MJKH

Ok, now the baskets are done! Ran out of room in the ladies' basket so put the personal care items in a small cosmetic bag. I found the acrylic photo holders at Michaels ($1.50) and the punched cards came in a box of 50 (all fruit-punch colours with envelopes) from Winners ($6.99). Because they're single layer cardstock, they should work perfectly for a little sign beside each basket.

Hello all! Just wanted to check in with a few more finds this week. Although I'm done my welcome bags, I thought it made the most sense to post these here: First, these play packs are from Dollarama and were a steal for $1!!! They contain a little pack of crayons, stickers and a 24 page activity book. My plan is to give these to my nieces and nephews at the rehearsal dinner to keep them occupied while we're all visiting. Also from Dollarama, these colouring books for $1 and activity pads for $2 (large crayons in the back and a big pad of colouring sheets and activities on the front). All of these will go in a gift bag and sit on the kids' table at the reception. Anyone been to Michaels lately and perused the dollar (or dollar-fifty!) bins? I didn't see any sewing kits, but I have all I need and wasn't really looking too hard. They had a whole line of cupcake-items (cards, notepads, lip glosses, etc.)...and a nautical/beach-y line of cards, notepads, etc (lots of navy and cream colours)...but some GREAT simple rubber stamps of different shell shapes and a seahorse. The grouping I was most interested in was the floral-filagree...cards, wrapping paper, sticky jewels and these acrylic photo holder cubes...in fruit punch colours (turquoise, bright pink, green and I think the last colour was orange). They would be so cute on a table with photos of the b & g...or for table numbers...I plan to use mine for little signs in the mens' and ladies' washrooms (asking guests to help themselves to the toiletry baskets). I bought a cupcake notepad/pen for our flowergirl, and in with the toys I found these stick-on mustaches that I could see the kids (and some of the grown-ups) having a lot of fun with!

Hi ladies, I just wanted to share a couple of things: First, thanks Diana for your honest and informative review. It was so nice to wake up this morning and read it! The majority of reviews I have read about the resort photographer have NOT been positive. We have been trying to figure out if/how to approach this with the resort when we arrive. It was important to me to get the opinion of our own photographer that we are bringing on to the resort...and here is what she had to say in response to my e-mail this morning, Hi "J", You are so nice to consult us on this an I am very glad you did! This is one of the cases where definetley less is more . The resort photographers do usually get in the way quite a bit and it is hard to take pictures from a reasonable distance without having them in the shot, they tend to get really close to the bride and groom during the ceremony due to lack of proper equipment, this also makes us have to get a lot closer than we would like. We prefer to maintain a respectful distance so that the guests can fully appreciate the ceremony. We would definitely recommend trying to allocate the resprt photographer services to a different time of your trip if possible (as you say it is their job) but maybe instead of photographing the ceremony, he/she could photograph the guests during the cocktail hour or maybe even the evening before if you will be having dinner with your group , at the pool with your guests, anything really I hope this is helpful!! We look forward to meeting you in a couple weeks!! Please let me know if I can be of help at all. Thanks again, "L" Secondly, if this helps anyone else, a lovely woman who returned from the GS last week gave me the following response online to a question about larger a la carte bookings: Hi "J" We just came back last wk from Grand Sirenis and there was no issues with booking a group! Just be sure your concierge knows the amount of ppl when booking and they give you a "receipt" that you need to bring with you.. Have fun! Cath:) So, I'm assuming as long as space is available, larger group bookings (e.g., my FMIL wants to have a dinner out with her siblings and their spouses) are fairly easy to do. And when I asked her if she was there for a wedding and/or what she thought of my concerns about some of our overly picky relatives, this is what she said: We were there as a family, NO issues what so ever...(just a tip, if you tip your concierge 20-40 right off the bat~you will have 10star service.. WE didnt think it was too much too ask, and we got 10star service, with extra a la carte) shhhhhh.... As for the wedding situation It is so beautiful, and the grounds are so well manicured!! Beauty for weddings We did see 3 weddings go on, lobby, beach etc the wk we were there, and ALL were beautiful ))) The photographer if you got the one from GS is AMAZING he is the same photographer that does the animal beach shots (monkey, parrots, etc) Wonderful personailty and great talent... You wont be disappointed!!! As for 30 guest and a wedding, my dear relax everything will work out, and you will have beautiful memories, with amazing senary to cherish forever! Good luck... You will have to keep me posted, and would love to see your pics!! p.s.- Im Italian and everything had to be 200% with over 200 guest when I got married so trust me when I say you should have no issues and you will be pleased with everything from photographer, to scenary, to chapel, to beach setting, to FOOD!! I had to smile about her "photographer" comments! Anyway, just in case it helps someone out... Have a great weekend all!

