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@@snswedding2016 Hey Steph!! Welcome back Mrs! Well, I know you're already a Mrs but now you're a REAL Mrs!! lol Love everything in your review!! Sounds like so much fun!! Makes me feel so OLD!!! We didn't do anything like that lol We didn't have the energy after being in the sun all day! By midnight we were cooked! lol (it's ok - your turn will come... lol) Looking forward to reading more and seeing photos!! And to seeing you next Friday!!

@@deecol Sorry Dee - hijacking again lol @calgarybride2015 Finally got a few pics of my bracelet and I added the palm tree. I tried to get it so that it shows the safety chain I got too. But now you can see why I need a second bracelet!!

@andreapurcell1 I'm sorry you're going through all of this. Whoever said planning a destination wedding wasn't stressful was definitely kidding! I'm going to second what Joyce @@dreamweddings said. If you don't yet have a travel agent, I would highly recommend adding one to your planning journey. A travel agent will help you wade through all the resort choices and will help you with your "must haves" as well as your don't wants, and will also help you stay on budget and on price point for your guests. There are a lot of beautiful resorts in the RM. So many brides have said it's the hardest part of their planning and if 20 brides were asked, you would get 20 different recommendations on resorts. The owner of this site is a travel agent specializing in destination weddings, and can work with brides on both sides of the US-Canada border. You can contact them through this site and reviews of their services are posted in the vendor reviews section. Good luck and happy planning!

Wow!! Good eyes Erin! I totally missed that!! @@yycbride2016 Erin is absolutely right. It should be baño and not the spelling that you have!

@ashhtayy Your wedding band is beautiful!! It's going to look gorgeous with your e-ring. Mike's too! Doug is into simplicity as well and having them engraved is sweet. That's something I never even thought of! Navy will work just fine and it's going to look great with your colours! I've always thought a navy suit looks really classy and it will absolutely pop for your photos! That's so sweet too about Mike's family being available for your legal wedding. It just makes everything that much more special!

@DLS2016 Joyce is right. That's a tight budget for a cenote trash the dress. But having said that, it's definitely worth looking that some of the photographers and asking for quotes from them. They all have different styles too so it's worth looking to see if there is also a style that you like. There are some wonderful photographers in the Riviera Maya area. If you go to the top and look at the vendor reviews you'll find the names that you can check on the internet and contact them. Good luck!

@Wafflesmom Oh that's so exciting!! I think it's so romantic!! And absolutely - when else can you feel like a princess! Arriving at your wedding in the horse drawn carriage in that beautiful dress - Derrick won't know what hit him!! I'm so excited to see what Sam does with your photos!!! They are going to be absolutely stunning!!!!! I'm going to have to remember your wedding time lol We're going to Niagara next weekend for icewine tasting and staying the night but I'll tag my phone to stop and think about you!!

@@bluenkj Welcome to BDW. First question - do you have a travel agent that you're working with? That would be the first recommendation I would make. Since you're looking for a very specific type of wedding, a travel agent would be the best to help you with which resort could best accommodate the type of wedding you're looking for. You don't say if you're in the the US or Canada, but either way the owners of this site have travel agents that would be able to provide you with information on the resorts that would be able to assist you with what you're looking for. I think most of the larger resorts would be able to accommodate the religious wedding that you're looking for. Good luck and keep us posted on what you come up with.

@yycbride2016 Oh I love the dresses! They're adorable! I'm so sorry I forgot the link to the Lulu's site. Here it is: www.lulus.com Sadly it's a US site but the prices are so reasonable... I got a dress for my son's girlfriend that she was supposed to wear for our renewal and all in - exchange, delivery, etc - it was just over a hundred bucks. I think about $140. Not sure now with the super crappy exchange how bad it will be but the site is still worth a look. You're so tiny there are a ton of things on the site that would be great on you! All of your printed materials look great! I love the ink colour!! I can't believe your wedding is as close as it is too!! Sofia has had hers, Shavonne has had hers, Perian too. Stephanie. Wafflesmom leaves Tuesday. Then yours. Then we start with all the spring brides!! I can't believe how quickly the time goes by. Just means I'm getting older faster I guess. lol

@Wafflesmom So excited for you!! I can't believe all this time has gone by and you're almost there! Wow! You've really knocked off a lot of stuff!! It's going to be great just because of all of the work you've put into it and how organized you are!! Are you taking the horse and cart? I didn't know that was there until I saw some photos and I thought wow, that's such a romantic idea! lol I'll bet it costs a fortune!! What time do you fly on Tuesday?

@Incubus42088 Have you checked with your resort coordinator? That would be your best starting point, even if it means it needs to be outsourced. They would know, if they don't do it themselves, who you can contact for it.

