vanessav53

Looking for answers around the ceremony: 1. Is anyone using a friend or family member as the officiant for their symbolic ceremony? 2. Does this need to be approved by the resort or does the friend/family member have to get their certificate online to officiate even if it's just symbolic. I've read that some resorts require that even though it's really not neccessary if it's not a legal ceremony? Thanks

@ironman- Thank you! very helpful. This is perfect because we are getting legally married in the US before we come to mexico so my friend won't need to do anything. How did you like the way the symbolic ended up? Had your brother done any ceremonies before? Or was yours the first and only one?

@@GingerJ228 let me know where you find the undergarments. My mom ordered me some from online and it fit horribly so I"m going to have to go and look. I saw a few lingerie shops in NYC so I'll probably check one of those out so they can fit me. Let me know if you have any reccos. I got my shoes at nordstrom ( wedges) and then order flat sandals for afterwards bc I literally hate wearing high shoes but my FI is 6'1 and I"m 4'11 so I figure for pics and then first dance I'll wear the wedges then change so I can dance We are getting our wedding bands at a place in hoboken I think but if you have any reccos in NYC I'll take them

@@GingerJ228 we are having the steel drum band trio at welcome reception also! I'm so excited about it. I think we are goign to start cocktail hour an hour after ceremony ends so we and the pople that will be in the photos don't miss 1/2 or the whole cocktail hour. My FI is one of 8 siblings so his whole family is 35 of the 80 guests we are having. Since they will be in some of the group photos we wanted to psuh back start so will most likely have ceremony 4-4:30 cocktail hour 5:30-6:30 and reception 6:30-10:30 We are using the guitar from the divine pkg at cocktail hour instead of at the ceremony! did you hear back about the johnny walker blue or cigar roller yet? I have to make sure we ask for premium liquor to be served at all of our events ( grey goose,etc.) they should ha veon resort but people said you have to ask NUMEROUS times until they actually serve it

@@zeman321 I can't answer many of the questions you above but here is a few things i found out when talking to Anel about my wedding. They can transfer the chairs from the ceremony to the reception. It says they will charge $2/chair to move but if you read through some other posts on this forum a few brides said they never got charged for it. Same thing the sashes. They will charge you to put on the initial sashes( for any over the 25 that are included in the package) and then again to change to a diff color. One thing brides did was had some friends/family do the sashes to save some $$. That's probbly the only downfall about these resorts is they charge you for EVERYTHING. You can basically do anything you want but you will have to most likely pay a small fee for just about everything.

Have fun @@TaraB! Enjoy every minute! Can't wait to hear all the details and see pics when you return. @@bbbride I am getting an outside person to do my hair and makeup (mostly bc of the makeup) I read mixed reviews about makeup at resort and I don't want to risk it on such an important day.

I'm sending out invitations early march asking for RSVP by April 15th which is plenty of time because almost everyone has booked Hotel/flights already so at that point they will be able to RSVP pretty quickly and we sent out save the dates a month ago.

@@GingerJ228 I'm kind of in a lull too. I have a list of things to do but nothing at the moment. I might start working on some things like the guest book,etc. because I'm afraid if I wait until March/April then Im' going to be overwhelmed with stuff to do. I have alot of little things left but all the big things are booked and completed ( which feels nice but weird that it's 4 months away and I'm just sitting here waiting for spring to start doing things

I might need mroe than what you are selling? Where did you buy those from?

@@Jennypert did you get your canvas tote bags yet for OOT? If so, where did you get them? This is on my to do list to figure out ASaP! I don't want to spend a ton on these but I want them to be sturdy. Let me know.

@@GingerJ228 I sent you a message in your personal inbox re: cigar roller. Let me know what else you need.

Has anyone used any of bands on the resort? Caribbean trio or steel drum? We want to have something for the welcome reception but Anel hasn't gotten back to us and I just want to know if they are any good/if it's worth it,etc. Thanks ladies!

@@BeachBrideToBe my wedding is June 7th, 2014. I am sending out my invitations early march because I will need to know head count and dinner choice by the time I work on my wedding planning form for the resort ( mid-april) One month before I am going to be sending out a pre-travel brochure, 2 luggage tags & a CD of songs that my fiance and I will put together to get everyone pumped for mexico. So around May 1st I will send out pre-travel packet. Hope this helps!

We are doing the license and everything here in NJ and then my best friend from childhood is performing the ceremony down there. Since we will already be legal I don't believe she needs to get anything online beforehand. Does anyone know that information?

@deedeelala these look awesome -- SO SIMPLE which I love. Two questions: Did you design the background on Vista Print? Or a design site? Can you attach these in word? to the post? Thanks.

