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They did. He loves them and I am so glad I went thru with it.

Thank you so much!!

I purchased runners, napkins and sashes from weddinglinensdirect.com. Color: Aqua/TiffanyBlue They were the perfect turquoise color for me!! I used fake white orchids from Michaels. They have a great variety. Very cheap - especially with a 40% off coupon. Don't shop there without one. =)

Thank you!! Can't believe I left that part out. I ordered the BMs OOT bags and the Mother's OOT bags from Exclusively Weddings. BM totes - http://www.exclusivelyweddings.com/Weddings/Wedding-Party-Gifts/Bridesmaid-Gifts/Totes-Beach-Bags-Lunch-Totes/Colorful-Jute-Totes Mom totes - http://www.exclusivelyweddings.com/Weddings/Wedding-Party-Gifts/Bridesmaid-Gifts/Totes-Beach-Bags-Lunch-Totes/Patchwork-Beach-Tote

I just looked at what I wrote and realized I left out a very funny and creative part. He took me to Robbins Bros. back in May 2010 and he didn't propose until Aug 2010. During that time he always told me that "IF" he had bought the ring that I would never know because he had the best hiding place. I tried guessing every little crack and crevice I could think of in the apt. Sure enough he told me he had bought it back in May and decided to cut a whole in the box spring and slid it in there. I had been sleeping on it for about 3 months and never knew. So creative!!

Aww thanks sweety. He is so adorable. He has the most funny and creative ideas all the time.

No I think it was perfect length for the ceremony. So beautiful. For the reception my girls bustled it and I danced the night away. My problem was I put on flip flops that had a bit of height but not the same as my wedding heels so it was still dragging but I didn't care.

Thanks my dear!!

Pure white linen

Thank you!! What a relief to have it done and up. Haha I thought that pic was cute too and it shows my adorable shoes!! Oh boy did he LOVE it!! Funny thing - he didn't open it until after the wedding. Long story short - the guys ran into me during the day when I was running around the resort and getting ready. They were supposed to be on the other side of the resort ALL DAY. Ugh guys! So David knew I would be pissed about that so he was so afraid to screw up doing anything else that when he saw the "For Your Eyes Only" note he figured he shouldn't open it yet. All the guys (even my dad) were saying the same thing - since we already screwed up today lets not screw up any more LOL. So he ended up opening it later that night when it was just me and him. It was cute to have that moment together. Thank you! My amazing photographers were Melissa and Jonathan from La Luna. I have no pictures from them yet but I know the ones they took were amazing. Thank you! Wow how romantic. I didn't get to make it to Playacar because it poured the day were were going to go. Sun Palace is awesome!! Please take take take. I took almost all of it from Jessica so I am not taking credit for it. I definitely have stuff I need to get rid of - just not sure what yet. We have our AHR in Feb and I think I may be using some of the stuff - but probably not all. I'll PM you. Also none of these photos are from my photog. These were all from guests. Still trying to wait patiently for La Luna to send something my way.

And I finally did my planning thread. Whew!! I think I am done....for now. Starting to focus my time on our AHR. http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/77015/sxcts-planning-thread-for-aventura-palace-resort-on-11-18-11

