clgriffi7

02Nov crystalz Grand Bahia Principe Akumal 04Nov kelnces Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun 05Nov jenniketchup TBD 05Nov clgriffi7 Dreams Cancun 05Nov alysam4785 Beach Palace 10Nov carribe258 Dreams Tulum 10Nov jen83rn Now Jade Riviera 11Nov angi111111 El Dorado Royale 11Nov karielk TBD 11Nov CaitlinBlane2011 IB Tucan 11Nov Vanessa C Gran Caribe 11Nov nadennec Gran Caribe 11Nov Pucca Coral Baja 11Nov AshleyNicole84 Kool Beach Club 11Nov mrsgreene2011 Iberostar Rose Hall Suites 11Nov rpage06 Excellence Riviera Cancun 11Nov danitha Playacar Palace 11Nov Mich1111 Dreams Los Cabos 12Nov jlarruda Majestic Elegance 12Nov hollybee Cabo Surf Hotel 17Nov JoanneIreland Barcelo Maya Palace 18Nov Bacchetta2Be Iberostar Grand Rose Hall 19Nov dfranklin Gran Bahia Principe Akumal 24Nov JLMS Sandos Playacar

So jealous of all of you April and May brides...Good Luck to all of you on having the wedding of your dreams and Congratulations on becoming happy wives!

02Nov crystalz Grand Bahia Principe Akumal 04Nov kelnces Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun 05Nov jenniketchup TBD 05Nov clgriffi7 Dreams Cancun 05Nov alysam4785 Beach Palace 10Nov carribe258 Dreams Tulum 10Nov jen83rn Now Jade Riviera 11Nov angi111111 El Dorado Royale 11Nov karielk TBD 11Nov CaitlinBlane2011 IB Tucan 11Nov Vanessa C Gran Caribe 11Nov nadennec Gran Caribe 11Nov Pucca Coral Baja 11Nov AshleyNicole84 Kool Beach Club 11Nov mrsgreene2011 Iberostar Rose Hall Suites 11Nov rpage06 Excellence Riviera Cancun 11Nov danitha Playacar Palace 11Nov Mich1111 Dreams Los Cabos 12Nov jlarruda Majestic Elegance 12Nov hollybee Cabo Surf Hotel 17Nov JoanneIreland Barcelo Maya Palace 18Nov Bacchetta2Be Iberostar Grand Rose Hall 24Nov JLMS Sandos Playacar

We actually bought totes from Dollar Tree and we will put tags on the bags instead of personalizing the bags themselves. The quality isn't great but I have a feeling there is a good possibility my guests will never use them again so I didn't want to spend too much money. I had actaully looked at those same bags from Oriental Trading Company, but my fiance was against them because he said they wouldn't be very masculine for the men. I tried to tell him that the woman in a couple will be the one packing a bag for the beach - but in the end I thought it would be easier to give in on this one detail....

Just sent you a PM...

Like a lot of you ladies, my fiance and I don't want gifts from those attending our wedding in Mexico since they are spending so much money to attend. However, we think that family that can't make it or guests attending our At Home Party might want to give us a gift. Since we each owned a townhouse before moving in together - we have absolutely everything we could need and then some. We decided to register for our honeymoon so guests can feel like they are still buying a gift (like a dinner, wine, massage, etc) instead of just giving cash. However, the registry website we chose actually just gives us the money as cash (so you can prepay for your honeymoon and then get paid back from your guests). We put our wedding website on our Save the Date and the Invitation and we put the registry information on a Registry tab on the wedding website with the following verbiage: Your attendance at our wedding so far from home is a wonderful gift in itself. Your presence is the best present we could ask for! For those guests that have requested a registry, we have set up an online honeymoon registry. As we both owned separate houses, and a significant number of duplicate items had to be donated when we moved in together (to save money for the wedding of course!), a traditional in-store registry does not make sense. We hope to take a once-in-a-lifetime Mediterranean cruise for our honeymoon/ 1-year anniversary in the fall of 2012. Our registry can be found at My . (link to wedding website here)

Just sent you a PM.

Thanks for the support - it is good to hear that someone likes your idea. I guess I am lucky that MOB and MOG aren't trying to have much of an opinion on anything. I think it is because my fiance and I are a bit older (he is 37 and I am coming up on 31) that they aren't getting too involved. We got the idea for ours based on a low key event our friends had after their out of state wedding last year. They just reserved an area of a bar and prepaid a tab for drinks. They had an album of pictures out and did a sheet cake before which they just said a few words - simple and inexpensive. We started out with the same idea, but just kept adding more - oh well.... I am a bit jealous of the ladies that are having a full reception at home because I would love to wear my dress again. But I know a big dress with a train (even bustled) would be a disaster at the kind of event we are planning.

