Peach

Yup, and lots of brides have posted their templates. Have fun!

Okay, I posted mine somewhere else, but I will post them here too. I wanted mine to be a little colourful, but incorporate our blue and coral colours. All of the beads I had already, so they were free. I don't have a pic of them packaged, but each went into a little baggie folded over, with a note that says, "A Little Treat For Your Feet" I only made a pair for me (that is my foot, lol), and one for my bridesmaid, one for my maid of honour, and one for each of the moms. None of them have ever seen anything like this before, so at least they do not have a comparison! Haha!

I made my own, and they were super easy. A lot of brides on here have done the same, and there is even a STD boarding pass sticky you can search through for inspiration. Good luck, have fun, and I would be happy to help if needed!

No. Traditionally, fathers wear tuxes, but do not match the wedding party. So, the same would apply here. Just try and get the same idea as the wedding party (so, same level of casual), but not matching. We do not know if my parents are coming or not, but FI's dad already picked up a pair of linen pants (which we are recommending to everyone, as they are much more comfortable in the July Caribbean heat than anything else, FI found), and he said he will find a suitable button down t shirt. I wouldn't be surprised at all if it was crazy Hawaiian floral (a la Jimmy Buffet), but that is him, so that is fine. FI and Best Man are wearing linen pants (FI white, GM khaki) and white linen shirts. Hope that helps!

Well, I thought I had my bridesmaid dresses, but nope, we cannot get the right sizes in... so now I am looking back at the multiway dresses. Then FI had a thought... Has anyone thought of making their own bridemaid dresses? I only have 2 girls... and I have found some relatively simple instructions. I am also having trouble finding the right colour of coral, so I thought maybe I should just get the cloth and colour I want, and then DIY them. I can sew, I have a sewing machine, but am far from a seamstress. FI's mom used to sew a lot so if I run into trouble I know I could count on her. Has anyone thought of doing this?

What we decided to do is hand out most of our OOT bags the night before departure, or at the airport. Almost everyone will be leaving from the same airport as us, and since that airport is a ways away from where we all live (even though we all live in different places), quite a few of us will be staying the night before in a hotel near the airport (also good for parking the car while gone!). So we will be giving what we can then, and another one or two at the airport. So we will probably only have to take 3-4, max, with us, for the people going earlier (FI's parents) or meeting with our group further along at our Toronto stop over. So that should not be too bad, hopefully. That is, of course, if everything goes to plan!

Wow, busy day! I put a tentative request in for my AHR, AND I booked our photographer! By far the biggest expense of the wedding, besides the trip itself. I have only heard good things about them, but am a little concerned... they only accept cash. Weird, right? No credit cards, but only cash. Huh.

Am I crazy? Well, I think so. I ws all excited a couple weeks ago... the right shade of coral, which will be the bridesmaid dress colours, is really hard to find in a casual, but nice, dress. We thought we had them...nope, can't get in the right sizes. Well, no worries, we have, like, a year left. But then we were in a shop buying a bike for me (yay!) and FI sees a multiway dress on the wall for only $40! Woohoo... oh, doesn't come in coral. Well, he takes to the Internet, and doesn't have too much luck finding a good price on them, in the right colour, but he DOES come across instructions to make one... Well, so now I am thinking, heck, with this much time, why not go to the fabric store, get the right fabric, right colour, and make them myself? I only have two to do. It would probably even work out to be cheaper. I do have a sewing machine. I used to sew in Junior High and High School (not just home ec, either!), and FMIL used to sew a LOT... so I would have help if needed... What do you think? I love DIY, but is this a little nuts? Hmm... http://www.projectwedding.com/wedding-ideas/infinity-convertible-or-wrap-twist-dress

Really? This is a bridesmaid dress? I totally cannot tell, and no one else will either! I am also looking casual, and short too, and keep worrying that it will not look bridal enough. I keep falling into the "oooh, look at that one!" trap, when I said I wanted casual, casual,casual! Finally, FI said to me... "The people there are going to know you are the bride. You are the one carrying flowers, walking down the aisle, and saying I DO. Who cares if they do not think it is fancy enough?" Duh. I hate it when he is right. BUT that being said, I think yours is PLENTY "fancy" and if you want to add a belt or something, I am sure that is doable too. Gorgeous choice, I say go for it!

Check out Old Navy. We bought FI's and his best man's shirt there in the spring, and FI's dad got linen pants there too. Not sure what they have now, but FI has worn the linen pants in Mexico before in July, and was perfectly comfortable. And you cannot beat the price!

Good idea. Thanks for the help!

