amybermuda

Programs - I made them myself - 2 pages with paper from Paper Source - hung with robbon to go on the backs of the chairs at the ceremony: Favors - [/b] We put a note in each of these felt bags along with candy, saying a donation had been made in our guests honor to the American Cancer Society.

Wedding Themes & Decor Colors…. I struggled for ever with colors! I must have read every thread on here regarding colors. Orange is my favorite, so I picked Orange & Pink. I was going to do red as well, but then decided against it. That is where I got my inspiration for my Bouquet and Centerpieces. Flowers… I used the sticky on the Riviera Maya thread regarding what flowers are in season for a May wedding in Mexico. I used roses and lilies for my bouquet and added daises for the BMs and added yellow and purple to their colors since they were all wearing different colored dresses. For centerpieces I looked around and found one on TD Flora or whatever it is called. I also made sure I gave them dimensions – like 15-16†for my bouquet and same for centerpieces. I wanted BIG flowers. Ceremony set up – we wanted to get married on the beach and went with a simple, classic white look. Uncovered white chairs with programs hung on the sides, uncovered plank walk way down the aisle, and the canopy dressed with white sheets – both on the front and the sides of the canopy. I searched for 20+ hours and found an Isla Mujeres hotel who did the set up exactly I wanted. I gave this picture to my WCs. I asked for the flowers to be tall glass vases of Gladiolas – total steal at $43/each! Theme – I wanted a running theme throughout the wedding, so I chose “love bird in paradiseâ€. I googled images (a lot I had to purchase) and used them for everything. Welcome letter, programs, OOT bag name tags, plus instead of table #s I used different love bird pictures so you matched the picture on your seating card with a framed picture of love birds on each table. Welcome Bags (OOT bags) I think the most fun I had was putting together the OOT bags. They took up 2 huge suitcases, so that was a lot to bring to the airport but we used suitcases on spinner wheels so they could be pushed upright. I also put signs in the suitcases that said “not for resale†in case… The bags were awesome. I got orange, pink, and brown giraffe print bags. They had multiple zipper pockets, a side mesh pocket for a water bottle, inside change purse and a side part with a Velcro fastener. They were less than $3 per, which I know is more than a paper bag, but I wanted to really have reusable stuff (going green). Wholesale Party Giveaways Incentive Gifts and Home Party Supplies For Beauty Consultants Paper stuff in the bags: Welcome Letter, Who’s Who, Door Hanger, and a Schedule. Other Items: Lanyards with Plastic Sleeve for room key holders. I used Microsoft Publisher to create “business cards†which said “To have an to hold… until you check out. Rom Key Holderâ€. I printed them at Kinkos on card stock and they fit perfectly. I bought orange, yellow, and red cloth lanyards. The cheapest place I found them was a Christian online book store.

