MJKH

Hey Denielle! Congratulations!!! Those are some great tips to share with brides still in the planning process. I'm totally with you and the AHR thing as well...the LAST thing I felt like doing when we got back from Mexico was getting back into wedding mode...our AHR is this coming weekend and I wish we had just kept it simple, like a bbq in my parent's backyard or something. Oh, and plus, we ended up moving the date for the AHR up one week to appease certain people, which means the engraved information on our cake knife (which we had done for both events before we left for Mexico) is wrong!!! : ( Ughhhhh.... I did have a thought to add to my "what to do again" list. Not that I asked for it specifically (I think most photographers do it), but I love that we have pics of the grounds, waves, sand, rocks, vegetation, close ups of flowers, etc. with no one in them. They came in really handy while we've been working on our wedding photobooks and our slide show...to serve as visual transitions from one event (me getting ready) to another (my FI getting ready)...or to break up/accentuate certain photos. We used every single one our photographer sent us...of palms, flowers, the ocean, the resort as a backdrop, etc. It certainly wouldn't hurt to mention to your photographer that you'd like to have these kinds of shots in your portfolio to work with. For example, in our photobook, I did a full page of these photos side by side and it looks awesome!

P.S. I'm a UWO grad!! : )

Well first, whichever one you choose, you will rock it! : ) I'm actually quite drawn to #3 with the tulle skirt...that one is my favourite...I think also after looking at dresses and weddings here on BDW for the last year and a half, I would have to say #3 is the most unique of the three. Good luck and happy planning! J~

FYI...I was at Michaels today and they had just unpacked boxes of new items for their "impulse" bins...the items that are usually around $1.50. No passport covers yet, but two different series of luggage tags (one series was sports-themed...brightly coloured with different balls featured; the other series of luggage tags had interesting geometric patterns more in the neutral tones). And, they had another new "nautical themed" section as well with starfish (not real) in sets of 3, bags of shells, etc.

We did the same thing as some of the other brides...upgraded our dishes, some small appliances, good knives, etc. for my shower and donated our old ones to a good cause. We thought about a honeymoon registry with the travel agent we booked our DW through...but I had a long chat one day with my aunts and they said they would prefer to give us money, which was just fine with us. With our registries pretty much depleted after the shower, the majority of our friends and family who have given us wedding gifts already have given us cash or gift cards. Honestly, as hard as you try to gently guide your guests towards your preference, you will always have people who have "that special something" tucked away in their closet with your names on it! ; ) For example, we got two mismatched towels, an oval tablecloth (still in its' package but looks about 10 years old...ohhhh, and btw we have a ROUND table...which this guest knows because she's been over a few times for dinner!!!), a plastic levitating globe...yeah...that went back into the box and right down to the basement!

Both sets of chocolates came with us on the aircraft in our carryon luggage...each set packed in a larger box. It wasn't an issue at all actually...we went from the airport to an a/c van to check-in at the hotel to our a/c hotel room...so they were never really out in the heat for an extended period of time. The day of the wedding, it was in the mid-20s but with a cool breeze off the ocean. As for the tip/room key card holders, they came from ebay. Just search for waterproof id/badge holders and lots of options come up. I think I paid around $20 for 50 of them. You can buy horizontal or vertical (ours were vertical...we thought they would hang better/not get in the way as much). And one tip for anyone who struggles to pry them open for the first time (I was using a butter knife at one point and getting soooo frustrated because I was gouging them!)...simply use your blowdryer to warm the plastic for 5 or so seconds until it softens and they will open up like a dream!!!

The last of our Etsy purchases...at least wedding related ones anyway...for our upcoming AHR: Our instant photo guest book (thehandmadeboutique) with an engraved plate added (from the engraving kiosk outside of Sears)... A personalized rubber stamp for our candy buffet bags (stampoutonline)... Lacey and Clint (from woodandglass...Lacey did our fused glass swizzle sticks for the wedding) created this awesome turned wood wedding cake stand...Clint did the wood-turning and Lacey made a fused glass plate personalized with our wedding details that sits perfectly in the center. I can't wait to see how our mexican vanilla buttercream wedding cake decorated with real succulents looks on this cake stand!!! : ) I'll post a pic after our AHR! I love Etsy!!!! J~

Ahhh...I wasn't even thinking pineapple...I wondered if it was cheese or bread of some sort...but that does sound amazing!!! These tips are really good for future brides to know...that they have lots of options!!!!

I was just cleaning out some files and saw these pics of past GS weddings (palapa space) that I had found in the year leading up to the wedding. Thought some of you might like to see them...

