KayRae

I'm not sure how much I spent all together per BM (I had 3) but I too got a little carried away lol. Mostly because I had such a long time to plan, or so it seems, and every time I came across something, or came up with an idea that I thought was "perfect", I had a hard time telling myself no. I ended up with a collection of things...jewelry set (necklace, bracelet, earrings), pearl barefoot sandals, monogrammed getting ready shirt, personalized dress hangers, beach bag with coordinating wet bikini bag and sarong, beach towel chair clips, personalized beach drink holder, and a few other little things. But altogether I would say around 200 at the most. Which they were definitely not expecting all of that and were very surprised and thankful for everything. I 100% agree with the other posts about how you shouldn't feel like you have to spend a certain dollar amount, or feel like you need to spend more because they are spending more to be a part of your wedding with travel expenses...after all, they are also getting a vacation in paradise in addition to being a part of your wedding And I always believe that it's the thought that counts the most, and I'm sure your BM's will love whatever it is that you decide to get them.

We used Styling Trio in January. I know for certain that the BM hair and makeup (airbrush, false lashes) was 150, or 90 for either of the services. For me it was either 350 or 375, can't remember for sure. They came to the resort so had to also pay the resort’s external vendor fee for each stylist that came, 2 in our case. So comparing that to your rates, especially if that is who you want to use, sounds like you have a great deal.

@@MissFrench Wow! 3 weeks away!!!! So excited for you! And yes the time will fly by! You already know my thoughts since we have discussed the issue before so probably not much help either. And I had the same experience as you watching Carlos' work, crying like a baby watching complete strangers get married, even those spoken only in Spanish, and that's how I knew that he was the one! But it was an easy decision for me because I was planning for video in the budget from the beginning and his prices were competitive if not cheaper than other quotes I received. We are almost 6 months out from our wedding and I personally love watching our videos quite often, including the full length film that we received a month and a half ago, even if that makes me seem a little crazy lol. Hopefully some other brides, past and future, will be able to give you some valuable insight to help you with your decision.

@@acw271011 Thank you so much for the sweet comments!!

@@Heidz1234 Congrats on your upcoming wedding! Let the planning fun begin! And thanks @@MissFrench for the shout out! I personally can't wait to see all of your planning and hard work put into action with some post wedding details & photos! I know it's going to be absolutely gorgeous! And getting so close So my husband and I were married at Secrets Maroma Beach in January and had a small wedding. Slightly bigger than what you mentioned, as we had 22 guests total, but still small generally speaking...mostly immediate family and a handful of our closest friends, with 6 of those guests making up our wedding party - 3 girls & 3 guys. I had always wanted a destination wedding and am so happy that we went through with it because it truly was perfect for us and what we ultimately wanted to for our wedding from the beginning...small, intimate setting with the most important people in our lives there with us, a beautiful location, a laid back yet elegant and romantic vibe, etc. I also wanted to be able to enjoy the typical elements of a wedding, including a fun reception, just done on a smaller scale, and in my opinion having a destination wedding seemed like the perfect solution. We had originally planned on having an at home reception post wedding but never really planned anything concrete before the wedding and afterwards we were perfectly content with the experience we shared with our family and friends in Mexico that we didn't feel it necessary to put on another party so to speak. I didn't start out knowing all the possibilities when planning a destination wedding and was concerned at first that there would be some key elements sacrificed by not having a wedding at home where it is easier to be more directly involved with the planning, more familiar with vendors, etc. But after spending many hours online doing my homework and checking out a wide variety of weddings at different venues I realized that I didn't have to limit myself to the options among the resort wedding packages, etc - which the elements most important to me personally that I thought I would have to compromise on was having a great photographer, videographer, and a particular style of wedding cake that I fell in love with. Boy was I wrong! Everyone involved in bringing our wedding dream to life and also capturing it for us to remember forever in our photos and video was absolutely amazing and exceeded all expectations. I also remember having a little concern about the energy level at the reception knowing the small size and the makeup of our guest list (not necessarily a big group of the clubbing party animal types lol, but neither are my husband and I). So of course the dance floor was not a jam packed dance party from beginning to end like you might experience with larger weddings but we still had a blast and tons of bad dance moves lol. I never felt like it became boring or yawn-inducing lol. I might have been the only one to actually stay on the dance floor the entire night (literally), but there was always a part of our group, if not most, with us cutting up at any given time. We used the DJ contracted through the resort which we had for the entire duration of the reception (4 hrs), which also included an MC that was great to help keep the flow of the reception at a steady pace and on track - starting with the announcements of the wedding party entrance and ours, dances, dinner, speeches, cake cutting, bouquet and garter tosses, last dance, etc. We used the resort's gazebo area by the main pool as our reception location which I think was the perfect size space for our small group. That's one thing that i would suggest is trying to find a reception location/space that better suits a smaller group so that way it will have a more intimate vibe that will help keep the energy up among the group rather than being spread out over this huge space that leaves a lot of room for distance between you and your guests. And also to have a more intimate seating plan for dinner that brings the group closer together - like maybe one long table instead of 2 or 3 smaller individual tables spaced far apart, etc. Our wedding package included cocktail hour after the ceremony, 3 hour reception with a seated dinner and open bar for up to 20 guests, so just had to pay for the extra head count over 20, and an additional hour for the open bar to extend the reception for an extra hour. Which still really seemed so short because we were having so much fun! So the point I guess I am trying to make is that whatever you want can be done to fit your vision, whether it involves 10, 15, or 20 + guests without having to compromise those elements you still want included regardless of the size of your guest list. I'm including the link to one of our wedding videos that you can check out if you'd like. If only interested in the reception clips you can just skip to the 2nd half/last 1/3 of it And if by some chance you (or any other reader) might have already watched it (since already posted previously in the SMB thread and my review of Carlos Gallardo - overkill I know sorry!!), I apologize for posting it again here. I know that it helped me at least to see other real destination weddings at different venues to get an idea of what to generally expect and also to see the possibilities for making it your very own dream come true I stalked the websites/blogs/FB pages of wedding photographers and videographers in the area that I had come across. So if you haven't yet that's one thing to consider checking out. Our wedding was definitely not extravagant or over the top, nor magazine perfect, but was perfect for us and turned out more beautiful than I ever could have imagined And I have no doubt that you will feel the same about your own amazingly perfect wedding after all is said and done, regardless of which direction your planning may lead you or how many are on the guest list, because after all... you are getting to marry the love of your life and that's what it's really all about! Best of luck to you and your FI!