kathryn83

Yes, your dress is your carry-on, which means you can take one additional item to put under your seat. I was first on the plane and the flight attendants offered to put my dress in the first class closet. There was only one other bride on the plane and her dress fit in the closet as well, but I don't think either of ours were especially poufy. If you're flying from a large city, the gate agents likely will not care that you're getting married or allow you special treatment as they see brides daily. It may be worth considering an upgrade, depending on the airline, so that you can get to an overhead bin before they're full. Most people will try to accommodate you though.

I wanted to share a picture from my hair trial. I used my GI freebie for the salon package and it was great. I did have to pay a bit extra as I brought clip-in extensions, but it was more than worth it. My stylist was Nayibe and she's been doing hair for 22 years. For anyone concerned about having their hair done on site, do not stress! She also did a fantastic job with my makeup. I did have to tone down eyebrows and lips a bit during the trial, but speaks more to my comfort with makeup than her skills. Here is the inspiration from Pinterest: And my finished trial. I asked for it to be higher off the neck because I was afraid of being too hot. The version from the day of was identical, if not better, than the trial.

Yes, my mom packed a cardboard moving box with decorations and welcome bag items. She was traveling with my father so they were able to use the box as his one free checked "bag" and there was no extra charge as it was within normal suitcase weight guidelines. If they both had had suitcases the charge to bring the box on the plane would've been $40 or $50 -- whatever the airline charged for a second bag. Copies of receipts should be fine. I do think the box caused them to be pulled aside for searching -- she did not have the chance to push the button beforehand. (In Cancun you push a button -- if its green you walk through, if it turns red you get searched.) But even with that, because we were not taking any of those items home she didn't have to worry about having an extra suitcase to deal with on the return.

The resort is small enough that you'll probably run into everyone often. We spent most of our time at the swim up bar in front of Zavas restaurant. This connects to the premium pool, which made things easy as most of us had access to that. It is not adults only but I don't think I saw more than a handful of kids. It's also good for non-swimmers as they can sit at the upper bar and look at the ocean. Families tended to stick to the pool by building 4 and Zocalo. I never went in that or the adults only pool -- though we did opt for that bar most evenings. We received free wi-fi as bride and groom and had no complaints. Not super fast but adequate. The signal was available in most of the restaurants and when at the premium section of the beach (close enough to the building).

You are allowed $300 worth of goods per person. Even though it was clear my box was for a wedding, my parents were thoroughly searched and had to present receipts. (They had them). I was also searched (separate arrival) -- including my dress. Just lucky I guess. We assembled the bags in the room because it was easier to pack things flat. You'll find out your meeting time when you check-in. Mine was scheduled during my hair trial -- I assumed it would've been communicated -- but they allowed me to move the meeting. Plan for it to take 45 minutes to an hour. My original time was 10 a.m., rescheduled time was 4 p.m.

Thanks! They really "made" our theme I think. We did purchase a pinata and our tables through the resort to embrace the fiesta theme. Extra lighting was not an issue. I did bring the strands of christmas lights from home -- six strands total -- purchased for $5 during after xmas sales. We donated them to the resort after, but who knows where they ended up.

We did an iPod playlist with no DJ -- and no rental equipment! If you have an iPod Touch or iPhone, look into WeddingDJ ($1.99). This is what we used for all of our music. I labored for hours over the playlists - ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner and reception but it really turned out perfectly. We bought a travel Bose for $300 and took it with us rather than spending $300 to rent their sound system. The resort will provide a sound system for music for your ceremony. They were able to plug our iPhone into the system and run the app for us. Then they took our dock to the cocktail hour space, hooked up the phone and started our next playlist. Same for moving from cocktail to reception venue. I had the remote in my pocket but only had to adjust volume once and pause for speeches. We had a small group (20) so the Bose without extra speakers was plenty loud enough for the reception. Just another option!

Hi Ashley, I did not source the banners through the hotel. I used an Etsy vendor and got one batch of customized -- our names and wedding date -- and one batch of "generic" wedding theme. She offers both options in white. Here is her store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Vintagebabydoll I did ask the resort if they had a vendor for papel picado but it is very seasonal in that region and they could not provide.

Hi ladies. We did it and it's all over now! Everything was lovely and the resort really exceeded our expectations. I'll be back to share more details later, but here's a photo! Feel free to ask anything specific in the interim -- we just returned on Saturday so it's fresh in my mind.

Can anyone give a suggestion on how much cash we should bring? We'll be there 10 days and are doing two excusions plus I'll probably go do a market shopping day. My concern is the unknown setup fee. Does anyone have a preference for PDC or Cancun for shopping? Also, I'm being told now that there's no longer a resort shuttle to PDC or Cancun in the afternoons. Can anyone confirm this? The quotes I'm getting for a private van are insanity.

Music is on the to-do list, I just can't seem to sit down and finish it. My clothing is set and I have my fittings & alterations the week of March 18. Our gift bags are basically complete, I'll be going through all of that and figuring out last shopping needs the week of March 18, too. I've made my final payment to the travel agent, but need to finalize things with the resort WC still. Decorations are either ordered or being taken care of on the property. I tried to find a cake topper yesterday but struck out. I have no idea what will/should happen during the ceremony. I have his wedding ring, but not one for me. Don't know if we're doing that -- probably should figure that out!

I feel out of sorts and can't figure out what I should be doing. Brides one to three months out, what are you working on right now?

We're either going to get a rooming list and deliver ourselves or meet in the lobby at arrival as most of our guests are arriving a day after us. We also don't have many guests so it shouldn't be an all-day affair.

Thanks for the in-depth recap. Congratulations!!!