lsmith211

Lua - I use MP3 Rocket - it's free downloads directly from youtube. I've always had good luck finding original/studio versions of songs on there.....

Hi Cupcake, I guess it could be an issue if your wedding is during "off season" like in the summer months because they might decrease their staff when the resort isn't as busy? I got married in April, so they were fully staffed and everything was opened.... And there was 1 wedding in the Grill during our dinner, but there were only 15 of them, so maybe that's why they could fit us in.... But I would definitely ask!

We had a "rehearsal dinner" of sorts - we didn't actually have a rehearsal, but I wanted our whole group to have 1 meal together besides the wedding, so we arranged for everyone to have dinner at the Grill the night before the wedding. We had a group of 54, and I just emailed Public Relations 2 weeks before the wedding and requested it and they said no problem. No one mentioned a fee, and we didn't have to pay anything for it. They set us up at 3 large table, and they even gave us all champagne to celebrate with.... Their email is [email protected] and I was dealing with Andrea. I originally tried booking it a few months prior, but they told me they can't confirm anything unless it is within 2 weeks.

Congrats Erin - so happy for you!!!!

I got mine from www.wedideas.com and they were great, and the cheapest I found.... I got my bouquet, 3 bridesmaids bouquets and a hair flower. Including shipping to Canada it came to $200.... And people kept trying to smell them all night!

That's so exciting - I just put in my photo book order with them on Saturday, and I ordered a few enlargements to frame as well - I can't wait to get them! I ended up getting a pretty big book with 76 pages, so with shipping it was about $150, so it's so good to hear that it's good quality!! But it says my book is Lustre Print, so I expected glossy pages- oh well, as long as it's nice I don't care what the finish is.... Thanks for keeping me updated!

Sweet - thanks for the info!! Just got my pics last night so I'll get to work on my book this weekend

Oh perfect!!! Thanks so much for the info - I'm still waiting to get the discs of our photos, and I'm going to order my photo book as soon as I get them... Too bad I'm going to miss out on the 20% deal. I'll order my enlargements from them now too, now that I have your review!!!

That's my dress and I loved it!!! I had second thoughts like a lot you mentioned, but once I had it altered I realized it was perfect!

Hi BusyBee, FleetMac Bride is right - the gazebo is $250 alone, or $500 including the DJ. I'm not sure about requests for the DJ, I'm sure he'd play what you want (if he has it) since it's your wedding, but at the disco they didn't play any songs we requested! We didn't ask him what music he had - we knew we wanted our own playlist from the beginning. The only time we heard his music was while my sister ran up to the room to get her ipod.... I wasn't looking forward to making my own playlist either, but my sister offered to do it for me in lieu of a wedding gift so it worked out really well! Anyone in your wedding party that might be willing to take this on for you???

Hi sskelly - I emailed Chandlyn about a month before the wedding and told her that I wanted the Italian and she wrote back saying I could have it. I don't think they contact you to advise - you should email her and let her know your preference. As for candles, I'm not sure - we didn't have any.... I brought table overlays, seashells, sand dollars and starfish, and just had them scattered on the tables instead of center pieces, so we didn't have candles. I also didn't do seating charts or anything, so I didn't request the tables set up a certain way. I just kept everything casual and let people sit where they wanted. I don't even have any pictures of the restaurant during our meal to show you.... And I can't even remember how many people were at each table! Everything goes by in a blur so it's hard to remember details. My only advice is don't stress about the little things - our wedding was amazing, and all the little things I thought would be important just didn't seem to matter when we got down there! And everyone told us it was the most amazing wedding they've been to, so I guess it didn't matter to them either!

