TropicLover

Hi LindsayR! I saw your post and I thought what a great idea! I looked into it and it doesn't look like you can bring in homemade food items to the country.....BUT I think that means items like baked cupcakes because in the "Allowed" section it says Dried Herbs are okay. It's kind of confusing...anyway here's the website that goes into details, let me know if you find out anything else. Good luck! http://www.bajabound.com/before/permits/agriculture.php

Hiya Jennaba3! My wedding is May 11, 2012 and I still have a lot to do. I'm not sure if you've already done it, but a guest list would be the first thing to do and then save the dates...and at the same time try to sort our a colour scheme ;-) When I made our guest list I went through it and tried to guess who would come and who wouldn't. I was close in the guesstimate although there are still many people on the fence (waiting for a deal) even though our booking deadline has passed. Anyway to get back on track you might as well go dress shopping now. I actually purchased my dress BEFORE we put our deposit in with the resort, lol. Many stores will hold it for you until the wedding and in my case I'll do my alterations 6 weeks before the wedding. Same goes for the BM's dresses. As for the suits now would be a good time as many summer items are on sale. However we've decided to wait until March 2012 when the new spring/summer collections come in. Men are pretty easy to buy for so I'm not too worried about this. Everything else like Favours, OOT's bags, gifts, etc you can get whenever, but I would recommend doing so once you know how many people are coming. In my case we haven't purchased anything yet. I'll probably start Nov - Jan. We probably STILL won't know the final number, but I'm not too worried as a BDW bride recommended to purchase items in quantities of 50...then sell the extras online here so you don't lose any money. Hope this helps! Happy planning.

Thanks for the advice coconoir1908! Purchasing in 50's does seem like the way to go. I wasn't sure how likely it would be that other brides would purchase my leftover items, but from your story it sounds like it's doable :-) Quote: Originally Posted by coconoir1908 TropicLover, What I did to get started at least and to give myself a jump was to purchase things in 50's. Some items I have more of depending on how they were packaged. I kept a list of where I purchased the items just in case I need more for those last minute persons. But the good thing about this is you can always sell things on this site as well as others. I just sold extra oot items (even after keeping enough items to make 15 more sets) on the Moon Palace 2012 forum. At least this way things are not at a complete financial loss. Hope this helps

Great planning thread! I'm using a similar color scheme and yours has definitely inspired me. I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures as I've also booked with Sascha Gluck!

I totally know what you mean! It can be super frustrating. We sent out our STD's May/June which included a booking deadline of mid August and NOBODY booked until literally the last day. I was seriously bummed the couple of weeks before the deadline. After a lot of thought I decided to send out a friendly reminder email to my guests and had my mom call a few people too. After that people started inquiring and booking, it was like a light bulb turned on. I think a lot of people look at the wedding date and think because it's so far away they don't need to do anything. I actually needed to remind people that we had a website even though it was clearly listed on the STD....people must have skimmed it over and missed it. I'm hoping this goes okay for you. Right now, we still have people that are on the fence about booking because they want to see if they can get it cheaper. This is still frustrating because I want to start putting items together like the OOT's, but I can't really do that until I get a final number. Does it ever end?

Good point! I wouldn't want to be stressing about when and where to give the tip, not to mention where I'd even hold all of these enevelops, lol. When is the best time for the tips to be distributed?

Ohhhhhhhh that's great the 2012 prices are out! Not so much on the increase though I'll send Keine a quick note to forward them over. Speaking of 2012 has anyone seen the 2012 menu yet?

@knootbaar, welcome aboard! Hopefully you find plenty of info on this thread ;-) I'll private message you the 2011 wedding packages...I don't think the 2012 ones are out just yet. Does anyone else know if 2012 is out yet? As for flight and hotel prices it would really depend on where you're traveling from. My suggestion is to find a Travel Agent and get them to price it out for you. Happy planning!

