Lia33

@@calgarybride2015 I have not (hopefully won't be) in this situation. However, my fiancé has been to a few destination weddings and said that he has seen situations where some people turned it into a family vacation without being invited - but they didn't expect to attend the wedding. They would stay at the resort and do whatever they would do if they were just on vacation and they didn't seem bothered by it since going to the resort knowing they weren't invited was their choice. The wedding is just one day - surely they can entertain themselves for a day and hangout with everyone the other days. I can see where your FI's mom is coming from but I would be worried about that opening the door to other unexpected guests - leading to more unexpected expenses. Why should someone's choice to attend the resort knowingly uninvited have to result in additional expenses for you? Then again, it isn't my family so it may be easier said than done. What does your FI think??

Glad I found this thread. It's old but maybe some people can still give me some feedback. I will definitely be doing a civil ceremony at home - still debating about whether I will do it before or after the Mexico wedding. Original plan - quietly get civilly married here a month before Mexico (on our anniversary of being together). New plan - get legally married after Mexico so that my grandmother can be present as she will not be present for the DW. For this I will wear white. It would also be nice to celebrate this as this day is what makes us legally husband and wife. But I would have liked to be already married while in Mexico! Would it really take away from the DW ceremony to have the legal ceremony done before Mexico? But I would also feel guilty doing it before and not telling my father about it. He will be present for the DW. Thoughts?

That's crazy! I'd say it's worth having your brother make announcements and using an iPod for sure. I'll be using my resort's DJ - it's about $1,000 for 3 hours and additional $280 for each additional hour

Not sure if the knot.com has this type of setting, I will have to look into this. I will most likely have paper rsvp's though but I did make note on the website that booking should be either single, couple invited, or person invited plus one guest unless otherwise specified.

@@KAT2015 That's a nice simple way to determine how many people are going. I sent save the dates with our wedding website link on it - all of our booking info is located on this website including our TA info. On the website's booking section, I made a noted that booking should either be single, the couple invited, or person invited plus one guest unless otherwise specified. Not sure if it comes off rude but hey, it gets my point across lol I had to make note of this on the website since I don't have actual rsvp's yet and people are booking with just save the dates. I'll send out the actual invites closer to the deadline for final payment (with paper rsvp's) for my own personal count and also gives people a reminder that final payment deadline is approaching.

@@helenk Where I went, they said they will start alterations 2 months before the wedding to leave room for weight loss/gain. I lied and said my wedding was in June instead of July to make sure they don't cut it too close ( I was advised to do this by a friend who use to work in a bridal shop).

@@TinkerSofi The underwater ones are beautiful but neither of us are fully confident in our swimming skills for that lol So we will stay where the shores and waves are lol I guess I should have him look at pics from photoshoots before making him do this huh loll I think he's afraid of disagreeing with anything lol Argentina! Exciting! That definitely does sound like it would be a beautiful backdrop for some gorgeous photos!

@@TinkerSofi I thought it was pretty common to bring moms, I'm also really glad I did. My grandmother won't be going to the wedding but enjoyed the fact that she would be the one of the few to see me in my dress first. When they both burst into tears, I was so glad I had brought them. It did feel like a rite of passage

@@calgarybride2015 - My fiancé has began yes-ing me to death as he has learned that I ask for opinions but often have already made up my mind lol So this is frustrating when I genuinely want his opinion or feedback! I had no idea was TTD even stood for before coming to this site lol It definitely seems like it's just a DW thing. I plan on doing it since pictures that I've seen have looked beautiful. At first, my fiancé didn't like the idea but quickly 'yes'ed me on it when I told him I wanted to do it lol I'm trying not to get too crazy with the ideas on this site - like you said the price definitely adds up!

@@MissJen3 Agreed! The more I envision myself in the dress I purchased, the more I love it and am glad I bought it ;-)

That's more my fiancè's attitude than it is mine loll But I'm slowly loosening up about things and agreeing to do things since this is just one special day exactly for that same reason - my fiancé says I'm worrying too much about money and need to just relax....so I'm trying loll I'll probably get one for just for us....not to toss lol @@LauraM - Agreed! That's the beauty of it - do whatever you're comfortable doing!

