jamieirene

Love those Jay Kay! They looked wonderful!

Hi Again Ladies! Just wanted to share a pictures so you might be able to get a better idea of the maracas colors and size! I will get a better close up of them with my camera this was just a quick shot on my camera phone right after they arrived!

Thanks!

Hi Everyone! We are all hitting our 5 month mark! Where is time going?! Hope everyones planning is going great!

Thanks Ladies!

Hi Ladies! Just wanted to share these thank you cards, I am changing the wording a little bit, and attaching these to my out of town bags! It's only $15.00 for the digital file and you can print as many as you need from your home printer or take them to get printed at your local print shop. Such a nice touch to show our guests how thankful we are for making the trip to mexico! Here is the link to the store's listing for these: http://www.etsy.com/listing/93959411/custom-designed-wedding-day-thank-you?ref=v1_other_2

Hi ladies! Here is the updated ... The card holders are called badge holders or id holders. Mine are horizontal waterproof badge holders below is the link to where they came from. http://www.discountofficeitems.com/office-supplies/general-supplies/badges-holders/name-badge-holders/advantus-resealable-badge-holder-vertical-pack/p53768.html As for the lanyards they did come from ebay but the seller is no longer a registered user on ebay. I did simply type black waterproof lanyards and several different sellers appeared! If anyone has any further questions please do not hesitate to ask! Jamie

They will never know Joda! lol

Thanks ladies! Chase414 my next project is to work on the survival kits! Hope it goes smoothly!

So, because of the change of hotel our save the dates were pretty much trash. But luckily for us a lot of our family and fiends keep up to date with our wedding website which I update on a regular basis so we decided that it was unnecessary to send out new save the dates! Our Wedding Website: So I love uploading all sorts of things to our wedding website. I choose to make our wedding website through shutterfly for a number of reasons. First of all it was extremely easy to design it. Secondly, it is very easy for my guest to access there are not passwords or codes to enter. And Also, after the wedding it will be extremely easy for guests to upload their pictures from our wedding and also order prints, photo books, etc directly though the website. Best of all it is free! If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to ask! I am happy to help! So take a look and let me know what you think! The link to our website: http://thewalkerblumwedding.shutterfly.com/

Thanks Joda! I hope so too!! Especially with only 6 months to go!

Our New Venue: The Beautiful Hotel Riu Cancun. Although it is not were we got engaged (see above if you missed that story) We could not be happier! So far everything has gone great with the new hotel, and I can not wait for all of our family and friends to be at this beautiful resort! As we get closer to the wedding, and after of course I will give all the details! Here are some pictures: And here are some pictures of the gazebo were we will say I do!

Thanks AllieH! I had to take a little break! All that typing was going to give me carpal tunnel!

The next morning my phone rang, and the area code was so strange I knew right away that Mexico was calling! I answered and a women on the line explained her position the the Riu company, and that there had been a terrible mistake. They had accidently booked my wedding at the Riu Caribe when it will be closed down completed for full renovations! (Tell me something I did not already know). She informed me that she was terribly sorry, and that she would be glad to set up my wedding reservation at one of the other two Riu hotels. She informed me that there was a wedding at the Riu Palace Las Americans on my planned wedding day at the same exact time I scheduled my wedding for... So obviously I had no choice, but to choose the other hotel. The Riu Cancun. Same compensation, my wedding package would cost the same as it was at the other hotel (WOW) and she said that she was going to upgrade my fiance and I to a suite with ocean view, and a hot tub on the balcony! (okay I actually kinda like the sound of that) I also told her that I did not want to pay any of my vendor fees to make up for the money I had lost from things I had already had made like my over $300.00 Save the dates. She said for tax reasons she could not give them to me for free, but she could give them to me for half off. So, my fiance and I agreed, and she sent me over my new wedding contract. When I go my new wedding contract I noticed that the detail about the suite with ocean view and hot tube was missing... HMMM... So I emailed her right away letting her know what the contract was not correct, and that I wanted it corrected because I wanted EVERYTHING in writing just so no one could pull any fast ones on us! I did not hear from here for a week! I had to add international calling to my cell phone because I was trying to call Mexico to find out what the heck was going on! The next week I received a phone call again from Mexico! (FUN!) She informed me that there had been another mistake, and there was no rooms at the Riu Cancun with both ocean view and hot tub, and that for my troubles they were now going to offer my a photography package to compensate me for yet another mistake. Well, that would have been great, had I already not booked a photographer, and gave them a non-refundable deposit. So, I told her that that would not work and explained the that I already had a photographer hired. She then offered me and my fiance a second massage! (ARE YOU KIDDING ME WE ALREADY GET ONE THAT IS INCLUDED IN OUR WEDDING PACKAGE). I told her that it was not going to work, and I needed to discuss what we wanted with my fiance. She told me to just email her what we wanted, and she would let me know what she could do. So my fiance and I discussed what we wanted. We were planning on renting out the night club inside of our new hotel called La Pacha privately for our guests with a DJ and Bar tender for dancing after dinner. I emailed her letting her know that this is what we wanted, and a few days later we got confirmation that they were going to give it to us! (YAY!). She since has sent me over a new wedding contract, with all correct information. So Now I can announce our NEW wedding location!

