Pucca

Congratulations!! There's so much information on this site that I think would help you get started. Take a look at the specific area forums with threads on certain locations that you're interested in and see what brides have to say about them. There are also wedding reviews and resort reviews on here, so grab a large cup of coffee and be ready to spend a lot of time on this site. You can also do a search by key word or location in the search bar at the top and it'll pull up everything that's related to that word. Good luck and happy planning!!

Congrats! Beautiful-looking dress! You look beautiful--not tired at all!

Beautiful! I know what you mean. If I was not sick for NYE this past January, I might have worn mine for a NYE party.

If everything in your wedding is pretty much blue, red would be a nice pop of a different color, so I think red would be great! Besides, it's your wedding. Wear whatever you feel like!

Oh wow! That's really soon! Good luck with the planning! I think it would be helpful if you outlined what you needed help with so that we can help you in whatever way we can. So list your questions!

Our photographer was Gonzalo Verdeja from ArtnColors. He's on here if you do a search for artncolors. His website is also artncolors.com. You can see some of the photos I posted from our wedding here: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/77209/puccas-wedding-and-ttd-photos These might be some of the same ones but here are some as well: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/44947/post-your-happiest-wedding-day-photo/280#post_1708889 We absolutely loved working with him! And everyone loved our pictures--not just us! Good luck!

San Jose del Cabo is less touristy than Cabo San Lucas so I think you've made a great choice. It's where we had our wedding last November. As far as transportation, it is advisable to make all your reservations to and from the airport ahead of time (I think if you google cabo shuttle, you'll get a website through which you can arrange it); if you're not sure, let me know and I can dig up the website that I recommended to some of my guests. There are some condos in the area that you can also rent through VRBO.com so that your guests don't have to feel like they're in a hotel all the time but more in a home. You'll have to make sure though that the condos are within walking distance of the San Jose del Cabo's historic district. There's also the Tropicana Inn which is really beautiful and quiet. It's very Mexican and not like a regular hotel or resort. One of my guests stayed there and so we went with him and his wife to check out the place; I loved it. If you search for it on hotels.com or any of the travel sites, you will see a lot of pictures. It also is right in the historic district so you can walk to restaurants, shops, etc. There's also a public bus that goes to Cabo San Lucas so your guests can hop on it and go to the touristy part of Cabo. You can also ask the front desk to arrange for cabs. Sometimes you'll see cabs out front but it's usually best to get the front desk to arrange for it; or if you do catch a cab out front, make sure you get them to tell you how much it is before you get in the car. There is also the Hotel Cielito Lindo which had great reviews, is cheap, and quite authentically Mexican. However, I'm not sure how many of your guests like that kind of accommodation. We had thought about staying here after our wedding but decided to splurge a little more and went somewhere about a 15-minute drive away that was absolutely beautiful but not a resort. But these are the two out-of-the-ordinary hotels that I know of. Otherwise, all my guests stayed in either condos or all-inclusive resorts in the area. I gave all my guests a choice so some people picked a resort while others picked a condo, and then one party picked the Tropicana. Have you gotten all your vendors? Let me know if you have any questions! I'd be happy to help as much as I can!

You'd probably have to go to the town clerk or city hall -- wherever family-related documents are filed in the Orlando area and check with them to make sure they have it on record. And you can probably ask them your questions (and show them your Jamaican marriage certificate), if they don't have your marriage on record. I think that would probably be the fastest way to confirm that your marriage is on file here in the U.S. I suppose you could call them too but I've found that calling can just be a headache if they begin to transfer you from person to person. Good luck and congratulations on your marriage!

I think it's beautiful! I think the ruffles are pretty and the bodice looks gorgeous with the beading. And I don't think it makes your breast area look too big. Besides, if you've got it, you've got it, hey? Once you get it in your size, I'm sure it'll fit much better. Sometimes it's tough to envision what it would look like when it actually is ordered in your size and is altered to fit correctly; but if the dress as it is makes you feel like you don't want to take it off, you know that it'll be absolutely gorgeous when it fits you! And this is my honest opinion.

