simba1234

Quote: Originally Posted by delauren Hey all! Just returned from a site visit to my hotel and met Mayan Sound. Wanted to post a quick review for anyone else who is being recommended them by their coordinator. They arrived on time for our meeting and were very professional. They set up two turntables, a Mac computer and some speakers. They were the only DJ's who actually PLAYED for us and they were the only DJ's we met who actually brought the DJ who is going to play at our wedding (if we hire them). I made some comments about how he DJ'd and the guy took my notes immediately. My hotel has very high standards and they have used them for all their weddings - I am waiting for their pricing information but they seem really great and professional. What did you think of how he DJ'd?? How was his style? Do you know if they would stick to a playlist if one was given to them? I want to give them my full playlist but I'm worried that they'll want to play their own songs.

Quote: Originally Posted by hockeymom97 Very cute! I had been looking at including beach towels in our OOT bags but everywhere that did the embroidery was much higher priced. I think you got a great deal on these How was the quality on the towels? And what size did you order? I got the 30x60" Terry Velour. They are lightweight towels but that is exactly what I wanted...I don't want them to take up a ton of room on my luggage or my guests luggage. They don't look cheap but they're also not super thick heavyweight towels. I think they're perfect for the purpose they will serve:) I've only shown them to my mom & FI so far and they loved them...and they're pretty picky people:)

Quote: Originally Posted by NaM I'm with Nadine on this one...I have exactly 14 people in my wedding party and 50 coming to the wedding so we too are in the "over kill" category. But I wouldn't have it any other way I think the biggest stress has been putting stuff off until we get to Mexico and not know what to expect when we arrive. I guess just like any other bride...hoping things go how you plan! Haha..sorry maybe 'overkill' was the wrong word I'm only inviting very close family & friends so in my situation I just feel bad inlcuding 1/3 of our guests in the wedding party and basically excluding the rest. How do I choose when they're ALL close to me...if I could I would make them all BM & GM. I can't choose 14 people because then i feel like I'm saying "these are the closest to me out of all of you" and I really don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. I do know ppl who have done it and it looks great. I'm just a big wuss and it's stressing me out the thought of making anyone feel excluded or not special enough.

One of my friends just told me that I inspired her to have a DW which is great because I was inspired by one of my cousins who had one and I learned a ton from her! My friend was asking me for advice and asked what the biggest stress factor has been in planning my DW. I told her my #1 tip was to join this forum:) This place has really been a life saver and made it a much smoother process than it would have otherwise been. So, I told her the biggest stress for me has been the wedding party. A DW is much smaller and intimate so 7 BM & 7 GM could really be overkill in a wedding where there's only 50 ppl. That means 14 out of the 50 guests would be in the bridal party. A smaller bridal party also means excluding a lot of ppl and potentially creating resentment and hurt feelings. I overcame it by just breaking a lot of traditions - i.e. No maid of honor, more GM than BM's...and with all the great advice on this forum. So, what has been YOUR BIGGEST stressor in planning a DW and if someone else was going through the same thing as you, what would be your advice to them?

I really, really want to give my DJ a playlist of ALL the songs I want him to play at my reception. Music is THE most important part of the wedding reception for me because my FI & I are huge music lovers...we both work in the music industry and it is a top priority. Our guests are also huge dancers and love music so we want to choose the songs and give the DJ a list. I would play my IPod but I want an MC to run things and I also want them there to mix the songs and keep everything flowing. Has anyone done this and did the DJ stick to your list? Do you think they would take offense to getting a playlist and having to stick to it? Would they even really play our songs or just play what they want anyway? I'm really nervous about this and would love to get opinions or hear any past experiences....

Quote: Originally Posted by futuremrsgoodrich the stuff from Oriental Trading hasnt arrived yet, it will probably be here tomorrow... I will repost when the stuff gets here... I think that's an awesome idea. my cousin did a collage of everyone who attended their DW and the collage included tons of candid pics taken throughout the week. They sent everyone a large collage photo AND a 5x7 picture of the guest with the bride and/or groom at the wedding. It was an awesome thank you gift.

Are you having a sand ceremony? I ask because that could be another great way to involve him. My cousin just got married and he has a son from a previous relationship so he and his bride did the sand ceremony along with his son...each of them had a different color sand that they poured together into one vase as a symbol of their new family uniting and merging. There wasn't a dry eye in the place:) They did that in addition to having him walk down the aisle with the bridal party. You can do this with the unity candle too if you don't want a sand ceremony...