So, here I am making my planning thread... Ok, so this is coming out AFTER I was married, but b/c I got so much great information from other brides on here, I still wanted to write my own planning thread. And, any bride to be, please do the same! I love the BDW forum!! I am not a techy person but I have learned so much from the girls on this forum and I am forever grateful for everyone's help and sharing of ideas. What an awesome group! So... here goes! Engagement FI & I decided to get engaged after 5 ½ years. We always said we were too young to get married, but then we realized we were both in our 30s and people were starting to wonder! I picked out an antique reproduction ring while browsing with my sister. She helped him order it. The jewelry designer had made it in gold once but could only tell me it looked good; they did not have a picture. I was really happy with the way it turned out. He proposed in Barcelona. Deciding on a DW We had always wanted a small wedding, FI does not like being the center of attention, so we started looking for destinations. Our requirements were for kids to be allowed, not a mega resort, and where people could fly direct from BWI. After looking all over the Bahamas, we realized that an all inclusive would be a better priced option – from our point of view with the reception costs and also for our friends who really like to party! I found Azul Beach by goggling destination wedding locations. I kept thinking $400/night per couple was expensive so kept looking elsewhere. We spoke to our parents and sibilings and they all agreed it was manageable. Once we saw that you could have a “Donkey Cocktail Partyâ€, we were SOLD on the resort and booked May 29th. They also have only one wedding per day at the resort, which we liked. We booked about a year in advance. Destination Wedding Hotel - Honeymoon Hotel In Riviera Maya - Cancun Anniversary Hotel | Karisma Hotels & Resorts STDs and Invites First thing we did was make PostCards as save the Dates. I knew I wanted to send invites 9 months early, but I wanted everyone to get a Save the Date. I used Word and bought an image from iStockphoto. I made Boarding Pass Invites – using every bit of information on this forum I could find. I have a thread somewhere on here with my invites. They rocked – I got tons of compliments. I made sure I had a few extra to bring to Mexico w/ me for professional photos. Since our guest list was limited to 60 people (40 are coming), we sent STDs at the same time for our AHR to the guests not invited to Mexico. We did not want anyone to feel left out as some ppl got invite and others did not. Wedding Attire I bought 4 dresses online from Nordstrom and J Crew and had a little try on party with my BMs, sister (MOH), and mom. I decided I would fall in love with a $5k dress if I walked into a bridal salon so I avoided them altogether! My friends all picked out what they thought the best dress on me was. Turns out, 6 months later I regretted the dress I picked. It looked too off white (this was in Dec when I was no longer tan) and I did not think the beading would ever lay flat. So, I ordered the one shoulder rosette ivory gown made by Tadashi off of Nordstrom.com. I LOVED it!!! It bunched up around the back at the base of the zipper which gave the impression of a train or bustle (kind of). For $400, it was a steal. I got it altered back home for $45! Woo hoo. This was the first one that I loved : The one my friends all voted for: This is one I chose in December by myself: Our wedding was supposed to be casual, so the groomsmen all wore tan linen button down Polo shirts and white linen pants. FI wore a white Guyabera (Cuban linen shirt) bought in Miami and the same white linen pants as the guys (bought from Macy’s). They all wore white boxers and you really could not see through the pants, which I was afraid of so that was good. Also, the linen was quick to dry in case of anyone sweating in the hot Mexican sun! For bridesmaids, I wanted everyone wearing a different solid color – a bright tropical color. My sister/MOH took blue, and the other BMs took purple, orange, and pink. They were varying sizes in regards to dress and bra size and there was no way I could pick a dress for them. Even when it came to designers it did not work. We tried J Crew, but some girls looked frumpy. I love the idea of different dresses anyway and it went along with our casual theme. I also went a bit crazy and told my immediate family they had to wear solid colors to the wedding. I am not a fan of patterns in pictures, and by being a little bridezilla I knew I would be totally happy about the group shots. My Mom wore a yellow dress and FMIL bought a pink/purple-ish jewel tone one. My Dad wore a yellow Guyabera and white linen pants. My parents are divorced, but I liked the yellow theme they had going on  Travel Agent My biggest/stupidest mistake in planning the DW was I used a local one woman shop (trying to support local women owned businesses) as a travel agent. She was awful. I found a couple of good reviews online and she was the only person out of 4 people I called who thought I should book my rooms 10 months early. It was a 98 room resort, a holiday weekend, and May is prime DW season…. Anyhow, this was before I found the forum and I should have used someone here. My TA could not guarantee cribs to my sister with her newborn. She told my Mom that my Dad, her ex husband, had booked the higher level room if she wanted to get an idea of what other people were choosing (WTF). She also told me that there was no way I could do a room block b/c her company could in no way guarantee rooms. Anyways, we all paid rack room rates and got nothing extra for booking 20% of the hotel. Oh, the Karisma sales person did give FI and I a gift cert for a free massage. Whoopidty doo. Would have rather had the 20% off discounts other brides got through their TAs plus free upgrades. Whatever, moving on…. More to follow....

Quote: Originally Posted by taylorwd We stayed 10 days the whole time at AB. Our wedding was Saturday and everyone left by Monday evening. So by the time everyone left, we only had 3 fulls days to ourselves at the resort. That was definitely NOT enough time. If I had to do it over again I would tack on more honeymoon time. We considered changing resorts but I'm so glad we didn't for a couple different reasons: 1) Everyone knew us at the resort and treated us like gold because they'd either seen our wedding, knew about it, or actually helped with it. We wouldn't have gotten the same treatment at a new resort. 2) The last thing we would have wanted to do after the wedding was pack everything up and move. 3) Once the guests left we felt like we really got to enjoy the resort. Had we changed to somewhere else, I would have felt like I didn't get the full experience at AB. That said, this decision did come with complications. The main one was that we requested everyone leave the resort by a certain date so we could have some honeymoon time. Not everyone liked that! We let people come as early as they wanted so they wouldn't feel like they were gypped on resort time, and some even got there before us, but we still had some people who were upset. I agree with Wendy on staying a week longer. We stayed one extra night and it was a let down to come home 3 days after getting married. We are honeymooning (in Mexico again - haha) in August but I wish we would have done it right after the wedding. I did not think I would need to be on vacation another week after 8 nights at AB, but its still your wedding and its a lot of work!

