Ayita

Hello Jess, this is correct, you have to get an FM3 work permit. A photographer would probably qualify as an artist for this category. It costs 100$-150$ per professional so if you have a team of 2 it would be 200-300$. An informed photographer will probably not accept to travel without it. More info here or isntance : working-FM3 You can google "FM3 work permit".

Hey girls, I'm having a hard time deciding between The Tides or Esencia for the honeymoon... do you have recommendations ? the reviews I read all say both are great... I don't know how to chose !

It's not a resort - it's a boutique hotel called Le Reve.

Thanks ! I will look it up. Also I typed "papillon" and it actually came back with 11 hits (7 of which were relevant which is my best search ever ). All positive and I must say, Juliette has been super responsive so far (if I compare to the other 2 persons I've been in contact with, it's a bit night and day).

Awesome ! I did not want a cake... FI did... this looks like a good compromise... let me talk to him !!! As regards WC - I tried to find reviews but did not ! I need "the forum search for dummies" book I'm in contact with the girl from Papillon and she sounds like the right one though ! She's specialized in symbolic weddings, she promotes my hotel, she works with the photographer I picked (claudia Rodriguez) and she speaks French Lots of perks I got a good contact with her on the phone... we'll see ! I feel she could be the one !

Quote: Originally Posted by pinkpetals3 Hey, Thanks for much for the advice. I was actually planning on on doing it sometime at the end of spring or during summer, so you think 1000 per guest would be ok for a week? Also, my guests and I would prefer to stay in the same resort. Thanks so much I think so, yes... you should go on Expedia.com and play with the research motor... I don't know where you're flying from, but for instance, I asked for a Toronto-Cancun in the "vacation package" tab, for the first week of Oct 2009... it came back with the following prices per person : - Barcelo Tucancun all inclusive 1054$ - Crown Paradise Club Cancun All Inclusive 1057$ - Barcelo Costa Cancun All Inclusive 1059$ - GR Solaris Cancun & Spa - All Inclusive 1126$ - Oasis Palm Beach The Family Resort & Spa All Inclusive 989$ - Gran Caribe Real Resort & Spa All Inclusive 997$ and there are more. You can narrow down to certain resorts, and then search the resort sites or call them to find out about their wedding options. You can search all the destinations you want the same way. It takes some time (it took me 2 months to decide on a destination, I played a lot with all the tools...)

If you plan to elope then I think you shoud give a shot to Bahamas if Cuba is out of the possibilties... some guys have "eloping" packages, lol ! These for instance : Intimate Affair Wedding Package at Old Bahama Bay by Ginn sur Mer ? Luxury Villa Rentals in the Bahamas The "intimate affair" is an eloping package, you can just show up... so really no planning necessary you could even get married next week-end if you wanted to... I saw them when doing my first research on the DW... we were planning to elope at the time...

Some further help : Caribbean Vacation Information by Travel Impressions Hotels are classified by category (so you can give a guess at the price) and it indicates if they are AI or not.

The first thing to lower your prices is to chose well your time of the year... if you chose to go during peak season, your prices will be sky rocketing ! They generally drop starting May and get back up starting December. There are a lot of affordable resorts on the Riviera Maya. Some of them have actually different resorts in the same big complex, with different pricing / standards but your guests can stay at different ones depending on their budget (I think Iberostar, Gran Porto, and Barcelo but I could be wrong). Also, the more in advance you look, the lower your flight costs. Another thing you can do is chose to organize a non-AI wedding (or in a hotel or resort that will accept external guests) and let your guests pick their own resort...

Quote: Originally Posted by Morgan I have p90x, turbo jam & hip hop abs. I'm not crazy about hip hop abs, but i love the other two. I wanted to invest into this turbo jam... how is it ? Do you have fun ? Do you have great results ?

I would say the most difficult part is 1. the location and 2. the guests. And it kind of goes together. For instance, if you don't plan to have guests with you, or not a lot, you can probably find a resort, or a non-resort, with an available date (most probably a week-day though). If you have a lot of guests then it will be more difficult - or much more expensive as I'm sure there's always way when you put the money into it. It might also be difficult for your guests to plan a trip in less than two months, specially if it's in a weekday. The rest of it goes with it. If you can find a wedding planner that is free for your date, he or she will take care of everything. You will also be able to find a photograph, maybe not your first choice, but there will always be someone reayd to work. I'm sure the rest of the items that take time (the dress, the party, the party attire, the FI attire, your ideas of decoration and setting, your hair inspiration, etc) is taken care of already. My advise would be : pick up a location that is easy (close enough), and then chose a wedding planner first, that will have some facilities to recommend to you, and let him or her do the work... If you chose the Riviera Maya PM me I have a lot of wedding planners websites as I am doing a non-AI wedding and the wedding is on me... so I gathered a lot of planners addresses and some of them have places to recommend. But I would not try to find a place by myself - this is what takes the most of time so you have to outsource this to somebody onsite. Note that in some places (like Bahamas) you can just show up and get married in three days, if you're ready to outsource everything...

I hear ya ! When I ordered my dress I was so excited about it ! Since then, I've seen so any pics of so many amazing dresses, some in magazines, some on this forum... I feel like I went too quick (specially now that my dress came in 2 months early, I'm thinking I would have had more time to try some others). Also, although I loved this dress, and all my friends loved it too, my mother did not... I guess it's not helping So, I've not gone to try it one again. I'm nervous and worried I would not like it or thinking I should have tried on some more... However, I did try some bridesmaids dresses last week, and I must say that not one of them looked really good on me... whereas they looked good on others or the models... I also remember I did try a whole lot of dresses, in a lot of different style... so I should feel confident about my dress. We'll see how I fell about it in a couple weeks... Right now I'm shopping for a TTD dress, it's distracting me... (although I do want to do my TTD in my real dress... I don't know I guess it trumps the anxiety).

