MrsHK

Thank you! It's from a store in Cancun called 'Routa de las Indias' and it was $12. We live down here in Mexico, so that's why we bought it in Cancun, but if I were buying it back home I would've looked on Etsy or EBay. If you end up ordering one I'd love to see what you decided on!

This was our cake topper! Our wedding was a vintage travel theme with nautical elements. We're actually going to get certified to sail on our honeymoon, and my husband has a few tattoos of ships, so we thought the ship was quite fitting. The ship in a bottle was purchased for $12 and I did the letters myself. I bought the wooden letters from Michael's, painted them and glued them to sticks. I had a cute little cut out heart that I glued to a matchstick to put between the letters but it looks like our wedding planners missed it, or perhaps it was too short behind the ship. Who knows! Our cake was small and was on the top of our cupcake tower. I was so impressed with the fondant cupcakes by Zaida at Dolcet bakery too!

I think it depends on the size and amount of flowers you want. Ours was $135 plus $18 shipping to Canada. It came with a complimentary bout for Mikee as well made with an ivory rose, but we ended up getting our florist here to make a baby's breath one for him and used that one instead. That was only because we liked the baby's breath better in the end, not Our seller was Kim from Alexis Grace Designs: http://www.etsy.com/shop/alexisgracedesigns Remember to ask for it next to a ruler so you can see the size! I had to get mine redone because the one I ordered that was supposed to be 10"-12" in diameter ended up being 15", way too big for me. I'm 5'4" and 115lbs, and it was bigger than my head when it arrived! I guess she got carried away with all the different flowers and it ended up bigger than expected. Kim was great about starting a new one for me right away. Give yourself lots of time as most of the companies are quite busy and book up quickly!

Thank you! I'm so happy we get to keep it forever. I'm using it as decor in our home now and everytime I look at it, it makes me so happy!

This was our cake topper. The ship in a bottle was purchased, but I did the letters myself. I bought the wooden letters from Michael's, painted them and glued them to sticks. I had a cute little cut out heart that I glued to a matchstick to put between the letters but it looks like our wedding planners missed it, or perhaps it was too short behind the ship. Who knows!

I thought I'd include a photo of our what our table assignment frame and table frames looked like on the tables at our wedding. The table assignment display frame was handmade and I purchased it from another bride. I printed out everyone's names, tea stained the paper and glued them to paper bags that I had trimmed with craft scissors. We had it set up on our guestbook table next to a globe and a birdcage for our cards. For the table frames, we used names of places that we have travelled to together and had significant meaning to us. The frames are from the dollar store, the hangtags (which i soaked in tea) are from Staples, and the background is wrapping paper I ordered from Paper Source. I did the lettering on the tags myself!

Hey ladies! I also used Zaida of Dolcet for the desserts at our wedding a month ago. I'll admit it sometimes took her a little while to get back to me, but that seems to be the norm down here in the Riviera Maya. She was always very friendly, helpful and delivered exactly what I asked her to do. I was very specific about what I wanted and I was blown away by the cupcakes she made for us! We asked for a small cake for our cutting ceremony (it fed 10 people and was $40 USD) and 60 fondant cupcakes ($5 USD each) for our guests. Our wedding was in Tulum and the delivery from Cancun was $120 USD. People were raving about the cupcakes all night! I unfortunately didn't get a chance to eat anything more than the cake my (now) husband smooshed into my face, but that piece was great! She included the cupcake tower for free. I provided the cupcake wrappers, the ship in a bottle cake topper and the teal letters, so those are not included with her services. The cotton candy was from a different vendor as well.

Hi Shauna, I used Floreria Jardin in Playa Del Carmen for our flowers. Could you tell me a bit more about what types of arrangements you are looking for and the types of flowers? Which florists have you been looking at so far and what have their prices been? I'm sorry, I don't know of any violinists or guitarists. I had a mariachi trio and they were $250 plus tip for 45 mins. Our hotel didn't have any restrictions on outside vendors at all. I booked them through my wedding planner so I don't have their contact info.

