TheWolferts

Shellac I believe is a gel nail polish, so it doesnt dent or chip like a gel nail, but also doesnt add any length as it goes directly on your nail.http://www.cnd.com/Products/Color/shellac-intro.aspx I have used it before and in a light pink, but I didnt spend a week on a beach after I got the Shellac manicure last time.

I am afraid to chance a light color nail polish because I am afraid it will turn green/yellow, so unless you are getting a mani/pedi down there the day of your wedding, I would stick with a darker color (coral should be fine). I had always pictured myself having a fun pink on my toes, but I always thought that a lighter pink would look "classier" on my hands since they will be in so many photos. Then the other half of my brain is the "you are getting married in mexico! have fun with the color!" I know the groomsmen get their own suite for the day I believe from 10am-4pm. When I asked Valeria about a bridal suite, she made the point that most brides would rather use their own room since all of their stuff is already there and they dont have to tote anything to another room. We are staying in a casitas so Im totally okay with "just having" that space available to me for the wedding day, while he has to carry all of his stuff to another room.

I am getting married in 4 weeks and have been working with Christine Kennedy with DW.com and she is GREAT! She is very on top of things and has helped me get through some crazy times with family drama and with choosing a resort. I think it really depends on what coordinator you work with. When I first signed up with DW.com in March 2011, I was paired with a planner that I did not care for, so I asked to switch. Couldnt be happier now! It's like with any company, there are always going to be some employees that either dont align with your work ethic or you just dont get along with. Dont be nervous about working with DW.com, just make sure you are comfortable and like your TA.

What's everyone doing for a mani/pedi? My thought is to go to my fav salon the day before I leave for a little relaxation and get a mani/pedi using the Shellac gel. I have gotten it before and no chips or dents for 3 weeks! My concern is that I would like to do a light color on my hands, and I find that when I use a normal nail polish that is light in color, the sea water or chlorine tend to change it to a weird greeny-pink color and I am afraid the Shellac might do that too! I spoke with the EDR salon (through Lomas) and they said they do not offer the Shellac service, so if I went ahead and got a Shellac mani in the states, and then the water did in fact change the color to a "seasick green", then I wouldnt be able to get it removed down there and I would be stuck with gross colored nails. HELP!

One month to go until the Big Day! 25 days until we leave... I cant believe it's so close!!! <-- jumping for joy!

Several guests at my cousins wedding went on a jet ski/snorkel "tour", so they basically rented jet skis at Maroma Beach and had fun on those for a couple of hours as well as snorkeled. They said the snorkeling was great!

Anyone else having issues deciding on music for their ceremony or reception? My fiance just does not seem like he cares one way or another what our first dance is to, which kinda hurts my feelings I seem to be putting a lot more stock into the music, but I dont want to make any decisions on something I find so important without him... anyone else going through this?

I started doing insanity in late 2010 when I went to my cousins DW and she had done Insanity to get in great shape. After doing it consistently for about a year, I just got bored and felt that I had plateaued, so I joined the Gold's gym in January and have really noticed a big difference! I think my body had just gotten too used to Insanity that I was challenging myself any more. This past weekend I couldnt make it to the gym so I popped in an Insanity disc and boy am I sore! We head down to our wedding on May 6 and dont get married until May 12, so I actually ripped all off the insanity discs to my iPad, so I will be doing Insanity at the resort to maintain before the wedding! I am not great at denying myself food, especially when it's so tasty, so I will need to keep my workouts up while down there.

I love those parasols! I saw a picture of someone's beach wedding with pink ones and have always thought they were so cute! 23 things left to check off the list and 4 weeks to do it in... checking things off the list slowly but surely!

Programs ordered! Check that off the list!

My dress corsets up that back, do you think I should take the corsetting ribbon out before I give them the dress? Will the beading be safe? Sorry, I have literally had nightmares about my dress being destroyed or having to get married in a random dress because my dress is missing!

Has anyone that has already gotten married at EDR used their steaming service? I know my dress will get wrinkled getting it down there even if I carry it on in its garment bag. What is everyone else's plan to get their dress perfected on the big day? Valeria told me I would need to hand over my dress 48 hours before the big day. I am very nervous that their "laundry service" might mess up my dress!

We are getting our signature drink recipe printed on business cards for people to take home and recreate our signature beverage! We got our thank you cards and save teh dates through vistaprint as well.

ElDorado2012- Would you mind possibly keeping my name out of your conversation with Valeria? Perhaps you can just mention that you saw on a message board that someone else working with Lomas was quoted a flat fee and ask her in what scenario that would occur? I am all for everyone getting a fair price, I just dont want to deal with her coming to me saying that because I told you all about the quotes, she now has to bring my prices up, rather than bring everyone's prices down.

*Fingers crossed* that she doesnt "reneg" on my fee she quoted! The set up for our entire wedding day is $20 for ceremony, $20 for cocktail, $40 for reception and $150 set up fee for my rehearsal dinner... maybe because I am having them set up so much they are cutting me a break?

AllieH- I was shocked to hear a flat fee as well as I had seen that it would be about $5 per guest to set up at each event. When I asked her about that, she said that it was just their estimate, and that I will ony need to pay what she is quoting me. I will definitely be printing off those emails to take with, in case they try to change it up on me when we get down there! She did not try to feed me the"guests will get in the way of staff" line though and seemed fine with us possibly having a friend set up a few things.

