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@slfavors OOT bags are always popular with DW guests and it sounds like you have some really great ideas for yours! if you're stuck for any other ideas just do a search up top on OOT bags and you'll get a ton of things to read. It seems to be one thing that the brides-to-be have a lot of fun with! Your date isn't too far away. Just a few months to go. Good luck!

@yardiegyal I'm really sorry to hear you had such a bad experience with Tai Flora. It's sad to hear when a bride has a bad experience with a vendor. I hope you still managed to salvage your day and enjoy it as much as possible. There are so many different factors that can come up. Congrats on being a Mrs.!

Those turned out beautifully! They're a favourite of the brides to be here. It's so appropriate for a destination wedding!

@krystalball I don't know if this applies to Grand Sirenis or not. We weren't even at this resort but the "National", "International" and "Premium" seems to be the standard all over Mexico because I got the same thing from two other places that we didn't go with. From what I saw, it only determines the number of "liquors" available so I would say it depends on how picky your guests are. We weren't a large enough number to worry about it but I did pay for the International initially just for the variety. When we had people cancel and we were down to so few, the restaurant wouldn't do an open bar and we had to pay the per drink pricing of the restaurant instead. We ended up being 10 all together so it wasn't too bad of a bill. The good thing was that we had all available liquors that way anyway so it ended up not mattering at all.

@ashhtayy Don't worry. So far everyone that says yes shows up so no issues on that end. I missed the last one because I was sick but I'm totally up for the next one! If we can confirm a date and a location then we'll be good to go!!

Oh Steph!! @@snswedding2016 It's here! It's your wedding day!! Enjoy every single second!!! I hope it's as magical as you want it to be!! I know it will be beautiful!! Hugs!!

@@ashhtayy. They are definitely FUN!! I've never enjoyed talking "weddings" so much in my life!! lol. Plus you get tons of other talk and pictures and ideas. It's great! Oh yeah and the drinks..... And food of course. Absolutely do NOT recommend drinking and driving. The last time I went I was on the GO home and I got Doug to pick me up at the station and I got my truck the next day. You get busy yacking and don't realize how smoothly the drinks are going down!! lol

@@ElizaS There is also Jamaica. We got married in Jamaica and renewed our vows in Mexico so I'm in love with both places. You have a lot of things to think about but your budget has to be your first consideration. I would strongly advise talking to a travel agent. They would be the best to help you figure out your must haves, what you don't want and also the budget for your guests. From there you can make realistic informed decisions about what locations will work for you. Good luck!

So what would be wrong with an "R" rated location??? lmao Only maybe that we'd be so busy screaming we wouldn't be doing any talking..... Other than that, so what??? (sorry, couldn't resist) How did Steph's location work out last time? Would you consider going back to the same restaurant? We're going to have 2 more brides with photos and stories and 2 that will be very close to their date so talking might be a big thing... Just my thoughts but I'm up for what everyone wants to do.

@GwendolynB Congrats on your upcoming wedding! Have you tried doing a search up top for the resort name to see what threads you get? The Hyatt Ziva is quite new but I seem to remember having seen a couple of posts in the past regarding this resort. Good luck.

@@Hermdogg62 Welcome to BDW! Your wedding is so close - just a week away! I'm sorry you've had such a difficult time putting your wedding together. Definitely dealing with a brand new resort can have it's challenges and it's always recommended that you try to work with a travel agent that is a destination wedding specialist. Having said that, the fact that you're only a week away and have everything organized is good news! Having faith in your wedding coordinator will absolutely makes thing go smoothly. Once you arrive, you'll meet with the WC and they'll go through your details at that time. That's when you'll be able to confirm how you want things done, table layouts/seatings, and your timing for everything. Please come back and provide a review on the resort afterwards. I haven't as yet seen anything about this resort and wasn't aware that it had opened so I'm not sure how much response you'll get yet. Good luck!

@@HollyMartinz Congrats and welcome! Wow - that's a totally loaded question! There have probably been hundreds of Tulum brides on the site and the "general" average is about 30 to 40 guests, with there always being more or less. Tulum is about the furthest from the Cancun airport so consideration would need to be given to your travel time, approximately 95 minutes. There are a lot of resorts in the area so a question on costs would be difficult to answer, only because everyone does a destination wedding differently. Plus, your actual resort costs would be a major factor. Their package costs, what they include, what you need to pay extra for, your photographer costs, additional per person costs. There are any number of factors that will affect your overall costs. Setting a budget and working within it is a great way to start! The one thing you'll find as a common "thread" on the site is what ladies encounter with their guests booking their travel! Getting a travel agent is a definite help, in fact probably the biggest. But you can pretty much figure that only about 50% of your "guest list" will actually attend, and that's for various reasons - time off work/school, the cost, kids. And yes, sometimes it's even members of a wedding party that have difficulty. We all want everyone around us to be as happy for us as we are, but life can get in the way. It's no direct reflection on you at all but something to keep in mind when you approach your planning. When it's all said and done, the people that do attend are people that truly want to be there and support you and marrying your best friend in a tropical paradise is the most important thing of all! Good luck and happy planning!

