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Thanks for all of your sweet comments Ladies!!! I appreciate it. Everyone was great including the Royal and all of my vendors - Cecilia Dumas, Marvin, and Norma. I have to get around to doing the planning thread now. It sucks not being in Playa though, NJ is cold!

Hi SweeLe - I had my hair half done at the resort. I had just got a sewn in wavy kind of hair weave before getting to Mexico. Once at the resort salon, I asked them to blow dry it straight first and then put tight curls in it. They did a great job, with no picture to boot! They did just as I asked and even left the curls up in bobby pins because they didn't want it to fall before the wedding. After, I got dressed, my girls simply took out the bobby pins and the curls fell beautifully. I couldn't believe it. They started to drop a little but lasted well though the reception. Since the curls were so tight to begin with, even when they fell, they fell into a loose wave curl which I loved just as much.

Hey there - I absolutely paid the outside vendor fee for my photography. It was $350. It was easy to add my MUA Norma as a guest because she was in and out. It would have been much more difficult to do that with a photog and her assistant + all of the equipment. No way they would pass for a guest.

Teaser Pics - from The FABULOUS Cecilia Dumas!!!! There are so many great shots!! I have to contain myself and not post all of them. Best of all, Ceci had the photos and the cd to me before we left Playa! Talk about efficient. Lastly, just an fyi...I didn't want pictures on the beach. It is my personal opinion that the beach can be anywhere. I wanted pictures in the beautiful Playa Del Carmen. I really wanted people to see my pictures and know that I got married in Mexico. Ceci captured my dream perfectly without breaking our bank!

I'm back!!! So much to share. Norma's contact info is below: Norma Zurama [email protected] She's great on email. For three of us, the price was under $300 which was fantastic to me for her expertise. The price may depend on how many girls you have in your party. My makeup was 2x that of my girls but still very affordable and Norma was so professional. She made us feel ultra glam! I am goin to post some teaser pics now. Cecilia Dumas did an excellent job and also very affordable! The pictures came out beautiful!

Hola Brides! I am at PDC right now. You ladies are correct, there is no music at the pool or very little. Dont worry though, this place is AMAZING!!! My guests were so impressed as was I. The pools are awesome and there is butler service both at the pool and the beach. The food here is amazing. Just a few points for upcoming PDC brides.... I will post my full review when I get back Marvin - Flowers were amazing. He was easy to work with, affordable and we met him in front of the Royal to avoid the vendor fee. Just let your WC know that you will be getting your flowers off the resort and tell Marvin to meet you in front of the resort. MUA - I had Norma from MAC and she was AMAZING!!!!!! Words cannot describe how awesome she was. Ladies - HUGE tip here to avoid the vendor fee. I put Norma down as a guest for the day of the wedding. My WC told me I get 35 or 45% off of the day passes for the day of my wedding. So I made it seem like Norma was a family friend coming to help me get ready. I paid $45 or less for her day pass and she was done. She showed up the day of the wedding and was directed to my room number. No $350 fee!! I was very ambiguous about who she was and there were no problems. For all the Royal knows, her suitcase was just her clothes. This worked out perfectly. She did a GREAT job on the makeup for me and my girls. I cannot remember the exact fee, but it was beyond nominal in comparison to the vendor fee. Room - my first room was so fabulous! Seriously, for brides that are staying here for your honeymoon, do not waste your money on the upgrade. We upgraded into a swimout room for the second part of our stay. SO NOT WORTH IT. Had I known what I know now, I would have kept us in a royal junior suit and saved the money. We expressed our dissatisfaction with the room and the Royal will not do anything to accommodate us. The swimouts appear to be smaller than the junior suits so it is not worth the premium increase. Just my thoughts. Welcome Dinner at the Blue Parrot - Another awesome time. Paula was great to work with and my guests loved the food. The place turns into a great club at night with great music. Paula will have your guests compd if they want to come back for this part. EXCURSION - I booked a private tour to Xel-ha and Tulum through Brant Travel or they also go by Entertainment Plus. This was a HUGE hit with my guests. The drivers were beyond accommodating for my rowdy, always tardy group. They waited around for us and literally let us do whatever we wanted.. The food and drink was all inclusive at Xel-ha. We ate at the buffet and I am not a buffet person, but that food was yummy!!!! The cost was 103 per person but the price can change depending on how many people you have. We charged each guest 75 and we paid the difference. Everyone seemed to be okay with that. We paid a small deposit to Brant travel in advance and paid the rest in cash to the drivers. This company is so professional and courteous. I cannot say enough about them. They were so good that both of my groups took an offering on the buses to leave a tip for the drivers without my knowledge. We had two buses. Again, a great company. More details to come when I get back....