I have the same exact issue...there might be 1 or 2 out 50 people at my wedding who will be single. Things that two of my recently married cousins did.... Cousin #1 - She walked over to my other cousin who was engaged and the next one in line to get married and handed her the bouquet. She gave a nice little speech saying that was the next wedding everyone was going to, etc.. It was really beautiful caught the bride to be off guard and made everyone emotional - it was an awesome classy gesture. Cousin #2 - This is the one who got the bouquet handed to her in cousin #1's wedding:) She made EVERYONE get up and catch the bouquet. The DJ made an announcement saying this is her day and she wants everyone out on the floor to catch the bouquet, no exceptions. People actually thought it was kind of funny that she did this and even the mom's were out there to catch it. She gave a prize to the person who caught it. Whatever you do, you can't go wrong...

You guys are so awesome...thanks for all the advice and encouragement. I feel so much better now. It never even occured to me the idea of not having a MOH. I think that is the perfect solution. I won't have a MOH that way none of the girls will be offended. I'll have my guy cousin in the wedding party whether it's on my side or my FI's side - either way he's close to both of us and everyone knows that he's like a brother to me so he's up there representing me. I was a bridesmaid in his wedding and I can't imagine not having him up there with me on that special day. I can't believe I was even considering not including him just to make **other** people happy. As you have all said it's my day so I should do what makes me happy. I'll have my younger cousin do a reading and hopefully that will ease that concern. Why do people get crazy when it comes to OTHER people's weddings I don't understand why everyone doesn't just let the bride & groom enjoy that day to the absolute fullest free of judgments, forced traditions and OPINIONS. Thanks for putting things in perspective everyone!

It's not rude at all!! Some people, if not most will even appreciate that you're not planning their week. After all, this is also a vacation for them and tehy may want to do their own thing. I know my mom loves to sight see but my future mother in law just wants to lay out on the beach, my cousins & siblings want to drink & party:) Everyone wants to do different things. If you plan everything out, people feel obligated to do what you want them to do. I'm planning a welcome cocktail reception and a rehearsal dinner - that is IT! From there everyone can do what they choose. My cousins have had a few destination weddings the past two years and they didn't plan anything but we had the absolute time of our lives!!

My FI has FOUR sisters... my situation is a little bit different from yours because I have an amazing relationship with all of them. I've been really blessed in that they're great and I'm close to all of them. That being said, I do NOT want a huge bridal party and I do not plan to include all of them becuase then I would have like 7 bridesmaids which I think is complete overkill for a DW. My FI and I agreed that I would make his older sister a bridesmaid and use the excuse that we wanted a small bridal party (since it's a small wedding) and we could only include one, so we went with the oldest to be fair. My FI is making my guy cousin a groomsman (that's another issue altogether which I addressed in another thread). I really want my guy cousin to be my 'man of honor' but he may end up standing on my FI's side as a groomsmen. We're telling everyone that my FI is choosing someone from his fam to be one of my bridesmaids and I'm choosing someone from my fam to be one of his groomsmen. ONE person only from each side. That way the burden is on him if someone from his family gets upset & same with my fam:) I chose my guy cousin as a groomsmen and he chose his sister as a bridesmaid... We're all around the same age and the sisters are only like a year or two apart so it's really just an out for us. It's a coincidence that my cousin & his sis are the oldest AND also the one's we're closest to but we're using the fact that they're the oldest as our excuse... You said you get along best with the older sis so maybe you can say that you're choosing her because she's the oldest... would that work?

Quote: Originally Posted by flbluiiis Those are two hard spots to be in. Have you ever mentioned anything to your cousin about being a "man of honor" or seeing how he would feel about it? Obviously, I have no idea how he would feel about it, but I think if someone asked my brothers to be their "man of honor" they would probably say no cause they would feel weird. If he would feel comfortable doing it...then it could solve both your questions. You could ask both of your cousins to be in the wedding because then there would be another person for your side and another for your FI's side. AND you could have both your girlfriends on your side of the wedding party but not have to hurt any feelings between them. Good luck! Feel free to vent here any time I haven't talked to him yet because I wanted to figure out what to do before asking him. I wouldn't make him a 'man of honor' in the traditional sense. I would still have him walk & stand with my FI...wear the same suit as all the groomsmen, etc... I don't even think I would really give him the title of 'man of honor'. The only difference would be that I wouldn't have a 'maid of honor' and my excuse would be that he's the peson i'm closest to and I wanted him to be the one to represent that role symbolically - does that make sense? Do you think that would be weird

I've been telling friends that I'm only inviting family:) That has been my out. In reality we're only inviting family and very close friends but I haven't been telling acquaintences about the 'close friends' so as not to offend them. I think that when ppl hear it's a small intimate wedding with just family, they don't get as offended. Good luck...it's a sensitive topic!

