kellygrrrl

one more idea here, did you try getting in touch with another WC? I'd think they'd have some way of securing rooms for you, especially because they wouldn't want to lose your business.

wow, never would've thought they'd be sold out so soon - I'm so sorry, JessicaAnne. : ( there are 20% of your people who have booked, correct? I'm not sure whether or not that's a big number, but can you communicate with them individually about possibly moving the date and gauge the response? on my side, only one guest has booked airfare, whereas many more have booked their rooms on booking.com (fully refundable until 48 hrs before the reservation), so it wouldn't be a huge deal for us to change. do you know the terms and conditions of the other guests' bookings? it seems weird that the royal would be sold out only during that weekend. wonder what's going on? and THANK YOU for the head's up - I'm going to light a fire under our few stragglers who haven't yet booked.

the core recovery is super-simple comparatively - except maybe for the shoulder and leg endurance in the end of the workout. honestly, I felt like it kinda killed my momentum and didn't really prepare me for month 2. I wish I had gone straight into month 2 or just taken a week of and done yoga or something else instead. I'd say go with the running and core if you need a bit of a change-up. whatever will make you feel stronger and ready to tackle the hour-long workouts in month 2. if I had it to do over, I think I would have gone straight to month 2 and just used the core workouts on the occasional day when I wanted to take things easy.

urmmm., kinda. ; ) the first time I went to cancun/playa, it was september, the second was easter, and the third was july 4th. in july, the day we arrived it rained (??), the second day was nice with clouds in the distance, but on the third day when the cloud cover evaporated, we had to go inside our rooms midday to cool off. and we're from texas. : ) if you look at the weather map, july is generally hottest, but the variation on either side seems to small to notice. http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/MXQR0076?role= if you ask my mom, playa is too hot ALL the time (she hates the humidity ; ), though it was the sun that got to us on the third day. knowing how things go in Texas, the end of july and into august is hottest. the same may be happening in mexico. you may get some relief by hosting the wedding in the start of july instead, but depending on the weather, it could be just the same. either way, I think it's a gamble - just go with what makes you happy and tell everyone to deal. ; ) -kelly

hey katie - the average cost per couple for 3 nights at our resort (the Royal Playa del Carmen), including airfare from most US cities and hotel transfer, is about $2K. so far no one has complained about budget, except to say they simply can't afford a vacation, which I completely understand. I think this is a critical part of the destination wedding - i.e. people can't simply show up and expect to be entertained as they would locally. but we're inviting people on a FAB vacation, not asking them to donate a kidney. whether they can't make it for financial reasons, physical reasons or any other myriad scenarios is just the name of the game. if it truly upsets you, and you're losing critical people, I'd suggest getting married nearer your family and friends. otherwise, just decide to have the wedding you want and enjoy the people who can make it! : ) ps - we gave people 1.5 yrs notice hoping they'd have enough time to save money, and honestly it hasn't made a difference. I don't mean to be down about the whole thing, I'd just caution against sacrificing what you want in order to accomodate others. Quote: Originally Posted by mrskatieperry My fiance and I are just getting started in planning a destination wedding. We would like to have it at an all incusive resort in Mexico. One of the things I'm curious about is how people handled the budget for their guests? We wanted to go with Moon Palace, and when we threw "$1800/per couple for 4 nights" to our friends, it did not go well. Most people traveling with us want to go for more nights and they won't be able to extend it much at that rate. Did anyone have similar issues? What were some tricks you had to help with cost? What resorts are good for group rates? We contacted a wedding planner yesterday who can hopefully help, but after reading all the info you all have,I thought I'd give it a whirl;) Any imput/suggestions are welcome! We are lookign at June 2012, so a decision has to be made fairly soon. Thanks! Katie

: ( I live in Austin, TX. Lemme know if you need me to go down to San Antonio and get it... ; )

holy cow - is that the SECOND time this starfish has been lost and found?? crazy...

hi ladies - I wanted to place an order for clear plastic luggage tags and 6" clear straps here: http://tags.idcardgroup.com/productdetails.aspx?item=1840-620 the minimum quantity is 100, and I'll only need 25. I'd like to sell the remaining tags and straps at cost ($0.63 ea) plus actual shipping to your destination. I'm located in Austin, Texas but am happy to ship to Canada and other countries. once I have the entire quantity spoken for, I'll order. please let me know if you're interested in any amount of the remaining 75 tags. thanks! -kelly

so far we're only at $11.82 USD... ; ) that covers shipping to me, but I imagine it'll be less than $30 USD to send the fans to CA.

