mae1564

Hi Jessica! You don't really receive anything from the resort about your outside vendor fee, but when you have your first meeting when you get down there you should talk to the WC about it. I think they will probably be given a different wristband. Don't quote me on this, but I believe if your photographer is staying at the Royal you should not have to pay a vendor fee because they are a guest. I had a friend act as our "videographer" and we didn't have to pay a vendor fee for him. Fair warning about customs in mexico with camera equipment, he will probably be searched mulitple times on his way HOME. We carried on our camera bag and didn't have any problems going in to Mexico, but they searched us 3 times leaving Mexico. Actually they gave my husband a full body pat-down at the boarding gate and kept me secluded from him It was frustrating but we got through it fine. Is there a reason you don't want to do your TTD at the Royal? If you go early in the morning there is almost no-one on the beaches and there are a lot of great spots you could take advantage of.

Hi Ladies, I thought I might jump in on your WC convo. I had the same wedding coordinator all the way through my process from beggining to end. I had Liza at The Royal PDC. I'm not sure if any of you are using a Beach Bums travel agent, but I did and when I wouldn't get a response my TA would step in and get the answer for me. I hated having to do that, but sometimes it was the only way. Someone mentioned that the WC have a timeline that they stick to, and that is correct. It can be frustrating but just know it will all work out in the end!

Hi! And thank you all for the kind words, it’s so nice to know that there are people out there who actually see my posts! So recently, I’ve had requests on how to make my place card settings so I thought I would share my (favorite) DIY J I originally saw these on etsy and just HAD to have them. With my small group of 11 (they came in quantities of 12) it was very reasonable to spend a couple bucks per bottle for place settings. Well, last minute I had 4 more people add onto our group. I emailed the seller to see if she could do a special listing of 15 instead of me having to buy two dozen. And what was her response? “Absolutely not! It is not worth the time and effort for me to break down these sets for anything less than a dozen at a time.†Naturally, someone would rather lose a sale all-together than accommodate their buyers. I, in turn decided that I didn’t need her stupid bottles and I can do this on my own! J I bought the bottles, sand, charms, and philippine seashells on eBay. I printed the names off my computer (font size 8) and cut them to size. And I bought the ribbon at WalMart. All together, it cost me $25 to do what that lady was going to charge me $80 for….. and it only took 1 hour to put them all together. Now, it would seem to me that, if I were in her shoes and someone wanted to pay me $80 for an hour’s worth of work I would be all over it! This could have actually been even cheaper because the day after I bought the sand on eBay for $5, I found a big bottle of craft sand at the dollar store. Go figure. My loss, your gain! Another tip that I have for you is that when cutting out the names to go in the bottles, leave excess on the ends so that it just fits inside the bottle. It helps the paper to stand up while in there. Oh, and kinda pinch it just a bit so there is a bend in the paper, this will help the paper lie against the back of the bottle. It helps to have tweezers available in case you need to get the paper back out of the bottle. Once you get it all in there you just have to kinda shake everything into place, lol. Also, the charms help the bottle from rolling around. I think that about covers it, I’m happy to answer any questions you might have.

Hello ladies!!! Okay, so I have neglected my thread through the holidays but I'm back! Let's talk about wedding dresses today..... Oh, the headaches I had over wedding dresses My budget for a wedding dress was non-existent, and so I was on a "how little money can I spend?" budget. I looked everywhere! We went to Dress Dashes (if you don't know what that is, let me know and I will explain) I looked on used wedding dress sites, I looked at sales, and then I looked on eBay. I made mistakes along the way, so let me share my hard lessons learned. Lesson #1 Don't get pressured into a dress! I did at the dress dash. I found a dress that didn't fit, I didn't really like, but was in my budget. My friend that went with me, bless her heart, was SO determined to find a dress. She wanted it so bad for me, that she made me want it too! I knew the dress didn't fit, it wasn't what I wanted, but again it was in my budget. It was only $120 but regardless, it was $120 I spent for a dress that has never left my closet. Take a deep breath and think logically if this happens to you, trust your gut. Lesson #2 Trust your gut!!! A lot of people are surprised to find out that I bought my dress from a dressmaker in China. Yup, I took a leap of faith and did it. I had recommendations from other brides here on BDW who turned me onto a site dressilyme.com I researched and read reviews, and looked at the site, and read their policies. Their prices were so enticing, and I could send them my measurements and have a dress made for me! It was probably one of the scariest things I did, but it turned out so amazing in the end. If I could make any recommendations on buying a dress from a website such as dressilyme, it would be to go to dress shops and try on dresses first. Find the style and fit that you like. Find the one that fits YOU! Unfortunately, I live in the mountains hours away from anything like a dress shop, so I took another leap of faith and got lucky. I don't suggest trying that tactic, because again, I got lucky. So here is the picture of the dress from the website : And here is the dress I received: Okay, so I don't exactly have the models body in the first picture, but you get the idea On to the big question, how much did I pay? I paid $180 which included, the dress, custom sizing, and shipping. It took about 30 days from the time I ordered it to the time it arrived at my house. I paid another $65 in alterations once I got it because unfortunately I think people assume that with my measurements I have big boobs. Well, I don't so I needed the top taken in just a little bit. The dress does however have cups sewn in which is really nice. What sealed the deal for me on this on is when I was having it taken in, I told the seamstress where I got it. She was shocked! She told me that the construction of the dress, the stitching, and material used is much better quality then some of the dresses she sees come out of wedding shops! I was all grins, and patting myself on the back for that one.

