cherany

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.