maxandkatie

Quote: Originally Posted by Chanti We are brining our iPod with docking station and having the sound system set up for the ceremony. How many pieces of music should we be prepared to play? Are you talking about how many pieces of music just for the ceremony? Or how many for the reception/dancing part?

Quote: Originally Posted by Sycamore Tree I recently returned from a scouting trip and I stayed at Dreams Tulum. Be sure to have the chef prepare a tasting menu for you as the food was good but not great and the all-inclusive margaritas were sub par. The staff is wonderful, especially the bell boys dressed in safari hats (not sure why?). The rooms smelled like they should - you are in the tropics. A bridal party arrived one day during my visit and they were put in the less desirable rooms. They complained the rooms stunk like poo. I am not sure why they wouldn't have given them better rooms as the hotel was empty (due to H1N1 flu scare). The next day we overheard the bridal party complaining that Dreams Tulum was giving the rehearsal party pizza and beer for dinner. When we were there, I found that the staff were very accommodating. If you talk to a manager about an issue, he/she will try to work out the issue with you the best they can. Our favorite staff member was Oscar...he was great!

Quote: Originally Posted by Sycamore Tree Your pictures are beautiful. Who did you use for your cake? I used the resort for the cake. It was part of the gold package. It looked really pretty! I'm sure if you wanted different flowers on there they could accommodate you. I didn't use any outside vendors for my wedding.

Chanti, I'm so sorry this is happening. My wedding was May 1st and there were a lot of folks from Canada there. Most of them had to leave early and cut their vacations short because the Canadien government was stopping travel to Mexico. I live in the US and I had giests cancel because they thought the US would shut down travel between us and Mexico, but they didn't. It just really sucks that the flu is making governments across the world freak out. I hope your TA is able to work things out for you. Katie

Quote: Originally Posted by angruck Katie that was really helpful! Thanks for all the information. I am definitely gonig with the mariachi band during cocktail hour now...sounds wonderful! Your wedding looked wonderful! I am getting more and more excited as the date comes closer and closer The WC's are pretty great. Once you get there you'll see there is no need to worry about anything. They coordinate weddings on a daily basis and if something comes up last minute that needs changing, it's not a problem. They are very much customer oriented and want you to be happy. THe resort is beautiful and your wedding day is going to be great! If you look at my first 50 pics in my photobucket account, those are from the resort photographer. He did a really great job.

Quote: Originally Posted by Dee83 hey ladies I have quick questions for those who did or are doing a welcome dinner. Where did you do it? Did you let your WC reserve it for you and is it free or is there a charge. Thanks Just got married on May 1st and we did our welcome dinner at the buffet. It was actually really great!! The WC reserved a table for 24 people and we had our own personal waiters. (Maybe they were not for just us, but it sure seemed that way!). We met the WC for a quick run thru of the ceremony at 6 and then everyone met us at the buffet at 6:30. Once we got seated the waiters explained to us what each section of the buffet had, then Max and I stood up and thanked everyone for coming and gave gifts to our FG's and RB's. It is the way to go to save some money. The other restaurants are nice and would work too. I recommend the buffet. AND IT WAS FREE!

I used the resort DJ. We reserved him for 2 hours. Our dinner started at 6:30 and we had him reserved from 7:30 - 9:30. When we showed up at the reception he was set up already and played casual muic through dinner. Then we danced after dinner about 8-8:30 and danced until after 10. We were only charged for 2 hours too! We sent a playlist ahead of time and he played most of the songs. We had our first dance on the beach, people gave toasts, it was great. We also had the mariachi band play at our cockatil hour that went from 5:30- 6:30. It was perfect! Our cocktail hour was at the lobby bar terrace. They played a special song for me and my now husband and we had to dance to it. It was really a great little piece of Mexico. Hope this helps! Katie Quote: Originally Posted by angruck I have a couple of questions, did anyone use the resort DJ? We were originally just going to use an ipod but now we are thinking of having a DJ. if you did, how many hours did you reserve them and how was the resort DJ? Also, I plan on having mariachis---should i have them play for the cocktail hour or for the first hour during dinner?

Our Favors were hand made by sister. We made luggage tags personalized to each guest. Each one was different. Very inexpensive and they turned out really great. I made program fans that the wedding coordinator handed out to the guests: My something blue was an anklet that my friend Katalin hand made for me. She makes great jewelry. If you like it, she can make you something to your taste. She'll work with you to make it just the way you want. She incorporated all shades of blue for me.