Janette, I love how everything turned out, especially the hanging lanterns! I am not surprised to hear that they might be charging extra for doing decor now...especially when they have to get up into the high beams of the palapa and it becomes a mult-person task. I know it was a lot of work for them to hang our papel picado...the wind that day made it extra tricky. But wow, you must have had wind that it was blowing at your table like that! Those white screens around the perimeter do a really good job of blocking it out for the most part. The coconut ice cream at the GS is FAB...did you ask for that with your dessert? I'm pretty sure our brownie came with vanilla ice cream...I didn't even think to ask for a different flavour! And I just have to ask...what were the lettuce leaves stabbed in to on the plate (tropical fruit salad)? Our photographer didn't take any pics of the plates during dinner which was too bad : (

I just asked at Michaels here yesterday and she said they haven't come in so far this year...so you guys haven't missed them. Hopefully soon!!! I look everytime I go : )

Hi ladies...thanks for the compliments! : ) The bags I purchased were 8 X 10 at a large craft wholesaler in Regina...but I would check restaurant wholesale stores in your area too...they worked great! They didn't have a zip lock top, but we didn't need that as the bag was folded over at the top and stapled to the card. I've pulled these templates out of my Vistaprint portfolio for you to look at: Fridge magnets that went out with our Christmas cards... Our "Passport to Paradise" cover was an oversized postcard printed with a solid pink back...right justified and trimmed along the left side (to fit in the passport cover)...with the corners punched round... Oversized postcards used for the wedding week survival kit and the snack packs (distributed at the resort)... Glossy business cards with a solid colour back were cut in two and tied on to each pashmina... Glossy business cards printed with a solid colour back were used as placecards and attached to a box of chocolates at the reception...if my maraca buying experience had gone better, I would have attached one with a ribbon to each maraca as a placecard... Hope that helps! J~

YAAAAAY...yes, that is exactly what I have been holding out for! Thanks soooo much for the heads up!!! And it's nice that they expire early November...that's perfect timing for getting some Christmas gifts done and out of the way. I love that we can share online deals like this with each other! : )

She did indeed...I didn't realize that was such a rare thing...we totally took that for granted I guess! We won't be translating the certificate (I'm not changing my last name)...so that's why it was especially easy for us. Jessica4LUXE...do you know what the story is behind getting fingerprinted during the ceremony in Mexico?

Our ceremony was in English...and we love the fact that we have a marriage certificate in Spanish....complete with our fingerprints (that part came as a complete surprise to me during the ceremony)!

We got legally married in the Riviera Maya earlier this year. Honestly, I'm not sure what all the fuss is about...it was incredibly easy. Yes, we had to do the bloodwork...that cost us $220 USD total. Yes, we had to allow for three business days after we arrived in Mexico before we could get married so the paperwork could be processed. But we sure needed that time to get everything in order for our big day. When we got back to our room the night of our wedding, the certificates were sitting on our bed. It was no big deal at all...I wouldn't have done it any other way!

I just had a thought...I don't have time to do it right now as it's nighty-night for me...but could you do a reverse google search by dragging the photo into a google search box, and seeing if any version of the photo would lead you back to a craft/instruction sheet or something?

Amazing!!! Oh my...I had some laughs too...like over the room without a view...I wish I was more balls-y like you when it comes to certain things! And the Vistaprint postcards for guests to send messages to you...I threw three stacks of them into our recycling the other day after my groom-to-be decided we shouldn't do it in the end...eeesh!!! I would be super envious right now if you told me you had an album full of advice and good wishes that had been mailed to you on those postcards! ; ) So would you recommend the Riu just for a one week holiday in that area? We're considering it for our anniversary next year. Congratulations and the very best to you both! J~

Jodi, Thanks for sharing! One of the things I continue to be impressed by as a participant on BDW is how the work of a great photographer can completely sweep you away and make you feel all kinds of emotions about a bride, a groom and their wedding day...and how all of the dreams and plans and special little touches come together to make for such an amazing story in pictures. There were so many things I loved...the guys in their crisp linen shirts, your colourful bouquet, the pictures of the kiddies (especially the little boy diving into the hamburger)...just awesome...CONGRATULATIONS!!! J~

THANK YOU...so much for the info!!! We were just calculating what we would have paid with a Groupon, and that was a much better deal in the end. So we might hold off in hopes of getting books for that price again. But ohhhhhh...every time I pop on to their website I can't wait to take another crack at one!!!

Krysta...LOOOOVE the photos...esp. @ the falls!!! A big congrats to you both!

WOW...I LOVE the chairs with the ruffles and have never seen that before!!! How is that even done? I'm wondering if you heat the edges of a sash if they go wavy like that???

Thanks ladies! We're really happy with ours and both of us enjoyed working on the projects...they're so much fun to create...that's my kind of scrapbooking! : ) We were under a time crunch with our last book (the professional wedding pics...I had four hours to do it as the groupon expired the end of that night) but we love the outcome and want to do another book with our own/our guests' photos from the wedding week. If anything pops up on the e-mails I get, I'll post here too. Because all of the ordering is done online, it doesn't matter which city they post the groupon for, as long as it's for Canada. The very first book they did for us had some issues, nothing major, but the white pages at the front and back of the book were wavy. They asked us to send a pic in and when they saw what was wrong, they offered to reprint it for us right away and we were able to keep the original book as well. Anyone tried lots of photo book printing companies and have a favourite (for whatever reason)?

Hey there...I have a favour to ask the Canadian brides/grooms who subscribe to Groupon. A while back I purchased groupons for Photobook Canada...I believe the offer was $37 for a $115 photobook. Well, we purchased 4 groupons and had 4 books made and I LOVE them. Can't wait to do more, and I know that the Photobook Canada groupons typically rotate thru different cities in Canada. I know I can subscribe to any/all of the Canadian cities that participate, but I couldn't stand going thru that many e-mails every day! If you happen to see one pop up for your city, would you PM me or post it on this thread? I've seen offers from other printers, but I really want to hold out for offers from Photobook Canada. Thanks a bunch!!!

The back is super cute too, hey?!? Good luck with your dress search!