I am having my AHR in Maryland, open bar and full food for 100 people for $11,000. We are having it at a private club and catered by The Narrows. Not sure if Eastern Shore MD is your thing, but here are the websites: The Narrows Restaurant peaceofcake.info

your siggy pix keep getting cuter and cuter Amy. And girls, I PROMISE - my planning thread will be done this weekend. Its going to be stupidly long. In the meantime, check out my adorable Maryland themed AHR favors! LOVE Them!!!!!

Amanda - I was able to downgrade from Silver to the Free Wedding package. You can always change your wedding package - you cannot change the specials that are offered after you sign your wedding contract ("bride and groom stay free" came out after I booked and I was not eligible for that promotion).

Quote: Originally Posted by beaz2be I plan to do OOT bags. Having a larger wedding it might end up getting pretty costly, depending on what goes in them. So we'll see what actually ends up going in them in the end. I'm DEFINITELY going to do either beer koozies or stadium cups that have a logo on them so that everyone can sort of "recognize" who's there with our group. also, we're planning to copy amykh and have the cigar roller so we might have matches done up, with the same logo as "favours" for everyone's table setting. Marla and Miriam GREAT WEBSITES!! They're both wonderful. Congrats on all that hard work. I wish I had done beer koozies too - I love koozies!!! People did not really use the cups we made them. I found it easier to spot people with the bags we bought for the OOT bag (everyone used them for their sunglasses, book, suntan lotion, etc) or with the key card holder on a lanyard around their necks.

Quote: Originally Posted by thefuturemrslutz ok thanks girls!!! I appreciate it! I was trying to think of something to put on their plates. Maybe I will do a little something like that. Quote: Originally Posted by Afrommert Lindz, I went to hobby lobby and bought clear containers with Lids and hot glued a hot pink bow(my colors) on it. The container was for each guest to take home sand in. I love going to my friends house and seeing their little sand jar, soo cute I had menu cards on the tables and then these cute felt bags with candy in them and a note that a donation was made in our guests honor to the American Cancer Society (FI's Dad died of leukemia). It was cute but I don't think it was all necessary. They decorated the table with nice plates and fancy napkins, so that with the centerpieces and the table numbering and I had hot pink table runners, it really would have been just as nice with out it all! Felt Favor Bag with Flower

Quote: Originally Posted by meghan We used Erik Rodriguez, and his contract is the same ...4-6 weeks. He said it is high season right now, and has to use photoshop. We saw some on his camera and they looked amazing! It's gotta be six weeks by now for you, isn't it? Oh man I never even thought to look at Claudia's camera - LOL I think I am at 5 weeks now. Meghan, I am so jealous of your ticker - 6 days since we were married.... I wish I could turn mine back! I love the post wedding excitement!

I am still waiting from pictures from Claudia too - her contract says 4-6 weeks. I have my friends photos for now but an DYING for the professional ones. Then again, with all this AHR planning, I probably should only be doing that and not looking at my pictures for hours on end

We told people we wanted a small wedding and having a DW means a lot of people wont be able to go. That was a snarky little hint hint... don't freaking come then! We are having an AHR so that kept some comments at bay. If you aren't doing that, you could tell people that you'll have them over for dinner after you get back from Mexico to look at tour pictures..

Quote: Originally Posted by cjb0arder13 So I'm most likely no longer an Azul Beach bride, either. They are giving us the run-around on the construction plans. First they told us that construction would begin in August and go through Feb/March 2011. AS looks like a stunning resort, but honestly I'm just so mad at Karisma right now for this run-around I want to wash my hands of them. So...not sure where I'll be getting married, but it will be somewhere in the Riviera Maya (since we've already booked our flights). You ladies have been the BEST support system, and I will definitely keep reading this thread to see all of the upcoming brides' weddings. Good luck to everyone!!! Awww Celina. I am so sorry to hear this. I think you made the right decision though. You will find your perfect resort, I know it! Its not cool that AB is acting like that. Even when I was there they were working on this mansion next door (I know its owned by the same guy who owns AB, but not sure if they were expanding AB or whatever) - but anyways, ppl who got massages in the palapas could hear the hammering the entire massage. lame! I hope you have a good TA working with you. Good luck & keep us posted! I forget Gingerlovers name.... but you guys I am gutted for you!!!

