cherany
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Posts posted by cherany
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This isnt related to decor, but since orange/pink brides are likely to look here...
I just found a really cute dress that could work for a bridesmaid for $15! Never ordered from the site before, so I can't attest to the quality or service, but it might be worth taking a gamble for such a low price.
http://www.everdress.com/love-pink-bow-back-bright-orange-dress.html
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Originally Posted by PamelaVan
Yes..OR do as I did and find a florist wo will pre order your flowers by the stem. Then you get exactly what you want, and it is a FRACTION of the cost. This is what I did and I had TONS for flowers for really cheap. Cherry Blossom floral will do this for you, and they are located in playa. You can either pcik them up or have them delievered. This in my opinion is your best bet. No matter how much planning you do, your wedding is also a vacation and you dont want to be hunting around looking for flowers if you don't have to. Let me know if you want any pricing or thier information.
I would love this info! We really do not have the budget for a florist to arrange and deliver our bouquets, but we want fresh flowers. Ordering by the stem and arranging myself seems like the best solution.
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Originally Posted by DiggityDawn
Thank you for your insight! I really appreciate it. I have been struggling through the whole planning process with the in-laws. Mexico was the WRONG choice, then the date we set was wrong and we had to move it back a few months to appease them. Then we were being rude and tacky with the honeymoon registry we picked out, because it basically asks for money and we should do a traditional store registry. Then the website I made was wrong and I had to rewrite everything to fit what they wanted it to be. And now my STD's are wrong too. It's just getting to be too much for me, but I still try to consider their point. That's why I'm not really sure if they have a valid point about my postcard idea or if I'm just not wanting to change my ideas out of spite because everything else I have done is wrong and inappropriate... lol
Just needed some insight, thank you.
Yikes! In that case, I would do things the way you want to and not give them a preview. If they don't like the postcard idea when they get it in the mail, it will be too late to nix the idea, so they'll just have to deal.
It's polite to want to please everyone, but you can't and won't, so it's best to please yourself and not have regrets. You can take another person's opinion into consideration, but unless its your fiancé's, it shouldn't carry the same weight as yours.
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Originally Posted by cherany
... they assured me this is how the restaurant looks nice, the decor is theirs
Meant to say this is how the restaurant looks now, not how the restaurant looks nice (although it certainly does!).
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Feeling really jazzed up about wedding stuff today! I've been e-mailing our reception venue about lighting, and to my delight, they've made some drastic changes recently that greatly improve the look of the place. I no longer think we need to worry about bringing in colored lighting; it's gorgeous the way it is!
Old look:
New look:
I can't even tell you guys how excited I am about this! I was really starting to worry I wouldn't love our venue, despite having chosen it for great reasons (super helpful staff, delicious food), but now I'm convinced it's going to be amazing! It's crazy how much a few lights can change your opinion of a place. I am in love with they've done with that wall! Seeing the new chairs there also tells me I don't need to bother with any chair decor for the reception. When I saw these photos, I assumed an event company had taken over the place for one wedding, but when I asked how much this would cost, they assured me this is how the restaurant looks nice, the decor is theirs, and I will pay nothing for this look. I'm ecstatic!!
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Originally Posted by ChocoTaco7568
Justin and I have grand plans for our wedding photos and couldn't pass up this deal for canvas prints. The promotional value expires in August 2013, so plenty of time to get our pro pics back and pics the most cavas worthy!
Great deal! We have a lot of art hanging in our apartment already, so I've been wondering lately where in the world we are going to hang wedding photos. I don't think we have a single wall with enough space to accommodate something like that. Will have to think about rearranging some things... I don't want to take down any of my beloved artwork!
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Originally Posted by melnryluvco
Whooooo!! You should celebrate with a cerveza! Now it's the waiting game to get the rsvp cards back. We sent ours out end of Dec with a RSVP by March 1. What's that you say? How many have we got back??? Ya um...we have 6 out of 30 sent. FML. Get on the ball people! I am about to send an email out that says "If I don't have your RSVP back in time I'm going to choose what you eat and it's not going to be what I think you like, it's going to the be the opposite....and NO booze for you!"
Thankfully, we're pretty sure we know who is and isn't coming, but I expect I'll have to call a few friends to confirm when I don't have their RSVP card back in time. Although, it could be a good thing that I sent our invites so late, because people may feel the pressure to go ahead and mark it one way or the other and send it back, versus thinking, "I have several months to decide, so I'll fill that out later."
If I already think someone is a no and I don't hear from them, I won't bother calling, but if I expected them to say yes and don't receive a reply, I will. Most of the undecideds are the significant others of friends; several people are considering leaving their other half at home to cut costs. I think some of my girlfriends are flying down together and making it a girls' weekend.
