RaynDrop

Quote: Originally Posted by brownsugarbride Your wedding is nearly 6 months after mine and I haven't sent my invitations yet! I need to step up my game! LOL Hahah I wanted to send them in October but I the Mr. wasn't on top of his game with helping me with the SMALL part I asked him to do for them. So they just went out. I think sending them nearly ahead of time is more time them more DW Brides do (from what I have read around here) I only did it because I have lots of little surprises I am sending out over time next year so to get those out I needed to get my invites out and RSVPs back early. When do you think you will send them?

Quote: Originally Posted by 27dress wow, you are cool to do craft. I am getting married 2 years later, do i need to prepare now, is it too early to prepare all the things, I want my wedding to be perfect. Thank you~ Hello by the time I get married I will have been planning my wedding for 2 years. I only invited a small amount of people and I know for sure all but 4 of them are going to go so I started buying things for my Welcome Bags right away - I figured buying stuff over a couple of years will make it seem like I didn't shell out too much for them. I am also doing lots of little DIY projects so for those things that I can commit to now I am going ahead and making them. There are definitely things that you will not be able to until closer to your wedding but I do advice not waiting on things you dont have to. When and Where are you getting married?

Quote: Originally Posted by Ywilliams315 Thanks....yeah I'm working on the AHR we've just designed our wedding cake & sorting out decorations How's your planning going? Xx Wow you are workong on your AHR already! That is great. I have it all planned.. in my head but that is about it .. other then some decorations things I have bought in hopes of using them. I just sent out my invites yesterday (later then I wanted to) but they are OUT - ETA is tomorrow sooooo I am glad that is over with!!! I want to get started on some other smaller projects I plan on doing now so that I do not have a million to do right before we leave!

Quote: Originally Posted by Jennkn87 I thought when people found out that we hadn't asked them already that they would get the hint that we were only inviting immediate family. My mom started it, she thought maybe a couple of my aunts and uncles would want to go, and she said she would pay the extra $80 for them if they so decided to, which only 2-3 are thinking about it, which is what we planned on. We invited all of them anyways. His family is different. His "immediate" family (aunts, uncles, 1st cousins) includes 90 people. Even though some of them, not many, are children and wouldn't be able to go anyways, I just CANNOT fathom inviting them just to say we did, and having even a quarter of them decide they wan't to come!!!! I would literally pull my hair out! Now..if his parents would say they would help pay the extra $80 for each one of them if they came that would be different...but we are currently not on great terms with them, as they are still threatening not coming at all because they "can't afford it". So telling them we can invite the whole fam, but if they all decide to come they will owe for the $80.00 extra...probably wouldn't fly as of right now!! UGH!! Never thought it would be this difficult!!!!!!! I was looking at the Post cards..I really like that Idea. I am waiting to get our engagement pics back to do something like that....I think I will somehow figure out how to print my own luggage tags at least, and then pay for the 250 post cards, with our pictures on them. Then for Invites I will do boarding passes...and I've seen some people that attach like 4 different "passes" to the group...maybe for the Invites I'll add an extra "pass" for the ceremony and only put it on the ones that are going to the people coming to Jamaica? I guess technically I only have to send out like 100-150 of each...since most of those are couples! (duh!! Blonde moment!) So that wouldn't be QUITE as bad! Hell I think I could do the boarding passes myself if I could figure out how to design them! I just can't fathom spending $2 each on the cute ones on Etsy!! Ugh is right... all that stuff is stressful BOO haha I love your idea about doing the mulit page boarding pass and adding the extra page for the DW invited folks Lots of girls on here do them so I know there are templates floating about that you can use to make making them easier! Can't wait to see pics

