torilynnsmith

I am so glad I came across this, we are juggling the photographer debate right now. Both FI and I have fallen in love with a photog who is about $1000 over our budget. I always said it was something I would not sacrifice on but now that it is hear and we have to make the choice I am finding it hard to commit the money Our other option is also a great photographer and offers A LOT more time (dream photog 6-8hrs, realistic photog 12hrs!) he will basically cover the entire day from start to finish. I considered shortening our time but I think we really want pictures of our guests and family and friends who have made the trip with us at our reception. I am starting to think that maybe I should wait until we know how many people are coming? What do you think?

Now I want to do these!!!! Your DIY skills are inspiring but I just don't know if I have the patience/time to do them all!!! Thanks for the idea!!

Isn't that annoying!!! I couldn't believe it either!! I had designed my invites awhile back and we were just waiting for confirmed dates and rates and then they took a little longer than expected to put together. We mailed ours Tuesday, luckily our guests have until August 26th to book our group rate so fingers crossed the strike will be over by then! We originally were going to do evites and then send formal invites to those who booked. Now with this strike I am half wishing we did!!! I am trying to decide what to start next now that invites are done... I am almost bored without having them to do anymore but I was definitely happy to see them go!!

Love these!!!!

Leigh!!!!!! These look amazing!!!! I hope you are happy with them, I know you worked really hard on them!!!! Did they cost you a fortune to send?! They are absolutely gorgeous!!! Thanks for sharing!!!!!!

Robyn - $10 a person is our budget pretty much but we are going to do them per couple so I consider that $20 a bag! For single we will obviously do singles but hopefully we can stay on point!! Thanks for the sites I had looked at both but just found minimus tonight so will need to look into it further! Have you done anything on Vistaprint? Everyone seems to rave about it, well they have free personalized totes right now (again depending on what you are looking for) and all you pay is shipping. One of the girls mentioned she did orders of pens, sticky notes, business cards (used for tags, name cards etc), bags and shirts for something like $8 an order for shipping ALL for FREE!!! She placed the order over and over and it all ended up coming together but for all that personalized stuff FREE (basically) it seems like a GREAT option! I might do a "test run" on vistaprint to see how it all comes out and then may opt to do some stuff on there! I love that you are doing flower balls!! I am in LOVE with pomanders and did a DIY a few weeks back of tissue paper pomanders. I will post a pic for you to check them out. They turned out really well. originally I was going to do real (too pricey for our budget) then I was going to do faux flower ones, and then a friend suggested these. I did them for under $1 a ball! My only concern is the type of chairs for the ceremony and how I am going to attach them... maybe using chair sashes? What are you thinking of doing? Danielle from FB group has been awesome and she suggested a company for chair sashes and they were only $0.59 a piece or something so if I do go for them I will likely order from there! I totally know what you mean about it taking over your life. FI is out away a lot lately and so it take up my WHOLE life I feel! DJ mania is our big decision too!! I just am having trouble justifying $450+ an hour because our reception is only 2-2.5 hours long! I think it will make for a much better "party" but I just don't know. Do you know if there are any other DJ options? What about the resort DJ? We will probably do a welcome dinner but that's it. I too have heard there's no real rehearsal opportunity but I think maybe we will just do dinner with our families and bridal parties as a "rehearsal dinner" the night before and just go over how we see it going. We have booked pastor york for our ceremony also so I am looking forward to that! krsmith- I know what you mean about OOT bags, it is my next thing to do but not because I should be because I want to!!! WE have no idea how many people we will have yet so it really makes no sense at all but they just are so much fun!! We sent out invites the beginning of this week, to book our group rate guests must book by august 26th but we asked for a november 4th final RSVP (ie. if they book through another person/company or later date). I am really afraid this is going to cause some confusion for people but we didn't want people to think that if they didn't use our TA they couldn't come! One thing I really want to do is the door hangers that say "Please do not disturb we have been partying with the ________ newlyweds" don't know if you have seen them but think they are a really cute idea!! That may be something I start DIYing soon because I don't need a confirmed number I can just do the design. Any other DIY or planning suggestions I can get going on?! I am soo excited that we will all have each other to talk to over the next 8 months... ahhh it's going to be here before we know it!

