kerrib

Congrats on your upcoming wedding, so exciting!! Aside from the wedding coordinators, which since I had my wedding there last August she looks like she stepped her game up, we didn't have any major "cons". I wish I had known I could purchase the entire photo CD for $500 with all the photos on it unedited, but the ones I did get were awesome anyway. My husband and I constantly say we can't wait to go back to Dreams. The grounds and the employees were amazing. All of our guests and ourselves had the best time. Do be aware that June is the beginning of their rainy season. We got married during the rainy season and it rained during our reception so we had to move inside. Rain season there means beautiful sunny hot days followed by an evening thunderstorm that clears up when the sun rises. It helped to cool things down. Also, hurricanes can come at that time of year. Just make sure the wedding coordinator has a set plan in place in case of rain many days ahead of your wedding, this is where we messed up. I would still do my entire wedding over again, rainy night and all, it was that good there!! Hope that helps!

A word of advice: Order room service from the Spa while getting your hair/make-up done and tell them you're getting your in the spa getting ready for your wedding and what time/room you want it delivered to. We did this and as soon as we got back to our room it was there. Sometimes room service is scary quick and other times it can take a little bit.

I brought a pic of the hair and she did a great job of matching it. For make-up I just told her what colors I usually use and said I wanted it "more bold". They have a binder there of current pictures for hair, all my BM's used it.

Also, we got our wedding video back today. It came out great, they did a great job. We only did what came with the package (getting ready, ceremony, dinner) and now I kind of wish we did the whole wedding. But nevertheless, we were impressed and it came out great.

WHHHOOO HOOOO! 18 days!!! The lanterns were just the paper ones. I got them off the internet, but Ikea usually has them, too. They didn't blow around at all. Fatima put them out so I don't know if she put anything in them. I can't think of anything I saw at the markets or downtown in PV that you could use. I did see a wedding when we were there and they used the large palm fans from the palm trees and made these like little archs down the sides of the isle. It looked really neat. I bet if you ask Fatima, she'd know what I'm describing. Oceana has dark blue and white table cloths and under neath they are wooden slat tables. There were square and rectangle tables when we were there. I don't think an itinerary is a bad idea. I would think it would be helpful for everyone and then less questions and no one missing out on anything. IMO.

We got them when we booked out fishing charter. I got one and then copied it for all my guests. http://www.puertovallartatours.net/coupons-discounts.htm

I'm missing Mexico and Dreams badly!!! So, I finished my planning thread today. If you're interested here it is: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/76537/kerribs-long-and-pic-filled-after-the-fact-dreams-pv-planning-thread

We Trashed The Dress the morning after. My sister is a photographer and offered to do some of the pics for us.

Here is a link to our photos. I meant to put in a section about the photographer but forgot. He was great! http://20082011kerricory.drepvphoto.adventurephotos.com.mx/#/slideshow-1/

Rehearsal: At our resort the night before the wedding. Cory’s shirt was a coral linen shirt from Sears and so were his shorts. Boat shoes from Bass. My dress was a cotton eyelet style dress from Banana republic. We did a bonfire after dinner. Tables: Center pieces: Little did I know this was more of a hassle than I thought it would be. I wanted candles and my colors incorporated and didn’t want traditional flower center pieces. We lucked out at Ikea. We bought 8 sets of vases: 3 pack of tall cylinders in 3 different heights and widths. Light/lime green gravel. White pillar candles also in different heights and widths. Bought 2 large baskets of shells from Koyal Wholesale and spay painted them champagne. Bought 3 small boxes of mini starfish and white sand dollars from Oriental trading. Spay painted the starfish champagne and hand painted green starfish shapes on the sand dollars. Table Names: We named the tables after places we have been. We made a collage of pictures we took at those places and put it on the front with the name and mounted it on gold paper. On the back we also had the table name and an explanation of why it was special to us. To hold the table names, we bought box of 12 shell/wire place holders from Oriental Trading and spray painted them champagne, too. Escort Cards: At The Christmas Tree Shop I found medium size white sand dollars and finger starfish. I thought they were real until I got home and saw “made in china†stickers and then realized they were plaster. These were to signal the wait staff if the meal was chicken & Steak or fish. Attached to each one was a tag in green, white or gold with the guest’s name and table. (paper from Michael’s) Maracas: we planned to buy these in Mexico but then decided to get as much done at home as possible. We found medium sized maracas for $1.65 a pair at amols.com. Cory’s mom made tags to attach to them. Unbeknownst to us, she rewrote the saying, all I could do was laugh. Other: Shoes optional - we made this on vistaprint. It was at the beginning of the isle for the ceremony. Isle Decorations- paper lanterns in wedding colors, various sizes to, lined the isle. (Koyal wholesale website) Bonfire- the night of the rehearsal we did a bonfire for all our guests. Made on vistaprint. Fans- It’s hot and humid in PV in August, we got these fans for free from my matron of honor that she forgot to use at her wedding the year before. Bridesmaids’ gifts: Bracelets (mentioned above), Hangers, swim cover-ups, hair up-do’s, gift/beach bags, flip flops Groomsmen Gifts: Sun glasses, flip flops, fishing charter Hair & Makeup: we had it done at the salon. I paid for all my bridemaid’s hair and/or makeup. Trash The Dress: My sister is a photographer and she offered to do this for us. We did it the morning after the wedding. AWESOME TIME!!

