JQLong

So...here we go....with the help of Dreams Riviera, BDW, VistaPrint, Ebay, Dollar Tree, etc....Our little budget wedding that could....was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! The pcit We arrived on July 1st Check In - Perfect A+ - we had the preferred club so we were whisked away from the lobby and taken to the preferred club room. Room - Perfect A++ - we had an ocean front room with an AMAZING VIEW... Sunrise.... The first night...11 of our guests were at the resort and we had dinner at Himitsu...the food was awesome...We loved our waiter, Antonio! July 2nd...was my honey's birthday.... Portofino...made his birthday special! July 3rd.... The night before....we did our bachelor/bachelorette parties... The ladies went to Senor Frogs..in Playa Del Carmen... The guys went to Coco Bongo.... I think its safe to say....they had more fun....Hmph...... Onto the wedding....... July 4th.... For some reason...I was very, very calm.....The wedding party and my parents got together that morning for a quickie rehearsal at the Gazebo Here we are with Juan the entertainment guy...AKA "4th of July Man" as my girlfriend called him... Shirts purchased at vistaprint.com The weather was a little overcast on and off....and then BOOM!!! we got rain....surprisingly...I was still very calm....Gina our coordinator called me around 1:30 to ask if we wanted to move to the terrace...I had a makeup appointment at 2:00 PM...I told her I wanted to wait....Boy am I glad we did....The rain stopped...the sun came out....and it got HOT!!!! It had been about 85 degrees the entire week....and no rain...but after the shower (which I consider to be our good luck) it was blazing hot And at 4:00 (on the dot.....) Our Dream began.... Here is our slideshow by Adventure Photography...they did a beautiful job: http://040712long.dreamsriveriacancun.adventurephotos.com.mx/ We had an AMAZING wedding....It truly was So Amazing....my wedding was perfect in every way....I look at our slideshow & video (taken by family) and I smile....Dreams Riviera exceeded any expectations we had.... We had our reception at Bordeaux (in the wine room!!!). This was very, very special because it was intimate. This was a wedding gift from my parents and my former boss (he actually "found" the place). We were going to have it at El Patio....but this was so much better!!! We opted not to do the Trash the Dress with Adventure Photos....they were a bit out of our budget...but...my talented brother Tim took some pictures for us. We got up early the next day and took pictures on the beach....(I was thrilled to be able to put my dress on again!) So...I guess you can call these our DIY Trash The Dress pics!!! As I began my journey of DW wedding planning....I had no idea how beautifully things would come together. I appreciate the time and effort each person on this site has made to contribute. This has been the best experience and I am very thankful to have found BDW..... To Everyone....Thank you....thank you....from the bottom of my heart! Please feel free to ask any questions....My detailed resort review will follow shortly.... Happy Planning.... It's Mrs JQLONG (now!!)

Oh....I almost forgot...Shoes.....How could I forgot the ladies shoes... I had a hard time finding turquoise sandals that were not too high...I am already 5'11 and I did not want to be too tall. Just when I had given up finding the turquoise sandals...reading a thread on here about shoes...I checked out VictoriaSecret.com...and Voila....i found them... For the ladies shoes...I was lucky to catch a BOGO sale at Payless Our shoes actually matched perfectly....we were going for the "Grecian Goddess" look........ Ok...where was I....oh..DIY... I am not much of a DIYer but....being on this site changed that. My DIY sand ceremony set (Cost me less than $8.00 to make...I made another bottle for my daughter to participate) My DIY Ring Box.....(Cost $1.50 to make) OOT Bags (Yes....Yes....I too got caught up with OOT Bags) My Cancun Survival Kit (From the talented people on BDW!!) These were very well received Travel Mugs (I just had to get them) I ordered 25 from a seller on ebay... MY OOT BAGS Dollar Tree Baby!!! I loved these bags from the moment I saw them Maracas....well..we are getting married in Mexico....so... These were ordered from Amols.com (I put the ribbons on) Flowers...I knew the resort would be kind of expensive for the flowers...so I ordered (again...thanks to this site) real touch flowers from SabellaDesigns.com Kim Zarobsky did an AMAZING....job with our flowers....I cannot thank her enough..... Now to put it all together...... I guess I never mentioned our wedding date......We got married on July 4th, 2012 at 4:00...but..... We actually got legally married on Valentines Day, February 14, 2012....His Mom is older and could not travel with us. It was important to us that she share in our union so we got married by our county clerk in a special Valentines Day ceremony... We exchanged rings but put them away after...This was a very happy day for us. I actually cried more this day than on our wedding day....Getting married ahead of time in no way diminished our excitement for our big day..... MEXICO BOUND!!!! With the help from this site....I created the attached newsletter for our guest....We were expecting 19 people. See Part Tres....for the Grand Finale!!!! Jaquanda & Jabahri Newsletter.pdf