MyTye2B

I just wanted to share our Save-the-Dates which I got in the mail yesterday and sent out today. I got them sent out this morning. I really loved working with Simone from DesignKandy - her communication all the way through was great even when I kept adding more to my order lol. They are beautiful! I also ordered a personalized return address stamp with an airplane on it - I loved the stamp! The ink pad was a bit off the colour I wanted but still works just great.

Hi Jolene! I can absolutely send you that list of Spanish phrases. I am just at work right now (doing what I'm not supposed to be doing as you can tell, haha) and I have them saved on my home computer so if it's ok I will send them tomorrow morning (I'm heading out straight from here today.) If you can PM me your actual email address I'll be able to deal with the formatting a bit better - I'll send the Word file. I'm happy you already have so many people booked! Your wedding is after mine so I feel behind lol!! That's exciting! I'll keep my eyes open for a decent priced luggage tag for you. My save-the-dates were shaped like little luggage tags! I did finally get my Save-the-Dates in the mail from Simone at DesignKandy on Etsy. She was soooo amazing to work with! Great communication and they're beautiful and for 80 of them it was less than $150. I'll try to attach a picture now - let me know if you can't see them. They are in the mail today. Well guess I should get back at it! I'll send you those phrases soon. Lauren

Hi Crestena! Congratulations on your wedding! I have also vacationed at Grand Palladium before (and it was for a wedding!) so I whole-heartedly agree with you that it is gorgeous! Also omg you're right - Vanessa is so fantastic! After reading a lot about the difficult communications with other places I feel so blessed to have her looking after us! I did a lot in the first month after deciding on the resort but now I've stopped for a while because I feel like I can't do anything until we get a confirmed guest count. It sounds like we have a similar timeline. My ceremony is at 4pm also. Are you getting married on the beach? I was kind of wondering what to do with the 3 hours between the ceremony and the reception with the guests. How you set up a cocktail party for inbetween? Did it cost extra and how long is the party for? Where are you having it? I really like the idea of having the Spanish Trio playing your first dance right there after the ceremony!! I think that would be perfect and I'm pretty sure you get the champagne right there at that time anyway. It would just be a nice thing for your guests to see and be able to watch while they're enjoying their champagne. Also I think like ours your reception only goes until 11 so you'd have a little more time for partying then. If I remember correctly I loved everything about the wedding I went to at Grand Palladium but the dinner service was slllloooooow! It was at Portofino restaurant and it was 5 years ago so things may have changed, but I still think you might as well have the Trio at the beach. It would kind of be like a separate cocktail (champagne and music) party that you'd be able to enjoy. And you'd still have over 2 hours for pictures. Who are you using as your photographer? We're in a bit of a bind right now. My future sister-in-law was supposed to do ours but she is pregnant and due a month before the wedding so won't be able to handle that. So I really wanted my cousin to do it (she and her husband work in a team and are amazing) but she is pregnant too and due 2 weeks before the wedding! Super happy for them but unfortunately they won't even be able to come to Mexico. I'm having trouble accepting it's going to be upwards of 2 grand to hire someone, lol. Can I ask where your reception is being held and what meal you chose? We are going with La Laguna and I believe the meal choice is #10 (although I really wanted #1 haha.) How many guests do you have coming? At this time I have NO idea what we'll end up with lol. Well good luck with your last minute planning! May is just around the corner! I can't wait to hear how it went when you're back. Lauren

Hi Kristie! The Beach Palace sounds absolutely gorgeous! I'm really jealous now haha. The 360 view sounds incredible. We'll need lots of pictures when you get back. I think I can help you with the pretravel package spanish phrases. I don't actually know where you can buy the books from, but another bride on here had a whole list of them in a welcome book that she posted. I don't remember the thread now but I DID save the phrases because I thought it was such a cute idea. You could use the phrases by printing out your own books to include. There were about 3 pages of them which I'll PM to you if you'd like. I did get home to dress shop with my mom!! I was able to find the same dress as I tried on here (Essence of Australia D1266) but in Windsor I was actually allowed to touch, take pictures, pick my own choices - soooo much better! I bought it with my mom there! It should be in by May, which is when I plan to go back anyway so I can do the alterations then. It kills me to have to order a 16 because of my giant hips and butt lol, when my bust is a measly 8/10. But it will be gorgeous once it's on I'm sure. I'll PM you that stuff and talk to you soon! Hope you had a good new year. Lauren