1. Budget. Our AHP (at home PARTY) will cost about $3500. We set aside $3K to $4K. (approx costs = $750 for the hall rental, $450 for DJ, $250 for wine, $500 for beer, $250 for cupcakes, $700 for other food, $200 for photographer, $300 for tablecloths/decor, $500 just in case) 2. Type. We are having a big party. Since we are having a reception in Mexico, we didn't want to have a repeat. Our party will be at a reception hall (not a fancy one) on a Friday night (MUCH cheaper) that allows you to bring your own alcohol in. We will also have a DJ - we want a big sing-along and dancing party. 3. When. Our wedding is on a Saturday (Nov 5th) and we are staying in Mexico through the next Thursday morning (Nov 10th). Our AHP will be a week and a day later on Friday the 18th from 8pm to midnight. 4. Food. We intentionally are having the party starting at 8pm so we don't have to serve dinner. We will have lots of hors d'oeuvres to help soak up the beer and wine. 5. Clothes. Since we are having a dancing party I don't want to wear my formal dress again. Instead I will have a 2nd dress that I will wear first for our legal wedding (at home before the DW) and then again for the AHP. I haven't found this dress yet, but I would love a tea length dress. 6. Invitations. About 1 or 2 months out we will send out a postcard invitation (think cheap on Vistaprint) and request an RSVP to a wedding email address we set up. We will request the RSVP before we leave for Mexico (so I can send out follow up emails). 7. Photographer. We have a local photographer that did our engagement pictures that we decided to take to Mexico with us. I am thinking of asking him if he will accept $200-$300 to cover the party as well. I don't know if my fiance will approve, so I may have to sneak around and use my money instead of our wedding money. 8. Cake. In order to keep costs down (think cake cutting fees) we will be doing cupcakes for the AHP. The local "caterer" (not your traditional wedding caterer, think downtown shop that has lunch and baked goods that provides catering for corporate functions) does cupcakes a lot more cheaply than a wedding cake baker. 9. Decorations. Decorations will be VERY minimal. I think we will likely use pictures in frames for centerpieces. We might also bring something back from Mexico (not sure what at this point though). Big thing is that I don't want to spend too much money decorating - luckily the reception hall is painted red and has some brick, so the place itself isn't "plain". I will bring back my table runners from the wedding to add some color. 10. DW Photos. A local store closed and sold everything cheap - including the plastic stands that hold sale tags. So we bought quite a few 5x7 stands to put DW pictures in. Also, we will be adding pictures of the rehearsal, wedding day, TTD, and rest of the trip to our slideshow. I love the idea that traditional weddings can only have baby through engagement pictures, but ours can include wedding pictures!

We actually just printed out our invites with a RSVP date of August 19th. The date seems random, but we chose 1 day before our August 20th deadline for the group rate at the hotel. Though I would certainly like to know before then who is coming, I think that is still plenty of time to order everything for the OOT bags. I will have all of the websites for all of the items selected and just place the orders (with a few extras just in case) at that time.

Everybody keeps saying that November will be here before I know it - but I feel like it is so far off. I want to get more done but I feel as if I can't since we have no idea how many guests will end up coming. I think my impression of November being so far off is because I really want to go on vacation but we have been saving money and days off of work for the DW since the middle of last year. The thought of waiting another 7+ months to travel is killing me. It doesn't help that I will be starting a new job at a new company next week so I have to start over with vacation days that are prorated from the start date. As for the expensive dress - maybe you could start a thread on this forum with a picture of the dress you love to see if any of the brides here have tried on anything similar but that is less expensive. For anyone to really be able to help they would need to know the price range you are looking at. There is also the option of a knock-off dress, but that could bea risk you are unwilling to take.

If you call and get any response please let us all know.

I agree with most of the other ladies - #2 all the way. #1 is a really pretty dress, but #2 looks fantastic on you.

I am really nervous about the cost of fuel as well. Only myself/fiance and my parents have bought plane tickets so far. It might have been a big mistake for everyone to wait. I really hope that the prices come back down in the next few months....

