traceysteve

Love, love, love the Westin!! Darienne was amazing, she took care of everything. If you have any questions, PM me. Have fun, excellent choice!!

We actually changed to an AI resort, but since I was already in the process of planning with the Westin, we stayed at the RIU and had the wedding at the Westin. We ended up getting such a great deal, it worked out less than if we didn't go AI.

I agree!! Make the best of it. Aruba was amazing, the weather was perfect, food fantastic, and the people helpful. Island time is special, but I found I adapted once we landed. Was really not bothered by much, even when my cake almost took a header...meh...whatever, I'm married now, was pretty much all I was thinking. All of the things I thought would piss me off, didn't...shocking really, because I was so irritable before we left! Please PM me if you guys have any questions. There were little things I didn't think about until the week before, like place card holders...duh! You need them in Aruba to hold the place cards down...literally.Try not to get stressed out, have fun, get married!

I agree! Prepare for the indifference!! People didn't care that I was carrying a wedding dress, and travelling with a group of 45. Plus, keep in mind, there may be other brides on your flight as well. My little tip for you, tape the straps to the hanger, that was almost the death of me, every time I picked up my dress, it was pooled at the bottom of the garment bag.

hahaaa!! thanks! It was fantassssstic! wouldn't change a thing! For the music though, I rented the sound system that they had available, it was $250, but I can't remember if it was flat or $250/hour...more than likely by the hour. It was great. Someone on another thread was talking about this app called my wedding dj, and I actually bought an ipod touch just to take advantage of this $5 app. Let the resort provide the dock though, it is well worth the money in the end, not having to worry about it. If there is anything I can help you with, PM me, obviously, no need to be on this site much anymore....am having withdrawal though

we went with ipod and hook up, and it worked out better than I thought it would. our guest were able to go up and skip a song if they liked, and i didn't care because I had at least an extra hour of music.

I told the wc at the westin that I would steam it myself, she gladly brought the steamer up for me

I loved this so much, I found it all useful, here is mine: THINGS I WOULDN'T CHANGE - 6 month engagement - OOT bags, as much as I got caught up in buying stuff for the bags (actually obsessed) everybody loved them, the Bubbas were handy, nobody at the resort had them, and in Aruba, it's soo windy that everyone's plastic cups kept blowing into the pool. The extra sunscreen definitely came in handy. - we delivered most of the bags the week before we left, very impromptu drop ins, this alleviated the stress of me trying to figure out how I was going to transport things. - staying at the RIU, and having the wedding at the Westin...I love the Westin. - not upgrading my room, ours was fantastic, and because I have 2 boys from a previous marriage, we were on the ground floor, close to the pool. - I decided last minute to have my hair done and I wanted it off of my face, it was sprayed and super sprayed, did not budge in the wind. - opted against the veil, especially for aruba. - parasols and sandlewood fans were amazing, the pics with the parasols look sooooo good. - we bought post cards and used those as a guest book, my original intent was to self address them and stamp them and ask our guests to mail them, but I forgot my address labels. The Westin provided a plain white wooden box and had the postcards in a tray with some pens, and everyone knew to sign and put them in the box. We grabbed them and read them the next morning. - having the wedding at the Westin, meant having more control because we were paying for everything, pretty much anything we wanted, they made happen. Dinner was great, best steak of my life, and the dessert was to die for. - I loved my Kate Spade MR & MRS cake knife and server that I had personalized...it looked fantastic. - I tied the rings together with some purple ribbon that I had so that they wouldn't get lost (more so mine wouldn't get lost, it's tiny) the photographer loved it took pics of it. - glad I didn't get too involved with DIY projects, because the last 2 weeks before we left was so ridiculously crazy busy, that I barely found time to pack. - I used the urban decay eye primer and make up setter...make up stayed put all night, and I have super greasy eyelids so that is THE primer to use. - the Burberry tie, as expensive as it was, looked so great. - small wedding party, having only a best man and maid of honor, and my two boys at the altar, great, easy to organize. - getting married a couple of days after being there ensured that I had a great tan going on, made sure to wear strapless bikinis until after the wedding to avoid tan lines, and sunscreened myself, especially my face, to avoid burning. - once we arrived, was not stressed about annnnyyything, didn't care if at all, was all zen. - didn't plan any excursions for ourselves, but managed to send the kids off on one.It was so great hanging out on the beach or by the pool, I didn't want to do anything, I didn't even want to shop! - paid for the sound system to hook up my ipod. - finally figured out how to use the wedding dj app..duhhhh - we only used the bottom layer of the cake, but there are 9 of us that are 40 this year, so we had a little birthday party with the top. THINGS I WOULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY - duh. forgot to pack myself a OOT bag, which meant the extra sunscreen would have been handy for us as well, but I had put mini bath and bodyworks candles in them, they would have come in handy in the room, it was just a bit musty in that climate. - not have dinner on the beach..too windy, sand was everywhere, stuck to you, in your drinks, food, etc. nice thought though. - wish I had done a basket with flip flops for some of the guests, wouldn't have done for everyone, but some of the women showed up in heels, thought I told everyone that flip flops were mandatory, maybe I would have even put that on the invite. - forgot my thank you cards that I was going to use for the wedding planner, etc. - actually pretty much forgot all of the stuff I had ordered from Vistaprint really early on. - last of all....wish I didn't have to come back

I flew with WestJet, and going, they didn't care, were not helpful...all I kept thinking was that I'll have to steam it the day of anyways. I was getting frustrated because it kept falling off of the hanger, coming home, I taped the ribbon hanging thingys to the hanger, and that was much better, and they offered to store my dress for me. Just be prepared for nobody caring that you're getting married, I was kinda surprised.

these are mine

Aruba is AMAZING!! I can't rave enough about it. The majority of our group stayed at the RIU, but we had the wedding at the Westin, which is right next door. The Westin is awesome...they treated us like gold. They arranged for transportation for us to and from the airport. We did see 2 weddings at the RIU, they were small, but nice. It was definitely worth the money.

Thanks Manda!! It's already pretty far on the list, so I'm not worried And Torilynn...I KNOW!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKK! We keep telling everyone, we have a couple of days to get out of our drunken stupor before it all goes down hill!!!!

Torilynn, I don't even know what I would do without you on here!!! You are my online BFF!!!

Awwww....thanks so much Nikadawn. This looks like the biggest crisis, so I'm not really that worried. I did think of a back up plan though, someone gave me a little blue shoe charm when my youngest son was born with his name and birthday on it. I'm soo exhausted and have very low tolerance for people right now, so this was the tipping point for sure! Meh, whatever isn't done, isn't done. Who cares at this point, right? That was the whole point of going away!!! I may go over to Victorias secret on my lunch though, just to see.

Annie, if you're going to the states, I noticed, while I was in line at walmart (or target) that they sell 2 packs of advil (shoot, or was it tylenol..i'm really sorry, I can't remember) of the 10 cts for $3.97, don't stress about finding them here, you'll get them in the states for sure. As well as, in dollartree they had boxes of 3 pack (2 ct) advil and tylenol for $1