Lin&Scott

WELCOME BACK KATIE!! WOO HOOOO YOU'RE MARRIED!!!! SO glad you had a fabulous time and wouldnt change a thing- me either!! Whit' LOVE your wedding website, stunning! Just popping in to say congrats to everyone!! So excited for all of you, keep up the good work and good luck! Cheers!

LOVE the "maragrita" theme! Counds very unique and perfect for Mexico! Katie - I KNOW!- it feels like yesterday I was on here wondering about what the place would be like and worrying about family stuff! Now I'm a Mrs! ..And loving it! Wait till you're at OT, man oh man it's beautiful. Now that I'm home I refer to it as "Paradise" LOL! Hubby catches me sometimes just sighing and saying, "Ahhh, to be in paradise again..." So jealous you're all going there!! Hahaha! Katie I could NOT imagine what you're going through. It gives me wrinkles and grey hairs just trying to imagine. You deserve to have the best time and as soon as you get off the plane enjoy a $1 beer on the bus ride to OT!! LOL! They're ice cold and the beginning of all your worries washing away.... Keep up the good work girls and good luck!! -Lin

GOOD LUCK KATIE!! I am thinking of you and sending you all the best! Talk about a hitch before the wedding knowone could have expected! Everything's going to be Ok, you'll get out of there on time, safe and sound! Your day's going to be so special and beautiful! Best of luck, have a "Miami Vice" for me!! -Lin

Best Wishes Angelfire!! Cant wait to hear all about it!!

Katie, my mom was being the same way. I ended up not being able to talk to her about everything because it became negative, the rest of the family was hit and miss. I dont know, but I think they all also get nervous when it's closer to the wedding date because they all only got worse when it got closer, LOL!! I am able to laugh because it's all over, at the time I was literally screaming! Do what you can do for Y-O-U! That's what it's all about and once your family sees OT they cant be upset because it's so stunning! BC Bride, SO HAPPY you got a book from My Publisher!! I LOOOOOOVE mine and the photo quality was AMAZING!! Glad I was able to share that with you! Tons of love and well wishes, Lin

Best Wishes Angelfire!! Katie, I cant wait to see your boudoir pictures (LOL... did I spell that right?), I can only imagine how excited you're getting. I was there and wedding, wedding, wedding was all I could talk about!! How are things going with family? Mine was being really difficult, and some of them being control freaks, when it got closer to the date, hope you're having a better time! Keep up the good work ladies, Lin

Hi all! "Soon to be..", one thing that saved me some $ is that the flowers I bought/used to decorate my arch Ana split beautifully into 3 and made them into stunning centerpieces for my 3 tables. The big colorful one for my head table was included in my package. Try not to over worry about decor because the place is so stunning you wont need as much as you think Good luck! Katie long time no talk, love your new siggy! Beautiful, you must be getting so excited!! Bonnie, it seems you really dont like the idea of having your wedding at OT, which is fine. I can understand your objections. The fee to "protect the reef" we only ever paid to use the sailboats provided there and I thought it was a good deal to use a sailboat anyways. There's big menu at all the restaurants so your guests wont need to spend the extra $ for lobster etc if they dont want to, you'll have lots of other choices. The "Privledge" package was gifted to us by a family member and I didnt notice it much. It was nice to have Crown Royal, otherwise I just felt cool having the nicer bracelet. Good luck to you wherever you choose to go but please have some etiquette when talking about OT as many other brides have already chosen this as their wedding location and your comments are probably only giving them grey hairs. Hope your wedding is everything you have dreamed of. Cheers, Lin.

Hi all!! It's been a while since I posted here but I'm back! We had our rehersal dinner at the buffet because Ana let us do it there for free. We were split into 3 tables which was a bummber, but there was nothing we could have done about that. We all ate and chatted together, I talked aloud explaining the next Day's events. The we went outside to the Pool Bar area, (during dinner hour it wasnt crowded there), and gave a little speech about how excited I was and happy everyone had made it. Then we partied the night away at the pool bar! I thought it was good enough and free!! Otherwise, I came on today to let you ladies know about this fabulous publishing website I found. Since in Mexico they only give you a mexican photo Album for your pics I wanted a better book that kept all my pictures safe, would last forever and could include some vacation pics as well. I found it!! They're reasonalbe for the amazing quality of photo and book you get. Check it out: MyPublisher | Create Photo Books, Cards and Calendars with free MyPublisher Software! I am just SO happy with my book, I had to share. I got the biggest size, basic format (for first time book makers), chocolate brown leather and it's STUNNING!! Got to my house in less than 2 weeks! Happy planning and congratualtions to you all!! Lin

Katie you're so excited and I love it!! I know your day will be amazing!!