I wanted to get this done before I left but it just didn't happen. So its 3 weeks after but thankfully I did 95% of this before I left. Background: I got engaged on 8/11/10 and knew I’d be having a destination wedding right away. I travel all the time so there was no way I’d be getting married somewhere over here. It would have to be warm, tropical and have beautiful turquoise water!! David proposed on a random Wednesday so that I would be totally caught off guard. The proposal story is so cute and funny so if you’d like to read it check out our wedding website at http://taryndavid.ourwedding.com/view/7492923452664391/21062193 You can also read our “how we met†story on there too which I think is cute. Picking the Location: I wanted to get married on a Caribbean island so bad but I knew Mexico was slightly cheaper and a bit closer for most to fly to so I decided to go with that. I know it’s the Mexican Caribbean and I am ok with that. I narrowed down the choices to a few different resorts (Secrets, Dreams, Palace) and after doing the cost comparison and showing David pictures I made him decide. He chose Aventura Palace Resort and I know we made a great decision. Telling the Guests: We figured the quickest way to let people know what we were planning was to send out an email with some details and start up the wedding website (http://taryndavid.ourwedding.com). Since I’m known for emails with too much info, links, photos, etc., I know the email I sent out wasn’t viewed or read by many. I tried to provide lots of info but even David says that most people won’t read it, only skim it. Oh well! So we sent the email out asking for addresses so we could get our guest list filled in. Took several follow up emails, FB emails, text messages and even calls to get what we needed. Wedding Dress: My dress is Mori Lee #2505 in white Grooms Attire: David’s suit was from Studio Suits – all white pure linen. Rings: All rings are from Robbin’s Bros. Mine are Coast brand. His is Gravure brand but we customized it. We add 4 additional diamonds for a total of 5 diamonds. Shoes: Ahhh my lovely turquoise shoes – RSVP Lovely. Purchased from Zappos.com Love love love them!! “I DO†stickers purchased from Michael’s. Garter purchased from Michael’s and then bedazzled by me! My backup flip flops – Kensie Girl - purchased from 6pm.com Flowers: I had a real touch bouquet made from both me and my sister (MOH) and a bout made for David. Watermenot.com is responsible for such great work. I added the rhinestone looking wrap around the stem. Jewelry: Earrings and hair clip purchased from an accessory store in the mall. Bracelet purchased from Macy’s (Monet brand) STDs: I knew I had to do the boarding pass STD because it was so cute and I loved the idea of it. Here is a link to the STDS I made. http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/65992/sxcts-diy-boarding-pass-stds Invites: Since I did the boarding pass STDs I just had to do the passport for the invitations. I thought the idea was genius and the guests would love it. Here is the link to my passport invitations. http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/74091/sxcts-passport-invites-finally-done Bridesmaids Cards: Well I also did a little DIY project to create “Will You Be My Bridesmaid?†cards for my girls. Here is the link http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/65266/sxcts-very-first-diy-project-bridesmaid-cards Pre-Travel Brochures: I made 3 fold brochures from Vistaprint. I have to give all the credit to Jessica (jszy10). She did hers and I copied about 90% of it so she saved me so much time and energy. DIY Luggage Tags: I made the tags using a Word template from here and inserted tropical pictures as the background. I sent these out with the pre-travel brochures a few weeks before we departed. I purchased the luggage tags from clearenvelopes.com (http://www.clearenvelopes.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=luggage ) Here is the template I used. OOT Bags: Wow these were fun but time consuming, especially with all the DIY projects I decided to do. ~Bags: I first purchased the small ones from the Dollar Tree but ended up selling them to another bride and buying the personalized ones from OTC ( http://www.orientaltrading.com/personalized-large-nonwoven-neon-color-tote-bags-a2-47_979.fltr?prodCatId=388632&categoryFromSearch=true&tabId=1&Ne=90000&rd=tote%20bag ) I am very happy with them and I just love the colors. It helped that lots of the other stuff from OTC also came in the same fun colors. ~ Welcome tag: Created and purchased from Vistaprint. ~ DIY Room Key Holders: Used a template from this site but added in my own tropical pictures Here is the template ~ Lanyards: From OTC in colors that match my OOT bags (no longer seem to be available on the website – sorry) ~ DIY chapstick: Purchased the chapsticks at the swapmeet. I started to use one of the templates on here but then I decided I was going to save some money. I grabbed the shipping labels that we have here (Avery 5163) that no one uses and inserted the Avery template into Word and created my own design. I printed two to each label and then used a paper cutter to trim them. Worked great!! ~ First Aid Kits: Purchased them from eBay. I used the first aid heart image from this board and then inserted them into the Avery 5164 template (another shipping label). I had to trim the sides slightly but they fit over the first aid kits pretty good. I received a lot of Band-Aids when I purchased the kits so I put an extra 5 Band-Aids in each one along with antibiotic ointment and hydrocortisone cream (both stolen from my work….ssshhh). Here is the template ~ Survival Kits: These were the fun ones. Just about everything is from either the $.99 store, Dollar Tree, Walmart or the grocery store. I grabbed one of the templates on here but once again I used shipping labels so I just copy and pasted the images into my Avery 5164 template. I used a storage Ziploc bag to put everything in and stuck the sticker right on the front. Contents: Chapstick Shout Wipes Wet Wipes Wisp Gum Hand Sanitizer Tissues Tylenol / Advil /Aleve Antacid Tablets Crystal Light ~Gummy Flip Flops: Purchased from OTC. So cute! http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/browse/processRequest.do?requestURI=processProductsCatalog&sku=34/1134 ~ Flip Flop playing cards: Purchased from OTC. http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/browse/processRequest.do?requestURI=processProductsCatalog&sku=34/1214 ~ Tropical Notepads: Purchased from OTC. http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/browse/processRequest.do?requestURI=processProductsCatalog&sku=34/1819 ~ Tropical colored Pens: Purchased from the Dollar Tree ~ The Big Day Timeline: Created in Word. Printed on brochure paper (had tons left over from STDs) Here is the template. ~ Wedding Week Itinerary: Created in Word and printed on brochure paper. Here is the template. ~ Do Not Disturb tags: Created and purchased from Vistaprint. Punched two holes at the top and used turquoise ribbon to make the loop. ~Riviera Maya Brochure: Asked my travel agent to get these for me. ~ David & Taryn’s Word Puzzle: Created my own word puzzle using this website http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/WordSearchSetupForm.asp ~ “A trip to remember†magnet: Purchased from Vistaprint. (sorry but none of the pics came out good. ~ Welcome Letter: Used the already created letters that are floating around this site. Printed on tropical letterhead paper from Vistaprint. Here is the template. I believe that’s it for the OOT bags for my guests. Here are the OOT bags for my bridesmaids Each girl received a silver wristlet and rhinestone bracelet to use/wear the day of the wedding. For the wristlets, I purchased brooches online and pinned them on the front of each bag and then I be-dazzled the wrist strap myself. This leads me into the BMs gifts/dresses. So in addition to the special OOT bags with the wristlets and bracelets inside… purchased the girls dresses for them as a present. Bridesmaids: Pretty Maids #22424 Fabric:Satin Color:Mermaid http://prettybridesmaids.com/Bridesmaid-Dress-22424/ I also made the special flip flops and matching tank tops to wear on the plane and throughout the week. (second pair wasn't completed when pic was taken) Groomsmen: The groomsmen had their pants and ties purchased for them. Pants from Stuido Suits and ties from solidcolorneckties.com They also received personalized knives while the best man received a personalized clock and pen holder along with a business card holder from Things Remembered. All the young male attendees received a Team Groom shirt with their nicknames on the back. Wedding Décor: I brought my own table runners, napkins and chair sashes. Purchased from weddinglinensdirect.com Color: TiffanyBlue/Aqua50618 I brought all the supplies for my own centerpieces as well. ~ Silver Plates – Michael’s ~ Vases – 12pk from the Dollar Tree ~ Acrylic Ice – OTC ~ Turquoise Pebbles – Dollar Tree and Michael’s ~ Submersible LED turquoise lights – 100candles.com - http://www.100candles.com/items/item_9529.htm ~ Orchids – Michael’s Cake: We ended up getting a 3-tier cake. Top was strawberry, middle was marble and bottom was cheesecake. I brought my own cake topper, the I DO letters and the cake cutting/toasting set. Our Honeymoon Spot: Sun Palace - absolutely beautiful!! All Palace resorts are amazing and I can’t wait to visit one again. Well i believe that is all. I hope I could help some other brides out. Let me know if you have any questions.