We did deposits for the first 10 people to book (including us)... so far his best man and his wife booked, so we did that, and I strongly encouraged my girls to book too. That is all we will be doing travel-wise. We are paying for attire completely, except shoes. So far we have the best man's shirt, and we have our eyes on the bm dresses. I am giving the girls flip flops and barefoot jewelry I made, but they can wear whatever they want on their feet. The plan is to pay for their hair too at the resort. I am also paying for a couple spa treatments prior to leaving, and giving them gifts as well, including some jewelry that they can wear for the wedding, or not. lol.

Okay, at least you got the same response that I did! I think it was a confirmation email... I was just told the same thing you were. So hopefully that is good? I didn't have to give any information or anything... Not a form to fill out or anything. Did you have to give some information?

I am looking for some advice from brides who have booked. Did you have to send in a deposit, or fill any forms in or anything? It is making me nervous that I haven't yet. I got an email saying our date was open, and we could decide on whether a symbolic ceremony with reverend, catholic ceremony, or legal jp ceremony. I said symbolic, and asked if we need to pay the fee she mentioned ($200) now or at arrival, with the package we choose... I got an email back, saying it is all due upon arrival and meeting with coordinator. Okay. Then I emailed back asking if we need to put a deposit down to hold our date or anything, and the email reply I got back said no. Am I missing something? Is our date now confirmed? I am not panicking - I know that different places do things differently, but I am just worried that we will show up and they will have no idea we are supposed to be getting married or anything (although I read about that happening to a bride on tripadvisor... apparently everything turned out fine anyways, which is reassuring). So I just wanted to know, what was everyone else's experience like when booking? Thanks for any light you can shed on this!

We are a little untraditional... FI kept saying no to all of my choices... He has suggested "Time of My Life" (yes, the one from Dirty Dancing, my all time favourite movie) or "Hey Soul Sister". I love both options! If we do Time of My Life, though, I wat to be able to do the whole dance, which means some weight loss (at least some of the lifts would be necessary). So maybe Hey Soul Sister as a back up. Or one for DW and one for AHR. Anyway, I like the options, and I like that he suggested them.

I am July 2013. Our save the dates went out a couple weeks ago; I think our invites will go out in December and January. We are dropping off as many as possible, so that will be around Christmas time when we see people (message in a bottle invites, to save on postage). Then we will mail the rest in the new year.

Oh they were no worries at all! I would say, though, that it depends on your time and comfort level with DIY. I thought they were so much fun, and quite simple, but I stole templates from other brides on here, and had a lot of materials already. I am also pretty crafty, and actually used to teach scrapbooking classes, so I am fairly comfortable with paper crafting. Boarding passes, I think should be a fairly great start to DIY though.

Well, we are set for July 18, 2013 in Cayo Levantado, DR! Save the Dates are out too... boarding passes (DIY of course) If you want you can check them out on "This is all Peachy Keen" on the blog archive section. I do not want to repost and clutter. But we have heard a lot of good things about them so far!

Awesome! Thanks! I love it too... maybe I am biased? lol!

Yeah, I read the review too... and I am not worried. Can something like that happen? Totally. Is the risk of something like that happening totally worth it? Most definitely! I generally take reviews with a grain of salt, so to speak, especially on tripadvisor, and try to read between the lines. What that review taught me: - try to be flexible (we are) - bring pictures of what you want to the salon for hairstyle (we were planning to anyway) - the wedding coordinator is great - print everything off ahead of time so we you have paper copies when you get to the resort, in case of changes So, I am not worried, but I am very happy the bride posted that review, so we can all learn a little more too!

Well there goes my plan. I kind of thought "Marry Me" by Train was kind of overused... but now I just watched this. Ladies, this is my brother on guitar... now I am thinking I might have to walk down the aisle to my little brother just playing this on an acoustic guitar. Or maybe while people are being seated? Anyway, I love it, just the guitar.... http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150839234291319

Make sure that you are straightforward with any changes to the bookings, saying that you requested it in advance. If they won't honour it, they won't, but make sure you are clear. I read about another bride who did that at a GBP (not this resort though), and they were good about giving her what was first agreed upon. Can people PM me the most recent information too? Mine is from before Christmas. Also, I am trying to get a list of the exact places as possibilities to hold the reception and/or ceremony. I just thought the three restaurants were the only options... Does anyone have these?

I believe that they do. Just check out their site. http://www.bahia-principe.com/BP/Resorts/Resort/CayoLevantado

I hear this all the time, and have seen lots of brides comment on it. It is just a different place and culture, and they are busy.... it can be very frustrating though. You will probably hear back soon. Responses to me are averaging 2-4 weeks I think.

Just look around on here. Lots of great ideas! It depends what you are looking for.