MrsShoreytobe

I imagine she means 1500 to budget for travel/accom that GUESTS would pay. Although some b&g's have to pay for certain family members to come, depending on their situation.

How cool are these How much were they a piece through vista print? with shipping basically you are looking at around 20 correct? I am in edmonton, alberta

Backy I wish we found each other sooner on this forum dear friend lol! I was you about a week ago lol. I am now 2 weeks into my engagement and have come down off my balistic overwhelming train hahahah! BREATHE. I posted in the general thread "reality check" and some people helped alleviate my anxieties. Basically, when you are starting I believe having a travel agent (which is usually free of charge) is invaluable. Either go with someone you know as an agent or with a local company you've heard good things about. I'm in Edmonton Alberta and our friend, who planned her own DW in Antigua last year which we attended (a cruise wedding) is doing ours. Once you get that in order, they can talk to you about - your budget (or a huge ballpark of what you are hoping to spend) - guest budget - possible dates (and can advise as to when the cheaper ones are) - areas to have a wedding depending on your priorities (e.g. huge wedding party, reception privacy, kid-friendly resorts, etc.) - quotes for guest pricing etc. As for choosing a resort, aha. This is the hardest part I've been told. Once this is set, you are just going through the technicalities of making the dream a reality I personally plan on making a spreadsheet to compare all of the (insane amounts of) packages to see what we REALLY NEED AND WANT. Everyone's budget and priorities will differ, but don't hesitate to ask around for input! YOU GOT THIS GIRL!

Gorgeous ideas in here! After 2 weeks of being engaged, we somehow solidified bridesmaids dresses, what a RELIEF! My sis found this deal for these high quality "transformation dresses" (usually over $200) for 40 on dealfind.com!! http://www.wrapmagicskirts.com/convertible_dress_ev500.html Since purple will be in our wedding, no doubt, we ordered the deep purple, medium length ones:) My bridesmaids are all really happy with these, so I am happy!

I completely agree - I've finally told my fiance "I think I need to invest in a whole day putting together a spreadsheet to literally compare all packages to truly see what will be best value". LOL! I need to finish my masters somewhere in there too lol! I see myself always going on side of caution thinking we WILL HAVE MORE than we invite; my fiance continues to assure me it won't be 50, it will be like 35. So maybe a package that has a limit of 25 for supper won't involve a HUGE cost to add in 10-15 more plates you know?

You ladies are both invaluable! Joyce, I look forward to our skype on Thursday lol! Playa del carmen is increasingly becoming the venue of choice for us..fingers crossed things continue to come together! Thanks again:)

Definitely see what you mean! Indeed, it can be different for everyone Glad we can bounce ideas off one another!

Great points guys! It's interesting to see everyone's reasoning around things. We thought we would also have an AHR so this makes sense that if you have one of these, then you could invite more people to the shower because they will likely come to AHR too. Mufin, that's a good point. I am completely new at this wedding thing lol, and as a bridesmaid in my future sis in law's wedding (which is happening locally, not a DW) she DID give us her list. I guess I assumed that I would ALSo be making my own list for the shower and giving it to my bridesmaids....Is this what many of you did? For me then, the list would be done by me, which should be interesting lol!

This was so helpful. We'll aim to have the RSVP around 2 months or so before the wedding day. Also, I am fully prepared to chase people down lol! This is something I actually don't mind doing as I can usually come across as quite gentle hahah But I will push if need be! LOL We hope to finalize our wedding date by May sometime, and then we will be sending out Save the Dates electronically ASAP. Wedding date likely in early march or may of 2014. I really want people to get Save the Dates early early!!!

This looks lovely! LOL how many people do you have for guest list?

searching for this article now! Thanks Mscherry!

thanks for the breakdown - we are also firm on our guest budget staying at 1500 (possibly 1600). Where is your wedding? We are expecting 35-40 ppl so it's interesting trying to find a locatin that doesn't have huge per plate extra costs for the reception!

