jszy10

Thanks so much!! I actually don't leave until 3 weeks from today, but I'm pretty much done with everything but my programs, and I figured if I didn't do it now I'd never do it! Alisa leaves in 4 days!!! Hopefully I get to hear from her before I leave )

SO glad you are starting to feel better :oP You leave so soon!!! I am so excited for you to come back from ASP with pics and a review!! You will probably be back just in time for me to leave?! I leave on the 22nd. Are the wedges you got from Target online!?! I am trying to find a cute pair of wedges to go with this white strapless dress I bought from express for our welcome party!!

It IS all about babysitting!!! lol and like these kids want to do work after 1/2 the class leaves! I end up going from 22 kids to 6 kids in my one class, so that'll be interesting. I teach business classes -- Accounting, Business Law, Personal Finance... I'm definitely starting to see the light haha...FI's bachelor party is Saturday, mine is next Saturday, and then we will be packing the weekend after! ew..that does sound kind of far away still haha...we leave 3 weeks from today :oP

SO exciting!!! congrats hun, everything looks great!!

Hey ladies...I forgot to tell you that I heard back from Wilma (who actually gave me the info through Martha!?! no clue who that is..) about the limo, and this was her response: Unfortunately for Aventura Spa Palace, Xpu Ha Palace and Playacar, the limo service is not available. Ooooh well, worth a try. I also just got an email from Vanessa who said that all of my guests can set up their spa appointments for the resort dollar use early as long as they email her directly and tell her that they are with the "snyder/mini wedding". I already set up our wedding day treatments back in January (before the rates changed to REDICULOUS amounts).

Ahhh!!!! that's awesome!! ) congrats hun!

Omgggggg...just finished my planning thread...seriously, that was a pain in the ass!! lol The page kept freezing up because I was adding too much...at one point Internet Explorer even quit on me...but its done! I forgot to add some stuff..but oh well! Enjoy -- http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/73684/jess-s-riviera-maya-planning-thread-aventura-spa-palace

Omgggggg...just finished my planning thread...seriously, thats a pain in the ass!!! The page kept freezing up because I was adding too much...at one point Internet Explorer quit on me...but its done! I forgot some stuff...but oh well! Enjoy -- http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/73684/jess-s-riviera-maya-planning-thread-aventura-spa-palace

Favors: The back of the tag says… “Instead of tapping on your glass, here’s a system with Mexican class… Stand and shake with all your might, to see the groom kiss bride tonight!†and this is our cake inspiration! I think that's it!!! If you have any questions, feel free to shoot them my way!

For Our Guests: We aren’t going to have actual favors for our wedding day, but we will also be surprising my guests with filled OOT bags upon their arrival to the resort… THREAD -- http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/72302/jess-s-oot-bags-done-w-pics Our AHR: We are having an AHR 1 week after we return from Mexico (on July 9, 2011). I sent these AHR invites out in the very end of April and made my RSVP date June 10 so that I could finalize everything before we left for Mexico, since it’s so soon after we return! THREAD -- http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/70743/my-diy-ahr-invites I will post pics of our AHR when we return, but here are a few teasers of things we have been working on: (sorry for the pic quality, they’re all from my cell phone!) Centerpiece flowers: These were created by silk orchids, tiger lilies and grass w/ orange pedals that we found at Michaels! These centerpieces are approx. 18†tall and there will be sand and shells in the bottom of the vase and orange ribbon wrapped about the neck of the vase. The tables will all have tiffany blue satin overlays.

