LKocelko

I just had to share, beacuse I'm so excited, that we just got my wedding band and wedding dress this weekend!! One of the remaining big decisions that we were feeling the time crunch on.

Yeah, I feel like that would be ideal since all I would really want is a minister and the flowers for bouquets/the guys. I'll be interested to hear if you get an okay on it. We're meeting with our TA tomorrow, so I'm excited to get more information.

This is such an amazing thread, with so many good ideas! You should go into wedding planning!!

jnitschke - it sounds like we are having very similar weddings! We still haven't decided on casita or not, but had originally planned like you and moving their after the wedding for a "honeymoon" feel. We haven't ordered invites yet, but our save the dates will be here next week and we'll probably send out the actual invitations in February. We've only been engaged a few weeks, so we're planning the whole thing in about 7 months. Are you bringing your own decor in? I think I convinced my fiance that it's worth it to spring for the private reception. After all, you only (hopefully!) are getting married once. So are you going with the cheapest package after the free, the $950? We are also going to go with the symbolic ceremony, and get legally married here before we leave. I couldn't justify the cost and extra time it requires, plus I hate needles! Does anyone know if you can build your own custom package? Like not pick the free or $950 one, but just pick the things you want from the Lomas website and do it that way? I thought if so that way we wouldn't need a week at the casita, but we may still be able to custom build what we want and still come in under the $950 package. Hope you all have a good weekend! I'm in Chicago, and it's finally starting to get cold....

Also, since we're planning on bringing our own decor (centerpieces, chair sash, etc.), can anyone advies on the fee to set-up? I was hoping we could just have some guests help, but it looks like that's not an option anymore. Is it a flat fee, per item, per guest? We're trying to plan the budget and I don't want to be shocked by all these fees I keep reading about. Thanks ladies!

We're having a small DW wedding in May 2013, no more than 28 people. We just ordered our STD Postcards and will send out after they come in next week. We inlcuded our wedding website info onthere, which has all the information and our TA contact info as well, so that's pretty much all they'll need. I was debating if we still need to send formal invites, but decided we should. That being said, I think we'll probably just order the invite and that's it - no enclosure, RSVP, etc. They can RSVP on our website, and as I stated that has all the travel and booking info. So if we can find an invite that leaves enough space, we were just going to put something like "see website ____ for all additional information and to RSVP." I'm hoping this will save a lot of money. Anyone think this is too casual? Do you have any good invites that would fit this idea? Thanks!

Thanks everyone, super helpful! I think I do want to go with the private reception, just to give it more of a wedding feel. Hopefully it won't end up being too $$ with the few number of guests we're having. We have a meeting with our TA Monday, so I'm excited to get more information

I haven't yet, but I definitely will now! We're going to go really minimal on decor I think. Probably go to a craft store and buy our own ribbons for chairs, instead of spending like $5/chair. Then just some small centerpieces, maybe something with shells or something. I haven't gotten that far

Just found this thread! I just put down a deposit to save our May 11, 2013 wedding at El Dorado Royale in Riviera Maya. Any other EDR brides? Exciting!

Hi everyone! Just put down a deposit to save the date for our wedding, May 11th 2013 at 3:30 PM. We haven't gotten a WC or anything like that yet, but this forum has so much helpful tips and information! It's great that everyone is so willing to help and provider insider information. At this point I'm a little overwhelmed, I feel like there's so many decisions to make! We went with a DW since my fiance and I will be primarily paying for it ourselves, so this seemed the most economical. Including ourselves, we aren't expecting more than 25 people to come. Of those people it will only be parents/siblings (+ their significant others) and each of our best friends. Because of that we aren't having a huge, typical "reception" and weren't going to hire a DJ or anything - probably just go the iPod route. We had originally just planned on using the package deal and have our reception at one of the restaurants, but based on everyone's posts I'm starting to rethink that. Anyone have a similar size wedding, and have any recommendations as to if it's worth it to go private? It's kind of hard to swallow paying for that, since we will be at an AI, but if it's that much better to do private I'd be willing to pay. I think this is the big decision we are trying to make right now. We hadn't wanted to do the 7 night casita stay ($$) in order to get the free package, but now I'm also rethinking that. Is it worth it to pay extra for that, and just do the few add-ons to the free package? We weren't planning on doing tons of flowers or decor, and think the beauty of the beach will be enough. If anything, we'll just bring some ribbons, shells, etc. from home to decorate both the ceremony and reception. I do know we'll want to have a bouquet for me and my MOH, and a boutinnere for my FI and his BM. Sorry for the novel! Hopefully once the ball starts rolling things will become more clear. We're just really worried of little expenses adding up quickly. Thanks everyone! P.S. Anyone been down in May? We're wondering how the weather will be.