Quote: Originally Posted by Jennkn87 Well...we told our closest friends, and then close family. The problem arising now is that he has a very large family. He invited his godmother and godfather....said that was the only ones he wanted to invite. Well of course it got around to his other family members and they started deciding that they wanted to go to. We never actually invited them. Now one of his cousins sent me an invite to our wedding website, which I've only given to the people that have been invited. I'm afraid it's going to end up spiraling out of control. Eeeek! I am coming to the conclusion that I will HAVE to send out separate STD's for the ceremony and reception, as well as invites. I really wanted to do Luggage tag save the dates, but I can't afford to send those to EVERYONE. So...Regular card STD for the AHR that goes to everyone...luggage tags to the 20-40 people that are going to the ceremony, and then Boarding pass invites for the AHR?, and then maybe just change the invites a little and send the same ones for the ceremony as well? Ahh... I am NOT creative..and I want to try to make my own but I've never done anything like that. It seems it would be cheaper, just time consuming..which I usually have plenty of working nights...but I have NO idea where to start! Ugh - people are so silly! hahah I completely understand though... We were only doing Parent, Sibling and one friend each (and everyone's other half) Then FI decided he should probably invite is godmother (who is one of his aunts) and he wanted to invite one of my Aunt & Uncles. So my Dad has two sisters - one is the Aunt we invited and we are not inviting the other one or any of my cousins. That is the family that we told a week ago. They do not know my one Aunt is coming... she will tell her sister in due time (as she put it) My Aunt that is coming is involved in our life.. we have done mini vacations with them and spent time with them - my other Aunt has meet my FI maybe 3 times (including this recent visit) So I just told the one that is coming to tell the other that we decided to include them because they are involved -- I trust she will say it in a way as to not make it sound rude! I know when his cousin (who is his god mother's daughter) finds out she is going to want to come - he just keeps telling me not to worry about it - he will handle it *OH BOY* hahah I love the luggage tag & Boarding Passes for the DW Simple STDs for the AHR is great I'm not sure about just changing the wording for the AHR invites on the boarding passes - for those that are invited to both - will it be confusing? I think Post Card STDs for the AHR ? When is your AHR? When do you need to send the invites for that? It would be cute to do something with a wedding pic on it - if you have time to wait til you get home.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jennkn87 Hey Rayn! Been awhile! Hows your planning coming? I'm got my official paperwork with my date and time set and the deposit paid. I've got about 5-6 couples that have sent their reservation forms back to the TA. I blocked 10 rooms for now...Thankfully they are booking up!!! I'm currently in a total rut on what to do about save the dates and invites. I don't want to spend an outrageous amount of money on them. I'm thinkin now to send a regular save the date that says "we will be getting married on this date, please save the date for our AHR on this date..." We aren't inviting everyone to the ceremony....I know alot of people do, but we've already had people find out and say they wanted to go that we weren't originally even thinking about going. You can't really say no..but at the same time every extra person over 20 that in included in our package is $80 per person. I'm afraid if we would invite everyone we are inviting to the AHR- which will end up being 250 or more, we could end up with a HUGE amount of extra money to owe!....so I can't decide how to do the STDs and Invites....I don't want to have to send out separate of both to the different people and end up paying double that what I would usually...ahhh..HELP! Oh so exciting!!! That's awesome so many people have booked already!! I am doing a small ceremony in St. Lucia - we are only inviting 11 couples (plus my photographers so 22 people) and having an AHR for everyone else sometime in 2015. I sent out my DW STDs a few months ago and sent my invites finally TODAY!! I will be doing different STDs & Invites for my AHR because I have no idea when or where that will be yet. I think you can save on postage by sending both STDs (to those invited to both) but I would suggest making two separate STDs for each occasion - really just to try to lesson any possible confusion. Plus then you will have AHR STDs for those only invited to that. There are always great deals on vista print so I am sure that you can make everything on there for not too much money. Don't feel like you need to invite more then you want to... I just told a bunch of family that we are getting married, and it has been told to a few other people also. I just say "we are doing a very small ceremony in St. Lucia (slight pause - then really excitedly) Then We are having a party in MA that we hope you can make it to!" The second part helps lesson the blow of basically telling them we are getting married and you aren't invited LOL

Quote: Originally Posted by Ywilliams315 Thank you, you've made me feel much better 😊😊 Happy to Help... Are you currently working on anything?