Hi Claire! You're just a month ahead of me!! Sorry for my late response. Over the holidays I was home in Ontario. While I was there I was able to shop with my mom and I found the same dress I had loved out here and I bought it!! It is by Essence of Australia - D1266. It's kind of a 2 in 1 dress - you can take off the lace a-line overlay and wear it as a mermaid style. I really like the lace though. I was so happy that they had it in Windsor where I was able to show my mom and get her opinion and just have her there when I made my decision. Now that Christmas is over have you had a chance to look at dresses? Do you have family and friends nearby who will be able to go with you? My girls and I have decided on the Bari Jay bridesmaid dresses in turquoise. Only my sister has ordered hers so far though. All of my friends are onto trying for their 2nd babies but the process is hit or miss so I think they're holding out in hopes that they may need a bigger size! How did you decide on the resort and time for your ceremony? How long will you be staying at the resort? I think a 4pm ceremony will be so nice - hopefully not as hot as if it were earlier in the day. Did you decide to go with one of the Karen Bussen packages? I did ask Vanessa again (I'll say it again she is absolutely wonderful with her communications!) and she said that IF they become available by the time of our wedding we can certainly have it. I have decided now that I am ok with what we've chosen and that it might be too much work to change things up last minute. As for the chairs, I ordered some through an outside vendor - Weddings by Cancun? Saku is the woman I've been dealing with and she is also wonderful. At this time I don't know how many guests are coming so we are able to adjust the number closer to the date. I also ordered the crystal backdrop and some bamboo sticks with flowers for the aisle. There is no outside vendor fee at Grand Palladium which is amazing! I have ordered a few other things as decorations. I'm lucky to have a friend who lives in the US and lets me send things to her house because the fee to ship things to Canada is crazy! I ordered turquoise Japanese lanterns which I think I'll have instead of the fabric and lights from the ceiling (cheaper) and some fans to put on the chairs for the guests at the ceremony. The fans are a sand colour. I also bought some bubbles since I asked about sparklers but they are very expensive. The bubbles I bought with a coupon at Michael's for a very small amount. I'm just tying some turquoise ribbon on them to make them prettier. My future sister-in-law will be our photographer. Honestly I have not seen much of her work and I'd prefer to hire someone but I don't want to cause a family dispute already, haha! I'm sure our pictures will turn out alright. We will be doing our engagement pictures with her in a couple of weeks. It's really nice that she has offered to take the pictures for us. Since she is staying at the resort we do not have to pay a fee for her. The $85 fee for your photographer seems very reasonable - especially if you're able to get it for just the $25! That would be great! Who is your photographer? I still haven't received the save the dates. They were shipped on December 16th (my fault because I had to order extra so it put her behind) and with the holidays and shipping to Canada through customs it seems to be taking a loooong time! Now that the holidays are ending I hope they're here soon. In the meantime I've been working on a few things for my Out of Town Bags (which are turning out to be very expensive haha) and I am so happy I've decided NOT to make my own invitations. The girls on this site are so crafty and creative but my door hangers for the OOT bags have been sooo stressful and disasterous to make I can just imagine what I would have done to my invitations had I tried haha. Have you chosen to register anywhere for a bridal shower? My next issue is that my fiance and I registered at a store out here (Bed Bath and Beyond) where we had awesome service from Gillian who helped us - she was so knowledgeable - and the things were reasonable as opposed to some other places we looked (I can't bring myself to register for $600 cookware I'd much prefer $150 10 piece set haha) but there is no Bed Bath and Beyond in Windsor where my family and friends all live which is probably where I'll have my shower. I don't think my fiances family will have a shower for me out here. They are very casual people who don't really do things according to the rules. Do you think it's tacky if my sister adds a note to the shower invitations saying that if guests choose to order online they can have the gifts shipped to my house or I can pick up in the store? It's just that I can't really take a 4 hour flight with 15 suitcases full of shower gifts. I just wonder how people will feel about ordering online. A lot of older people aren't too into that! Well anyway, I hope you have a very happy new year and I look forward to hearing more of your planning soon. Lauren

I can't wait! It's going to be beautiful! Thanks again.