I love the stick people!!! Some points shy from them though... I get married in a weak :-(

Thanks JHarris! This is my last weekend to get all my stuff done. So stressed. I just have to put the programs together. I am doing fan programs. Amazon had a DIY kit for $20 that I bought. I have the writing all ready, just need to print. I also have to do the script, but I need to do it at the right time when my FI and I are both feeling mushy - lol! Other than that, packing, and trying to have separtion anxiety over leaving my precious maltese - Missy for the first time eva - Yaaaaaay!!

YOWSA Speedy! I love the black and white!! It's hot yet sophisticated. Your FI is going to love them. I love the one with the hat. I'm a hat girl myself.

Hello! I think 9 to 10 people is fine. That's what my WC advised. I don't have that many people going so I have to cut mine's down a bit.

Hey Bride2B22 - yeah the wedding is next week!! I have mostly everything. I need to work on the seating plan, programs, and the ceremony script asap. There's a GREAT forum on here for the ceremony scripts though so I plan on doing lots of borrowing!

Wow Rosie! Just Wow! Amazing....

My FI and I were legally married last week (we are doing a symbolic ceremony in Mexico). The process was so easy. We simply filled out a marriage license with the office of vital stats.. I walked downstairs and put us on the judge's calendar. Meanwhile, we had to wait 3 days for the marriage license to be official. After that, we went to court and got it done.. I am not really even acknowledging that "it" happened because I don't want to take away from our real wedding day when we say our vows to each other. I didn't tell a soul! We used my FI's distant friend (that is not coming to the weddding) and his friend's sister (that I have never even met before) as witnesses. There was no exchange of rings or celebration either. This was just business. The best part, the whole thing only costs $28 (the cost for the marriage license). The municipal judge (in NJ) did it for free! The only thing that sucked was the privacy factor. The judge would have done it for us in his chambers before traffic court, but my FI missed his train. Soooo we had to do it in traffic court, but the judge waited until he cleared out 98% of the courtroom to take care of us. It's okay though, the people got a little surprise with their traffic fines! LOL!! We will most likely never see them again anyway so it didn't bother us at all.

One more thing - Shhhh! My FI and I were legally married last week (we are doing a symbolic ceremony). The process was so easy. We simply filled out a marriage license with the office of vital stats.. I walked downstairs and put us on the judge's calendar. Meanwhile, we had to wait 3 days for the marriage license to be official. After that, we went to court and got it done.. I am not really even acknowledging that "it" happened because I don't want to take away from our real wedding day when we say our vows to each other. I didn't tell a soul! Just you ladies here on the forum know. We used my FI's distant friend (that is not coming to the weddding) and his friend's sister (that I have never even met before) as witnesses. There was no exchange of rings or celebration either. This was just business. The best part, the whole thing only costs $28 (the cost for the marriage license). The municipal judge (in NJ) did it for free! The only thing that sucked was the privacy factor. The judge would have done it for us in his chambers before traffic court, but my FI missed his train. Soooo we had to do it in traffic court, but the judge waited until he cleared out 98% of the courtroom to take care of us. It's okay though, the people got a little surprise with their traffic fines! LOL!! We will most likely never see them again anyway so it didn't bother us at all.

Here's a question for everyone --- Are you ladies doing a different dress for the reception? I love my wedding gown but I feel like it may be too heavy for the reception. I almost feel like I am cheating on the dress if I switch into something different. Also, I don't want to spend a fortune on a reception dress that I will only wear for a few hours at best.. Any suggestions?