karlaandmark

So pretty, and I'm partial to starfish - that was my theme too

I ended up changing my ceremony location (who knew there were multiple choices? my wc never told me, i found that out on here), changed my flowers, my cake, my photographer's starting time...if there's anything you really have your heart set on, i'd say do it ahead of time, but if you're flexible, wait til you get there! they really will do their best to make sure everything turns out the way you want it.

Agreed on Le Chicque, if at all possible, try not to miss it! My parents are Exotic members, so we went on the Friends in Paradise program and were able to make all of our dinner reservations before we arrived.

I did not pay any set up fees either, although I did not have a huge amount of stuff. Fans, bubbles, sand ceremony, then toasting glasses, cake server, and guest book, I think that was it.

We brought our own set down there, and then carried it on the plane with us on the way back. We did the ceremony with our kids, so we had their 3 vases engraved with their names, and then our initials on the bride/groom vases. Our set came with a foam piece to stuff in the top, so no sand shifting! I have it set out at the house, and love it. This is where I ordered mine: http://www.foreverwedstore.com/product/FWUSCSSF.html

Quote: Originally Posted by LauraandBrian Wow... that is much more affordable (you have calmed my tears)... Do they do trash the dress as well? I'm not sure what the cost would be for that. I didn't ask, though I do love the idea. He took 1200 photos, and ended up staying probably an hour or so over the 4 hours in our package. He came to my room for the getting ready shots, then headed down to the beach for pictures of the guys and guests arriving. We took pictures with all the guests after the ceremony, then just the 2 of us at various spots around the resort, then our dinner reception at Spoon. Our package included photos on a CD, as well as prints in various sizes. For the record, we also have 1000+ pictures from the week that were taken by us and our guests - we're having a really hard time deciding which prints to order! Good luck with your decision!

It really depends on what you're looking for, but for comparison, we had a 4 hour package from Matias Cano (he's one of the approved photographers) for $1950. We were very happy with him.

My personal opinion, I wouldn't be too thrilled with the idea. All you need is someone to get hurt. I'm sure it wouldn't happen, but I'd be worried. Mark went deep sea fishing with the guys the day before the wedding. For the day of, we all went to the pool in the morning, then the girls and I left for lunch and to get ready. We had two rooms since we were there with our kids, so we did not see each other getting ready.

When I was there in July, there were only 2 stylists doing hair, so I think you may need more time. We had 4 people as well, and two appointments were at 1:00 and the next two at 2:30.

We did the free sweet wedding package, so we couldn't just do the add on for the sky...our beach ceremony was at 530pm, so probably late enough that many people had left the beach. While they don't 'close' the beach area, they do try to keep people out. We don't have any onlookers in our photos.

Since Mark and I are both divorced parents, we each had a notarized letter from the other parent, stating that we had their permission to take the children to Mexico. We included the flight dates/times, but did not need it. I can't imagine there would be an issue, but always better to be prepared. What a great honeymoon gift!

I can't speak about September, but we were watching for weeks before our wedding in July. Every day was 60% chance of rain. It rained twice for about 5 minutes each on the day we got there, and then again the day we were leaving, absolutely nothing in between. The wedding coordinator even called me on the day of the wedding to see if I wanted to change locations because there was a 50% chance of rain. It was a perfectly sunny day! So try not to freak out too much, odds are, you'll be fine.

We did not do flowers for any of the parents, just the wedding party. We had our two daughters and son in the wedding with us, so we had 3 bouquets and 2 boutonierres. We didn't even do any floral decoration for the gazebo, just kept it plain.

