jackie_c

I'm so excited for pics! Too bad about the couples shoot rain, but you'd be surprised at the gorgeous shots photographers can pull out of gloomy weather. At least you had beautiful sunny skies for your ceremony, I'm sure you have a ton of gorgeous shots. Â It rained intensely right before my wedding too. I went outside about an hour before the ceremony was supposed to start and after about 6 steps I got blown over by crazy gusting winds! My hair was all wonky after, so thank goodness it's a destination wedding and it could look "unfinished on purpose". haha. They were just about to move us into the horribly ugly indoor location, when the clouds broke and it was sunny and hot the rest of the day. Â I really didn't want to use the resort photographer as I was worried pictures would be very posed and cheesy, so I begged my big brother to come down to Mexico for both the wedding, and to take a few photos. He's only been taking photos a few years, but just has the eye, so I was so excited when he said yes!! We've gotten an overwhelming response to his photos, and I couldn't be happier. I don't get my TTD shots for about 3 weeks, it's gonna be a long wait! Â A pro photographer would have laughed at me and my friends. Usually people have lovely "getting ready" shots and what not, but me and the girls threw on our dresses and shoes 6 mins before the ceremony! There wouldn't have been much to shoot

Aww if you want chivari chairs, don't cross it off your list yet. If you're doing a complimentary package and that the add on that you really want, you should have it! hahaha unless you've been adding on like crazy in every part of your wedding! I'm SO happy I brought the chair bows as it added that punch of colour we needed for the ceremony. After that I asked them to take them off the ceremony chairs and tie them onto the wooden ones in the Italian restaurant to match my table runners and centerpieces at dinner. Â I'll have to upload some of my pics to a photobucket album so you can see more details of the wedding. I was trying to cut costs left and right so I also did a false base for my wedding cake, so that I could have the look of a tiered cake, but not at the extra cost. (I think a large cake is around $150) Also if you are having a private reception, the buffet menus come with a lot of dessert, so everyone doesn't always eat the wedding cake. Â When is your wedding?? I hate that the new BDW format doesn't tell me all the B2B's wedding dates and locations, how can a spy and by excited about all the upcoming weddings?! Â

I had such a beautiful and fun wedding, and having a whole week to spend with friends and family was a dream. If I had to go back and do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing. I'm soooo happy to have decided on a Destination Wedding!!!  I have a really talented brother who got into photography a few years back, so he took most of these photos and I love them! Just wanted to share a few.   entrance with my dad.  walking back down the aisle to "Everybody Dance Now!"  One of my fave pics is this one with my dad  "something blue"  our zombie cake topper, complete w/ DH's chin scar  "It's my party, I can cry if I want to."

I can answer any questions you have on Beach Palace, but honestly, the wedding coordinator there Rebeca is sooo amazing. I never had contact problems like I hear from some of the Moon Palace brides, and she did everything in her power to make us happy. haha, actually, whenever she wanted to ask a question she would ALWAYS just find me, not my hubby (I think she knows who makes the REAL decisions for these weddings!). Â If there are things you'd like to bring, instead of rent from the hotel, they are very accommodating. I was trying to keep my budget really low, so I brought my own chair bows, table runners, centerpieces, ring holders, cake topper, etc and Rebeca set it up all beautifully! My luggage there was quite heavy, but it was mostly the OOT bag, esp 'cause of the bulky travel mugs. Â The reviews you hear on tripadvisor sound too good to be true, but they're not. All the staff is constantly checking to make sure you're happy and everything is going the way you want it. Â I also got a pic of my wedding set up today for those who are curious. I did the complimentary wedding, and think it ended up looking beautiful! Â I'm not sure if you are getting the $1500 Palace Dollars for your guests or not, but my guests really took advantage of the perks. Some of your vacation gets eaten up waiting at the booking tables to reserve tours and spas, but after you've swam with the dolphins, got a body wrap at the spa, or taken a complimentary limo around Cancun, you realize it's worth the wait! DH and I were too busy to use the promotions, but it was really comforting to know our guests would have lots of activities to do, at no extra cost to them. Â The big thing there is, if you want something, just ask. The worst they can say is no, and usually they say yes. "Can I get purple flowers in my complimentary bouquet?" "Sure, no problem!" "Can I get extra appys at our dinner and a vegetarian option" "Yes, of course" I asked for rose petals to throw on the night before our wedding, and they were able to get them last minute, and even verified the colour I wanted. Â *sigh* take me back!! Any questions though, ask away! Â