@@ashhtayy I forgot to mention Doug wore grey as well. He can be a sweaty guy too. He had both vest and jacket. He was a bit warm for our ceremony but we did have a nice breeze. Then because of the pouring rain, the restaurant had to move us inside from the terrace we were supposed to be at, to their wine room which of course is air conditioned so it worked out ok. I know the jacket would have been off and Doug would have been in vest and shirt sleeves otherwise. But nothing came through on the grey at all. I loved how it looks! Sounds to me like you have a super sweet hubby to be and if he wants to watch you walk down the aisle and have that as the first time he sees you, then that's what you gotta do! If your photographer isn't a concern time wise I'd say you're good to go!! From the years I've been on this site it's definitely a very personal choice. It's too bad about outside vendor fees because I could definitely help you out with cake. I don't know if there's a way for something like that to be picked up at the gate or not.... I know it's something other brides have looked into but no idea how it came together or if it did.

@Mikecantarell Thank you Mike! You guys did an awesome job!! We love the video and can't wait to see the full length one!! We would absolutely recommend you! We have a beautiful keepsake of our renewal thanks to you!!

Beautiful!! Enjoy your honeymoon! see you in 2 weeks!!!

@TaraMarie33 I'm so sorry your wedding experience was such a disappointment for you. No bride should have to go through something like that. Have you investigated raising it higher up than the resort, like a head office? As @@nkavanaugh said, I do hope somewhere you can find some good memories of your wedding and that you have some beautiful photos to look back on.

Yep - I got it too!! Ha ha I don't need to worry about the email. I just take what I like and add it to my wish list, then tell him the "whatever" occasion charm is on my wish list. Makes it so easy!! No aggro for him and I get what I want! Simple!! lol now to help him understand WHY I need another bracelet!!

Isn't he great! I absolutely LOVE what he did with ours. We're really, really happy with it!

@@Harper370 Do you have a travel agent that you're using?? An agent would be the best to help you with a resort close to the chapel that would allow for minimal travel time and also have packages available for a beach dinner afterwards. If you don't have an agent, try contacting the owners of this site. They DW specialists and I'm sure would have information that will help you out! Good luck!

@beachbeth Congrats and welcome!! Unfortunately you're looking at the peak season for sure. You mentioned a date that includes New Years Eve, which is absolutely the high time to travel. So many people want to celebrate NYE at a beautiful tropical resort. That's actually probably a decent quote for the DR. Mexico will likely be even more expensive and even Cuba will be up there in price. March break costs will be insane! The reason there are no big group discounts is because they don't need to offer them. Both are times of the year that sell out so there is no incentive for any of the charters to offer discounts, even for a wedding group. Have you considered June? Not sure what grade your fiance teaches - high schools usually let out earlier than elementary schools - but if you could get away mid June, you could likely get a better travel rate than what you've beem quoted. It's warmer for sure compared to December/January or March but it's not unbearable. There have been a lot of June brides here so it's a time of year that is much more common than before, namely for cost and if kids are part of the equation, time away from school. We actually have a bride to be right now that has a June 7th date in Mexico. Just something for you to think about. Good luck with your planning! Keep us posted on what your decision ends up being!

Oh my goodness - you made me cry again!! lol That's so sweet of you to say. Thank you! Its been a long haul for sure. I'm not saying either of us is perfect. Far from it and we can have some pretty fierce arguments lol We're both strong willed and pretty passionate about some things. But truthfully - I think all of the hospital time is what made the difference. Knowing how close I came to not being here at all. Doug has seen me at my absolute worst and he hung in there. He has been every single time I woke up and I'm being honest when I say every single time. When you're out of it for a full 12 hours and every single time you open your eyes, someone is there.... It tests your relationship I think. I know how lucky I am. I know there are couples that wouldn't get through it. And there's stuff we're still dealing with. He takes me to the hospital almost every single time unless it's just a checkup and I can go on my own. His vows blew me away. And he cried today too when we watched it the first time!! lol

