chiquita8302

Congrats on your dress decision- I"m sure it will be perfect! So, I went to the links you posted (thank you for that!!) and couldn't help but share with you girls this comment from one of the terrible reviews.... "The outdoor shower was just weird. I had assumed it was to wash the sand off of you before entering the suite but it was on the opposite side of the room from the patio so you trampled sand and water through the suite when coming in. Plus the shower head sprays water straight out and not down, it's impossible to shower or wash off out there." I just laughed so hard at all the negative comments this person had, and I"m so glad that I'm not marrying this person- way to kill the romance! I love that they can't think of anything better to do with the shower than to clean off the sand!! LOL

Mrendic- This got me back to thinking about centerpieces. I'm not willing to spend a bunch on centerpieces with big flowers or whatever- it's just not something that's important to me. But, I do want the tables to look pretty. You did a great job adding in pink to this... So aside from the maraca, it looks like you have candy or something as favors? then what is it that you have the pink bow on? Otherwise, the main centerpice you have what? I think I see starfsih, and some smaller candles around the table number? If you don't mind chatting centerpieces with me, i'd love to know more about yours... it looks like it was affordable and easy enough to carry down whatever you may have brought.... THANK YOU! -Chris

Welcome, Sansan!! And Oneill... I've had so much dress drama, too, but that is awful. I would say that I would probably lean towards getting a new one if it was that bad. On the other hand, I've read a lot of post-wedding reviews on here, and most of the girls said that not spending more on an extra-nice dress if you find a cheaper one that is fine was the one piece of advice they had. I've considered getting another dress due to my drama, and because I don't feel like it's "the one", but I have decided to just make it work and that it'll be fine and won't matter once we're down there. The only other things I can think of.... if there is a seam, like empire or something like that, could you add in a strip of chiffon or something to that effect to lengthen it? or adding a strip of satin at the top behind the top layer of chiffon, or something like that to add some length? Argh, what a terrible thing to deal with, though. Good luck, and I"m sure you'll make the right decision! Jill!!! What a stressful thing to go through.... I'm so glad you've turned it into a positive thing and that you're all set to enjoy your wedding! You're also making me think i should get the trip insurance LOL.... did the rest of you girls get it? Argh. Seems so stingy but I've just been telling myself it's our wedding, all these people are coming for us, we HAVE to be there no matter what. I think it's like $140 pp, so almost 300 more for the trip. ugh. -Chris

MsT- I totally agree with Allie- but I feel better that we've all been in teh same boat. Everyone who encourages you as you decide to do this that then backs out- ARGH! We've had a lot of those issues and it's so frustrating. I did our invitations in a non-traditional manner... I sent them out probably 2 months ago? (kind of in lieu of a STD). And the RSVP is due Nov 15th (as is final payment) and the wedding is March 1. This way I gave everyone all the info up front, they had plenty of time to plan, and now once I get the RSVP's in November I'll do another note to everyone as kind of an okay, get excited it's coming! Kind of thing with dinner choices and what not. Since I sent everything out so early, I felt okay about requesting the responses so prematurely... but it also gives me and my guests about a month cushion should anyone's financial planning have a kink- in reality there is another month allowed for changes. I've really only gotten the "No's" back so far from those with kids and what not who we knew wouldn't be able to make it. I'm looking forward to starting to see some yes's!!

