SunsetLove

OMG LOVE LOVE LOVE this thread!

I am totally in the same boat as you, sister! My family was really not supportive of our decision to get married in Mexico. My grandparents even told my Dad behind my back that they would definitely not be attending if that is what we chose. Funny enough, they travel all over the world! They were in Norway when we got engaged for God's sake and can't make a 2.5 hour flight to Mexico for their granddaughter's wedding? Well - guess who is booked now?! I mean what was the purpose of being an a-hole about it if you were going to book anyways??? We had a really hard time getting people to actually contact our travel agent and book their trips...as of now we have 22 people coming with us but I have a feeling we are going to have a cancellation. My best friend/FI's sister and her husband were the last ones to book (Even though she is the matron of honor!!) and they still haven't gotten their passports! WTF! People just amaze me... Wow, sorry for the rant...just wanted to let you know that you are not alone! Just try not to let it get to you because your wedding day will be awesome and amazing no matter what!

Thank you ladies! I did find some on Oriental Trading and I also love the DIY ones....decisions decisions!!

Hi Ladies! For our favors for our AHR, we had pint glasses made and want to have them at each place setting at the AHR. FI thinks that it will look silly if we don't put anything in them so I'm thinking of filling them with shredded paper that matches our wedding colors and putting a swizzle stick in....but I can't seem to find any cute ones anywhere! I looked on Etsy but I really can't afford to pay over $200 for just freaking swizzle sticks! Have you ladies done something like this and where did you find your swizzle sticks?

Antigua, that is AWESOME! You got some great deals!

Those are great! I love Vistaprint too and bought the same Groupon!!

Bridetobe11 thank you so much for sharing your pics! Your wedding looked incredible! Jill - I was wondering about a rehearsal too. I'm not really worried about a rehearsal dinner per se, but it would be nice for us and our wedding party to know the plan for the actual ceremony. I guess I should ask Gloria about that LOL

Wow, I may have to look into that Bose! It would probably be perfect for us! I actually think your picnic-style sounds AMAZING! My family was all kind of bummed that we were doing a DW so I felt like I needed to have something formal at home. My fiance and I are both super laid back and would far prefer something like you are doing, that just sounds awesome! I also agree, we are very lucky! We'll have to share pics once our fabulous weddings are over!

Haha, well I got the Painted Tropical Mini Maracas from Oriental Trading...somehow the name didn't give it away for me...I can claim it was a blonde moment right? LOL

Bunny - Don't freak out, you will get it all figured out! I am not there yet, but I'm sure I will feel the same way the 2 weeks leading up to my wedding. But just think of it this way...All of the planning you have been doing is about to pay off . I think the plain white paper bags will work just fine, that is what I am doing for my girls' gifts. I got lucky and found my OOT bags at Old Navy for $.99 each, and I think they are still selling them if you want to check those out. Also, I have seen other girls post about some bags that are at Dollar Tree too. But overall, the paper bags will probably be cheaper and will probably take up less room in your luggage I want to do pashminas too but I can't decide if I've already spent too much LOL - I just keep buying more and more stuff to go in these bags! I think black and cream would be really versatile and go with most anything. If I get any I think I am going to buy the cream ones...I have "turqoised out" pretty much everything LOL so I figured I would just get something more plain. I think the fuscia and orange would be really pretty though...I know I am no help...I am one of the most indecisive people EVER! We already got our gatorade packets and I'm crossing my fingers that these make it through customs. Maybe I will try to hide them in the travel mugs...haha! I am wishing now that I wouldn't have bought maracas and just waited and got them down there. The ones I got are sooooooo small, I had no idea they were mini. I bet you could find some really cool ones down there! Seriously though, if you have a few days before your guests get there, I would say go ahead into town and try to get all the last minute stuff. Don't stress about it now, it will all work out!!

Your projects are AMAZING!

