Mufin1785

Since we are already going the non traditional route we are not doing flowers our BM's will have parasols and our GM will not have a bout b/c they are not wearing jackets so i think it looks silly pinned on a shirt.

We are doing this but in Punta Cana we contacted the company diectly through their website, and paid a deposit via wire to reserve our private tour.

We are paying for our wedding party attire and I I am giving my BM a spa credit for hair and make-up. We are buying our BM dresses fro Target.com they have an afforadable Bridesmaid line.

We are having an Formal AHR with everyone in their attire from the wedding. Our is a champagne Brunch with wedding cake, dancing and photographer. We are sending out formal invitations for the DW with an enclosure card with the AHR details and the reply card will list the DW and AHR. We booked our venue and photographer already and have order invitations.

We only booked our hotel rooms through a TA since our air itinerary was not available yet either when the save the dates went out. We set-up a group discount with American Airlines that gave us a code that guests could use to get 5% off. Our save the dates had our TA information, nobody really contacted us about it. But our STDs were a letter explaining our DW and travel options.

we did STD and formal invites for the DW. Formal invites were important to my mom and she wanted to make sure that everybody including people who could not make the DW felt included and were not offended when they only received an invitation to the AHR. Plus it is a lovely keepsake of your wedding day that you can frame with your pictures.

http://www.moradabay-restaurant.com

We just Vacationed in Islamorada. We rented a cottage to stay in off of VRBO.com. The postcard Inn seemed nice, we took a sunset cruise that left from there one night. We ate a a nice restaurant on the beach Morada Bay, very romantic set-up with tiki torches.

For our STD we used Vista Print Postcards for free, only paid shipping For our Invites we are using pocket-fold @ $6 a piece includes invitation for destination wedding, an enclosure card invite for AHR, and a reply card that will list both events. we only need 85 but we had to order in increments of 25 so we spent $600.57 total We plan to send out a reminder postcard about the AHR when we return from DR, but only to those who replied yes. cost unknown.

what is the rush on sending the annoucements? We are sending out wedding invitations out as the same time as our AHR invitations. We are not send out annoucements, majority of AHR guests are not attending the DW, but I want everyone to feel included.

Good Eye! I would never thought of doing this you look amazing!

They look fabulous!!

We are going to have a small card that reads: For more information about our wedding, including accommodations, travel and events please visit our website wedding.com

Go with the cocktail party, I think the guest will appreciate having the disco private for the wedding party. They are coming to see you get married not to eat. plus, they can eat before or after the cocktail party it is an AI. Good Luck with your planning!!

Originally I was not going to have a veil,just a simple flower to match our beautiful destination. But after dress shopping, I felt that I did not feel like a bride until I put a veil on.

Yes I would move forward with your plans to have DW. If the brother decides to come great, if not your wedding is about you and your FI. You have been planning this for quite sometime. My sister can not go for financial reasons. We are having a an AHR with with wedding attire and a photographer I am making my sister's two daughters flower girls, so I have pictures of me, my sister and 2 nieces when I am wearing my wedding dress. Even though she can't come she feels honored that we are having a formal AHR where she can feel "included"

opps I thought your budget was $100 but a $1000 you can do alot with actually!

Originally I had a small budget too of $200, my plan was to buy a knock-off from China. My reasoning was I don't want to spend all that money on a dress I am going to wear once. But then, I went dress shopping with my mom and godmother just to try on to get an idea of what I wanted. When I saw their reaction to THE dress. I did not want to take the risk of replicating the gown so we brought it! You only get married once you should buy something that makes you feel beautiful without going out of control my dress was $720, this includes alterations. If you want to stick to your small budget shop alone. Good Luck!

That is a good idea, but wouldn't you have their addresses already since your moms would have had to send out invitations to the engagement party??? As for the photographer if you don't have a particular one in mind there is one on the BDW offering free destination wedding photography in order to build her portfolio, all you have to do is pay for her travel cost, she is based out of Florida. Good Luck!

Coffee is a great idea! But maybe you can take your guests on an excursion, that why they can take a memory home with them.

Our resort has a guitar trio that we are using at $270 a hour. the violinist was $400 and that was only one instrument!!! But we decided to Guitar trio since it will add a local flavor. Good Luck with your search!

I think a lot of brides having destination wedding choose a week day, because it is cheap to fly and the resort is cheaper. We opted for a weekend wedding since some of guest have children that can't miss that much school. Some people can't afford a 7 day trip, or can't afford to miss that much work. Most of our guests are staying 4 nights. We are having our welcome dinner the night before the wedding, but most people are coming in the day before the welcome dinner. Which gives them one day to relax and unwind before jumping into wedding festivities.

We purchased my FI suit from Jos A Bank's they stay cool tropical blend suits on sale for $197 with and additional 25%. So we ordered him one on a Saturday and it arrived on Tuesday. It is a really light suit and nicely made. They also have a great return policy you can return it for up to a year and get refunded as long as the suit has not been altered. But we won't be returning his

For my AHR favors I am printing inexpensive 4X6 pictures from our destination wedding and placing them in a custom photo folders with our names and wedding date

This Jellyfish thread makes me want to change my reception venue. Everything sounds so amazing!!