Thanks for your input, girls!!! However, I already bought the David's bridal dress, so it's kind of a done deal. Every friend except for one said it is exactly the same as my friends and said not to worry that they'd help me find something else... in other words, obviously I couldnt' get the dress even though it was similar. I thought about talking to my friend about it and what not, but I know how girls can be and I didn't want anyone having any snyde thoughts in their head or any bad feelings. So, it's best I guess that I chose something else. Luckily, the belt from DB for the new dress is only like $70, and our seamstress is amazing and alterations are usually only 100ish for wedding dresses, so I will end up saving a considerable amount of money in the long run, but with a comprimise. Oh well- I feel better that you guys think the new one and the Adorae look similar- at least that means I'll get the look I want. The DB dress has a much less shiny satin fabric, significantly less rouching and I don't know really waht else.... but everyone who saw it said it was definately different enough, so whatever- I think I'll be happy once I stop pouting. P.S. Just found out that the same bride is wearing hot pink shoes with her dress which is exactly what I've planned all along. ARGH. I hate being one of hte last ones to get married- everything has been done!! I'm still wearing hot pink (or coral, rather) shoes, though- not going to comprimise on that one! And Jill, I have 8 bridesmaids... or technically 6, now that 2 are preggo. I was anti-DW all along, because I felt like if I was doing this then I shoudl pay for all my friends to come- which obviously is impossible... they all had an invervention at one point saying that I should do this (it wasn't even my idea initially) and that it is absolutely not for me to pay for them. I don't think it's selfish at all- My mom has tried to play that card a bit. I have explaiend to everyone- it was either do this, or Elope here in NH... We are overdue for a vaca, and we might as well get married somewhere beautiful. And at least this way, we can invite some people to join us. If they can make it they can, and if not, then they can see the pics when we get home. I'm sick of waiting to get married just because we dont have the $30K that other parents fork over to spend on a regular wedding. And no matter what you do, there is no way to do it at home without a. spending WAY too much, or b. not inviting some VIP's. This kills all those birds with one stone. Dont feel selfish! And as far as the ties... he really doesn't want to wear one? Is it that important to you? What if he wears it during the vows and can ditch it afterwards? My FI wants to get a jacket just for some of our pictures but he doesn't actually want to wear the jacket lol -Chris

Ugh- so much drama. But thanks- it is a bummer, because they knew very well and shouldn't have allowed me to plan my wedding around their vacation time. So annoying. 85 days is going to FLY! I'm so jealous- hooray!!!

That is a big bummer, Allie. I'm going to try to prepare myself for that, too.... it sounds like people are always initially so excited about it but then when you get to the actual trip there are a lot less who actually m ake the commitment.... I'm having a hard time trying to plan anything because we have no idea how many people are even coming! Final payment is due Nov 15th (I made it a month earlier than it has to be to try to cushion for last minute issues) so I suppose we'll see as it gets closer!

That is a big bummer, Allie. I'm going to try to prepare myself for that, too.... it sounds like people are always initially so excited about it but then when you get to the actual trip there are a lot less who actually m ake the commitment.... I'm having a hard time trying to plan anything because we have no idea how many people are even coming! Final payment is due Nov 15th (I made it a month earlier than it has to be to try to cushion for last minute issues) so I suppose we'll see as it gets closer!

Omg your dress is absolutely beautiful! Everyone says I should cut off any train so I don't have to deal with it on the beach, but clearly this wasn't an issue for you... how did that go? I've heard great things about Claudia photo, and your picture looks beautiful, too, but unfortunately they're not ont he approved vendor list for EDR anymore

Thank you! I've looked everywhere!!! These are the only ones I've found so far... i bought them just in case, but i think with the patent finish they'll be too bright compared to our dresses... we're doing the david's bridal coral dresses with an ivory rhinestone belt on them (different dress then the pic but same color)...

You are the best!!! Thank you! Where did you find these? I have seen like NO shoes in this color, and you nailed it!!

Dress update!! So... I went shopping with my MOH, tried on a bunch of dresses, and fell in love with the Adorae: Which, I found out after I got back on here yesterday, is the SAME dress as Nikki! So funny... what are the odds? BUT apparantly the odds are pretty good... because I just looked at pics of my friends dress that she just got in for her September wedding (that I'm a BM in, and she'll be in mine) and she has almost the SAME dress This dress above is hers... ugh. So... because of the way girls are, I had to change my dress. All of us girls have been friends forever, so we have the same wedding party and everything, and it just wouldn't be okay for me to keep with something so similar... I went to another store, tried on every dress I could find that was similar but different, and couldn't find anything that compared. I had seen online that David's Bridal had a similar dress, so I ended up trying it on, and my friends all said that it was different enough from my friends dress, and I finally felt almost as happy as I was with the Adorae... so, I ended up buying this dress. I'm hoping I'm going to get over the Adorae and that I'll love this one... ugh. The good news is that this was on sale for only $499 and the adorae was more than double that!! () So lets just hope I learn to love it. This is the one I ended up with! I'm going to have my seamstress remove the bling on this one and replace it with a sash with more like the one on the Adorae with much more bling. I'm also going to ditch the bow and replace that with a brooch with some more bling. I do think they're similar, and I think I will love it, but it's a bit frustrating that I had to compromise on my wedding dress! Plus, if I'm going to pick a dress that is so similar, I felt like I might as well have gotten the one I wanted, but my bridesmaids all said this dress is very different (which is what is so sad!) that there's no way she'll be upset or even think that it's like her dress. ARGH... but at least I have my dress!! Phew!!