@ashhtayy So I'm playing catch up with a bunch of threads and i apologize that yours is one of them!! I had to read like 10 pages to get it all together! (well maybe not quite that many but you get the idea lol) You've accomplished so much and it's all coming together so beautifully! I totally agree for keeping up your decor! I can't see them arguing to take it down. You're paying for it! I'm sure they'll work with you. The resorts have so much experience with weddings that unless it's something totally outrageous, they'll accommodate wherever they can. $10 for chargers????? For real???? That's nuts!! You could order cheaper and take them with you for less than all of that. I have to agree with everyone else - save the money! Maybe put it towards a larger cake? Would that help? You're right. That cake is super tiny!! I won't tell you what we paid for ours lol And it was 2 tiers!! We did like Kim and took it back to our resort from the restaurant and snacked on it through the week, plus used it for dinner dessert one night in one of the a la cartes. We just told them it was our "wedding" cake and they didn't argue! lol So backing up a bit.... I have to get on board with the others about a 2 hour cocktail hour. It is a long time and if people are going to be standing around I think one hour is plenty. i also agree though that it's an all inclusive. Drinks are already paid for. Why not just set it up that everyone can meet at one of the bars or whatever and relax with a drink while you're doing photos. Especially in June when it's really pretty hot! As much as the Skydeck gets a beautiful breeze, it's still daylight until 9 pm in June so you'll still have a lot of sun. It's going to be warm and people will want drinks. Ultimately your budget will likely be a major factor in terms of adding extra reception time, but I'm also worried about trying to cram your photos into one hour. I'm almost inclined to go with a good hour and a half. We were only 4 and we did an hour oh pictures so with the size of your group I would definitely go longer. And on top of that not doing a first look? Ouch. Have you talked to your photographer?? What's their opinion? That's your best bet to decide - what does the person taking your photos want to do? Your menus look yummy! I think taking the spa credit is a great idea! That alone is a major cost saver! On the same topic, if you can convince hubby to be to do a first look, I highly recommend it! I'm so glad Doug and I did it. I did ask him what he wanted to do and how I felt about it and we both agreed that it being just the two of us was nice. More relaxing. I love your vows books! lol They're the same as ours except I opted for colour for ours. And I used Noteworthy. Lisa was great to work with and checked with me every step of the way since I wanted to go with colours to make sure they worked with what I wanted. I would definitely recommend her if someone is looking for vows books, and of course with her being in canada it made the shipping next to nothing. I would do your fingers and toes at home before you go. Spa prices will be crazy. You'll get a much better deal here than down in Mexico. I'm sorry about all the crap with your TA. i sometimes wonder how some of these people find their way into the industry and actually manage to stay there!! We had one that helped us out with Jamaica when we got married and when i went back to her for our renewal trip, she was useless so I can sympathize. It's so important to have someone that you click with but also listens to you and cares about what you're doing, namely your wedding. Plus it's so hard when your guests aren't getting properly looked after as well, and they have issues with the service they're getting. I hope it has worked out better now. I know you're really close, but it's never too late to go with someone else. A really good agent will be able to just move right in and take over for you properly and have things running smoothly. I'm sorry you lost a couple of guests. it's definitely a common thread through everyone's planning! Love the letters! Isn't @ amazing??? I'm thinking I should get letters made just to put in the house! They look so totally cool! lol I like both patterns for the background but the chevron definitely works! I'm thinking I need to find out what would charge..... lol I want to do the song lyrics too! I absolutely LOVE that idea! And they would look so nice on the wall! I love your pictures of the decor! The flowers are gorgeous!!!! I know @ raved about Stemple Shop for her flowers. Sounds like you're having a good experience too! We did a picture frame guest "book" when we got married at our AHR when we had everyone there and it's hanging in the house. I love it. Love the guys' outfits. They look great!! I wouldn't be overly concerned about activities. If you have one or two things available, be sure you word it maybe as "please feel free to join us on _______ day at ___ time. We're going to _____ " That way you don't make it sound like it's mandatory or anything and it gives people the choice. I agree - it's their vacation too. People will do what they want, whether it's joining you or doing their own thing. Our friends did their own thing part of the week and joined us the rest of it but we always met up for dinner at night. Less than 5 months to go and it's going to go quick!! You've seen how much the time flies for all of the other brides! You have everything under control - I can tell that just by reading so relax. Don't stress!! it will all come together beautifully and you'll be a gorgeous bride!!! Looking forward to meeting you on the 29th!!! (at last lol)

@@yycbride2016 I don't think you'll regret doing the video. It really is a beautiful souvenir to have. Plus I saw a couple of things that i missed during out actual time at Grand Coral, and Mike got some gorgeous background scenery shots that I totally love, so I think you'll find it's totally worth it!! As much as spending more for dress alterations sucks, you'll be happy you're getting it done right. I'm sorry now I ran out of time with my dress. Seeing it after the fact I wish I had pushed a bit harder to have it fitted a bit better. So you're doing the right thing!!

@deecol Awww Dee that's so sweet! lol Every time I watch it I cry lol It was pretty awesome to see it all again. It really does go by so fast. I have such a sexy husband.... lol I can't believe it will be 15 years together this year! Blows me away.

Thank you! We both love it! I can't wait to see the whole video!! lol Mike only sent the highlight one by link. He's sending the full length one by disk by mail so it will be a while yet before we get to see it but I'm totally happy with what he did!

@perianjay I know! It's pretty incredible, isn't it?? I've watched it 4 times now and cry every time!!! lol Mike just did exactly what I was hoping for. Even Doug choked up reading his vows!! lol That stunned me cuz my hubby is not an emotional guy and believe it or not he wrote those the morning of!!! While he was sitting in the lobby waiting for the photographer to arrive!