clgriffi7

1) I sent out a Save The Date (STD) to guests as soon as we had all of our dates booked. The STD the listed the wedding info (date and resort) as well as mentioning a date for the in town celebration. The website that we put on the STD contains more info about the party. We also mentioned the party (with a few more details) in our formal invitations along with a note that that says "RSVP reminder at a later date". I have a picture of the overall invite and then a picture of the 3rd and final page of the invite that is about the AHR. We will make postcard invitations for the AHR (ours is just a party, not a full reception) with an email address for RSVPs. 2) Because of money and vacation days from work you may have a tough time getting everyone to travel on the same days. For my Saturday wedding I have people arriving on Thursday and Friday and people leaving Monday and Tuesday. Just be careful that the more restrictive you make the dates the more people may not be able to come. I plan on taking all of our guests on an excursion as well and I waited until I heard the different travel dates to choose Sunday, the day after the wedding. Hope that helps Courtney

I have taken a risk and guessed at how many people will be there! We will have a smaller group (right now it is looking like 26 adults + 3 kids, including B&G) but not everyone has booked. We probably only have 10 ppl fully booked, another 10 ppl 1/2 booked (either flights or rooms), and another 6 that have repeatedly told us and others they were coming. There are a lot of people we sent invitations to that never responded to our RSVP, but as they have not said even a single word to my fiance or I about coming we will just assume they are not. For those things that I ordered online, I bought enough in case 1 extra couple surprises us. I bought quite a bit of my OOT bad stuff locally (Dollar Tree), so I will just go pick up more if needed. I refuse to be in a state of panic come October, so I am getting a lot done now. Hopefully that won't come back to bit me in the a$$. I can tell my fiance is already annoyed with all of the wedding stuff I am doing so early - he is a procrastinator so he can't fathom working on things months in advance. But he is also a man and has no clue what all goes into planning a wedding and how it ends up invading my thoughts every free moment I have.

Marlena - I am not sure what kind of centerpieces you are looking at, so it is hard to say if that is a reasonable price. But here is a picture (a selection from the resort's handouts) of the centerpiece I want and the price in their list is $68 + 11% tax = $75.50.

I would say definitely wait to bring up anything about a speech - start with just saying that you would still love for her to attend the wedding as a guest. Since I am a low drama person and non-confrontational, I would likely send her a note via email. I would just assume that her husband will remain a groomsmen unless he says something to your fiance. It might be a good idea to prep your fiance with what you would want him to say in the event that the groomsmen brings up the topic. Best of luck - but at least you will have less drama leading up the wedding without her as a MOH.

Thanks ladies. We had our engagement pictures taken early so we could use them on things like the STDs and the wedding website. I definitely wanted the magnet STD just to make sure it ended up on guests' fridges, but adding the card gave us room to add more text.

I just logged into Vistaprint and saw that the upgraded cards are 100-lb recycled matte paper (the standard postcards are glossy). For reference, the card stock I am using for my ivites and programs and such are 65-lb to 80-lb.

I made my STD's using Vistaprint magnets and post cards. I attached the magnets to the post cards with glue dots and then mailed then in the Vistaprint envelopes. I think the magnets were of perfectly acceptable quality - but note they are the kind where it appears the image is printed directly onto the flexible magnet material. They are not the kind that almost feel like a plastic button that is glued to the magnetic material. I hope that makes sense. Here is the price breakdown: free 100 post cards, paid $3.74 for upload + $11.99 for the better card stock + $3.74 for 100 white envelopes = $19.47 + S/H + tax, total = $28.27 50 small business magnets $7.00 + $3.74 for upload = $10.74 + S/H + tax, total = $17.20 25 free small business magnets = $0.00 + S/H, total = $6.31 total price = $51.78 for 75 Save the Dates (not including postage)

One thing to consider that may help you narow down a destination (prior to picking the actual resort) is to check the flight prices to all of the different locations from your local airport. If you are lucky enough to live near a major hub then it won't be much of a concern. But for me, flights to Mexico were considerably cheaper than flights to any of the Caribbean islands (and Hawaii wasn't even a consideration!!).

Soon2BMrsS Oct 21 (travel Oct 18-25) futuremrsroo Oct 28 (travel Oct 26-30) mgl27 Oct 29 (travel Oct 24-Nov 1) clgriffi7 Nov 5 (travel Nov 2-10) bnwedding2011 Nov 8 (travel Nov 5-12) hairdos11 Nov 10 (travel Nov 6-14) shannonb528 Nov 11 (travel Nov 7-13) Jenny Shvetsova Nov 30 (travel Nov 26-Dec 3) Jenny - so far you are the only one at the end of November...

I think somehow that thread must have been deleted along with my post in this thread. Searching for the concierge thread I can't find it anymore and searching through my profile I can't find it there either. When I go to my profile and select all posts it is gone from that list as well (where I posted in this thread and the concierge thread)...kinda freaky...didn't know they could do that :-) Oh well - I guess no assistance for us :-( Courtney

I would say definitely ask the officiant you choose, but I can't imagine they would have any problem with you selecting the wording. Here is what I am planning on using (we are not planning on including other family members): "Today, the uniting of these two individuals will be symbolized through the pouring of these containers of sand, each representing an integral part of this marriage. (B & G walk behind the table) Now, as each of you holds your container of sand, the separate vessels represent your lives to this moment. Each one holds its own unique beauty, strength, and character. They can stand on their own and be whole, without need of anything else. However when these are all blended together they create an entirely new and extraordinarily more intricate entity. Each grain of sand brings to the mixture a lasting beauty that forever enriches the combination. As you combine the sand, your lives also join together as one. You may now blend the sand together symbolizing the uniting of your family and your future together. (B&G begin pouring) Just as these grains of sand can never be separated and poured again into the individual containers, so will your marriage and family be a molding of individual personalities, bonded together forming one love, one heart, one life, and one family. (B&G return to front of table)"

Have you seen this thread? It looks like it might be a Dreams Cancun rep that is now on this forum.... http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/74576/e-concierge-for-dreams-cancun#post_1636407

Interesting - all of the slideshows I have seen at traditional receptions start with baby/kid pictures. I think a lot of that is for laughs because you know there are some pictures from your elementary/middle/high school years that would be a bit embarassing.

