claire0701

Bre, your engagement photos are lovley I decided against having out hair and make up done at the spa. I'm pretty fussy and even at home prefer to do these things myself so they can be 'just the way I want' haha. I do think the prices are very steep though. It's a good idea to look into the outside vendors being recommended as well, it would be nice to have hair and make up done in your room rather than having to go down to the spa and possibly bumping into guests en route or in there. Carlota, I'm so pleased to hear Thomas is making a recovery and will be fighting for for the wedding! You seem to be really well planned for the big day, the next few weeks will fly in believe me! We leave for Mexico tomorrow and the wedding is in a week and 2 days. I have been pack, pack, packing for the last few days. I am struggling with our luggage allowance which is only 20kg each. I have managed to get my sisters to carry some of the OOT bags for me so that has helped but I am still a little over the weight. Peter is a little under so hopefully that will be okay. We weren't able to pre book our seats because the others in our group didn't want to and it had to be everyone on the booking. We're just going to get to the airport super early tomorrow morning and I'm sure we will be fine. I did not hear back from Vanessa until several days after I first emailed her and she said she STILL did not know for sure if our paperwork was in place. I had a minor breakdown yesterday when I called to see if I could carry a copy of the paperwork from our Diocese and they said 'no'. I have emailed Vanessa again this morning with the address the paperwork was sent to and I guess I just need to leave it be and hope everything will work out okay over the next few days. Good question about the fingerprint book as well Carlota, I would agree with Lauren and say appoint someone the job of taking it back to the room after La Laguna, on their way to Las Rocas. Maybe your maid of honour? I think we are going to keep ours at home for our AHR because of our luggage restrictions and we don't want it getting all crumpled. All of our guests will be at the AHR as well so we will catch them all there a few weeks after we return. I have just realised our AHR is the same day as you get married Carlota - we will raise a glass to you Lauren, I'm glad to hear you had a fun weekend in Vegas, and it's also so exciting to have your dress fitting as well. I haven't actually tried mine on since I picked it up last week because all I have done this last week is eat eat eat! I have been trying to catch up with everyone before we leave so have been out for dinner lots! I'm not worrying about it though, I'm just going to go easy on the carbs when we arrive and cross my fingers - everything will be fine. Well girls, I don't think I'll be back on here until after the wedding when come back to give you all a review. I hope I manage to do that before Lauren and Carlota leave, but if I don't - GOOD LUCK girls! Enjoy every minute and I'm sure you will look amazing. I can't wait to see your photos when you get back xxxx

Our ceremony time is 4-5pm so we have time for some photots afterwards before the sun starts to go down and then dinner is at 6:30. For us, this suits perfectly because there won't be several hours between wedding and dinner, but we will still have time to get photos while our guests have a few drinks. We sent out 'save the dates' about 18months in advance saying that we planned to book in about 6 months (we couldn't book sooner because flights weren't out till then) and we would be booking to travel in July. It gave people the chance to have a good think about it so that when we booked almost everyone had already decided if they were coming or not. It was all quite easy because everyone had so much notice. Have a chat with your family and friends they will tell you what would be helpful for them as well. I hope that helps a little.

Congratulations Carlota!! I tried to win too but was not so lucky. I'm please to see you won though Bre, yes I made the bags myself, I drew on outline first with black felt tipped pen then painted with fabric paints before sewing the embelishments on (the glue does not always hold so well). The hangers were pretty easy although it id take me two attempts. I would suggest printing out each name first so you have a guideline for the wire. I also used pliers for the really tight bends, The most difficult bit was joining the capital initial letter to the rest of the name. Because I chose a cursive font the other letters already had the joins in place. I would definitely give it a try though, just buy a fairly flexible wire (I bought florists wire) so it is easy to bend but will still hold the shape. Like Liana, we have also went for cufflinks as gifts for the groomsmen. I guess the other alternative is a hipflask which you could have engraved with a message and the date? Thanks for your reassurances Carlota, I have e-mailed again just now but you are probably right that Vanessa is waiting to hear back from someone else. I'm sure all will be fine. I must go to bed now, it's almost 1am - I started making a 'hliday calendar' to give everyone and got totally carried away!