I love the little starfish, but what about something turquoise to match the necklace? these are from the current sundance catalog (I know, waaaayyyy too expensive, but maybe you can find something similar on etsy?) http://www.sundancecatalog.com/product/code/41325.do#

I haven't seen it before - it is a beautiful dress, but there's something about the lace and the front ruffle that looks southern (as in southern US) to me. have you tried anything by la sposa yet? I believe they're a spanish line, and they may give you a point of comparison. here's one of their dresses that was advertised frequently in martha stewart weddings (la sposa denia):

hey vero! : ) funny how this BDW forum works and the people you keep running into. honestly, I went from doing nothing (and I mean N-O-T-H-I-N-G) to Insanity and didn't have a heart rate monitor. I just took breaks when I needed to. I'm not gonna lie, when I did the first fitness test, I did almost pass out, and I had to take like 5 mins between each exercise. and there were various other times I felt light headed, but I just did what I could. after two weeks, there really weren't any more issues, and I did the second fit test no prob. I think it's good to be cautious, but cardiac arrest seems a bit severe. based on your background, I think you'll do just fine! : ) let us know how it goes.

hi jenn - congratulations and welcome!! we're getting married around the same time (mine is may 5), so we'll probably see each other at the resort! on here, you'll find entire threads dedicated to dresses, centerpieces, etc. unfortunately, it will take time to go through them, but it's sort of a rite of passage. just pour a nice glass of wine and look back through the past hundred pages or so. that will give you a great summary. to address a few of your questions: * yes, it often takes awhile to get answers from the off-site wedding coordinator. however, many of your questions have probably been posted here before. * yes, brides who are bringing their own decorations usually check a lot of baggage. they also often split up the load between their family and wedding party. * my fav videographer is http://www.playaweddings.com/ * the STD's look great - very professional!! * re dresses, there's a forum on here with a few hundred pages (show us your dress), but you're probably better off just going to try them on. especially because you're running pretty close to the 6 month mark. (don't panic, lots of stores like David's still sell off the rack. others, however, need 6 - 8 months to order one). pls message me if you'd like the royal FAQ I've assembled, and welcome again!!

for me, I've had a price alert for the past few months, and flights from Austin, Texas have only increased (from $447 to now $480). it is CRAZY - these prices are $100 more than two years ago. : ( boo. you can fly from Baltimore for less than Austin. such a bummer!

hey, sorry for this, but alana - I LOVE your work! it's gorgeous!! : )

hi lisa!! we've missed you. : ) any advice for us? what to do/what not to do now that you have perspective on the whole thing? : )

yes, annie, I'd be happy to help (and for any other CA brides out there). I'm located in Austin, Texas and have already sent a shipment of 18 bubba keg tumblers to Ontario successfully. : ) PMing you my address now.

many of the pics I adored came from the same photo gallery: http://delsolphotography.com/blog/content/galleries/?gal=257 I just love those with a close-up item in the foreground and the bride and groom blurred in the background. to me, that's truly art. also love the juxtaposition here with the bride and casual resort guests applauding:

I told our guests to anticipate spending ~$2000/couple including airfare (from most US cities), transfers and 3 nts at the Royal. if you book through the wedding coordinator, they offer an additional ~10% off the room rates with one night's deposit. Booking.com's rates used to be comparable, but now they're high. If you call them, they'll match the Royal prices, and the best part is there's no deposit and no cancellation fee if you cancel at least 48 hours in advance. we've having everyone book individually, mainly because our wedding group is fairly small (~15?) and easy for me and FI to communicate with. unfortunately, prices have only gone up since this time last year. rooms used to start at $320 (now it's $344+) and airfare from Texas went from $442 to $470. it's absurd. I keep hoping everything will drop, but I've been watching for a looooooong time without any downward movement. airport transfers are discussed at the bottom of this page on our wedding website - I pulled the info from my own searches and on this site: http://jdandkellyswedding.weebly.com/booking-info.html

you can buy some samples of shakeology. I was excited about the nutritional benefits, but it is THICK and rather strong. I don't think I could finish another one. maybe if you're already used to shakes?

I think it's the difference between strength training and cardio, with P90X being strength. I had a friend who did P90X, and she said she was still running at the same time because there wasn't any cardio. however, given your goal of wanting to tone up, it may be better for you. also, the length of the P90X workouts vary up to 1.5 hrs, whereas Insanity is constant at 40 mins for the first month and 60 for the second.

meBonidie2be: you may want to buy them and bring them with you. I saw some online here: http://www.bouquetjewels.com/product_p/diamante.htm (I haven't price shopped, though, so they may be available for less elsewhere).