@@ElizaS Welcome to BDW! I did a brief search and have to say I didn't come up with any all inclusive resorts in PR. For the cost of what it would be for meals, the cost of a passport would be worth it. That would allow you to be able to consider other venues like Mexico. You don't say where you're travelling from. The other consideration might be the Florida Keys but there again, you would have a lot of trouble finding an all inclusive resort. Good luck!

That date would work for me too! We're leaving for Ottawa early the next morning so it might not be a super late night for me, but what the heck - I can sleep in the car! Any suggestions on the location? I missed the last one so not sure how the restaurant worked out.

I'm going to see what I can find out. There will be places I can ask, I'm sure of it. But thanks for the reply. If you happen to get in touch with your WC, if you think of it run it by her if you can? She definitely would know but I'm going to ask our TA that we used and see what he knows as well.

@@deecol Oh that means you're really close! lol Once you get your coordinator it almost means "you're up next" lol I think I recognize the name and it seems I've heard good things. Good luck!! Hey - question for you. Do you know if the complex has a private adults only beach area? I'm really trying to work with going there in April but since we stayed at an adults only resort in October, Doug is now stuck on the idea. Gran Bahia has the Sian Kaan but it's actually across the highway and it means taking the resort shuttle over to the beach, which Doug wasn't happy about. They have their own pools and stuff and anyone from any part of the resort that is over 18 can use their facilities. My cousin is already booked into Akumal. They booked last summer and since it's from the UK they're doing the usual 2 weeks that Brits do. (I so wish we could do it too!!!) It's her 40th wedding anniversary and I haven't made it home since 2009 so I would just about give everything I own to be able to meet up with them in Mexico. I'm trying to find things that I can use to convince Doug to be in the same location, otherwise I know he's going to want to be somewhere else and to me that defeats the purpose of being there. I want to spend some time with my family so it doesn't make any sense to not be at the same resort. But if the beach isn't adults only, or at least a part of it, it just won't fly with Doug. If I can say "yeah, there is an adults only beach section" then I might be able to convince him that Akumal is ok and that we could do all of the other adults only activities. I posted the question on the Gran Bahia FB site but nobody has answered yet.

Yeah I hear ya girl. I don't know what it is. It's not post wedding blues for me. Things have just been so crazy. Coming home from Mexico and losing my job, then out to BC for a week, home for a week then Black Friday stuff kicking off Xmas, then down east for 9 days for the holidays plus stopping in Belleville for Xmas with 2 of my granddaughters, home for 5 days then back to the U.S. for Xmas with the boys. Now we're planning to get to Ottawa later this month for another Xmas with the other granddaughters. Plus Doug booked us a weekend in Niagara for the Icewine Festival. I spent 2 days in the hospital this week and I'm back for 2 separate days next week. There's just been so much going on and I'm still trying to job hunt in there too!! I so wish I could retire!! Sometimes I just wish I could say "stop the world. I want to get off" lol You have a real gift and a true talent! The compliments for your creativity are well deserved!!

@@deecol. Of course fingers are crossed for you!! They wouldn't be any other way!! You WILL be fine!! I know it! You've got this girl, no problem!!

@deecol Playing catch up again.... lol You guys give me such a chuckle. It's so fun to read your posts! Love your ring!! It looks so nice with your e-ring. Great choice!! Same on Colin's ring. Simple. Smart looking. Engraved will be really special. I love the colour and it suits his hand. His suit too is really smart. I'm so glad Doug chose gray and I agree with the others - it looks so good in pictures. It's neat to see the colour choices of everyone with the different shades of gray that are chosen and every one of them looks great!! The table numbers are really nice!! Definitely post another pic once you paint them. It's going to be gorgeous in the metallic! Great find!! The watches are really beautiful and a great gift! You can't beat boxing day sales and that's definitely a fabulous price!! It's really coming together now... It's so cool to see brides as they get to around the 3 month mark and the details really start to gel. The vision gets clearer and you can see the excitement level go up! Not long to go..... and you know the time will fly by!! Keep up the awesome work in the gym and kudos for staying with it at Xmas! That alone speaks to your determination. Good on both of you!!