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Originally Posted by melnryluvco
My gosh! I could seriously kiss you right now! I feel like I have a spy on the the other side who is passing vital information to us!! Thank you so much for all your input. It is very much appricated.
Ditto! I feel so much more confident about DIY flowers now! Was really nervous about that part of things and was feeling like I had to spend hundreds of dollars we can't really afford, just to ease my mind about it. I doubt I will book an expensive florist now.
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Originally Posted by PuntaBride
These look fantastic!!! They are a lot of work, but so worth it. Your guests will be so impressed!!!
I love the little carrying handles on the boxes!
Thank you! I worked so hard on them, I do hope everyone loves them! I received my first gushy response from a friend who received hers today, and it was super gratifying! She's a published scrapbooker, so it was doubly nice, sort of like showing an outfit you made to a fashion designer and receiving positive feedback. Made me very happy!
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Originally Posted by DiggityDawn
I have been struggling with this issue as well. We are about to send out our STDs. I am making magnets with vistaprint for the actual STD, and including a letter of explanation with our website and travel agents info. But I was thinking to also make postcards with vistaprint to include with the STD that will ask people to mark what they would like an invitation for and send back to us.
The choices to mark on the postcard include:
___Mexico wedding celebration
___ Denver wedding reception
___ Both events
___ Sorry, can't attend either
I am going to make it clear that it is not an RSVP for anything, just a heads up to let us know what they want an invitation for (We are actually having a reception in Atlanta before the trip that my FI's parents are hosting, and a Denver reception after that we are hosting, as well as the actual trip.) I know many of my family won't travel to Mexico for our ceremony, but they will ALL most likely go to our Denver reception.
My question to you ladies is this: Do you think my idea is tacky or pushy? I had an extremely negative response from the future in-laws that this is very pushy and postcards are tacky for an RSVP. They were so busy telling me everything wrong with this idea that I couldn't even explain that it is not an RSVP, just a postcard requesting to know which event people would want an invitation for... I just didn't want to bombard everyone with invitations to all these events that many might not even plan on attending.
Any thoughts?
I don't see anything tacky or pushy about it, but like Cherina, I'm considered a pushy person, so I might not be the best judge.
Honestly, all the opinions in the world about this being fine won't matter if your future in laws are offended by it. I would be weary that the rest of your fiance's extended family will feel similarly, since you've already gotten that reaction from some of them. It is up to you, of course, how much that bothers you. Some brides tiptoe, while others feel it's their wedding and do as they wish. Nothing wrong with either approach, as long as you're not bullied into doing things in a way you're not happy or comfortable with.
You may encounter two types of undesired responses: one were the person feels you are asking for an RSVP already, and one where the person understands what you are actually asking, but requests an invitation to everything without really considering which events they're likely to attend, simply because they want to be invited (not because they hope/plan to come). In the end, it might not be as helpful as you would like it to be.
I think there is something in the idea, though. I wouldn't want to send invitations out to be a huge group of people for several different events, either.
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Originally Posted by cherany
If my dress were simpler and this didn't look super expensive, I think I'd want this:
Sorry, I deleted the image by mistake. Worth re-posting for its uniqueness:
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I'm also thinking it might best to do something really fancy for our two chairs at the reception, then something simpler for the guests. I'm not crazy for the typical chair covers and want something more unique than just sashes.
Although I love, love, love those ruffles, I don't understand the instructions for how to make them and feel they are way beyond my skill level as a terrible seamstress and only somewhat crafty person. I've been looking for other ideas and like these:
They're all still in the maybe pile, mostly on account of me not feeling so sure I can pull off such projects, but this next idea is in the YES pile!
I'm going to attempt to make at least 2 of these. If they go well, I may make them for all the chairs, but I know they'll be time consuming, so I'm starting with bride chairs only. I'm scouring eBay now for silk petals.
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I'm also unsure as to whether we'll get any cards or not, but I love this idea and want to do it, regardless. I'm planning to buy in Mexico, so no worries about bringing it down.
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Originally Posted by DiggityDawn
Hi everyone!!!
I have been coming back to this site for over a week now. I just love all the info!! I can find anything on here and if not, just ask about it! I have a tentative date for 2014, but am still in the process of picking resorts. I am wondering if this process was so hard for other brides? I have researches so may resorts!! I think I have driven my travel agent crazy by now. lol
A couple that I am seriously considering are Dreams Tulum and Barcelo Maya Palace. Anyone have any thoughts?
Welcome & congratulations!