Beautiful!! I love it. What does the back look like? In any event, I love the flow of it and even if you don't lose the 10 pounds, you'll still look gorgeous in it for sure! Sexy indeed! Love the details on the back. I was gonna say Maggie Sottero too. Lovely dress. And I agree with the others - keep the train. It'll look beautiful in pictures. And don't worry about getting your dress dirty. No one will be looking at the train; and it can always be cleaned after the wedding.

Wow. How time flies. It's almost coming up on month 3 of married life! Things have been great here, aside from us taking turns getting sick. Blech. I do miss some of the organizing and all that hoopla some times, so I like logging on here to remind myself that I really don't miss it as much as I think I do. Heh heh. Oh and if anyone is interested, I did look into donating my wedding gown, although I'm getting a lot of "just keep it" commentary. Even my hubby is telling me to keep it. For what I have no idea. So he said he'll do a bridal portrait of me at some point when the weather is warmer, just so I feel like I kept it for something. LOL! I am kinda tempted at that though. So we shall see. But anyway, there are a bunch of charities that you can donate your wedding dress to if you are interested. These are the two major charities that I've seen online: Brides Against Breast Cancer - they request donations of wedding gowns from 2007 on; these gowns are then sold and the profits go towards the fight against breast cancer. (The Brides Project is a similar one but local to Ann Arbor, Michigan.) Brides Across America - they take wedding gown donations (for gowns under 4 years old) and accessories to donate to brides who face sudden military deployment of their spouses or perhaps themselves. I'm sure there are more if you Google it or maybe even look into any local charities in your communities.

I don't think it's a silly question. We had a song for the groom (combined with the ringbearer; we didn't have any groomsmen). He chose 1,2,3,4 by the Plain White T's. As for the signing, I think it would be nice to have a song for it but if you choose not to, then that's fine too! We didn't do that but we did a greeting of our parents and the guests for which we played a song as well.

August is really hot in Cabo so I'd go with the suggested 5 p.m. ceremony time. The later you can have it, the better. Plus, if you are planning to have photographs before the ceremony, this will give you enough time to get ready and have photographs done prior to the ceremony. Just make sure you've got things to touch up after your photographs in prep for the ceremony as I imagine if you're outside you will be hot. My ceremony started at 4:30 (was planned for 4 but everything ran late, which actually ended up being perfect in the whole scheme of things). We did photographs during cocktail hour which ran about an hour long. I didn't mind being away from my guests that much because we were scheduled to have the reception site till 10 p.m. and considering I only had about 20 guests, there would be plenty of time for mingling. I started my make-up around noon (I did this myself), and the hair stylists came shortly thereafter. I was supposed to be ready by 3:15 and after some photos and a bit of chaos, I ended up heading down to the ceremony site close to 4. I had to wait around a bit, hiding somewhere because they couldn't figure out the sound system, so when all was said and done the ceremony started at 4:30. Everything took about 35 minutes and then we took a whole bunch of photos with the guests and then just us while the guests went to cocktail hour. At about 5:50 we started the reception festivities and dinner was served at 6:30 p.m. Before the wedding day I was obsessed about the schedule and the timing, but on the day of the wedding the only thing I was concerned about was not having the ceremony run too late so as to miss the sunset in our photos between the ceremony and the dinner. But as I said, everything worked out perfectly and the schedule I had made up actually was never looked at again during the event. Once one thing is set in motion, everything else just falls into place. But that's also just me. I'm not a stickler for schedules so if you are, I'm not sure this will be of any help. But the most important thing to remember is what's going to help you get through the day with the least amount of stress? Seriously. Almost everything I planned was focused around minimizing my stress and my then-fiance's stress. Good luck!!

Good for you!! You will be so glad that you didn't change your mind. AND, those guests who weren't as thrilled about the idea (like some of mine because we had ours in Mexico) will change their minds once they are there. All of my guests came away saying it was a beautiful wedding and they were happy it was a destination wedding because they had a blast--and yes, some of these people weren't exactly thrilled when they received the wedding invite. Besides, I think one of the most important things that changes peoples' minds aside from their attendance is seeing YOU happy and excited. So keep planning and get ready for a great time!

