SoonToBeE

Our bridesmaid dresses are electric blue dresses from Banana Republic and I wanted to groomsmen to match somewhat - so they are wearing a lighter blue shirt in the same colour family. We looked at having them wear white shirts and blue ties in the same colour, but we wanted the groom to stand out. He is going to be wearing a white shirt and a tie while the groomsmen wear blue shirts and no ties. BUT the reason I am so excited is that we found these amazing pants! They're actually golf pants so they are light, dressy casual, dry-fit, wrinkle free AND have a comfort fit waistband. These are the most comfortable pants! My FI fell in love with them and wanted to wear them all night they were that comfortable. We also have groomsmen in Canada and the US and these pants are available in both locations. You can get them at JC Penny's And you can get them at the Bay in Canada (I'm sure you can find them elsewhere). They are great. The pictures don't do them justice. And I'm so happy that the guys won't be wearing linen - too many wrinkles! They fall nicely in the front, look great on my FI butt and they fall nicely at the bottom - no terrible taper - and they look great with a shoe or sandals. I'm so happy! We're so close to dressing our wedding party....now to find the perfect blue shirt!

Love it! I love all the little stamps that you had made. They really add that extra special touch : ) You must be so happy. I know I was so thrilled when I finally got mine out the door. The best part will be hearing everyone's reaction when they get them! That will make it worth all of the effort : )

We are having 36 people to our wedding and in the bag we are including a little write up of each guest along with a picture so that people can meet each other before the wedding, and so that people have some topics to dicuss with each other. It makes the guests feel really special which is great.

I can help you design something custom for you! I also have an etsy shop if you are interested (Etsy :: jennle :: jennle custom destination wedding designs). I can do something else besides boarding passes if you are interested! I couldn't find anything that was what I wanted, so I decided to do it myself.

I really like number 1 - I guess I'm almost alone on that one I think number one looks more flattering and less 'bridesmaidy' number one looks like something you would actually wear again. Once it's hemmed and the sash is removed you'll look like a million bucks : )

congrats! So exciting : ) Welcome...

Good luck! I bought square pieces because they allowed me to get more invites on one sheet - so that may help you. Also, watch for sales because I got my paper dirt cheap, they can charge an arm and a leg for that paper!

Thanks for all the kind words : ) They mayyy have taken a little while. The worst part was hand-making each end every envelope, but in the end it was so worth it because I am in LOVE with them. Anyone else spend hours upon hours on their invites?

I sent my invites out 9 months ahead of time and combined them as STD and Invites. I added the address to our website as well and put any new updates up there so people were always informed. I think a real invitation (whether for AHR or the actual wedding) is always appreciated and whether people go or not I think it is appreciated. As someone else said...it's always nice to have a keepsake!

Okay - so here are my final invitations! After many discussions (and hours of designing) we just couldn't decide which invitation to use as the final one, so we decided to go ahead and use all three. Guests received a random invite and were all surprised when they found out that there were other versions out there. Some even tried to 'collect all three!" I chose to print each boarding pass on high quality textured card stock to make it durable, but give it some rustic charm. I also used a perforation tool on each one to make it feel more authentic. Guests loved these little details! Each invitation came in its own envelope and alongside the boarding pass invite we included a 'brochure' for the wedding. This brochure included details about the resort, how to order, a personal note from us, etc. Our guests seemed to really like the brochure because it answered all the questions they had and also got them excited about the resort. I think it is critical to have these for your destination wedding based on the feedback I received! Each envelope was handmade with brown linen textured paper and lined with forest green textured paper to give it a rustic look. Each one was wrapped and tied with green raffia that matched the envelope liner. This I placed into a mailing envelope. Here are come pictures, Okay - here they finally are! Here is our beach themed invite in the envelope: A shot of the back of the brochure on a pile of completed, wrapped invitations. Here is our jungle themed invite (my personal favourite!) Our final version - palm trees! Another shot of the jungle theme with a different shot of the brochure in the envelope (without the boarding pass).

Ahh so exciting! You'll have to update us all when you get back! So excited for you : ) We leave in 75 days, so I can imagine how restless/ excited you must feel. How is everything coming along? Do you have everything sorted? Which photographer are you using again?