Hey ladies! I just had my wedding down here in Mexico, where I happen to live. On multiple trips back home to Canada as well as one trip to the States, I was able to put some nice OOT bags together. Here's what we did for our Welcome Kits and Oh Shit! Kits: 16 oz Tumbler Mug with wedding logo - $3.75ea from DiscountMugs.com Tote bag with wedding logo - Discount Mugs - $3.60ea from DiscountMugs.com Notebook - handmade on brother-in-law's letterpress, took a very long time to make 80 of these but totally worth it! Check out our blog post on how we made them: http://loveandrum.com/blog/2013/6/2/weddingpress-handmade-notebooks Beer coozies with wedding logo and "Drink Up Me Hearties" - $1.10 ea from DiscountMugs.com Cooler bag with ziploc liner for leaks (our energy conscience hotel in Tulum didn't have fridges) - $3.70ea Snack pack with bag of chips, Japones nuts and Winis candies (similar to Starburst) all purchased at Sam's Club in Mexico - $1.50ea We did one bag per couple and one bag per single guest. For everything from Discount Mugs, I had it all sent to my Dad's place in the States to save on shipping. On a visit to him I grabbed half the stuff and he brought the rest. We both got the "red" light and they looked in our bags, but neither of us had real issues at customs. They just looked through, I kept saying "por nuestras boda!" and smiling and all was fine. I can't speak for what another customs agent might do for someone else though! For all you Canadian girls, you can have everything sent to a shipping place near the border and pick it up for much cheaper than the shipping costs to Canada. I used round circle stickers and alphabet stickers from Dollar Tree to label all the mugs with everyone's initials, and used hang tags from Staples to label everyone's bags. I tea stained the hang tags and used alphabet stamps from Michael's to personalize the bags for everyone. For the couples I did their first names on the hang tags, like "J & C" or "M & K". For the single guests I did their full initials like "DL" or "NC". We included a little Welcome Booklet with information about the area, things to do, restaurant recommendations, helpful Spanish phrases, etc. A note about the hang tags: The little circle at the top comes off when you tea stain it. I had to glue all mine back on. You can either put some glue ahead of time so they don't fall off, or be ok without having the circle be on the tag once it comes off. We used paper lunch bags to put our Oh Shit! Kits together. I again used hangtags from Staples and tea stained all of them. I used the alphabet stamps for the "Oh Shit! Kit" part and a potato stamp to make the red cross. I then used a sticker on the back (vintage travel themed) to close the bag and tied them closed with twine, and hung the tag on the twine. We decided to buy our meds in bulk and divy them up ourselves once we were in Mexico. It saved a TON of money and didn't take that long to do. No one seemed to mind that the ibuprofens weren't in a sealed package. We made a little piece of paper with instructions for the diarrhea relief and ibuprofen. Here's the list of contents: 1L Gatorade packs - purchased in Mexico at local grocery store - $0.65ea (1 per person) Diarrhea relief - Costco in Canada - 168 tablets for $23, gave 2 per person for a cost of $0.30 per person Ibuprofen - purchased from Costco in Canada - pack of 500 for $10, gave 6 per person for a cost of $0.12 per person Tums - purchased from Walmart - packs of 3 for $2 which is $0.70 per roll (1 roll per bag) Aloe Vera purchased from Avon.ca - $1.89ea (1 per bag) Band Aids - on sale at Shopper's, 320 bandaids for $12, gave 6 per person at a cost of $0.25 per person Gum - purchased at Sam's Club in Mexico - $0.40ea (1 pack per person) Oh Shit! Kit cost: per single person - $4.31 per couple - $6.03 Welcome Kit cost: per single person - $13.65 per couple - $20.00 Total Cost of Entire Bag: per single person - $17.96 per couple - $26.03 We had 70 guests total, half couples and half single people. In the end we spent just over $1000 on our Welcome Bags, but I think it was totally worth it. Everyone came from so far and it was the least we could do to show our appreciation for spending their time and money to come celebrate with us. We received a ton of thank you's from everyone and I think mostly everything was used, especially the Oh Shit! Kits. People kept commenting on how useful and thoughtful everything was, which was nice! We saw lots of people using the tote bags, beer coozies and tumbler mugs. The best thing is that I'm sure people will use some of these things at home, such as the tote bag and the drink tumbler (coffee mug). We chose to not put our name and date on most items so that people would keep them for their everyday lives. I hope this helps some of you for inspiration! Another idea is to hand as many Welcome Kits out before hand as you can. That way you don't have to pack them and people will know what extra things they have to pack!

