mysticjade

I’d like to do OOT bags because I’ve received them at past destination weddings and found them super helpful. Since we’re doing a church wedding beforehand we’ll probably give out small favours at the restaurant after, but nothing fancy. Probably just sweets or mini-cupcakes!

I love engagement photos but originally didn’t want them because the cost of wedding-related photography really bothers me, and I thought my money could be better spent somewhere else. But my FI thinks they’re a great idea, so we’re going to get some done once it’s not so cold and gross outside. ;P We’re going to use them on our wedding website, and also just keep them for sentimental reasons; we’re not the type of people to take a lot of photos of ourselves so we have a surprising lack of “couple photos”. We will probably pick the same person to do our wedding photos and the engagement photos, it’s a friend of a friend who’s done destination weddings before, and we’ve even seen her in action so it’ll work out pretty well I think. But by all means, if they’re not important to you, don’t do them! It’s your wedding and your budget, do what’s right for you.

Yes, my FI is the same, he’s encouraging a positive attitude! Our families think RWS looks amazing too and honestly a lot of the bad reviews are regarding things that aren’t life-ruining or horrendous, they’re just inconveniences that require a bit of patience and perspective. Still quite excited! Would love to hear more about your planning process and experience with the resort!

Yup, met my FI on Match 3 years ago. He’s not big on about telling a lot of people that we met online, but I love telling people, might as well share the good news and show others the magic of online dating!

Canadian brides represent! Good luck with your planning, we’re doing two ceremonies too (Catholic and Hindu). I’ve been to Playa del Carmen once before and it was honestly one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen on earth!

Another Indian bride here! I have no clue how we're going to organize an Indian wedding from so far away, I just want to make sure the priest is available on my wedding day for now!

The FI and I decided that our plan for this weekend was to decide on a resort/TA and thankfully the universe delivered! I’d gone to a few bridal shows and kept running across a company called Absolute Wedsite. They specialized in arranging destination weddings, specifically Indian destination weddings, which was the biggest hurdle when dealing with other standard travel companies. So I contacted the company and set up an appointment for a consultation. Showed up this past Saturday with the FI, as well as his parents and mine. Fantastic experience! The owner of the company (Raj) performed the consult herself, asked us what we were looking for (English-speak Caribbean, a location we’d never been before) and what our budget was (~$1500). We told her we were leaning towards Montego Bay and she told us about the resorts that offered Hindu weddings. Originally me and my FI were interested in Iberostar Grand Rose Suites, but then Raj revealed a new resort called Royalton White Sands had just opened up in Dec. 2013. I’d never heard of it before but the pictures she showed here amazing. Not only that, the wedding coordinator at Royalton was a friend of Raj’s who was good at Indian weddings. FI was sold! He wanted to put a deposit down right there! But unfortunately, when we asked for April 2015 Raj said that she’d been booking April 2015 weddings back in December. I was gobsmacked! So we had to push our departure back, but we couldn’t do end of April/beginning of May, because my MOH (also my sister) has her board licensing exam around that time but won’t know the exact date until like a month before! So we had to push our departure date even further, to the end of May. I don’t mind, long engagement = more time to plan. So once we had a departure date & potential wedding day(s) selected, Raj said she would have to call the resort and check if my wedding date was available, and also if the priest in Jamaica is available the same day. Fingers crossed all goes according to plan and our resort and wedding date are set by this evening!! After that’s been finalized, we need to pick a date for our church wedding (also under the condition my sister is free), find a place (buffet/restaurant) for the after-church get-together, brainstorm for STD ideas (FI is really into magnets haha), pick a photographer (for cheap because wedding photography prices make me want to elope), and possibly buy my white dress. *flails*

I was hoping to spend $15K max but it looks like it’s going to end up being $20K, not due to the DW costs but rather due to the cost of feeding everyone after the church ceremony at home beforehand.