Hi Mairelys! I have heard of WedStudio on 17th! I've never been there but whenever I drive by I want to go in. Guess I have a reason to now, haha!! It's such a pain to park down there but I'll have to drag someone along with me. Haha - I think it will be like Pinterest in a store - so many good ideas! What kind of stuff did you go though at your appointment? I'm just wondering what they help you out with. Thanks for the advice! Any ideas on where you'll be holding your wedding yet? Lauren

Thank you so much for all of the suggestions so far, ladies. I'm leaning towards the floating memorial candle with her name on it by the guestbook with some flowers. Also I would love to do the sky lantern if my resort will allow them. I will have to find out. Thanks again for your input.

Hi Ladies, I have kind of a different how to honour someone question. Almost 7 years ago my daughter passed away when she was 17 days old. My friends and family were (and still are) fantastic and there for me through everything. My best friend actually had a plaque set up at her own wedding saying that in lieu of favours and in honour of Avery they had made donations to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto where Avery spent her life. I certainly don't want to turn the day into a sad or bad emotion kind of feeling day but I do credit my daughter and her life as short as it was for helping me to become the person I am today. The experience changed me hugely for the better and I feel that she should be honoured for that. My fiance never knew her, but he has been supportive in everyway and considers Avery family now too. He would like us to include Avery in some way in our day. My question is, how can I do it in a meaningful way that is apparent, but that does not take over the day or freak out some who maybe don't understand since they weren't around during that time in my life (like my fiance's family?) I have ordered a memorial charm for my bouquet, but I'd like to do something more. Any ideas would be welcome. Thanks! Lauren

Hi Jolene, Sorry I took so long I've been SO sick the last few days. I think I need to sleep more and think about the wedding less, haha. I had to laugh at your experience at the Blackfoot place. I just kept picturing this giant gown collecting the sand haha!! I will try Jessica's. I am a sucker for good guest experience stories and maybe I'll find something. I still keep thinking back to that original one though, but I'm holding off until my mom can get out here. I haven't gone anywhere else since that last not so good experience. Our guest list just keeps growing - my mom keeps remembering people who invited us to their wedding or their children's wedding so we should invite them as well. I honestly don't think they'll all come (at least I sure as heck hope not!) but I do think it will end up a little larger than we had initialy planned. We are going to have a couple of very small (backyard BBQ type) receptions in both Alberta and Ontario in the month after the wedding. Of course I imagine people will keep saying they'll come etc. until close to the due date. I am going to tell people we need definite numbers by 2 months prior but I don't think the resort actually needs it until a bit closer. The TA that we're using is wonderful so far. She's in Windsor where I'm from and I have a good history with her. She got group rates through WestJet which can change after 10 days until we book. The price is crazy good right now so hopefully we'll at least get the families booked at that good price. If others hold off for now that's ok too, they can be renegotiated. I figure no one will book until they get the save the dates obviously and since I had to call and order more (lol!) they will still be another week until I receive them. My fiance and I booked our flights through WestJet and our room separately. We're all squared up though - now it is just all the rest of the guests! I kind of like how your TA did things and that sounds typical of most TA's. I don't like not being able to give people an exact number but I do trust that she'll give them the best deal she can get. Well I will be back and forth but I have to go to Vancouver for work for the week next week and then hopefully getting home for Christmas so not sure how much time I'll have to dedicate to all of my plans until after Christmas. I am so thankful for this site and the people who are willing to share their information. Thanks for letting me talk this all through with you!

