leigh2011

The wedding felt "weird" to me - not real. Nothing leading up to that ceremony was traditional in any way so it didn't feel like a wedding. I went to get my hair and makeup done in the morning then came home and went out to lunch with my fiance/husband (so weird to type that) and his whole family. So he definitely saw me before the ceremony. Then we all came back to our house and played cornhole. I was playing cornhole up to an hour before my ceremony - how could it feel real when you do that?! We then all drove to the park together and met up with my family, the officiant, and the photographer. I will say that during the ceremony we read vows to each other and Paul got to the last sentence before he got choked up and had to stop. It was very sweet. I am hoping the photographer will post our pictures from the ceremony in the next day or so and I will share a few with all of you. I know the day I wear the big white dress will be the day I feel married. Until then, we each have a sterling silver band that we are wearing on the ring finger of our right hands. The real wedding bands will go on the ring finger of the left hand.

Thanks ladies - I think it is a Southern thing to do bridal portraits ahead of the wedding day. Traditionally you are supposed to go to a pretty park and get a full length shot of you standing with a bouquet. You would then choose your favorite picture and have it blown up and framed. The framed pic would be displayed at the reception and then hung on the wall at the bride/groom's house or the parents of the bride's house. I wanted to have the photo session, and obviously not in a pretty park, but I don't know what I will do with the pictures yet. Here are a couple more pics...(the first one was photoshopped for colors)

So it is technically Sunday now and I am getting married today! It feels so odd because I feel the weight of the commitment that I am about to make but there isn't all of the hoopla of a big wedding. I left work on Friday with just a few people knowing what was going to happen and I will return on Monday as if nothing has changed. It is all so weird. On Thursday I took my bridal portraits with the photographer that is coming to Mexico with us... below is the teaser picture he sent me Thursday night:

I think that cover is fantastic! It is the perfect teaser picture.....

Because my sister is my only BM, I got her a bathing suit coverup and a pair of sandals along with a Coach clutch (that I found for ~$25 at a Coach outlet) and a Amazon gift card (she recently got a Kindle). The gifts aren't very wedding-ish but hopefully she will appreciate them. I am sure we all want to see each others pictures regardless of whether it is before or after our own weddings. I have an empty notebook that I am taking on my trip so I can take notes and write a detailed review.

How much are you thinking of tipping each of those people? In my resort thread brides have written that they have tipped the WC anywhere from $100-$200. Some of the brides feel it got them a few "extras" free while others say it didn't help them out at all. Are any of you November brides getting legally married before your DW? My fiance are getting married this Sunday...kinda freaky to think that in 4 days I will be his "wife"!

Unless things have changed, the per person price for the rehearsal dinner is $15 + tax & tip = ~$19/pp. Some brides have definitely just shown up to a restaurant after the rehearsal and worst case your group has to wait a while. I plan on just paying for the rehearsal dinner because I don't want the stress of having everyone waiting for an unknown period of time. Sadly, I would rather pay the money than have the stress.

We will be giving each set of parents a canvas print of a picture of their choice (we assume they will each choose a family picture of their side) that we will order once we get pics back from the photog. So we made cards describing the gift that we can give to our parents in Mexico. We will also make photo books for each set of parents.

Here is what I am planning for my dinner music: I've Got the World on a String Michael Buble All I Do is Dream of You Michael Buble Lovesong Adele Sea Breeze Tyrone Wells Come On Get Higher Matt Nathanson I Do Colbie Caillat I'm Yours Jason Mraz You Are The Best Thing Ray LaMontagne Just The Way You Are Bruno Mars Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic The Police Bless the Broken Road Rascal Flatts I Could Not Ask For More Edwin McCain Honey Bee Blake Shelton

22 days?! So exciting. I leave exaclty one month from today! My legal wedding is this coming Sunday...I will technically be a married woman in 7 days. Oh - and I have a bridal portrait session scheduled for this Thursday, so I will get to see the whole look (hair, makeup, and dress) for the first time.

I booked my appointments about 2 months out just because it was on my to do list and I am all about crossing things off of the list. However, you would want to book weeks/months out is in case there is another wedding on your day. As I have both stylists from 9am ~ 1pm and my wedding is at 4:30pm (we are doing picture before the ceremoney), if there is a wedding booked for early in the afternoon then they won't have available appointments. And mgl27 is right, tell them it is for a wedding and be very specific about how many appointments are needed for hair and/or makeup. Also, it is probably a good idea to mention which wedding package you are paying for if you have one where the bride's hair and makeup are included.

BDW Name Real Name Departing Wedding Date Location Resort Alysam4785 Alysa October 30th November 5th Mexico kelnces Kelly October 31st November 4th Mexico leigh2011 Leigh November 2nd November 5th Mexico Dreams Cancun JBean Janine November 5th November 10th Mexico JoanneIreland Joanne November 6th November 17th Mexico Barcelo Maya Palace Carrieb258 Carrie November 6th November 10th Mexico Pucca Eun-sil November 6th November 11th Mexico Danitha Danielle November 7th November 11th Playacar Palace 82turtles Sarah November 8th November 12th Mexico sxcT Taryn November 15th November 18th Mexico

Ladies - I don't know when this post will get through due to mediation, so hopefully it isn't too late for you. When I booked my appointments, I was told there are only 2 stylists at the salon at the time so you won't have too much selection. In order to get myself and 3 others for hair and makeup (my, MOH, MOB, and MOG) we are blocked out in the salon for both stylists for 3 hours!! They scheduled me with one stylist for the 3 hours and then the 3 other women for the other stylist for an hour each. I wasn't given stylist names.... Quote: Originally Posted by futuremrsroo It's getting close to time for me to book hair and makeup appts. Do any past brides have a recommendation on who to ask for? I used to see Christian's name on this board a lot, but someone said he no longer works there! Thanks in advance

I also used weddingwire.com for 2 different wedding websites: #1 for the DW and #2 for the AHR. I didn't try and other sites, but I can say that weddingwire is quite easy to use even though there aren't too many options. One of my friends tried the knot for her website but found it too complicated and ended up on weddingwire.

BWD Name Real Name Departing Wedding Date Location JoanneIreland Joanne November 6th November 17th Mexico Alysam4785 Alysa October 30th November 5th Mexico leigh2011 Leigh November 2nd November 5th Mexico Carrieb258 Carrie November 6th November 10th Mexico Pucca Eun-sil November 6th November 11th Mexico sxcT Taryn November 15th November 18th Mexico JBean Janine November 5th November 10th Mexico! Hey Ladies - I have been around the forum for a long time but am just now posting. I will be leaving for Mexico in just under a month. But more imminent for me is my legal wedding a week from Sunday!