Here's a few pics from the gazebo:

I know a lot of you asked Katelyn questions about the gazebo - thought I'd throw my 2 cents in and hopefully give you guys some info you can use: First- we got the DJ and his music was awful!!! Luckily we did our own playlist and gave him our ipod and got him to play all of it - his stuff was like all crazy remixes and stuff (we only listened for as long as it took to run up to our room to get the ipod - he didn't want to play the CDs we had with us - but he will if that's all you have....)...... But, I will say that the sound system was amazing, and in my opinion totally worth the extra $250 to set it up!!! I can't imagine that a docking station would carry too far since you are outside and it's breezy (not too windy though), and with the ocean right next to you..... Honestly, the sound quality was amazing! We got the bar set up and I'm really glad we did.... They charged us $22 per adult for the 2 hours, so it ended up costing about $1000 but the bartender was amazing - even made a custom drink for our guests! I didn't even look into getting bottles ourselves, cause I just couldn't be bothered... There were no stores around the resort that i saw, so I would say you'd have to buy everything from the resort..... But it's a really long walk for anyone to get drinks at the other bar, so you will definitely need something if you rent the gazebo They shut things down pretty much exactly at the 2 hour mark - I think they gave us 5 minutes extra or so, and the DJ warned us that he was starting our last song.... As soon as the music ended they started packing up the equipment and bar - they didn't waste any time! We had ours from 8:45-10:45 so we headed right over to the disco from there..... The karaoke bar is a great option as well! We got married April 5,and the sun set pretty much at exactly 6:30, but I would think it would be a little later in June. I'd say prob about 6:45 or 6:50 Hope that helps - you're all gonna love the GBP - we can't wait to go back......

Meggers - great Etsy find, I love it!!! Brandy, can you let me know how your adoramapix photos turn out? That's who I plan to make my book with as well, but I'd love to hear about the picture quality first......

Hahaha - luckily he was too sick to eat all day, so it was only water that came up!!

Tris - you looked so gorgeous - congratulations!! You would never know you were sick.... It sucks, but I'm glad you still enjoyed your day! My hubby had sun stroke the day of our wedding as well.... We didn't see each other all day leading up to the wedding, and he tried to hide it from me during/after the wedding. He was very convincing, until our meal when he threw up on the floor behind the head table!!! He bounced back pretty quick (except for a few more episodes in the bushes when I took him up to our room to get cleaned up), and it's a good thing he doesn't embarrass easily! Now we just look at it as a good story! The minister is Reverend Owen Wilson, and he is amazing! The Grill had really good food - we had our "rehearsal dinner" there the night before the wedding, and there was another wedding going on at the same time. They were just at a table in the middle of the restaurant cause there are no semi-private rooms in there, but they didn't seem bothered by the rest of the us....

I don't remember who asked now, but yes, the minister uses a microphone, so everyone can hear the whole ceremony. I don't have the whole ceremony script, but here's the vows and some info Beverly sent me before I went.... We wrote our own ceremony script and the minister used that instead... Here's the standard he uses, unless you give him something else: Wedding ceremony The minister will say this part and you will answer by saying ‘I Do’ Dearly beloved, we are gathered here together in the sight of God and in the presence of these witnesses to gather in marriage----- ------. The apostle Paul in his writing declared that marriage is a Holy estate instituted by God. Therefore, it ought not to be entered into unadvisably or likely, but reverently, respectfully and in the love of God. Into this honorable estate these two have know come to be joined. Give eed (listen carefully) therefore to the question I ask you ------- ---, Do you take------ to be your wedded wife/husband to have and to hold from this day onward for better, for worst, for richer , for poorer in sickness and in health, to love, honor and to cherish until you are parted by death. You will respond by saying ‘I Do’ Then you will repeat the vow after the minister. After the vow you will have the Exchange of rings -----/--- I give you this ring as a token of the covenants made between this day and as a pledge of our neutral love in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen Then you kiss the bride After this, the blessing will be done Then we have the signing of marriage certificate. ORDER OF CEREMONY Musical Prelude Procession Greeting & Prayer Exchange of Vows Prayer Exchange of Rings Signing of Register Pronouncement Recession Champagne reception Cutting of the wedding Cake First dance of the bride and groom Photos Dinner.

