kcole123

@@Meandhim, Sometimes I have learnd that paying a little extra is well worth it. Especially when it comes to our appearance on our wedding day....lol

Yeah especially when I don't have the volume or length now. I have to try not to look in the review mirror too much on the drive back from Edmonton...lol

Yes @@tygrrlily I have checked and checked and read review after review. I have a place booked in Edmonton in March. I figure it would give me the time like you. Probably will only need it filled once before I go. I have heard alot of good things about this one. It's called Lash Affair. I even joined their Facebook group so I could see pictures. They are expensive but I would rather pay the extra money for soemthing like that rather then have my lashes look horrible and end up feeling like I wasted the money. I am going to get the 3D lashes.

Hey Lily, Could I get an updated review regarding your lash extensions? Wondering if you got them filled after or if you have any sort of damage to your real lashes? And would you still recommend? I have my appaointment booked but wanted to make sure if they are still worth it. Thanks Lily

I know the exchange rate is going to tack on some more for sure. But I did as best I could with what I know so far. Give or take a few dollars with tips and things like that too. But we are still doing good and considering it's a week down south too. It's still way better in my opinion. Our original budget was $12000 so we aren't too far off. Once I get the cost from Carribean Celebrations to decorate the boat, which I am still waiting on, I will post that as well. My décor will be very minimal so I am hoping it won't cost too much. I didn't want to make my own centrepieces or bother with bringing them with me as I have enough to carry. My décor is just going to be some lighting, small floral centre pieces, table clothes, and napkins. I also forgot to mention that La Barcaza is also providing a DJ which is included with that cost for three hours.

BUDGET AND COSTS Ok girls, so I thought I would do up a little budget of where I am at so far with the wedding. I figured this would help new brides, especially those getting married at Melia, to plan better for what to expect. First off these costs does not include travel and my wedding dress and accessories or anything I am bringing down with me. This is just entirely the expense of the Photographer, Boat, Cocktail Hour, Reception and anything else that is just for down there. I will give you an overall cost of what I guessing I am looking at based on what I have spent so far. Here goes: So our resort comes with a "free" wedding package. This includes very limited things but it's nice to have the basics taken care of that's for sure. I am eligible for the free wedding package because of the room category I have booked. The Free package covers 12 people. Any extras are an additional cost. The price of the free wedding package if you aren't eligible for the free would be $864.00 plus taxes. In order to qualify for the free wedding package you must have at least 5 night booked in a higher category room (Royal Service). This is what the Melia free wedding package includes: •Symbolic Ceremony* •White Bouquet for the Bride / White Boutonniere for the Groom •Recorded Music played during Ceremony •Domestic sparkling wine for the Toast (up to 3 bottles) •“Meliá Wedding Package” Cake (for up to 12 In-house guests), two tiers white cake and extra charge will apply to add flowers or décor to it •“Meliá Wedding Package” Ceremony set-up in one of our breathtaking locations (may include garden, patio or indoor options) •Dinner reservation in restaurant on the ceremony night (guaranteed up to 12 In-house guests, special requirements or set up are subject to surcharge) •1 Bottle of domestic sparkling wine in couples room upon arrival •10% Discount bonus on Wellness Centre Services for the Couple (not including Boutique products) LIke I said free weddings are usually just the basics but because I am having my reception off resort on the La Barcaza, I figured this would be best just because the other packages include Receptions Dinners. So here is what my budget for Punta Cana wedding costs: Photographer - Which I have stated I went with HDC. I am hoping Nathan is on board with the Trash the Dress session. ( I am still trying to convince him. So I have priced it up with that in there anyway. $3300 - This includes 5 hours of photography and videography, entry onto the resort (which is $1000 - but if I book him for a three night stay the cost would be around $600. If you book for a three night stay then you avoid the $1000 vendor fee.), and Trash the Dress session of 1.5 hours (transportation included if off the resot). 26 adults and 3 children confirmed. La Barcaza Reception - I have picked a meal plan with a little of everything so the cost is: $89/person x 26 adults = $2314 $44.50/kid x 3 = $133.50 $15/adult x 26 = $390.00 (This cost is for open bar) This cost is for food/booze and the 3 hour boat tour. If there are any add on hours, which I will determine how everyone feels that night, then it's charged by the hour for anything extra. Pastor (I decided not to go with the person the resort provides). I have decided to book Pastor Rick York which I have heard is awesome. = $400.00 Coctail Hour = $17.50/person (I went with open bar with 4 hours d'oeuvres) x 29 = $507.50 Hair and Makeup = $130.00 (I have booked Krystie Ann - I am getting air brushed makeup and hair updo. Horse and Carriage = (Bring me to ceremony and take myself and Nathan away after for pictures) = $75.00 The cake in the package only covers 12 people. Extra pieces to cover all = $5.00/person x 17 = $85.00 Total Cost = $7335.00 Like I said this doesn't inlcude the flights, my dress, nathan's suit and any accessories and favors. I am also not adding on any decor for the ceremony. I am getting married at the Garden Gazebo and I thought that it would be beautiful enough. I am also on a couple other wedding forums on Facebook for Melia, and alot of past brides had said there is no need to purchase any add-ons for the ceremony because they do a set up for you anyway that will turn out beautiful. I also paid for my parent's flights because they couldn't really afford to pay for both. So I am thinking with all of this taken into consideration that my total wedding cost is looking to be around $15, 000. I may end up going a little over budget with the numbers once we get there because of tips and taxes and exchange rates. urgh. But all in all it's not too bad. If I had to have a wedding back home in my home town it would have cost $20,000 plus. This way it's way better because we are also getting a week in the sun and sand.