We did both my dress and his suit at the resort. I had so much stuff coming with us already that I packed both of them in a suitcase so it was that much less for me to pack around with us. They did a great job too! I know my step-dad and the best man had their suits done as well and both thought they turned out good. Just be sure to ask your wedding coordinator because the bride and groom get a discount!

Hi! I bought them at the dollar store. I bought them like two years ago though, so I don't know if they still carry them. Although they might in the summer time. I have some leftovers for sale if you want, I have seven green and one blue one left. Here is the link http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/83029/ttd-reception-dress-sz-10-oot-bags-much-more

Let's talk OOT Bags, ahhhh painstaking OOT Bags First off let me say that I had quite the love hate relationship with my OOT Bags. I loved them, was excited for them, and a little obsessive over them. But I also had a little bit of resentment towards them. Why did I focus so much on them? I don't know, I guess I just wanted so bad to show all of our guests as much appreciation as possible. Believe it or not, I feel like I actually accomplished that in the end. It was completely done with OOT Bags, but it set the tone. Here is what I put in mine: Canvas Beach Bag Double Wall Tumbler w/ Straw Crystal Light drink mix packets Advil Tums Bath and Body Works Hand Sanitizer Do Not Disturb Signs Luggage Tags Key Holder Wristlets Kleenex Welcome Brochure Koozies Okay, I think that is all of it. So my absolute must haves were the Beach Bag, Advil, Tums, key holder wristlets, and Welcome Brochure. My big disappointment were the cups. I really really thought they would get a lot more use (and they were the most expensive items) but I think I saw one person use them once. Maybe because we didn't really have any serious drinkers in our group is why. We had drinkers but I don't think anyone ever got drunk. Oh well, live and learn. The Welcome Brochures were a labor of love, but I think people found them to be very useful. In them I had a welcome note, an outline of where we would be and when, a photo scavenger hunt (people loved!), and some info about the area. Some of our guests didn't go anywhere without them! Theres that monogram again... My absolute love, would totally do it again, were the beach bags. People took them EVERYWHERE! It kind of warms the heart to see people appreciate what you've done. Here's one of the bags being put to good use! In the end, our guests loved them and like I said earlier it made me happy to show a little appreciation to each person for being there with us.

Hi! Believe it or not, I bought these OOT bags at the Dollar Store. I don't know if they still carry them, it's been almost two years since I bought them. The quality is surprisingly good (for coming from the dollar store). I've actually been using one for myself since I bought them, and have taken it to the beach, the lake, everywhere and still lasted through our vacation. My guests LOVED them, and they took them everywhere. I know some people don't think they will get used, but everyone took theirs everywhere every day. Looking back, I think that was probably the best part of the whole OOT bag!

Hi ladies, you all have emails in response to your questions.

One of my first purchases for the destination wedding... our monogram! From that point on, it was a challenge to see what I could put this thing on. Let's put it on everything! No not really, but enough to make me feel better about that odd need I had to buy one Acutally, no, let me be honest I was super lucky with my mongram. I just happened to find an etsy seller who was trying to get her name out there and was selling monograms for $1. So really, it was the most expensive wedding item out there Here, let's put it all over this website too. Just because my wedding is over doesn't mean I'm done getting my money's worth out of it. Whoa, that uploaded a little larger than I had expected it to. Well, the easier to see I guess!

Ok, so for my first post I think I will start with our story <3 We met back in early 2009 through match.com Yup, we are a success story as I like to call it. On the website there is a tool where you can see who is looking at your profile. I noticed that he had looked at me one day, and then again the next day, so I took the first step and emailed him. We lived a couple hours away from eachother so emailed and talked on the phone every day for about a month before he drove to my town to take me out on our first date. Fast forward to December 2010, he proposed to me on December 13, 2010. It was supposed to be on my birthday December 15, but he found out on the 13th he was going to get stuck working a double shift. My parents had just left after spending the weekend with us and he asked if I wanted to open my birthday present. I said sure, and that was the end of that conversation. A couple hours later he asked me again if I wanted to open my birthday present, I gave him that look like, didn't you already ask me this question? So he went to a different room and came back with a large pink box. It was a present, wrapped in a present, wrapped in a present, and I don't know how many boxes there were. By the time I came to the smallest box, he was on one knee, and I was shaking so bad I couldn't open the box. Of course I said yes! Well, actually more a crying, shaking, nodded my head in agreement because I had no words. It was in January that we decided we were going to do a destination wedding. Our home towns are so far apart from eachother, and someone was going to have to travel somewhere so why not have everyone travel to a vacation? A REAL vacation? That was the plan. And so I began my planning. We were married on October 19, 2012 at THE Royal Playa del Carmen, Mexico I will try to post at least a couple times a week until I finish with all of my details. There were a lot a details

Hello all, and welcome to my planning thread! This website has been such an amazing tool and I can't wait to share it with you! Over time I will add to it, because there is too much to talk about all in one night.

Hi Ladies! I just posted my review of the resort! http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/products/the-royal-in-playa-del-carmen-all-inclusive-spa-resort/reviews/6634 I am also going to write a planning thread so I can go into more details about things other than the resort and their restaurants. I will post that link once I' done!

I just now saw this....sorry! But I sent you an email just now.