Quote: Originally Posted by Ywilliams315 Hello ladies I'm Yvonne and from the London in the UK. We're getting married on the 20th May 2014 too at the Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton and I can't wait. We got engaged just after midnight at New Years and decided on Jamaica in March, so I've not been planning for long as some of you. I've got a few bits but still feel I have sooooo much to do in such little time!! I've got my dress, bridesmaid dresses, shoes incase it's raining & can't get married on the beach, most of the stuff for the OOT bags, invites for Jamaica & AHR and think that's it.......loads more to do feeling stressed now 😕 Sounds to me like you have a lot done.. I have been planning for a long time and don't have all that stuff yet!

Quote: Originally Posted by Rani Dae Does anyone know if there is anywhere online I can order miniature/shooters of tequila in bulk? no.. but that sounds like fun

Quote: Originally Posted by MOrdonez I was on the fence about this until about a month ago.....we are keeping the OOT bags small....a welcome letter, small bottle of bath and body lotion for the women, travel size hand sanitizer from bath and body for the men and candies. Oh looks like you are exactly one month from your wedding Are you super excited?!?! Do you have everything done?

Quote: Originally Posted by SweetFire Hi RaynDrop, We are located in Playa del Carmen. I don’t think we have a Sandals resort here. Based on the experience we have in this area, I think you can expect an outside vendor fee if you want to bring your own photographer to the wedding. Hotel policies often change around here, so I suggest you ask your wedding coordinator for the most updated information. We always suggest you get the information written down, to avoid misunderstandings with the resort upon arrival. I hope that helps! Lori Thanks for replying .. I'm not even sure if it is an option to pay a fee and bring an outside photographer... I'll keep researching

Quote: Originally Posted by pandahugs Aw I didn't know you were also waiting for your official proposal! You are so organized and on top of things!! Although I mentioned it to DBF the other day that I want to start contacting resorts and planning stuff but I don't want to do it without being engaged...and he said soon enough! hehe. to Jennk87: I'm all for a legal ceremony if you need it to be on his insurance to help you save money! I agree that it does pose a problem that you have to keep it a secret from your family (if you choose) and which one to celebrate. On the other hand, it'll be nice to have a secret day to celebrate for just the two of you, and also celebrate the day of the symbolic ceremony! Is there any way you can arrange it so that they are on the same day of the month at least? That way they each are connected! haha yeah... our convo when like this ... we were at a dinner table with my family... my dad made another comment about us getting married someday ... everyone gets up from the table.. my boyfriend looks at me and says "do you wanna get married" I turned rapidly toward him and replied "okay how drunk ARE you right now!??" He said "no I'm serious.. it only makes sense and I think we should" I told him we would talk about it later...and did and clearly we decided to go ahead with it... and like I said as soon as I decided (pretty much right away) that we would do a DW we decided to start planning. We didn't tell anyone of our plans for 6 months so that we could work out some details before we laid it out for them. and here we are almost exactly a year later and 364 days until the wedding and I am still waiting! hahhaa its okay though.... I want him to do something special so he can take all the time he needs... well as long as it is before Christmas (that's another story) and he knows I do not want it to happen on a holiday.. so really his time is running out but at least I know my wait is almost over! hahaha so it worked out for me because I have had all this extra time to plan... he hasn't done much in the way of planning because we still have a year to go and things it is plenty of time... but I am glad to have had the extra time ... I'd start planning things and not tell him that you are.. but that way as soon as you get the go ahead you are already on top of it!

