TinkerSofi

@@Vickiw89 let me know what she says! I'd like to know, although I don't even know if we have the budget to extend it lol

@@calgarybride2015 I love wearing dresses, ever since I was a kid that's all I ever want to wear. Honestly if it wasn't so cold over here I'd wear dresses all year round. I've been trying to find the perfect dress for the legal ceremony and welcome dinner and another one maybe for going out after the reception/bachelorette party haha. Lulus prices are so good and I love people's reviews. It gives you a pretty good idea of whether it will fit or not this is the one I wanted for the legal ceremony: http://www.lulus.com/products/home-before-daylight-peach-dress/132634.html I'm not sure about the other ones yet

I was looking at Lulu's too haha.I vote for the first one or last

@@Vickiw89 yes we are. That's why I don't think they'll move the time at all. So far it's ending at 11 and we're not having an "official" cocktail hour because we only have an hour and a half in between the ceremony and reception. We'd either be wasting half an hour from what we pay for the cocktail hour or half an hour from the reception (I vote reception haha). I'm just really settled on having it outside and so is my fiance. It's the whole reason why we're having a dw in the first place haha.

I'm sorry to hear about all the issues. I think if it's important for you to have that one day when you and your fiance are the most important people then you need to have it, whenever that might be. Sorry I don't know much about resorts in Punta Cana. I've only been there once to the Colonial Majestic. We liked the hotel and saw a wedding while there but I honestly have no idea what their weddings are like. We traveled with west jet that time. In terms of prices have you thought about the summer? I know it's super hot over there but it is cheaper to travel. We're having our wedding in August for that reason, and because we have a couple of teachers/students among our guests so August is perfect for them to travel . Maybe the company can make an exception for your fiance, tell them that the trip and wedding were already booked before they made those changes so he can't change it .

thanks for the info! I might consider it. Are you having the reception at the terrace as well?

Hi Samantha! Our stories are pretty similar. We went to Cancun specifically to visit Gran Caribe Real. We loved the terrace they had and their wedding packages seemed reasonable. When it was time to book, Gran Caribe put a lot of limits on things. We needed to put a $150 for every guest that we were inviting in order to reserve the rooms (non-refundable fee), they would give us only 1 free person every 20. When it came to the wedding, we couldn't split up the ceremony and reception (if there is time in between they charge you). Plus I had heard some bad reviews about the food and people getting sick. We decided to switch venues last minute and ended up at Azul Fives. The price was only about $100 more for our stay, the resort had amazing reviews, especially about their food, and they also have a terrace! My fiance and I only needed to put $150 for each of us and that held 30 spots for our guests for 3 months. Our TA was able to negotiate a free person every 11, which was much better than the 20. They don't have wedding packages at the hotel we chose like Gran Caribe does. However, I still think we made the right choice, the hotel seems much nicer and just the quality of everything seems better. You choose everything pretty much from a menu and just add the costs. Some of the prices are crazy, but we're spending about the same amount for a wedding at Gran Caribe and getting a nicer wedding in my opinion. Definitely shop around and don't limit yourself to only one hotel. The best thing for us was to talk with a travel agent and let her know what we wanted. When she found out about all of these limits she suggested a couple of other hotels to us. The TA would be able to tell you what other hotels in the Playa del Carmen area also have a chapel and then go from there. Some of my guests who have been to both Cancun and Playa said that Playa is nicer. I wished we had gone to a TA right away and it would have saved us the trip to visit a hotel that we didn't end up booking but oh well.

I love #2 or #3. I love the top and all the beading of #2. It's very flattering but i love the hourglass shape that #3 gives you. It's a tough choice for sure.

I'll also send you the chart that my WC sent me. The capacity for the reception at the sky deck depends on whether you're also having your ceremony there. They set up everything all at once so they're basically dividing the place for ceremony and reception. If you're having both things separately then it can hold that many people I think. Ok so I just found the answer to my question about the reception by the pool but i can't edit my response

aw I love it. that's such a cute message

I know. We went with the vintage elegance package. I still think $250 is way too much for what they give you but I just don't want to deal with carrying everything over there. We're making our own centerpieces. We're putting a lantern, a little silver candle holder with 3 fake flowers and some of those glass gems scattered around. What's your e-mail? I can send you the list that our WC sent us for liquor. I was worried because my parents are big wine drinkers and they seemed to offer everything under the sun except for wine (i thought it was extra). It turns out they do offer some that is already included in the price . Another question for everyone, if you do a private reception by the pool, do you still pay the surcharge per person like you do at the terrace?