Everyone looked so beautiful!!! I can't believe we're all married now! Here are a few of my pics - it's so hard to choose what to post!

Thanks! They were: White (Bluey) Starfish 5-6 inch

I can't answer everything, but I'll share what I know..... I didn't have to fill out all that stuff when I booked, and all those details were confirmed when I met with Chandlyn... - i had vanilla raspberry cake - it is vanilla cake with raspberries in the filling between layers - it was really good - not sure about the color - I wasn't given the option, my cake was just white - didn't get the guestbook, sorry - i had the free package and brought my own sashes. Chandlyn didn't charge me for the chair covers, and I had 52 guests - when I booked, you only had to pay a deposit on the package, and not on the number of additional guests/extras that were added. Because I had the free package I didn't have to pay a deposit - we were told we could pay the whole thing on credit card including the minister fees, but since I brought cash for this just in case, I just paid for the minister with cash - we ate at the dolce vita - had ceasar salad (delicious!), tomato basil soup (just ok), stuffed chicken (I thought it was good, but lots of guests thought it was great). The portions seemed small, but there were so many courses that everyone ended up full. They didn't give the option for seconds

Thanks Marlena! I actually don't - funny story, my DH had sun stroke on our wedding day, and actually got sick during our meal..... He recovered fine, but there was a bit of chaos and the photographer didn't take many pics during the meal... I have one of the cake table that shows the starfish, but sadly no pics of the rest of the tables:

Hi BusyBee, I had a 12:00 appointment for my 4pm wedding. It took an hour and half for hair and make-up, and there was 2 of them so they did me and my MOH at the same time. I also had to give Chandlyn copies of our notarized birth certificates and passports at our first meeting (plus I sent her notarized copies 3 months in advance as well). Hope that helps!

Yeah, building 23 was really nice! I wasn't in any other rooms outside building 23 so I have nothing to compare to, but no one in our group had any complaints. And it's nice being on that side cause the pool and pool bar are way more quiet. We got upgraded for free, so we were on the 6th floor - the view was beautiful - pool, ocean and wedding gazebo! Our travel agent made sure we were all booked in the same building. There were a few that were put on the non-view side. The rooms were smaller too, but they got hot tubs on their balconcies as consolation... Best of luck with everything - you're going to love it!!!!!

I'll try to answer the quesitons I can remember: - Wrist bands - the wedding party was allowed to cut them off on the day of the wedding, but you have to keep it and bring it back to the front desk to get a new one. They told me they won't replace it if you can't provide the old one..... But my hubbie kept forgetting to bring his up after the wedding and went 3 days without a bracelet and no one stopped him for getting food/drinks at the resort.... - I actually forgot my sand ceremony frame at home, and didn't realize until the day before the wedding - I had all the sand etc, but not the frame, so I just had Chandlyn cross that part out of our ceremony script and scratched the idea. FI and I did it when we got home haha. So, can't really say, but I planned on carrying it on the plane - Chandlyn will make sure the sashes are on the chairs and the gazebo, and she even had all the sashes taken off and moved to the restaurant for our meal - you don't have to worry about any decorating, they will do it all for you. I think they used about 6 of mine on the gazebo and then used white ones too - The walk to the gazebo depends on where your building is - we were in building 23 (the newest one - just opened last month) and it was pretty close - the resort is huge, so it may be farther for some, but it still isn't crazy far from anything - we were only charged $200 + tax for the minister - we weren't charged for the white chair covers

Sorry - I was gone for my wedding! They shipped really fast if I remember correctly - I had so many packages arriving around that time that I can't remember for sure, but I think I got them in about a week. Mine didn't stink at all... I even kept them in the boxes they were shipped in to pack in my suitcase, so I never aired them out - there was no smell at all. But, I read from someone else that hers smelled, so she laid them out in her basement for a few days and the smell went away. I used my shells & starfish for "center pieces" - just had them scattered all over the tables, and they were beautiful - and so much cheaper than center pieces would have been!