There has been lots of talk about the candy cane look for the sheers on the gazebo - they can be wrapped around the gazebo posts, rather than stretched over the top. I think some girls have had to pay if they didn't want the 'candy cane'. When I met with Claudia (on-site coordinator), I just said I wanted two white sheers, didn't specify how I wanted them placed on the gazebo. If you are set on having them a certain way, I would bring a picture with you of how you want it to look. This is what we ended up with, which I liked:

Sorry you're going through this, but all the other ladies are right. You can only control your own reactions, so try to let it go and enjoy yourself. It will all be over before you know it! I started planning over a year ago, and now my day is gone. In the end, you'll be married, and that is really what counts. I think your boys would love to be part of the sand ceremony, and may well provide comic relief. We had our 3 kids involved (11, 11, and 14) and they really enjoyed it. One of them spilled a bit of sand and got everyone laughing. But my favorite part of our ceremony was when Mark vowed to 'pour my drinks', because we had a hard time understanding the minister. I think it was supposed to be 'support my dreams', but either way works. Best of luck to you!

I'm back...everything was wonderful. Thanks so much to everyone on here for all the great ideas, suggestions and support. I'll work on a review, but in the meantime, some thoughts: As many on here have said before, don't sweat the details. I met with Claudia (on-site coordinator) the day before the wedding, and went over everything I wanted. I ended up changing my bridemaid, groom & best man flowers, beach location, and the cake. I think dealing with the Miami coordinators prior to arriving at AS created undue stress. Just my opinion. Claudia will do whatever she can to make sure you have the wedding of your dreams (her words). Regarding the dress code - Mark wore pants to Le Chique, and nice shorts the rest of the places. Even at Le Chique, we saw a guy wearing a t-shirt, jeans and flip flops. Not my idea of appropriate attire for an elegant restaurant, but from what we saw, no issues with dress code anywhere. Champagne flutes/cake knife/server - I saw some comments on this. I decided to bring them. We had a whole suitcase we checked that was just wedding stuff. We had fans, bubbles, sand ceremony (with 3 extra vases for the kids, plus 5 colors of sand), OOT bags which contained a picture frame, bottle opener, spanish guide, customized lip balm, and customized plastic drinking cups. We had some sand toys for the kids as well. Instead of a guest book, we brought an 11x17 mat that everyone signed, so that was a carry-on. We did the Spoon dinner for our wedding reception, and it was fantastic. It was honestly the best meal of the week. We had other great food (Le Chique and Tapaz for sure), but we were really pleasantly surprised by Spoon. I had my hair & makeup done by Edgar, both the trial and the day of, and he was fantastic. Although I have to say that the two hairstyles were different. I did the trial the day we had reservations at Le Chique, which worked out well. If you can stand it, save yourself some money and just book hair and makeup for the wedding day. Patiently waiting for the proofs from our photographer (we used Matias Cano) but here are some a friend took:

Thanks! They're from Adorables by Angie on etsy.com

Has anyone that is divorced traveled with their children to Mexico? I just found something that we may be required to have a notarized letter signed by the non-custodial parent, allowing us to take the children out of the country. We've got passports for them, but this seems to be an additional requirement. Freaking out just a bit, as we leave a week from Saturday!

My parents are Exotic members, and our group actually opted for the friends in paradise program. Hard to beat 50% off! We got some other perks as well, people could do an upgrade for $100 for the week, and it also included choice of couples massage or a dinner on the beach. We debated, because my parents bought more weeks than they'll ever use, but in the end, everyone went the friends in paradise route with the knowledge that they'd be sitting through the presentation.

gorgeous pics from EDM, may have to check that out! we stayed at el dorado previously, but have not been to maroma.

I don't feel like it - we're still working on our vows and the song list. But our shoes finally came yesterday, so that was a relief! Please ignore my daughter's toes in desperate need of a pedicure. I'm still waiting on a tiara I decided to order at the last minute, and a customized hangar that I ordered more than 8 weeks ago that was supposed to take 6-8 weeks, but I'm trying not to stress out too much!

Congrats to all the recent brides - the pictures are just gorgeous! Less than 3 weeks to go for me, I can't believe it's almost here...

I love these! I think I need more than 6 though. Unless they do 6 rows of 4 chairs each, then that would work for us. Does anyone know how they usually do the chair set up?

oops, the picture is from before we had the ribbon on - there is now a pink ribbon tied in a bow around the handle of the fan.

gorgeous - love them both!