Thanks! That was just an inspiration picture, but my grandmother is making something almost exactly the same, but with a white finger starfish instead of the brown starfish. The sand dollar place cards are actually really cheap to do! I ordered the sand dollars from http://www.favorsandflowers.com/sand-dollar-place-cards.htm for 20 sand dollars it was only $15. You can write on them with a sharpie pen and I bought ribbon at Michael's to put through the hole, so people could use them as ornaments if they wanted to take them home. You can buy a serving tray at TJ Maxx for super cheap and then all you have to do is dump in sand!

I think the free, semi private dinner included with the wedding package is only available at the Cocotal restaurant. We are using ours on Wednesday for our wedding party, their dates, and parents only, since we are inviting everyone to our rehearsal dinner on Friday. We wanted to do a welcome cocktail party that night for all the guests, but it wasnt in budget, so we are doing an impromptu gathering at the martini bar wednesday night at 8:30, but having our guests do a black and white theme, so everyone can distinguish who is with our wedding since it wont be a private function. Yay free cocktail party! The resort allows you to have 1 signature drink at a cocktail party, so we are having them make a blue signature drink (wedding colors) for our cocktail party in between the ceremony and reception. You just have to tell your coordinator well in advance so she can communicate with resort to find out if they have all the ingredients.

Our set up fee for our ceremony is $20 total and that includes them setting up our 8 chair decorations (for chairs that line the aisle), a program on each seat, and a fan on each seat. Chair decoration: For our cocktail hour the setup fee is $20 total and that includes them setting out our personalized napkins, we have blue glass beads that they will sprinkle in the center of the cocktail tables, and set out our signature drink menu/recipe cards. For our reception, the total fee is $40 and they are setting up our place cards, which are sand dollars in a sandbox (see picture below), menus we are bringing down for each place setting, and scented candles we are bringing for each table to disguise against any potential musty smell in the ballroom. We are having Lomas do our centerpieces so the set up for those is included in the cost. They are also taking our hanging corsages off the alter and putting them at our cake table at the reception for no cost. Sand dollar place cards: We are not covering the chairs for the ceremony because we both liked the feel of the white wooden chairs for an outdoor ceremony, but we are covering them at the reception. I am not a boy person, but we are having colored table cloths so that will give the table settings some color. We are using their sound system for the ceremony (which is included into our wedding package), but are using our own iPod player for the cocktail hour on the beach.We really wanted someone to be able to MC and change music based on how the party was going so we hired a DJ. I have only read amazing reviews about him so I cannot wait!

Jill- That is odd that she wont quote you any prices for set up fees and centerpieces! I would definitely switch! Maybe you could just let Natalia know that things arent really working out between you and ask if its possible to switch to a different coordinator? Ask for Valeria! She is very on top of things and helpful. I would get the set up fees in writing via email before you go down there. Valeria told me that she could add it to my spreadsheet now or I could take care of it down there. I am havign her add it now, so that I dont get down there and get quoted a more expensive price. I would say that you are looking at a $20-40 set up fee, based on the set up fees I was quoted. We had thought about having some guests do it for us, but for $20, I would rather everyone enjoy, rather than run around trying to get things set up and/or asking for direction from me

Hillsepher- Sorry to hear about your sisters not being able to make it. I think we have all had those heartaches where people you always thoought would be at your wedding, now cannot make it, especially when you have given them a lot of advanced notice. *hugs* As for the starfish, I have told my WC Valeria at Lomas that we are bringing down starfish for our rehearsal, reception, and ceremony and she never mentioned us not being able to bring them into Mexico, so I think we are in the clear. I was at EDR late September and the weather was great! Not too hot and when it did rain, it was for 20 minutes and then the sun came back out. It is hurricane season, so I guess it is possible to get some really bad weather, but think happy thoughts! As for your issues with Natalia... maybe you could switch WCs? We are working with Valeria and she is great! Very well organized and usually gets back to my emails within a couple of days.

We booked 22 rooms, but I dont believe it was part of our package to get the upgrade. I will have to ask when we check in! We booked using DestinationWeddings.com and are receiving the "Bride and Groom Stay "Free"" package, so that means we get a credit for the amount of the guest that stays the least amount of nights, i.e. even if 21 rooms of our guests stay in casitas for 7 nights, but we have one friend stay in a junior jacuzzi for 3 nights, we get the credit for them staying 3 nights... We have to stay in a casitas in order to get the free wedding package, but as of now, i think we are in a regular casitas. To be honest, I am not sure that we will use it that much during our wedding week since we are the only people in our party that are staying in a casitas so we will likely be meeting everyone at the beach and main pool. We are hoping that they dont stick us in a casitas that is rediculously far away, especially since our guests are staying on the other side of the resort as it is.

Yes an upgrade to a swim up would be lovely! *fingers crossed*

I dont know if Costco still has them, but here is a link to the same one we have. We have been using it for a couple of months now and its great! Super lightweight too! http://store.apple.com/us/product/TX391ZM/A My main shower and bachelorette party are this weekend! It is all starting to seem so real and close!

They too told us that our photographer/guest would need to stay a minimum of 3 nights for them to waive the fee, so we are in the clear as well.