I need to vent with someone because I really want to cry because I'm so upset. The most stressful part of the wedding has been the bridal party because I don't want to hurt any feelings. My oldest friend & I have been friends for 19 years and I was her maid of honor 6 years ago. But in recent years we have grown apart. About 10 years ago she introduced me to my other friend who I am lot closer to now. I would like this other friend to be my MOH but I don't want to hurt/offend my older friend. I really can't choose between the two of them. My real choice for a 'maid of honor' would be my guy cousin who I am really close to...he's really like my brother & best friend. He's the person I cried to when I had boy problems or any kind of stress in my life. He's the person I confide in and trust. He's also really close to my FI. If he were a girl he would DEFINETLY be my maid of honor without a doubt. I've been thinking about making him my 'man of honor'. I was also a bridesmaid in his wedding. I really wish he were a girl because this would be so much easier The other problem is that my aunt called my mom the other day to ask that her only son (my younger cousin) be included in the wedding party because he's "always wanted to be a groomsmen" and he never gets chosen. I really don't believe he feels that way because I honestly don't think guys care about stuff like that. This cousin is one of my younger cousins and I feel weird including him and not my other cousin who I grew up with and have always been close to. I don't want to include both because my FI already has enough GM. I'm so annoyed that my aunt even asked my mom to include her son... it's putting extra pressure on me that I don't need. Those are my two options...chose one friend and hurt the other who has been my friend for more years and introduced us. OR choose my guy cousin who is really my best friend more than any of my girl friends BUT then I upset my aunt. I've lost sleep over this. My aunt is a really sweet woman who I love dearly so I don't want to upset her. She's a breast cancer survivor and I think that experience has made her more sensitive than she ever was. Part of me is still upset that she is even putting me in this position instead of letting me do what I want. My aunt is also giving me a very generous gift ( a couple of thousand $$) that I now feel guilty taking if I put my other cousin in the party and not her son. I also don't know how to decline the gift without offending her. I just don't know what to do. I just needed to vent and get some moral support

Quote: Originally Posted by Linzwedding simba, i know this may be a silly question but i am not very creative...where and how did you get the monograms? is there a specific site or did u make it yourself? i want to get the towels also from cottonfruit but they said i need to send my own monogram first... I got mine done by For The Modern Bride... here's the link Custom Wedding Monogram Logos - For The Modern Bride They were awesome! They charged $25 for one custom designed logo in any design you want. I think you get the monogram for free if you order any stationery with them (i.e. Menu, Programs, invitations, thank you cards). I'm getting my custom invitations done with them so the logo was free. I love For the modern bride...they were awesome to work with! Everything they do is completely customized for your needs/style. Once they did the logo for me, I sent the file over to cottonfruit for the towels.

Quote: Originally Posted by Tifuhhknee I LOVE the group photos I have seen and know for certain that I do want one! I plan on doing it for sure! My cousin had a DW and not only did they have one huge group shot but they also had portraits with the bride's fam, then the groom's fam, then just the cousins, then just the siblings, etc...it was pretty intense:) It didn't take long at all. I think if you have a great photographer they can organize it pretty quickly. Most of the photos were photojournalistic but they made a point of taking time out for pics with the family -it made everyone feel special and were great memories.

Turquoise blue is my color and I stressed about this for a long time. Ultimately I decided I'm going to go with cream calla lilies. I'm going to bring in the blue color in other ways. For my bouquet I plan to wrap a turquoise blue satin ribbon around the bouquet. I think it's going to look beautiful. I love cream calla lilies. It depends what theme you're going for. I'm a minimalist and like clean simple lines, modern, sleek looks. That's why I think calla's will work best for me. If you're going for tropical & fun then I've seen orange or pink look really stunning against the blue, not my personal style but I do think it looks great.

Okay Ladies, I need your help/opinions...my FI thinks I'm crazy for stressing about this detail but I'm sure you will understand and give me your great opinions because he's been no help:) My wedding color is turquoise and it's hard to find flowers that go well with that color so I'm going to have all white calla lilies center pieces and lots of candles. There's going to be a lot of white fabric flowing at my venue. So I'm trying to add color in other ways. For example I'm going to have turquoise cloth napkins on the tables, a couple of turquoise candles or candle holders. I also want to add some color to the chairs so they're not so plain. Here's a pic of what my venue will look like with the fabric wrapped around the columns. The last two pics are of the chair covers I'm deciding between. Which one is more appropriate for this venue? Should I go with the fitted white cover and the sash to the side OR all white chairs with twisted white & turquoise fabric on the sides and no cover I'm going for a sleek, modern look... please help! Any other ideas or inspiration pics are welcome too! Which chair cover would look better there? #1 or #2

Quote: Originally Posted by slapsappyhappy that is great! How many did you order of each? did you order enough for all of your guests or just enough for the bridesmaids and groomsmen? Thank you! I ordered them for all of our guests and also about 5 extras for close friends/family that can't make it. I got about 60 total.