Quote: Originally Posted by Jennkn87 I'm getting SOOOOO close!!!! Loooks like you made it YAY!!! Quote: Originally Posted by Jennkn87 He usually is pretty much on board with anything!! Since it would be helping us out financially he wouldn't mind at all. well it is good he is open.... well at least you still have some time to figure out what you wanna do !!

Quote: Originally Posted by Jennkn87 You are definitely right about the secret special day! I know I wouldn't be able to keep it a secret to my mom either. She would probably be like..what is the point of doing it both places? But she would def understand once I told her about saving the money! I'll probably wait to make that decision until I see how much everything else is going to end up costing me. My other predicament is...I lose my insurance through my parents at the end of December. With all of the new healthcare laws and such my job changed alot of their policies. I work in healthcare and in my field (Radiology) the field is VERY tight right now, there are NO jobs available, especially when you live in a smaller town. I work "part-time" at one hospital and PRN(as needed) at another. I was hoping to get more hours at the one and get insurance. Now that isn't going to happen. So it looks like I can either pay for my own which from what I hear and have read about is SUPER expensive, or I can go on my fiancees...which would be mean we would need to be married legally. Confusing. I don't think we could get married that soon and keep it a secret till next September! LOL. But it's crossed my mind also for that reason..that way I maybe wouldn't have to pay for my own insurance for as long. It's a predicament!! I totalllllly understand... I had the same thought about insurance - it is a very logical reasonable reason.... have you talked to your FI to get his feelings on it?

Quote: Originally Posted by Jennkn87 I know. I originally thought, since there are no blood tests/translations it would be just as easy and you wouldn't have two dates, plus we are having an at home reception. (not that you have a special date for that). At the resort we chose...it is $300 for the legal ceremony, and $150 for the symbolic ceremony. I figure...thats $150 more that I can use torwaruallds decor or something else. I'm on the fence still...but the more I read about it the more I'm thinking it would be just as easy to get married here first. I'm afraid if we told anyone, however, his parents would throw a fit. They are already causing drama about this whole wedding and the fact that we are leaving the country for it. I'm trying not to let them stress me out!! Yeah see I know I would end up saying something to my mom - actually I think I already did tell her we were thinking about doing it.... she didn't really say anything one way or the other but I don't know if everyone would be so okay with it.. I dont want anyone to feel like "this isn't a wedding" I am also having an AHR I totally understand the idea of using the money for other things though. For me.. with all the inclusions I am getting (that would not be included if I did a "vow renewal") it pretty much breaks even so that didn't sway my decision but if that wasn't the case I might have a different feeling on it. I actually thought my FI might want to do the at home thing first but when I ran it by him he said "why would we do that - lets get married at our wedding!?" hahah sooooo I agreed it is a tough call - part of me also thought it might be fun to have a secret fun special day that only we knew about! You will figure it out and go with your heart!

Quote: Originally Posted by Jennkn87 I'm getting them done tonight!! I am putting my foot down!! LOL hahah keep em coming!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by Jennkn87 I'm bringing up the subject of...Legal vs. Symbolic ceremony. Who is doing what? Is it easier do the legal thing before you head down for your DW? It seems to me with the little research and threads that I have read it would be ALOT cheaper. I would worry what day we should celebrate our actual anniversay on? If we decide to do it this way (which I'm leaning torwards the more I read) I would do the legal part HUSH HUSH, where only the FI and I were there. No one needs to know the ceremony on the beach is "pretend"! What is everyone elses thoughts? I have gone back and forth on this subject... I have decided to just get married in St. Lucia. I think if we did it here first I would do it hush hush but then like you said... do you celebrate that day or the day of you "DW" and I know myself... I would want to do something special if we did it here first because it would be a special day. I think in the end I decided I just wanted to have one wedding date. If I was going to Mexico or anywhere that required blood test and stuff like that I would def do it here first. I don't think it is a bad idea though!

