girlinthecity97

@@krisdaversa - you know, i hadn't thought of asking df if we could get married at the justice of the peace in my gran's state rather than the state we live in. not sure he'd go for it, but it's worth asking. my mom keeps saying "you never know" but i REALLY don't see my relatives making the effort to bring her. my fiance doesn't want to get married before the actual ceremony so if he were to go for marrying in a state other than where we live, we'd have to do it when we get back - assuming he doesn't change his mind AGAIN and want to go back to having a legal ceremony in mexico. he refuses to get married before. @@talicea7812 - that is really sweet & great that he sees you as a daughter!

@@krisdaversa - that's really nice that you guys are doing that so your grandfather can be involved!!! I wish I could do the same. Sadly, I don't think my gran will be able to come or participate or even see us get married if we were to use a webcam. She's 96 & lives many states away. I'm highly doubtful my aunt and uncle will bring her with them to Mexico. That's my one regret re doing a destination wedding - she's my only living grandparent and I always thought she would be present for my wedding.

Hi there - Sorry to hear your dad will not be at your wedding. I say pick a person you greatlylove and respect. My dad had a stroke and it made me think about what I would do if he couldn't be there - I decided I would pick an uncle I respect and love as much as my dad and maybe do two dances...definitely one with my mom because we are super close then maybe one with my uncle if I want to stick with tradition. A family friend lost her dad and picked her dad's best friend and an uncle to both walk her down the isle & they did a fun dance together at the reception. Hope this helps.

Very nice @@jackshayne0123! I too have had to pay upwards of $200 for a bridesmaid dress (NOT including the always needed alterations) and hated it. I haven't decided if I'm buying my sister's dress or not...I guess I could since she's giving me my shower and this can go towards my "thank you" gift or I could make her pay for it herself as payback for the insanely expensive dress she made me buy & wear for her wedding. I spoil her in general so I don't feel guilty if I opt out of buying hers. I do plan to buy my niece's dress as well as the dresses for the flower girls.

Carlicardenas - thanks so much for the WalMart tip! That's so annoying because I know I will have a good deal of extra luggage full of other things. My goal resort wise is to make sure it's a 30 min or less ride from the airport.

CONGRATS! I too am a February 2015 bride. Ultimately, I think it depends on your budget and how many you "guestimate" will actually attend. I feel our destination budget is more flexible than a non-destination one would be so I opened up the list to other people I wouldn't necessarily be able to invite (e.g., cousins, coworkers, etc...). Also, I guestimate that more than 1/2 of my relatives will not attend, so I feel including including others will offset that. Oorrr what @@Carlicardenas said!

i'm sure you are just as attractive as your friends but understand the insecurity factor and wanting to be the most gorgeous version of yourself! we always insist on doing our brides last so we can really spend lots of time on her - we want our clients to look and feel special and uber glam so i totally get it! LOVE the 2nd headband! The beauty of it is that it works well with both an up or down do. It would even look fab with an elegant side-pony.

NICE!!! i'm thinking i'll end up doing them because we don't have enough pics to post on the wedding website.

@@nattiegams325 - CONGRATS! i'm finding the resorts to be slow to respond as well. i also have to factor in 3 little girls between the ages of 9 and 2 who will be in the wedding so my list is down to: azul beach, azul sensatori, azul fives, jw marriott, casa magna (though i don't like what i've seen of the casa magna rooms so that may be ruled out on gp).

@@Carlicardenas - i'm setting the date once we return from our scouting trip & sign the contracts, if we don't just go ahead and sign them while down there next weekend. DF moves fast once his mind is made up so if he likes the resort(s) like I am hoping/thinking he will, i think we'll be leaving with papers in hand. It's killing me because I'm ready to get going and start putting the Save-the-Dates together and out in the mail. Did you do engagement photos? I'm on the fence....

