Manda123

I brought in a photographer and did not have to pay any fees. It's probably best to send the ladies an email though!

Hi Darya, I booked Sascha for 5 hours, with an hour "break" in between since it was getting pretty dark and he was nice enough to agree to stay to take first dance photos. All in all, he was there for all of our getting ready photos, the ceremony, group and bridal party shots, speeches, cake cutting, first dance and the beginning our receptions. We didn't get a DJ. By the time speeches and dinner were done it was just after 9 and we moved on to the disco at 11, so it simply wasn't worth it for us to get a DJ for 2 hours. We had all the songs we wanted on an iPod and had a good friend in charge to fade in/fade out the music during dinner and simply hit "play" for our reception. We paid $20/pp for ceremony. The champagne was nice, but I don't know if it was really worth it. If you are looking for a place to save a little money, this might be worth cutting. The ladies included matchin flowers on our cake at no extra cost. We were really happy with our cake. It was simple but pretty. We had a very creative and personalized cake topper, so we really didn't need a lot of extras from the resort. If you are hoping that the resort is making it spectacular and you aren't bringing anything yourself to include on the cake, it might be best to send some photos down ahead of time to see if they are able to create what you'd like.

I hear ya, ladies! Who knew that wedding planning was so all-consuming! I have started training for a half-marathon in May. It has been good to have some other goal in mind and something to look forward to - or maybe I am just crazy! This run could be the death of me... lol!

Jena you looked soooo beautiful. I teared up watching your slideshow.... Loved the dress, hair, everything. Can't wait to hear about your trip. Did you end up going to Coco Bongo or what?!

Great idea, AquaCait! I wish I had thought of that... Or I was getting married after you! LOL! There was some definite mug mix-ups at my wedding. Remember to let everyone know about the sunscreen situation with those Factory 21 mugs! Sunscreen will smudge your lovely monograms/.

Everything has been sold. Thanks for your interest!

From personal experience, I can tell you that I don't think it was a waste at all! Our guests really appreciated it. My mom just ran into one of our guest's mothers at the bank the other day (I'm from a small town, originally - LOL), and she was talking about how her daughter was so appreciative of the bag and how thoughtful it was. I've heard only good things and I know that the guests used the contents - I saw first hand! If you don't do them, no big deal. People certainly aren't expecting them. They are a nice idea, though! Quote: Originally Posted by Alysia85 Hey everyone, I need some major help with this!!! I have a little over 3 months to get my OOT bags together... still some time but I need to get on top of it. I think this idea is really fun and awesome... although i dont plan on travelling with 6 extra suitcases just for the OOT bags. I want to keep it VERY simple and basic. My future mother in law has been really supportive with everything... but she doesnt get the point of the OOT bags. I was telling her about them and she said .. i dont think you need to do that... everyone would already be bringing that kind of stuff... no need to waste more time and money on that kind of junk. So now i'm wondering... is she right? is there really a point to these and would our guests actually appreciate them???? I thought they were a great idea and just a little thank u and "just in case..." for our guests. I was thinking of placing them on the tables at our first group dinner. And I wanted to include a short thank you note from my FI and I thanking everyone for coming and supporting us. Thoughts or advice anyone??????????

Hmmm.. Not sure about sparklers. I inquired about having sky lanterns, and they didn't allow them (something to do with their environmental policies). Just send the ladies an email. You might not hear back for a while, though!

Our MC and his fiancee are getting married over the Christmas holidays next year in the Dominican. We've already put down our deposit. Some of the same people are going from our wedding, so it will be another good time I think! I'm looking forward to ATTENDING a DW, instead of running around meeting with people, making sure I spend time with everyone. I think everyone needs to start thinking about planning a nice honeymoon. We all need something to look forward to! It's very easy to change your name in Ontario. I can't imagine it's much different in Alta. I'm changing my last name. I'm a teacher, and it's becoming "official" next week for the start of semester 2. It's going to be weird hearing a different name. It will take some getting used to! I like the idea of combining your maiden name with your new name!

The outlets are the same as ours. No need for a converter.

That bouquet is amazing!!

I was just married in Mexico, and I can say that I felt quite safe. We left the resort a few times - visited the Tulum ruins and a club in Playa Del Carmen. I think that people are really over-reacting about the violence. People can get hurt anywhere; travellers just need to be sure they are vigilent. Use common sense and you will be fine. It is really a shame that some people can be so close-minded. It is often the people who have never been to Mexico that are making these comments, too. I had a "discussion" with a few girls at work about this on Friday. They were really quite rude and said that they would NEVER travel to Mexico and how they couldn't understand why people would go there, considering the violence. I was pretty insulted by this - felt it was an attack on my own judgement for planning a wedding there and bringing with me 70 of my families and friends. So ignorant! The Mexicans I met were some of the sweetest people I've ever met - I would hate to think that their livlihood might be threatened by a lack of tourism that may result from the negative PR. Thanks for sharing the article.

A quick warning about the Dollarama sewing kits - I didn't include sewing kits in my OOTs, but I did purchase this one for myself to bring down there - just in case. It fell apart really quickly. The black cover that snaps together broke into two pieces when I tried to snap it shut. For those of you thinking of buying these, I would maybe wait until the ones at Michaels are in stock.

Yes, we did. We also had our photographer for 5 hours. He ended up staying a little later and catching the first dances and some of the reception because he stayed for dinner. I am not sure if he and his assistant ate, though!

We were able to put our keys and a few bucks in ours quite easily