Great Review Olya!! Glad you had a fabulous wedding! To the Bride getting flower petals, if you want white ones we got them for only $1 per big bag in the states. They are sold at many "Dollar Plus" kind of stores and were actually really nice. Then you can pack them in your bag, they'll take up almost no room. For white and other colors Wal Mart had them for a dollar a bag also, the bags were just a little smaller. Happy planning everyone!

So excited for you all!!

Good luck with your dresses girls! Air Transat would not let me hang mine but I didnt have to push to hard for it because my dress was fine being folded. There was lots of room in the above compartments for baggage, but I was in first class. Knowone else in the party complained of not having room and I know Brides should always get special treatment, so again Good luck!! We booked all our excursions, ( Catamaran, Xcaret- family also went to Xelha- Chitzinitza etc), through the Transat rep (Hugo), or through an excursion planner who worked along with the entertainment staff at the hotel. I would recommend working with the hotel staff, or Hugo, to get not only the best prices but to be safe. A family member of ours tried to book Chitzinitza (I'll never learn to spell that right! LOL!), through an outside source and she got ripped off and ended up paying money for nothing at all. Very sad. The hotel staff is also very friendly and accomodating. They want to make it work for you!! Good luck once again, you have all chosen a BEAUTIFUL place!! Much love, Lin -a happy Newlywed!

Hi Brides! PinkBride I would suggest waiting until you're there to plan your excursion. Twice while we were there the entertainment staff planned trips to Coco Bongo and another Club for $60 per person including transporation there/back and open bar when you get there!! I thought that was a really good deal. Would recommend Coco Bongo although I didnt go my Uncle did and also a few people we met. It looked AMAZING not only a club but a Vegas show inside. They had a sort of Cirque du Soleil/Matrix show. Looked really cool. Once you're there, and if you have many people, you'll be able to barter and get a good price for all of you. Good luck with your planning everyone! Wish I was there right now! * Newlywed

BC Bride I am so glad to hear you had a wonderful wedding!! My Husband also LOVED the Mini liquor bottles in the room! LOL! Your dress was STUNNING! Best of luck to all you beautiful Brides in the future. Love, Newlywed

Hi girls! For me the additional expenses just added as we got more guests. We expected 15 people and ended up with 34 so that added up but I never thought it was outrageous, (and I was still on a tight budget!), the only thing extra was boutineirs (sp?), for my Dad and Best man.. forgot those while planning! Ana also gave me a better deal on our bridesmaid bouquets when I was there since I wanted "small" ones. Food we chose was AMAZING!! EVERYONE loved EVERYTHING, and that's a lot of people!! We got the beef wellington as our main course. Delicious and big portion. The appetizer was a mixed green salad with vinagarette dressing and feta cheese in a tortilla bowl. Lime sorbet to cleanse your palete and creme brule for desert. All great! The sound system was great for us. We brought a loaded up ipod and it worked perfectly. The sound was clear and could even be heard clearly into the foyer area where we had our first dance. I LOVED having the private room for our reception. Perfect for speeches/toasts. Everyone could be seated and we got away from all the people (A LOT!), watching us on the beach. It felt very exclusive and everyone loved the intimacy, the room was stunning. Good luck and happy planning! -Newlywed

Good Luck Clarissa!! Your dress sounds beautiful!

CONGRATS!! LOL, you sounds like I did!! LOL!

I wish you all the best, you'll have the time of your life!

Morning! Aimes so glad you also had a good time at OT!! Did your friend use the photographer provided by the resort? If not then that could explain a difference in pictures, could you perhaps post a few wedding shots so all these wonderful brides can get a look at different options? Thanks! Clarissa we booked Excaret through Hugo the Transat Rep, I dont know if we got a deal it was bought for us by a family member, we got the Plus package which is SO worth is but didn't get the dinner. It's $35 and we ate lunch late on purpose at 3 so we werent hungry by dinner, we just used our Plus coupon for chips and a drink for the show. Trust me you'll be filled for HOURS when you eat at Excaret! LOL! Citzinitza (sp?) was a gift, booked through someone else. The catamaran to Isle of Women was booked through Jesus and he was fantastic, he works at the pool huts selling different excursions. He was least pushy of all of them, we liked that. He always said, "You're on holiday, knowone knows you, so have fun!" About the dress, I called ahead of time to let Transat know, I was going 1st class so the extra carry on was not a problem anyways but the dress was in my garmet bag, put through the xray machine, and was folded in half to fit in the upper cabinets on the plane. Perhaps call ahead and ask, be firm with them and explain your situation. I asked on the plane and was told they would not hang my dress for me. I didnt care because we steamed my dress at the resort and the lace coudnt really wrinkle. Good luck! I'm sure once you explain they'll find somewhere to hang it. Have a good weekend everyone!