For my guest book I used a photo album from Blick Art Materials pictured below. It was great. We passed it around at each table and everyone wrote in it! Kolo Newbury Photo Album - BLICK art materials OOT Bags (Welcome Bags) - I greeted each guest as they arrived in the lobby and gave them their welcome bag. The welocme bag was a brown kraft paper bag that my Mom stenciled on one side "Welcome to Tulum" and on the other side "Katie & Max 5.1.2009". Included in the bags were: Palm Tree pens from Party supplies, crafts, party decorations, toys: Oriental Trading Mini Flip Flop cards from Party supplies, crafts, party decorations, toys: Oriental Trading Extra Gum Mexican Fiesta Ornaments from Oriental Trading Customized Welcome To Tulum Word Find First Aid Travel Kit that included motrin, tylenol, wetones, nail file, bandaids, tums, shout wipes and chapstick. I found a steal at Walmart...these photo pocket zipper bags that were about 5x7, $1 each! They were perfect. I have 12 extra if anyone needs them. Also included in the bag was a welcome letter with an agenda of events. Here is the wording for the letter: Dear Family and Friends, The wait is finally over! Welcome to sun, sand and relaxation…Welcome to Mexico!! Over the past year we have been dreaming of an intimate wedding with our closest family and friends in a beautiful surrounding. We are sincerely honored that you have traveled this far to share in the joy of our wedding day. We hope that this trip will be as special and memorable for you as it will be for us. Many years from now, when we look back to this time, we’ll remember that being surrounded by the family and friends we hold so dearly was the perfect beginning to our life as husband and wife. Each of you are providing us with special memories that we shall treasure forever. We hope you enjoy the goodies in the bag and they make your stay a little more enjoyable. They are just a small token of our appreciation for your being with us for this amazing time. See you on the beach! With love and appreciation, Katie & Max

Our ringbearers wore a short sleeved shirt from old navy, really inexpensive (pictured below) with khaki linen pants from the Children's place that were really inexpensive as well. Not pictured. Here is a picture of the shoes that I wore with my dress. I went barefoot for the ceremony and it was awesome! I ordered them online for $16! I forget the website, but if anyone is interested in learning where I got them, let me know. Here is a picture of my purse that i used to carry around some oil blotting sheets, room key, camera, lipstick. The groom's suit was khaki and we actually purchased it from Formally Modern Tuxedo. It was made by Ben Sherman and the shirt he wore underneath was cotton/ivory by Ben Sherman. Here is a picture of him: Here is a pic of my flowers that i picked. They were calillies and I bought the blue ribbon from Joann Fabrics. It was used to wrap around my flowers, the FG mini bouquets, the boutinieres, corsages, gazebo and centerpiece.

