AnaSteele58

Whoa! My FI saw the final cost when I opened the thread and flipped out. He ran to the computer to look at our budget!

Those are cute! Thanks for the link

I share your point of view about the AHR. I think its a waste of money. Here is the thing (in my opinion), people call us selfish for having a destination wedding because they have to make sacrifices to attend. In actuality they are selfish because they want to just be able to stop by Family Dollar on the way to the local ceremony to buy you a $5 toaster. They put it on the gift table and gobble down you $100 plate! No way. I was always taught to buy a wedding present close to what the cost of your dinner plate is costing the couple. Of course you have no way of knowing the exact price but you can surely guess based on location. Thanks for sharing!

Don't feel sad. I used to wonder how ppl were paying for their wedding too. Based on comments on various boards I've seen cases where brides/grooms were doing everything from working 3 jobs (yes...three) to having their parents pay for everything. If you're like me, you fall somewhere on the spectrum between those rare situations. Our budget is $12, 000 and we are way under. We beefed up our savings is all we've done. We did so by changing our direct deposit allocations at work. This way we never miss the money because we never had it to begin with. At the end of the day we all have to figure out what we actually can afford and plan accordingly. I started a thread on here about limiting the guest list. I wanted to know if it was "tacky". That was something we had to do to stay on track. In our reality we can only host 30 people. Hope this helps

Thanks for the heads up though

So...it smells but not bad enough to pay $20/per room? Okay. Besides building 1, were there any other buildings to avoid?

$20/per room if you request a certain building?!?! Surely that was a joke. No way...

Thanks!

Beautiful!

Our prices aren't out yet either. 2 TAs and a friend stated the $350 ballpark for flights. We are leaving from FL. Hopefully you guys will be able to get a flight around the price you paid for your visit.

I meant to quote lcis instead of you...sorry! I understand your point

The cost depends on your destination in relation where you're from. We decided on Mexico because flights are about $350 roundtrip. (Our actual dates aren't available yet.) Our guest will be paying about $800 each for lodging and airfare for our wedding.

What fonts did you use? Everyone has such nice logos!

Oh okay...lol! No need to feel embarrassed. My budget isn't quite what the title of the thread suggests either. Same as you, my photographer will throw me over the line. I'm still enjoying this thread though

Ladies I need clarification! The $7, 000 budget or $10, 000 budget you are referring to in your post, it that for EVERYTHING (attire, accommodations, airfare, etc)? I saw one bride break her budget down but I'm interested in seeing how others are making out. Right now we are sitting around $4000 for the wedding/reception alone. Our accommodations will run $1000. Whew...things are adding up!

Ok okay! I've heard great things about that place.

If you don't mind me asking, where are you getting married? I've seen you mention several times its off-resort.

I love the idea of a mini passport. Very cute!

Most likely. We have a date set there and Dreams Riviera Cancun. We are leaning towards them because the package includes more people.

If you're looking to get lost then the resorts I mentioned above wouldn't be ideal for you. They are located in Mexico...outside of Cancun. They aren't the smallest resorts but getting lost isn't an option either. You should check out the TAs associated with this site. They are awesome! In regards to hiring a WC, I have decided against that. I'm relying on the internet and honest reviews from other brides to guide me.

We have put a deposit down for our date at two resorts in Mexico. We will probably go with Now Jade instead of Dreams Riviera, mainly because the package includes 25 people vs 20 at DRC. Haven't made a final decision though. We have also decided on colors. We will pick our bridal party after people pay their deposits. We're doing it this way so no one feels pressured to go. If the people we have in mind can't go, we will only have a MOH and BM. What about you?

Hi ladies! To save money we are having our cocktail hour credited toward extra plates for dinner. We have more people than our Devine package includes. For the actual cocktail hour we are having our guest grab a drink at the bar. If you ladies decide to do this, make sure you have it in writing. My wedding isn't until 2015 but I have that deal in writing. I'm also using parasols for the BMs and using the bouquet credits for my centerpieces. Happy Planning!

I don't have my rates yet because my date is too far out. However I do know that $300 per couple is a little low. I received May 2013 rates just to get an idea for my Cancun wedding and the cheapest was $389 per person for 3 nights at the Gran Caribe. June maybe a little higher since it's the beginning of vacation season. Hope that helps

I just read your review. How unfortunate. He was on my top contender list...

What a neat idea! This idea goes right along with our "non traditional wedding" excuse theme! Like I've mention in another thread, this is what we tell people when explaining that we are foregoing or shortening traditional events such as the cocktail hour (credit will be used toward reception dinner) and a 4 hour reception. Thanks EJ2013!