TheWolferts

Relax! I used tons of real, dried out starfish and did not have any problem bringing them into Mexico. If the starfish were alive (which they are obviously not), that would be the issue, but since they are properly dried out, you shouldnt have any trouble at all. Mexico is mainly worried about there being live organisms on the starfish.

I originally had it posted as a regular discussion on here asking people to send me a DM if interested, but I didnt get any response. So i posted it on http://www.preownedweddingdresses.com/ and it sold within 10 days. There is a $25 fee one time fee, but many other sites charge $10 per month that it is posted and it looks like I sold my dress abnormally quickly. There were people with my dress that have been trying to sell it for over 6 months, so I went in to it thinking the $25 would be cheaper. The site was great and really easy to use. I would definitely recommend it!

So I just sold and shipped out my wedding dress Im having a lot of mixed emotions right now. Obviously I am never going to wear it again and it would just take up space in my closet, but part of me cant help but being a little bit sad. I ended up selling it for $850, which will be nice to have back so we can put it in our future house savings account and the girl that purchased it said it was her dream dress and there was no way she could get it in time before her wedding, so that makes me feel a little better... but *sigh*

We used DJ Doremixx as well, though he isnt on the approved vendors list, he is still cheaper than their approved DJs even with the $800 outside vendor fee. I have to say, I was a little disappointed with how our DJ services went. Perhaps it was because I went in to it expecting a lot after reading all the reviews, but our onsite WC even mentioned that he was not at all helpful with helping with the flow and schedule of the reception. We specifically asked for Sinatra/Louis Armstrong type music during the meal and I believe they played maybe 2 songs in that genre, then random music that included Justin Beiber and radio pop music came on... ??? Our best man had to go over and ask him to play what we requested and he told the best man that he did play what we requested. I provided him with the spreadsheet of requested songs and do not plays (however a do not play "I like big butts" was played... UGH!) but it just seemed like I kept having to ask him to play things or to do specific things that were clearly outlined in the spreadsheet as to what times we wanted to do certain things. I put the schedule in his hands and the WCs hands and I was bombarded all night with questions about when we wanted to do things. It got to be quite annoying and guests even noticed that I seemed to have to run the whole reception. I think it really depends on what DJ you get from the company. We requested Ivan, the owner, thinking he would be the best, but I have noticed that several people who had great experiences had another DJ from teh same company. MsBrit, what specific DJ did you have?

We had our guests book their air fare seperatly because we wanted people to be able to use their frequent flier miles (which quite a few people did use), we knew that airfare quotes werent even available a year out from our wedding date, and flights do tend to go down 3 months in advance. I dont think any of our guests booked their plane tickets more than 4 months in advance. I wouldnt worry too much about getting your hotel and your airfare quotes seperatly. Did you happen to look at how much flights cost to Montego Bay this July? That could give you and your guests an idea of how much they should budget for flights next year. We went on our HM late June 2012 to Iberostar and I think we paid around $500 per ticket from Washington, DC. We bought them about 6 months out and didnt see the price go down between the time we booked and the time we traveled.

I got mine on Amazon.com for $10 ( I am an Amazon Prime member, so I dont have to pay for shipping). It might be easier to just order one rather than find one used and drive to pick it up. Plus, you can get them in a variety of colors! I got mine in one of our wedding colors and I believe it was the same price as the plain bag. Obviously not necessary, but it was kinda cute! http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dapparel&field-keywords=wedding+dress+garment+bag&rh=n%3A1036592%2Ck%3Awedding+dress+garment+bag

We did a ceremony program mainly to give credit for the music we were using and to our wedding party and parents. We also included some language on the back about people that couldnt make the trip or family members that had passed away. I think it was a nice touch and I like having the keepsake. Our ceremony was also not religious and we did not do a unity candle. We put them in a small basket with the fans for guests to pick up before being seated. The original plan was to have the programs laying on the seat with the fan weighing them down, but it was too windy for that. The below images are a draft of our programs. I got the "Thank you" and the "On this day of happinesss..." moved to the back of the program for the final draft.