That's great you could "modify" the package to suit your requirements! Are you getting a dj for the terrace?

We're staying a total of 10 days in Puerto Morelos which is 3 extra days than our guests. After the wedding around December or January we're going to have our "honeymoon" in Hawaii! So excited!

@AnaS, take a look at Paradise package details. It says it includes: Justice of the peace, Marriage License, Legal Fees, Blood test (legal documents issued in Spanish) Then flip to the Optional Upgrade Services page and look at the fees associated with the above. You might want to double check with the hotel, but if you add everything up it should be a decent amount. I'm not really sure how the price per guest works out. Maybe more guests mean more waiter staff? Or I wonder if the menu options vary between each package?

@Countrybride, that is a good option! Then you can have a great 3 hours of dancing the night away without spending them on dinner!

@Sandy, we'll have the hotel set us up with an officiant. I'm wondering if it's a staff member or even Ana! Lol that would be awesome, haha. I'm really not too picky on who does it as long as they can speak clearly, I'm happy. When you were watching the weddings on your holiday was the music through the speakers loud enough during the ceremony? I'm just wondering if they use decent ones that everyone can hear though the wind and the waves from the ocean.

Wow 54 people! You guys are going to have a blast! Most of our guests have booked and others will book closer to the date so I think it's safe to say that we'll have about 35. With that said we're going to go with the Paradise Package which is based on 40 people. If we have less than 40 then I'll ask the hotel to back calculate the amount for 5 guests and I'll use that money towards something else. Same goes for the legal wedding fees as they're already part of the package price...if you're doing a symbolic ceremony you easily save $1160 on the package. Although I should add that you'll need to use that money towards another wedding item...centrepieces, appitizers, tiffany chairs...the possibilities are endless

@Sandy, that's great to hear the marriachi band is good! I was thinking of using them in our ceremony, playing Canon in D on the guitar and then some crazy loud Mexican fesista song when they announce us husband and wife. I do like the idea of having them play throughout the cocktail hour as well so I think we'll either extend their time (I think you pay for 45 minute sets) or we'll use our own ceremony music and have them ready for cocktails ;-) I do love Somewhere Over the Rainbow especially the version by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole http://youtu.be/w_DKWlrA24k BTW I love that you're BM's are wearing yellow walking up to the song Yellow! So cool! We plan on writing our own ceremony script....or borrowing one we like posted online. Since we're doing a symbolic wedding down there this gives us a bit more flexibility in terms of what we'd like to say. As for the vows, I would be waaaay too nervous to completely write my own. We're going to write them together and then have the officiant have us repeat them.

Quote: Originally Posted by AnaS Yeah, I think I will be doing paper lanterns and/or tulle as well. Are you btinging them or are you getting them through Ana? I am not sure about the DJ. i want one and not sure if I should go with the resort one or bring my own. What are you ladies inclined to do? I think we're going to hire an outside dj...yay for another vendor fee I haven't heard any reviews about the dj at this hotel, but if anyone out there knows anything please post away! From reading stories on other weddings in most cases the brides which used the hotel dj complained the most. With a small wedding (35 - 40) I'd want to ensure the dj was good and he could keep the party going....I find it sad looking when nobody is on the dance floor. I think I'll need to do some research.

I totally know what you mean. A colleauge of mine suggested giving it to my FI as a project. Lol at this point i'm thinking that's great idea!

I think your right too...I can't look like we're favouring. I love the look of one big table, but I find it's so difficult to talk to everyone. In most cases you can only talk to the two people in front of you. I was a wedding where we sat at a long table and through a 4 course meal I was stuck beside an obnoxiously drunk guest who wanted to be my new bff. Lol, okay maybe that's an extreme example, but still

Hey everyone! I'm way to scared to ship everything. We're getting married in Mexico and I've heard that many shipped items get stuck in customs. With my job I do a lot of shipping between Canada and the US and little things like sunglasses can take forever to clear customs. I would hate for my OOT loot to get lost or worse never make it into the country. For use we're going to pack it all. Ya we'll have extra bags, but I plan on distributing them along with the corresponding receipts to a few guests. We'll just pick up the extra baggage tab....ugh definitely not looking forward to the final $ amount.

