KCDawn

That is soo cute!! I love the dogs!

You're welcome! Like Lola, we're doing the party later (I think ours is 8:30) and letting everyone do dinner on their own. We're just having the bar, no food. The idea of bringing the ipod station with us is so we don't have to rent the sound system. I'm working on how to connect a microphone to it so it can be used for the ceremony. We are having the mexican trio during the cocktail hour, but by using our own system for the bonfire party, ceremony, and reception it will save us a good bit of money.

Hi Karin! Congratulations! I can't speak for experience since my wedding is still coming up, but I can tell you what we're going with. Our weddings are about the same size. We have about 35 guests coming. Reception - We're doing the Gazebo Terrace. This seems to be the most popular and you are getting married in a popular month so I would reccomend making this decision soon or someone else may get it first. Music - We decided to do the music ourselves rather than hire a DJ. It seems like both are popular options and it's really a personal preference. We decided it wasn't worth the expense to us. After much research we bought The Big Jambox, a portable bluetooth speaker, for $299. We're taking that with us and making playlists on an iPod. That was a cheaper option than renting the sound system and we get to keep it afterwards. Rehearsal Dinner - We're doing the beach bonfire Thursday night. Our wedding is Saturday. We decided to do it as a welcome party rather than a rehearsal dinner the night before so everyone got a chance to mingle and get to know each other. A lot of our guests are arriving Thurs so that's the night that made sense for us. Wedding Cake - I think we're doing the cake that comes with the package. You get desert as part of your reception dinner with the Ultimate Package so there is an extra option there, but I'm sure you could work with Cecilia to do something other than cake if you wanted to. You may not get much credit for the cake but they will charge you $5 per person for the extra 20 people to add on to the cake so that cost may offset if you get rid of the cake. Hope that helps! Welcome to the forum!!

Only a few weeks to go! Congrats! We're getting close too and it's so hard to believe how fast it's all flown by. I'm planning on going to Desires after the reception too. Who knows what will happen when the time actually comes, but I'm planning on changing into a short dress at that point. I'm worried about my dress getting trashed too, plus I figure by that point, it'll just be more comfortable to be in something lighter and shorter.

Thanks! I can't take too much credit. I took most of it from another bride. Just tweaked some of the wording and added the details for Secrets. I'm glad they turned out ok though!

I stretched the Resort page into two. It was the center of the book and having two pages gave more room for pictures and info about the resort. I also added a page at the end with a short note from us with THANK YOU in big letters at the top. I used that to mention we were having an AHR for those who couldn't join us in Mexico and that those invitations would be coming later. Good luck with your Passports! They were a lot more work than I realized but they were such a big hit and I was really happy I did them.

As promised, here are scans of my pre-travel brochure. I took most of it from another bride on this site. I ordered them through Vista Print. The quality is good. I did them a little early because my Groupon was expiring but I'm happy with them! Hope it helps! Pre-travel Brochure Page 1 (Casey).pdf Pre-travel Brochure Page 2 (Casey).pdf

I'm doing one. I had them printed as Brochures on Vista Print. It's based on some other ones I've seen on this site. I'll scan and post it tonight after I get home.

What is the size of the cellophane bags?

Have a great time! Can't wait to hear all about it!

I'm so glad to hear everything went well!! Can't wait to see pictures!

Here is the one I got. It's really beautiful in person. http://www.etsy.com/listing/74782599/crystal-pale-ivory-gwyneth-gardenia?

I initially was going to wear a real flower but the more I read on here the more I worried that it would wilt. I ordered a flower from Butterfly Enchantress on Etsy. It just got here today!

They turned out great! Were they hard to do? I've been thinking of trying them. Now I might have to!

That's awesome Cri! Thank you so much! I really like the double sash idea. I'm going to order a few samples and play around with some colors.

My mom and future MIL both got their dresses at JC Penney. I was amazed because my Mom never shops there. I think even she couldn't believe it, but they really have some decent dresses for a great price. She loves her dress and was excited she only spent $50. I even got a great maxi dress to wear on the trip for $40! I didn't see the exact dress on their site but it's similar to some of the dresses on this link. It's their American Living brand and was made of a stretchy comfortable fabric and a vibrant turquoise/blue color. http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom/women/categories/dresses/cat.jump?id=cat100210008&deptId=dept20000013&cmJCP_T=G1&cmJCP_C=D3#navState-:catId-cat100210008:subcatId-:subcatZone-false:N-100260280 :Ns-:Nao-0:ps-24:pn-1:Ntt-:Nf-:Ntk-:action-guided navigation

Thanks for the tip on the chair sashes! I was thinking of ditching the chair covers too. I like it better without for some reason.

We're doing our pictures before the ceremony so we don't miss the cocktail hour. FI would be way to fidgety during pictures if he knew he was missing the fun! haha I guess some of your guests could see you but they should be starting to get ready for the wedding so I'm hoping most of them will be in their rooms. We also want to do pictures in the abandoned mansion which is off the resort so that will help too. I'm not sure exactly how long we're supposed to allow for that.

Thanks for confirming that is what you had for your wedding too. That was beautiful!

I'll take the purple brads if they're available!

I figured it was something that would have to be addressed closer to the trip. We have about the same number of rooms booked so far. We didn't do the group booking either. Hopefully they'll do something since we're bringing so many people there. I'm jealous you got the honeymoon suite! That will be amazing!! We did splurge and get the Preferred Club Swimout. Now that we're only 3 months away, I'm starting to get pretty excited!

First off, you are dealing with the Caribbean and the culture is very different from the U.S. Everything is much more relaxed and less urgent in the Caribbean areas. So you have to keep in mind that it may take a while to get things answered and plan accordingly. I emailed Valeria recently to change our ceremony venue from the gazebo to the beach and it took almost two weeks to hear back from her, which from what I've read on this site is typical. When she did answer, everything was handled, including the other 3 questions I had asked and I had a new contract. So while we may get frustrated that things aren't being handled right away, it does seem to get handled. I have noticed little translation issues where she didn't quite answer my question, so I just rephrase a little simpler and ask again. It is Mexico, English is not their first language. I think it's a great idea that you are now using a TA to get everything set up. We have a TA and she helped us get the date locked in and the initial contract. She also faciliated getting the locations reserved. It did take a few weeks to get everything finalized and I understand your frustration because I was a little nervous until our date was confirmed. It is hard planning a wedding from afar but in the end they do this all the time and after everything I've read (and I've read a lot), they do a great job putting everything together. So, just have a little patience and grab a glass of wine! Your wedding will be beautiful!

I love both of those songs! My FI and I are big Jason Mraz fans, so we'll definitely be using those songs somewhere.

Of course! Just give me your email address. You can PM it if you want. Beachbride had her reception at the Barracuda Terrace so she can tell you all about that location. Secrets Maroma has a Facebook page with a good bit of pictures on it. Some are a little repetitive but I believe there are pictures of the Gazebo set up on there. It's also a really great place to get resort related questions answered.