Canada05, awesome idea. I am thinking we will do something from word on heavier paper as well. Like others, I've also heard that some resorts print a mini agenda for your guests (for free)...This likely depends on the resort. With the fans, i've seen the ones that collapse which are easiest to pack for people; where did you guys get the rafia fans ladies? Were they difficult to pack? We are expecting 35-40 people...

I can't wait for our trash the dress. Indeed, we aren't planning to "trash it" and I've heard from friends that the resort's cleaning service ended up getting out any sand or dirt

Very helpful thread! I have read that having both a gift registry and honeymoon is most helpful for guests. Our reasoning for not wanting "presents" was the same as you ladies - people are coming to be with us on our special day, and we've lived together for years. However, I read that not all people want to contribute to a honeymoon registry and prefer actual gifts. So we will likely register for both. Speaking of showers as well, I saw in an article that you SHOULDN'T invite people to your shower who AREN'T invited to the DW. Because then it seems like "you're trying to get more presents"....It seems though that some of you are having a shower so that other people not invited can come at least celebrate your wedding to come.... Any thoughts on this? I'd love to invite more women to the shower, but I by NO MEANS want or expect gifts. A DW is an incredible expense for people, and even if people aren't invited, I wouldn't want them to come with gifts!

Hey guys! Awesome programs in here. I've read in another thread that some resort wedding coordinators did up "mini invites" with the day's schedule on it for all guests in their rooms. Does anyone have this as an experience?

Lol still wrong, I see 1500.. Although we have 40 ppl so the package for 10 is useless lol. Must, go, to, bed!

My bad their lowest wasn't 8 it was in the 3000 range!

Hey all! Paradisus is absolutely gorgeous from what I've seen! I was wondering though, does the $8000 price tag for their lowest package seem steep to u? I was just appalled to see this when standard packages I've seen (from like 20 resorts lol) are around 2000-4000 max? Am I missing something lol!

PM'd you, your color palette matches my taste haha!

So happy to have found this thread, the moon palace and playacar palace resorts seem to be some of my top potential choices! Did any of you consider playacar as well? And if so, what made you go with the moon palace? Our wedding group will be around 40 and mostly in their 30s or so (i.e. younger crown for post part; but hey age is just a number right lol! I've heard playa del carmen doesn't have a huge night life, which is why I may lean more towards moon palace. Any thoughts guys?

I was wondering about anyone else's experience (since 2012) of perhaps doing a night out in cancun? We have a predominantly 'young' group coming to the wedding; of the 40-50, most are in their 30's and enjoy a good night out I am semi torn with how beautiful playa is compared to maybe being surrounded by so much "stuff" in cancun, but if cancun provides more options for nightlife, what do you guys think? Anyone able to relate? LOL

yikes!

Dina, couldn't agree more! Moreover, the packages are like comparing apples to oranges sometimes (it seems anyways); trying to balance "well this one includes my makeup, this doesn't bla bla bla!" lol!!! I also adore the sapphire and it is definitely one we are looking into. I've kept your key idea in mind that looking at wedding pics can help with that decision. I've definitely found that to be helpful! Seeing a video or stream of photos of an entire wedding day helps to see "yes, this is how I would also love mine to go" Absolutely, you're right, and I was happily surprised with that capacity thank you! My fiance continues to assure me we won't have 50, it will indeed be more like 35 to 40 lol. I always go on the side of caution though :)Thank you! Indeed! The barcelo bavaro deluxe website indicates no outside photopgraphers are allowed...I emailed them to clarify this, as we were going to bring our two photographers as guests? How silly is that, the surcharge from resorts for outside vendors! Sheesh! And I guess I should have been a bit more specific about the type of privacy. Really, we don't want a completely private one, but the idea is to have in a gazebo, semi outside/inside area where we won't be bothered kind of thing if that makes sense! Thank you guys so much for your feedback, means so much!

Hi Danda! Thanks for your awesome outline of your special day We may also have up to 50 people and would love to have a great private reception area to dance the night away (with free liquor all night lol). Do you mind me asking what kind of budgeting you did for this resort? Ie what costs added up to for you in terms of the number of guests at dinner, etc? I can PM you if you prefer