nattiegams325

@@pddcmc girl I miss you!!! hope you are well and update me on your planning!! I haven't been on the boards as much lately but now it's getting closer to crunch time!!! 2.5 months to go!

I just booked Indigo Videography for ours! I just didn't like what Dreams offered in terms of videography. I thought it was messy and didn't tell any story. They were just shooting and putting it together. I want my video to tell the story of our day :-) A good videographer is hard to come by in Riviera Maya based on what I saw!

Ughhhh I've been thinking about this quite a bit myself. Definitely wearing strapless bikini for the 5 days we are there prior to THE day, but my dress is not strapless but goes all the way down in the back. So even with the strapless bikini top, I still have a super chance that I'll have tanlines in the back. Solution...lots of sunscreen, unclipping the back of the bikini when I'm laying on my stomach, and avoiding the sun during peak times. Also, hat on most of the time. I'm still nervous though...

I got a garter (from Etsy...a University of Illinois one, where we met) but we still aren't sure if we're doing the toss

I know this, along with trash the dress, are like the new things to do, but despite the DW, my h2b and I are traditional :-) I want to see him for the first time when I turn the corner and see him at the gazebo! I wouldn't even look at him at his suit fitting (though I've seen the suit, just not him in it)! I want both of us to be surprised.

We're sending out a little letter and a CD with songs to get people even more excited about 5-6 week prior to wedding.

I'm renting them for my cocktail hour since its next to the pool. they are $15 each at DRC and I think there's a minimum of 10...I only want 5 though so I'm asking my WC

I'm doing white fabric draped on the inside of the gazebo, a chandelier, and 2 big flower arrangements hanging on both sides of the front

Do we have any Jan/Feb brides (besides me) in the later planning stages?! I got my planner form back from Claudia and I'm planning on sending her the 2nd "draft" of it this week. Decided to go with an outside videographer as I really just didn't like what DRC offered for this...and the video is very important to me. Also making final decisions on decor for ceremony/cocktail/reception. They seriously charge for every little thing. We have so many upgrades, bringing in 50 guests. You'd think they would give us a slight break here and there...I'll have my parents deal with the negotiation part...I'm not confrontational haha

@@SusanMarie813 Ask to see the rooms, look for cleanliness not only in the hotel but in the restaurants, the food presentation, the guests (the class of people will vary depending on the resort), take lots of pictures, compare beaches/pools/surroundings (I didn't want a resort in the middle of Playa or Cancun), ask to try some of the food if possible to see what your guests will be eating outside the wedding, activities/entertainment if this is important to you etc etc. Don't just look at the wedding stuff, look at the big picture and ask yourself, If I were a guest who paid thousands to come here, how would I feel? You might also want to ask about policies on outside vendors, guests not staying at the resort, and price changes and make sure you write down exactly what they say so you can quote later if needed.

We have 50 :-)

During peak season for Riviera Maya from Chicago for one week: includes round trip nonstop air, ground transport, and all inclusive resort: $2000/person for standard room

Our ceremony is 4:30 on Feb 23, cocktail hour 6:30, reception at 8! We were there exactly a year before the wedding and I picked 4:30 because at 4:00 the sun was still on the gazebo, and I didn't want guests to get hot :-) Hehe I'm a bit OCD..

Our wedding is on a Monday. Majority of guests arriving on Saturday, welcome dinner on Sunday. Dreams Riviera Cancun charges $3/bag to deliver to rooms, so forget that! My fiancé and I were going to greet all guests in the lobby as they arrived (coordinating this with travel agent/wedding planner) and give the bags out then. We had a change of heart though during our site visit when we arrived: hot, sweaty, tired, carrying all our luggage..So we are still going to meet them upon arrival, but probably go to each individual's room and give it then. I didn't want to wait until Sunday night because I want guests to use the stuff as soon as possible!

I dealt with this as well. According to formal etiquette, you send one even if they already declined, so that's what we did!

I'm sorry to hear that as well. I've had to deal with a few insults as well about Mexico. Seriously?! It's like saying you're not going to visit Chicago because the south side is dangerous. People are ignorant. NO ONE on my fiancé's side is coming except parents and brother. One of his cousins told me, "I don't want to wake up with only one kidney." It took a lot of strength not to tell him what I thought of him. Anyways, enjoy your day, and you're right, your family will have to deal with their decision for the rest of their lives.

We are having a guitarist for the ceremony so we are waiting to talk to him before making up our minds. We have ideas but want to make sure he can play them before committing! Our best man is also going to sing "For Always" by Josh Groban at some point!

We are doing blush (very light pink), gold, white, and grey.

We upgraded our menu to the "platinum" option so we get one option for each of the 5 courses. Our main entrée is lobster and filet mignon. (We got to choose between that and jumbo shrimp and filet).

I got airbrush at home for engagement pictures and it looked great. So I am splurging on Styling Trio for hair/airbrush (with the top artist, Adrian, it is $550 including a trial). DRC doesn't offer airbrush so I'm hoping to get around the stupid fee...nickel and dime for EVERYTHING!

I'm just going with one! It took me 50 dresses to find it and I'm not searching any more!

@@fhk815 It was great! We met with our wedding planner (Claudia Solis) for several hours. She went over everything in detail and we did a tasting of the platinum menu (we upgraded from the gold that is included in the ultimate wedding package). She even had a "Welcome Natalie and William" sign for us hanging in the wedding office. I have complete faith in her and know that everything will be perfect! If you have any Qs, let me know!

When we visited in September, the weather was completely unpredictable. Not a cloud in the sky, then rain for hours, then sun. That's just how it is unfortunately. I am praying for nice weather for Feb 23! It's always been nice when we visited in the winter.

I decided against them. People know what's happening, and like someone else said, everyone will be together for days before and know who everyone is.

www.NatalieBill2015.com but please don't take the excursion poll!