love going. I could get the information if you are interested. If so, I would suggest going there to check it out, leave the dogs there overnight and a trial so you have a sense of confidence when you leave. Let me know.

I know of a FANTASTIC restaurant in Cabo San Lucas. It is called Pancho's. The manager, Armondo, teaches "Tequila School". He pours each guest about 5 different types of tequila and teaches you about each type and also the origin of tequila in Mexico. You'll LOVE it!!! We were there for 10 days and ate there 3 times! Pancho's Restaurant - House of the Best Mexican Food in Los Cabos, Mexico!..

I saw some nice knee length, summery white dresses at Nordstrom on-line. Look at the wedding dresses. They have some nice ones, very informal.

Quote: Originally Posted by meagan OK, this is probably a dumb question but...I'll ask anyway. Do yiou get an OOT bag for each guest or per couple? I figured I would get one for any single people, but If there is a couple I would do 1 for the couple. Is that right or does that go against OOT bag rules? I hope that is right because it is exactly what I am planning to do

Kenny and I were dating just shy of 3 years when he proposed.

I love Christmas. Decorating the Christmas tree has been one of my most favorite things to do since I have been a little girl. When Kenny and I started dating 3 years ago (our first date was Valentine’s Day 2005), we both decided we would start fresh with ornaments so we would be able to have a special tree together filled with wonderful memories. I think we both knew after about 10 months of dating (we were already living together) that we had found what we each had been looking for. So now, all the ornaments we have on our tree, with the exception of some filler ornaments which reduce each year in number, we have very special ornaments collected from trips we’ve taken together or that were given to us as gifts. It’s so fun to decorate the tree because each ornament we pull out we talk about the wonderful memory attached to it. Anyway, it was the weekend after Thanksgiving and Kenny and I planned a romantic evening in which we would cook dinner together (surf and turf), drink wine, listen to Dave & Tim and decorate our Christmas tree together. Kenny puts the lights on and I was prepare the ornaments with hooks, then we put the ornaments on together. One thing I have been frustrated about for about 15 years now is that I have not been able to find a Christmas tree topper I love. I used to put my favorite stuffed teddy bear on the top of my tree, when I was single, but Kenny thinks this is too girly. He insists on using this old ugly one he has and I refuse to buy one until I find “the oneâ€. We were just about finished with the ornaments and I started in on my typical complaining about the tree topper. Kenny goes into the other room and brings out a big Christmas gift bag. My eyes lit up! A tree topper! Finally! Yay! I was SO excited. I started pulling tissue out of the bag, eager to see the topper he’d picked out. I started to realize, after removing most of the tissue, that there was no tree topper in the bag - either that or it was the smallest tree topper in history. I got to the bottom of the bag and pulled out a small box. He took the box, opened it, got down on one knee and said, “Will you marry meâ€. I was in complete shock – still a little confused that there was no tree topper! Of course I said “yesâ€. Kenny is my best friend. I couldn’t imagine life without him. Now, here we are planning our wedding!

Yes. I finished the website first. Now, I am in the process of ordering STDs which will go out next month or in early October. i put the web address on the STD so I needed to make sure it got done first.

My babies eat "Wellness Core". They also get "Sea Pet" multi vitamin fish oil and alfalfa in their morning meal.

Cancun Party Hopper Bar Crawl I went on this party hoppers tour when I was in Cancun in December 2006. It was so much fun! $65 gets you admission and free drinks at 3 bars in Cancun.

I am getting married at Excellence Playa Mujeres. It is definitely on the expensive side but I figured that it is so nice and you get so much for the money that it will be worth it. Even though it is expensive, 5 people have booked for my December 2009 wedding and commented on how nice it was for the price. I think it depends on your guest list and everyone's financial situation. I believe that this should be a consideration when choosing a location. If you have a lot of 30 something professionals on your list or DINK couples that may have a little surplus cash then a more expensive resort may be an ok choice for you However, if you have a lot of 20 somethings just getting started, people with kids, you are paying for parents, etc then it may be wiser to choose a resort that is less expensive.

The Westin is nice and less expensive than the W. The W has a GREAT bar in it though!

Quote: Originally Posted by lauren we're thinking about trying to get away with another couple the week of christmas/new years. we originally said a cruise, but w/ time being of the essence, we didn't want to spend a few days flying from ny to fl or wherever. then we found out that we couldn't really do a cruise for less than $1500/pp +flights and drinks. so my question is: is it possible to go on vacation for around $1000/pp (or less!) around christmas? or are we dreaming the impossible dream? I have done this for the past two years. In 2006 I went to Cancun and stayed at Paradisus Rivera Maya. We paid $800 per person and had non-stop flights. In 2007, I went to DR and stayed at Excellence Punta Cana. We paid $950 per person and had a non-stop flight and a swim up room. One year I booked through Expedia and the next year, I booked directly with the resort and the airline. Hunt around. You'll be able to find something good.

Quote: Originally Posted by tvt I think you should get whichever dress you feel the best in! They are both beautiful, and very different from each other. I agree. You need to do what your heart tells you to do. You are only going to be the bride one time. Make it count! The last thing you want is to be at your wedding thinking, "I chose the wrong dress". It sounds like you have already made up your mind regarding which dress you want. Sell the first one. If it's the sensible factor that is influencing what you really want to do, think of it this way, we buy extra stuff all the time and we all have the right to change our minds. Sometimes, you have to through sensibility out the window so you can be happy. If it's not a common occurence, it's ok to do this sometimes.