Sorry to re post but I also did a who's who booklet using funny pictures from each guest and stories on how we know them & who they are, what they do & funny antidotes. With a small group this would not be too expensive. I had 30 color pages printed at Fed Ex and with 25 copies it was like $200+!!! Annnnnndddddddddddd HAPPY WEDDING DAY MEGHAN!!!!!!!!!!!!! i AM POSITIVE YOU HAD A BEAUTIFUL DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CANT WAIT TO SEE YOUR PICTURES!

Quote: Originally Posted by msmarmar123 Sad part is..I am not too creative..so it's a good thing I have such a long time to plan and find things. You have come to the right place then!!! This forum gave me so many awesome ideas for the Welcome Bags. I also got a couple cool ideas from Martha Stewart Destination weddings. #1 thing I had in my bags were lanyards with plastic sleeves for ppl to wear their room keys around their necks. Everyone LOVED it. And the bags themselves which everyone carried around the resort for the week. The bags were from Wholesale Party Giveaways Incentive Gifts and Home Party Supplies For Beauty Consultants and they were AWESOME. multiple zipper pockets, side pocket for a water bottle, inside change purse... BLUE GIRAFFE MICROFIBER SHOPPER TOTE #SH13-81

OMG Lindz - you are marrying the most thoughtful most romantic man in the world. I thought they did not exist except in movies. From your engagement story to this... Wow. Your bach weekend sounds AWESOME. LOL Amy - maybe we need a new thread - our Annual Anniversary Parties. I totally plan on rocking an awesome party every year. Screw the old "get me jewelry" crap and instead "lets throw a rager!!!" OK, more like, get me jewelry and throw a party.... haha Oh God yeah the DJ from Lomas was expensive. $1500. I saw a wedding 2 nights before mine have the iPod system and did their own music and they were ROCKING out on the dance floor all night. So, I think its possible. Its just one more thing you have to think of during the night. Although... if you did it yourselves, you would not have to have "I like Big Butts" at your wedding.... Oh yes they DID play that song... gag.... I did not relaize I had the power to tell them to change it by the flick of a hand. Which I had them do when they played 2 slow songs in a row. Such power as the girl in white !!!

awwww I love you so much I am gonna smack you! BTW I am dying at everyone's posts today regarding "forum friends". I was typing away last night and my husband was like "what are you doing?"... I said "um, nothing" and he laughs "talking to your little online friends again aren't you?".... Haha Whatever, you guys ROCK!!!