Lauren, your bridesmaids dresses are beautiful, I love the colour and style. Carlota, It’s lovely that you could replace the lost earring from your grandma to wear on your special day. They are beautiful. I’m also glad to hear Thomas is starting to feel better as well. Liana, your shoes are awesome and very unique, I’m sure they photos will be fab! Lauren, it’s great to hear we can decide on going ahead if there is a little rain as well. Thanks for sharing that info with us. I think I should be okay because we are in the Church though. As far as decoration goes, I am planning on bringing some Chinese lanterns; I wasn’t sure how many to bring but think I’ll go with Laurens suggestion of around 10. On the tables I will have only menus for each guest and a place card with the name of each guest. I will also bring lanterns for Las Rocas, Vanessa said we can bring our own and they will attach to the lights. If we hire them there it is $5 each when I can buy 3 here for £3! I have sparklers for when we arrive (also an idea stolen from pintrest) and that’s about it decoration-wise for me. I’m going to let the resort be all my decoration ïŠ Lauren, I hope you have a fantastic time in Vegas, it sounds great! Carlota, the message in a bottle idea is great, I did those for my Save the date’s and everyone loved them so much. I would say remember to tie some string round the paper and leave it hanging out of the bottle so guests can pull the paper out instead of tipping the bottle upside down and getting sand everywhere. Alyn, welcome to the forum. I’m sorry to hear you are feeling a little frustrated. All I can say is if you read all the reviews from previous brides they all say the same thing – you should not worry at all beforehand. The wedding coordinators focus on the weddings happening in the near future and will give your wedding the same attention when the times comes round. I would try to push for confirmation of the restaurant and location though as you don’t want to miss out on the exact places you wish for. I'm feeling a little nervous now as we have not had confirmation from Vanessa that the Church in RM has received our paperwork from the church here. We cannot get married without it. I emailed her yesterday morning to ask but haven't heard back yet. Hopefully I will hear soon. I don't have very long to organise the paperwork if it has not been received. Well girls, keep your fingers crossed for me

Sorry for all the typos, I'm on my phone

Oh forgot to say, lauren, I got my bridesmaids rings to wear on the day and packaged them up with a card saying 'thanks for helping me tie the knot' I I also bought then each a bracelet and friendship ceramic heart with a nice poem on which we will Gove then during the speeches. I don't think it is too much to ask for them to pay the deposit to you, that's a lot of money and you have many other expenses now so um sure they will be understanding.

Thank you so much for your reply and reassurances Chrestena, I think I'll take the risk and then follow your 'rinse rinse rinse' regime That is such a sweet story about your hubby rescuing the dog, and Carlota your picture is wevery cute as well. Here is our 'baby' Carlotta I'm glad your dad called Bout the wine and you don't need to worry about it now , try to relax and enjoy the last bits of planning. Lauren, I'm so glad you liked your bridesmaids dressrs and I also agree, when they don't fit it is an added excitement to see them all completed. I had my bridesmaids dresses made, and my dress and flowergirls dress totally customised so it was like a new dress every time I went to the dressmakers - very exciting!

My finished bridesmaids bags, and below the hangers for their dresses (the glue is not quite dry one one for the date)

Hi girls, Carlota, I love the facebook page and think it’s a great idea for us to keep in touch and share ideas. I can’t wait to see all you girls photos after the big day and they are so much easier to upload to facebook. I think I will also bury some knives in the ground as good luck for the weather as well J Lauren and Carlota, thank you for your kind words about the bags for my bridesmaids, they are all finished now. Lauren, I’m glad your bridesmaids dresses are starting to arrive as well Lauren, are you happy with them? I collected my dress, and my bridesmaids and flower girls dresses yesterday and right now they are at my mum’s waiting for the big day! Today I kept myself busy by making personalised hangers for the maids dresses. Carlota, like Liana, I am just going to have the ‘house wine’ and although it is not the best, people can order their preferred drinks as most would prefer to drinks spirits over wine anyway. I wouldn’t stress too much about it, I’m sure it will all work out just fine. Chrestena, it’s lovely to hear from you again and to see some more of your beautiful photographs. It’s a lovely idea to walk the wedding walk again before you leave and collect some sand to keep at home, I will definitely try to remember to do that as well. I really like the starfish for your rings, it’s really pretty. It’s a shame to hear the hostess was not very helpful to you on your flight. I am preparing myself that I may need to smile sweetly and plead with them to allow me to take up some space on the plane, but whatever happens I won’t let it ruin the big day. Can I also ask, how did your dress come out after being in the sea? I was planning on wearing mine for our TTD shoot but after collecting it I am worried it will get ruined. We are having a party when we get home and I really want to wear it again seeing as it is so pretty! What do you girls all think? I have a beautiful gold dress which I could wear as an alternative for the TTD (although I don’t really want that to get trashed either!) Carlota, I would go for an ivory or white ribbon for your starfish, I think that would look lovely. Liana, I have also decided to use fans for my bridesmaids instead of bouquests, although I was thinking about having a floral corsage made for them and either attaching it to the fans, or onto their wrists. Your fan is beautiful, I hadn’t considered getting a fan for me but you are right they will look amazing in the photos, especially the contrast of the black! Carlota, I’m sorry to hear Thomas Is not feeling well, I hope he gets better soon. It’s very sweet how dogs can tell when something is wrong and they just stick right by your side. I’d be lost without my doggy Benny. He’s a Lhasa Apso and the laziest dog you will ever meet! What kind of dog do you have? I leave in a week and 2 days ... countdown time