You're definitely not the only bride to struggle with the venue decision! It was the thing that took us the longest and was the most difficult. We made up our minds a few times over.
Since you have a couple of specific places in mind to compare, I would recommend looking through wedding albums from each place to give a truer idea of how a wedding looks at each one. There are so many details about the locations that you notice when you see a whole wedding somewhere.
There are several slideshows from both resorts here:
http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/a/del-sol-photography-slideshows-riviera-maya
As others have mentioned, making sure you are ok with the outside vendor policies of a resort you like is crucial. It should be one of the first things you inquire about when consider a venue, because it can often change your opinion about a place when they're inflexible. I know for me it became one of the biggest deciding factors.
Good luck choosing! You'll feel more at ease when you have that big decision out of the way.
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Originally Posted by crcombs
Congratulations to all! I am happy to know I am not the only one that is planning so far out. I just started looking at resorts so once that is decided we can send out our STD. I have been reading and seeing so many good things it's hard to decide. With the date being so far off I'm sure to change my mind so many times. I am not sure if it's too early to do a lot of things.
Chalonda
You will likely change your mind a few times before settling on the resort. I'm a 2013 bride, but I started planning in 2011, so I understand what it's like to start so far in advance. We thought we had decided on our venue at least three times before actually booking. We fell in love with one resort before learning we couldn't bring in our preferred photographer, for instance. If there's anything you're really set on, especially things that require outside vendors, make sure you check out the resort policies.
If you come across a vendor you really like (a wedding planner, photographer, make-up artist, etc.), you might want to ask them for opinions about which resorts they prefer to work at. They've likely seen them all and can give you insights from behind the curtain, so to speak.
Good luck to everyone planning & congratulations!
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Originally Posted by Cherina
The thing with STDs are that they are great for informing others but not great for informing you. It is not likely you get much accuracy in feed back if any from an STD. From what I am experiencing and reading you feedback will come a few days after you final RSVP date people tend to wait. I hate that
Having sent out STDs a year early, I can attest to the statement about them informing guests, but not you. We had a lot of people who were excited to get the STD and said they'd definitely be at the wedding, but by the time the actual invitations were going out, some had completely changed their minds. It happened the other way around, too, with some people unsure/leaning towards no when they got the STD, but now dead set on coming, although the yes to no switch was more common then a no to yes one.
I think if you send them with the knowledge that they are only a tool to give your guests a heads-up and not a pre-RSVP method, they are definitely worth sending. There have been times when I wished I waited till the 9 month mark, though. Giving people too long to make a decision can be just as troublesome as giving them too little time. People will procrastinate, then talk themselves out of things.
I've always felt most people who really, truly want to be there will make sure it happens, and the rest of the guests coming or not will depend on circumstances at the time. For that reason, it's really hard to estimate your guest count, one of the hardest things about planning a destination wedding.
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Originally Posted by meganator22
I basically am VERY indecisive and don't know where to go from here. I guess you can say I am overwhelmed as well. Our travel agent has narrowed it down to Now Sapphire (cancun), Dreams Riviera Cancun and Dreams Puerto Vallarta. Please help me to choose!
Welcome and congratulations! I felt overwhelmed in the beginning, too. One thing that really helped me decide was looking through photos from actual weddings at venues I was interested in. Resort websites and Trip Advisor are good for getting a feel of what your stay at a place will be like, but they're not always good for envisioning a wedding ceremony and reception there. When you see real wedding photos, you notice things you do and don't like about venues. I found it much more helpful than trying to guess how things might look. del Sol Photography has slideshows from two of the venues you're considering on the list they have here: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/a/del-sol-photography-slideshows-riviera-maya I remember checking out Dreams Cancun early on and loving this gorgeous ceremony location:
If you had in mind dinner on the beach, that's stunning there, too:
Now Sapphire, I never considered, but looking at it now, I don't think it's as breathtaking. I know they have more than one choice for ceremony area, but this one stands out to me as kind of cramped and less visually appealing, on account of the distracting text on that wall:
This is better, but as you can tell, not totally private:
Receptions at Now Sapphire:
Just my personal opinions, of course. I do think the weddings were all beautiful, and you may care about certain things that I don't or not care about things that I do. I would really recommend going through all the slideshows of the venues you're considering and comparing with a critical eye. I've had a few second thoughts about venue and reception locations and am not convinced I made the most stunning choice in either area, but I do feel happy with my choices. That's definitely the most important part, feeling content with your venue and not wishing you had chosen somewhere else. I find once you select a location, it helps to keep looking at it and to stop looking at other places, much like they say to do with the dress. The more you look at it, the more you should love it!Good luck choosing!