Beautiful pic kwaits!! How was the wedding?? Wonderful, beautiful? Any big snags? Looks like you had perfect weather!! Â Here's one of mine from Beach Palace in Cancun. It was hot up there but I loved every second of the whole week!

I'm home lovely ladies and had such a killer wedding!! We're all still in vacation mode and floating around our normal lives still wanting more endless buffets, spa treatments, dolphin swims and open bar cocktails with your friends. *sigh* It was such a beautiful wedding and the clear starfish looked sooo cute and beautiful in the bouquet. I had a small wedding with 17 people total, and there were a lot of laughs and smiles, and we all sweated our buns off on the rooftop of our resort for those 20 mins of ceremony, haha. Interestingly enough though, I didn't find wearing a massive wedding dress any hotter than my bikini or sun dresses, and I'm so happy I went with a more traditional dress as it was really fun to wear. I also dunked it in the jungle sink holes for a TTD but it looks exactly the same now that's it's dry, haha.  I sent the starfish off to Shoesiesluvr yesterday, so he should be in the hands of the next b2b by Sept 7th! I'll miss you little buddy!!   dc22173's CLEAR starfish line-up: 1 ) jackie_c - traveling 8/12 - 8/21 – Cancun 2 ) Shoesiesluvr - Sept 20, 2010 - October 6, 2010 Cancun, Mexico 3 ) DWbridetobe - October 30 - November 8, 2010, St. Lucia 4 ) breeze616 – December 6 – 16th Iberostar Rose Hall, Montego Bay 5 ) kateandbri - January 8th-15th, Melia Caribe, Punta Cana 6 ) StephyD - March 27-April 10 2011 - Riviera Maya 7 ) susanna.hanson - June 17, 2011, Cabo San Luca If you would like to join this CLEAR starfish list, please post in this thread with all of this info: 1) That you would like to join the 'dc22173's CLEAR starfish line-up' 2) Your travel dates (an estimate is ok if you haven't booked yet). 3) Your wedding location It is your responsibility to get the info of the bride on the list after you, and send the starfish and journal on in a timely manner.

I kiboshed my private reception the week before the wedding since we were having trouble getting the menu we wanted and I needed for my guests. I ended up having a dinner at Bocelli's and it was perfect. It was also nice saving the money since we took everyone out to Coco Bongo's after which cost about a grand. Â The terrace pictures is gigantic so if you have a LARGE wedding (like 100+ people) it would be great for dancing, dinner, etc. Otherwise, I would recommend you chose one of the smaller terraces which are located by 1 of the skybar pools. The one with the operating bar will have hotel guests, then the other side can be reserved for private functions and is much more intimate. There was a cocktail reception while I was there for about 40 or 50 guests in the afternoon, it looked great. Â Hahaha, oh gee, I think we all know that having a DW in Mexico is gonna be hot hot hot. I chose to have my wedding at 2pm so it was obviously a sweaty time, but everyone stuck it out for the 20 mins, then we headed inside to cool off with cocktails. Most of the boys changed their shirts before the cocktail reception. At 6pm the sun is almost down, so it's not that hot anymore. It would be the same temp as having your ceremony super early in the day. The bad side is that if it does rain, it was usually for half an hour or so around 7 or 8pm, so if you're planning an outdoor private reception, rain could be a possibility. No worries though, the rain passes very quickly in Cancun. Â It actually was crazy raining and INTENSE wind less than an hour before the start of our ceremony and we were trying to convince her to let us have it on the sky terrace in the rain 'cause the indoor location is this awful meeting room like a crappy conference room of a hotel. The rooftop is hot, but it's so stunning. My guests couldn't stop snapping pics up there. Â There were 3 other 6pm wedding in the 10 nights I was there, so I think everyone has the same idea as you