Our Invites: One thing this site introduced me to was Passport Invites, which is what I decided to do for my formal invitations. Again, sort of ‘non-traditionally’ I sent my invites about 10-11 months out with resort information, booking information, and RSVP postcards. I only sent out about 25 invitations (because we only wanted to invite close family and our bridal party), so we knew we would have no trouble with keeping track of who was coming or not. For my Passport Invites I used Aylee Bits template, along with ideas from a lot of you girls, and added my own special touches. That template was definitely the best $10 I ever spent. The RSVP postcards were free from Vistaprint. THREAD -- http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/63119/my-diy-passport-invites Pre-Travel Brochures and Lugguage Tags: One month before the trip, we sent out Pre-Travel Brochures and Luggage Tags. I made them both courtesy of VistaPrint and got the luggage tags cheap from a vendor on Amazon. THREAD -- http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/73204/riviera-maya-pre-travel-brochure-luggage-tags FRONT: BACK: Luggage Tags:

Bridesmaids: My girls are wearing Bill Levkoff #533 in the glacier color (like tiffany blue). They will wear Coloriffics Annie shoe which we are having died to match a shade of orange to match their flowers. (picture the shoes in an orange!!) I purchased them each hair flowers to match mine (from etsy vendor - thehoneycomb), a starfish necklace from Kohls, sterling ball stud earrings and orange custom wristlets (from etsy vendor - FrankieLloyd) to match their flowers/shoes. I also purchased them a lounge chair cover for the resort from the vendor DBROTH on Amazon and a bikini bag (from the girls shop ‘Justice’ believe it or not) for traveling. The Extras: All of the men will be wearing starfish boutonnieres and the girls and I will have silk orange and white tiger lilies. I put these all together myself and spend less than $30 in all!!! THREAD -- http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/72665/my-diy-bouquets-and-boutonnieres

The Dress I also got too excited to wait very long to try on wedding gowns and found my gown fairly quickly. I actually searched for this dress EVERYWHERE and could not seem to find it in a shop ANYWHERE. I then found out that Maggie Sottero does loaner dresses that you can pay to get delivered in to a shop to try on, so I decided to do this because I just could not get it out of my head! (It was only $50 and they credited that money towards my purchase, so it really wasn’t anything) Two days after I placed the ‘loaner’ order, I walked into a bridal show in my hometown and there it was, the dress I had been dying to try on, on one of the models! I said quite loudly, “Oh my god, that’s my dress!!†and practically ran over to her! Haha. The woman was so nice and actually took the dress off so I could put it on, right there at the show! It was my size and everything! And I LOVED it! This is actually me at the bridal show ) The dress is Maggie Sottero’s Leoni. My TTD I also purchased a Bill Levkoff bridesmaid dress in ivory (inspired by the style of my wedding gown) for my TTD session and dinner and dancing in Mexico. I couldn’t trash my wedding gown because I will be wearing it again for our AHR. (sorry for the quality, obv. a cell phone pic!) Groom: My FI will be wearing a Claiborne Tan Linen suit that we purchased on JCPenney.com on sale -- $85. The pants are the same as the groomsmen (listed below), with matching jacket and white linen dress shirt. I will also be surprising him with a BD photobook that I plan on leaving on the bed for him to find when he goes to get ready for the ceremony ) Groomsmen: The guys are wearing Claiborne Linen pants from JCPenney w/ an orange linen shirt from Men’s Wearhouse. We purchased Reef “Slap II†sandals as their gift, along with a privately chartered morning deep sea fishing trip through Tequilla Sunrise Adventures.

Hey Ladies!!!! I'm saying it..everyone ones -- ITS MY TURN!!!!! lol ) Thank you to everyone that has helped me come up with the most amazing ideas to make my wedding one of a kind. I can't even begin to imagine what my wedding experience would be like without these great ideas (although I do know there would've been no passport invites...no OOT bags..no pre-travel brochures..no good! haha) I will try to remember to post my thread links to everything I've done along the way and I will post any templates I can think of at the end! Here we go!!! Our Engagement We got engaged 4 days after our 2 year anniversary, with pretty cute reasoning. I always had this running joke with my FI that I had never dated anyone longer than 2 years, so if he wanted to keep me, he had to propose by then! Of course I was joking, but he must have thought it would be perfect to really do ) and I was shocked as ever!! He had actually planned on proposing on our anniversary, but the ring didn’t come in in time! So he ended up proposing the day it came in – 4 days after! My sister-in-law took our engagement pictures at a local park that we frequent...here is one of my favs ) Let the Planning Begin... I was so excited and surprised that I didn’t want to wait one minute to start planning!! I chose Riviera Maya pretty quickly because it was affordable and I have heard great things about it, so I researched day in and day out for a resort until I found the perfect one – Aventura Spa Palace. This resort had the adult only aspect that we wanted, and offered a great wedding package. As soon as our wedding date was confirmed with the resort, I did the ‘non-traditional’ and sent out a basic STD that announced when and where we were to be married, with more information to follow. I just made a real basic DIY magnet… (thinking back I wish I would have taken more time to really make something nicer, but I think I made up for it with my invites) (I think its making me submit now....more coming!!)

