OceanWonderland

Congratulations!! You will find this site super useful. I've got less than a month to go for the big day and I can't imagine what it would have been like if I didn't have this site and these people as a resource!

What a beautiful dress!! I'm sure your hubby's mouth dropped when you walked out in that.

Wild Things = Neve Campbell

Those are some of best STD postcards I've seen! Beautiful, job well done

I'm getting married in less than a month so I'm assuming I have final head count numbers. The average hotel cost for each guest was a little less than $500 for 4 nights/5 days at an all-inclusive resort (Dreams Tulum). That did not include airfare. Airfare ranged anywhere from $300-600 for most of my guests. We sent out a LOT of invitations, to people we KNEW wouldn't come. Our parents made us. BUT, when someone said they were going to come, I'd say 95% of those people actually booked. We sent out about 100 invitations in all (200 people), and we have 73 people confirmed today (36 rooms). We also had 4 guests who actually booked their hotel and flight and cancelled a few weeks ago, so anything can happen. Only go for 20 rooms booked if you've literally had 40 people (20 rooms) worth of guests CONFIRM they are going. Not just say "oh that sounds fun, I'll try to be there". The word "try" means "NO". No...they have to say "We are coming, we will definitely be there. Wouldn't miss it for the world". Good luck!! You will have the best day of your life no matter who attends. Remember it's all about you and your hunny. And to be honest...I would have preferred less guests as we are trying to keep this wedding on a budget. And for each extra guest, that's probably another $75 we're spending (food, OOT bags, decorations, gifts). Oh well, it's too late now, we're just spending more money than expected and we're going to have a blast!

These are really nice OOT bags. I would LOVE to get one of these as a guest to a wedding. Great job!

I love reading reviews!! Congratulations on becoming a Mrs.

Oh MysTea, you'll be fine!!! Just think, all the BIG things are pretty much done. It's just the little things that we probably could finish up in one weekend. But I know what you mean, that list of little things just adds up. In less than a month you'll be marrying your hubby barefoot on the sand I've got to email our wedding coordinator EVERYTHING about the wedding this weekend. That's gonna be frustrating. After months of showing them and asking them about certain flowers, centerpieces, menus, locations...now I finally get to put it into one file and hope that it all goes to plan. Plus they are always pretty non-responsive so when I ask for a quick response it takes a week. Ugh! I'm hoping me and my fiance agree on the menu items. What do you girls think about doing a buffet instead of sit down dinner? We are still doing a private dinner, buffet costs the same - BUT you get to pick out twice as many items (3 apps, salad, soup, 2 entrees, dessert) instead of 1 of each. I always feel like buffet food doesn't taste as good for some reason but I'm sure when they are serving 80 dishes at the same time there would be problems with that too (cold plates, vegetarians starving). Hmmm....any suggestions?

Oh I'm nervous. I haven't weighed myself in 2 weeks. I missed last weeks weigh-in because we went out for my bachelorette party to Vegas!! It was a blast...but needless to say I drank a lot (!!) and I was soooo exhausted after getting back that I've only made it out to the gym once. I'll be going again this evening for kickboxing so hopefully I haven't gained anything and am maintaining. Who knows. I have pledged to myself that I will not drink alcohol until the day of my wedding (less than 5 weeks!!!), so that should help lose a few more pounds. My hubby and I tend to have a glass of wine or a beer when we get home from work, and then a few beers on Sat and Sun...so you know that doesn't help with those empty calories - no matter how good you eat! I'm hoping I'll see more from the gym. And I'm definitely going to make it to both Sat and Sun classes to make up for earlier in the week. Maybe we'll also go on a hike this weekend if the weather cooperates. Hope you ladies are all doing well

They already gave you your wedding planning form? I'm getting married Nov 15, 2010 and I have gotten NOTHING form them. Did you ask for it? I thought they were supposed to send it out. They know I'm getting married, we have emailed each other several times with detailed questions. And they probably did assume you were going to rent the sashes from them. I think there still is a charge per chair though, not sure how much though. $3/each I think? And the $150 fee is just what everyone gets charged it seems, like a baseline, although some girls have noted they didn't have to pay the $150 once down there (I think they determine this depending on how much they actually have to set up).

