JHo2013

Quote: Originally Posted by AmandaRyan2014 Does anyone know if the $300 US Resort fee for hiring an outside photographer is per person or just a single charge? Example if you have two photographers is it $300 each? i think that's a one time charge. But you have to pay for the day pass/meal cost for your photographers per person. Our photographer was a guest, so they didn't charge us for her day pass but our videographer we had to pay for his pass and his meal.

Quote: Originally Posted by AmandaRyan2014 Hey Jenny, I was looking through your wedding photos! So pretty!!! It looked like an amazing day! I was just wondering how you made the foot jewellry? How much was it? Was the beach soft enough to not hurt the girls feet walking around in them? I was going to give something like that as a gift but I'm wondering if I should also purchase shoes for them to wear in the palapa. Any advice? Thanks Amanda Hi Amanda - The foot jewelery was lots of fun to make. Probably cost me under way under $20 for all of them (I made like 12 pairs) - mine I added some light blue swarovski crystals to it but still have enough beads to probably make at least another 20 pairs. I bought all the beads at Michael's when they had a sale and didn't really use any template, I just started off by stringing enough beads to tie around my second toe in the middle of the string, tied a knot so it makes a loop for your toe and then continued stringing from there The ground was not soft. The patch of 'sand' your photographer will want to take you to is probably gonna be super rocky! We all brough flip flops so we can move from location to location. But the sand at the ceremony space was decent - all the girls walked out in their barefoot sandals for that portion.

Hey Sara. Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the photos and the thread. My mom's dress was actually custom made in Asia when she traveled there for like $80! . She also got my traditional wedding dress made there too. I think Laura carried some similar gowns to hers though

Hey Marlos - My girlfriend from home is a photographer http://www.jacquelineelizabeth.com/jenny-chris-married/ She did our engagement photos and I loved them so much so she agreed to do our wedding also. It all worked out great! I just can't wait to get the copies now so I can start hanging these lovely photos on the wall http://www.jacquelineelizabeth.com/jenny-chris-trash-dress/ This is the link to our trash the dress.

Quote:Originally Posted by alley08 I tried on a million dresses with ruffles.........this is what I ended up with and I'm absolutely in love! We haven't had our wedding yet. Very soon though almost three months away. No bonus points for me lol This dress is beautiful on you!!! love it!

Quote:Originally Posted by Shera Richer Hi Jypsejenny, Congrats!! The 22nd of April is gonna come quick like the 24th haha. Yes, I did have trouble selecting the date with the resort, I felt like they didn't want to accomodate us and they also said that week was the earliest and since we are doing a legal wedding the 24th was the earliest for us. I'm a little bit frustrated right now because comparing with my friends wedding last april at a dreams resort in riviera maya we are getting way less in our packages than they did for a LOT more money. I know the resort is amazing (been there in 2008 and loved it) but It's a bit dissapointing that their prices aren't competitive. also, i'm a bit nervous about the photography... We are flying out of ottawa, how about you guys? Shera - I was told by the resort that you have to be at the resort for a minimum of 3 days before you can have the wedding. This helps them to get everything in order, get your blood work, etc. Also, I would def recommend bringing your own photographer or hiring someone else. The resort's photographer isn't good. And lastly - our officiant was TERRIBLE!!!! She did not go with our program at all. We wrote our own vows and she blew right past the entire ceremony and tried to make us kiss before we even said our vows. We had to say 'uhhh.... stop we have written our own vows...' My brother had practised months and months to play 3 songs on the piano that I had to fork out a bunch of money for, she didn't stop once for him to play. So he just sat there the whole time. I tried to ask for my money back for the piano and they refused. It was really frustrating since I had the program all written out and printed for the wedding coordinator and for all my guests to follow. So if possible, ask to see if you can arrange talking to the officiant before hand.

The lanterns were from Dollarama and they were about $2 or $3 each (I can't remember), and the photocoasters were from beau-coup.com (I've ordered from them before and loved the turn around time and all, but this time around I was charged over $50 for customs so I didn't expect that and it brought the unit price up)

Escort & Place 'Cards' Instead of the typical placecards (that might blow away from the wind outdoors) I bought lanterns and tied the cards to them. I wanted all white, but even hitting up over 10 stores they didn't have enough stock. So I got white for the guys and pink for the ladies. Instead of place cards I creeped out all our guests' facebooks for their best photo and popped their faces into coasters. The coasters were at their table setting so they had to find their own face to get to their seat!

