taylorwd

I'm so excited for all you new ladies on here! How lucky that there are 3 of you that are going to be at AS at the same time. I think that's fabulous!!! Oh, and pay no attention to those tripadvisor reviews. They're crap, overexaggerated or just plain wrong. Chong, I used to interrupt DH all the time because I was getting overwhelmed, stressed, or stuck on some little detail that I should have been able to move past but couldn't. He was always so great at stopping whatever he was doing to talk me down. So I say go wake up that FI!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by chong Oh.. and I found out that fabric is $150 per sheet for gazebo decoration. It was $75 before and now it's $150 per sheet. Expensive... but I guess I have no choice. Chong Yikes, really? They doubled the price? Crazy!! Maybe it's time to look into taking some with you.

YEEEEEEA love your pictures!! Your bouquet is gorgeous! I love the sunset pictures. I must say, you have seemed awfully patient waiting this long to get them. I don't think I would have been as calm as you!

Wow, I love everything! I have severe wedding jealousy right now!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by MayBride2010 Taylor, i just had to stop in and tell you that I am also really missing feeling like a bride its so sad My AHR is in 3 weeks (June 26) so maybe the feeling will come back but for now it is just a royal pain in the ass and i am ready to quit!!! Oh trust me, I understand! I spent all last weekend doing AHR planning stuff (ours is the 26th too!), and I kept thinking to myself, "Damnit, I'm supposed to be done with all this!"

Quote: Originally Posted by caribbeanLover Plus I've been planning the AHR for mid July! How much is/was everyones budge for their AHR? Now wait, I thought you WEREN'T planning your AHR. I thought you were only responsible for the cupcakes? Did you get roped into doing more? Our initial budget was $1000 but that turned out to be a bit naive, so now it's $2000. $600 of that is the party barge rental. LOL, well if DH were planning it we could probably do it for $1k, but I'm trying to make it as wedding-like for our guests as possible. Hence the cupcake tower with a cutting cake, flower table arrangement, banner and other decorations, etc.

Hi ya ladies! It's amazing how much of a ghost town this thread has become. I wonder if all the monthly threads go through this as we all get back to normal life as we know it? I've been missing feeling like a bride lately. Anyone else? I don't miss the stress or planning, but I do miss being a bride! I have a friend who's just starting the wedding planning and I have to admit, I'm a bit jealous. LOL not of the trying months ahead but of that radiant, I'm-getting-married feeling. I was so excited yesterday because I got to have a little bit of that when I went to the florist I had been dealing with our cupcake person all day (who's really making me angry) and wasn't in the best of moods. In addition to the cupcakes, I'm having a small cutting cake for our AHR and wanted to stop at a florist for a cake topper. The lady was soooooo nice and friendly and easy and everything we want our vendors to be but aren't! She was so excited for me and couldn't have cared less that all I wanted was a cake topper and a single vase arrangement. She treated me like I was having the grandest wedding and just overall made me smile. So I just wanted to share! The AHR planning is moving right along! The menu is set, the slide show is done, the guestbook is figured out, and decorations are done. And I even think we found a cook! There's a grill on the party barge so we're thinking pork loin and chicken, but we didn't want to be stuck cooking, nor did we want to ask a friend to do it. Now all we have to figure out is what other kind of alcohol to have besides a keg. Hmmmm.....

Renee, welcome back MRS!!!! You look gorgeous and I can't wait to see more!!!!

Holy cow, girl, you are smokin'!!!!!! Go you!!!

Wonderful pictures!! You're very lucky!!

Quote: Originally Posted by KittenHeart I'm really glad you feel this way! I wrote my entire ceremony and personal vows as well and I have been very hesitant to share it because it feels so personal to me. I totally respect it and thank you for sharing! I'm the same way as you ladies about being hesitant to share. We made it so personal to us, our relationship, and how we view marriage. It was a compilation of things we found online, in books, and just plain wrote ourselves.