LadyLuck, Congratulations and thank you for the review, it's so comforting to hear positive feedback, especially when we are all in our final countdowns. Lauren, I laughed so much when you apologised for the no paragraphs and then it did it again, that's like something I would do! Yes I am getting quite excited now, I have just been keeping myself busy with my DIY projects, at the moment I am working on personalised jute bags for my bridesmaids. I have done most of the painting now but have still to go and buy all the ribbon and embellishments to make them super pretty! Here is a photo of them just now, of course I will post some more when they are finished. Your tan party sounds great, and so does your trip to Vegas, what a fab way to relax before the big day! We have a week in Mexico before our wedding so I will be sunbathing at every opportunity! I'm sorry to hear about the flooding and rain in your city. This week I have been receiving lots of orders from eBay - the ink pads for our fingerprint tree, lace fans for my bridesmaids (I am going to get them corsage flowers made and attach to the fans instead of a bouquet each), my travel bag for my wedding dress and gift bags for our OOT bags and gifts for wedding party. I also found out since we are having Catholic ceremony, we do not need to have the blood tests done - yey! We are just waiting for Vanessa to receive all of our paperwork from the Church here and I am a bit nervous about that seeing as it is out of our control and we just need to hope the post delivers everything safely. Carlota, I love your luggage tags and it was a great idea to have the travel agent give them out with the tickets. Your guests will love that. I have also requested to join your facebook page, I'm sure I will love it!

Carlota - wow, your dress is beautiful! It is very floaty and I can just picture you in the gorgeous sun and sand - you will look amazing! Your sandals are very nice too and I agree with Lauren, your glass beads will be dazzling in the sunshine. Lauren your Bout's are gorgeous, very fitting for the destination wedding and it means you can keep them as a memento as well because they won't wilt and die like the traditional flowers. I also really like your ring bearer box, it's so cute! Becci, we are also having boutineers made up here so we could have the flowers we wanted. They look great and we are happy that the guys can all wear them again at our big party when we get home. I'm also taking my dress, bridesmaids and ushers dresses and shoes as hand luggage, hopefully it will help if there's a wee upgrade available We are having 3 hours as Las Rocas and it was an extra $5 per hour after the first 2 hours, so $10 per person for 3 hours. Hope that helps. Not long for me to go now ladies, we leave for Mexico two weeks on Wednesday, although I have barely bought one holiday item, I think we have all the wedding details under control. I'm going to spend a day or two next week getting all my holiday clothes and toiletries etc. I am going to collect my dress and my bridesmaids dresses this weekend, oh and my flowergirl, I got a plain white dress and had my dress maker customise it to fit in with the bridesmaids dresses -it is so cute! I had sequins added on the skirt so it is all puffy and sparkly, and a massive sparkly bow at the back. I will post photos as soon as I can I've been busy tonight working on the OOT bags, placecards for the tables and menus. I also bought sparklers for all the guests for the evening and have made little card holders that say 'let love shine', I'm sure you will have seen them on here, they are so cute. I've been working on our fingerprint guestbook too, peter is a great drawer so he is going to draw the actual tree, but I have ordered the ink pads in our wedding colours (grey and yellow) and made a little sign to put beside it that says 'Leaf your print and sign your name' again, I'm sure you will have seen similar ideas on here. I'm looking forward to bringing that home to our party and having all our guests here 'sign' it as well. I think it will be a lovely item to frame and hang on the wall. Well ladies, I am exhausted and have a busy day at work tomorrow (printing more wedding things!) so will log off and try and get a decent nights sleep

Welcome iamlizzygrace, and congratulations on booking your big day! I'm sure you will find lots of great info on here, but if there is anything you are concerned about - just ask ... everyone is super helpful!

