AllieH

they were cream puffs! three itty bitty cream puffs arranged on a little tower of chocolate. they were yummy.

Here's the ceremony that I wrote, using a number of sources. It's very much about the reality of marriage - hard work, choosing to be together, etc. Allison & Steve Wedding Ceremony: SONG: iPod playlist “Ceremony Seating” Guests seated Minister takes place at altar Groom escorts his mother & sister down the aisle Groom stands at altar with minister Mother of the bride escorted to her seat by brother of the bride MOB & BOB stay standing, and minister indicates all guests should stand SONG: iPod playlist “Bride walk” Bride entrance, escorted by father FOB shakes grooms hand, kisses bride on cheek, places Bride’s hand in groom’s (no formal presentation of bride) FOB is seated. MOB straightens bride’s train, takes bouquet. Bride & Groom face each other and join hands Greeting (Minister): Welcome everyone. On behalf of Allison and Steve, we thank you all for gathering here on this beautiful afternoon in Mexico to witness and celebrate their union in marriage. That so many family and friends have traveled great distances to be here today is a testament to the love and support they have. You all have given them much happiness, love, warmth, and guidance through the various stages of their lives. They would like to sincerely thank you all for being here to share in their big day. Ceremony (Minister): Steve, and Allison, your family and friends have gathered here to celebrate the love you have found in each other and support your decision to commit yourselves to one another for the rest of your lives. Your marriage is a union between the two of you and therefore is not by any to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly. Our ceremony today is based on the relationship that you, Allison and Steve, share and have built with each other. It is indeed, a joyous occasion when two souls are united in love; when two hearts experience the same feelings and two persons act as one in this most beautiful union. We affirm this love you have for each other. You have known each other from the first connections of acquaintance to this point of commitment. Along the way, you decided to marry. From that moment of yes, to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been making commitments in an informal way. All of those conversations about what you each hoped to find in a partner, what you looked forward to enjoying in life, the laughter shared at a baseball game or over a meal - all of these every day moments, and more, are the real process of a marriage. The vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, “You know all those things that we’ve promised, and hoped, and dreamed – well, I meant it all, every word.” Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this moment you have been many things to one another – acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, cheerleader, even teacher, for you have learned much from one another these past years. Shortly you shall solidify the promises you make to one another by speaking them in front of your friends and family. After today you shall say to the world – This is my husband. This is my wife. Note to Minister: Ask Leslie to come forward, hand microphone to Leslie Reading (Leslie): Marriage means that you have both decided to live the rest of your lives together as husband and wife, promising to face the future together, accepting whatever may lie ahead. Soon you will be declared man and wife, but you will have to decide each day that stretches out before you, that you truly want to be married. Love makes the burdens lighter, because you divide them. It makes joys more intense because you share them. It makes you stronger so you can reach out and become involved in life in ways you dared not risk alone. True marriage begins well before the wedding day, and the efforts of marriage continue well beyond the ceremony's end. A brief moment in time and the stroke of the pen are all that is required to create the legal bond of marriage, but it takes a lifetime of love, commitment, and compromise to make marriage durable and everlasting. Today you declare your commitment to each other before family and friends, your yesterdays were the path to this moment, and your journey to a future of togetherness becomes a little clearer with each new day. Personal Vows: (note to Minister: hand notecards to Allison & Steve): Allison’s Vows Steve’s Vows Marriage Vows (Minister) (note to Minister: echo style, with bride and groom repeating each line) Allison, repeat after me: I, Allison, take you Steve (echo) to be my husband and my partner in life (echo) to have and to hold from this day forward (echo) for better or for worse (echo) for richer or for poorer (echo) in sickness and in health (echo) and through whatever challenges we may face (echo) for as long as we both shall live. Steve, repeat after me: I, Steve, take you Allison (echo) to be my wife and my partner in life (echo) to have and to hold from this day forward (echo) for better or for worse (echo) for richer or for poorer (echo) in sickness and in health (echo) and through whatever challenges we may face (echo) for as long as we both shall live. Affirmation of Support (Minister): To family and friends here with us today: You have all heard these vows and promises. Will you do your best to honor, encourage, and support this marriage? If so, please say “We will”. Guests echo “We Will” (Minister continues) Allison and Steve, you have pledged your devotion to each other. From this point on you do not stay together simply because you love; you choose to love because you have made the commitment to be together. What has been joined, let noone separate. Exchange of Rings (Minister): Wedding rings are made precious by our wearing them. Your rings say that even in your uniqueness you have chosen to be bound together. Let these rings also be a sign that love has substance as well as soul, a present as well as a past, and that, despite its occasional sorrows, love is a circle of happiness, wonder, and delight. May these rings remind you always of the vows you have taken here today. Steve, place the ring on Allison’s finger, and repeat after me: “I give you this ring as a symbol as a visible and constant symbol of my love and faithfulness to you, for as long as I live.” Allison, place the ring on Steve’s finger, and repeat after me: “I give you this ring as a symbol as a visible and constant symbol of my love and faithfulness to you, for as long as I live.” Closing (Minister): Allison and Steve, remember to treat both yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together. Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves. When frustration, difficulty or fear assail your relationship – as they threatened all relationships at one time or another – remember to focus on what is right between you. In this way, you can ride out the times when clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives – remembering that even if you lose sight of it for a moment, the sun is still there. And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your lives together, your life together will be marked by abundance and delight.