Key/Tip Holders Our guests LOVED these! And we saw pretty much everyone use them the whole week. I ordered the tags off http://www.specialistid.com and they were great. I would have ordered the lanyards too but my mom kinda had the material to assemble them so we made the lanyards ourselves.

Quote: Originally Posted by ShantelKP Hi, I am getting married in January at the Grand Sirenis and I am getting my hair and makeup done at the spa. Are there any brides that got their hair and makeup done and would like to share photos? How do you think they did? Also, did any of your wedding party use the spa for hair and makeup? Can you send pictures to [email protected] Thanks! Shantel Hi Shantel I had my hair done there, as well as my mom, mother-in-law, and my 3 bridesmaids. A girl named Isis did my hair and she was very sweet and tried really hard, she was too much of a perfectionist though and took over 2 hours on me so I had to leave and do the rest of my hair on my own. So I would recommend her but just be mindful of time As for makeup, I did my own, and my bridesmaids all did their own. My mom and mom-in-law had theirs done and they did a pretty good job (I work full time at an office, but my part time job, I freelance as a makeup artist so I was happy to do my own), I had a peek into their makeup kit and they used mostly MAC makeup products and I use lots of MAC and can vouch that the product wears really well. I don't think they used a primer though before the application, so I would def bring a primer for them to use (I would recommend NARS or Smashbox)

Quote:Originally Posted by Shera Richer Hello Grand GSRM Brides! I'm getting married on April 24th, 2014. I was wondring if anyone decided to go with an outside photographer from Mexico for their wedding. I was looking a the packages available through Adventure Photos, did anyone use their services. thanks! any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Shera Hey Shera - I would not recommend their photographer. They're the same ones that walk around all day taking photos of you with their exotic animals. We stayed there a year before our wedding and took some engagement photos with them and was pretty disappointed with the photos. But whether you use them or not they will still charge you that $300USD give or take. I would ask them not to come as they might get in your photographer's way.

Quote:Originally Posted by Janelle0308 hey ladies, are any of you planning any sort of excursions for your guests? we are going to offer Tulum and Xplore or Xcaret! Hi Janelle -we just got married in Aug and we asked all our guests to join us for an optional excursion to Tulum. So we did the walk around the site, and then we went swimming in the ocean there - most beautiful beach I've been on hands down. The sand is soooo soft and the water is perfect. And the tour guide told us that they are closing it off for swimming beginning next year so take advantage! Then we went off to another beach and swam with sea turtles - sooo awesome. Then to end off the day he drove us to a local ocean front restaurant for some local food and it was delicious. The restaurant was super cool, there were swings at the bar for seating, super colorful, giant sandbags and hammocks on the beach. Tree houses with a pail you can send down to the server and he'll rope drinks up to you in your treehouse. I would def do it again we had so much fun. Our parents and the older folks went for the half day, so their trip ended after the Tulum swimming. But our gang did the full day. I'd highly recommend this excursion bc it's great for all ages and it's only a 20 min ride from Grand Sirenis.

Mr & Mrs Chair Signs DIY I found these really cute signs on the back of the bride and groom's chairs on Style Me Pretty. So I shopped around for them and man are wedding decor expensive!! I had to just make them myself. What you'll need: - 2 piece of art wood (mine were from the dollarstore. Michael's also has a selection, or just go to Rona and tell them what you want and they'll cut up a bunch of plywood for you) - electric drill - Rope, ribbon, or twine (I used twine that I already had for other crafty stuff I do) - Stain or paint (I just used the leftover paint from when I painted my walls, aka 'Eggshell' from Behr) - large paintbrush for staining or painting the board - small paintbrush or paintmarkers (find them at any arts and craft store - I used a silver paint I had and used a small brush) Mark 2 'x's on your sheet of wood and drill a hole through them. Use a ruler or measure tape if needed. Paint or stain the wood in the color of your choice. I just painted mine white. Wait overnight if necessary for your paint to dry. Very important - you don't want your text to smudge or blend. Tie on your ribbon or string and voila!