krsmith

Thanks! They seem to like them, so thats all that matters to me! Their dresses are also Henkka but I got them on ideeli.com when they were on a SUPER sale! Kepp your eye out for them!

Beautiful dress!!!!! Holy COW! I was NEVER skinny! Even as a kid I was a tad on the chubby side...even with soccer and basketball. My first diet was Weight Watchers in 7th grade. Once I was out of school and on my own, that was when the weight came on...and SOOOOO easily! I am 4'11 and now with weeks of hard work, down about 9 lbs and still at 147.8. I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but on someone as short as me it REALLY is! According to BMI I am obese! As much as I would love to lose like 40 lbs, I know for my build and body type, that is not realistic...so I'd be happy with 125ish. I haven't been that in probably 10 years! You have totally got it! 10-15 lbs in 7 months is TOTALLY doable! Its just the darn holiday season we have to watch ourselves on!

To all the ladies waiting to hear back on your dates: Don't stress! I promise, that even though they are slower than hard wax drying on your bikini in a hot room (sorry a little Esthetician humor), they WILL get back to you, and most likely you will get exactly what you want! We waited for WEEKS for them to confirm that Father Aguilar was available...and of course it was painful, but I think they just run on a different time table. More than likely they have reserved your spot and are just waiting to confirm who is going to marry you! Just keep going as if you have it set in stone (maybe not print out STDs just in case) and if it gets to be too much, pick up that phone and keep calling until you get your answers! I'm about to email them and try and beat them down to get a reserved reception/ceremony site as I would like to have that info on my invites.

Ok ladies! I got my little sister to try on the dress I got from ideeli, and it looks AWESOME on her! So I know at least 2 of the 3 will totally rock it! I have no idea how they will choose which style to wear since they look great in all of them! I took a few pics of the different styles: They should line up so the front shot is on top and the back shot that goes with it is below the top picture!

Oh and here are some of the back shots too! As you can tell my sister is a total goof!

OK, I finally had my little sister try on her BM dress, and it turns out it was a good choice! I bought convertible dresses from ideeli when they were on sale, so it was a good buy. The color was a little off from what I wanted, but in the end I think it will work out and look great on them! There are a GAZILLION ways to wear them too! Heres a little preview!

Congrats Ladies! How exciting! I know how it was when I bought my dress. The whole time leading up to shopping I was completely DREADING it! I was working out and had lost some weight, but not enough to make me comfortable trying on a "one size fits all" sample dress. All in all, I realized that not many people actually DO fit those, and the ladies (most of them) were super sweet! I ended up going to about 4 stores. I picked a top 2 at each and then narrowed down from there. I just went with my mom, and we have VERY different opinions about style/fit, so I was worried we might butt heads. But she came through and we actually had a lot of fun with it! I have had my dress now for a year since we were actually supposed to be getting married LAST Aug, but we changed gears 3 months before. I haven't tried on my dress since last summer, and I'm afraid to do so since I'm about 10 lbs heavier than I was last year. I also am working my butt off trying to get into shape! Its amazing sometimes how SLOW the process can be. I have been going hard at it for about 3 weeks now and am down about 8 lbs. I would like to lose at least another 25-30 lbs. I am really short (4'11) and those extra lbs REALLY show on me. I'm one of those people that if I even THINK or LOOK at bad food I gain 5 lbs. And to think crunch time will be right during the holiday madness! I might do a round of HCG a month or so before the wedding to help get that final push...I have done it a few times before, and have lost about 15+ lbs in a month. I started a thread back in Jan about it. You can read it here! The only thing that has worked well for me is cutting out the sugar and carbs (grains). So I mainly eat A LOT of salads, and grilled meat and veggies. Just from doing this I am about 25 lbs down from my heaviest weight. I try and either go for a walk/jog or hit the gym at least 5x/week. Now that the weather is nice, the FI and I try and go on a hike on the weekends. My weight loss is a lot slower than in the past, but this is the first time I have really incorporated weight training. I just have to keep telling myself that if the scale isn't going down, the inches MUST be! A huge inspiration and motivator is Sugar Free Sheila! I love this girl, and she has had AMAZING mind blowing results that have lasted 10 years! Check her out...this girl rocks! Good luck with all your weight loss ventures ladies! Lets help keep each other going!