Thank you Katie and BCBride! Wow after that loooooong review I cant believe I forgot to mention the important hair and makeup!! You go the the same place- The Spa- for both. The ladies started a little late. *You'll learn everything's in "Mexican Time"* LOL!! I had my bridesmaid's hair at 11 and Maid of honor and I at noon. We still finished ahead of time for my 3 o'clock ceremony. I brought pictures from the internet of how we wanted our hair, but they have a book with a lot of pictures there, and they know how to do all those hairstyles. We stayed with my picture for my final hair, (never did a practice!), but the girls found a picture in the book they liked better than the pictures we brought for their hair. They're all very, very nice but do not speak english at all, or well. The makeup lady spoke english best but still very little. To get a laugh out of them tell them you know fellow Mexican Dora the Explorer! LOL! Don't pay for the florest to give you flowers there's TONS of flowers growing at the resort, I picked the ones in the girl's hair and one of the hairstylists got all my little white ones. One last thing about the hair- HAIRSPRAY! Hope you're not allergic because they use A LOT!! Makeup, they have a lot of stuff in a big metal box but they'll ask you what colors etc you like. SO know your facts before you come. Luckily my MOH helped me out, other wise I'm sure the Makeup lady (who also did my hair), would have chosen good colors. I had her lighten the makeup 3 times though, I am used to little or no makeup but it turned out BEAUTIFUL and perfect! Well that's that, hope I helped! Mrs. Bissett