Hi Normas09, although I wouldn't say I'm a total newbie, would totally love a copy of the fact sheet if you wouldn't mind sending it to me? My e-mail is [email protected] ... thank you!

Hi Carlota, I will definitely ask the hostess on the plane to help as far as possible. Our flight is also direct but last year my friend lots their suitcase because a lady picked up the wrong one at the airport so I will not be letting my dress out of sight. Same for shoes, bridesmaids clothes and all jewellery - we will have a LOT of carry on! We are at GP 10-24th July, but don't arrive back in the UK until 25th July and I am then surprising hubby with a trip to Paris the next day so won't be able to review until August probably - by then you will be relaxing and preparing for your big day! I went for heels but got my maids gorgeous sandals. They are like flip-flops but with a tiny little wedge, and lots of sparkles! I loved then so much I bought a pair for myself to wear on holiday too. I got them from Kurt Geiger ... They are very comfy but also sparkly

Hi everyone and welcome to the forum for all the new ladies! Haven't checked in for a while - work has been so hectic! Time is ticking away now though, less than 4 weeks to leave - I can't wait! W2e have our last meeting with our priest tomorrow and hopefully we will get the Nihil Obstat shortly after. I'm a bit anxious about that but fingers crossed all will go smoothly Jen, yes it will be hot hot hot! I have made programme fans for each guest with tissues attached 'tears of joy, tears of laughter, tears of happy ever after' and was also thinking of getting my bridesmaids lace fans instead of a bouquet seeing as they will be so warm. I was going to maybe have a corsage made of each so they still have fresh flowers, they could attach to their wrist or right onto the fan is possible. Aak2fast4u, we're getting married just about a week before you are you having a private white party or are you going to the hotel one which is open to all guests? I think we're going to invite all our guests to join us at the night which will be open to all guests (Vanessa said usually a Monday night). The fire dancers sound amazing! Had my final fitting for my dress today, how are you girls all travelling with your dress? I don't want to put it in the hold in case it gets lost in transit so am thinking a carry on case which can go in the overhead compartment. My airline said they cant guarantee a hanging space if I were to bring it in the dress bag which is a bit dissapointing

Becci, I agree with Carlota that you should look into some outside photographers first. I can't recall if I've heard good or bad things about the resort photographer, but we decided from the off that we would hire a specialised wedding photographer so didn't really look into the resort photographer much. The ones Carlota recommended all have great websites which give lots of examples of work. We were in touch with all of those photographers before settling on Gonzalo Nunez, but found they were all really good at replying to emails and answering my many questions. Good luck!

Chrestena, oh my you're video is wonderful! You look amazing and totally relaxed and happy. What a gorgeous ceremony as well, the minister was great - I love his accent! Your vows were really lovely as well. The music choices were just perfect and really complimented the video beautifully. We've also been thinking of using Somewhere over the Rainbow, but possibly as our first dance. Still trying to whittle that one down. I loved your face in the video when you put the ring on Michael's finger, very sweet! I also love, love, loved your bangle, it is just beautiful! I am currently trying to find a statement necklace but finding it rather difficult. I also loved the clips at the end of everyone enjoying the first dance and getting the photos taken. my favourite is the part where your bridesmaids are all getting ready for the photo and you're splashing away in the ocean - just perfect. We actually, like you, had said very quickly a videographer was something we would do without, but after watching your video and reading your review we are re-considering now, Carlota, thanks for the info on the videographer you found as well, we will have a look into both

Chrestena, First of all congratulations! You were a truly stunning bride. I am so pleased to hear everything was perfect for you and you had such a lovely time. Thank you for your review and photos, I have so enjoyed reading and looking at it all, although I did tear up by the time I got through all the photos with your lovely comments describing each one. You were beautiful and so were your bridal party, the photos took my breath away. I'm definitely taking a leaf from your book and staying calm and collected and hopefully will have just as special a day as you did. Thanks again, Claire xx