Quote: Originally Posted by Jennkn87 I'm getting closer!! only 24 more!!!! Woot! keep em coming! haha

Quote: Originally Posted by shasmith82 I agree my wedding is in June 2015 I just got started I Want to give my guest plenty of time to plan and give myself time to do everything I want engagement party etc. Yay Congrats and welcome..... where are you getting married at?

Quote: Originally Posted by pandahugs Thanks ladies! Now I just need to either get over myself and start contacting resorts to see if they have availability those months before DBF officially proposes, or hope that he gets on it soon! I know it's silly, but it just makes me feel like I'm overdoing it to do so much planning before he does his thing! so I have been planning for about a year already - I am 366 days from my wedding... the resort and wedding date are booked... we told everyone that is invited in April but have not announced are wedding outside of those that are invited .. and I haven't gotten my office proposal. ... so I get it... after our very casual convo about finally getting married I knew we would do a DW .. I didn't want him to feel pressured to propose but I wanted to give people plenty of time to plan... so I totally get it and I don't think what you are doing is silly at all!!!

Sorry if I missed it .... Is there any information available for Sandals Brides? I am not interested in booking their photographers and not thrilled with the partners package. Are there other options? Is there an outside vendor fee? Anything else I need to know? Thanks

Quote:Originally Posted by Jennkn87 Have you gotten your tag remade yet? That really sucks you lost everything!! I am trying to decide on what kind of STDs I want to do....we are getting engagement pictures done in a couple of weeks and I would really like to use one of the pictures from those..however I really like the luggage tag idea....have you ever seen any with pictures on them? I ended up doing something different but I was going to do luggage tag STDs at first... If you do a set of tags you can put the wedding info on one and a pic on the other..... I was going to do something like that. Quote:Originally Posted by pandahugs General question for those of you still here...we are thinking of going from small DW to just private elopement. Do you think it would still be possible to plan for an elopement maybe April to May of 2014? Just trying to get a gauge of this is a realistic timeline or not. I agree with Jenn exactly! Totally doable.

Quote:Originally Posted by mrsbrowntobe I designed my own luggage tag save the date a few months ago. Finally got all the supplies read, sat down to print it and it isn't on my hard drive. I recently bought a mac and wiped my PC and saved everything on an external hard drive. Now I don't have Word (because of the mac) and I have to start from scratch. Sad bear I thought I posted it on a forum here, but can't seem to find it. Aww that stinks! I hope you can find it again!!! Quote:Originally Posted by MickeyMouse Thank you do much. Destination is an option right now but I won't be sure until I get the date narrowed down. Hopefully this week we can decide. So I would maybe pick a couple of choices - I had a date that I LOVED then decided on a location that I LOVED .... I was heart broken when I found out that my island doesn't do Sunday weddings. The date I wanted just happen to fall on a Sunday.. I was crushed. After review my options for which locations I could go to and keep my date I decided that I would rather keep my location. Good Luck!! Quote:Originally Posted by shasmith82 I have started early planning as well getting married in Punta Cana Yay - Congrats!! When are you planning on getting married? Have you done any other planning besides pick your Location?

Quote: Originally Posted by MickeyMouse I am new to this site and planning my wedding. My fiance has proposed to my twice so I figured he really wants us to be together. I am a great planner but I have no idea where to start....I dont even have a date. Please any help is appreciated Hey there!!! Welcome & Congrats Have you decided for sure that you want a Destination Wedding? If so, then you have already started! I suggested thinking about weather a specific date or location is most important to you. Then decided on that first... and pick a back up! Once you decided which is most important then pick the other one and go from there. There are a lot of decisions to make but ones you get a couple of the big things picked the details will all start to fall in to place! AND we are here to help and look forward to hearing about your plans!!

Quote: Originally Posted by Marymack I believe I get a CD with all the images plus 1 album..They are very nice and accomadating. Im sure you could work out whatever you need. If you contact Heather tell her Mary Wylie referred you!! Good Luck.... Cool thanks