I'M BACK!! The wedding was PERFECT!! AMAZING, I wouldn't have changed a single thing!! *Food: We had priavte room with dinner- DELICIOUS! Had beef wellington, not a single complaint of all the 34 people. Yummy vinagarette salad with feta to start and lime sorbet to cleanse palete, then creme brulee with caramel as desert- and wedding cake! *Wedding Cake: Looked great 2 tiers white fondant and icing, chocolate cake under a little mushy but still good! Ana use my blue chiffon ribbon to line the bottom of tiers and cake topper looked adorable that I brought. Ana did it all! *Beach: FLAWLESS! Perfect day, hot, few clouds and a sligh breeze. Sand is soft as baby powder, against plans we all went barefoot! The arch looked stunning, the flowers on the side cost me about $160 but we used them for the arch and Ana broke them up after (we never had to see any behind the scenes stuff she literally did it all!!), so we could use the arch flowers as centerpieces on the 3 guest tables at reception and guestbook signing table. Multipurpose and stunning! *Bouquets/Flowers: Exactly what I wanted! White gerber daisies, big for me and small for bridesmaids. Told Ana bouquest were too expensive.. so she recommended "small" bouquest for the bridesmaids (duh I though LOL!), and charges me only $25 each. We brought out own ribbon and gave it to Ana, the florest did it all for us, once Ana understood how I wanted it- simple! There's some beautiful flower choices, beautiful big lilies we had on the arch with white roses were nice. You can't go wrong with any flowers they provide. I was going to go in town and get flowers but I shopped around and wouldnt really be saving. Mens Boutineirs (sp?), were a single white orchid, beautiful and classy again. Head table flower arrangement was the only one we did not all white, it was a mixture of pinks and orange with glossy green leaves- STUNNING! Then they brought it to our room the next morning with out "romantic breakfast". --Sidenote: We were upgraded to "privilege" since they didnt give us our free room upgrade- this is NOT the full privlege package if they give it to you, it's not worth as much as a free room upgrade! Fight for the room upgrade if you can, it's just worth more $. A family member upgraded our room for us as a gift and the only real difference was jacuzzi on balcony, which means we didnt get a bathtub!! Jacuzzi was nice though Overall wouldnt pay to be "privlege", didn't seem to get as much as it was worth but it was nice to get for free. We enjoied a few Crown and cokes... as a matter of fact so did many of our family members! LOL! *Ana: A SAVIOR! She's much better face to face as in email she's a little slower, she speaks perfect english in person and seems to be the only one who really knows what's going on and will get you answers right away. Other wise if you have any problems (we had a couple- but nothing ruined our amazing wedding and vacation!), speak to Maria Lopez, she's sweet and gets things done! *Service: Bars, outdoor waitresses and buffets- PERFECT! Fast, polite they were all amazing. Japanses place "Sensai", very very good food and show, but very tough to get into. Book right away! Mexican and Italian not only had SLOOOOW service that was mildly rude, but the food was NOT AT ALL worth the wait. SALTY! No worries, go anyways and you may like it.. gotta try all the places once! Villa Marina was DELICIOUS! Dinner was the best we had there- Try the Ocean Turquesa and Coral beef and shrimp skewers- YUM! During the day it's a casual outdoor buffet, only place you can go in your bikini! Food is so-so for lunch, good enough when you're only eating between drinks and tanning! *People to look for: -Oscar and Santiago: Pool Bar Bartenders; great service and very funny guys! -Nancy: Pool waitress, sweetest lady ever- 2 kids at home! Ask her for a "surprise drink" and she'll always bring you a sweet, yummy surprise! - Johan, Melissa and Entertainment Staff- AMAZING! Really were a huge part in the amazing time we had. When they find out you're the wedding couple, (and if you're friendly!), they'll really have a good time with you. You're treated like gold. Try the stretching and yoga, it's very nice. Beer drinking contest is as good as a fan as it is a contestant!! LOL! *Overall: the resort is very clean, there's a few service issues but nothing that can come close to ruining your trip or wedding. Things to Do: * Friday Nights- Market comes to the resort- it's more expensive than the giftshop, but good luck! *Wednesdays and Fridays- Men come and handpaint Tiles with beautiful Mexican pictures, haggle! The Friday guy who does it at the market will paint one for you with the wedding couple sitting on the beach looking at the ocean and even write your names and the date on the bottom for only $20!! *Toga Party- At the resort, can't remember what night, but it's SO FUN! Don't be a party pooper and TOGA TOGA TOGA! *Chitzinitza- (sp?) One of the 7 wonders of the world, ruins. Bus trip for 2 hours each way but it's a beautiful luxury bus with drinks and snacks included. Also a mildly good buffet lunch and drive though a true Mexican city and visit to a sink hole you can swim in. It's a long day but it was amazing to see these giant ruins. Word to the wise- A LOT OF TALKING from the tour guide!!! If you're not intesested at all in the history of the Mayan Culture this is NOT the trip for you!! Amazing to see, so maybe escape from the tour guide after a little while *Excaret- COOLEST THING EVER! GO THERE! Also I recommend getting the full "Plus" package, it'll save you time and money- BEST TRIP EVER- unless you're scared of water, fish, animals or butterflys! You'll see all these things. We saw jaguars- they HUGGED! Sharks, GIANT sea turtles and baby turtles, monkeys, deer, weird animals, amazingly colorful flowers and butterflys, included snorkling to a natural underground river- COOL! Also with plus package lunch buffet was included BEST MEAL EVER! Better buffet than even the resort. You can go on a boat through paradise River and you MUST stay late and see the Mayan Show. It'll teach you without you knowing you will be entertained! It's full of fire, songs, war, animals, dancing.. truly amazing! *Catamaran Trip- Also one of my favorite trips! Go through Jesus at the resort to plan, he's a nice guy! $80 includes buffet lunch on the Isle of Women, time to wander there, all drinks on luxury catamaran boat, snorkling, spinnaker- like Parasailing and at the Isle of women, when we were there, there's a man and lady with a mud shark fenced in on the dock and for donation you can go in with it and HOLD THE SHARK! Super cool! *Playa Del Carmen: Amazing big city, LOTS of shopping, and Starbucks, Burger King and Walmart- LOL! Caution, these Mexicans may seem nice but they're ready to scam you anytime. Heard/seen some close ones. Caution, but have fun. Don't buy right away a lot of stores repeat, the more you buy the better deal you'll get! Lots of jewellery, hats, pottery, wrestling "natcho libre" masks, sandals, bathing suits, dresses, booze! *Puerto Morales: Adorable/rough fishing village, small so fewer shops but less than half the price of Playa on most things and you're actually supporting mexican families who own those little shops. You'll experience a real Mexican village for only a $9 cab ride. -Try the jalapeno chips in the green bag- SO YUMMY! *Free Bus trip to Cancun- Hugo Transat rep at resort, said it's not worth it because it's a tourist trap. They take you to gift shops and malls that see you coming a mile away so they jack up the prices. I took his word for it and didn't go. *Crococun Zoo- Right down the street from resort. I heard it was good and is only $20 to go. But you'll be eaten alive by mosquitos! Bring bug spray! Also bring some to resort since mosquitos come out at night, bug spray's cheaper here You'll see crocodiles and be able to hand feed deer, hairles dogs and monkeys! -TIP: There's a crocodile living on the resort. A smallish one, go down the driveway to the right of the lobby turn right again and there's a little creek thing with trees and bushes, there's a path next to it for you to walk down... he's in there. He's out mostly in the morning. Staff will sometimes help you find him say "Crocodilio" and they'll know LOL! Wow, this got to be really long. Basically I was so happy- HAVE FUN!! If anyone knows how I post pictures in this thread I'll post more but so far here's my photobucket to see our professional wedding photos taken by the resort photographers: Pictures by linzymouse - Photobucket *Photographers: AMAZING! Got better pictures than I could EVER imagine. Couldn't haggle but dont let me stop you from trying! They were SO good, they knew all good poses, they were friendly so you felt relaxed, *sigh SO GOOD! Also if you use them then all your wedding pictures will be available at the giftshop in the hotel for any of your guests to buy!! This is AWESOME for us, many guests bought photos. *the photo album included is a handmade Mexican album, cool but not great for the actual wedding photos since there's no plastic covering over the photos* Your guests will LOVE being able to see all your pictures right away (That DAY!), and buy the ones they love right away in different sizes, color black and white or sepia. Love y'all!! Have amazing weddings and I'm open if you have any questions... LOL, thanks for reading!

