KittenHeart

Quote: Originally Posted by daniepps They told me that there are some ingredients in the drinks that aren't included in the open bar. I haven't responded to ask what ingredients in a lemon drop aren't included since it's only vodka and lemonade! I printed the list of things that are included so I may come up with a drink from that list or I may just wait until we get there. I don't think it's that big a deal to argue with the WC about it but I do think it's really stupid that they would even say you would have to pay for drinks at an open bar that's at an all inclusive resort! I wouldn't worry about this at all. Just bring the recipe with you and ask the coordinators to arrange a signature drink tasting onsite and they will more than accommodate you, I'm positive of this

Quote: Originally Posted by MaggieandJay I love how the donkey is there but you guys are busy doing other things...LOL I love the one with donkey and I am going to guess is the handler or the donkey had too much to drink and is getting arrested by authorities LOL! Donkey handler indeed and his Mexican Cowboy wrangler!

Here is our sweetheart table... I know it's blurry but it's the only one I have that's a non-pro pic. I don't have the images on a disk yet Here's my veil which is a tulle cage veil. I had it made and my hair dresser pinned it to my head perfectly: (Excuse these pictures and my face, they just showed my veil) Here's my fascinator custom made with a vintage brooch. My photog has the best picture of it: Oh hey found some pictures of DH and I with the donkey

Quote: Originally Posted by amybermuda I agree w/ Amy F!!! Or you could do pictures with your FI and wedding party before the wedding so you can actually attend your cocktail party! My schedule was: 430 - wedding 5-7 - cocktails 7-11 - reception I would push the wedding up 1/2 hour to 4pm and do pictures with the groups from 430-5 then pics w/ FI from 5-530/545. I agree with you too Amy! 4pm would have been a better choice than 5pm. I had an hour and a half cocktail hour which was surprisingly not long enough. I didn't do pictures before the ceremony due to traditional DH who didn't even spend the night with me before the wedding. Quote: Originally Posted by beaz2be Good news - JUST found out we officially have our ceremony and reception. I sent in our deposit and we are officially getting married at AS!!!! so excited! We put down the 10 deposits this week to hold a group rate with our TA and then people only have about a month to join the group at the held rate. I better get on STDs real fast. We're planning to do email STDs and then traditional invitations (for the time factor mainly). Ahhh so exciting!!! Congrats, you're official! Quote: Originally Posted by amybermuda Amy! Maybe you can delete Mark & I and photoshop in you & Day! LOL!!! This is so freaking cute!!! Awww I am so sad I didn't get a picture with Filemon Quote: Originally Posted by amandamarieb OMG, that's like the most amazing news I've heard in weeks. FI and I love champagne but just not in our budget to buy it for 70 guests. I'll def make that request onsite. YAY!! I actually had my WC in Miami do this for me, to be honest it was her idea! You can always ask and if they say no, have the onsite coordinators take care of it. Quote: Originally Posted by amandamarieb 2nd dress fitting?!?! Really? Am I like so behind? I've had my dress since January but havent done a fitting yet. Can someone advise me on timeline? Also, I guess I should find my shoes pretty soon so I can be sure that when i do get fitted that my dress isn't too short. Any of you ladies wearng a veil? What's my timeline on ordering one of those? My dress is lace and I might have enough fabric removed after my firts fitting to get one made...hmm...wonder how much that will cost. No you're not behind at all. I bought my dress in August 2009, it came in late February, had my final dress fitting 3 weeks before my wedding. I wore a tulle cage veil and I loved it so much I wore it all night long. I am going to post some pictures here for any of you who are interested. Quote: Originally Posted by meghan I'm glad to hear this! I was avoiding getting a signature drink because of the cost, but I will wait till I get there and ask for it then. What is a sweetheart table? And where did you have your reception? Same here...I wasn't going to get any champagne cuz of cost, so I am super happy to hear this! I wore a veil...Everything was custom made for me and I started the process 8 months in advance. I'd say 4 months would be safe for a veil...depends on where it is coming from. Oh good! Yes, just don't forget to ask for whatever you want, it doesn't hurt! A sweetheart table is a table just for you and your husband. It was better that way for us just with the number of people we had and so everyone could see us. I'll put up a picture.