Thank you very much!!

Thank you very much!!

Thanks! I am finally feeling much better. Yes, it probably makes a world of a difference to have a travel agent work with you, so that's great!! And let me know if you have any other questions/concerns! Wedding planning is indeed stressful, especially when you're doing a DW since you do not live there. BUT it will all be worth it in the end, so hang in there! And vent when you need to! I think that's a great idea for your guests from Australia. Not sure about your guests from the East Coast though as it might be more costly. I thought about that as well since my family is from Southern California but it would have been more expensive for those of us flying in from the East Coast. So we just looked for flights directly there.

I really like the third photo! And I don't think it will look too bland. It will go beautifully with the beach setting I think!

Beautiful! And lovely flowers!

No problem! I know how overwhelming things can get! And that's great that all the people you really want there are on board with you!! It makes things soooooo much better! Thanks! We loved our photographer! You can contact him on this forum - Gonzalo from Artncolors; if you do a search for artncolors, you will find his posts and his profile. He was great to work with and a really nice guy, so I definitely recommend him!! Our wedding was on the beach in front of the Coral Baja, which is closer to San Jose del Cabo. It's not an all-inclusive resort. There's a restaurant there called Mama Mia and we catered all our food from there and they helped us set up for the ceremony and the reception, along with the florist we worked with - Claudia from Floreria Rayen. She can also be found through this forum but I can give you their websites and other contact information if you'd like. Ms. Claudia was wonderful to work with as well so I recommend her too if your resort allows outside vendors!! Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with! I have been under the weather but I do try to check this forum every day, or at least every few days. So I will try to get back to you as soon as I can.

First of all, congratulations! I know that you're having some issues with the location but I'm guessing since your families live in such different locations, it is going to be difficult to find a location that has similar travel times, except like you said, maybe Hawaii. So let me see if I can give you any ideas. I just got married in November in San Jose del Cabo, so I love it there. But I also went to a close friend's wedding in Hawaii a year ago, so I have some perspective on that too. I think you will have to talk to your guests and see what they're willing to do. What are their responses to either location? It's probably difficult to talk to everyone you are inviting, but maybe talking to some of your family members and some of your fiance's family members might help you get some perspective. And regardless of where you have your DW, it is important to note that inevitably someone somewhere somehow may end up telling you that something about the location/cost/whatever regarding your wedding is prohibiting their attendance. So the most important thing, despite your consideration of everyone else, is to figure out where you and your fiance really think is best to have your wedding. And it would also probably help to determine who you absolutely want to be there and what their thoughts are on traveling to your wedding, wherever it may be. Having said that, you can't go wrong with either Hawaii or Cabo. Both are absolutely beautiful locations. And I'm sure there are a slew of other places that are just as beautiful. Personally though, I think Hawaii, although beautiful, is just much more expensive for everyone - guests and you. I live in NY and we flew to Cabo from Newark. Granted we would have preferred JFK, we have been told that it is just much better to fly to Cabo from Newark if at all possible and since my husband's family lives in NJ, we figured it wasn't that much of a hassle as opposed to leaving from JFK; we just stayed over at my in-laws for a night and went to the airport from there the next day. And everything was just fine; the nonstop was worth the schlep over to Newark. So if you want a nonstop to Cabo, this is just something you'll have to do; otherwise, just know that you won't be flying a nonstop from any other airports in the area. I can't remember the name but the moderators on this site should be able to help you out as far as finding a travel agent for the Cabo area. There are also a lot of Riu Palace brides on this forum so maybe you can do a search for Riu Palace threads and reviews, and then ask the brides if they recommend their travel agent if it doesn't say so on their wedding reviews. If I can be of any further help, please don't hesitate to PM me! Good luck and happy planning!

Depends on what your theme is. My suggestion is that you look at the planning journals part of this forum. A lot of brides have put up their planning journals with details and photos. It might help generate some ideas for you. Another option is to do a search on theknot.com; they have a ton of photos that are searchable. Good luck!

Thank you!!

Thank you so much!!

Happy New Year to you too Joanne! Beautiful video and photos Sarah!!