Ok cool! I will report back on the Walmart and Mall, and also look for the MAC (didn't know there was one there - good to know!). Taking a chart is a GREAT idea. Thankfully, I don't have to worry about makeup because I'm a pro makeup artist and have a couple of makeup artist friends coming as well. I haven't decided if I will let my business partner do me or do myself. Everyone (including her) is pushing me to NOT do it myself. Have you checked reviews for your resort? Some brides have mentioned whether or not they felt the resort makeup artist was good or not. I do, however, have to worry about hair. I'm waiting for my stylist to give a quote to fly her down - hopefully it won't be too crazy. Unfortunately, I don't have hair stylist friends so flying mine down will have to be a big splurge.

we are heading down next week to see the resorts, taste the food etc.. and will move forward with our contract then. our TA suggested doing the room block but making sure there are no penalty fees etc. if we fall under the number we guestimate booking. It just seems to make the most practical sense since I'd like for everyone to stay where we are getting married. This will make it easier to chat and visit with people outside of the actual wedding day.

I agree with @@acw271011 re November being cheaper. We bounced around different date options and our TA told us that she found November and December (excluding Christmas/New Year's) to be the cheapest times to go to Mexico. She also suggested "shoulder periods". These are times that fall outside of/in between peak travel weeks/weekends. For example, we were initially thinking of getting married on 2-14-15 since it fell on a U.S. long holiday weekend, but she told us that's the 2nd most expensive weekend. We then looked at dates right before that and right after and the air/hotel costs dropped by 1/2!

Hi Lilgabri03 - I'm the same way re research, constantly thinking about my guests, creating spreadsheets that map out the pros, cons, and price differences etc...so much so i think DF was going to consider taking back the ring (j/lk)! LOL So that I would stop obsessing and bugging him, he suggested we price our top pick hotel/air against the top all-inclusive/air. The hotel/air price/person was only cheaper by <$100 so the all-inclusives won, especially once factoring back in the cost for meals, drinks etc... for the guests during their stay if we stuck with a hotel option. A friend got married in PR in November and had the sell-out situation happen. She didn't realize a large conference was rolling in the weekend of her wedding so guests who didn't book early had to scramble to find rooms. if you are worried about this, I would check to see if any conferences are happening around that time and pick a different date. hope this helps!

Hi Lilgabri03 - I'm the same way re research, constantly thinking about my guests, creating spreadsheets that map out the pros, cons, and price differences etc...so much so i think DF was going to consider taking back the ring (j/lk)! LOL So that I would stop obsessing and bugging him, he suggested we price our top pick hotel/air against the top all-inclusive/air. The hotel/air price/person was only cheaper by <$100 so the all-inclusives we liked won once factoring back in the cost for meals etc... for the guests during their stay. A friend got married in PR in November and had the sell-out situation happen. She didn't realize a large conference was rolling in the weekend of her wedding so guests who didn't book early had to scramble to find rooms. if you are worried about this, I would check to see if anything conferences are happening around that time and pick a different date.

@ - thanks!!!

@@mark21 - i would start with the following: align with your fiance on 3 things your wedding/wedding location must have/be. play around - pick a couple of hotels in each location you THINK you might be interested in (e.g. a quote or two from a beach hotel and same from a mountain resort). also, i'd play around with things like air etc... to get an idea of what it will cost for guests to fly there as well as yourselves. get a pro - research and talk to no more than 3 travel agent/advisors who specialize in destination weddings. they can give you some great suggestions in terms of destinations, hotels, best times of year for your budget etc... based on those 3 things that matter most to you both. hiring one really helped me get over that hurdle! i also had to keep a flexible mind. being willing to play with the date etc.. can help cut down costs & give you more leverage for negotiating packages and rates. hope this helps!

same here @@Linz1131 - in my excitement, i peeled the cover off the front and back so now i'm determined to use it. i do like the little ziplock case. i've been putting invitation samples and things like that in there. df is the numbers guy so we looked at the Knot's Destination Wedding Guide and copied that budget into a spreadsheet. @@riilokiiley - pinterest has totally become my everything for planning. i just use the binder for paper things like price quotes etc... since i can't return it. oh well, live and learn. i should have listened to him (and my gut) and just created my own.