.. sneaking in before I leave! I totally know where you're coming from Katie, same situation here! Just wait... it gets worse!! LOL, or maybe just with our families! Caution with Air Transat, our flight time changed by 3 HOURS today and KNOWONE let us know! They told me they couldnt change it within 48 hours, yet today it changed and I'm leaving tomorrow. Thank god for MOH checking an hour after me and noticing something wrong or we would be all waiting at the airport for 6 HOURS!! Air Transat operator woman- RUDE! I wrote them a nice email. Also they didnt even notify our local Airport, so when I called the Airport didn't know about the time change either!! AHH! It's all better now but not what I had planned on my last day home! Good luck beautiful Brides, chat when I get back!

HAHAHA trust me I am SOOOO Excited!! I actually wrote a big beautiful post the other day, including that same photogrpaher's email and then *poof! it never showed up!! LOL... so I gave it a day and here I am trying again!! SOOO excited!! I'll definitly show pictures when I get back, I'll have to learn how to or I'll make a seperate photobucket account for all wedding pictures... there's going to be A LOT!! I am a bit of a picture whore! I dont have any new info to share but let me tell you this has NOT been easy!! Ana's been the easiest part, excited to finally meet her. Family drama, family drama, family drama, reception plans and a bum travel agent. The only thing I want to say is: DO WHAT YOU WANT! People will complain either way!! I love my fiance SO MUCH and that's what matters. On our special day, on the beach, I'm not a bit nervous to say, "I do", and know I made the right choice. Best of luck to all you beautiful Brides, and I'll post again when I get back! 2 MORE SLEEPS!!

Hi Bride to Be! Congrats on your upcoming wedding! I am getting a professional photographer that rents a spot at OT, Ana the wedding planner will send you their prices. Then I am getting a photobook from them (it's included in the package I got), but also I am getting a disc of the pictures. Now when I go home I can get them developed some in black and white, some in color. I recommend using the resorts photograper, only because you know you can trust them to not only do a good job but also show up! I have set up a meeting with them when I get to the resort to negotiate on the current package I have and also plan certian poses, locations etc. Good luck and I'm sure your day will be GORGEOUS! 6 DAYS UNTIL I LEAVE!!

LOVE everyone's backup plans for hair and makeup!! LOL, I am bringing pictures of hair styles I like and then it should be easy for them. As for makeup I am not a makeup girl so I'm just worried it'll be to much for me. Luckily my MOH is a makeup artist so she can fix anything in that department I dont like. She's also doing her own makeup and my other bridesmaid! SOO EXCITED! 8 DAYS UNTIL I LEAVE!! ps. Is there blowdryers in the rooms?