Quote: Originally Posted by diamondpooch Those look awesome! I'm going to order my towels through Cotton Fruit as well. Was the monogram included in the price quoted or was it extra? If so, how much? I got the monograms done by Forthemodernbride.com and then I just sent the file to Cotton Fruit so they could embroider it on the towel. They charge a set up fee of $40 if you want to use your own logo/monogram/design. They also has a bunch of designs you can choose from at no extra cost.

I'm so excited - I got my very first tangible wedding item and it just feels so much more real now! I got 3 monograms done for my wedding. The first one has our full names intertwined around my FI's last name initial. I'm using that version on an aisle runner, programs and some other stuff. Then I had one created with only our initials for the OOT bags and favors because I figured full names would be too much. The intertwined names/initials is symbolic of our new intertwined lives:) So here are pics of the beach towels which I ordered thru cottonfruit for about $7 each incl embroidery. I got the turquoise ones for the girls but my FI felt that color was too girly for guys so we got navy blue for boys. I used the logo with only initials in white so that it would be subtle and not too in your face. You can't really see the detail in pics but the embroidery is a shimmery white that really pops on the towel. What do you guys think? and here's my monogram with our full names...the color looks really off in this pic but it's really turquoise.

Ok...so the fact that we're having destination weddings is different & unique in and of itself but what special touches are you adding to the wedding to WOW your guests? How do you plan to make your wedding unique? I want that one thing that will have that will be memorable My cousin got married in MX last year and they had a really grand entrace with sparklers ground all around them as they came down the stairs- it was a fabulous photo opp. Then during their first dance they had an amazing firework display go off that wowed everyone. I always remember those two things from their wedding. I want to do something but without taking their idea:) I was thinking of having sparklers shoot up from the ground during our first dance but I have a lot of flowing fabric around us so it's a fire hazard So....I know there's a lot of creativity on this site and I'm just curious what everyone is doing.

Only the people that didn't matter questioned it. The people that matter said they wouldn't miss it for the world no matter where it was. My family was so easy - we've had a few DW's in my family so they were just ready and excited about another chance to spend time together. Right after we got engaged, my cousin who is more like my brother said "I will be at your wedding weather it's in China, Russia or Iraq"... I was a little worried about my FI's family only because they're not big travelers but they were so supportive and excited from the beginning and his mom said that they would all be there no matter where we decided to have it. The only ppl who have questioned it are acquaintances and ppl who I wouldn't really care if they went or not anyway. I think that the ppl who matter realize that it's your day and will be supportive. Some ppl may also question it because it's a 'new thing' but trust me I saw ppl question my cousin's decision to have a DW until they got there and had the time of their LIVES...now those are the same ppl who can't stop raving about it. You have to just let people's comment's roll off your back and remember what this is all really about.

Quote: Originally Posted by SuzyQ76 I did the Groom's, and I know I'm backwards but this is my reasoning: The whole day is about me, absolutely all me, lol, so I figured for one time in his life(lol, jk) he might as well come first even if it is only on paper!! ...and I thought it looked better with his name first! ;o) haha...this is my EXACT reasoning. I did his name first on everything because I feel like everything else is all about me so why not throw him a bone and make him feel a little special lol. I also LOVE the way his name looks first on our monogram logo so it also had to do a lot with aesthetic:) The only place where I stuck with tradition was on the invitation... my name came first there.

Quote: Originally Posted by future_mrs2010 Lets see that is tricky. They say 6-8 weeks is etiquette. Did you send STD's so your guests know about your upcoming DW? Our wedding is 1.23.2010 and we sent them out the 2nd week of october. We had our RSVP date as November 15th. Which still leaves 2 months really. We sent them a little early.. and I forget why. I would say send yours out the 2nd or 3rd week of January and that way the holidays are all over with. And people are focused on your invite. And then put an RSVP date for end of February ish/beginnning of March. I sent out my wedding website email STD last month and everyone's super excited but no one has booked yet. Our families are big procrastinators which is why part of me wants to put a little pressure and I think the physical invitation will make it more real to them. Maybe it will motivate them to actually book already It is really a tricky one... I agree with you that I want people to only focus on my invite and not all the christmas cards, etc.. It's always the little decisions like this that trip me up lol:)