02Nov crystalz Grand Bahia Principe Akumal 04Nov kelnces Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun 05Nov jenniketchup TBD 05Nov clgriffi7 Dreams Cancun 05Nov alysam4785 Beach Palace 10Nov carribe258 Dreams Tulum 10Nov jen83rn Now Jade Riviera 11Nov angi111111 El Dorado Royale 11Nov karielk TBD 11Nov CaitlinBlane2011 IB Tucan 11Nov Vanessa C Gran Caribe 11Nov nadennec Gran Caribe 11Nov Pucca Coral Baja 11Nov AshleyNicole84 Kool Beach Club 11Nov mrsgreene2011 Iberostar Rose Hall Suites 11Nov rpage06 Excellence Riviera Cancun 11Nov danitha Playacar Palace 12Nov jlarruda Majestic Elegance 12Nov hollybee Cabo Surf Hotel 17Nov JoanneIreland Barcelo Maya Palace 18Nov Bacchetta2Be Iberostar Grand Rose Hall 24Nov JLMS Sandos Playacar

BrideMoka - Did you cahnge your username from karielk? Just trying to keep our log up to date and I think from the last post that I need to change 11Nov karielk TBD to 11Nov BrideMoka Barcelo Maya Beach Is that right?

Wow - shutting the whole place for 9 months. As unfortunate as that is, I would just be thankful that she told you at this point so that you have plenty of time to select another resort.

KWally24 - I am sorry to hear about the renovations, but I am with you...I would be looking for another hotel too. The renovations might not be that bad and might not disrupt your trip, but you can't risk that for your wedding. I wish you the best of luck in selecting a new resort.

I wish I could be of more assistance, but I am a gazebo bride with a beach reception. So I was focused on finding a resort with a good gazebo. There should be lots of brides on the forum that were searching for beach ceremony sites that can fill you in on what they found.

One thing for you to think about and that will help the brides on this site to give recommendations: Do you want a private reception? Some resorts include a dinner at one of the restaurants (other guests could be nearby) with their wedding packages while others include a private reception (say on the beach or near the pool). But as you can imagine the package prices can differ significantly. As a reference, the Dreams Resorts (they have resorts in Cancun, Riviera Cancun, Puerto Aventuras, and Tulum) have a $2800 package (their highest package) that includes a ceremony, cocktail hour, private dinner reception and minimal photography & videography for 20 people. Hopefully you can use that as a starting comparison for your search! Best of luck...

My resort will not allow me to ship any items before hand, so I have to be able to fit all of the welcome bag items in suitcases/duffel bags. For that reason I am not doing any bulky items like towels. Also, whichever OOT bags I choose will have to pack flat. My guys are wearing linen pants and long-sleeved linen shirts with the sleeves rolled up on the forearm (that is my favorite look for a guy). My fiance will be wearing a white linen shirt with khaki linen pants while while the groomsmen will be wearing light blue linen shirts with the khaki linen pants. My colors are light blue and navy blue (my BM will be wearing a navy blue dress). My fiance wanted shorts, but I refused :-)

02Nov crystalz Grand Bahia Principe Akumal 04Nov kelnces Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun 05Nov jenniketchup TBD 05Nov clgriffi7 Dreams Cancun 05Nov alysam4785 Beach Palace 10Nov carribe258 Dreams Tulum 10Nov jen83rn Now Jade Riviera 11Nov angi111111 El Dorado Royale 11Nov karielk TBD 11Nov CaitlinBlane2011 IB Tucan 11Nov Vanessa C Gran Caribe 11Nov nadennec Gran Caribe 11Nov Pucca Coral Baja 11Nov AshleyNicole84 Kool Beach Club 11Nov mrsgreene2011 Iberostar Rose Hall Suites 11Nov rpage06 Excellence Riviera Cancun 12Nov jlarruda Majestic Elegance 12Nov hollybee Cabo Surf Hotel 17Nov JoanneIreland Barcelo Maya Palace 18Nov Bacchetta2Be Iberostar Grand Rose Hall 24Nov JLMS Sandos Playacar

Great pictures Jessica! It looks like you got some unique shots.

I am definitely counting the days, but November just seems so far away!

02Nov crystalz Grand Bahia Principe Akumal 04Nov kelnces Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun 05Nov jenniketchup TBD 05Nov clgriffi7 Dreams Cancun 05Nov alysam4785 Beach Palace 10Nov carribe258 Dreams Tulum 10Nov jen83rn Now Jade Riviera 11Nov angi111111 El Dorado Royale 11Nov karielk TBD 11Nov CaitlinBlane2011 IB Tucan 11Nov Vanessa C Gran Caribe 11Nov nadennec Gran Caribe 11Nov Pucca Coral Baja 11Nov AshleyNicole84 Kool Beach Club 11Nov mrsgreene2011 Iberostar Rose Hall Suites 11Nov rpage06 Excellence Riviera Cancun 12Nov jlarruda Majestic Elegance 12Nov hollybee Cabo Surf Hotel 17Nov JoanneIreland Barcelo Maya Palace 24Nov JLMS Sandos Playacar