Yes, the "shells" on the cupcakes were made of white and raspberry chocolate and the "sand" was actually brown sugar. The pillars were from michael's and we filled them with actual sand and shells. The cupcakes were vanilla and chocolate, but their cutting cake I think was Funfetti! HAHA I guess my mom's husband also wanted a wedding pie so they had a pie on hand as well LOL.

Did anyone see this horrible TTD article? http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/331603 I guess its a good reminder to be careful when doing your TTD in the water.

I worked with Lomas and was not happy with their DJ "list". I asked for specific names as I wanted to do my own research and they couldnt give me any specifics and instead directed me to this list of fabricated reviews. If you read through them, you will run across the exact same wording on "reviews" but with different couple names. Complete crap! We went with DJ Doremixx and even with paying the outside vendor fee of $800, he was still cheaper than the Lomas approved vendors which were around $2,100.

I think the exact name of our package was "Symbolic Ceremony, but it wasnt any different than the package for "Vow Rewewals". I think they interchange the names but it habe "both" listed for couples that have been married for 10 years and are doing renewing their vows. Even if you dont say you may not get fancy with your vows at the courthouse, to make it legal (in the States anyways), a justice of the peace has to conduct a "ceremony" and you do say something similar to vows. So in a sense, you will be renewing you vows in Mexico. it really is all how YOU look at it.

You travel agent is right. If you get legally married in Ireland, you then cannot do a legal ceremony in Mexico.If you are worried about getting the legal aspect taken care of before you are surrounded by family and friends in Mexico, then you could wait until you get back to Ireland to get the paperwork done or you could do the legal in Mexico. My husband and I didnt want to bother with the blood tests either so we went down to the courthouse, signed the paperwork and had a justice of the peace do the a quick "ceremony". Because we didnt do the whole walk down the isle, white dress, surrounded by friends and all of our family, it did not feel at all like our wedding and we still use our wedding date in Mexico as our anniversary day. I was worried too that by getting married in the States before we went down to Mexico would make Mexico feel less special, but surrounded by all of our friends and family and having the white dress and reception are what to us, makes it a wedding. To tell you the truth, I dont even remember what day our marriage license says we "got married"on that's how much of an issue it isnt!

We worked with DW.com and our first agent was terrible, but then I requested that we get switched to my TA my cousin used on her wedding, Christine Kennedy. She was GREAT! If you do go with DW.com, try to request her. It sucks that DW.com gets its reputation damaged by a few bad TAs, but I suspect that every agency has a couple of duds.

I dont remember false eyelashes being present in the salon, but I also wasnt looking for them. Perhaps you can email or call EDR to ask if they have them. I went to the tanning bed (I know i hate them too, but I knew i needed some sessions in the tanning bed before being subjected to the Mexico sun!) prior to the wedding and then used Banana Boat SPF 30. After being outside for 4 days before the wedding, I started using spf 70, not because I was burning, but because I was getting so tan and didnt want to look too tan for the wedding LOL. I know they actually prefer you to use this super expensive sunscreen that doesnt have specific chemicals in it that can ruin the wildlife in the water??? I didnt hear any of this at the hotel but was told when we went scuba diving that we couldnt use our sunscreen... I had to sneak putting it on in the bathroom because I was not about to spend the day on a boat and not wear sunscreen before our wedding! Sorry fishes!!! I heard that the sunscreen at the resort in teh gift shop is so expensive mainly because its the kind of sunscreen without the chemicals.

Here's My Maggie! (Sottero Midgley Adorae dress) I LOVED this dress!! Kinda sad I wont get to wear it again! Here is me in it!

I think they are always there because we had them at our rehearsal dinner at Toucanes.

I just finished changing my name on all my ids, passport, SS card, and account/credit cards. I didnt use any kit or package deal and thought it was very easy to do on my own! Other than a trip to the DMV, it really is NOT that bad to change your name. I followed the steps outlined here: http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/planning-a-wedding/articles/name-change-101.aspx?MsdVisit=1