Give to one another new experiences of joy. Challenge one another so that you may grow. May the love you hold for each other, now sealed in marriage, continue to mature with the passing years. May you never take each other for granted, but always experience the wonder of your union. May the love you now share continue to grow, and may the happiness you bring to each other be a continuing part of your life together. Before we finish our ceremony, the bride and groom request that guests remain in the gazebo area for a group photo immediately following the ceremony. I now pronounce you husband and wife. Steve, you may kiss your bride. (kiss!) Minister: It’s my pleasure to introduce to you, for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Moore. SONG: iPod playlist: Recessional

so you don't want me to tell you that I wrote my vows the day before the wedding, huh? he wrote his on Saturday I think (but he said he had them thought out in his head already). yup, last minute!! you will be FINE. enjoy every second of it Shan!!

So I'll hit a few highlights while I wait for my photos. What'd I'd do all over again: --a destination wedding. It was AWESOME. Our friends and family all enjoyed the getaway, and the resort was amazing. It was great to have more time with our guests. The ceremony & reception really flew by, and I can't imagine that as the only time to celebrate this event. Instead, we had a long weekend! --DIY. our guests all complimented the small details that I had DIY'd. I can't wait to see the photos of the details! --wear the dress I fell in love with. yeah, it was hot. yep, I was a sweaty mess by the end of the night. but damn, I looked good! (hehe) --have a friend help with my make up, and let the salon do my hair. --hire a professional photographer. these memories will be priceless. --wear wedges for our ceremony in the sand; surprisingly I got a lot of comments on my shoes. part of this is also because of the next item: --I had my dress hemmed for flats. I knew I would kick off the wedges and end up in flats, and had seen other brides at their receptions holding up their dresses and trying to dance, because the dress was hemmed for heels. So yes, during the ceremony, my wedges showed a little more, but ultimately it all worked out. --marry the love of my life. of course!! --do the legal part here at home, and symbolic in MX --write our own ceremony - it was so meaningful and "us". we wrote our own vows too, and my husband surprised me with his. it was priceless --not have a bridal party - we felt that all of our guests were our party. we didn't want anyone to have to buy a special dress or suit, given that they were spending so much to be there for us. --host a private dinner/reception - it was a GREAT party! --everything else! Some things I'd do differently (but none of these took away from how special our day was!): --4pm ceremony time in November was a little too late; we lost light really fast after the ceremony. I would totally move it back to 3:30 if I had it to do over again --spring for (or bring) the sheers for the gazebo. My husband was a human shade, because the sun was right in my eyes. I'm sure those squinty pictures will be fabulous.. --schedule my hair appointment earlier. we had it at noon for a 2:30 first look, and 4pm ceremony. the rehearsal hair appt only took an hour, so I thought we'd be fine on the day of. day of took 90 minutes, so at 2:25 we were rushing to finish my make up (we had to eat after the hair!!) --there was no need for cupcakes; the dessert served with our meal was phenomenal! That's all I can think of off the top of my head. A couple of the questions I've been asked is about the timing for our photographer. Here's the schedule we laid out for our day: 11am - shower (hey, I had to schedule or I'd never leave the pool chair!) Noon - spa/salon for hair 1pm - order lunch/room service, make up, finish getting ready 2:30pm - first look bride/groom, couples photos 3:30pm - photographer to ceremony site for set up photos 3:40 - guests to ceremony site 3:45pm - groom to ceremony site 3:55pm - bride to ceremony site 4pm - ceremony (BOOM!) 4:30pm - group photo 4:40pm - non-family guests to informal cocktail hour 5pm - family to informal cocktail 5-5:45pm - finish post-ceremony bride/groom photos 6pm - 10pm - dinner/reception so the hair ran long, and make up was rushed. our first look was about 2:45pm. we did couples photos on the beach for a few minutes after that, and then the cart that came to get me actually took my husband to the ceremony, and we waited for another one from the wedding staff. the ceremony started a few minutes late - because my husband wasn't able to go back to the groom's room and get his stuff, his friends did. so they were late for the ceremony! bottom line? there's never enough time. build in twice as much time as you think you need to get ready. what other questions can I answer while waiting for the eye candy?

