shannonmarie

Nevermind! I saw you say it's from shutteryfly

Your pictures are gorgeous! Which website did you use to make your photo book? I cannot find any that have less than 20 pages and I don't need 20 pages! I do like your idea of adding quotes to fill the pages!

Hmmm, let me think about it. I found some on justartifact.com that were very reasonable. round $19 or so for 14 lanterns, different sizes for about $19 so I may just go that route since they are new and it's not much of a price difference. I'll let you know for sure if I end up changing my mind! ;-)

Wasn't one of your colors hot pink/fuchsia? If so, I'd buy those one's off you. That way, I'd only need to order white ones Just let me know how much you'd see them for.

Katie, I've been going back and forth with bringing the paper lanterns or not. I just can't decide. Did you have to bring any kind of fishing wire or something to hang them or did you just bring the lanterns and Pilar had all the supplies to hang? If I do decide to bring them, I'm not bringing doing any lights for them which I hear is just fine. They look pretty in your pictures, I'm just hesitant whether to spend the money on them or not. If you were doing it over again, would you still bring them? I'm also going to be in Castaways where you had your reception.

For anyone who wants to print their own, these fit great on avery mailing labels 5163. You get 2 to a label. You may have to trim a little but they work well! I'm sure agm04's template could work but I haven't tried that one on these labels. Here's the one I used.. I apologize as I do not remember who's thread I got this template from. another chapstick labels.doc

Congrats! I agree, 3 hours does seem short, especially when it includes a sit down dinner. You have an option to extend it to 11pm (an extra hour) for $15 per person. If you have the divine or eternity package it includes up to 25 people. Anything over is extra, depending on your package. Either $48 or $53 for dinner, plus extra for other options as well. All this can be found on the wedding guide on the Now Jade website, also, I'm not sure if you have read this entire thread (it's alot to read, but worth it!) but the 1st page has tons of info as well as pictures of Castaways. The chairs come with white covers and you can get colored chair ties for $5 each. You can find them online for under a dollar which is what I'll be doing. I cannot comment on the sound of the speakers but I will be using the sound system for the ceremony. I asked Pilar whether they preferred an iPod or CD and she said iPod. I'll be bringing a list of instructions on when to play each song. We will be using the resort DJ for the reception.

That's a great visual! Thank you! It actually doesn't look bad at all! I think I'll stick 9 at some people if i have to! Thanks!

We would like to do this as well. I haven't heard anything about chips and salsa though. We are going to have everyone meet at the lobby bar and pilar should be able to section off a small area for us. Ill be putting it in our brochure that we will send out prior to leaving. We originally were going to put it in our welcome letter, but decided that we are going to give our welcome bags at the gathering. We are choosing to do it at 8pm and word it something like "after dinner, meet us at the lobby bar for some mingling and cocktails." I just wanna make sure people eat before since we will not have food.

I picked the same exact as you did, we'll I'm only giving 2 options, beef & shrimp and Scallops & Mahi mahi. But I also chose the shrimp and scallops in coconut milk and lobster bisque! The salad choices were not appealing to me at all so we went with an app! ;-)

Katie, some pictures would be fabulous! I've seen your review, but I can't remember if there are too many pictures of Castaways, well at least enough where I can actually see the lay out. I'm still uncertain of our exact amount but I'm thinking about 40 possibly more. Probably 5-7 round tables depending on the exact number of guest. Plus a sweetheart table for my FI and I, small cake table and small table for photos and guest book. I'm trying to visualize your idea of having people sit on both sides of the dance floor.. Would I have enough tables? I forgot there's already a bar in there, that's great!

Thanks mlite! I'm set on round tables though! I mentioned the rectangular ones to my mother in law and she shot me down pretty quick! lol

Does any past brides have an example set up of their reception set up at Castaways (with round tables)? I found a cool seating chart option on wedding wire and I'm trying to play around but it's hard not having any clue how the room is set up!

Thanks! I was thinking the same but the less people at each table means more tables, which means more centerpieces! haha! Oh well! Thanks Kristen! I'm agreeing with 6-8 people. I'm going to have more tables than expected! Oh well I was wanting to squeeze 9 at some but I don't want any one to be uncomfortable. I am not sure about the head table, we decided to do a sweet heart table and let our wedding party sit with everyone else.. It's only 3 people anyways!

For those who used round tables, I know it says it seats 6-10 people but I am so confused how many to put at each table? Would 10 be too crowded? What did you do?

True! Thanks for the advice! From what I hear, not many people even send the RSVP's back anyways! I'll be fine with owing the postman .01 if I have to! :-)

This part confused me too, but here's what I decided to do... I am making place cards/escort cards that will be displayed on a table as they enter the reception (or possibly at cocktail hour, I haven't figured that out yet) There will be a card for each guest along with their table number. I will also have a sign on the table that says something to the affect of "Please find your name and your table number, please place your card in front of you so your meal choice is brought to you" The only reason I decided to add the sign is because I have heard of people picking up their escort card and putting it in their pocket or something which is pointless if the server can't see the card with their meal choice. When they get to their assigned table, they can sit where ever they'd like at the table. I found little pictures of fish, beef, etc that will also be displayed on each person's card so the server will know what to bring them. I will let my wedding coordinator know how many of each dish at each table. Hope this helps!

I honestly have no idea. I just got them from the post office and they were the only post card stamps they had. Hopefully it works out.

Oh no! What does this mean for my RSVP's that are still out? I just sent them about 2 weeks ago & there's over 100! Will I not get these back?

I was quoted $350 plus tax per hour for the resort DJ. I do not believe Pilar will allow a swap for photographer and DJ. She is allowing a swap for the live music included in the Divine package for 2 hours of DJ time if you'd like to look into that.

I don't have much advice on any outside photographers. Unfortunately, it's just not in our budget to hire anyone. But I've seen the work from all those mentioned and they look wonderful! If your budget is $3500 for photography, I'm pretty sure you can find one! I did find this link for adventure photos on a google search. http://nowjade.adventurephotos.com.mx/

I love this point of view! I completely agree with dragging things with you. When I first started planning I was set on bringing my own centerpieces. But now as I am really thinking about it, I'm bringing enough with us as it is! I absolutely don't want to lug a whole suite cases full of vases. It's just too much of a hassle. Centerpieces are expensive at the resort but for me, the convenience of it is worth the price.

Thanks for the reassurance ladies!! You all are so sweet! Don't know what I would do with out this forum!

Ugh! Really? I agree, that's kinda ridiculous! Thanks for the info Tova! Our time is fast approaching!