Hey girls! Loving looking at all your shoes- so pretty! I'm on a seemingly neverending search for coral (the pinky coral, not the orangey kind) shoes!! I am looking for something with a stiletto heel... maybe like 4" or so? I have found one pair of Guess platform heels in a shiny patent finish, but the color is a little neon and I'd rather have something more like the Partyrr above in a satin finish. Argh. Anyone else wearing coral shoes??

YES. P.S. I totally thought this DW thing was supposed to make everything easy breezy and drama free- NOT. Brief drama update since I've last had time to chat.... 2 of my bridesmaids are teachers and I literally planned our wedding on their school vaca because that was the only way they could come... now both are pregnant (like they weren't planning when I discussed this with them?!?!) and neither can come (though one claims she's definately going to be able to come despite the fact that she'll be 8 months pregnant (I think she honestly feels bad, but argh! I can't plan for numbers like this!). FUN. :-)

Alli these look great, totally not "too DIY"!!

Jill that is awful- I'm so sorry to hear! You will have so much fun regardless, and at least you won't have to worry about her DB boyfriend coming.

We're using Beach Bum Vacations, and have Sarah as our TA, and couldn't be happier! I woudl reccommend BBV to anyone who needs help with their DW... she is pretty much like our TA/wedding coordinator with a bit of therapist on the side to help me deal with all of the stressful things that have come up!

Hi! What flowers did you reuse for your reception? I've heard of incorporating the girls bouquets or something into centerpieces, and as the flowers are so exensive, this was kind of appealing... but for now I've just decided to do non-floral centerpieces. I'm curious to hear what you did! Thanks, Chris

Hi!! I have to agree with Jill... from my first ideas i had in my head when i first thought DW, to where I am now, I have changed my mind and ideas on everything, and my priorities, like a million times!! It's impossible to make so many decisions at once and I just have been trying to let the decisions fall into place as I go. We originally were going to do the free dinner, but then, again- like Jill, I didn't want to miss out on the first dance and all that stuff. So we are doing a private reception at Tucanes... I have no clue how many people will be going- right now we have 29 definates including us, but there are probably 40 or so people we haven't heard from yet and the RSVP date is by Nov 15th. Good luck wiht your planning!!

Hi Girls! I've been too busy to think about wedding stuff for a while, But I'm back and trying to play catch up. So much helpful stuff has been posted since I last read, so thanks for that everyone!!!! ElDorado- Everything you've posted has been super helpful. Did you guys have a DJ? I think you said you had approx 40 people, is that right? If so, with or without a DJ how did you feel it went? We're having our reception at Tucanes, and I have no idea how many people are actually going to make it (since it seems like all of the girls I know have suddenly decided it's time to get pregnant- Argh!) and am wondering how it will feel (too empty or not?) with a smaller group and with or without a DJ. It seems kind of overkill for 40 people, but I don't want to miss out on the first dance and allt hat fun stuff! Thanks!

Rachel these look awesome... did you buy them-- have you seen them in person?

Nice dress, Jen! I agree, you can totally tell this is your dress!!!! So exciting. Allie your comments to my last post made me laugh ;-) There were a few dresses I tried on that also made me laugh lol soooo didn't look right. So...I went for my first round of dress hunting and fell in love with this one: (they wouldnt let me take pics of myself in it yet unfortunately) It's just a little heavier than a few of the others, but I think I'll survive... the rouching is so nice and it made me feel confident that even after a week of drinking and gormet all inclusive eating, that I won't have to worry about any bloating or weight gain lol so that is always a good thing. going to one more store this week- it's like a TJ Maxx of wedding dresses supposidly- we will find out. If I don't find anything there, I will recruit the troops for the final dress trying on session and probably will end up picking this one. I know we were talking about dress budget a little while ago... I"m glad I didn't have too many expectations with regard to my dress budget... all the dresses are quite a bit more expensive than I had initially thought! Oops. But I was really happy that I found a bunch of dresses that I loved- with this one on top! :-) My FI is so used to me being very ummm frugal, so he was surprised when I told him how much it was going to be that I decided not to worry so much about a budget for my dress. between that, my ring, and everything else, I think he's realizing what weddings can do to a girl ;-)

Have you seen anything like tthat before? I would totally ditch the flowers in lieu of something else, but don' t know what for. I think I''d still want my bouquet of some sort, but i'm not a huge flower person so would be interested to see a tasteful alternative!