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If my dress were simpler and this didn't look super expensive, I think I'd want this:
I've had trouble deciding on flowers for many reasons. I'm much pickier about the flowers I like than I originally thought I would be (I guess it's one thing to like most flowers for everyday decor, another to like them for your wedding bouquet). I've looked at thousands of bouquets, but rarely see any I love, because they all seem to be a mix of flowers I like and flowers I don't like. I notice I prefer a lot of bouquets made with only one type of flower and nothing else added, but I think I would like bouquets with multiple types of flowers, if only I liked every flower used. I love spider mums, especially in green, and I like roses in a lot of colors. I wonder how something like this would look when done with real flowers, perhaps with green spider mums and hot pink roses?The more I look at it, the more I love it! It's just hard when it's fake and different than a real bouquet would be like. I image real spider mums will look a bit more spiked, and real roses might not be as open, so they'll look smoother and tighter, creating a lot more contrast between the flower types than the fake bouquet has. I prefer less contrast in the shapes, I think. But this is different and really pretty.
I wanted spider mums and dahlias for the bridesmaids, but dahlias turned out to be difficult to get (despite being the national flower and supposedly common - what's up with that?), so I'm trying to figure out what to do there, too. Maybe the spider mum/rose combo in different colors, but I have my fiancé to think of, too. Her bouquet could be something different, but I wouldn't want it so different that mine would stand out as strange, matching the bridesmaids when I'm a bride. I am probably obsessing over this in a way no one else will, but it's my nature. I am a perfectionist, for better or worse. -
Oh, I like the idea of blindfolds! We are also doing First Look photos.
I don't know where to find what you're looking for, but I'd love to hear from brides who did this - did the blindfold affect your hair and make-up? I think I'd be too afraid to mess things up!
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We asked our venue if they were allowed, thinking we would buy them and bring them down, but they offered them for less than $14/each, which I feel is the better way to go. I'm already worried about how much luggage we're going to have, so I'm happy to pack one less thing. They told us we need 3 people per lantern, and they do look pretty big. They sent photos, although we're going to have solid colors instead of the multi.
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Finished my invites this week & mailed out the long distance ones. We're hand delivering the local ones to save $. Really proud of the design:
http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/newestpost/84758
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http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/84758/diy-message-in-a-bottle-invitations-with-passport-boarding-pass-moreQuote:Originally Posted by KCDawn
Wow!!! These are gorgeous! SOOO professional looking. I love the luggage tag tucked inside the card design. Can't wait to see more!
Thank you so much! I just posted my invitations here:
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With just 22 invites going out (half of those hand delivered), we had the luxury of being able to spend more per person and decided to go with the Message In a Bottle idea. However, with all the super cute choices out there, I found myself wanting to incorporate other things, too. In the end, I came up with a way to use all my favorite ideas: luggage tag, message in a bottle, passport, boarding pass, & suitcase!
Our STDs were luggage tag magnets, which I shared here:
http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/79805/my-diy-save-the-dates-luggage-tag-magnet-design/
We gave those out a year in advance (couple months later for the ones I had to mail; I'm a procrastinator), with perhaps too long of a gap between them and the actual invitations, although I didn't intend it that way. I never dreamed the invitations would take as long as they did! The design was very time consuming, since I'm only comfortable in Photoshop (really the worst program for stuff like this, comparable to making a scrapbook from scratch with no templates). I just finished them this week and mailed out the long distance ones. The local ones, we're hand delivering asap.
Photographing the contents inside the bottle was difficult, but each bottle has blue sand, opalescent blue glass chips, pearly multi-colored shells, paper umbrella (various colors), and the invitation rolled up and tied with a ribbon sticking out of the cork. On the outside, I added the printed sticker, ribbon, and a charm.
Forgot to take my own pic, but found this image on the web; same charms we used (got them at Michael's).
Paper umbrellas from Party City, colorful shells from Joanne, glass chips from Michael's. (Blue sand also from Michael's, found beside a rainbow of colors on the kids' craft aisle, not where the shells, starfish, and natural sand colors were. We got our bottles from this site: http://www.bottlemeamessage.com/index.php - very pleased with them!)
Sticker designed in photoshop - let me know if you would like the .psd file, which can be pasted onto oval sticker templates (that's what we did).
I was lucky to find an image in Word for the actual invitations, since all the other graphic design aspects of this project were done the hard way by scouring the web for vector images (not easy - if anyone is looking for beach related vectors files, I now have several, many not shown here; let me know if you would like them, and I'll e-mail the files), then arranged into designs in Photoshop (super time consuming, can only recommend to complete control freaks/picky designers).