@kristendelpin Congrats and welcome! I'm a Jamaica bride from 4 years ago. We got married at Gran Bahia Principe Jamaica in Runaway Bay, which is about an hour from Montego Bay. We loved the resort and found it very affordable. The WCs were great, the food was wonderful and the resort has this perfect beach gazebo for their weddings. It keeps it more private for you and your guests and there is an area beside it where your pictures can be taken that won't have the gawkers in your photos! There is a full thread here for the resort - just do a search up top and it will give you some reading if you want. TA Babs will definitely be a great help for making your decision. Wright Travel are destination wedding specialists so you'll be in good hands for sure! Good luck and happy planning!

@snswedding2016 Well it's here! Your turn has finally arrived! The time has flown by. I hope you had a good flight. Have a great week and a wonderful, marvelous wedding day! Can't wait to hear all about it and see the pics! I know it's going to be fabulous! With all of your planning and everything you've put together, it couldn't be anything but perfect!

@komalley12 Welcome to BDW! Cabo is a beautiful place to get married and there have been lots of Cabo brides on the site. You don't say if it's resorts you're considering or private venues. If you're using a resort, you won't need a wedding coordinator and generally resorts will charge an outside vendor fee anyway for you to have someone on site. The resorts generally have a WC (or more than one on site) that will be assigned to work with you. It would only be if you're doing everything completely off site that a coordinator may be of help but if you're only doing visits, I would go just the two of you to start with. Make a list of all of your questions - everything you can think of. From food, to decor, to cake, flowers, extra charges, bar costs if any, top shelf liquor. Write it all down and go crazy with questions. A resort coordinator will expect that and be ready as well as take you on a tour of the site. If it's a private venue then you'll definitely have to find out if they have exclusive suppliers that they use, which would naturally restrict who you can use but they still should be prepared to answer your questions. Good luck! Let us know how you make out.

@@vanessajfelice Welcome and congrats on being a DW bride! You've come to the right place for details. There are a ton of them here! Definitely the first thing is to lock in your location - date and time - because the resorts can book up really quickly. September isn't as busy as the beginning of the year but there aren't really any "quiet" months anymore. I see you have an August date listed so I hope that means you have somewhere booked. Of course then the resort will have different locations to choose from for your ceremony and reception. You'll also want to make a decision on a photographer because again they book up quickly. Investigate your resort's outside vendor fee before making your decision. All of the resorts have onsite photographers that they use and some of them also do video but be sure to thoroughly investigate the reviews. Sometimes they aren't very good. But if the outside vendor fee is really high, it may affect your budget. Some resorts will charge as much as $1000 to bring in someone from outside. I've heard that there are photographers that will help with the vendor fee but I don't know who they are or how much they will actually help. Same thing with a videographer. Many of the brides here talk about costs adding up very quickly so if you're a DIY bride that will definitely help out. There have been some truly AMAZING things that the ladies have come up with. I would suggest just searching DIY up top and you'll get a ton of things to look through. Centerpieces, flowers, decor. There is no end to what you can come up with. Keep in mind though that again your resort might have a set up fee for anything you bring yourself. Plus some resort chains work with an outside company for decor, flowers, cake and will insist that you work with them. Definitely do some reading on the site. You can key in almost anything in the search bar at the top and you'll get threads galore that you can read through. You may even find yourself on information overload!! But it's so much fun to read through all of the things that both current brides-to-be and past brides have done. You'll find things that you didn't even think of! And it will really get the creative juices going! Good luck and enjoy the site! You can come back any time with questions. The ladies are always happy to answer!

@weddingcancun2016 Welcome to BDW! Wow - that's a very tight budget for sure. I've been on this site for a long time and had quotes for Jamaica where we got married and for Mexico last October when we renewed our vows and I have to agree with Joyce of @dreamweddings I've never seen rates as low as what you're looking for. You might be able to get just ceremony coverage for that amount, maybe 2 hours tops. Same with a videographer. You're looking at an awful lot more than $500. Joyce had a good suggestion - is there a family member that might be good with a video camera that could help out? I don't know anything about fire dancers or mariachi bands so I'm sorry I can't be of any help with that. Good luck! Keep us posted on how things go.

@Deannak Congrats and welcome! This site is wonderful for information as well as ideas and suggestions from other brides. Azul Fives is a really popular resort and it's gorgeous! It's one of the ones that we considered for our vow renewal last October. @@ashhtayy was totally right. She gave you two great threads to review and believe me, they're really great threads! But if you do a search you'll get a lot more. Spend some time reading. I can guarantee that any questions you have more than likely have been asked and answered on the threads, along with things you may not even have thought about. Both of the threads that ashhtayy mentioned are very detailed and have some fantastic details that I know will help you through your planning journey. Keep us posted on what you decide!