Erin: I'm so jealous!!! I teach HS so its a mess of a schedule...seniors are done June 9, and then I have underclassmen until the 17th!!!!! UGH..I teach mixed grade classes, so even after we're done...we're not DONE. It's slow torture lol I wouldn't worry too much about the weather..I feel like its like florida..when it rains, it pours, and its done..all in 10 minutes. I will keep my fingers crossed for beautiful weather for everyone!!

I'm just ready to go!!! lol I think I'm the last June bride to get married, and with being a Teacher and waiting impatiently for the school year to end, I feel like these last few weeks are going to last forever!! All I really I have left to do is put my programs together and finish my welcome books. I ended up changing a few things like my shoes and jewerly, and now I'm ready to have my last dress fitting! I'm getting so excited to just get to Mexico already!!! )

I hand wrote all of my invites...I think it is definitely more personal to do this, and I believe that is what is customary. Hope that helps! (I DID use a return address sticker for MY address)

sheesh...my dad called my FI the other day bragging about this new "news" he found online...but the only reviews I see with people saying that are from like 2005 or before...so I feel like maybe that changed when the resort when to a family/adult combo? He's trying to get under my skin..and its working!!! I'm so not interested in a boobfest on my wedding/honeymoon trip!!!

Ew...my dad claims to believe that Aventura is top-optional on the adult side....is that true?

I am flying USAir and I am just taking it in a garmet bag as my carry on with hopes that they will hang it for me. Worse comes to worst I will either lay it on top of the carryon bags or fold it to fit it in overhead. Mia (one of the brides that just got married here) flew USAir and she said that it worked out fine and they took and hung her gown as soon as she got on the plane...so that makes me very hopeful.

Oooh Kerri, I hear you....my FI and his father have owned their own service business forever..down went the economy, down with their work. He is home before noon every day, and sometimes just goes fishing in the morning because they don't have work. I so resent that. He jokes and calls me his "sugar mama" too. He is so set in his ways that he doesn't even consider another job. He just keeps saying business will get better. He can barely pay the very few bills he has..which are all in my name and often paid late, and he has barely given me ANY money for the wedding, while i'm putting in all the extra money I have. The other day he said he saw a job opening for work in his field that pays like $35 an hour and I finally opened up and said "omg you should look into that! Do you know how great our lives could be if you made a substantial income like that!?" and he just got real defensive about how his work will get better and he's not taking that kind of job. It really is hard to deal with...and even though we make it just fine on my income, it really does take a toll on you! Thanks so much for posting...

Amanda, you look great!!! Have you thought about the barefoot sandals? I think you'd be better off barefoot or with barefoot sandals than in shoes? I feel like being on the beach you'd end up with sand in your shoes and then be uncomfortable? I don't really know though? I've seen some super cute ones on etsy (by searching barefoot sandals)...

OMG ALISA!!!!!!!! I hope you are feeling better soon I know that is not a fun thing to recover from...and I'm sure the stress of it all isn't helping!! Good think you've been planning so far ahead of time!! Good luck with your move...it will make time fly!

Thank you!

There is also a palace resort called "Xpu-Ha Palace" that is a eco-resort...and they have snorkeling, flamingos, turtles, aligators, etc....so I was thinking if we wanted that eco-park feeling maybe we could just go there for a day and everything would be free!