there is still some light at 5, but it dwindles pretty fast. If I had it to do over, I would bump the ceremony back to 3:30pm. here's a (non-pro!) photo that was taken right after our ceremony (about 4:30). You can see the sun is pretty low - we got some nice sun-flare shots, but I wish we'd had more light. Quote: Originally Posted by bambaleo Yea i've done that and the time is 5:04. but not really sure what that means, is it pitch black at 5? When does the sun start setting? What's it like between 4:30-5 versus 4-4:30.

just thought I'd share - we had our ceremony on Nov 5th at 4pm, with the sun setting by 5pm. I wish I had moved our ceremony back to 3:30 to catch the light for more our photos. We had great light for the ceremony and for formals, but quickly ran out of light for our couples/post wedding photos of the two of us.

We had a good mix of alone time and time with friends. We had everyone come by our suite to visit - so the crowd ebbed and flowed. I really loved having several days with everyone, rather than just a few hours. I only have 1 pro pic back so far, she sent me an early preview. I should have the full preview by next week! My photog has been emailing me that the pics keep making her cry and she's having a hard time editing them - I think that's a good sign.

this may be a DR requirement. we didn't have to do this in Mexico.

it was truly a dream wedding, other than losing the darn starfish!! I think you're right, but it was gorgeous in my bouquet!! thank you SO much for sharing it with all of us.

Hang in there, this week will FLY by!! and whew, I'm so glad you got a response. the best advice I got was to enjoy every moment with your fiancé/husband. remember this time in your life - it truly is special!

Hi Amanda, It was absolutely incredible!! Of course there were a few things that could have been better or different, but honestly, it didn't take away from our dream wedding. I loved everything about the event and the resort. Our guests raved about both the wedding and the resort too, so I'm thrilled!! Here's the early preview photo from our photog:

Shannon, you have to have 150 posts to open attachments. here's her photo (it's stunning!!)

I'm back and married!! Unfortunately the blue starfish fell out of my bouquet sometime during our ceremony and photos. We asked around and searched the resort, but couldn't find it. I'm ordering a replacement today and having it sent to Asiamarie. I have her contact info.