Here is our ceremony that we put together...it was really beautiful: PROCESSIONAL Groom (Max) will walk in to no music escorted by his parents. Flower girls (Ryan Taylor & Morgan Pollitz) escorted by ring bearers (Jake Pollitz & Casey Taylor) will walk in to music provided by the resort. Bride (Katie) will walk in to music provided by resort escorted by her mother (Monica Sukenik) OPENING WORDS OF THE OFFICIANT OFFICIANT: "On behalf of Katie and Max, it is my honor to welcome you and thank you all for gathering here on this beautiful day to witness their wedding ceremony. The fact that you all have traveled such a great distance to be here today is a testament to the amazing amount of love and support they have. They would like to sincerely thank you all for sharing in this celebration of their commitment to each other. A special and respectful acknowledgement must also be made to those friends and family members who were unable to attend, or have passed on, but whose spirits remain alive and strong in all our hearts." “I have also been asked by Katie and Max to thank their parents for the wonderful lives they have given them, for the hard work and guidance they have provided, for their everlasting love, support, and encouragement. They would not be who they are today without your involvement in their lives.†“Katie, Max…Today you are surrounded by your family and friends, all of whom gather here to witness this love and to share in the joy of this occasion which will be one of the most memorable and happiest days of your life. You each bring to this marriage your own personality and spirit to form a union created by friendship, respect and love.†READING OFFICIANT: “At this time will Sean Taylor please come forward.†SEAN: “May you be blessed with all things good. May your joys, like the stars at night, Be too numerous to count. May lack and struggle only serve to make you stronger and may beauty, order and abundance be your constant companions. May every pathway you choose lead to that which is pure and good and lovely. May every doubt and fear be replaced by a deep abiding trust as you behold evidence of a higher power all around you. May you always be aware you are loved beyond measure and may you be willing to love unconditionally in return. May you remember that love flows best when it flows freely. May you always have music and laughter and may a rainbow follow every storm. May gladness wash away every disappointment, may joy dissolve every sorrow and may love ease every pain. May every wound bring wisdom and every trial bring triumph and with each passing day may you live more abundantly than the day before.†(Sean will sit down.) VOWS OFFICIANT: "Today you join yourselves together for life, as friends and lovers, Husband and Wife. The vows you are about to exchange represent your pledge to each other. For it is not the words that bind you together as one, but it is the love and commitment each of you feel deep within your soul." "Max, Repeat after me." "I, Max, take you, Katie, to be my partner in life. / I promise to walk by your side forever / and to love, help and encourage you in all you do. / I will take time to talk with you, / to listen to you, / and to care for you. / I will share your laughter and your tears / as your partner, lover and best friend. / Everything I am and everything I have is yours / now and forevermore." "Katie, Repeat after me." "I, Katie, give myself to you, Max, / on this our wedding day. / I will cherish our friendship / and love you today, tomorrow and forever. / I will trust you and honor you. / I will love you faithfully / through the best and the worst, / through the difficult and the easy. / What may come, I will be there always. / As I have given you my hand to hold, / so I give you my life to keep." OFFICIENT: “Marriage is the bringing together of two circles of love to present a new circle of love. The bride's family and friends have supported her during her life, as the groom's family and friends have supported him through his life. Your love and support does not stop now that they will be married. Now that you have heard Katie and Max recite their vows, will all of you, their family and friends, promise, from this day forward to encourage them and love them, and to help guide and support them in being steadfast in the promises they have made?†“Please answer, â€We do.†RING CEREMONY OFFICIANT: “The vows which have been exchanged are but words that are fleeting and the sound of them is soon gone.†“The wedding rings become an enduring symbol of the promises which have been made†“Katie and Max please join hands.†“These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow, and forever. These are the hands that will work alongside yours, as together you build your future. These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, and with the slightest touch, will comfort you like no other. These are the hands that will hold you when fear or grief fills your mind. These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes; tears of sorrow, and as in today, tears of joy. These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children, the hands that will help you to hold your family as one. These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it. And lastly, these are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged, will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch." "Max Repeat after me...Katie, as I place this ring on your finger, / may it always remind you of my never-ending love, / and may it always remind me / of the precious treasure I have in you. / Wear this ring with joy, / for your love has made me complete." "Katie Repeat after me...Max, as I place this ring on your finger, / may it always remind you of my never-ending love, / and may it always remind me / of the precious treasure I have in you. / Wear this ring with joy, / for your love has made me complete." PRONOUNCEMENT OF MARRIAGE OFFICIANT: "With confidence and deep affection, we send you forth on life's journey together. May love and peace be with you always. May you have courage and wisdom in your future years together, and may the happiness you share today be with you always. With friends and family, along with the sun, the moon, and the sea, I have the pleasure of announcing you as husband and wife." "Max, You may kiss your Bride." "It is my pleasure to be the first to introduce to everyone, Mr. & Mrs. Max Vokral.â€

There were definitely 5 weddings on the Tuesday before my wedding. My wedding was Friday. Most of them were really small. I think she said 2 of them were last minute. There were brides everywhere that day. Also, maybe people moved their weddings up because of the swine flu so they were doing their best o accommodate. Just a thought. Quote: Originally Posted by northernflasher Congratulations, you looked beautiful. Glad you had a wonderful day. I just have a quick question, were there actually 5 weddings on the day you were supposed to meet the co-ordinator or do you think she meant she had 5 other appointments, I thought they now had a maximum of 2 weddings per day? 5 weddings on one day would be horrendous, I dont see how they would even work it? Thanks for your review, cant wait to see more pics.

All, Max and I got married on Friday, May 1st in Tulum and it was amazing!!!! We had 24 of the 32 people show. 8 cancelled because the media scared the crap out of everyone! We were actually interviewed by WGN news at the Chicago airport when we were leaving to go to Mexico. The whole thing was pretty interesting, but it didn't stop us!! When we got to the resort it was pretty packed, but by the end of the week it was empty. They closed sections of the resort down. I think they said it was maybe at 20% capacity. No one was wearing masks or anything like that. It ended up being the most amazing time!! I just posted my review: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...312#post796082 I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful location for my dream wedding. It was everything I hoped for and more!