Cake: Wasn’t that important to us because we know most ppl don’t wind up eating it. We got seaglass covered balls and initials to go on the table and a generic H with a little bling to go on the cake. We never saw the cake or topper again after this picture Accessories: I bought bangles from Forever 21 and mixed a few sets together. One said “love†on it and the others had pearls, which I love. My earrings were from Nordstroms Rack. Simple studs, I don’t like how dangle earrings look on me. Hair flower - I did a DIY, it looked great but when I put it in my hair it was HUGE! I bought a smaller and simpler one at Claire’s for like $4. Veil- My veil was my “something borrowed†from my matron of honor. I let my girls were what ever jewelry they wanted, but I bought them all custom made bracelets from etsy (same seller as my sash). They all cried when they got them, they were stunning! Garters: Both from Frederick's of Hollywood. My toss one was blue and was my “something blue†Invites: At first I thought passports or boarding passes would be a good idea, but I wanted to do things a little more traditionally and less DIY for the invites since we were inviting 212 guests. We used Invitations By Dawn and were able to use a coupon code we found online that saved us nearly $100. We purchased 140 invites for only $300. We selected the wording and they were a big hit. The long card folded and it said "Come to Mexico....With love Cory& Kerri" then when they opened it they saw all the wording.The response cards were filled with well wishes and cute notes. We sent these out in early March 2011. OOT bags: Prior to BDW I had no idea they even existed. I was hesitant about making them, one for cost and two I knew we’d be lugging them down to Mexico. We couldn’t decide on bags to use and didn’t want to make any custom ones with our names. We are pretty “green†people so while getting flipflops at ON we found reusable grocery bags. They weren’t in our colors but they were big, sturdy, and we knew people could reuse them. They wound up being a huge hit and we saw most of our guests using them and their contents. Cory’s mom made tags with each person/couple’s name and we tied them to the handles. Included in the OOT bag: 2 koozies (mexican poncho & one funny one) [oriental trading] propel & snapple drink mix hair ties nail file water proof beach box - we wrote their names with silver sharpie Oh Sh!t Kit: First Aid kit, pepto, immodioum AD, chapstick, advil, aloe vera (cvs.com and drugstore.com) Puerto Vallarta discount card Thank you post card (vistaprint) Info Book - guests’ photos and fun info, MX/PV info, itineraries - (made on powerpoint & printed at office max) Do Not Disturb Sign (vistaprint) Colgate Wisps