@@Carlicardenas - 2/7/15 is the target date but i just found out one of the properties we are looking at doesn't have that day available #sadness! the positive is it isn't our top property choice so far so.... the interest rsvp will be separate since my save-the-dates are luggage tags. my sister & a friend also suggested i add a feature to our wedding website so people can rsvp there or mail back the interest rsvp. the wording will be something along the lines of this: help us with our plans...let us know your plans: _____ count me (plus ___) in! _____ help! i'm on the fence! _____ wish i could but enjoy for me! i agree re flowers! i love flowers and get that they can be pretty expensive but don't feel justified in paying what the resorts are asking as part of the package for non-exotic flowers that will ultimately be thrown out the next day or so. friends who had dw said they wish they'd cut back on some of the flowers they ordered b/c no one really paid attention to them and they didn't make or break their pics the way they would at a home wedding. i'm thinking of using lots of candles and maybe lanterns. i've seen some really nice concepts where a color runner was used on the table with sand and shells sprinkled with a few different sized silver lanterns.

did you try the knot, wedding wire or wedding bee.com? wedding wire had a good post re color pallets that a friend used to help her create her vision (http://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-timeline/defining-my-wedding-style/choose-your-wedding-colors.html). i think the colors you have in mind could be really nice...maybe have the blush and purple as the dominant colors with silver for accents? is your ceremony & reception both outdoors? two of my friends who had dw suggested i take into account the scenery and not stress about details as much because people remembered the beach or terrace reception and the beauty around them more than there centerpieces.

@@csho - nice!!! that's one of the styles i pinned on my pinterest board! sooo lucky!

hahaha @ tacky - i'm sure it's not bad or as bad as you may think. next week we are going to down to check out our final choice hotels before doing a contract. thanks for the tip re ta providing a postcard free. i will look into that! i hear you re not wanting to pack a ton of oot bag stuff. i'm heading down the latter part of next week and plan to pop into the kukulcan (sp?) mall and walmart in cancun to see what i could buy there instead of trying to bring it down with me for the wedding. i'll let you know what i find!

Since my party is so small and I REALLY want my sister to be able to wear it again, I told her to pick whatever cocktail dress she likes in black or navy. We have been checking out Jcrew's Crew cuts and found some cute Jr bridesmaid dress ideas for my niece who is 9. We also plan to keep checking the Dept stores, especially around Easter for my niece's dress and 2 flower girl dresses.

(Hi again): We have a tiny bridal party (his bestie, my sister, my 9 y/o niece and maybe my college bestie's 2 little girls as flower girls) so I think we will have to do a sweetheart table. I plan to hit up pinterest for ideas & found a few ideas in Martha Stewart Weddings' style & decoration edition. I plan to buy most of my stuff from Michael's, Home Goods and Etsy. What about you?

Hi Carlicardenas - I am a fellow Feb '15 Cancun area bride. We have narrowed things down to 4 resorts & are going down next week to see them & also scout shops (like Walmart & a souvenir store in Kukulcan Mall) that I could maybe buy some of my OOT bag items at rather than pack everything, especially because I think I will be bringing things for the wedding/ reception decor. Since I will be there early & have to put the bags together anyway, why not save some of that space for things I can't buy there at a good price. So far my save-the-dates, invitations, weekend itinerary, table items (numbers, guest seating cards, and seating charts) are definite DIYs since I have time & haven't found exactly what I was looking for. My sister is really creative & a great crafter so I think we will try doing a brooch bouquet & she is going to do my shoes similar to how she did her own. Looks like you have your location locked - CONGRATS & solo jealous! What DIYs are you doing? Are you in full planning mode? I cannot wait to have a contract finalized so I can move full speed instead of having a bunch of designs and ideas saved.