I made my own as well - I used simple card stock to make it. I wanted something that felt like natural hand made paper - a bit rougher with visible fibers. I couldn't find that exactly, so I went to Michaels and bought scrapbooking paper. It had the weight and texture that I was looking for. You could start there. You can check out my invites to see the texture of the paper I used. I decided to make three different invitations because we couldn't make up our minds....we loved all three designs, but I think they all work with the textured paper. Etsy :: jennle :: jennle custom destination wedding designs

I used wedding window and I can say that it was worth every single penny! I tried other free sites when I started my research, but they just didn't have the capability that I needed (guest RSVP, ability to upload photos, ability for guests to download things, password protected spaces, ability to easily activate and deactivate areas of the site without deleting them, and the ability to have a custom domain name to make it easy.) Also, weddingwindow had the most customizable designs and was so easy to use. So many people have commented how much they love our site, and people tell me they go there all the time to see what is new! It's made planning the wedding SO EASY! Here is our site - Wedding Website - John & Jen - Welcome Good luck with the wedding site selection!

OOhh also - does anyoneknow the status of the pier? Is it rebuilt yet or is it just a mess of broken sticks. Saw some great wedding shots when it was a standing structure and they were lovely. Hoping to have that for ours. But....if it isn't there, it isn't there! What can you do!

Quote: Originally Posted by Tracy_S Which restaurant are you having the dinner? I am still trying to determine if we want to do the private beach dinner instead of a restaurant because my guests numbers are pretty small... well who I think will come anyways. Did you end up figuring where you are having your dance? When exactly do you do the cocktails if you end up doing them? I am soo lost on when stuff is to be done!!! LOL... any new information you've got a hold of, and you could share would be lovely!!! We are planning to have dinner at Arrifces. I'm hoping it is okay. It doesn't need to be out of this world amazing, I just want it to be good enough that people leave full and happy. I would LOVE to have a private event, but I find it CRAZY that we are already paying so much for 40 people to come that we need to pay another $60 on top of that! + decorations/ lighting/ etc etc etc etc! I still havent figured out the dance, I think we are going to do an open bar after the reception and will do speeches and the dance there. Hopefully it will be nice. It is just too bad that we will not have the photographer around any more to catch the speech candids and dance shots. Oh well. I'll pester my friends to go all snap happy! I may try to see if Lomas will give us a better rate on the private events. The economy is down and maybe they're hurting for money too.....we'll see! I'll keep you posted!

Some other ideas we had - pen (for the sudoku!), travel size versions of classic board games (the little magnetic backgammom/ checkers ones), cd of photos of your life until this point featuring the people attending the wedding. Travel mugs for resorts where they carry only small cups.

Quote: Originally Posted by edssbride09 You are getting married before me! Yay! I thought the cap was 30, so i ruled that out long ago... Gosh that would save us a TON of money not to do the private on the beach... but... it will be so nice out there! If only the stupid tent wasn't almost $2K to rent!!! Augh, annoying. If you do it at one of the restaurants what will the setup be for if you had say 40 people? Would you get to decorate? Would everyone be together? Could you dance, do speeches? I am so curious! The cap for the free dinner is 30, but I asked what the options were for 36 people and Valeria let me know we could still have the dinner in the restaurant. We would love to have the reception on the beach, but the rates they charge are pretty much the same as what we would pay here. It is ridiculous, especially since everyone is already paying so much to go there already! As for the private beach do you think you really need a tent? Only one of the pictures I've seen shows a tent. I know tey have a back up location if there is rain, but it rarely rains....and if it does it's not for long. The setup for 40 people in the restaurant is either a big square or two separate tables. And they do decorate it, I have pics that I can send you if you would like. And if you buy flowers for your wedding site you can use those to decorate the restaurant area. I think you could choose how to decorate, we aren't because what they do is good enough. Unfortunately the worst part is the speeches and dances. You cannot do those in the restaurant.....which is why we're thinking of having a cocktail reception after the wedding or after the dinner in order to get those things in. Also - I'm from TO. You? I'm curious about the Calgary photographers who are moving down to the MR. What rates did they charge you for the photo package?

Hello! I am getting married at the EDSS on March 19 of next year and I can't wait! I'm working with Valeria as well and she has been absolutely amazing!! Also, after all the talk of the private events - did you guys know you can have up to 40 people in the restaurant! You get 30 people for free, and any extra person is a $25 pp fee. We decided to do our 36 person reception in the restaurant and are still trying to figure out how to do speeches and dances. Thinking we may do a cocktail after the wedding or may do a cocktail dessert party after the dinner! Ah so many options!

Hello, my name is Jen and I am getting married in Mexico (El Dorado Seaside Suites) on March 19, 2009. I'm starting to get excited now that we are only a few days away from the 100 day cutdown before the big day!!