Oh, me too!!! I will be taking my wedding dress and reception party dress in a lightweight garment bag provided by my bridal shop...but both of my dresses are the equivalent of a bridesmaid dress...not heavy or bulky. I plan to do some sweet-talking at check-in to see if I can be one of those "passengers requiring extra time/assistance" to board the plane with my sisters and their kids and get myself sorted (as I can see making quite the spectacle of myself). We plan on maxing out our carry-on items...my roller bag is filled with all of the glass/fragile items, as is my FI's roller bag!!!

I just thought of something else! I'm going to pick up a couple of small pairs of scissors as well...especially as most of us want to remove our wrist bands for the wedding day.

Thanks...part of me will be so relieved when it's all over and the other part will be so disappointed as it's been a lot of fun! : ) I asked my FI last night, "What are we going to do with all of our time once the wedding is over?"...he replied "We didn't have any trouble finding things to do before, I'm sure we won't after!" Here's a list of everything in the reception toiletry baskets: gum, mints mouthwash, dental floss and picks lint roller, static guard, sewing kit with extra safety pins, stain removal pens/wipes tampons and liners eyeglass wipes deodorant, hand lotion, sunscreen, bug spray tissues, hand wipes, isogel hair spray, bobby pins, hair elastics first aid kit, pain relievers and other over the counter medications nail file/clipper small mirror blotting papers lip balms Any other ideas for items in the ladies' basket? We'll put a little card next to each basket saying something like "We've got you covered! Please help yourselves..."

I don't know that it's worth it to try to add to it...I may salvage the alligator clip as it's a really good strong one. It's way smaller than I wanted and the edges are singed...oh and it has a rhinestone center with a mix of clear stones and yellow-y stones. Does that sound anything like the picture I posted?!? I don't know what happened with this lady...communication/collaboration started off great, she said she'd have it to me a week and a half later. WEEKS went by and I didn't hear anything. When I sent her an e-mail to check in, I got a very curt response that she apologized for the delay and I would have it by the end of December. I couldn't believe what she paid to ship this item to get it to me in two days from the US...so unnecessary. Anyway, I have the chiffon scraps from my dress now, so I'll try a couple of things. If all else fails, I will order some fresh orchids or some other blooms to pin in.

Thanks ladies for all of your feedback! Here are today's projects using the leftovers from the welcome bags and a bagful of freebies/samples I had in the closet. Our ceremony/reception area is in a private/more remote area of the resort that is accessed by carts driven by resort staff. Therefore, it's not the easiest thing to do to run back to your room if you have a bit of an emergency. These baskets will go into the mens' and ladies' rooms (between the two baskets we should have most issues covered!): I've shrink-wrapped and labelled the mens basket...the ladies basket needs a few more things like bobby pins, hair elastics...I'm not ready to close that one up yet! This is our bag we'll take out on group excursions. It includes pain relievers and other over-the-counter meds, sunscreen, bug spray, first aid kit, tampons and liners, hand sanitizer, kleenex, wipes, a deck of cards, a sewing kit, breath mints and gum.