Still in love with your photos, Chris was a great choice, so glad you were happy with him! Gorgeous, gorgeous bride

Yay!!! Two very deserving winners! Congrats ladies

Quote: Originally Posted by MaggieandJay Ok ladies I am one step closer! My TA is in chats with Tiffany and the resort to book my date in stone and get my group rate/block done! In the meantime, I typed out my ENTIRE budget last night and was A TON over so started making cuts only to get super depressed then cried to MY FI to which he reminded me that it really doesn't matter because we are going to have the best time no matter what. The funniest part is while making cuts with both decided we CANNOT cut the Mexican Donkey Cocktail Party. The Donkey seems to be the one keeping us sane when stress kicks in. I think of getting a beer from the donkey and suddenly everything is ok! Good News is budget is now back under a mangeable amount and next stop get this resort BOOKED!!! YAH! In GOOD NEWS I got an email confirmation for my appt at J. Crew Wedding Boutique in NYC. I will be up there for business in July so I am going to MY FIRST offical Dress outing to see what they have. Up till now it's been all on the internet! Yeah it's very easy to go sailing over your budget (like me, budget nearly tripled) so it's good you're doing this. My suggestion is to make sure your cocktail hour is long enough, I saw the donkey on my way in and loved it but by time my photos were done on the beach he was gone and I don't have have a single photo with him.

Quote: Originally Posted by amybermuda Oh man - and you could have been ordering white & champagne that whole time BUMMER Haha, no biggie... I was literally only in my room 2 days before guests arrived and then never again. Wedding day my MOH ordered 3 bottles of champage for us so we were fine.

Quote: Originally Posted by mmc1105 Thank you! Your wedding looked ahhhmazing! Thank you so much! Quote: Originally Posted by dstinationdrmr Hey Ladies, It's been a few days so I am just catching up. I have to say that my to-do's are being accomplished more slowly than I'd hoped. However, I think we've decided on our DIY centerpieces!!! FI's cousin came up with an idea to take these cardboard boxes (I know it sounds cheesy, but wait) and cover them in paper and decorate them the way we want to. So, hesitantly my mom and I went to Hobby Lobby and bought all the stuff. She then text me a pic of the box all decorated and I have to say it wasn't what I wanted but it looked good!! So, I will post pics as soon as Sprint stops acting up. My mom's a teacher so she's our for summer and needs stuff to do I guess. Also, reading your posts made me want to plan our honeymoon too. We haven't really even decided to have one, but I'm pushing for one after our AHR. So, I looked up Zoetry and I agree it's vvveeerrryyy nice! And in case you ladies are interested, they have a buy one night get one night free!!!! So, I am very tempted to book and surprise FI with that. I know it's still expensive ($1400 for 2 nights) but when else will you be able to stay somewhere like that for 50% off? Can't wait to see your boxes! Once I see a picture I'll have a better idea of suggestions on packing. I say it can absolutelly be figured it so it works Man, FI would NOT let me book Zoetry but 50% off?! DO it girl! I'm positive it will be an unbelievable experience! Quote: Originally Posted by dstinationdrmr Amy F - I know you liked your cigar bar. Do you recommend it for the price? I'm thinking about surprising FI with it but I'm not sure how many people actually smoke. We don't regularly smoke but he does partake for special occasions and I thought they'd make great photo props. What comes with the package? Do they supply something to carry them in to take them home/save for later? Also, you keep saying you're bored and all, but I can give you lots to do!!! You can plan a get together for all us girls to vent and take shots since you missed that! Wouldn't that be something?! LOVED my cigar bar! I originally got it for FI as a part of the wedding I knew he'd love. Everyone got down on the cigars and people were still looking for them after they left and asking me if I had any leftover after the wedding. I honestly only knew a few of us would smoke them but people really got into it. The experience was really cool and you get to pick $200 worth of cigars from the cataloge they have that FI picked once at the resort. I bought cigar togo bags not realizing they come individually packaged in a hard plastic case inside a cigar box. I didn't even use the to go baggies. I think it was well worth it, great photos, great experience, everyone was really impressed and people smoked cigars who don't even smoke anything in general.