I'm trying to think about where to start with the review! As with all weddings, there is some drama, and last minute guests who weren't able to make it. Many of my husband's family & friends are in NYC, and fortunately most of them were able to fly out on Saturday and Sunday. We had 3 that were supposed to fly on Friday, but their flights were cancelled. They couldn't reschedule them for a decent day/time, plus missing work b/c of Sandy, they weren't able to make it. One of my friend's MIL ended up in the hospital, so her husband couldn't attend. And another friend's husband was hospitalized the week we left, so they couldn't make it. And then my husband's mother's flakey friend didn't show up (long story - she was a pain in our side during the entire planning process, and I'm quite glad she didn't make it). She lived in the zone where the storms were, so we included her in the "can't make it because of the storm" group. Fortunately, EDR/Lomas was flexible and gave us refund for those meals (well, it ended up being a credit, since we changed our entree onsite, and they were more expensive than what we'd paid!). Bottom line: EDR/Lomas was AWESOME about all of this last minute stuff. Our travel was super smooth and easy - we had direct flights from DFW to Cancun on American. We were fortunate to fly 1st class, and it was high on the list of good decisions. We used my FF miles to buy one ticket, and then purchased the other 1st class ticket. It worked out that the 1 purchased ticket was about the same cost as 2 coach tickets, so it was a no brainer! We were able to board first, which means I was the first bride/dress. I mention this because my dress was fluffy, both in design and size! lol We had a total of 5 brides/grooms/dresses on our flight. The flight attendants were awesome and let us hang them behind the last row of seats in 1st class, and then tried to make room in overheads or in the (small) front closet for the others. We had 4 checked bags total with us: 1 each of clothes, and 2 of wedding stuff - mostly the welcome bag stuff. We had my dress in it's ginormous pink bag, and a small carryon suitcase that had all of our favors in it. My mom had 1 giant suitcase with all of the decorations for the ceremony & reception. Immigration & customs in Mexico was a breeze, other than trying to track down the 4 bags we checked in the huge pile of luggage. And my husband didn't understand that he needed to restock the luggage after the customs scan. Green lights for us both! WHEW. My mom didn't have any issues or questions with her bags either. Our transportation was arranged through our TA, and they used Olympus tours (orange shirts - anyone who has been to cancun will see them!). They gave us private transfers, and we were on our way to the resort. A short 25 minute drive..and we were there. We got out of the shuttle, and the bellboys grabbed all of our bags (and my dress!!!!) and then put us on a golf cart to go to the Casitas side of the resort. I nearly had a panic attack with them taking my dress...(but it was all fine, no worries). Our room wasn't ready yet, so we went to lunch and had a few drinks while waiting. And it was worth the wait!! Our TA gave us a swim up casita upgrade as a wedding gift, and it was PERFECT. Here I am on the edge of the pool outside our room I can definitely say we picked the right resort for us. It was absolutely gorgeous. No false advertising! The food was phenomenal, service & staff was accommodating (everything is possible in Mexico!!), and we can't wait to go back. Our meeting with the onsite WC was the next day, and we went through all of the details for the wedding. This was when I realized they had one of the entrees wrong on our spreadsheet, and I'd somehow missed it in the weeks leading up to the wedding. No problem they said, they can adjust it for me and correct. And they did!!! We had our couples massage that day too, and it was another fantastic experience. We did them on the beach, so the breeze blowing through and the sound of the waves was so relaxing. I drooled... My husband & I did a snorkel tour the next day via Lomas, through Maroma Marina. we had a great time, but it was sad to see the coral all brown and broken. there were tons of fish though - they fed them and so a bunch would swim up right into your face! I may have squealed a couple of times just laughing at it see? in your face! I also came face to face with a small barracuda, and I quickly swam away... If I had this to plan over, I'd do the snorkel trip AFTER the wedding. I was worried about getting a sunburn, and since it was just our 2nd full day at the resort, I didn't have a base tan at all. ok, back to the wedding stuff. the onsite WC's had done an itinerary for all of our guests to remind them when the welcome dinner was, and then the time/location of the wedding events. They also let us leave a personal note for each guest - though they didn't want to because Saturday is such a busy day for check ins and check outs. That would be another thing I'd do differently - Saturday was the day our friends & family arrived, and it was busy both at the airport and the resort. I wouldn't have them travel on Saturday. Ok, more to follow...if there are questions about anything specific, please let me know and I'll try to include it!!

thank you!! my photographer (and good friend) took pity on me and sent this super early preview. Based on this one, I can't WAIT to see the rest. This is from our first look, which we did on a back walkway near our room (where I got ready).