TinkerSofi

I love this thread. A lot of these dresses look better on real people. It gives me hope that I'll find a nice dress

A question for previous brides. How do you go about setting up lights in, say, the terrace if you have your wedding there. Do you pay extra for it or is it included. I don't want anything crazy, just something that will set the party mood and that will make sure we at lest see our food and each other.

@@csho I really like your table. I'm not going with a beach theme but I like that yours is nice and simple

Definitely! I think it all goes in hiring the right photographer. However, those are always the expensive ones haha

thanks! That's a really beautiful place, and beautiful pictures as well

agreed. It does make me feel better and i had the same question about underwear so I guess it's not so silly after all

@@bicoastalimages those are great ideas for a reception! Where is the second picture at?

thanks for the tips guys! I think I have a pretty good idea on where to start now. I just have this fear that I'm going to go insane and keep thinking "what if I find something nicer somewhere else" and then I won't settle for anything but eventually all the dresses will just look the same. I like a lot of different dresses hahah. I guess I just have to get out there and start trying. I could research online all I want but until I try some on I won't be able to narrow it down.

Yeah we're going with the Ipod and not getting a DJ. I find that 3 hours is really little time to get everything done. Mind you we're latin and dancing is #1 priority at weddings. It's basically a lame wedding if you have little or no dancing. We can't really pay for more than one extra hour of reception so we'll just go and party somewhere else and for those who want to stay at the hotel after the wedding that's fine too.

thanks! I also fell in love with a Monique Lhuillier gown, Miranda. I would like to try it on just to see if it's even worth to put the effort in trying to find a used one or a sample gown. Other than that I agree, I should keep to my budget. Maybe I'll start with a couple of bigger stores with more selection and go from there once I know more what I'm looking for.

I've gone to the caribbean a couple of times in August. The weather is definitely hot and VERY humid, which only makes the heat worse. I would strongly suggest having your ceremony later in the day so that it's bearable for everyone, especially if your guests won't have shade to sit under during the ceremony. The good thing is that if it's by the beach it will be nice with the breeze. With all this said, we're planning to have our wedding in August as well! The only thing that worries me is my hair in the humidity and trying to stay out of the sun until the wedding because I burn pretty easily haha. While I was in Cancun in August I went to an outdoor party by the beach. It was hot but the air was extremely nice and kept us cool. I'm hoping my reception will be the same

I'm starting to think about visiting some bridal salons in my city during the next couple of months. However, there are so many of them! There's the big stores with designer dresses and the smaller ones that don't have designer gowns but they probably have just as many beautiful ones (not to mention probably more in my budget). How do you even choose where to start? Please any tips?

I'm not wearing one because of the wind and that they are ridiculously expensive for what they are. If you dare to make your own you can always make one for the pictures. That way if it's not perfect it's ok because no one will notice. You could also maybe ask one of your already-married friends if you can borrow theirs.

thanks for the info! I think a travel agent will really save us many headaches down the road so it's an investment we're willing to make.

What TA have you been working with? Was she able to negotiate special prices for you? My planning is also going slow because we got engaged last year and we're not getting married until next year! haha at least it'll give people the chance to save too

I agree with a lot of your guys' posts. We looked around and the price of decent engagement photos is around $400. This just seems insane to me, especially when you factor in the crazy prices of the wedding pics themselves. We did decide to splurge on the photography and videography for our wedding but that meant we needed to compromise somewhere else. Some of our friends got their engagement session for free when they booked the photographer for their wedding but they had a local wedding so it made total sense. I also shopped around for local photographers who also did destination weddings but they still charged the accommodations plus some percentage of the package that you wanted. It ended up being more expensive than hiring someone at our destination. We've been dating for 6 years so for our website we will use pictures of us throughout the years. I think that would be pretty cute.

Thanks everyone. We decided we're going to skip on this and put the money towards the wedding photos and add a bit more money to get a videographer

Question ladies. Did anyone use the stylist at the resort? What do you guys think?

FH and I are not doing it on the beach because everyone gets so sandy, it's messy, etc. You're basically asking people to dress up but then telling them to put flip flops on, plus it gets extremely windy. We both loved the idea of getting married by the beach somewhere hot. We're picking a venue outside, by the beach but not on the sand, if that makes sense .

Careful with the air tight bags. They might make more room but they definitely don't reduce weight. Unless you have a ton of light items that take a lot of space for what they weight (such as lanterns, or sweaters- not like you would need them) make sure you weight the suitcase before you leave.

I'm wondering the same thing. Also, has anyone heard anything about hair and makeup at the hotel? Are they any good?

the hotel we've chosen so far only offers 3 hours but we are planning to pay for an extra hour. I believe it's about $15/pp extra for the hour. At least for me the dancing at a wedding is the most important part of the reception (this is something we've had to compromise with FH). I don't want to be rushed and I want to be able put my own music. Then we're also going out with whoever wants to join us!

That's another thing, my fiance really doesn't like being in pictures and the only way he is ok with it is if we get a really good photographer who doesn't make us pose. That means extra cash though and I would much rather spend it on the actual wedding. I was just wondering if it's a big no no. I also got some reluctant responses from photographers here when I asked them how much they charged for engagement sessions only. Thank you for your responses!

That's true they can get crowded, especially in high season. Also the bigger the dress the more uncomfortable that would be. I haven't even tried any yet so I really don't know what they feel like hahah.

We have the same idea to hit the clubs afterwards. Are you planning on changing to a different dress? I don't really want to because wedding gowns are so expensive and I want to take advantage of every single minute with it but I'm wondering what other people are doing.