Hey Girls, So I decided to give each of our guests key/card holders to go with their bags and tumblers. I seen this idea floating around on this site and that that it was a great idea. I actually googled the template and the site it brought me to actually sent me to someone's thread on this site. So whoever you are I thank you. I can't remember who's thread it was from. I also purchased online today the plastic card holders. I ordered these from specialistid.com. I purchased 35 of these and they were at $0.49 each. I bought the heavy duty one's that are listed on their page. There are no minimum orders either which is great. Also for the coil rings, I purchased these from Amazon set of 20 black coil rings for $3.11. I ordered 2 sets. As soon as I get these in the mail and put them together, I will take a picture of what they look like assembled and post it for you guys to see. Card Holder Template.ppt

@@TinkerSofi, I agree with you. I don't feel like doing a whole lot of the small things I guess. I figured I wanted to keep it somewhat less formal, that's why I am having a destination wedding to begin with. Oh and I just completed my very first DIY project here at work this morning...shhhhhh I will add it to each of the bags. Very simple, will be used and cheap. I will post pictures later of not the completed because I have to wait on something to come in the mail now because I Just ordered this morning. But question: Did you ever buy anything from Oriental Trading. I went to order something this morning from them and they say they aren't shipping to Canada at this time. Bummer.

Thanks my dear. Shipping to Canada is pretty horrible not going to lie about. But I basically didn't shop around too much either. I stuck with Etsy for a lot of the things I wanted. There is a lot I am not going to do. I am not a seating arrangement kind of person and because there will be a small guest count about 30 and the wedding reception is on the La Barcaza I am just going to play it by ear. A lot if OOT bag things I cut out like chap sticks, SPF lotions and small things like that just cause I figured a lot of guests will more than likely bring their own. I am not doing up those planning thingy's that you hand out at the reception. It's going to be short anyway so why waste the paper and money. There are certain things I don't mind spending money on though, me looking good for one haha and also the photographer and now I am getting HDC (who is doing my photos) to also do the videography for me too. It would be nice to re-live that day over again once we get back and everything settles. Hope your planning goes great and can't wait to see your progress as this year passes. I along with lot of other brides will still be sticking around after the wedding is over. I meant planning thingyy's for the ceremony. I can't even remember what they are called. My brain is racked with wedding information. Lol

@@calgarybride2015 Thanks so much. I loved reading and waiting for you to post everything in your thread. Now I will be waiting on your wedding pictures. Now go enjoy the sun and Happy Wedding Day Tomorrow Yay

I can't believe your wedding is tomorrow.Soooooo excited for you. Hope your dad gets to enjoy his time too even with the mishap he has had. Can't wait to see pictures.

I wanted to show you girls these shirts I purchased on Etsy for Nathan and I. The seller was signaturethshirts. We will more than likely wear these the day we leave and well I will probably be wearing mine long before that...lol

oh yes I am getting a bustle too. Which will be priced up my second dress fitting. oh Yeah that's how they do it apparently. They always do the alterations for being taken in first. I wonder why? So more money can be made.

@@JJCB0418 That's another story my dear. This first dress fitting i was charged $220 for getting it taken in on both sides, the boob cups sewn in and to fix the sweatheart neckline so it lies more up against my skin. Anyway that's what they do after the first dress fittting. If by the time I go back to the second dress fitting (which this time they charge for the hem and getting my belt sewn on) and i have another dress size lost (which they said is 10 pounds) then they have to charge me another $220 because they basically have to do the work all over again. She said because i have a corset back, i could get away with losing 5 more without having to take in both sides but she said 10 pounds would require it to be taken in again. Scam. They certainly know how to make money off this stuff. I wasn't told how much the hem would cost yet because i will find that out the second dress fitting. But she said my hem will cost more because of the lace and beading on the bottom.

My fiancé bought his a Moore's. He was very happy with the cut of the suit. He paid close to $1000 but he got the jacket, pants, 2 shirts, tie, shoes, and even socks...lol

hahaha @@pddcmc. I had a thread asking this exact question. I wanted to wear soemthing that would hold in my stomach but I didn't want something too heavy. I ended up going with getting boob cups sewn into my dress so that problem is solved but with the belly I am still wondering what to do here. Urgh. I don't want to be dying of heat more than what I have to be.

