heavenone

Sorry for the slow reply ladies! I brought an extra suitcase that was on it's way out so to speak and then left it behind. I used one of those vacuum seal bags for the shower poofs to make them smaller. I will be honest, packing was tough. If I had friends / family closer by, I might have tried to shove some items in to their suitcases. I gave them out by hand to most guests and had some family members help deliver the ones that I couldn't. I thought it would be a great way to get to see everyone before the big day. BIG MISTAKE. I should have set something up with the hotel/wedding planners in advance and just enjoyed myself rather than roaming around the (rather large) resort trying to find all 45 guests. Even if they would have charged me for it, it would have been worth it.

38 sets of Shell Tea Light Candles. (Each set has 4 tea lights in it) -- $35 I got them from here: http://www.target.com/p/kate-aspen-seaside-tea-light-candle-set-set-of-12/-/A-12271789?reco=Rec|pdp|12271789|ClickCP|item_page.vertical_1&lnk=Rec|pdp|ClickCP|item_page.vertical_1 7 Fujifilm Quicksnap Waterproof Cameras - $15 12 Decks of Playing Cards - $12 I purchased them here with personalized labels: http://www.beau-coup.com/themed-personalized-playing-cards.htm You could probably create your own labels if you wanted. 2 Purple-ish Paradise Orchid Hair Clips, Double prong alligator clips - $5 Originally purchased from Etsy Get anything above and I'll throw in a the clear plastic gift bags and wrinkle-free photo safe glue sticks. Paypal payments please. Ship to US only. PM me if you're interested.

Oh, forgot to mention -- my guess is that height wise they're a 3 1/2" wedge with 1/2" platform. The height was about the same as the heels I wore to my reception so I wouldn't have had to worry about my hem dragging too much in the sand.

I purchased a few (too many) shoe options for my beach wedding. After much debate wore another very similar pair of wedges down the aisle. The straps around your toe and foot make it fairly easy to keep these on even in the sand. Would love to see them off to a new home. Will ship anywhere in the US ($30 includes shipping). Paypal only please.

I used regular ziplock bags. The paper was the same Shimmer paper in Cover weight from PaperSource that I used for the booklets. I was able to print 2 per page using the a template from another BDW bride then used a paper cutter to cut them down.

Originally they told me they would bus us over but when we met with Flori the day before the event she said they'd pick us up on the beach. I'm not sure whether that was a possibility just because of the resort or whether it's something they can do elsewhere. The boat anchored off shore and they sent a smaller boat to the beach that fit around 15 people to shore to pick us up.

We paid through our TA in advance for our stay - but I don't recall seeing any charges when we checked out that seemed out of place. You had to put down a credit card upon arrival (they did a temp charge of 500 - just like many hotels and car rental places do) for incidentals but the only thing I recall being on the final bill were charges for the extra bottles of wine (some bottles are extra) we purchased at dinner and the room service charges (they charge 5 for each room service delivery).

WELCOME BOOKLETS: I used a few templates you wonderful ladies had posted on here both for inspiration and as a starting point. It seemed so overwhelming at first! I wish I had started the early because it was a total rush the week before I left to get it all finished. I wished I had started earlier to make sure I had enough time to test out printing (took me awhile to find a printer at work that liked printing on heavier shimmer stock) PHOTO SHARING: One learning I wanted to share -- I decided to have give the guests the option to upload pictures for a Shutterfly account I created so everyone could see the pics. I didn't realize until after the wedding that you can't download hires pics from Shutterfly very easily. Your options are either order a DVD or move photos to a 'Share site' where you can download a 8x10 (but not full res). So, not saying that Shutterfly isn't the way to go but I might have set up a Shutterfly Share site that people could upload to in advance or explored other options. SUPPLIES: Cover Paper: Shimmer paper in Cover weight from PaperSource. Back Paper: Linen Sea Blue textured paper 8 1/2x11 140g from PaperSource Inside Paper: Found some white matte paper at Staples, weighted around 200 or so. Ribbon: Ivory ribbon form PaperSource Starfish stamps are from Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/listing/67258959/large-mosaic-starfish-olive-wood-stamp) Fonts: Milk & Cereal (http://www.searchfreefonts.com/free/milk-cereal.htm), American Typewriter Light Hole punch Paper cutter The spacing is off now but here's my template: welcome-packet-share.docx

First I want to thank all the ladies whose pictures, posts and templates inspired and helped me create my OOT bags. I couldn't have done it without you! BAGS: We used a natural cotton shopping bag that we stamped with some starfish rubber stamps we bought from Etsy. We varied the design so everyone's bag's were unique. Bags: http://www.save-on-crafts.com/nattotbag141.html Stamps: http://www.etsy.com/transaction/64710627 , http://www.etsy.com/transaction/64710628 , http://www.etsy.com/transaction/64710629 Ribbon and name tags were from PaperSource. Name tags were actually business cards (in Peacock color) that I hole punched. I hand wrote and stamped each card. Used the small starfish stamp. BAG CONTENTS: -Waterproof camera (bought on Ebay) -Bath & Body Works candle -Shower Poof (my mom added a ribbon w/ custom tag) -Mad Libs, Sudoku or Crossword book -Custom deck of cards (http://www.beau-coup.com/themed-personalized-playing-cards.htm) -Welcome booklet -Survival Kit: Emergen-C Granola Bar Pack of Gum Pepto Bismol Advil Bandaids Sunscreen Bath & Body Works hand sanitizer

They picked us up on the beach of our resort. There were 45 of us. I think it took around 25 minutes maybe. Might have been quicker if my guests were focused on gettin on the boat instead of chatting away. If youre guests are like mine, designate a few people to help motivate people. I think it took about 3 boat trips to get us all aboard.

@Brightbride, You're going to have an amazing wedding! My entire family couldn't believe how gorgeous the resort was! Now for my ramblings about photos, wind and food... Food: We went with the Designer Menu #3 but added an additional Lobster tail entree option for our guests (we paid per plate for that). We had to provide everyone's entree choices in advance which wasn't too hard because we had guests decide with the RSVPd. Everyone said the Lobster was amazing. Heard good things about the Filet as well but I didn't love the one I had. We could have upgraded everyone to a Surf & Turf entree but I knew not everyone liked both so it wouldn't be worth the cost. We also got a chocolate fountain but they weren't able to turn it on because the wind was blowing the chocolate everywhere. So perhaps it wasn't worth it, especially when we already had the plated dessert and cake (both delish). Photos: We didn't use the in-house photographers because they weren't really my style. I used Julia Eskin. She was super super sweet. We had to pay for their passes to get on the resort which wasn't too bad. They have a few other ceremony location options but the beach was my favorite. It was particularly windy on the day we got married - windier than any other day we were there. I haven't gotten my prof. pics back yet. We were on the beach in paradise - wind swept hair is all part of the look, right? Several guests joked that the weather was not conducive to great hair but my hair was in an updo so the only thing that moved around were my darn side swept bangs. I wrestled with my vail the entire photo shoot on the beach. I should have just taken it off. You could discuss other location options for group photos with your photographer or consider planning to take some with the ladies before the ceremony.