I think it depends on your resort. We rented out all the rooms at a small hotel in Tulum, and we had almost all of our own decor. We live down here so it was easy to collect stuff without worrying about baggage fees. The only things we rented were chairs, the gazebo, two speakers, a mic and a couple of tables for cocktail hour. Everything else was ours! In order to have someone set up our string lighting and paper lanterns we decided to rent some tall pilar candles from Artevelas and paid them an extra $100 to hang our stuff. Our WC, Leanne Marie, tried to say we should pay them $500 but I said that was far too much to hang 15 strings of lights and 25 paper lanterns. I had to struggle with her so much in regards to pricing! I think it's because she got paid a percentage of the things she coordintaed at the end of the wedding, so trying to get me the best price possible was a conflict of interest for her. I stuck to my guns and insisted on fair pricing and did a TON of things myself to save money. For example, she quoted $1000 for a few strands of exposed lighting from Planner 1! I said "No way", and ordered my own, had it shipped to the US, asked my Mom to pick it up, drop it at friends' houses, and everyone brought down boxes for us. We saved lots of money that way! We also wanted them to hang our 10 strands of papel picado that I spent lots of time sourcing out, found the best price and the perfect kind, ordered it to my Dad's place, and had him bring to Mexico. When we came to dinner, I saw it wasn't there. Leanne "forgot" to put it up, after a year of me telling her and her assistant in emails and in person that I was dead set on having papel picado. So disappointing, but what can you do? She also complained to my sister that she "normally doesn't have to do this much work" as they were setting up. Because I brought my own decorations? Whether they are rented or brought by a bride, they still have to be set up. Complaining to the bride's family members is so unprofessional! Aaaand end vent. Haha

I agree! I just finished my wedding here and had to fight very hard to get reasonable prices. I have lived here for a year and a half so I know that there is a HUGE range of how much things cost down here, wedding or not. I also know that everything is negotiable. When you feel you are being taken advantage of, say something and insist on a fair price. Who is your wedding planner and what florist did they recommend? I may be able to help you find a more reasonable florist if you give me some information about what you are looking for and who has given you quotes.

Hey ladies! I am a newlywed who lives down here in the Riviera Maya. I'm just starting a decor rental company now that my wedding is over. I have discovered I have a passion for wedding decor and all the little details that go with it! I actually purchased some of the items from Sophia2616. If anyone would like to see pricing on mason jars of various sizes or any of the rustic vintage decor items I have listed in my classified ad below, please send me an inbox message! My pricing is fair, since I know firsthand how frustrating wedding pricing can be. Also, if you have any questions about the area, please let me know. Happy planning!

Wow, your dress is stunning! It fits you perfectly! I love your choice of colour for the belt, very elegant.

Hi Kirab22! In addition to the helpful tips from the ladies on here, your photographer is a great person to ask about timelines. They are the lighting experts and have the timeline down to a science! I'm sure you haven't picked a photographer yet, but this is a great question to ask potential photographers to see how knowledgeable they are.

My husband (so funny saying that after being engaged for so long!) got his outfit from Zara. He only wore the blazer for the ceremony and wore just the vest and the shirt for the dinner and dancing. Zara had great prices and it was awesome to be able to make a unique outfit by mixing and matching things they had. His hat is Brixton and his shoes are Sperry's.