I just missed her by a day... she got a deposit yesterday morning for the date of my wedding ! (sob). I hope I can still book Claudia... I'm getting nervous !!

I want the shamwow too ! Did somebody get it ? Does it work as advertised ? My FI just got the P90X... I guess he got jealous of me losing 20 lbs already thanks to WW... Anyway he's like crazy, running to grocery stores tog et the exact food they say he should eat and to GNC to get the vitamin supplements... yesterday we took the "before" pics... lol... it was funny I'll tell you if it works and if he sticks to it !

Quote: Originally Posted by delauren This is going to sound so cheesy but both Esencia and Le Reve just FELT RIGHT when we were there. I tried to picture myself walking down the beach in my wedding dress and it was those two places I could really imagine it. Also, we decided that we wanted a small hotel where it would just be our guests so that it felt more private and intimate. If someone can tell me how to put photos up, I can of each of the hotels...if interested OMG ! I'm having my wedding at Le Reve but I did not go there yet ! I chose it from pics / tripadvisor and more importantly, how cool those guys were when I talked with them on the phone. How was it ? I'm going for my site visit the week-end of Dec 18-20 ! I will meet with Claudia (their wedding coordinator) but also I'm in touch with Juliette from Papillon wedding, she also recommends Le Reve as a wedding location... Tell me more ! How was it in reality ? I'm so excited... and anxious at the same time because I never went there yet...

Ida, his might not be the answer you're looking for but... did you try to find a similar dress on another site ? these guys for instance ship abroad and have good prices and tons of choices. check this one out : Ramona Wedding Gown - Wedding Dress

Honestly everything is beautiful and it will just change the style and color... I voted for Callas because I love them and this is what I'm doing myself (in orange).

Quote: Originally Posted by Alyssa do yo uhave any family, friends or work related business you could use their address? also - you can probably call David's Bridal stores and pay for them to ship it to you if they have it in stock - did you try that? why would it matter where the credit card is linked to? i have never heard of that and order things from over-seas all the time. it is someting specific to the US : with a US card you can order overseas, they will not ask you for your billing address (or it can be a foreign address). But to order from a US online store, you often need a US credit card as they don't accept billing addresses overseas. You have no idea how may sites do this. This is what got me to get a US credit card in the first place.

My dress came in last week ! TWO MONTHS EARLY !!! I'm so shocked that I don't know what to do ! I did not even go to see it or pick it up !! This is good news I know... At least this is one thing I will not have to worry about but I feel like like... what ? I could have waited two more months to order it and maybe order one size lower... and also, well, I had not planned for my dress to be here now ! I don't want to take care of it !! Am I normal...

I am getting married at Hotel Le Reve En blanco It is small and boutique-y (25 rooms only) and it looks amazing. because it's non resort, you can use the WC you like, all the vendors you like, with no fee. They have a lot a great menus. You don't have to pay an entrance fee for non-hotel guests. And it's in Playa Xcalacoco, right next door to The Tides, the Azul Fives, and Le Petit Laffite Petit Lafitte - family vacation hotel in Playa del Carmen, for 3 different budgets/styles, for those of your guests who cannot stay there (because only 25 rooms). It is adults only but they accept children for the big day. They have great reviews on trip advisor. I'm going down there on Dec 18-19-20 and will come back with pics.

Wow ! Never heard about the Xbox crashing Hope it does not happen, it would make my FI crazy ! We got a cooler to make sure it did ot over heat and we use it pretty intensively ; we have no TV subscription, so the Xbox does everything : games of course, play music, play DVDs, play shows downloaded on the computer (not only fictions but also UFC, So you think you can dance, presidential debates, etc), play Netflix, etc. In a word, it's on all day... let me cross my fingers !

Quote: Originally Posted by Infinity22 What about the XBOX 360 crashing, has anyone had any problems with that? Nope... not so far.

100% for XBOX 360 thanks to me ) Woops looks like other people voted while I was writing... I never thoughht I would say that but Xbox 360 is awesome. I got one for my FI for his birthday This thing is not only a great game console. You can use it as your media center extender (anything you have one your computer : music, video, pictures) can play wireless on your TV. The music you chose (from your computer) can play in background during any game. The Xbox connects you to other players - that you know or not - and you can play games online with other people. You can download demo games from the Arcade, and buy games online with credits you buy from the internet. They have recently changed the interface, and you now have avatars like what they do with the wii. If you have a Netflix account, the movies are now delivered to your Xbox instead of your mailbox !! You can see the episodes of your favourites shows on netflix via the Xbox the day after they aired. My favourite game is Rock Band - all the instruments are now wireless, except the mike. The controllers are wireless and you can hook a headset into the controller to talk to your game buddies over the internet when they are connected, when you play with them... It has a lot of storage on the hard drive (60GB I think for the last one ?). And last but not least it's smaller than the PS3. I know the PS3 has a lot of new features (I knew the PS2 only) but the XBox 360 is sick. And you said it - I'm a girl !! So imagine !!

Woop woop ! I'm going to enter this as this brings me just one month before my wedding !! So cool ! It keeps me motivated. Thanks a lot for doing this I need to create a PayPal account though. Hope it's easy

I just found my wedding band so I thought it was time to contribute here ! My engagement ring first - as I said above I did not want a diamond... I also did a lot of pictures saving on One Note, my FI picked the ring and the pearl without me... Then my wedding band that was a love at first sight ! I picked it while in Paris last week... my FI did not even see it ! I hope he'll like it !! His band... it was like, first shop we entered. He liked it. I asked if he did not want to see other ones. He said, why, I like this one... simple !