I'm thinking about hiring someone to do makeup also, and am definitely considering Sara Tamargo since we are using Del Sol for our pictures and she is Sol's sister. All the pictures I've seen where she has done the makeup the brides look beautiful! Does anyone have any pricing for her or other makeup artists? Ultimately I might end up doing my own since it sounds like the people at MP aren't fabulous, and I'm an Esthetician, so its something I know how to do...it just might be nice to not have that to think about. MAC is one of my favorite lines, so maybe there is someone who works well with that line. I have not said anything to Janina yet about bring Del Sol in for our pictures. So I will be curious to see what she has to say and what they will charge me. I started working with Marvin, although I haven't heard back in a few days, but since we have plenty of time I'm not too worried about it. I'm glad he is experienced at getting around the "no vendors policy". That will save some big bucks! Is anyone going to have a slide show at their wedding? I'm wondering if there is a way to have that at our rehearsal dinner/reception if we have it outside somewhere other than a ballroom. Anyone know?

Yes! His name is Father Benito Aguilar: [email protected]

Absolutely NOT! This is such an important day in any couple's lives, and is a very personal and intimate occasion. Every bride has her idea of what would make the day exactly how she (or they) dreamed it would be. I would never go to a place that would restrict my options for making our day exactly how I want it. If you think about how much money each couple brings into the resort with just room stays alone for themselves and ALL their guests, that it already THOUSANDS of dollars! Do they really have to be so greedy to make even MORE money on the extras that people would want to have that they FORCE you into choosing from only what they have? I don't believe the excuses given saying it is for the resorts protection...I don't think I've ever heard a bride blame some mishap say, on her own photographer's part on the resort! That would just be ludicrous! I think that any resort that chooses to do this will really regret their decision and ultimately have to drop that policy. I think just based on principle alone people would walk away and choose something more flexible let alone forcing people into limited options. As I'm sure we all know, our ideas are constantly evolving and changing and finances sometimes change, I would want to be able to change my mind as many times as I need and be able to look for vendors that fit my needs and what I'm looking for. This is a business, and they are playing dirty...it won't go unnoticed by potential customers for long. I just hope that any bride that has unexpectedly had to deal with this can get their money back and take their business elsewhere without too much trouble on not only theirs but their guests part.

What do you guys think of resorts that don't let you bring your own photographer? I'm hearing a lot of this happening! I have to say I'm amazed that a resort would put such a restriction on such a personal event like a wedding. I think if it were me I would walk away just based on principle! Have you ladies had to deal with that at all?

That looks awesome! Great job! I'm too much of a worrier and can't make decisions to do them myself. I started trying, and kept changing my mind or not liking it at all. In the end I just decided to have ours done. Its not an expense we planned on paying, but it will be worth the less amount of stress. I would be totally on my own since my FI is also in school as well as works 40 hrs.... just seemed to daunting to have to do them all by myself! MAN it seems like so many of you have a TON of guests confirmed already! I'm so jealous! We only have our parents at this point....its like pulling teeth to get any kind of answer from anyone!

Wow! This is great! I love the price break down and where you bought everything! Thanks!

I bought my BMs dresses. I decided that I would since it will be pretty spendy to be at our wedding. Plus they are my sisters, and I wanted to help them out...especially since 2 of the 3 of them are very young (18) and don't have much money anyways! I just kept my eye on ideeli.com for dresses that I liked, and ended up getting 3 pink convertable dresses for $69 (reg $198) each! I will also buy them necklaces and hair flowers and leave their shoes up to them.

Welcome and Congrats! Choosing a resort is the hardest part! Definitely start your list going, and start narrowing down from there. With only 7 months away, there is not much time! I guess February is "Peak Season" so it might be busier/more expensive! I didn't realize that when we booked our wedding for Feb 14th 2012 at the beginning of this year. Check out the Del Sol Wiki for hundreds of slide shows of weddings all around the Riviera Maya area. That might help you get a better idea of what the resorts and their weddings look like! Happy planning!