Thank you, Saku. I sent you one back as well. The bamboo sticks, crystal back drop and chairs are perfect! I appreciate your quick response! Lauren

Hi I just had a look around your website and there are some really great things on there! Now I have even more thoughts going on, lol. I sent an email asking a few questions, but I am also wondering if you rent tiffany chairs? I need to rent about 40 of them for my August 19th, 2013 wedding in Riviera Maya. I'm looking forward to hearing back from you guys! Thanks so much! Lauren

Thanks for sharing these, Matt! I looked at the link with all of the rest of the pictures and they're gorgeous. This set up is exactly what I'd pictured - clean, simple, romantic, breezy. Thanks for the inspiration.

Hi Jolene, Totally get what you're saying about the 'if you can't come just tell us' thing. We're not quite at that point yet, but I can see it happening, and I have heard that a lot from other brides. I guess I'll need to make peace with the fact that it will probably happen, lol. Very smart to add the 10 at the end! I have not been back to Beautiful Bride, but I think honestly I fell in love with that dress. I'm going to try to get home for Christmas (no confirmed tickets and flying standby is a gamble but I'll make it happen) so I can look with my mom out in Ontario. If I am not able to make it home my mom has said she'll fly out here the first week in January so we can look. Your day of dress shopping with everyone sounds wonderful. I went with a bunch of us and my cousin when she was engaged and it was an awesome day. I forget where we were but I remember the woman being kind of a b&^%* saying that there were too many cooks in the kitchen (and maybe there were haha) but my cousin appreciated all of the help. I'm like that too though, the more the merrier. I'm appreciative of opinions, but I always end up trusting myself and my gut. I will have to check out Jessica's Bridal. Is that on MacLeod? I think I went in there before to try on some bridesmaid dresses and if it's the place I am thinking of they were definitely nice. I think working in a bridal shop would be a lot of fun! Except for the Bridezilla's of course, lol! I did go to Bridal Centre on Monday but I hated everything I tried on. Totally different experience than at Beautiful Bride. It wasn't the people - they were great - I just didn't like anything. Another thing I didn't like was that they are the ones who pull the dresses for you. I like to be able to go look around and choose what I'm attracted to. I didn't like any of the things she was pulling, and I kept asking for lace, but she said there was only one and it wasn't in my price range - but then on the way out I passed a whole rack of lace dresses and they were all but one within my limit! The problem was that I am hippy and the size 12's I was trying were just fitting, not really and a lot of the lace dresses were size 8 or 10 so I left kind of feeling like they didn't want me to try them on since they wouldn't fit. That's a whole other rant altogether! Lucky people who are a size 0 haha. I love my size (for the most part) but it's frustrating not to get to try certain styles because the samples are too small. As for flights/resorts and prices, I did hear back from our travel agent today and she got group rates back for our dates. They were great prices! Between $1240 and $1375 depending on whether leaving from YYC or YYZ for a week! That included transfers to and from the resort so I was really impressed. I was facilitating today at work so I didn't access my email until after hours, but I do have some questions about how that all works. She mentioned needing names and deposits to secure the group rates but didn't mention a time frame, so I've emailed back to see if we would have to do that all at once. Since we haven't even sent out the Save the Dates yet haha, I certainly can't put down a deposit for a bunch of people who I can't guarantee are coming. If we don't get the group rates and people book individually I think it will end up being $100 more per person. But I'll have to wait and see what she says. I think you're smart to take a mini break! I think now that I've decided on the major thing - the resort and that's confirmed - a lot can wait. I heard back from Vanessa again and I am so happy that many of the requests I've asked about don't cost extra and the things that do won't be too much more. They seem very accommodating. But I think I'll also take a mini break after figuring out how these group rates work. Let's enjoy the holidays haha. You have plenty of time and like everyone says, I think things will fall together. I'm type-A about certain things and really chill about others (I don't care at all about flowers, but the chairs I'm worried about lol) so when it comes time for those details I'll stress but for now I'll relax.