Review finally posted. http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/products/aventura-spa-palace-all-inclusive/reviews/5380 Ask any questions you have. One thing I forgot to mention was the music. We provided the CD for the ceremony and they did a good job of playing what we told them to, cut the music when we asked and faded it out when needed.

I told everyone to book ahead of time. I booked my appt for a massage for both me and my sis and pedicures for all the girls the day of the wedding ahead of time. Everyone else booked once they got there and there were definitely some issues but everyone was able to get at least one thing at the spa - some were able to get something done everyday. You will have to ask your travel agent or the person you booked with at the resort how many total credits you have to use and how many you can use at the spa. It all depends on when you booked and how many days you are staying.

Do not apologize. I am here to help.

Great photos Sarah!! You are so lucky. No teasers for me. Waiting is so hard.

We had someone in charge of the ipad and he announced us when the wedding coordinator told him to. Then we just did all the special dances back to back and he announced what they were "Father and Bride" or "Mother and Groom".

Thank you!! We both felt it. Now all we talk about is how we are going to keep it LOL!!

Wow 2 weeks. You are very very lucky. Mine is 8-12 weeks. Hoping I have them in time for the AHR otherwise I'll freak!!

In your carry-on....only option. I had a box of 12 with me in my carry-on along with the toasting flutes and the sand ceremony vases. I did ship 3 home in the checked bags, wrapped them in bubble wrap and inside the box with my bouquets. They made it.

It is not adhesive. You can cut it to any length/width like I did for both the bouquet and the votives. We sewed it together on the bouquet stem and glued it on to the votives.

Inside the vases are turquoise led submersible lights with some acrylic ice.

Some pics of Aventura...

Sorry it took so long. I know how it feels to anxiously be awaiting someone's review. See my responses below Anything else?

For starters I purchased the girls dresses And they each got special OOT bags with lots of cute stuff in them I bedazzled the straps on the wristlets and purchased the pin for each one of them. Also bought them a bracelet to wear the day of the wedding. Then I made them tank tops and flip flops to wear on the plane and throughout the week (the second pair weren't done when this pic was taken) Here they are enjoying them at the reception The groomsmen got a personalized knife and the best man got a very nice personalized clock/pen holder for his desk and a personalized business card holder (both from Things Remembered). All guys got their pants and ties purchased for them. Oh and all the young male guests received Team Groom shirts with their nicknames on the back I think that is it...