Welcome and Congrats! Great choice of resort! I am also getting married at Moon Palace! Make sure you check out the Moon Palace 2011 Brides and Moon Palace 2012 Brides threads. Read through each and you will have A LOT of questions answered for you! It took me a couple days to read it all, but was so worth it. Its great to be able to bounce ideas off of everyone here and get feedback on things your FI doesn't really care about LOL! And there are lots of great reviews and pictures of Moon Palace weddings on here to wet your appetite and give you tons of ideas. Here are some slide shows from our photographer: http://delsolphotography.com/blog/content/galleries/?gal=421 http://www.delsolphotography.com/vincentguihard/weddings/emily&dom/ http://www.mattadcock.com/weddings/gynnie&jude/ http://delsolphotography.com/blog/content/galleries/?gal=149 http://delsolphotography.com/blog/content/galleries/?gal=55 http://delsolphotography.com/blog/content/galleries/?gal=115 Happy Planning!

WOW! Great job! You found a lot of great stuff! I will have to start looking at these places too. I am about 7 months away, and have barely started my OOT bags. I'm dying to get them going, but I am TOTALLY clueless on how many people are coming! So far only our immediate family has booked and said they are coming. Everyone else seems to be taking their sweet time!

I just checked with my TA and she said that NO, "kids stay free" is only the summer months, June-August. SHOOT! I was really hoping to get in on that too!

No problem! Just be careful! There was a review posted by another bride on here and I believe she was a nurse, and she was concerned about the sanitation of everything. She said the person was not wearing gloves and wondered what else was not sanitized! I found her review so you can read it: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/19422/moon-palace-review-no-pics-yet-very-long The other reason I didn't want to do it was because I bruise pretty easily, and would HATE to have a nice purple bruise on my arm on the wedding day. That and it seems like kind of a hassle to get everything translated...I think you can pay extra for that too though. I think we are going to go to a JP right before we leave and not tell anyone. It does kind of suck that legally our anniversary would be a different date, but I guess only we would know. Are you doing the Immaculate Conception Package? We are, and now I'm wondering if we should have just asked for the Complimentary Package and asked to have a Catholic Ceremony. I'm still trying to decide if the package is worth it and what all we would really want/need in the Catholic Package. I also want to do a Lasso ceremony! They look beautiful! I don't know if they include on in the Catholic ceremonies down there or if I need to request it...or if I need to buy the Lasso myself! SOOOO many things to do! Good luck with your planning!

Yes you can! you would have to get your blood drawn there (within 24 hrs) and of course pay the fees for a civil ceremony which is something like $300 I think. But as far as I know it is possible!

Another couple checks done! Now I'm getting on my game as I'm realizing the time is going quickly! I've been feeling lazy and like there wasn't much to do at this point since I don't know my guest list, but I have started on a few other things at least! Set up our room block with our TA: CHECK! I'm about to start working with Rebecca on invites: CHECK! I contacted and confirmed our date with Marvin for flowers: CHECK! Bought my wedding dress hanger on Etsy: CHECK! Set up an order for part of my gift to my girls and moms on Etsy: CHECK! Putting together a list of questions for Janina: CHECK! I'm starting to get really excited now that we only have 7 months left! Just a minute ago it was 12! Time has really flown What are all you ladies working on now??

No it is not legal in Mexico! We are doing a Catholic ceremony at MP, and we were told that we would have to make it legal BEFORE we went down there. They keep church and state totally seperate. Your wedding will be valid in the eyes of the Catholic church, but not legal in the US. Hope that helps!

Well now that it is July and we are only about 7 months away, I am working on invites! After many hours of trying to design my own Boarding Pass invites, and getting completely fed up with my results and progress, I decided to just go with Rebecca from Allurements by Rebecca for our invites. She was so awesome to work with on our monograms, and I know she will do a great job on our invites. We decided to go with a Passport Invite and have a boarding pass postcard as our RSVP. I love that she also offers a DIY discount! I was worried about spending so much on invites, but with 25% off for cutting and assembling myself, it doesn't seem too bad! Other than that, I haven't done much of anything! I feel so terrible, but the things I want to start working on are things I need to have an idea of the number of people that are coming and of course people SUCK at committing one way or another! For now I have just been browsing Etsy and seeing whats out there and getting ideas of things I want to bring (which is hopefully not much as I want to keep it simple). Has anyone been compiling a list of questions to email your WC? I've been trying to do that so I can get all of them answered at once, but I feel like I am missing things!

What a GREAT idea! I was thinking about doing this after I saw them on a movie, but wasn't sure what they were called! Great find!

Congrats and welcome! So exciting! Do you know what date you are wanting to book? You will find lots of helpful info/advice on here. Happy planning!