I think we will. I feel like my fiance and I need to say something. I know that my Canadian MOH and my brother want to say something. I'm not sure about my fiance's sisters since they're pretty shy. I really hate events with tons of long speeches so I'll ask people to keep them really brief and simple. I don't want to force anyone to do the speeches but I'm also not going to tell anyone to not do them if they really want to. We will have to split them across different events if there are too many but that's ok.

awesome! Good to know in case I need more vendors haha

haha yeah I think they are last priority for us, after all if the resort does provide them, crappy or not they are fans and they will get the job done. I also keep dreaming of all these things for my fiance to come and slash half saying that we really don't need it and it's too expensive for what it is haha (he's usually right). What did you end up getting them?

I know, chances are if you don't put one for every person everyone wants one haha so you might go on the safe side and get one for each . I saw some of the popsicle ones on oriental trading. I don't know what is cheaper, if to do them yourself or buy them from there :S. I guess you can personalize them more easily if you do them yourself and in that case they're probably cheaper that way. Our resort gives us fans for the ceremony but apparently they're not great so I don't know what to do.

that is true! I didn't think of how much more convenient the mugs would be. Such tough choices haha. Where did you get yours?

are you giving men fans as well? I have the feeling that they won't use them but who knows. We thought about doing the paper ones with the popsicle stick. I don't even know if they would take less space and they might be more work.

personally, I like the tumblers better. Maybe because I have tons of mugs at home

I'm really torn about this. Would the gifts or money come in handy? yes, because we don't live together so we literally have a bed, a desk and a tv along with a few other small things for the kitchen here and there haha. However, I feel so guilty about asking for even more. I've finally gotten over the guilt of making them travel over there.

I hadn't thought of that but you sure have a good point! Then you have a lot of girls who drink the blended drinks, which are better through a straw. Decisions, decisions. Maybe go half and half?

I was wondering how much was it to pay for 3 days at the hotel? I'm wondering whether we should have gone that route for our photographer and videographer thanks for the tip. What is the light/heat like in August at around 5 over in the Mayan Riviera? is it still really strong? It's hard to imagine now that it's already snowing where I live haha! Do you have pictures of the reception by the pool area? I would love to see them

thanks for the feedback ladies. I was planning on doing a seating chart but then I also saw those "choose a seat" sign and I was wondering if that would be better. I thought the main issue would be people putting more chairs to a table and everyone ending up all squeezed in there. I'm paying for the memorable moments package for the tables so there's no way I'm paying $250 for extra tables ahaha. I think I have it almost figured it out in my head but it's a different story to sit down and actually do it . My main goal is to put groups of friends either sitting at the same table or adjacent tables. I was at a wedding where they sat us far away from all the people we knew and it really wasn't nearly as fun. I saw some cute ideas on pinterest to do a seating chart. Do you need place cards as well? I've been to weddings where they only had your name and table number but you could choose your seat at the table.

Lol yeah mine is blush and white haha Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm sorry to hear that. Ugh, men sometimes... I wish I could be of more help but we haven't had too much of that, yet. I think what Mrsktobe suggested is a good idea. Sometimes taking a little time apart really helps to put things in perspective and miss each other. Also, talking with him, not when you're angry about his jokes, but calmingly telling him that while you appreciate the humour once in a while it would be nice if he accompanied it with some action on the to do list that he has because you're feeling overwhelmed.

My dress is satin, not the shiny kind, but it's definitely not chiffon haha. I think it will be hot wearing whatever but at least i'll be wearing the dress I love. Also, the tighter the dress the hotter it will be. I want to suck it up because I really don't want to change into a reception dress. I will never get to wear this dress again and I really want to enjoy it as much as I can. I wear short dresses all the time. Deodorant all the way or I saw some chub rub at sportcheck this weekend. Apparently that's for chaffing? I hadn't heard of it before but I'll probably get some of that haha. I'm also probably getting some blotting paper from Sephora for us and our bridal party and putting it in their welcome bags .