Hiya ladies! I'm totally dreading the seating arrangements too! My parents are divorced and as much as they can still be civil when it's the two of them, my dad absolutely hates my mom's new husband, like literally can't stand the look of him. There's a lot of family drama behind that...lol long story...but needless to say I can understand why he doesn't like him. So with a guest list of around 35ish I'm having trouble of where to put them. Obviously at different tables, BUT the question is: Can put my future in-laws at one of my parents tables without looking like I'm favoring either my mom or dad? I could have them all split at three different tables although that would mean the "young" people (friends of the B&G) are also scattered about. Any suggestions from other brides from spilt families would be great! Happy Planning!

Hi Sandy, I've been trying to respond to you and for some reason it hasn't been working....maybe it's the picture thing? Anyway here's my post again, lol without the picture Sandy I’m so happy to hear those wooden beams are on the lobby terrace! This really opens a new door to decorating! I really like the paper lantern idea! That would look so pretty. I wonder how white fabric that hanging and tied to the corned vertical beams would look. Picture how some brides use it in a wedding alter. As for a dance floor, I’m not sure if we’ll have one. I’m thinking if you used a few small bar tables you could “map out†the area. Also, if there’s a dj that would automatically designate a dance floor. Speaking of which, are any of you have a dj? Is there a noise curfew for music? I think we will although we haven’t looked into yet.

@AnaS Thanks! I really like yours too! I'm so jealous you figured out the pocket template, haha I don't know what's wrong with me I just couldn't do it ;-) The embossing was crazy, there was powder litteraly everywhere, you couldn't sneeze without it flying all over. For our formal invitations I think we'll still make ours, but I'm definetly buying a pre-cut and folder pocket or packet depending on what we do. Lol for me that was the worst part of the process.

Okay for some reason my posts aren't working an are blank instead? Hmm not sure what's going on.

Sandy I’m so happy to hear those wooden beams are on the lobby terrace! This really opens a new door to decorating! I really like the paper lantern idea! That would look so pretty. I wonder how white fabric that hanging and tied to the corned vertical beams would look. Kind of like the picture below, just ignore the seashells, and the fact that it’s an alter.

Quote: Originally Posted by Sandy Borie Hi guys, I do plan on using yellow, pink and orange paper lanterns. The theme of our wedding is Island Chic. Yellow is my fav color but there will be hints of orange and pink in there too. I think the terrace is good enough and we wont request a dance floor, I figure we will just use the space on the lobby terrace. From pics I have seen, it is big enough. When I was with Ana she showed me pics of how other brides used the paper lanterns on the terrace. They were hung from the wooden beams. They looked really pretty. Tropic Lover can you post a pic of the DIY boarding passes for your save the dates. I want to try to cut corners with as much as possible. AnaS, when Ana gets back to me with prices I will certainly let you know. If it too expensive, I plan on just going to Walmart and getting it myself. Great idea! Thank god for Walmart. I wonder if you can preorder the vases from Walmart and just pick them up. When I was at the resort, my fiancee and I made friends with two of the girls from the sales office. I might reach out to them and ask them for help since they live in the area and know vendors. I will let you guys know what they recommend. We just booked our wedding photographer. It was hard, since they all seem amazing! but we ultimately ended up going with Juan Navarro. I am sooooooooo excited! and can hardly wait for July! I am sure you girls feel the same! Sandy Sandy I’m so happy to hear those wooden beams are on the lobby terrace! This really opens a new door to decorating! I really like the paper lantern idea! That would look so pretty. I wonder how white fabric that hanging and tied to the corned vertical beams would look. Kind of like the picture below, just ignore the fact that it’s an alter.