Do you know if there are safes in each room at your resort? I think they're pretty common now...super easy...you just program your own code into it the first time you use it. I certainly want our rings as part of the ceremony, but when we're out swimming or doing excursions they'll be kept in the safe. Friends of ours got married in Mexico last January...his ring wasn't stolen, it slipped off into the ocean the first time he went swimming after the wedding, never to be found again!!

IMHO, two very excellent options in a fabulous area of the Riviera Maya, especially if you want to get out and do some awesome excursions! DT is certainly a much smaller resort...more intimate, traditional/colonial feel...we upgraded to an amazing room with a view there...and the little chapel is so lovely. But the food at the GS was waaaay better...prices were more within what we were hoping for our guests and much more in the way of amenities, especially things for kids to do. We love how at the GS it feels like you've been dropped into the jungle. But really what sold us at the GS was a more private beach area for our ceremony and the amazing palapa space for our reception. Word of advice...keep EVERYTHING you receive from any of your vendors/resort staff. We're now at the point that we're receiving more e-mails from the WPs at the GS and already there is a glaring issue. Our initial paperwork indicated that a rehearsal dinner was included in the presidential package at one of the a la cartes. The latest e-mail yesterday said the first 10 guests for the rehearsal dinner are covered. Well, that's a significant problem as we've told our 32 guests about the rehearsal dinner and we certainly won't be paying for the other 22 to take part with us!!! It shouldn't be a problem though as I have all of 2012 package details I received a few months back.

Safe travels and a very happy wedding day to you!!! : )

We travel to Mexico and/or overseas 2 or 3 times a year, and although TripAdvisor can be a very handy tool, we have learned to take everything with a grain of salt. We've often wondered, like how can 50 people in a row rank their experience super great and one guy pops on and rips the whole thing to shreds?!? That's a guy we've decided we don't ever want to be travelling with! ; ) We were at the GS Jan of 2010 and splurged in Jan of 2011 up to Dreams Tulum...yes, there were things that were better about that resort, but HANDS DOWN, there were MANY things about the GS that we preferred over DT, which is why we're heading back there in one month to get married! I am nervous about my FI's aunt who is super picky about EVERYTHING...but I know it wouldn't matter where in the world we took her, we'd find out after the fact about this and that she wasn't happy with. We are really trying to impress upon our guests that if they are not happy with something, let the front desk or concierge for the building know...I'd be super upset if they weren't happy with something and I found out about it a month after the fact that they didn't talk to anyone. Things go wrong in the FINEST of hotels and at the BEST of resorts...

I ordered a chiffon hair flower off etsy and it arrived last week. Long story short, I'm very disappointed with it and don't have time to get the seller to re-do it. In hindsight, I wished I would have asked the seller to send me a photo of it in the early stages to see if we were on the same page...long before she spent $26 to Fedex it to me in Canada to arrive by the date she promised. It was a big waste of money all around : ( So, on to plan "B"...I'm going to head to Michaels tomorrow to see if they have something that can be fashioned into a hair flower...and next Monday I should have a whole bunch of chiffon fabric that they'll be cutting off my dress when hemming it...so I may try to make one myself. Anyone tried a diy flower like this?

Hi Feb 2012 Brides! I'm not sure how I missed this thread all this time, but our date is 02.02.2012 in the Riviera Maya. Things are coming along and it looks like we will be a group of 32...although there are still a handful of people who may jump on board last-minute. I planned for no more than 40 when I ordered favors and whatnot, so I hope nothing crazy happens right at the very end. TLS, I love that bouquet you've picked out. It's the perfect combination of flowers! I'm still searching for one perfect inspiration photo (all shades of pink!) to submit to the WP...I have a couple that I can send out I guess and attach comments like "I like the handle treatment on this one" and "I like the flowers used in this one"...which may just have to do in the end.

Yes, I'm happy to report that as of today, ALL of the dresses are now in the city and ready for alterations. So, the Barijay dress took 5 months to come in, and the Barijay "rushed" dress took almost 3 1/2 months.

