AllieH

Hi Elaine - congrats on booking your wedding at EDR!! Did you do the pick & choose dinner? We did that, and ran into the same thing you did - none of the desserts or appetizer options on the dinner menu sounded good to us. We asked them if we could choose starter & dessert from the lunch menu, and they let us substitute. We did the spicy sea scallops w/ crispy won ton for the starter, and the tres leeches for dessert. they were AWESOME. so if you see something on another menu that's you'd like, just ask if you can substitute! as for the hair...plan EXTRA TIME. if they suggest a noon hair appointment for a 3:30pm wedding, back it up 1-2 hours AT LEAST. I'd plan about 90 minutes for bridal hair, and maybe 60 for your maids. don't forget to figure in time for you to eat lunch/snack before the ceremony too - you'll need the fuel for the rest of the night!

why not have an updo and a half up or side sweet style in mind, and wait until you get down there to decide? I really wanted to wear mine down - had been growing it out for nearly 2 years! but when we got down there, it was just too windy to leave it down and not have it blowing in my face. so I went with an updo instead! Nothing wrong with having contingency plans.

I love your original dress!!! It's gorgeous on you.

@@kjb123 - I ordered them from these folks: http://fivecedars.com/favors/sand-dollar-wedding-favors/ We did a set of windchimes for our parents and ourselves as well (his mom doesn't celebrate Christmas). We really love how they turned out!

We did an ornament - perfect for Christmas for those who celebrate, or hanging in a window. It can also be used with essential oils to add scent to the air.

I'd definitely book transportation to/from the airport. We used cancuntransfers.com for our last trip to EDR. It's $82 round trip for private transportation. We were very happy with them, and feel it's well worth the price to not have to stop at other resorts along the way. We've booked them again for our trip next month.

many, many brides do exactly what you've outlined. you just don't hear about them as often I think. it's a destination wedding - do what YOU want. there are no rules about having to have centerpieces or anything elaborate. a wedding is all about celebrating the bride & groom in whatever form that takes. one of my dear friends had a super simple wedding in Cuba, and it was just amazing. your dream wedding can and will come true!!!

We used our wedding colors for our menu card:

I was thinking it was somewhere in Europe - boy do I stink at geography!! looks like a lovely destination. I hope you find some info out there. welcome to BDW!

Hi Angela! It really depends on the purpose of your STDs. Are they just to get people to reserve/book rooms within a short timeframe? Then I'd do more of a general beach theme, and then you can decide on your colors and other items later. We did a beach post card look for our STDs, and referred our guests to our wedding website for the details. We had some preliminary colors chosen, and a logo - of course we tweaked the colors a little later. Noone noticed...or if they did, they didn't say anything. here's what ours looked like: we later changed from the teal to a light blue (less green, more blue) to fit with other decorations I found - much easier to coordinate than "what shade of teal?". We sent these out in February for our November wedding. And then used the formal invites as a reminder to book airfare. We had to book our packages with hotel only, with everyone booking airfare separate because our guests traveled from many different airports. Destination weddings...no rules - just what works best for you! (I think that's my new theme...)

just keep posting! ask questions, compliment on things you like, and welcome other newbies. it takes some time, but the Hosts really want BDW to be a community of info sharing, vs. drive bys. welcome!!!

like most things with a destination wedding - there are no rules. they are a "nice to have", but certainly not a must. we didn't include them, and most of our guests were just fine. those who found the sand difficult to navigate just took off their shoes (including ME!) for photos and such. in the big budget picture, providing flip flops for our guests just wasn't top of our priority list.

@@MandM2014 - FWIW, the EDR/EDCR beaches are BEAUTIFUL for wedding ceremonies. just not so wonderful to swim in (rocky). here's a shot from our wedding day:

a good friend of mine stayed at Blue Diamond recently and said it was amazing! Your video is beautiful - wishing you many many years of happiness!

Hi Angela and welcome to BDW!! I agree about the beaches at EDR/GRM - that's really the biggest downside to choosing them. Of course the beaches at EDM/GM are MUCH nicer, but they are also a much smaller resort. That's the main trade off - nice beaches, smaller resort, or not-so-nice beaches and a larger resort with more things to do (restaurant choices, etc). We're going back for our 3rd stay next month. We considered other resorts (and islands), including EDM, but ultimately decided that the service & choices at EDR were worth the less-than-perfect beaches. There's no perfect location - everything will have some sort of trade off. You just have to prioritize what's most important to you and your FI (and yoru guests). Make a list of the things that are most important to you for choosing your wedding resort. Include "must haves" and "nice to haves" and "must avoids". Then rank the resorts/islands you are considering in each category. That may help your choices rise to the top of the list. Good luck and happy planning!!

Unfortunately this is a very common issue with destination weddings. My only suggestion is to keep being persistent - generally everything works out once you get onsite. Does the resort have a phone # you can use to contact the WC? Can your TA help as well? Many of the resorts don't really start working with you on your wedding planning specifics until 60-90 days out, especially when they have a heavy wedding season. Good luck!!

lovely!!!! I'm so glad the hiccups and issues didn't take away from your wedding.

welcome to BDW! I second using Wright Travel if you're in the US. they are experts in destination weddings, and know the Palace resorts really well. good luck and happy planning!

WOOHOO for return trips!!!

hi there @@barnet202! I think it's been a while since we've had any UK EDR brides. It looks like the legal wedding is $500 USD (for the judge), and the blood tests are $125 USD each ($250 total). The blood tests are done at the resort itself. My best guess is these would be paid with the rest of your wedding package ahead of your arrival (typically 30 - 45 days prior to arrival). Here's a little more info on the Wedding Officiant Options: http://www.weddingsbylomastravel.com/planning/Wedding-Officiants I would get your TA to verify those prices and package availability, as it's possible that these are for Canadian/US residents only. Lomas currently doesn't have a sky deck listed as an option for EDR, EDCR or even Generations RM, though I know Generations is planning to build a skydeck. I'm not sure when that would be available though.

Hi Tina - welcome to BDW!!! I don't know much about the resort you're looking at, but you may want to try the RM MX section on the forum. Good luck and happy planning!

happy anniversary @@shannonmarie!!!

@@kellisbaby - wow, thank you!!! I wish I could claim my ideas were all original - but alas, I'm also a borrower of fantastic ideas (and working with amazing vendors). I don't know what I would have done without the other BDW brides and Pinterest. I can't wait to hear/see more about your plans.

I also have them listed on the Official EDR thread in this post.

no it isn't shallow - you want friends and family to enjoy it too. I think most people do. So many factors go into planning and decision making, and it's different for all of us. It WILL be beautiful.