I am so in love with your bouquets!!! I love hydrangeas and was thinking of doing them myself too but wasnt sure how they would look. Yours look AMAZING! I am so impressed with all your DIY projects you should be very proud!!! Congrats Mrs. Williams on your beautiful day!!!

yay!!! so glad to see you on here Robyn!! Sometimes I feel like I am hijacking the facebook page so I figured at least this is "allowed" lol We skipped STDs and just went with invites. I mocked them up and then once we confirmed our rates and booked we sent them out. I only sent them out the beginning of this week so I REALLY hope the postal strike doesn't effect them!!! We contemplated just doing an Evite and then sending invites only to those who booked (not really invites more like YAY we're escaping the snow in february!) but both our parents insisted we needed to do invites with real RSVPs. It worked out ok, I did them DIY and it was fun (but a lot of work!!!) We are definitely doing OOT bags! I am obsessed with them. I think I will definitely go over board but am trying hard to keep myself in check and on budget. There is just so many things I want to put in them. I don't think we will do "favours" aside from out OOTs just because we want to include so much in them, and also then our guests don't have to worry about carrying our favours from the reception (I know they always get left behind!). Dollartree in the states had AMAZING jumbo beach totes. My parents were there during May 24 weekend and picked me up a sample to make sure quality was good. Well they are sooo great BUT when I went to order them OUT OF STOCK! I nearly cried! They are only a dollar a piece and I was so pumped up because we were expecting $5 a bag so this opened up $$ for OOT stuff!! I am now on the hunt for something else! I am thinking we may go to Buffalo, NY this weekend or next to search the Dollartrees there and see if I can pull some together (its only 1.5 hour drive). They also have great mini meds and travel size additions. I also found a coupon for the johnson and johnson travel first aid kits making them only like $0.22 a piece so I am hoping to pick those up too! I know its early to start doing OOT but I figure with a Feb wedding any summer stuff we want we need to do during summer!! Some girls have mentioned Dollarama for some cute bags so I may start checking them out since they are closer to home!! We are going to bring our vases for our centrepieces and used our bouquets (BM and myself) as the arrangements. I figure once the wedding part is over we arent going to need them so may as well have them do double duty! I cant decide on real touch or real flowers.... Aside from that I can't decide if I want chair sashes or anything so other decor will be just minor I think. I do LOVE those large vases marking the aisle but do not want to spend that kind of money on decor! I totally know what you mean about over/underwhelmed. Now that invites are done I don't know what to do!!! I haven't booked a photog yet have you?! I would love to hear what you have done and what you are thinking so far!!! Sorry this post is so long, its just so nice to talk to someone in the same position that knows the resort!!!!

We skipped STDs and just sent invites. I did up our invite template and as soon as we booked with our TA and secured rates etc. we sent them out. This gives people about 3 months to book (at least with our deal). Good luck, happy planning!!!!

I picked up clear labels at staples (in Ontario) for $4.96 for 300!!!!! It was a great deal. We sent out 100 invites so there was noooooo way I was handwriting all those. I plan to handwrite our welcome letters possibly or something else to give a personal touch! Walmart also has clear labels but this staple sale blew them out of the water on price! We used a nice "handwritten" looking font that matched our invites and it worked out great! Also, on a side note I have read some other brides saying they numbered their RSVP cards to track who responded since some people forget to write their names. We just printed an extra label of each address and stuck it on the rsvp cards. That way if they forget to write their names, no biggie because we have it already!!! Good luck!!

So I haven't seen a thread like this and know some other destination brides have gotten HUGE help from other brides in their month so I thought I would start one for all the February 2012 brides out there! We are getting married February 4th 2012 at the Majestic Colonial in Punta Cana and are VERY excited! After nearly a year long engagement with 3 moves and no wedding planning insight we seemed to FINALLY decide and send invites out in a very short period of time. It is so exciting to finally be booked and I thank BDW and the facebook group, Majestic Colonial Brides for all the help so far and I am sure more to come! My first DIY was our boarding pass invites but now that they are done and mailed I don't know what to do next!!! Hopefully all the February 2012 brides can get together on here and help each other with planning and staying on track! Only 8 months away!!!

Welcome!!! We are getting married February 4th 2012 at the Majestic Colonial in Punta Cana. We had a terrible time deciding on a resort, we actually planned on getting married in Jamaica but then I came across the Majestic Colonial Brides group on facebook after a friend suggested the resort and I was SOLD!!! It has been such an amazing resource in addition to this site!! I am using Pauline Blacoe [email protected] She has been absolutely fantastic and came back with the best rate for us! We tried 4 travel agents before finally finding her and she is so quick to respond and really cares about making sure we are comfortable and informed which has been a complete turn around from what the other TAs did! Hope this helps!!!!

These are AWESOME! Love the underwater shot! WOW

I went to order these and they are out of stock!!!! I can't believe I waited I am so mad at myself!! Does anyone know if they will come back IN stock or is that it for the season?! They are still up on the website which gives me hope but I don't know....

Leigh, I am so excited to see you final invites!!!! I finished mine yesterday, here is the link http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/73661/my-boarding-pass-invites-lots-of-pictures/10#post_1610302 I am so lost now that they are done.... what to do next?!