SOME OF MY FAVORITE PICS FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHER:

PART 3 RESORT PHOTOGRAPHER - We used the resort photographer and our guy was amazing! I'll post some pics for you all to see. Can't remember his name, but he was bald and wore black baggy pants and a white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and white sunglasses. Every pose that we hit perfectly, he was like "purrrrrrrrrffeect!" He was like the paparazzi!! It was great! We were very happy with our pictures. He came to my room 20 minutes before the ceremony and ran me around to take some pictures of me alone and then went back to my room where Natalia came and got me to take me to the seaside grill to walk down the aisle. He took pics throughout the ceremony and then he took us around after the ceremony and took pics of us with our families, with everyone and by ourselves. They were great. We got the 50 pics that were included with our package. We met with him the day after to pick them out of the 200 and some pics he took. It wasn't hard to pick them. With the ultimate wedding package you get 50 printed pics, all 50 on a CD, a video and a cool photo album. We also have tons of pics from everyone who was there. Even though he didn't come to the cocktail hour or dinner and dancing, we still have tons of photos from our guests. COCKTAIL HOUR - We had ours at the lobby bar terrace. The hors d'ouevres were really tastey and our waiter took really good care of us. We had the Mexican Trio play and they were awesome. A great little piece of Mexico. DINNER AND DANCING - After cocktail hour we went to dinner on the beach next to seaside grill. We had 3 tables of 8 set up and a 2 person table for us. There was a cake table as well. We also hired the DJ to play for 3 hours for the dinner. He played music throughout dinner, nice peaceful music, it was great and then after dinner the dancing started! Our meal included the following: Appetizer - Shrimp Quesidillas...it was more like an empanada and it was delicious. Salad - mixed greens with citrus vinagerette. It came in a little shell and everyone but me seemed to love it! I think I just didn't like the dressing....very citrusy. Main Course - Steak and Shrimp. It was really good. The shrimp was better than the steak though. Dessert - chocolate cake - delicious! Our package also came with a cake, which we never ate!! We forgot about it and they told us to pick it up at the seaside grill, but we kept forgetting and by the time we remembered it probably would not have been too good. But it looked really pretty and we took a picture with it! One thing to note....service was a little slow during dinner. We had 2 waiters for 24 people and it was a little slow, but it was fine. DJ - The DJ was great. We sent him a list of songs prior to the wedding and he played most of them. He even played longer than we had rented him for! It was a lot of fun. We only paid one fee for the sound system because we used it for the ceremony and for the DJ.

PART 2 - WEDDING STUFF Natalia had everything in order for us. She had it all written down and knew I was bringing stuff for her. FLOWERS - Awesome! I brought some ribbon to wrap my flowers, the boutineires, corsages and flower girl bouquets and they did an awesome job of wrapping the flowers with the ribbon. My flowers were really pretty. They were white calillies and the ordered small bouquets for the FG's and they looked so cute carrying them up the aisle. Natalia even used some of the extra ribbon to wrap around the flowers on the gazebo. Super super pretty. The aisle was lined with flowers as well and we all were in our barefeet which was great. SPA STUFF (HAIR/MAKEUP/MANI/PEDI) - Trinidad was my stylist. She was really really awesome! She made me look beautiful. I had my sisters with me to make sure everything was ok. I made sure I told her I wanted light and natural makeup and it turned out magnifique!! I loved the way she did my hair more so than my sample do with my hairstylist in chicago! My mani/pedi was ok. My sisters did not like theirs. I would recommend if you want to get a mani/pedi to have Trinidad do it. There were a couple girls who didn't seem to know what they were doing. Jennifer at the spa is very helpful and if you have any questions, I would go right to her. We had 90 minute massages and they were fantastic. I also had a mini facial that was great and didn't break my skin out as I have sensitive skin. CEREMONY - We wrote our own ceremony and it was beautiful. The minister did a great job and told us that our vows were just beautiful. The whole ceremony was maybe 15-20 minutes, not long at all. Great job here. We rented the sound system, which was great for everyone to hear our vows. Even though we repeated after the minister, everyone said it sounded like we were just saying them to each other, that they didn't even know we were repeating after the minister. We used the music provided by the resort for the ceremony and honestly I can't even remember hearing it. It was just so amazing being on the beach with everyone there, that the music was not even on my mind! We didn't have any extra bows on the chairs or anything like that. We did make program fans that Natalia passed out to everyone when they were seated, however, it was so breezy that the fans were not needed. But they turned out really nice!! We had no other decorations that we brought and it still looked really beautiful.....the ocean makes it beautiful...I remember standing there listening to the minister and just thinking, "This is amazing! That is the ocean right there! Holy crap!! This is awesome!!"