Thanks acireta! And now for a turn of events…. To Travel Agent, or not to travel Agent: My fiancé and I had already done all of the wedding booking with a riu wedding specialist so I did not need a travel agent to help me with any sort of wedding booking. But it still seemed many brides used them just for travel purposed. To be honest from the start I was extremely skeptical about using a travel agent. I mean how to they get paid if you are not paying them? But, as any curious BDW bride will do I began search through these forums to try and find out more! I kept reading wonderful stories about how travel agents made brides weddings flawless, and simple. (sounded good to me!) So, I proceeded to contact beach bum vacations. We were soon contacted by a very nice travel agent eager to help us book our trip to Mexico! She sent me some paper work which we filled out and emailed back to her, and then she contacted us again asking when a good time was for both of us to sit down and have a conference call with her to go over a quote and booking our trip. So, we set up a date. She called us that day an hour earlier than she had originally said she was going to…No big deal except we were out picking up dinner and did not want to have an important call like this while driving. So she agreed to call us back in an hour. When she called back she was extremely had to understand over the phone. She was speaking way to quickly, and it seemed like she was trying to cut corners when we would ask her certain questions. She was very pushy about doing group blocking which we had told her several times we were NOT interested in doing. So finally it got to the point where my fiancé let the room out of frustration, and I asked her to please send us a break down of everything we went over on the phone, so that we could go over it, and make an informed decision. Well the information never came, just the OUTRAGEOUSLY over priced quote. Not to mention a quote that the Riu company themselves said they could not yet give us because it was far to in advance! So…I continued questioning travel agents here on BDW.com, and then I came in contact with Wendy Hicks! From the get to she was a complete 360 from the agent we worked with from beach bum vacations! She sent me pictures of different wedding setups at our resort we had selected, she had great communication, and she was very honest. Now here is where Wendy really came in handy…. My Destination Wedding Nightmare: I am all about getting the best deal possible for our flight and week long stay in Mexico, and Wendy assured me that any price I saw online at any time she could either price match or possibly do better! So every single day I would get on my favorite travel sites, and check pricing… About a little less than a year in advance is when all of the rates became available for me to stock…and stock I did. Then around the 8th month mark the prices started to become more of what we were expecting to pay. One day I was on expedia.com going through all of the steps that you normally would to book your trip so that I could send Wendy all of the pricing information to see what she could do… Now there are three Riu Hotels in Cancun. The Riu Caribe where our wedding was booked at, the Riu Cancun, and the Riu Palace Las Americanas. When I would go to select our hotel the Riu Caribe where we has ALREADY BOOKED our wedding at it kept telling me NO Availabilities! That is when I began to panic! I immediately contacted every single person involved with my wedding planning is any way shape or form! First I emailed my wedding coordinator at the riu caribe. She only took 3 days to email me back which for her was good the time before that when I emailed her it look a few weeks! She informed me that everything was fine, and that the hotel was just doing some soft renovations that included things like bedding towels, etc. To try back in a month or two and if I am still having troubles to contact her again, and we can go from there. Waiting two more months like she said would have gotten me to the 6 month mark for my wedding, which in my opinion was completely unacceptable. So then I tired calling the Riu 800 number, and I told the man on the phone the trouble I was having. He was no help he told me to wait or to contact my wedding coordinator! So then, in a panic I contacted Wendy. She told me that she had heard that the hotel was under going some soft renovations, but nothing major, but that she would try and get to the bottom of it! A day or two later I received an email from Wendy informing me that my hotel was in fact closing down during the time my wedding was scheduled, and we would have to find me a new venue! I brooke into tears! HOW HAD NO ONE TOLD ME THIS! My own wedding coordinator was completely unaware of this. So, I contacted her again informing her of the information I had discovered. I also, email the general wedding information planning contact email, and called The Riu hotel! 1. General email reply from the riu weddings: The told me that there was an error in there system, and that I could go ahead and proceed with booking my wedding at the Riu Caribe on July 28th, 2012 at 6:00pm. Umm....That is when my wedding is and it is already book at a hotel that is going to be closed for renovations! So, they proved to be useless. 2. Email reply from my wedding coordinator: Oh wait I NEVER GOT ONE! 3. My phone call to the Riu reservations number: So, by the time I had called them I had pretty much had it! I wanted answers, and I wanted them NOW! This is a wedding we are talking about not some spring break trip! I explained to the main on the phone who had terrible english my situation. He was not understanding. So, I then proceeded to speak in spanish to try and make communication easier... Which did help a little. I told him that my hotel was closing and I could not book my room reservation for a week stay. He did not believe me, so I said then I would LOVE if you could book my trip for my right now he asked the date I would be arriving, and leaving. I gave him all of my information, and his voice changed instantly, and he asked if I could please hold. I said sure. After being on hold for 30 min. he came back on the phone explained to me that I was in fact correct and the hotel was closed for when my wedding was book. He then asked if I could give him all of my wedding reservation information, which I gladly sent over. He said he was sorry and that someone would be contacting me very soon!

And just when I thought everything was smooth sailing, the unthinkable happened.... To be continued tomorrow.

The Decision To Have A Destination Wedding: So after looking at a few venues here is Pittsburgh, Pa, and realizing how much more we could get for our money if we had a destination wedding the choice became obvious. We would return to the Hotel Riu Caribe with out family and friends for a week long wedding celebration! We immediately booked on wedding on July 28th 2012 at the hotel Riu Caribe, and I ordered save the dates! Our Postcard Save The Dates: I was so excited about sending out our save the dates to family and friends to let them know it was time to start saving! I sent our save the dates over a year in advance, and I think that my friends and family were thankful they had so long to save! I found a wonderful seller on etsy who did an absolutely beautiful job on them! She was extremely friendly, had awesome communication, overall I had a wonderful experience with her! Here is the link to her shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/beyonddesign?ref=seller_info And here are the pictures of my save the dates! I love them!