Hi! That was my first concern, but after talking to Valeria, EDR has plenty of flowers and what not that are coral. In general, it's easier to find hot pink instead of coral, but luckily I think it's kind of an "in" color right now so it seems like there is a lot of stuff. Bridesmaids dresses are a little tricky- a lot of coral colors are actually orange, where I want the pink color coral. David's bridal's coral seems to be one of hte only ones I've liked so far! I think we're actually looking for the opposite coral colors actually LOL but regardless of pinky or orangey, I think you'll do okay... Have you tried searching for slightly different colors? Like a lot of sites were grouping peach, tangerine, and stuff like that in with coral, whereas I was trying to go more towards the pink, coral, magenta-ish side of things. There are so many paper lantern makers out there I bet you'll find them. How are you doing the lights for them, though? Are you going to get the individually lit ones? The lit ones were def harder to find. In my searches, if I find things that sound like your color, I will post them for you! I'm pretty sure I've mentioned to Valeria that I'm on here as well, but perhaps we'll have to revisit the setup fees. I think them setting up anything electrical and what not is fine, I get it, we'd be in the way... but putting a lantern on a table or some paper bag luminaries around shouldn't be something that we have to pay for. Especially when you consider that the point of a DW is to try to save money, all the while they will getting probably $50,000+ in revenue from rooms at a minimum from our party- you'd think we wouldnt' have to worry about the nickels and dimes so much. Or at least that's what I thought before I got this far along lol. Allie- are you going to bring up the setup costs again before you get your total bill? Quote: Originally Posted by ONEILL12 chiquita8302 - My colors are coral and navy! Are you having a hard time finding coral decorations? I am! I found coral table lanterns at Target but we are only doing a semi-private dinner after our ceremony so I won't need to decorate for a reception. Our ceremony is at D'ITALIAS gazebo which isn't the same style as Gazebo 55. We wanted to rent colored sheers but it won't have the same effect on our gazebo. I want to hang some coral and navy paper lanterns around the gazebo but I am having a hard to finding a true coral color. Most are too pink. Also, after seeing that some brides on here were able to set up their own decorations and avoid paying the set-up fee, I just told Valeria that my family would be doing the set-up. I also mentioned that I had seen on "a forum" that this has been allowed in the past at no charge (because I've heard that the Lomas people look at this thread). Valeria was ok with it and just asked for a description of the items we'd be setting up.