Quote: Originally Posted by dirtymartini I haven't been down for a site visit yet. Schedules are tough Was it easy to get to all of the places you went to around town? Did you walk or drive? I think we'll have to do what you did and do the day after, although I would rather just sit around and be a giddy new bride, hehe. Who did you hair for the day after shots? No worries, most people can't afford a site visit. We didn't do one either and it all turned out perfectly! Andrew (photog) rented a car and drove us around town. We too were quite bummed about having to leave the resort the day after to take pics. Until we saw the pictures! I wouldn't trade those for anything, including for more time at the resort!! LOL, I slept in my wedding day hair and when I woke up it was still pretty much perfect! She had so many pins in it that it was pretty much stuck in place. Thankfully! B/c I wouldn't have wanted to take the time to do my hair that day.

Quote: Originally Posted by dirtymartini Wendy, just looking at your pictures again. I am wondering- at what point did you have all of those pictures taken? Before the ceremony, after, the day after? I want to be traditional and not see my groom until I walk down the aisle on the big day, but then I want some good daylight photos like you have. We were adamant about not seeing each other before the wedding, so all our pictures were taken after the ceremony. The ones taken at the resort (the ones with stormy skies if that helps you differentiate!) were taken between the ceremony and the reception. The ones that are bright, sunny, and blue sky were taken the day after. After group pictures finished, we had over an hour to shoot just ourselves around the resort, and for the day after, we shot around town for about 4 hours. I can't remember, have you done a site visit? If not, then the cutoff in our slideshow between day of and day after shots is the black and white one of us walking up the sand dune. That's the first day-after picture. For timing the light, we purposely planned a 4pm ceremony and 6:30 reception. The sun in April sets at 7pm, so we knew we'd have plenty of light still left and wouldn't have long shadows in our pictures. LOL not that it mattered with the rain! Our thought was that we were paying all this money to bring down our photographer so we wanted the best possible lighting for our pictures.

Quote: Originally Posted by dirtymartini It was me who asked. I was wondering, because now Kiara is telling me that they will charge me extra for using the arch vs. the gazebo. Which had NEVER been mentioned to me before. Anyone else run into this? Sara that is crazy! There must be some sort of confusion on her part. You don't have to pay for ANY wedding location. You're right, maybe she meant the fabric... BTW, I know the palapa gazebo is small inside, but what I've seen other couples do is get married right in front of it instead of standing under it. That way everyone can see/hear you but you still have the gazebo as your backdrop for all your pictures.

Quote: Originally Posted by beaz2be Hi One question for you AS brides. Does anyone know if their is any kind of separate pricing for the Private Reception for children? I know that lots of resorts offer a 2 for 1 or children under 12 are free but I haven't been able to !!!! For Private Receptions, children are free if they eat off the kids menu. If they eat what you're getting for the adults, you pay half price.

Quote: Originally Posted by amybermuda Yes, we did the lounge area to the left of the DJ set up. There were 2 couches, 1 or 2 chairs, and about 2 ottomans with the pink and orange pillows. It was cute. They added a few tea light candles as well. Did anyone write Thank You notes to the people in Mexico? I never tipped the hotel WC. Did anyone? Fun!! Yes, we wrote a Thank You to the WCs and tipped them quite well. We tipped others too (e.g. the servers who waited on our reception) but I think the WCs are the only hotel people we gave a Thank You card to. Once I got back I wrote a letter to the GM thanking the resort for all they did, as well as individually naming all the people who made our stay so wonderful.

Amy, I love those teasers!! Your white setup looks soooooo elegant and simple--I can't wait to see more pictures as well as the full flower effect!!! Heehee, I love that you're giddy. It's fun being a new bride!!! Hey, did you end up doing a lounge area on the Terrace?

Quote: Originally Posted by dstinationdrmr So, is anyone or has anyone purchased wedding insurance. I kinda feel like most travel insurances won't help me in terms of hurricanes/natural disaster so I looked up wedding insurance which isn't that expensive but is it necessary? What are your thoughts? Quote: Originally Posted by chong We purchased the insurance (including all my guests) through my TA. I thought it was more a travel insurance than wedding insurance. Like if your flight gets delayed and don't make it to the resort on the day you have already pay for it.. then you get money back for the night that you didn't stay, etc. It was only $39.99 per person. We thought it was well worth the purchase. My TA send me the insurance description. Since I am just at the end of hurricane season, I wanted to be safe. Chong There are two types of insurance. Travel insurance and wedding insurance. We just got the travel insurance and paid $131 each. That was for hotel and air. If we just got the hotel part it would have been much cheaper. We could have canceled our trip at any time and gotten a refund on all our travel related costs (hotel, air, transport, etc). We didn't get wedding insurance but we considered it.