Start of a wedding set up  lagoon view  sky bar/pool  The room  main pool and arch  loungers  MASSIVE terrace on off the 1st floor facing lagoon  romantic lobster dinner set up, my parents are the ones seated  Bocelli, the Italian place, is actually connected to the buffet, but the set up works and the food is delish!

Loungers on the beach ocean view deck bed  pool view from 4th floor room  just outside of elevator to sky bar  bed loungers facing lagoon side (the same set up faced the ocean side)

Hey girlies! I'm back from my Beach Palace wedding and am still beaming!! the 17 of us had so much fun all week, and are in still excited but slightly depressed to be home mode! hahaha The grounds are intimate enough to find your friends and family, but large enough to have your own space time, or a meal for just you and FI if you like. The pools were gorgeous and the pictures of the rooms and hotel on the website and that you see floating around are EXACTLY what the place really looks like. The rooms are spacious and the jetted tubs were so nice at the end of a long day (or if you were too tired or hungover to make it to dinner). A lot of people just got room service and sat in their tubs and watched tv late at night. Rough life, I know. Â I'll attach some of the photos I took for you girls in separate posts since I know I was digging like crazy for any info on Beach Palace. Ahhhh it was so amazing!!!

I ended up using a MAC Splashproof mascara for my wedding and TTD shoot and it held up really well. I tried it out first during our first few days in the pool and it didn't run. By the very end of our TTD I had a tiny bit of makeup under my eyes, but I think it was from my eyeshadow or eyeliner, which were not waterproof. Just make sure to get hubby to check you every now and then  It made my lashes darker and longer, but they could have been fuller. I didn't feel like wearing false lashes, and was too happy and laid back to get bogged in details.  TTD is SO FUN, good luck to all you desties!!

I leave tomorrow! Big hugs and kisses to all you Aug brides! I expect lots of pictures from all of you from your big days!

They sell them at any regular store (Safeway, Shopper, etc). They come in a 48 pack of chewable pepto tablets. Each sheet has 6 tablets, then I just cut them into 2's

I had this same problem, I think you have to buy them online, like on minimus,biz, ebay, etc. I ran out of time and found the shipping rates to Canada WAY too high. Yesterday I ended up making baggies and customized labels using cardstock. I'm really happy with how they turned out. You can always add immodium or any other pills to the baggies too. I put these baggies into the First Aid kits.

Oh goodness! Wait for the feedback on this one, because from what I can recall from people's wedding reviews on BDW they would not recommend destinationweddings.com! I'd recommend doing a search for destinationweddings.com as a lot of ladies have posted their opinions on them

You definitely have to be careful with the type of shorts if you're doing it. lyndsay_h - you cracked me up there! I think more than a few hubbies think board shorts would be ok for a wedding, thank goodness we don't let them. (Unless you were in a bikini getting married on a boat - that's a little too Pam Anderson style for me :S) My brother in law wore his favorite grey linen shorts for their wedding in Barbados (just the two of them) with some nice brown leather sandals (I call them his mandals) and I thought their pictures turned out great. I'll attach one so you girls can see.