@@GingerJ228 I attached my RSVP card so you can see that I listed the two entree selections for people to choose. Also as for the johnny walker situation I would call Anel ( as I mentinoed in my PM last night) and just talk to her in person. She is very helpful over the phone just stinks at responding to emails. I read in another post to make sure you ASK for them to bring out top shelf liquor for the wedding. THey don't always put it out but I will def be asking because my friends love grey goose

@@KSchaum I don't know anything about dreams resort ( I am getting married at NOW Sapphire in June) BUT there is a ton of information on this forum regarding shipping vs. bringing your decorations down. You can search in the box above for different posts but after reading dozens of posts about this the consensus from the brides was DO NOT SHIP ANYTHING DOWN. Mexican customs is shady to say the least and most times your package will never make it to the hotel. Most of the girls just had different family members check an extra bag with the items in it. Additinoally each bag can't contain more than $300 worth of purchased "new goods" and you'll have to have your receipts handy incase you get your bags checked at the airport. If you tell them its for your wedding they usually let you through but just be prepared( that was the feedback from some of the postings) I'm going to just bring a few big duffle bags and check them for my welcome bags contents. I'm trying to keep things to a minimum that I haev to bring down ( No glass) I am renting glass vases from the florist to eliminate having to schlep those down. Chair sashes, table runners,etc. don't take up much room and the welcome bag contents I am packing and then assembling the bags down there ( I think that's the only way) I've been keeping all my receipts and I"ll divy everything out in different suitcases when we head down. I hope this helps. The bad news is it sounds like a process The good news is not one single bride had any issues with their goods at the airport as long as they had their receipts and all their items made it just fine in the checked suitcases. Let me know if this was helpful and if you need anything else.

@@GingerJ228 you are right. I don't want to give teh resort any more money than I already am Are you going to deliver them after the arrive? or before they arrive? How many people are you having? We are having almost 80 so about 40 rooms! Either way I am going to figure out to avoid the $4/bag charge. Keep me posted. Have you talked to Anel lately? I emailed her 3 times about details about a band or steel drum for welcome reception but haven't heard. I know we still have 5 months but I hate the lack of communication makes me feel weird that I'm just going to talk to her 30 days before BUT i'm going to trust all the ladies on this site and just go with the flow and trust that it will all work out!

How did everyone distribute their OOT/Welcome Bags? Did you pay the resort for them to deliver them to the rooms? or did you leave them behind the front desk to be handed out ( which I heard is no fee?) I think it's a waste to pay $4/bag to distribute BUT I also want to make sure the guests get them. Maybe I will go drop them off Thursday AM? I can put them on the door handle? But Do you think they would give me the room #'s? Such a small detail but an important one! Any ideas are appreciated! @@GingerJ228 what are you doing?

@@DinaQtobe, I have a question for you: Did you find that booking on the wedding planning a month before was enough time to get things confirmed? For example we are going to have a photo booth for our reception but anel is horrible at responding to emails yet ( our wedding is in june) do you think that's ok? I dont want it to not be available for us if we wait until a month before? Thanks

@@ironman did you brother have to get a cetificate online or anything? Or he didn't need anything because you were legally married already in the US?

@@Anani there is a bag called the Wally 66 ( or wally 60) that some of the brides on here rave about that can be brought on the plan in the overhead bin and it has special foam stoppers in the suitcase so that the dress won't wrinkle. That's waht I am going to use. If I can hang the dress even better but I'm bringing the wally 60 as a carry on anyway with my fiances suit in it. Here is the link. You can look at the different types of options they have. Also type this into the search box on the forums and you will see reviews from some of the other brides. It got GREAT reviews. http://www.amazon.com/WallyBags-Inch-Garment-Black-Size/dp/B001EH719Q

@@MrsSheppardToBe I am not doing any group excursions. Most of my guests are coming Thursday-Sunday and we will be having welcome reception Friday pm. My friends all have little babies at home ( 3 and under) and they are leaving them home to relax and just sit in a chair with a daquiri so I don't want to ruin that for them! there are a few forums on this website though that talk about excursions,etc. so if you want ideas I would type in the search box and see what threads/posts come up. I do think excursions could be a great idea but costs might add up because you'll need to offer transportation to/from. Hope you find something that works for you!

@@GingerJ228 we were going to do our ipod but then my parents mentioned it might be nice to have a steel drummer or something to just set the mood HA! I am a huge live music fan but we opted for DJ for wedding night so I emailed anel to see what options were available. The mariachi is WAY to expensive. We'll see. At this point i'm hemmoraging money! I did just order my flowers yesterday and saved a little bit there so felt good about that! for once, I saved money vs. spending more than my budget! Either way this wedding is still WAY cheaper than anything I would have in NYC and I'm doing so many things to make this my dream wedding so I figured a few hundred dollars extra here and there won't be too bad?