Icis

I think it depends on key factors such as the bride & groom's financial situation, the invited guests financial threshold, etc. I'm not too sure we are in the same situation as other brides, but us Chinese people don't do all-inclusive or Mexico. Out of all the invited guests (my family, fiance's family, our combined friends, etc.), 8 had been to an all-inclusive resort (100+ people). Out of all the guests that agreed to come, 5 out of 28 has been to Mexico/Caribbean. Of course, my fiance and I would LOVE to have our wedding in a grand expensive place, and we are willing to pay for it, but we have to think about why we are having a wedding in the first place -- we wanted to celebrate our wedding with our family AND friends. Further, my family, fiance's family and our friends are not big travelers...the reality is that asking each guest to fork out $2,000+ is not reasonable for our situation (unless I miraculously win the Powerball or Lottomax jackpot). Also, because we are based out of Vancouver, BC, the best bang for the buck for Riviera Maya packages are 7 night stays. Shorter duration (4-5 days) costs about $200 less. No point in offering shorter duration to guests at all!! We wrote down a lists of guests that we really, really want them attending our wedding and we asked them the approx. price they are willing to pay just to get a feel for the threshold. After surveying the wanted-guestlist, we set our targeted amount to be $1,700 (including all tax, surcharges, 7 nights, flight) per person. We then settled on a resort that fits most of our criteria (the location we wanted, the resort amenities, the reviews, and the pricing). There is always a pro and con to selecting whichever resort you pick, but ultimately it depends on the criteria you and your fiance set for your wedding.

Great idea! I'm just concerned about how to order the flowers ahead of time. Do flowers needed to be ordered 7days+ ahead?

Hello fellow DW Brides! I typed up a DIY tutorial for the giant crepe paper roses on my planning thread. You can find it here. Happy DIYing!!!

We have made a conclusion based on our friends, photographers and your votes: The long dress! My fiance is totally rubbing it in about the fact that he "won" because he picked the long dress the moment he saw it. Thanks so much for all your help ladies! I really couldn't have been about to pick one over the other without all your opinions!

I wish I had known some good travel agents in Canada before stapling down my wedding. It is so hard to sift through the forum because there is just so much information. The vendor section only gives us 3 travel agents' reviews so other good vendors go unnnoticed.

Good job on the website! I'm a paper person so I would prefer to have a printed copy of the packing list. Perhaps upload a pdf document that has a packing checklist with checkboxes next to each item for those that like to check things off while they pack?

May I know where your fiance purchased this book?

Hmmm...I think I'm going to email my photographer to just get one last opinion and make a decision cuz I'm losing hair over this! Thanks for all your help ladies!!!

OMG! That movie's first 5 mins always bring tears to my eyes. My fiance proposed to me by singing "I wanna grow old with you" by Westlife and the first thing I thought was the movie "Up". Your fiance is so creative! I love it!

Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear that Noe Camacho didn't respond. I have contacted Noe during February and he was quick to respond so I'm not too sure if it is because he had other things on his plate? I ended up making my deposit with him. Irregardless, customer service is important! Have you tried contacting http://cancunminister.com/? I have heard of good reviews about them. I contacted them as well and they are pretty good at responding to emails.

Hey Angela! Our building manager happened to own his own printing business and he has some nice fonts. He was nice enough to make the logo for us. Our website is http://itslegendary2014.wix.com/fasa You can click on the home link at the bottom of the front page to skip the video to see the website. The RSVP page (We called it Check-in) is password protected (FASA2014) Let me know if you have any questions about Wix.

Yikes! I never thought of sweat marks! Another thing to worry about... Thanks for your comments!!

Thanks for all the input ladies!

I did that for my plane ticket invite and guests loved the idea.

Good points! I never thought of that! Thanks so much!

Thanks @@kellymiller!

I found some links to the two dresses. Thanks for the help! Dress #1 http://www.pinterest.com/pin/187673509446881249/ Dress #2 http://www.dressbarn.com/detail/beaded-halter-dress/101607949/206

Hi all, Vancouver bride here getting married at Riu Palace Riviera Maya in December 2014. I got most of my supplies from China (ebay, Aliexpress, DHgate), Dollarama or Amazon.com. We usually ship our supplies to our friend who lives in Oregon.