It's included in the ultimate package for 20 people. Wedding cake and sparkling wine for 20 guests •One hour Gold cocktail party with hors d’oeuvres (for up to 20 guests staying at the hotel)  Got to pay for everyone after that. Although glasses of champagne are free at the bar...so I'm hoping I can still figure a way out around this. Just got to befriend the bartender a few days before the wedding and ask if he can make some champagne drinks ready for right after the ceremony.

Chelsea, I just noticed this... but you aren't listing your % weight loss with all us girls? Your weight loss doesn't get to count with ours? Or are you just doing this out of the kindness of your heart? Â I bought some 'mother' ACV, it's not that bad...but it does help to add just a couple drops of honey. I can see how the straw would help. We'll see if it helps in my weight loss. Got 'butts and guts' (45 min work out on the obvious) followed by kickboxing tonight. Should get my butt back into gear. Last week sucked! I was at work too late and completely missed all my gym classes, and had to resort taking my dog out on long walks. Then this weekend I made A a strawberry rhubarb pie. I hope he eats it up fast, because that is just trouble! 2 more months until the wedding..can't wait. Â What are you girls doing today for working out and eating right?

Oh this weekend was bad! I'm scared to even look at the scale. I'm gonna have to probably do 2 workouts a day to lose the weight I gained over the last 3 days haha I don't think it was the food as much as it was the alcohol and just laying around on the beach tanning. I was doing so good working out on Fridays and Saturdays, hiking on Sundays...and this weekend was just a total lounge fest. Oh well, it was fun! I'm gonna have to be conscious of my diet and exercise this weekend for sure.

Hey Ashley, I've emailed them back and forth and back and forth about this $20 menu thing and believe you me...it's VERY upsetting. I have come to the conclusion that there is absolutely NO WAY you can get the $20 menu option anymore. Just no way. I'm doing the same thing, having a private event at the Seaside Grill and I have told them numerous times that I booked in 2009 when they offered it, but they don't seem to care. It's either 55 or 65, no other option. And I have 80 people at this point, so it's SUPER frustrating. If they even TRY to make it buffet only for that price, I'm gonna have my dad call and give them a word off his mind. They will not be happy if it comes down to that. Because I will be insulted if they make me pay $55/per person and do buffet style. But I hear over groups of 50 they force you to do a buffet. We'll see about that... Â I also remember someone mentioning that if you have a cocktail hour they will still charge you per person (even if you clearly state that you only want enough food/drinks for 20 people). I'm still gonna try to get cocktail hour covered for only 20 people so I'll let you know in 2 months how it goes. So it sounds like either cocktail hour for everyone, which I think is another $15/per person, or no cocktail hour at all. A way girls get around this is just having all their guests meet at the Lobby Bar or something similar and just lounge around and get drinks when they feel like. No snacks though. Â I've already booked a DJ, which they are aware about and they know about my plans for the private reception at SSG and I've yet to hear that I can't have a DJ there...so I'm thinking they messed up with that one. But what I have heard is that the reception is only 3 hours long (6:30 to 9:30)..but my DJ is for 4. Once again, if they try to nickel and dime me for having the DJ play another hour...I will refuse to pay. I don't care if we have chairs or servers anymore after 9:30, but we will continue dancing until my DJ has supplied for the time I've already paid. Â It seems like these problems only happens at Dreams TULUM. I talk to brides who were married at Dreams PV or Los Cabos or Cancun, and it's so much easier it seems. They can switch out photography for extra video; give their hair appts to other people...basically costs are switched around for services you don't use...but not at Dreams Tulum. You don't use it, you lose it. I shouldn't get this upset so close to the wedding, but it just really feels like they want to rob you with your forced consent. I'm crossing my fingers it all works out when I get there. Â Oh and one more thing, I think we also have to pay another $6/per person if you want a champagne toast after you get married..so don't forget to add that into your spreadsheet. Sigh.