Amy, What is that little face meant for anyways? Its super cute! Regarding the DJ - I had whoever the hotel gave me and they were AWESOME. They had a DJ that did not speak English and an MC that did. If the MC is important to you, i would recommend using a family member or friend b/c they weren't totally clued in. Not their fault - its just that I never got to meet the MC or DJ until I got introduced, so I could not tell him what I wanted him to do it or how. Not a big deal but I wanted my name to be said and not just Mr & Mrs - but thats how they introduced us. In regards to the music, lights, bubble machine and smoke machine, everything was great. Whoever asked about costs, etc, I would be more than happy to break out my expenses if you want to PM me. I am working on my planning thread now, so hope it'll be up this weekend!!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by Season I wanted to introduce myself as I'm making my way through reading this thread (only 800 more pages, yes!). We are getting married at the Azul Sensatori on January 15, 2011 at 5 PM. This may be covered a few hundred pages down the line, but I am having trouble getting in touch with Kiara from Karisma. Has anyone else had a similar experience? I've e-mailed her June 8th and 22nd and still no response. We just have two questions at this point: 1) the size/shape of the dance floor for an outdoor reception and where guests will be seated in relation to it (we're working with our dance instructor for our first dance) and 2) if we want our guests to choose their dinner meal, should we include the options on our invitation response card? Yay!!! Welcome! Thats awesome that you chose AS and found this forum!! I would call her. When you call you get the wedding department - and then you can ask for Kiara or just start talking to the person who answers. In regards to dinner, you don't get to have 2 choices. Everyone has to eat the same thing. I chose the surf & turf option b/c of this. You can also try the lomas website, they might have the dance floor dimensions. See, you question to Kiara would have to go to Lomas in Mexico, and they are not the fastest in getting back to the Miami coordinators. Good luck! Quote: Originally Posted by vleigh24 Hi-I was wondering if anyone had any advice. I'm a newbie getting married at the Azul Beach on Saturday, Dec 4th 2010. We are having our rehearsal dinner Thursday Dec 2nd because a few people want to do excursions Friday, and this will give them the whole day without having to worry about coming back by a certain time Friday evening. I still want to have some sort of event Friday day or evening but I am unsure what I should plan. I want the day to be chill. I know about 60% will likely be with me relaxing on the beach all day. I was thinking about doing a catamaran sunset cruise, but I'm not sure if it is worth it. We're going to have to drive 20minutes to get on a boat and drink for 90 minutes and then drive back. It seems like too much of a hassle. Any opinions? I was also going to see if we could do a tequila class during the day. Any other good ideas? Is the sunset cruise worth the hassle of leaving the resort? Paradise Catamarans was AWESOME but it was 45 minute drive each way -- so it did eat up a lot of time. I am trying to remember what Fridays were at AB... I ate dinner and then went to bed b/c I was getting married the next day. Hmmmm you could organize a tequila tasting w/ the bar tender at the tequila bar? As long as you tip him, you could organize that for free. Or you could all go snorkeling with the boats that are right off of the AB beach. Thats 1 hour and $38/pp. Or, you could organize a happy hour private event. The cheapest was $10/pp so if you have 40 guests - $400 - not too bad. Quote: Originally Posted by amcferron All of you may brides out there that are already married, I have a question!!! I am wanting a ceremony as late as possible with good lighting for photog. on my wedding date may 13, it states sunset is at 7:17pm. We are planning on a 6pm wedding right now, but will the lighting be OK?? I suppose i can also ask my photog (when i finally hire one)!! BTW, picking a photog is the hardest decision!! Are you going to do pictures prior to getting married or only afterwards? I did photos for almost 2 hours after my wedding b/c we did not do them before. Other thing to be concerned about is timeline for reception. I got married at 4:30pm b/c I wanted the 2 hr cocktails then the 4 hr reception. I had to be done at 11pm, so start time had to be 4:30!

Oh wow I am in the throngs of my AHR planning now and you girls are giving me hope that it'll be a blast (although Amy this was not your AHR now that I think about it Wendy you look adorable in the photos and damn I forgot how hot your wedding dress was! Amy, I was wondering how you got such a fun location for the photos - glad you guys laughed about it. Coolest bride ever! And yes, take that company down!!!!

Here are the recipes! Have fun cooking

Well yesterday was mediocre! I ended the day w/ 3 beers at beach volleyball and then had a can of tuna. Haha you would think I am single and not newly married with a diet like that - LOL. Tonight I am grilling asparagus and steaks with the H. That's more like it! Hope your doing OK!

I am sending my good weather thoughts to you Meghan!!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by msmarmar123 Hi Everyone.... This is my 1st real post.... We are planning on February 11, 2012...and I can not wait. Marla Oh Marla, you do have tons of time! Thats very exciting, congratulations and welcome to BDW!!! Quote: Originally Posted by KittenHeart KWIM - This I do not know... Anyways, happy to have you! Try reading through the thread, that will help a lot and we're of course here to answer questions as well! Amy - congrats on your legal day! You look adorable in the road sign picture! Hope Vegas was a blast KWIM... where have you seen that?! haha I have no clue what that would mean either! Quote: Originally Posted by jazz04 Has anyone used the photographers the resort suggests? I hate to pay the 500 extra just to use one from outside. Also, my girls are wearing blue sapphire short dresses and I'm having a hard time deciding on the guys. My DH wants them to wear linen pants. Any thoughts? My guys wore white linen pants and they looked HOT. My new sister in law loved her husband (the best man) in them - she thanked me for choosing them so she could have him wear them all summer I think it matters more what your FI is wearing. Is he wearing linen pants or a suit?

I find low carb days are easy to get lunch without shopping - getting some chicken and veggies or a salad at the deli down the street for lunch. Dinner I will pick up some asparagus to grill with some steaks. Yum. I have the recipes from the diet I bought on line. I will try to load them on tonight - they are on my personal computer at home. I did not really like his recipes though - not my taste.