Quote: Originally Posted by amybermuda Its so funny how everything is different. They brought me 2 glasses of white wine when I was getting ready for my wedding. Even down there - you might order a salad one night and its just mixed greens and dressing and the next night it has avocado, tomatoes, cheese, etc!! Let me clarify this, after reading what Amy & Wendy mentioned. I never tried to order a glass or wine or champagne. I tried ordering a mixed drink so maybe there's a difference? I also tried this the first day I got there and once I got rejected I never tried it again.

Quote: Originally Posted by chong Thanks. I guess we have to order some for the room... I am really not good at negotiating and not sure what to ask. My WC is great but every time I ask about pricing she keeps saying she has to check with the others. Once I have more details... I will try to negotiate. Not sure where I can push far to get the price I want or what's not worth pursuing. Thanks for the info! Chong Your wedding coordinator has to put every request and question for pricing through Lomas in Mexico. So your WC would be the one negotiating, not you. Quote: Originally Posted by chong Did anyone had a sweet heart table? just wedding party table? or did you all sit together with guests? any suggestions on the table setups? I think we want the dance floor in the middle but not sure what will be the best for about 35-40 guests. Chong I had a sweetheart table with all the tables staggered in front of me and the dance floor off to the side, worked well! No one was sitting at the tables after dinner really and everyone could still see the dance floor from the tables if they were.

Quote: Originally Posted by mmc1105 Hey ladies! I've spent hours reading about your experiences and have chosen AS for our wedding. Thank you SO MUCH for all of your pictures and advice so far, you ladies are awesome! We are waiting to hear from our TA, but have March 7, 2011 as our tentative date. YAY!! Happy planning to all! And congrats to the newlyweds Congrats and welcome! We're happy to help and happy to have you

Quote: Originally Posted by chong Thanks for the info. I want to ask about getting the room service (drinks) while we are getting ready and everything. Do you just ask for a room service? Awesome that they put the drink name too. House champagne? Sounds good. We decided not to have champagne bottles since my FI don't drink champagne. That's why we got the signature drink. So.,.. I am wondering when do you negotiate. I have put my basics (food, setup, etc) down with Miami WC. If you want more or extra, do you just talk to the onsite WC when you get there? Don't bother negotiating with Miami WC? Who is Kiara? Is that your TA? We are looking at excursion... Selvatica looks great. Did you book with them at the resort or did you guys book before going to Mexico? I love the cenote... we are planning to do a photo shoot at one of the cenotes. We will see what they will charge for that. Chong I'm glad you brought this up... room service will NOT bring you drinks. The only thing they will bring you is cans of Tecate or Tecate light. Even if you want house wine or champagne it's like $28 a bottle. A friend ordered few bottles for my bachelorette getting ready so this is how I know. If you want champagne just for the toast you can have that in addition to your signature drink which should be free for both. Negotiations for me happened on my cake, vase rentals, manzanita branch (special request) champagne, chairs & cushions... other's I'm sure, just can't remember now. Kiara was my Miami WC. I booked the Selvatica excursion online on their website before going to Mexico.

Quote: Originally Posted by skadow They are amazing! I love how bright and clear everything is. Your dress is amazing btw Thank you!