OOoohh those mugs are the prettiest I've seen, and I think the cheapest! I don't need 75, but I have heard some of the e-bay sellers will accomodate special requests. Esp. if htey've done 50 before! I'm pretty much sticking to coral and white/ivory for colors (I feel like teal kind of takes away from the pinkt hat i've always wanted if I were to use it as another color- but I may add some accent details in teal), so even the white mug with coral/pink writing would do the job for me. and the logo on it is cute! Thank you so much for sharing that! I've never really given fake flowers much thought... off to google/pinterest i go again LOL I'm never going to get any sleep until February if I don't put down the laptop! My FI is a firefighter so he's gone at least 2 nights a week, and you can imagine how ummm ...productive... i am when he's gone hahah As for the music... how will they announce that it's your dance? Other than like walking in/introductions and our first dance, and probably the mom/son dance, i'm not too worried about any MC'ing... the only other hting is the timeline, but it sounds like you've figured something out for that... are you just going to hit play and hope that the songs you've put in order are going to get everyone dancing and what not? I feel like with such a smaller group and a casual setting, it really may be fine. Especially since i remembe ryou said your friends are relatively big partiers at weddings like mine are lol.... I don't think they coudl have a bad time regardless. I think that's a good point about talkign to the on-site coord- maybe they will be able to accomodate that, esp. if it's just simple things that won't put you in the way. OOT bags sound perfect- from what I've read on here, those who go overkill end up saying guests didn't use most of the stuff. My friends have been on a powdered pedialyte kick as a hangover treatment, so I was thinking I'd add that in too for hangover relief with some excederin migraine (which we've sworn by since our college days lol)... and figured probably some other similar stuff like yours. I think I heard aloe was a big hit too, because people forget to pack it. I haven't started looking or anything- i don't even know how many people are coming!! but just trying to plan ahead Thanks for sharing your ideas!! As for dresses- not really sure. I've done a little googling, but not sure if what I like online will end up being waht i like on me... so far the maggie soterro ones have been my favorite... maybe something liek this?? http://www.maggiesottero.com/dress.aspx?style=J1473&page=5&pageSize=16&keywordText=&keywordType=All or this http://www.maggiesottero.com/dress.aspx?style=A3476&page=11&pageSize=16&keywordText=&keywordType=All or lastly, http://www.sotteroandmidgley.com/dress.aspx?style=ASM3593&page=1&pageSize=16&keywordText=&keywordType=Any&collection=201201... but we will see. These dresses are all like 1200ish, which is not exactly what I was anticipating spending on a dress. I'm not a very fancy person, so I feel like once I get them on I could very posisbly fall in love wiht something much more reasonably priced! But if not... at least I knwo these exist, loL! Going to glance at BM dresses while we're there too- I want to get things going in case it really does take as long as they say. Thinking maybe something liek this... http://www.venusbridal.com/bridesmaids/bella-maids/MF2135 if the coral color it comes in is pink enough Oh yea, also... Did you see the template that someone else posted on here for the map of EDR and waht not for their welcome letter? I think I'm going use it for inspiration... http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/20443/welcome-letter-template-for-oot-bags-edr ...just in case it helps you work on yours! Quote: Originally Posted by AllieH I'm with you on the snowball effect. Dialing it back is more difficult - I'm blaming pinterest and all the amazing wedding photos that are out there. What about using a fake flower? Those should be much less than $18, and the real touch lillies are absolutely gorgeous. I'm putting my brother in charge of the iPod (we will have 2, in case one dies or freezes up on us), and a friend in charge of the timeline. Plus my photographer is a good bride/groom wrangler, so she'll keep us on track. I just can't see spending that much for a DJ. Frankly it isn't in our budget... I've been told we can't do our own set up either, but then other brides have said they've been able to do it. I think it's going to be one of those things that we'll have to wait and see once we get to EDR and talk about it with the onsite coordinator. I'm going to keep the OOT bags fairly simple - again, mostly due to budget. I'm doing shout wipes, aleve, tylenol, immodium, lip balm - and will put all of those into a fancied up brown bag. I'll have a "welcome to Mexico" letter, along with a timeline of the events stuffed in there. I'm going to do mugs because I think it's the one thing that people will really appreciate onsite, and will use when they get home again. I'm looking at Factory 21 for my mugs - 50 for $110. I don't see a 50 listing right now, but the seller is also on eBay. http://www.etsy.com/listing/88493000/75-custom-destination-wedding-favor?ref=sr_gallery_14&ga_search_query=factory+21&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_min=0&ga_max=0&ga_page=1&ga_search_type=all the downside of Factory 21 is that it's either a white or black mug - not much choice. the other option I'm considering for the mugs is hitting dollar tree and grabbing a bunch of their $1 travel mugs (the only downside is their colors are limited to red, blue and black, but meh, this may not be so important to me), and then adding a sticker from this seller: http://www.etsy.com/listing/95216831/120-custom-glossy-waterproof-wedding another bride has used the sticker method and says they work really well. We are using the grocery store type "green" shopping bags as the OOT bags - something that can be used at the beach, and also when they get home again. as far as lugging it all down...we are going to have the mugs sent to my parents and have them bring those. they are traveling together, and we will pay for the extra checked bag. we will have 2 extra checked bags of "stuff" ourselves (4 total - 1 bag each of clothes, and 1 bag each of extras), and then I have a friend here in town who is going and can take another bag if we need her to. I will make sure we have all of the decorations for the ceremony & reception, and my friend/parents have OOT bag stuff (that assembly should be fairly easy to do onsite). hope that helps with some ideas!! what sort of dresses are you looking at? do you have a silhouette in mind? a style (DW typical, ballgown, lace, etc)?