I think you will find a variety of hotels at all of the different locations that can help you meet your budget - so if price is number 1 then you need to find out which destination has the cheapest flights. I am from North Carolina and a travel agent told us once that the cheapest flights are to either the Bahamas or Cancun. I know I wanted an all-inclusive and there aren't as many to chose from in the Bahamas so we selected Mexico (Cancun all the way south to Tulum are serviced by that same airport). To get an idea of prices for my guests - I then went on Expedia and picked the dates of my travel but a year ahead (in Aug. 2010 I looked at prices for Nov 2010 to estimate the costs for Nov 2011) and looked at the flgiht + hotel costs for all of the options. I then set a limit and only looked at the resorts that fell under that price limit. My personal goal was to pick a resort where the cost for an individual (based on double occupancy) was <= $1000 based on double occupancy for 5 nights. That way if the cost were still too high, guests could just decrease the number of nights as needed.

I plan on just stopping th party for a ~10 minute slide show that will go all the way from baby pictures to engagement pictures to wedding pictures. But for your case, where you want o run through the whole party - I would say put it on maybe a 20 mintue loop or so. That way if someone turned away for a few minutes they don't have to wait for hours to see what they missed. I was thinking maybe a 3 to 5 second display for each photo, so 20 minutes at a 3 second display would need 400 pictures. For a 5 second display that drops to 240 pics.

We will actually have our photographer at our AHR (which will be at a less fancy reception hall but will be a party with no seated meal) so I have put something to the effect of "comfortable enough to dance, but cute enough for pictures". To me that means I will get less dressy than standard wedding attire, but more like "going out" attire. Because I won't be wearing my wedding dress (I will be wearing the dress I bought for my legal wedding) that will be good enough for me - I just want the pictures to look okay...

My current plan is to walk down the aisle to "Marry Me" by Train. I have a list of 5 songs to play while the guests are seated and plan for my fiance and the groomsmen to arrive at the last of those songs ("Marry You" by Bruno Mars). Then I plan on having the mothers seated, my one BM, and the flower girls come in to "Everything" by Michael Buble. My fiance is a huge Buble fan. Just typing that out makes me wonder whether I can get 2 mothers, a BM, 2 flower girls and a ring barer down the aisle to one song....huh. (though DW aisles are typically much shorter!)

I plan on doing programs. For me it will just be effort instead of expense. I will make the programs myself with materials that are left over from making the invitations. I have made all of my paper products (STDs, invites, donation favor cards, escort cards, programs, etc) because I know I never keep any of those items from other weddings so I didn't want to waste serious money on them (though I am sure they look better when professionally made).

I think your videographer did a great job of capturing your whole day and hopefully he got video of all of the really important people that were there (like family!). I would definitely be happy if that is what was returned to me. Just to let you know, my favorite part was when they did the slow mo of you saying "for the rest of my life".

$250 is likely a reasonable price for the work she will do - but the question is whether you want to spend that much. I spent $150 on a cake topper - I posted a picture in the cake topper thread (post #82): http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/43270/post-your-cake-topper/80 I think the money was worth it because it will be a surprise for him on our wedding day (our dog is on the cake topper and I know my fiance wishes the dog could be there) and it is something that can be displayed after we get home (likely with the sand ceremony frame). But I might not think it was a good investment if I weren't planning on displaying it. So maybe thinking about what you plan to do with it after the wedding could help you make a decision.

The nerves haven't set in for me yet - just extreme impatience. I have had to save up my vacation days at work for this trip so I am really itching to go! I am going to start traveling a decent amount for my job starting in August, so I have been trying to get some of the stuff done ahead of time. Thus far I have not been successful in convincing my fiance that we need to work on the ceremony script 4 months in advance.... (and of course when I say "work on" I mean him just review and approve/edit the draft I have already written!)

I definitely plan on taking pictures of the table setup, the flowers, and the cake I want. Do you have any pictures of your cake? I want to find a cake that I think Dreams can do well. I don't want to get my heart set on a fancy looking cake that they can't reproduce. Did you choose a cake before heading to Mexico or did Claudia have a book of options for you to look at?

You sound just like me - a backup plan for the backup plan :-) Although I must say I was thinking of having my Dad carry the extra copy for the ceremony...but having the groom do it would be even more convenient.

We are also doing "When You Say Nothing At All" by Alison Krauss , which my fiance which .I think the only way to get around a song your fiance loves and you dislike is to come up with an even better idea. I don't think this is a situation where you can say "I just don't like that one" as that just sounds like you are shooting him down. I think it would sound better if you said "Your choice is definitely an option, but I would much rather dance to _____ as our first dance." so it doesn't sound like you are rejecting his idea - you just have an idea you like better.

This is exactly what I was hoping to hear! (I did the same thing with the thread on BDW) Did you give the binder to Claudia at your meeting and/or did you mail it ahead of time?