Quote: Originally Posted by SoontobeMrsE We had the same thing happen to us. FMIL has a time share and invited her entire familly to stay with her and her husband. I understand having a timeshare and wanting to save money - BUT - DON"T BE INVITIN EVERYONE ELSE TO STAY WITH YOU!!! Our hotel has a rule that 80% of the wedding guests MUST stay at the hotel. I posted on our website that we spent a lot of time researching the hotels to get everyone the best rate, the best ameneties and the hotel that had the best wedding package. (Because after all it is our wedding right?!!) It got to the point where we told FMIL that she was eating into our 20% of guests who could stay elsewhere - so please don't invite anyone else! After the wedding yes - the night of the wedding - NO!! Anyhow, in the end we have 8 guests staying at a timeshare - fortunately - two of them are my aunts and they are paying for their own day passes (BLESS THEM!!) The other six we have to foot the bill for! Our resort charges $60 for half day and $100 for full day passes. MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY! You may want to keep an eye on rates and see if it is cheaper to book a room for a double or triple occupancy versus buying day passes. That's what we are doing and I'm even going to check with the hotel directly the day of the wedding to see if we can get a cheap room rate. Even if no one actually stays in the room - it may be cheaper to book a room for 3 or 4 guests instead of purchasing the day passes. With luck the hotel may just want to sell the room and will give us a good rate. Either way we'll have the money for the passes just in case. I told my fiance last night that he should tell his father that the aunts and uncles can come and we'll pay for their plates, but they will have to pay the guest passs fee. Surprisingly, he was fine with that. Before reading this thread I didn't realize it was acceptable to make people staying off the resort pay the fee to come to the wedding. After thinking about it, I determined why not....they're staying at the time share for free, the least they can do is cough up $85 to come onto the resort for the day. It is cost prohibitive for me to get a room for the guests staying off-site but that is a really good idea!

Hi there! Congratulations! I am getting married at Excellence Playa Mujeres in December 2009!

The wedding coordinator at Excellence Playa Mujeres advised me that 5:00pm would be the best light for pictures. That is why I chose that time.

Quote: Originally Posted by dcheung1111 Planning a DW is harder than I imagined! I simply cannot decide on a resort for the life of me! I've been on this site every day this week reading up all everyones reviews, but the more I read, the more confused I get. It seems like every day - i think i've narrowed it down - but I haven't! Today: I've narrowed it down to Royal Playa Del Carmen and Paradisus Riviera Cancun. I've read some great reviews on both of them on this board too! Would love any feedback you ladies have on the above resorts and other recommendations: Here's what's important to me in choosing a resort: 1) Must be in Riviera Maya area - Cancun seems too commercialized and Tulum is just way too far from the airport. Ideally near Playa Del Carmen so guests can leave resort for other activity if they'd like to. 2) Medium sized resort - I like the idea of a more private wedding at smaller resort but don't want my guests to feel like they're on top of each other every day.. 3) Nice ceremony/reception Areas - Most important above all other items! 4) Outside Vendors Allowed - I'd like to be able to bring in my preferred photographer. 5) Must be 4-5 Stars - If i'm going to do this - i'm going all out! I stayed at Paradisus in 2006 for a vacation. It was very nice and I was extremely pleased. I saw about 6 or 7 weddings over the course of the 5 days that I was there. I would definitely consider going back to Paradisus but I am not a kid friendly person and there were a lot of them there. I think that for a family event where kids will be included, however, this place is a great choice. sidenote: I am getting married at an adults only resort.

Quote: Originally Posted by antonia321 I picked a 5 star all-inclusive for my wedding. My dad had brought up that some family member had time shares in the area, would probably stay there to save money. Some friends told me the same. When it came down to it, we negotiated such a good deal with our resort that it was hard to pass up staying with us. There were still a small handful of people that didn't stay at ours but we payed for them. They are our guests and traveled a long way to celebrate with us. That's like, if we were getting married in our hometown and they stayed with a relative or friend to save money instead of our designated hotel, I wouldn't make them pay for their own dinner. It ended up being a smaller fee than the day pass so the damage was not as bad as expected. I'm sure you can negotiate that, too. I have a similar issue as you. My fiance's father has a time share in Cancun is planning to stay there with his wife. I have no problem paying the $85 per person for them but now his Dad has invited all the aunts and uncles to stay there too. These are aunts and uncles that were not even going to be invited to the wedding! Supposedly, my fiance is going to call his Dad and explain the deal with the day passes but I have a feeling he is going to chicken out. We shall see!

My fiance wouldn't even give me the ring until after he had it appraised an insured. After he bought the ring, he took the GIA report and appraisal he got from the jeweler to a 2nd impartial appraiser to ensure that he got a good deal on the ring. He used "Just Appraisers" in NYC for this. Then, he sent the appraisal from "Just Appraisers" and the appraisal from the jeweler he bought the ring from to JMI Insurance and got the ring insured. He also bought a maintenance plan from the jeweler who maitains and cleans the ring periodically to keep it in pristine condition.

Quote: Originally Posted by luckygirl When I talk with the photographer I will ask her if maybe she would know?? It's a long shot...but I'll keep you posted. Thank you so much! I really appreciate it!