Quote: Originally Posted by gingerlover36 I am so excited! I said yes to the dress this weekend Its so weird I feel now that this is really happening hahah! OMG I love it! How exciting!! Can't wait to see the pictures, that is definitelly the first time I felt like a bride in a dress, best feeling ever Quote: Originally Posted by daniepps Ok I thought that was a little bit ridiculous and what's even more ridiculous is that all I asked for were lemon drop martinis and french martinis. Any bar should have the ingredients for both of those drinks so I shouldn't have to pay anything for them. Yeah, I doubt they'd charge you onsite. I literally told them, this is what I want with the exact recipe and they even said they'd make a sign for me with my drink name. Also, no one pay for champange, if you want champange poured for your guests while they MOH & BM etc. give their toasts, just requets it, it's free. It's just house champange but better than having to overpay for a bottle of something only slightly better. Quote: Originally Posted by amybermuda I think some of the girls pushed back and got them included for free. I feel like the more you talk, the more you get. You might not get anywhere with the Miami coords, but the Mexico ppl will sort you out. Pull the "past brides have done this and there was no charge" line as well. So, yes, I think I want to go back to Mexico for my honeymoon and really enjoy it. Adventura spa palace is booked solid in Aug & Sept (crazy). But there are some good deals on Expedia so I might just try to do a week somewhere - and not look at Trip Advisor. How does anyone book a trip anymore with Trip Advisor making you second guess every decision Being very patient and understanding and boarderline overly nice is what helped me the most. I wasn't rejected on anything except fireworks. AND, everything can be negotiated, everything! Kiara was the negotiations queen, we became great friends actually and she'll kick ass for you if you let her I know right, I still use Trip Advisor even though I kinda hate it. I chose LeBlanc because I loved the chic look and it was one of my original wedding spot choices. I don't know what you want to do on your honeymoon but it's very upscale there and they really treat you like kings. The food here is UNBELIEVABLE too... wow. Also, another resort I'd go back to which is practically next door was The Royal in Cancun. OMG, if you go here, screw the honeymoon suite, stay in the Royal Swim Up Jacuzzi Suite... wow. I highly recommend both. I did the Zip/Cenote trip with Selvatica too which was awesome, great experience. Quote: Originally Posted by thefuturemrslutz Here is a suggestion: come to Le Blanc the week of August 7th and come to my wedding!!! haha It's a Palace resort like Aventura, but a step up. But yes, trip advisor can be disheartening sometimes...however, it is a good spot just to get names of different places. We were thinking about switching resorts, but decided not to. There are some really cool ones: Banyon Tree Mayakoba, Grand Velas, Rosewood Mayakoba, The Tides, Fairmont Mayakoba, Zoetry Paraiso de la Bonita (my future bro-in-law just got back from here and said it was ahhhhhhmazing!!!), etc etc etc!! Also, Playa Del Carmen has some really cool boutique hotels...very unique! HOLY JEALOUS FRIEND! I wanna come to your wedding Linds... soooo bad! It's so cool that you can literally go to any of the Palace Resorts with your wristband and eat at any of the restaurants. Zoetry was my total #1 spot to go get married but yikes, I'd be the only one there it's $$$$$

Quote: Originally Posted by daniepps I just reached Member status! Yay for me!!!! Yay!! Congrats! Quote: Originally Posted by daniepps Good morning ladies. I have a question for former AS brides. Did anyone who had a signature drink at their reception have to pay for the drink? I was told that the drink would be $6 which I really don't understand because first of all we're at an all-inclusive resort and secondly I'm paying for open bar at the reception! Everything has been smooth sailing with my planning so far. I hope I didn't come this far for stupid stuff to start happening. Good morning No way, no charges for me and I had two signature drinks! One at the ceremony spot, one at the reception. The coordinator even called us one day and said the restaurant manager wanted to set up a tasting for our reception signature drink. During our coordinator meeting earlier that day they brought in our ceremony signature drink for us to try. They made us feel very special and offered up different options to our drink to make sure we had exactly what we wanted.

Jim Carrey! LOL!!

Great planning thread, everything looks great! I love all the details Have a wonderful wedding!

Karen - Congrats and welcome back MRS!!! Love your teasers, can't wait to see more!