Hi Sabrina, Wow you're going to have quite the group!! I looked at the Barcelo Maya resorts and it was on the top of my list! We did actually just secure a date of August 19th, 2013 at Grand Palladium White Sand! I am so excited!! Like you, one of the main reasons that we decided on the Mayan Riviera was the direct flight option. My fiance's family is all out west and mine is in Ontario, so to be fair to the western folks we wanted somewhere that we wouldn't waste too much time getting to!. I have sort of started setting up a website through The Knot, but I don't know very many details yet so I haven't distributed it to my friends and family. I will definitely check out Wedding Wire as well. I debated on a Travel Agent but now I do think we're going to go with one - one who a friend has used for years and years and I've been in contact with her this past week and she's really great with communication. She is based out of LaSalle, Ontario but it doesn't seem to be a problem at all with phone and email communication. I tried on dresses at Beautiful Bride, that's the only one I've been to so far. They were really nice with me. I have an appointment at The Bridal Centre tomorrow. What is the 'wedding passport' that you're mentioning? I did see a dress that I fell in love with at Beautiful Bride but I want to give myself a bit of time to make absolutely sure before I spend that kind of money, haha! My next step is save the dates. I thought I'd do them myself but I've realized I'm just not crafty enough, nor do I have enough time. I will probably end up ordering some boarding pass save the dates but even choosing things like colours and paper material has me going nuts haha!! Keep me posted on how you're doing. Thanks for all of the advice! I really appreciate it.

Thanks Claire! I was given the palladiumaddicts.net address from my coworker who is a former bride. It really does have a ton of info! I am going with a turquoise/light aqua kind of colour with sand/vintage kind of accents. It's great to hear that Vanessa is consistently responsive. She did send me all of the menu options which I think I'll have a real time trying to decide on since they all sound delicious! Did she mention anything to you about vegetarian options or children's meals? I'm not actually sure I have any vegetarians in my guest list, but just in case. In that same email she forwarded all of the things you probably got too - locations, bouquets, etc. I asked her a whole lot of questions in the response email too but so far I haven't heard back but it's the weekend so I didn't expect to. I chose the beach Pergola location and a 4pm ceremony. I saw that the sun sets around 7pm so I figured we could get some good pictures in just after the ceremony before dinner. I wanted to know if they offer tiffany or wooden chairs as opposed to the chairs with the white covers and bows. I have an aversion to white chair covers for some reason even though most people love them! I saw in the Karen Bussen packages that they were possible but Vanessa said that they're not actually offering those packages now. I'm also not a huge flower fan (I know, weird!) so I asked if I could bring some crystal strands to hang from the pergola like this: For the reception location we haven't decided yet since we're not sure how many people we're expecting. I am thinking 40-50 which is too many for Portofino (which is soooo beautiful I actually went to a dinner there during that wedding that was about 5 years ago) and the good reviews you've heard are correct! I think we'll have to have El Gran Azul or La Laguna but both of those look nice too. I asked how much for the lights that were in the linen hanging from the ceiling because I thought it looked really pretty. I think we're going to choose the mariachi band.Do you know if there is an outside vendor fee for things? Here is the dress that I've fallen in love with: http://www.essensedesigns.com/dress-D1266 and the bridesmaids dresses I'm looking at, in turquoise: http://www.bestbridalprices.com/bari-jay-bridesmaid-dresses-style-434-p-90671.html. The next thing I'm going to try to start thinking about is save the dates. I'm running on a short time frame, so although I've always wanted to make them myself I may just buy some haha. Keep me posted on how you're doing!