Congratulations on your engagement! You must still be staring at your new ring nonstop I'm sure you'll get a lot of feedback since there are a TON of Dreams and Moon Palace brides on BDW. As I'm getting married at a Beach Palace, I've learned a lot about the perks for Palace Resorts. Since you have so many guests, if you get a group contract in place, you will very likely book 60 room nights between you and all your guests, which will get you and your hubby to be 4 free room nights + unlimited private functions (which are usually used for your reception dinner or welcome dinner and are normally $400/table of 10). Also, with their new Palace promotions, all guests staying 3-4 nights get a $750 room credit (essentially fun money), and all guests staying 5+ nights get a $1500 room credit, to be used towards room upgrades, spa, golf, tours, romantic lobster dinners or wine upgrades. This could be enticing for you, as your guests can swim with the dolphins and get a massage, etc on their vacation for free. I'm sure Dreams must have some great perks too, their resorts are so stunning! Good luck with your planning!

I'm so down for a meetup in Sept! I'll make sure to bring some sweet treats (err or maybe a veggie platter if some b2b's are trying to shed the pounds!). I leave in a week for our wedding in Cancun!

Thank you, were so excited to, but these last weeks coming up to the wedding have WAY too many glitches to just enjoy the planning. I love the crafty projects, but other details are def stressful. My little hamster died last night too We're all ready for a vacation though, we have about 16 guests, all high energy great people. I think they'll all feel like this will be the trip of a lifetime, so the anticipation is building like crazy! Feel free to ask me anything in the coming months, as there are almost no other brides on this forum posting about Beach Palace. June will be here before you knew it, 9 months ago felt like 2 weeks ago for me!

Oh don't even start with just BABY boys when comparing them to my stubs of lashes. Every guy I've dated or has been a close male friend has had the most think, luxurious and beautifully curled lashes! People used to think my ex wore eye-liner since they were so thick and long (he didn't btw). Not fair, haha.

Hahaha I think we all remember when we hit the jackpot with 150 posts! I was on a posting frenzy once I hit a hundred to start downloading. You get so jealous of all the beautiful templates and attachments all the other brides get to see! You're right, it seems to have disappeared! Maybe once the forum changed it ate it (now it's in the land of lost socks, along with every good pair of tweezers any women has owned). I've attached the original template I used from ktchi. A bride on her called cross also recently used the same template and edited it to her style really nicely too if you wanna check it out! I've mentioned before but I definitely recommend making the cover/back sheet a bit larger than the rest so it's easier to wrap around all the pages. Happy planning!! Ktchi Passport Template.ppt

Omg a YEAR! I would be sneaking peaks constantly!! It's so nice to have the rings crossed off your checklist of things to do, now you have lots of time to plan other wedding things in between peeking at your sparkly ring!

Oh, good idea with the iron on transfer canvas bags! I'm out of time so I'm scrambling for something affordable to use for my OOT bags (I need about 14). Hobby Lobby sounds like such a gem that I'm sure all Canadian brides like myself are jealous you have. You must be getting anxious for Sat! Even I'M terribly excited for you, I can't wait to see reviews on the beautiful Key West. Pictures by the water would be stunning! I'm planning to teach K-7 but I'm not sure what I prefer yet. The little ones are so cute and clever, but grades 4-7 I've found to be less work (though the grade 7ers are getting into that teen angst era). Originally I planned to be a high school chemistry teacher since I did an undergrad degree in Biochemistry, but after trying it out I just felt a bit uncomfortable. It might be that I still *look* like a high school student, and probably will until I'm into my 30's. Oh well, it's a blessing!

Yes I am doing the complimentary, then I'm having a private dinner and getting a small audio package for background music during the dinner. When's your wedding day?? Do you have Rebeca as a wedding coordinator? I leave next Thursday so I'm trying to tie up the loose ends, but us and all our guests are SO excited. 3 more just booked in the last few days, so I have to go get more stuff for gift bags. Oh last minute guests *sigh*, it'll be worth it though!

Thanks for responding, I was definitely considering hiring outside vendors, but the $86 guest pass on top of hair and make up would have been a fortune. After a fair bit of emailing back and worth between the salon coordinator, and my WC, they decided this morning they would make an exception for me and open the salon early!!! Yahhh! The Power of being a bride