WOW!!! I love them both : ) The ivory dress makes you look like a hollywood screen siren (very va-va!!)...and because of the beautiful beading on the straps I would wear my hair up too. The Mexico dress is much more fun and playful...I think your loose chignon with a hair flower idea is great...but I could totally see long and flow-y hair with that dress too. When did you plan to wear the ivory dress in Mexico?

Agreed...it looks amazing!!

Update - dropped in to "Store B" this morning - they're the ones ordering my wedding dresses and good news...my white dress is in (not sure why they didn't call!!) and the off white dress is scheduled for delivery in the next week. So, I now have a booking for my first fitting on Jan 2!!! The owner and master fitter were there and gave me the thumbs up that everything will be ready to go in plenty of time.

Oooo, she did an awesome job! I love them : )

Thanks! Those burlap bags came from Dollarama here in Canada and were widely available here over the summer.

Hey girls, Just wanted to give you a heads up about Guylian chocolates I found today at Home Outfitters. On the counters beside the tills they had (3 chocolate pack boxes of) Guylian Seashells for $1.49/box. If you have money cards from Home Outfitters (they gave them out for a promotion over the last month or so), for every $50 you spend (34 boxes of chocolates) you would get $20 off...those cards are valid until Dec. 15th. So, they would be roughly about 90 cents a box. I paid $2.39 (on sale ) for a box of 6 chocolates at London Drugs a while back. If I could return them and get these ones I would!

Our open house yesterday was a big success and a LOT of fun! Guests asked lots of good questions...we had burned a DVD of photos from our two previous trips to Mexico (including photos of our resort) and had them playing quietly as a slideshow on the television most of the afternoon. We had a big map of the Yucatan out, brochures from places like Xcaret and Xel ha, a tentative calendar of events for our wedding week, our reception entree selection sheet...we were busy! Lots of drinks and nibblies...guests were eagerly studying their passports for information and talking to one another...it was an awesome afternoon. Since then we've had a bunch of phone calls and emails of appreciation...everyone loved their welcome bags!!!

I called "vital statistics" here in Saskatchewan about this...I was told if you marriage is legally conducted in the country you choose, they consider you legally married. We're getting married in the Mayan Riviera and neither of us have been married before. The day after we arrive, we meet with the wedding planner and our 4 witnesses to get the paperwork process started and do our bloodwork (keep in mind, we are doing a legal ceremony in Mexico, not just a symbolic ceremony)...the WP takes care of getting the paperwork to the right office and making sure it's back to the resort in time for the wedding three days later. The lady in vital statistics here said that they don't need the certificate translated, but if/when I want to change my last name and identification, those agencies MAY need the certificate translated. She suggested I contact places like my bank, the passport office, a driver's license issuer, etc. to find out exactly what they need to proceed with name changes. I likely won't be changing my name so I haven't really looked into it further.

Ohhhh gawwwd...you're talking to the girl who didn't have a grad dress because the seamstress that told me "I can make any dress from a photo" didn't get her sh@! together in time and had to stitch the so-called dress on me. When I got home, my mother immediately cut it off me and called the bank to cancel her cheque. I promise I won't be swearing...I'll be curled up in the corner of the dress shop bawling...or trying to figure out how long of a drive it would be to get to the closest David's Bridal! Oh, this is all very deja vu in the worst way. In store A, they told us 3 - 4 months. When I called last week, she said, "We tell people AROUND 4 months!"...

Ughhh...I don't know what to do. FI's mother was pushing hard for me to call the bridal shop about her granddaughter's dress for the last 3 weeks or so...when I told her that their response was basically "PFO", at least she doesn't bring it up anymore! ; ) And sorry, but she's got plenty of cute little dresses we've bought her for this occasion and that occasion that would do in a pinch. I don't have a long white dress that I can whip out of my closet now, do I?!? Anywhooo... Because I wanted a very simple light and breezy dress, and because I'm a 16 in bridal, it wouldn't be easy for me to walk into a dress shop and buy off the rack. I have the craziest of weeks coming up next week, but if I don't hear from either of them by next Friday, I'll be dropping in to both places next Saturday.