Hi Lynda, Thanks for writing! I didn't realize you guys were from out here. Your work is wonderful. I love seeing it on the different threads, just a little taste of the fun! Jolene, I think ivory for everyone would look so great! I've never seen it before it would be really different! You've got the hardest things done, the dress and the resort. I went looking at dresses today for the first time ever. It was actually easier than I thought because they were all so nice! The hard part was that they cost more than the ring probably! I am going to go to a few more places and bring some friends with me (I went alone today) but honestly I think I found one today. It was just so perfect. So we'll see! As for all of the little details, you have lots of time. It just seems like there's so much, eh? I start to make a list of things I'll have to do and it just keeps growing and growing haha. We'll get it all done eventually though. Try not to stress too much about the people who haven't put down their deposits yet (I say because I haven't got there yet) because that's the part you can't control. They'll do it - some people are just better under pressure haha. It's just hard I know to plan anything without knowing exact numbers. I think we'll be in a similar boat because of the airline thing - all of our friends will just assume they can hop on a flight last minute. It could be dangerous, but it all works out! Lauren

Hi Claire, It all worked out! Vanessa (who I must say is AWESOME with her email communication - not at all what I was expecting from so far away) had a date in August and that worked for us. I put down a deposit yesterday for August 19th, 2013! So it looks like I'll be a month after you! She says it will take about a week before it's confirmed, but she did send all of the information over. So impressed with how much she sent me right away. I sure have a lot of questions, about ceremony decor, receptions, food options, etc. lol... I sent it all back to her so we'll see if she responds. I bet the weekends will be very busy, so maybe I'll hear from her next week. I'm just so happy we were able to get this resort! I even went today and tried on my very first ever wedding dress. It was easier than I thought. Those things are just designed to make you look great, lol! Good luck with your planning - I hope to see you here and we can bounce some ideas off of each other! How is everything going for you so far? Lauren

Thank you so much! After spending a whole day doing what I wasn't supposed to be doing (lol) at work yesterday I thought we had decided on Grand Palladium White Sand as a resort. I went to a wedding there (at the Kantennah?) about 5 years ago and had a great time! Also a colleague was married there 2 years ago and spoke very highly of it. The personal kudos mean a lot to me especially since we're putting our trust for the most special day and a whole lot of money into the resort. I emailed and unfortunately the didn't have the day we were looking for but then Vanessa sent us another date which worked and now we're just waiting for our deposit to be approved and may have secured August 19th, 2013!! I am thrilled! I love the bigger resorts, my fiance likes smaller, but he's so very easy going that he will like anything. I was really quite impressed with Vanessa from Grand Palladium and how quick and efficient she was with emails. Not at all what I was expecting and it was fantastic! Thank you so much for all of your suggestions and of course for this amazing website which I have been reading up on for months. I am just thrilled to get started with all of the plans!! Hi Jolene, Thanks for writing back! My fiance's sister was married in Cuba and they loved it. They had a very intimate wedding which was awesome and the pictures were beautiful. What resort are you getting married at? Have you started looking for a dress yet? I am having a hard time wanting to do that with my mom in Ontario but I know especially with only 8 months to plan I need to start looking soon! I actually have my first appointment tomorrow. So much to look at! We haven't decided if we're going to go with a travel agent yet or not. My family is in Windsor so it's very cheap for them to fly out of Detroit rather than Toronto. My fiance and I both work for WestJet so we are lucky to be able to secure a great deal on flights and vacation packages. I still need to contact our groups department to see what we can do about a block of rooms but so early in the process it's difficult to estimate how many will come. Surprisingly the package price for our guests for August 17th-24th is $1375 from Toronto and $1475 from Calgary! Lol - it's not often we have a better price than Sunwing so I am hoping the deposit goes through quickly so that we can jump on it! Good luck with your planning! I hope we can bounce ideas off of each other along the way! Lauren

Well I just heard back from Vanessa and unfortunately they don't have ANY of the dates we were looking at available. Also she said that there's an error on the website and they don't currently offer ANY of the Karen Bussen packages. So we're back to square one. Our search continues. I kind of had my heart set on Grand Palladium so hopefully we can make something work.

I'm going to be July or August. We're just waiting to confirm a date but we're thinking July 27th-August 3rd, 2013 at Grand Palladium White Sands in Mexico. Congratulations and good luck to all of you!