Hello fellow BDW brides, I found two dresses from Dressbarn that I think both of my BM looks fabulous in, but I need help with picking one for the wedding. I have picked my wedding colours to be 1920s Great Gatsby inspired theme: My bouquet will look like this: My ceremony will be at the beach. My fiance along with 2 other groomsmen will wear black suits. We have not decided on ties yet. Here are the dresses: Dress #1: Short dress Pros: It is a short dress (good for walking around the beach), champagne colour, I love the lace top and then the chiffon layers at the bottom Cons: They sold out of the size 8s, so I have to alter the dress for one of my BMs, both BMs and my fiance likes dress #2 more, I'm afraid the color of the dress will blend in with the sand colour in the background. I'm afraid the champagne colour is so light that it will be washed out in pictures like this: Dress #2: Long dress (the flash is making the dress looks silver, but it is actually taupe color) Pros: No need to alter either of the dresses (except for hemming the length) since we were able to buy the correct size, both BMs and my fiance likes this dress more, They will not blend-in with the sand in the background, this dress is cheaper than Dress #1 Cons: I have in my mind that BMs looks better in short dresses (looks cuter), Not sure if the taupe colour quite match with my bouquet and my theme, Will my BMs looks shorter with the long dress? PLEASE HELP! I'm going insane soon.

I used Wix.com because I like to customize it more and that I can add blogs and other things in my website.

Large Crepe Roses I saw really pretty crepe paper roses that would look awesome in our pre-wedding photoshoots, since as with most Eastern Asians, we are planning to have a pre-wedding photoshoot. I studied two blogs' step by step instructions: http://greenweddingshoes.com/diy-giant-paper-rose-flower/ http://www.studiodiy.com/2013/05/06/diy-giant-crepe-paper-roses/ Supplies (for 3 roses): 1) Crepe Paper (50cm x 250cm) x 4 (you need 1 roll per rose + one green paper for leaves): I purchased my crepe papers from Aliexpress (http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/6094090280.html). Please be aware that the shipping may take a month+ because they slowly ship them from China. It took me about 5 weeks before I got my crepe papers. 2) Long sticks x 3: Instead of using wires as suggested on the blogs, I used these long BBQ skewers I found at the local Dollarama. I'm sure you can also find some sticks in Hobby lobby. 3) Skinny floral wire x 1: From Dollar Tree. These are for the rose bud. You don't have to do this portion if you follow the blog's way of creating the bud, but I want to create a rosebud that looks good so I used this wire for the middle. You will see what I mean later. 4) Thicker floral wire x 1: From Dollarama. These are for the leaves because these wires are stronger. 5) Enlarged printout of petal template: From the blogs. I have attached a copy on here as well. Make sure you remember to enlarge it about 200% 6) Glue: From Dollar Tree. I just bought regular Elmer's school glue. You can also use any glue that you use for scrapbooking. Scotch Quick-Dry Adhesive is better for the job, but more expensive. 7) Scissors Instructions I followed the blog and added a few things that are different from the blog's instructions. 1) Rosebud: As mentioned on supplies #3, I made a rose bud. I didn't like the fact that the rose looks hollow in the middle so I decided to experiment and make my own rose bud. I used the scrap crepe paper I have left from cutting the petals and used it to stuff it and then wrap it around the stick. Once I have a ok looking rose bud I secure it with glue. Because the structure is made out of crepe paper, I used the thin floral wire to wrap it around the rosebud to give it some strength. Yes, the rosebud looks funny at first. 2) Rose petal arrangements: The blog suggested the rose petals be added wherever you want. If you look at a rose, the rose petals open either clock or counterclock-wise. So I wrapped the tear shaped petals accordingly to make it more realistic. If you are planning to follow how I make the rose bud and the petal arrangements, make sure your rose petals follows the same direction as how your rosebud is opening. 3) Rose petals: I didn't use 15 heart shaped petals as mentioned on the blog. I actually used 8 heart shaped petals and then I enlarged the heart shaped petals by about another 10-30% to larger petals. I used about 8 larger petals. The End Result Large Roses Template.pdf

I'm just so sad to hear these horror stories, but I really do appreciate everyone's effort to spread the word so that other brides are aware. This really shows how important it is to share reviews for each vendor - whether it be bad OR good experiences.

I used Wix.com because the wedding websites doesn't allow me to make/create things that I want to do. If you want to check out our website: http://itslegendary2014.wix.com/fasa

I went with Sunwing as well. I talked to Marlin Travel, Blue Petal, even my friend at a travel agency. I was so sad that NO AGENT can gave me better and more prompt response than Sunwing. It was really a shame because I heard many good things about Blue Petal from this website, but my experience was rather upsetting. I was initially talking to Jill Tran in July 2013, she forwarded me to another agent to discuss pricing and quote. Another month or so went by and then Jill forwarded me to another agent because the first agent was too busy. I emailed Jill again in Oct 2013 because I haven't heard from the second agent and to see if I can get some quotes for some resorts. No reply. I just gave up on them after that. I guess not too many people from the west coast go all the way to Riviera Maya to get married or something? I don't understand why it is so hard to get pricing from TAs (Marlin Travel told me to be patient because they can't get pricing yet), but it is so easy to get pricing from Sunwing.

If anyone specifically wants the Aladdin Mason jar tumblers, I saw them being sold in the US Costco (Washington and Oregon) last month. They came in 3 per pack and comes up to about $7USD each.