PART 1 Our overall experience at Dreams Tulum was amazing. Ladies, if you are worried about your wedding coordinator not getting back to you or just worried in general if everything will fall into place...don't be! Natalia was our coordinator and she was fantastic. We thought we were supposed to meet with her the Tuesday before our wedding, but come to find out that there were 5 weddings that Tuesday and she was quite busy. So, we met with her on Wednesday (our wedding was Friday) and she had it all down pat. It was great. We ended up having 8 people cancel their trip, so we ended up with 24 guests. It was disappointing that they cancelled as the media blew the whole swine flu thing out of proportion, but we totally understood and still had the best wedding ever. The resort location was perfect. The resort size was great. Because so many people were cancelling their vacations to Mexico, the resort was very empty by the end of our trip. We arrived on Monday, April 27th and departed on Thursday, May 7th. The beginning part was pretty crowded but by the weekend, it was like a ghost town. It was nice cause we sort of had the resort to ourselves. One complaint that we had was that because of the low capacity at the resort there were only a few restaurants open for lunch and dinner. We never got to eat at the sushi restaurant or the french one. Part of it might have been our fault as we went to other restaurants in the beginning of our trip and by the end those 2 were closed and we missed out on them. We complained to the manager because a few of our guests were disappointed about that, so in the end we got 3 free nights to come back again! We'll take it!!

Here is my dress! Bought it at a store called VIP Occasions. It is made by jasmine bridal.

What do you all think of this purse? I got it as a gift from my future mother in law. Her friend got it from India (handmade). WE are getting married on the beach in Tulum, Mexico at Dreams Tulum Resort and Spa on May 1, 2009. Ironically the purse is sort of shaped like a V which is what my new last name will start with. Tried to get some close ups. Thoughts??

Quote: Originally Posted by godaloveme that dress is very cute katie !! Thanks!!! I actually tried it on in black because that was what they had in the store and then purchased it in ivory! Crazy!

Quote: Originally Posted by Ashley0802 Hey, I am in a shopping mood but I don't seem to have time to go into the city and get it done! Does anyone know of any online sites that have cute dresses? not wedding dresses, just dresses to wear out and about.. thanks! Hey There! I actually live in the city (Chicago) but got my dress in the burbs! I went to VIP Occasions in Elmhurst and my dress is actually a simple ivory bridesmaids dress by Jasmine Bridal. Not sure of websites to find beachy dresses, but if you look on wedding dress websites like jasminebridal and Davids bridal, etc, look at the bridesmaids dresses. Just an option as they tend to be less expensive and some are not as much material as a normal wedding gown. It took me forever to find mine because I was trying on gowns that were full and big and lots of material. I wanted something more simple. Here is a pic of my dress. Hope this is a little helpful. Good luck! Katie

Quote: Originally Posted by sgbrown Hey Beth, Holy! Thanks for passing along this news. At the very least, it makes me realize that chances of getting the Seaside Grill for our reception are slim! I think there must be some availability at the resort, depending on the dates you're looking for. I just went to selloffvacations.com and there are several rooms available starting on May 3rd for 7 nights (most of my guests are traveling May 2-9). So it appears as though it's the last week of April/first couple of days of May that are the issue. What are your travel days? I better tell my last minute stragglers to book! Most of our group has booked (we're at 54 confirmed now) but I know of at least 4 more people that have been waiting for last minute deals. If they wait much longer, they might not even get a room! Oh well, it's up to them. Ladies, I just checked out Orbitz and they have rooms available. Most of my guests are going Thursday 4/30 to Monday 5/4 and the dates were available at 30% off and a $200 resort credit. Most of our guests are booked, but there are a few more stragglers out there. Hope this helps for those who need to book. Katie

Quote: Originally Posted by sdtooley I was just wondering when you all sent out/or are sending out your actual invitations. I keep reading in different places when to actually send them out., like how many months before. Thanks:) We dropped our invitations in the mail on Jnauary 27th and we made the RSVP date February 27th. Our date is May 1st. i don't think there is a firm guideline for destination weddings on when to send them out. Hope this helps! The great thing about a destination wedding is that you can do whatever you want! You don't have the rules of a traditional wedding.

Massage Hut Ceremony I emailed Anabel and Landy regarding having our ceremony under the massage hut with Max and I and the officient under the hut and the guests on the outside and Anabel's response was and I quote, "We don’t have that ceremony." So, we are having the traditional beach ceremony near the seaside grill!

Massage Hut Ceremony I emailed Anabel and Landy regarding having our ceremony under the massage hut with Max and I and the officient under the hut and the guests on the outside and Anabel's response was and I quote, "We don’t have that ceremony." So, we are having the traditional beach ceremony near the seaside grill!