Quote: Originally Posted by amybermuda Hi girls! I'm baaaacccckkkkkkkk!!! Its late and I should unpack and get to sleep but wanted to say hi and let you know I had the most beautiful, fun, amazing wedding! I am sure you had a beautiful perfect day Renee too! Friday was gorgeous weather as well. We snuck down to AS on Monday but I could not hear any Texas accents - was looking for you :-) I will tell you all more later, but my guests who were going to get bumped to AS Fri-Sun b/c Beach was booked were able to stay at Azul Beach all weekend after all - I was so excited! I found out during my wedding why.... There was a onlooker in a bikini sobbing during my entire ceremony and family pictures, and bridal prty pictures on the beach with a friend consoling her. Seriously for an entire hour. Turns out she was supposed to get married that weekend - called off the wedding - and her family still went as vacation. And she sobbed in a bikini and towel 50 feet from my ceremony and pictures!!! Even with the crazy crying girl, I was still so thankful no one has to move to another hotel. Will start working on some photos to post soon. I have to do my planning thread and review as well. The flowers though - were AMAZING. Prettiest wedding flowers I have ever seen. wow wow wow YEA Amy I've been waiting for you!!!!!! I'm so happy your wedding was everything you wanted it to be!!!! Aw, I'm all smiles for you right now I am sooooooooo excited to see some pictures!! That is absolutely terrible about that girl sobbing during your entire wedding. I can't believe someone didn't respectfully ask her to keep her distance. I mean, really??!!

Sara, this is the best one I have, but it sums up the beach options pretty well. You can see both the regular gazebo and the palapa gazebo with the lifeguard tower behind it. We were married on the area in front of the bridge.

Quote: Originally Posted by dirtymartini What was your location fiasco? Where did you end up having the ceremony - it looks beautiful! Kiara keeps pushing the gazebo, but I thought I heard there is a lifeguard stand right in view... is that right? Long, long story. We had the ceremony in front of the bridge right at the entrance to the beach and the reception was on the Blue Terrace. You can see pictures of my ceremony location if you click on my review under my siggy. We were adamant about not being on the sand, so this was perfect for us! Yes, unfortunately, there is a lifeguard tower right behind the beach gazebo. Ridiculous placement IMO b/c it will be in all your wedding shots. You can choose any location now and always change it once you get there. I'll look through my personal pictures and see if I can find you one of the gazebo with the lifeguard tower. Stay tuned...

Very small world! Yes, they're renovating a building they already have to put in a spa. But it won't be done until 2011, sorry!

Quote: Originally Posted by bigboponthebeach Hi Ladies.... Just checking in with you to let you know that I am still here. :-) I'm just trying to catch up on my reading of the thread so that I don't ask any questions or obsess over things that have already been addressed. :-) Right now I am on page 221 but I feel like at this rate it will take me forever. Right now I am starting to feel anxious about our decision. We have less than 12 months and I don't know if I made the right choice based upon my readings thus far. When we first started this search for our wedding location, a nice beach was a high priority. Right now, I am reading comments that the beach is not blue and is very rocky. Is this true? Also is there a time of year that the beach is really blue versus brown? I'm starting to feel really naive! :-/ It's blue, don't you worry! The water will turn brown temporarily after storms because of all the seaweed that comes ashore.

FAB FAB FAB! You look amazing!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by meghan When did you have to pay your final balance? I am a month out today and I thought I would have had to pay by now... Wooohoooo one month!!!!!!! My due date came and went and I had to ask about making the final payment. They didn't come to me. But then because of the big fiasco with the reception location, along with working out some other details, we didn't end up paying until about 10 days prior. They were very easy going about it.