Bridesmaids: Originally I had my girls wearing a champagne colored dress from David’s bridal. But I was not “in love†and knew they’d never wear it again. On the news one day they were showcasing a boutique that did convertible dresses. I saw love!! I went to etsy and ordered fabric swatches in shades of green from a few sellers that were reasonably priced. This was great because I got to see and feel the fabric in person. I settled on seller Corali Beatrix with a dress in “pistachioâ€. All of my girls loved their dresses and they are all petite so she was great and custom made their waists smaller for no extra charge. Groom & Groomsmen: I knew I wanted white linen shirts and khaki pants. We were very close to doing studiosuits but some of the GM didn’t want to order from across seas. I went to Old Navy and they happened to have khaki colored linen pants and white linen shirts. Cory’s shirt was slightly different, it had a white pattern embroidered on it. And our ring bearer had the same shirt as him but mini. Shoes: We got flip flops for all of the BM and GM at Old navy. Girls were gold with gold jewels. Boys were brown. I got these sparkly little gems from Tommy Bahama for more $$ than I should have spent, but they were worth it, and I’ve worn them many times after, I get so many complements. Flowers: I was torn between a white flower bouquet and a brooch bouquet. THen I came across a DIY blog on here and saw someone that made a brooch & natural touch flower one. I decided to do the same. I ordered about 30 brooches in my wedding colors off e-bay and then attached them to floral wire. I also got 4 starfish and 4 special brooches, one for each bridesmaid. I brought them along with a pic from the blog to Mexico with me and had the florist do it with real flowers. It turned out AMAZING!! (but also REALLY heavy!). For Cory I wanted Kermit Mums (they are green and he likes Kermit the Frog) and the groomsmen we got a white rose with a green orchid. We also had matching corsages & boutonnieres made for our moms and dads using the same flowers. We made a toss bouquet out of white roses we picked up in town at walmart and then wrapped the stems in left over green and white ribbon. (Inspiration)

Much like anyone else, I want to thank all that have made BDW possible and each and everyone of you that has answered questions, calmed fears, and inspired. I borrowed a lot of ideas from people on here, sorry I do not remember all of you, but thank you!!!!! Engagement: Cory and I met when I was 18 and had just moved from NJ to CA. We had some classes together at a local college in South Lake Tahoe, Ca. We dated for nearly 7 years, and 3 of them were spent with Cory finishing school in Montana and me finishing in CA. I had expected him to ask so many times over the seven years that I had just about given up. I stopped expecting it because after any special outing I would come home thinking “he didn’t askâ€. In the summer of 2010, Cory (and little did I know it, my best friend Kim) schemed a way to get me back to Tahoe to a private beach he and I had spent many summers at with the dog. It was there that he asked and I was so shocked. It was nothing short of awesome! Planning: We are from opposite sides of the country so we had to come up with a plan so one person’s family wasn’t doing all the traveling. We had always talked of getting married at a ski resort in Lake Tahoe because it was special to us, but to plan a wedding like we wanted there would have be crazy expensive. We decided to do DW so no one’s family was favored and Mexico was in the middle. After reading reviews, we chose Dreams Puerto Vallarta. We picked August 20 because I am a teacher and that was during our summer break (which ironically wound up changing and I missed the first 2 weeks of teaching). Neither of us had been there but it looked amazing and had nothing but good reviews. STD: We decided to save money and not get professional engagement photos. We made STD on vistaprint using large postcards and some of our favorite pics of us. Served its purpose and turned out great. We sent these out in September 2010 (11 months out). Colors: I didn’t want to go with anything typical and I wanted to use colors that would complement the natural beauty of the resort. We decided on white, champagne, and light green. This proved a littler harder to find decor so I wound up doing a lot of DIY. Dress: I have always loved lace and always pictured having some lace on my dress. I am fairly simple and decided that I would get a DW dress. I first went with a plain dress from Nordstroms, but it came in and was too plain. After many dress shops, I wound up at David’s bridal. The lace made me fall in love and the back of the dress sold me! I replaced the sash on the dress with a more blingy one I got on etsy (Seller daniel12 - who was awesome and reasonably priced!).

There is a great cigar shop downtown. If you grab a taxi at Dreams and ask to go to the flea market/ el centro, have them drop you off at the beginning of the market (they usually do anyway). There is a cigar shop next door to the flea market it has a statue of a man dancing in front. The owners are great, the prices are reasonable, and cigars are delicious!!

Ok, I made mine for my wedding....kind of. I prepared all of the brooches ahead of time and then showed my florist a pic of the original brooch/flower bouquet on here. It came out EXACTLY like I wanted, but be warned, my arm was tired of holding it after all the pic, dang it was heavy. All of my guests loved it. It was so unique and added that extra bling I was looking for. I got all of my brooches off eBay. I stuck to the advice of setting a price limit. I got each of mine for $4 or less. I also made some from my BM's bouquets. For theirs I got them each a starfish and then one thing that reflected their personality - I wound up getting these from Michaels in the necklace/bead section.