Box contains the bottle, card sleeve, and a passport booklet.
Inside the green sleeve is a Boarding Pass with event info & a Return Ticket for the RSVP card, which we put our address & a stamp on the back of, so people can mail it back like a postcard. The sleeve is just a piece of cardstock tri-folded and tied with a ribbon.
Again, I used Photoshop to design these one element at a time, rather than from a template, but I can share the .psd layered files if anyone else is creating their designs with Photoshop. Just let me know you want them, and I'll send.
The passport was created by cutting and folding a pink cover from cardstock and gluing in individual pages. I was absent minded and did not print on both sides of the pages, so I had to glue each page to the next, but that turned out to be a good thing, because it gave me a booklet to paste inside the pink cover as one piece. I didn't take any pictures of the process, but if I'm not making sense, feel free to ask questions.
I designed the passport to be the same size as an actual passport, although I forget the exact dimensions (easy to google).
Sticker designed in Photoshop; let me know if you'd like the layered .psd file (everything you see is a separate element, and I have vector files for the images, if anyone wants those).
Photoshop designs of each page:
Again, I have layered photoshop files of each page, if anyone wants them. I added a border before printing, but they're otherwise exactly as I printed them. This project taught me I really, really need to learn how to use some easier publishing programs! Maybe one day when I'm not so busy (like, after the wedding), I'll create some Word or Publisher files of these things to share here.
Contents all boxed up!
I meant them all to look the same, but I seriously underestimated how much ribbon I needed and had to make due with what the store had left when I ran out of pink mid-project. Ended up using green for our local friends (hand delivering those to save $) and pink for the long distance ones. Trying not to let it bother me! The ribbon is from Michael's and the boxes were purchased with our bottles (link provided under bottle pics). I made the ribbon handle stiffer by gluing cardstock to the underside of it. Not sure how well they're going to hold up in the mail, but fingers crossed they still look like suitcases when they arrive in friends' mailboxes!
The finished product ended up weighing 12-13 ounces and was just under $4 to mail within the US. One went to Canada for about $11 and two went further to the U.K. & Australia for nearly $17 each!
Even still, I only spent about $75 mailing, since we have so many to hand deliver, so I wasn't too bothered by the International ones costing a fortune.I'm super excited to give these to friends! Really proud of myself, but definitely glad to be done! I lost track of the number of hours I worked on them (weeks!) and also of the cost (surely more than I'd like to know, so I'm happy to remain ignorant about it), but I do think they were worth all the effort. I saved one to keep and will hopefully remember to bring it to Mexico to include in our pro photos.
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Quote:Originally Posted by Terah Henderson
HEY!! SO YOU PRINTED THE PHOTO ON A STICKER - & THEN STUCK THAT ONTO THE MAGNET SHEET - & THEN CUT AROUND THEM ALL?
Sorry, I guess I wasn't totally clear. I printed the tag design on magnet paper and cut that out (no sticker involved).
The sticker paper was for the design used on the card. I printed onto white sticker paper, but designed them with a yellow background that matched the yellow cards, since clear stickers would've resulted in altered colors when placed on the yellow card.
Hope that makes sense! Happy to answer more questions if it's not completely clear.
El Taj brides?
in Newbies!!
Posted
The venue is stunning, I completely agree. We were quite excited to book a non-inclusive property that would free us from the ever changing, often cramping rules that many resorts place on brides. Unfortunately, we had the experience of finding out about new rules at El Taj just 6 months before our date, some of them deal-breaking for us. Negotiating proved unsuccessful and led to us having to find a new venue, something that was super stressful, given the time frame. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
They now say:
- no ceremonies before 6:30 PM (not sure about October, but sunset is at 7:10 in May; cocktail hour portraits would be in the dark)
- minimum of 7 units booked to reserve the restaurant for a reception (makes no difference if you book 3-4 bedroom penthouses at close to a thousand dollars each per night, they still count as one unit each; we booked 2 penthouses with 7 rooms between them, but still needed 5 more bookings, they said)
There were other problems I feel brides should know about, as well, but we're in the awkward position of still having rooms booked there and needing our stay to go smoothly. I'm interested in seeing how we are treated in person after all that happened with our plans. They may be extra accommodating to make sure we enjoy our stay after the unpleasantness, or they may treat us like the guests they had problems with. I will write an in-depth review after we return from our trip.
Regarding the wedding planner there, the only thing I am comfortable saying before our trip is that she is not welcoming of DIY ideas and is probably used to taking over weddings and planning them for couples, instead of with couples. I will review my experience with her in more detail when I review the hotel.
I wish you luck in your planning. Congratulations on your engagement!