Indychic- I'm afraid to ask...but did you ever get your wedding photos yet? Wasn't your wedding in April? I sure hope you've gotten them by now! I'm getting married in November and just wondering how long I should be waiting for photos. I thought most DW photogs returned photos within 6-8 weeks. Does it not state in the contract a timeframe, especially since you've already paid for his services in full?

Yeah, 3 day weekends are challenging when wanting to lose weight! A few of my friends and I are going up to Tahoe for the weekend. Hopefully we'll offset all the drinking and eating with hikes and water sports. I'm excited though. Bringing our doggy and it will be his first time at a lake. I think he'll LOVE swimming. Â Sometimes it's so hard to get to the gym. I have amazing classes at mine thankfully but I'm writing up my dissertation and sometimes I feel bad not writing and working out instead. Especially since I need to meet with my advisor tomorrow and he wants to see several things (a huge chunk of dicussion text, updated statisitics, and a breakdown of a critical paper to my research). Hopefully I can get away from the computer for more than an hour and get some Zumba or Butts and Gutts in. Either way, I'm sure I'll be up till 2 in the morning working on this before we meet tomorrow. This always happens. It's sad. I either feel guilty for not working out or for not 'working'. That can't be good haha

Clinicalgal- Thank you SO MUCH for your very detailed review. I've probably read every single Dreams Tulum wedding review there is in the last year and I'd say this one actually cleared up a lot of minor questions I had (such as champagne is free by the glass at the bar = not paying for additional people during cocktail hour...or the champagne. i'll just have a friend go to the bar and say have 70 glasses of champagne ready for us right after the ceremony hahaha) Yeah right. They will still charge me $6 per person for each additional glass of champage for the toast huh. Bastards I tell you. And painting your flowers? Wow...that's just very embarassing on their part. I asked for a specific color of purple rose, and now I need to ask if I'm getting this rose in the natural or painted form! At least I know that's a question I actually have to inquire about.. Â I also hired DJ Doremixx. What time was your ceremony at? Ours is at 3 and I feel bad having him come for the ceremony just to use his speakers if he has to wait until 6:30 for the reception, so I'm thinking of just paying for the speaker and microphone from the resort for ceremony only. Â What time did dinner start? When I emailed Aurora she stated very matter of factly that the reception is only 3 hours and I have to pay for every person XX for the hour afterwards even though DJ is 4 hours? They can really piss a bride off. If dinner starts at 6:30, I don't care if the servers and food and alcohol stops at 9:30, I want to keep dancing until 10:30 and NOT pay anything extra. We're already renting out Seaside Grill. Honestly... Â Hopefully you'll check the forum sometime soon to answer some of these questions. But I understand if not, you're married, no reason to come on here as much anymore. Â By the way, Beautiful photos!!

Yeah, no kidding. I've never heard of a bride trying to GAIN weight before the big day. Â I just went in for my 2nd wedding dress alterations meeting and it's only been 2 weeks and my lady said "have you lost weight? the corset back is getting tighter on you. you better not lose 5 lb or we'll have to do more alterations" Â uh oh! my goal was to lose 3-5 lbs and tone up everywhere. if i lost enough weight for her to notice in 2 weeks, i can't imagine what the next 10 weeks is gonna do to me. it's one of those moments where you're like "shit!" but happy at the same time. i hope the dress won't need any more alterations in the next month, i was hoping to spend less than $200!!