My alterations so far cost $220 and that's just to get the sides taken in, boob cups sewn in, and just to fix the sweetheart neckline so it isn't sticking out. The seamstress said if i lose anymore weight by the next fitting they will have to charge me the $220 all over again, which is a farce. But she said before when they didn't charge many brides would lose weight and the seamstress would have t do the work all over again so therefore they had to start charging. She said basically if you lose 10 pounds between now and the next fitting, that's one dress size, then they would charge me another $220. Plus this doesn't include the hem or getting the belt sewn on. She said they do that the next fitting but she said the hem is going to be more expensive because of the lace and beading on the bottom. She said they basically have to take the lace and beading off the bottom, hem it, and then put the lace and beading back on so it's more work and therefore will charge more money. Right now I am thinking I will be looking at close to $600 by the time it's done. I ended up getting the seamstress's to do it at the place I bought my dress. Because I am not from here and don't know anybody that would do it or even recommendations of anyone. So I just stuck with getting it altered at the place I bought it. Money racket I tell ya.

Now I will go into the items I have purchased for our guests and bridesmaids/groomsmen and also the little things of the wedding. First off I ordered fans for the ceremony to be placed on everyone's chair. I ordered raffia fans because I figured they would be more sturdy. I ordered them and sent them directly home to my home so she could bring them down with her. Gotta spread the love...lol Also I asked my mom if she could pick up some grey and coral ribbon to wrap around the handles of the fans. Grey for guys and Coral for the ladies. I will just be showing a picture of the fans without the ribbon for now because mom is like me, a procrastinator...lol The fans were ordered from Koyal Wholesale. The cost was for 36 fans at $114.20. This included taxes and shipping. The Favors Ok so I liked the idea of an OOT bag type thing but not a complete OOT bag. I didn't go all out with this so my idea is to have the lemonade packettes inside the tumblers. Have the bag itself folded and placed on the back of the tumbler and wrap in ribbon. I will show you the completed look once I take a picture at the resort. For now, because of how I will ship, I won't be putting it together. The Tumblers were purchased online at discountmugs. The stickers on the mugs were purchased on Etsy seller: davetdesigns and they are very sturdy and listed as waterproof as well. The lemonade packetts I purchased online also from weddingfavours.ca. I purchased 45 and the cost was $110. I just thought this was a nice little add-on to the tumblers. The bags I purchased online at weddingchicks.com. I believe I used a promo code at the time to get so much off the purchase. It's best I find to wait until there are any deals available. I just ordered the basic bags for people and I didn't want to put our names on them just in case guests wanted to use them again. I also bought 2 seperate bags for the mothers on weddingchicks as well. Again, simple. If I find anything else to add on for the favours, I will certainly post as I get them. I always feel like I never have enough and end up buying something else. Bridesmaid Gifts I also ordered bags for the girls but something a little different. I actually ordered theirs on Etsy and the seller was Elizabeths Place. I had the bags personalized with each of the girls names on the bags. All the bags are the same with different names of course. I also bought one for myself because they were just too cute. To go inside of their bags I purchased some getting ready robes for each of the girls. Again, each robe is personalized with their initial on the front and Bridesmaid on the back. The picture isn't the robes because I ordered coral for the girls and white for me. It's what the robes look like though except for the colour. The robes were also purchased on Etsy from seller PremiereEmbroidery. I also bought some coral nail polish to stick in the bags as well. Just bought this at a local salon. I also purchased a necklace set for the girls. I wasn't overly happy with the quality of them though once I got them. The girls can wear them that day if they want or they can wear something of their own. I didn't necessarily buy these for them to wear the day of but figured it would be nice to purchase for them especially with the saying on there. That is all I have for the girls. They will also be getting the tumblers and what the others guests have as well. I feel, once again, that I don't have enough. So if I happen to purchase anything else I will certainly post. I am still looking for something special for my MOH too that I haven't found or come across yet. The Groomsmen Gifts Nathan is a big watch person. He loves everything about watches so of course when I asked him what he was getting the guys his number one thing was a watch. We haven't purchased the watches yet but he is hoping to get something around $120 each. When I get the watches I will post that as well. I will be shoping for those soon. The Reception "Things" Cake The cake I wanted something pretty simple. Basically I want pretty much what is in the picture exept for coral flowers. Simple with a little added colour. I won't be putting flowers on top of the cake just the sides because I have a cake topper. Here is a cake inspiration picture: Cake Topper So a big deal to us, because our dog won't be there, is to have her someone in the wedding. So I thought of putting her on the cake topper somehow. Nathan loved this idea. So much so I believe that's his favorite part of the wedding. He seems to think for whatever reason that the resort will allow us to bring our dog, Jessie, down there. lol I will show you a picture of my dog too just so you could tell how awesome the lady did with the detail of the topper. Nathan is also a big video game junkie so I believe it fits perfectly. The cake topper was also ordered on Etsy from awesometoppers. The lady was super nice and I sent her a few pictures of my dog and she sent me proofs and everything. I would highly recommend her. Sign In Book At the reception on the La Barcaza we will also have a guest signing book. Nathan and I are big fans of the movie "UP' and he had this ordered for me as a surprise. He came up with this idea all on his own. I looooove it so much. He also told me he ordered it on Etsy but can't remember the seller...lol Are we seeing a pattern here?