Girl go for it!!! It is seriously easier than it looks! Can't wait to see how yours turn out

HOW EXCITING!!!!! When are you arriving? We'll have to meet up for a drink, I'll buy We have not really talked about a guest book...I don't think we are going to do one...is that tacky? We are having a huge reception at home 2 weeks after our wedding where we'll do the whole shabang so we are not doing any of that typical reception stuff down at ERC (no guest book, no DJ, we aren't even having our photographer cover dinner). We have been throwing around the idea of bringing our own music for them to play during dinner...but we don't want to pay $500 for their sound system so we will have to look into a quality docking station (ours sucks). As for our dinner, we just picked our menu out and she was really flexible. We are having the beef tenderloin from the silver menu, but I subbed garlic mashed potatoes for the horseradish potatoes and she was totally fine with that. She also let us choose 3 different flavors for our cake, I don't know but that might be standard. We are doing dinner on the beach, I would have loved to have our dinner at the Lobster House but I don't think that is an option for a Tuesday night. Plus, we figured everyone would enjoy eating oceanside because really...how many times in your life do you get to do that!? I think whatever we all choose will be wonderful, I have heard so many great things about Excellence resorts. Oh yeah and definitely talk to Gloria about a welcome dinner! I just wanted a "free option" where we could all sit by each other and share our first meal at the resort together. I also wanted to be able to hand out our OOT bags then. She originally told us that we had to choose a menu for everyone to eat but I just wanted my guests to be able to choose their own meal...I mean they are all spending thousands of dollars to come down and most are only staying 4 nights so I wanted them to be able to get what they wanted. So my travel agent called and talked to Gloria and she decided that all of our guests can order off the menu for the welcome dinner! Woo! Happy planning, we are getting so close! Glad you posted!!! Ashley

Hey ladies! I just found some other cute bags at Bed, Bath, & Beyond that I thought I would share with you all. I already have my sweet $1 bags from ON but I thought these were share-worthy Only $1.99 each:

Thanks ladies! Let me know how they turn out if you make some!

Inna - Hope your wedding was awesome! How was your honeymoon? We would love to hear all about it Bunny - less than a MONTH until your big day!!!! How excited are you!?!?!

Ok I finally sat down and made another set! Here are my step-by-step photos. These are really really easy to make! I really hope my instructions are helpful for you ladies! 1) I cut a long piece of stretchy cord (I don't know what it's actually called LOL but you can find it in the bead section of any craft store) and put about 3 1/2 to 4 inches of tiny beads on. This will be the part that goes around your toe, so you don't want huge beads that might be uncomfortable between your toes! 2) Next, fold the cord in half and start beading over both ends: 3) I tried mine on several times to see how far it came up my foot. I took beads off and added different ones at least 10 times until I got the length right. Then I added one big last bead before splitting off the strands again: 4) Then you want to separate the two strands again and start beading away! Again, I tried these on multiple times to see how many more beads to add. A lot of trial and error 5) Finally, tie them off! I tied about a million knots, LOL Here is the finished product! And on my foot:

Tiffany - Did Gloria send you your options yet? I can send you what I have if you haven't gotten them yet.

ok ok ok ok I'm sold!! Thanks ladies

What a great thread!! Thanks for sharing!

So far everything I have read has said that the cenote actually doesn't harm your dress...but here is what my photographer suggested: "About your dress, the water at Cenotes is fresh, and doesn't damage the dress, but I understand your hesitation about it, even more because you are wearing it again. The cheap TTD is always a good option, I recommend you to choose a floaty, loose dress instead of mermaid shape, It will be always easier to swim, princess gowns works well, but will be so heavy under the water and hard to kick your legs." I'm sorry I don't have much to offer I think a TTD session is out of our budget now so I haven't given it much thought recently :(

I love your bags!

Love the idea of a lawn sign! Did it fit ok in your luggage and everything?

Just curious, what did you end up deciding on? We hired an outside photographer but we will still get the 24 photos that are included from the in-house photographer. Your wedding date is just around the corner, how exciting! I would love to see your photos afterwards so I can see what's in store for me )

Quick question - are these more for looks or for actually keeping you warm? I think they are super cute and would actually love to get them for my girls - but we are getting married in June and I'm wondering if they won't get used because it will be too hot out? What has your experience been? I'm one click away from buying them, I just need a little persuasion )