I believe in zero superstitions, but it seems like I’m the only one! My FI doesn’t want to know anything about my dress and I can’t even talk about it when he’s in the room. I’m also having a Hindu ceremony so superstition is basically built right into it; no Tuesday wedding because it’s bad luck to undergo new beginnings on a Tuesday. I had to get my wedding date cleared with the priest before it was set, he consulted star charts and stuff to insure it was an astrologically sound date!

I don’t care either way but my FI is superstitious about seeing me or the dress before I walk down the aisle, so we’ll probably go that route.

Originally we were going to get court-married with close family only, then do an interfaith DW soon after. But my FI admitted he wanted to get married at his parents’ church, so we’re splitting the ceremonies up (Catholic at home, Hindu in Jamaica). The problem is that my FI has a huge family. We were going to just invite close family & friends to a buffet place after, but now he wants them all to come to the church which means we’re struggling to find a good restaurant that can accommodate 100 people. Really don’t want to rent a hall, it’s pricey and it’ll make everything think the church is the “real” wedding.

Every destination wedding I’ve gone to has been about 7-10 days long, and mine will be too. It doesn’t take 7 days to get married, the wedding usually takes place at the mid-point. Then there is relaxing and excursions and fun. It is a vacation as well as a wedding, so I don’t think it’s fair for the B&G to pay for the bridal party’s full vacation, wedding-related expenses sure.

I am torn between a Mori Lee and a Vera Wang at this point. The Mori Lee was the second dress I ever tried on and it was everything I was looking for! This is the dress and frankly, I think it looks even better on me than on the model. http://www.morilee.com/bridals/voyage/6765

I need two different dresses for two different ceremonies, so for the white dress I took my future SIL and MIL (wanted their opinion on what would be appropriate for a Catholic church) and for my Indian lengha I went with my mom and sister/MOH.

DW = 300 of my parents friends won't show up at my wedding! That and cost.

Wow, Indian bride here and I've never been a fan of the TTD (I plan on donating my white dress to Brides Against Breast Cancer after the wedding) but hadn't thought about trashing my lengha...hmm!

Hilarious! Shared this with my family.

I think I may have to do this as well, and I've gone to a couple DWs where the other couples gave us our bag before the trip too. Great idea!

I'm a month and a half older than him. But apparently I look a lot younger than I really am (33 years old), I even got carded last year! I sometimes tell him to obey his elders LOL.

Gosh I have a long way to go... @@EllDee Me and my FI were originally just going to get married at our destination and I was sweating the complications, then he admitted he really wanted to get married at his parents' church 5 minutes from his house! So we are doing a Catholic ceremony at home and the Hindu ceremony for my side of the family is considered "symbolic" LOL, so no paperwork required.

Love reading everyone else's stories! Met my FI on Match.com. I had been using the site for a few years and reactivated my account on New Year's day because I was about to turn 30... time for new beginnings and all that. My FI (whose birthday is a month after mine) was also about to turn 30 and also had a "time for new beginnings" moment, so he joined Match as well. I noticed him immediately because he was new on the site! One week after my birthday we had our first date and it was by far the best date we had ever had; a week after that, we were officially dating and the rest is history!

Originally we wanted to do Iberostar Grand Rose but our travel agent showed us RWS and we've sort of fallen in love with it, despite the reviews on Trip Advisor. Fingers crossed everything will be running smoothly by the time we go there for our wedding (all the way in May 2015, can't believe they're booking that far ahead!)

Awesome! I've got a long way to go.

I’ve gone to two destination weddings, one in Panama and one in DR (the first in May, the second one in April). Gorgeous warm weather during both visits but ironically every time, it rained just in time for the receptions in the evening! Still, fantastic weather experiences, fingers crossed it’s the same for mine.

We’re paying for our own too even though my parents want to help out, but if they help out I’m afraid that the money would come between us/be used as a bargaining tool. Also, I’m of the mentality that if you and your FI can’t pay for your wedding, maybe you’re not ready to get married! Financial independence is very important to me. My parents would be happier if we were having a huge local wedding and not a small destination wedding, but they understand that in the end it’s our decision.