@@NotSoWitty I don't think that would be weird at all! I hear that many people who even if they don't wear the veil for the ceremony bring a veil for photos! Even though I haven't decided whether or not to wear one for the ceremony, I'll have one for photos.

Is it terrible that I have no desire to do this? I actually had no desire to do any of the traditional stuff but it looks like I will end up having to do most of it anyway just to break up the reception time. I think this one I will skip though. Let's see....so far I have ended up agreeing to do MANY things I originally said I didn't care to.

I agree that this is something that isn't necessary but it is nice to have - especially if you just don't have many nice pics together. My fiancé proposed during what I thought was a regular photo session in Dominican Republic - so those are our engagement photos. This was great since the emotion was real and it was a surprise. Had this done been done this way, I most likely wouldn't go out of my way to get engagement photos taken with having to pay for a wedding!

I agree with everything being said here! It's all up to you! Many resorts have free packages good for 15-16 people that are very basic. With a small group - you don't need a reception. A dinner, beach, drinks, a little nightlife will be enough. For what your looking for I think you can totally find something super affordable - especially if this can be your wedding/honeymoon in one. I think I will be going over budget - but it's not even my fault. It's my fiancé's doing....I'd much rather be much smaller than we actually are :/ I joke that this is his wedding, not mine....I don't think he likes that joke very much Start researching! Happy planning

@@calgarybride2015 Well people new by the end of July that we would be getting married in Mexico. We just got our final agreement prices today and I've been notifying people already even though save the dates are in the mail just so they don't waste too much time and go on our site when they get the save the dates. First deposit in September, last payment due by March 31st - giving them 7 months to pay which isn't bad at all. Thinking of sending the invitations in January (?) - right after the holidays and maybe make the rsvp beginning of March (?) since the deadline is March 31st. Still trying to figure out my time line... @@kmk2016 13 months is great! Really gives people time to spread out payments.

@@calgarybride2015 Sneaky but leaves room for tardiness! Which is helpful when some people are not great with deadlines. Our people haven't known for THAT LONG - we got engaged July 20th so it's only been a month so far! I will definitely remind people a few times as we get even closer to the deadline.

@@calgarybride2015 That makes me feel a little better! I was excited then had a momentary panic wondering if it was too short of notice. Has anyone ever had issues with people not making their deposits on time?

@@kmk2016 That's a great idea to make the RSVP date the same time as your deadline for deposits! I haven't sent out invitations but I sent out my save the dates with our wedding website link. On the website I have details about our TA, deadlines, and there will be a link for them to start booking now. Although now I'm kind of wondering how I will get the word out about when the first deposit is due - as I linked up with a TA after I sent the save the dates. First deposit is due next month... I know my family and friends will be easy to notify as they won't waste time booking. My fiancé will have to spread the word on his end for people to check the site asap to make their deposit.

@@Chrysta Yea I think we will just go the easier route and switch resorts. We had actually picked Secrets Marmora to stay at for the alone time also! Their resort looks beautiful!

LOL! It's definitely not easy to get these guys to do things. I'm so glad I did though - most of his friends from work tend to call each other by nickname or by last name - some people he had trouble remembering their real names and had no idea of their spouse's names! There were even some relatives where he realized their last name were different and he didn't know what they were. When it came to Facebook - many of his friends don't put their real names, so I couldn't use Facebook for many people. My side was easier since it was much smaller and I know everyones names. Glad I made him do a little work though! It was nice to sit back and let him do take care of it (once he stopped bitching)

Love the idea of doing a polaroid guest book! I think that would be really fun to look back on in the future

@@calgarybride2015 - Good point. I will see what my budget is looking like as we get closer to the date. IF I do get them something else, it will definitely have to be something small and super inexpensive. It helped that I financed everything - so the blow of the cost of bridesmaids dresses isn't hitting me so hard right now lol but I definitely do not want to go overboard with gifts and paying for things that I don't need to. They weren't expecting me to cover this expense for them so if it comes down to it, it's a good enough gift to them.

For those paying or helping with cost for bridesmaids dresses, will you also give an additional gift to them or will you consider this their gift? I'm paying for my 4 bridesmaid dresses - I have 4 and their dresses are $150 each. Just wasn't sure if I should get an additional gift for them once we are at our location.

Awesome thread! Definitely will check this out again when my time comes to do my letters