Where did you get these? Love them!

My fiance and I just got engaged a few weeks ago, but are planning a DW for May 2013. We have narrowed it down to Cancun/Riviera Maya, however there are so many resorts in the area. We chose a DW wedding because we are paying for it ourselves. There will be no more than about 25 people there, as only our immediate family is attending and we will have a "reception" after we get back for all our extended family. I am a bit overwhelmed, and looking for some guidance in picking a resort. We want to be at an all-inclusive, preferably adult only. We are both very low-key, and wedding planning/details is not our thing. As such, we want to find somewhere that offers nice "packages" so we have to make minimal decisions. Flowers, DJ, dancing, etc. are not important. We envision a beach wedding, with a nice dinner afterwards. The one thing I am adament about is getting good pictures, since many people won't be attending. I know many resorts don't allow outside vendors, or charge a fee for it. We would be willing to pay a fee for the photographer, but want the resort to handle all other wedding details. We have, so far, looked at the following: Iberostar, Secrets, El Dorado, and Sun Palace. 1. Can anyone recommend any resorts? There are so many out there that it's a bit overwhelming. We are afraid of picking a basic wedding package, and then getting hit with tons of hidden fees, upgrades, etc. Must allow outside vendors. 2. Good suggestions for outside photographers, that are reasonably priced? As I said, we're willing to pay the resort fee to bring them in. We only need the basics for our ceremony: my bouquet, his flower, chairs, iPod/music hook-up, etc. We are only have a MOH and Best Man in our party. Sorry for the long post, but I welcome everyone's thoughts and opinions. I think the biggest battle is picking the resort. After that, hopefully decisions will be easy and things will go downhill. Thanks!!

My fiance and I just got engaged about two weeks ago, but want to get married in May 2013. We decided we want to have a DW in Mexico, the Canco/Riviera Maya area. The reasoning behind the DW is that we both have huge families, and since we'll be paying for the wedding ourselves, this was the most economical option. We are only going to have parents and siblings, so (including ourselves) the guest list shouldn't be more than about 25. We are definitely looking for an all-inclusive resort, preferably adult only since we'll be staying after to celebrate our honeymoon. We are both very low key, and want to keep the wedding that way. We envision just a nice, simple ceremony on the beach, and then a dinner after. No DJ, no dancing, etc. Probably just play our iPod throughout the meal. We are hoping to find a resot that has a nice package, where they handle everything, and we just have to pick out of a few options for flowers, food, etc. We don't need fancy flowers, a fancy wedding set-up, centerpieces, etc. The beautiful resort and beach should be background enough. The one thing that is REALLY important to me is pictures, since so much of our family won't be there. So many resort photographs look so cheesy, that we are probably going to hire an outside vendor to bring in. We will be doing an AHR (brunch possibly) so we want to be able to provide everyone with some beautiful pictures to look at. So I'm looking for any inisight on the following, because at this point things are a bit overwhelming! At this rate the two of us are going to elope before May even gets here 1. Suggestions for resorts that meet our criteria listed above. We' been looking into El Dorado, Secrets, Sun Palace and Iberostar, but are open to any other suggestions. The resort either needs to have a great photographer on site, or be willing to let us bring one in (we are willing to pay a fee). We want to try and find somewhere reasonably priced, so that it's not a bank-breaker for our family. I'm worried so many will have hidden fees that we don't know about, and we'll end up paying way more than we planned 2. Suggestions for photographers in the area 3. Any tips on planning without losing our mind 4. Type of ceremony? I've read that it can be quite an ordeal getting everything there...blood tests, paperwork, $$, etc. Sorry for the long post, thanks for anyone's expertise and advice!!!! Lindsey