Quote: Originally Posted by bigboponthebeach Too funny, major artery! You can totally help me out if you want some wedding planning to do! I've got 11 months and some change according to the little lady and fella below! lol I have done NOTHING because I'm being OCD about STD's. Looked on etsy.com, thought about doing them with my BM's, and now I just can't decide altogether. I'm in Sac, which is up North. Went to SDSU and made some lifelong friends there who are no longer referred to as friends; but family! I sent your photog an email asking if he had any refferals of photogs he admires that he would suggest or recommend. I figured since he is in the industry, he's seen a few talents or two. :-) I really wanted E. Medina but we are starting to re-think how much bang for our buck we can get. I LOVE her work and was totally willing to sacrifice, but something made me step back and explore our options before we signed on the dotted line. If we do go with her, I totally want it to be a solid decision as opposed to me just falling in love with her blog and then giving me left big toe. I saw his blog and loved them!!! You were a stunning bride!!!!!!! I'm friend with Amy on FB and just sent you a friend request as well! :-) Yeah I feel you, I'm was pretty OCD the whole time, the feeling of falling behind is really what kept me driven! I think Elizabeth Medina is a wonderful choice, she's an amazing photographer! Thank you!! I accepted your friend request too! Quote: Originally Posted by amybermuda Its so true -- the support system here is the best thing I had the months leading up to my wedding. And it was amazing how well received everything I did was - "the best gift bags" "amazing ceremony" "incredible excursions"... and you know what - I have to credit everything - even if it was just the beginning of an idea I made my own - to other brides on this forum. This is a truly amazing set of women. Maybe we all do destination weddings for a reason? Sounds like a thesis could come out of all the love & support on here!!! And now I must ask you all - where should I go on my honeymoon I would love to go back to Mexico but my brother is giving us first class tix anywhere we want to go using his continental points. So, we kinda want to go far away. DH ants to go south of the border. Any suggestions? I was thinking of an Amazon river cruise in Peru but I really want to relax and relive my time at Azul beach... Thoughts? Oh, and we'd only go for a week to a week and 1/2 so no Australia or South Africa or Bali - although I'd die to go to any of those! We were thinking August or September... Are you thinking beach tropical? Or are you thinking somewhere incredible like in Europe etc. If you only have a week, week and a half you may not want to go tooo far. Quote: Originally Posted by beaz2be Bigboponthebeach & MaggieandJay we might ALL be there together!! Right now we have our ceremony on hold for May 27, 2011. We've been waiting for almost 3 days to find out if we can have the reception at the Plaza Zavaz. AAHHHH!! I'm going nuts with the waiting. Gonna try to work on that ticker now (hopefully I won't have to change the date after we hear back about the reception). It would be so wonderful to meet you both when/if we're all there together. I love the idea of a group pic! Kittenheart you can help me with all the planning and suggestions you've got. I can use all the help I can get. :-) How exciting the 3 of you will be there together! I am sad I didn't get to have a shot with any of you girls. Sure, just let me know! Quote: Originally Posted by MaggieandJay Ladies, Just for my own peace of mind. (Forgive me it is one of those stressful days) To the brides who have been to the resort. The resort was wonderful right? I have some friends that sent me emails about all the bad reviews on Trip Advisor even thought there are tons of GREAT ones as well. They want to know if the beach is d"dissapointing" I just need a little encouragement today that I picked the right place. Thanks ladies It was the perfect resort for my wedding. I had the best week of my life! My friends are still depressed after returning home because they want to go back so bad. Everyone was impressed with the resort and it really is beautiful and MUCH bigger than I expected. The food, people, activities, nightlife, everything was so much fun. I'd happily return! The best decision I made to keep me sane was to stop reading Trip Advisor. Seriously it just won't help. Just know that people only go there really to either complain or rave... miserable peoples outlet to affect a business is just sad. The beach is clean non-rocky sand, the water does have some rocks and seaweed & whatnot in it but it's still pretty and so unbelievably warm it's shocking. It's funny because I knew the beach wasn't going to be PERFECT, but I knew that no one would be hanging out in the ocean anyways and I was right. Even the second resort I went to that had a beautiful beach in Cancun was so uncomfortable due to all the sharp shell fragments everywhere and the rough surf I actually preferred the AS beach better. The water is very clear too at AS, it wasn't disappointed. Quote: Originally Posted by chong Oh.. and I found out that fabric is $150 per sheet for gazebo decoration. It was $75 before and now it's $150 per sheet. Expensive... but I guess I have no choice. Chong Aww lame! Quote: Originally Posted by chong I cannot find THE SHOES for my ceremony/reception. I am having both beach wedding & reception so I don't need high heels but I am having such a trouble finding the right sandals. My FI thinks I am nuts to go crazy over the shoes. I just need to pick something before my 2nd fitting... AHHHHHH Chong Yeah this took forever... I actually never decided on shoes, that's how hard it was. My designer bought my shoes for me and I rolled with it. They were pretty basic, nothing crazy, made shoe clips for them and that was that. I ended up with them off halfway through the ceremony anyways.