Oh man, such a funny story! But like I mentioned earlier, I did a very similar message in a bottle invitation, except one of the major things I did differently was tie a starfish to the end of the raffia and had that attached to the paper rolled up and the starfish was dangling outside the bottle. I thought it would be obvious that if you pulled on the starfish then the note would come out. BUT my fiance just told me that one of his friends called and was like "why the hell did you make such a hard invitation to read? i had to dump the sand and shells all over my carpet so i could get out the invitation!"........ hahahahahahah i couldn't believe it!!! Just had to share! So whatever you do write on the sticker on the box, make sure it also suggests pulling the raffia to get the message out. So far he's the only one that's commented on being confused about how to get it out though, and we sent it to 100 peeps - not too bad. Â Also, I defintely recommend adding a scent to your bottles. What I did is bought coconut fragrance oil and just rolled it on the end of the corks and by the time the guests got it the smell had infused into the sand/bottle. The first thing they all tell me is how great they smell! One of my cousins actually asked where I bought the sand, and I was very confused why he cared. And then he mentioned it's because it smelled so good!! hahahahaha Gotta love it

Yep, you have to pay for all that. The prices are somewhere near the front of the thread. I am not sure on the prices, but I think it's like $260 for the blood test, $100 for judge transportation and could be upwards to $500 for translations (but that's done once you get back to the States so it depends on who you find). Overall, it ends up costing anywhere from $300-800 extra. That's why a lot of girls choose to forgo the civil ceremony and just secretly get married either right before or after their destination wedding. I'm sure another girl has the exact amount but it's pretty costly. And you have to get the blood test done a few days beforehand (maybe 4) so that might make you stay at the hotel even longer (more money!).

We DIY message in a bottle invitations for 120 and it took forever!! So I completely understand wanting to know who is going to attend. We even sent out invitations to people who didn't get a STD (my parents made me). I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that you won't have to make 100 of them. A little thing I did is invited some of my girlfriends over and had some cheese and wine available to munch on to help with some of the work. Ask for help from your friends if they're willing

 I think it's fine to do multiple rounds of invitations. But just be aware you may have guests that say they are thinking about coming to your wedding...for a VERY long time. And that might bother you when trying to figure out how many 2nd sets of invites you can mail out. A lot of people might not even book until a few weeks before the wedding. It's annoying, but it seems like a common theme. Another thing, I personally didn't send out RSVP, I just had them RSVP on our website. The reason I didn't send one is because if you read through the threads you are lucky, VERY lucky if even 50% of guests respond to those. Most just ignore them and you end up having to call/email everyone who didn't respond. I just have the attitude that if they are going to come, they can find a way to contact me either through our wedding website, facebook, my phone or parents. It has worked out great that way! Plus I didn't waste money on RSVP stamps that no one bothers mailing back out. I've heard through the grapevine about every guest that plans on attending, and if they wait till the last minute, the they won't get an out of town bag. I actually got my STD for free on Vistaprint. They offer 100 free postcards like once a month and you can just design them however you like. I only paid for the shipping. So easy! But if you don't feel like sending out STD, then don't. Especially since your wedding is pretty soon.

I'll join too!! I'm not in it to win, but it will be nice to have the motivation for my upcoming November wedding. My goal is to lose 5-10 lbs in 12 weeks. And I apologize in advance, the scale at my gym is old school chemistry balance looking. I'll be sneaky taking pictures because I think cameras are banned. But if I'm not in it to win it, maybe the picture of the scale isn't as important? I just want to see my pant size drop

Thank you all for your comforting responses! Looks like I was worrying for nothing You're all right! The guests are at a beautiful resort on the beach, an hour or two in between will just give them more time to enjoy the scenery and freshen up a bit.

And I'm not worried about being super busy from 3 till cocktail hour or reception, I know pictures take forever. I feel bad that my guests might just be sitting there with nothing to do for a few hours. I'm sure you know how I feel since your wedding is at 1. Just don't know what to do with all the guests. Have them sit at a bar and drink? Or let them do whatever they want and come back for dinner? Seems like the wedding just gets broken up and the feeling might not be the same like if it was a continuous event (???), am I crazy, worrying over nothing?