We used Pauline Blacoe. She is not in our area but she has been absolutely FANTASTIC for us. She was our fourth or fifth travel agent as the first few just did not make the cut and like Leigh said, did not have our best interest at heart. Pauline has been so quick to respond to every request and also came back with the best rate!!!! You can reach her at [email protected] Good luck!!!

I would be more than happy to email you my template with design. I have attached it in a previous post but I know not everyone can open the attachments sometimes!

Thanks so much!!! So nice to hear some positive feedback I love you guys!! krsmith, I have attached my document if you want to work of something similar!! Sorry forgot to include it in the original post!

I have finally finished my DIY boarding pass invites and since you have all given me so much inspiration, I feel it is my turn to give back and share. Hopefully this will help someone if the future as all of you have helped me!! These were definitely a lot of work but hopefully worth it in the end. I am happy with the final product AND the price per invite! I will break down the materials, tools and costs and then tell you how I made them. Materials: - 65lb Cardstock, antique parchment finish ($8.96 for 100 sheets - from Walmart) used 2 packages - 24lb Coordinating antique parchment finish envelopes ($9.18 for 50 envelopes - from Walmart) used 2 packages - Blue letter size sheets ($3.92 for 10 sheets - from Staples) used 10 packages - Green letter size sheets ($3.92 for 10 sheets - from Staples) used 1 package - Clear Labels ($4.96 for 300 - from Staples) these were Staples brand AND on sale! Only needed one package - Crystal Fasteners ($2.99 for 42 - from Michaels) also one sale, needed 3 packages - Scrapbook paper for envelop liners ($0.99 per 12x12 sheet from Michaels) needed 20 sheets -I am so mad at myself for this one! They were on sale the week before (I picked up one as a "test") for $0.40 each PLUS I had a 25% off scrapbooking material coupon so they cost ONLY $0.30. When I went back with FI to pick up the rest of what we needed the sale was over oh well - Rafia ($4.25 for a HUGE package - from Michaels) Regular $8.50 but I used a 50% off coupon to buy it!! Cost Per invite worked out to $1.15 not including postage! Tools (prices rounded): - Cuterpede - craft cutting board ($20 from Walmart) - Cuterpede attachments - perforater and scorer ($4 each also from Walmart) - Scissors - Glue Stick - Stitch ripper (used this to pierce holes to put the fasteners through!) - Corner rounder (from Michaels I think about $4 again used a coupon!! DO NOT buy anything from Michaels without a coupon, there are ALWAYS coupons!!!!!) - envelope liner stencil (I made this) Alright, so I recently moved from Toronto to Peterborough and there are just NOT the same resources for paper etc. here as there were in Toronto but I decided I would have to make due. We decided we wanted a simple "antiqued" looking paper for the main boarding pass part and then would incorporate our colours (navy and green) in the jackets and print. I took the aylee bits template (ayleebits.com) and put it in a Powerpoint file to work from. I prefer PP to word and found it easier to do what I wanted to do! Once I finished my design (think I design 20 different versions before FINALLY deciding!) I took the file to Staples to have them print a test run. They refused to print it because they said they couldn't cut it (I wasn't going to get them to) because there wasn't enough space between each pass (there are 2 on a page). I decided I would print my test at home and source a printer later. After printing the test and being happy with what our printer did I decided I would just do them all at home. I did all the cutting and FI was in charge or corner rounding, attaching the fasteners and getting the labels ready. I think this is long enough so time for the pictures! If you have any questions just ask!!! I am pretty happy with my first DIY project but I love crafting and doing this kind of stuff!! The tools: The purple attachment did the perforating, the blue the corner rounder, the pink the scorer (helped folding the jackets) and we used crystal fastners shown here. The 5 pieces of the boarding pass Front and back of the front page of our boarding passes Front and back of our RSVP cards (detach and send back) Finished boarding passes! Finished boarding passes and inside of jacket Finished product in envelopes I am so pleased with my envelope liners!!! That's it!!! Sorry this is so long!!

Great news!!!! There are a couple nine west stores near me so I will definitely check them out!! They are so so gorgeous but I couldn't find them in green ANYWHERE online!

Do you still have some bags available? I went to order them online and they are out of stock

I highly recommend Pauline Blacoe. She is not even in our area but has been an amazing resource via email and some phone calls. If you are comfortable with email (she is super quick to respond) I would suggest contacting her to see what she can do for you! [email protected] - I know she is away this week but she may still answer your email via blackberry. She has been great!!!

Are these "Jemster" I love love love them but can't seem to find them on the site (think I found a similar pair in black) might try ebay if I have the right name though!!!

WOW! Those are quite the shoes!!! Where did you find them?!

It was definitely the most stressful part for me too! But once you have it figured out it will all fall into place! If you are working with a good TA they should be able to take the better part of that stress away! Let me know if you'd like a referral, I am very pleased with who we are working with so far, took me 4 before I found a TA that suited our needs!!!