Quote: Originally Posted by bigboponthebeach KittenHeart....I totally just tried to include you in my MQ, but that was my frist time doing it and somehow it failed slightly! LOL Anywho....since reading from post #1 in this thread I totally feel like I know you! It's so weird and psycho....but I just do! LOL Maybe it is the Cali girl vibe, I dunno! I spent alot of time in LA when I was in college in SD. My 3 roomates were from Whittier, San Pedro, and Long Beach.....so needless to say, I am their adopted LA sister. LOL Not to mention I met my FI at LAPD while working on a task force! Long story.....LOL Oh and BTW, I contacted your photog but he was booked during my date! :-( I want to see more of your pics if you don't mind....do you have them up on FB?? Haha, no worries! Oh I believe it, I have a major artery attached to this thread! I'm so invested in happy brides and wedding planning I'm really getting ancy with nothing to do! I emailed my DH's BM who's getting married in 4 months to beg him to let me do something... I'm pretty sure the email came across as a psycho-path Where in Cali do you live? Amanda and I live literally like 3 miles away, so crazy! Wow he's booked a year in advance? Holy moly! Well maybe if things change for the other bride you could nab him up but that's crazy, I think he's getting really popular. Did you see the pictures on his blog or my FB? The blog photos are here: Azul Sensatori Wedding in Cancun with Amy and Daylen | Chris Schmitt Photography Blog

Bigbop - That's super cool to hear! I remember feeling that way when I joined BDW about 2 years ago (before Azul Sensatori was even open!) It's so nice to be able to meet, virtually anyways, the girls that all are going through the same experience and can share the successes and failures with us all so we don't feel like blind flailing bridezillas! I have gotten such an immeasurable amount of love and support from these amazing woman who have never even heard my voice! I love this support system and our group of friends we've become. It's amazing thinking about you all while at my own wedding, never forgot you all and it made me smile throughout my day. I'm truly happy for each of you girls that get's married and to all you bride 2 be's, feel honored to help or give advice in any way I can <3 Getting a little mushy over here

So sorry to hear you're going through this! I agree with the other girls. You may want to get everything right get your foundation back as a couple before proceednig to a wedding. Just use good communication with him and understand he's stressed, if he wants to marry you, you'll work it out. Good luck!

Quote: Originally Posted by saza175 kitten--yes 1 pound is 1 pound... but muscle is more dense (so it takes up less space) and I completely 100% agree with you about the scale thing. I don't even own a scale, I will weigh myself randomly if I go over someone's house and they have a scale in their bathroom lol...I take my measurements at least once a week. Thats where the real results are!!! I have a muscular body so I weigh more than I look. I concentrate on my measurements and body fat percentage. The scale definately can fluctuate...I lost 6 pounds over night one time... I weighed myself one night before working out and i burned about 600 calories during my workout-i went home to bed-didn't eat anything- then i woke up in the morning-didn't eat anything again, worked out again-burned another 600- and then weighed myself...6 lbs lost.... all water weight lol Well yes of course, muscle is far more dense than fat but it's funny because I used that excuse for a long time to justify weight gain (when I'm sure it was some muscle) just found it easier to measure like you mentioned. Wow! 6lbs overnight?! How did you workout, no eat, sleep then workout again? I would have died of starvation!

You know I recently read online a diet/workout myths article saying that a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh the same... and I was like, huh, they do don't they! I think there are so many factors that go into working out, swollen muscles, water retention, body dehydration that the scale really isn't the accurate measurement of improvement for all of us. I personally don't weigh myself because I don't ever like what I see. I am happiest when I can see the difference and feel it in my clothes. Just wanted to put that out there so you girls realize, we all start from a different place and all that matters is how the workout makes you feel and how your body changes from it. Just enjoy what you do, be consistent and pay attention to how you feel. Screw the scale! LOL... Ok enough from me already. Autumn - you sound like you are back on track and out of the honeymoon weight gain phase I'm currently residing in, good for you!