Lia33

Had my appointment - found dresses for both DW and civil ceremony as well as my bridesmaids dresses :-) I didn't think I would have decided on a dress on my first visit! It actually shouldn't take long to arrive at all - they said end of September/beginning of October. Won't start alterations until March or April. I was advised by someone who use to work at Davids Bridal to always tell them that your wedding is a month before it actually is so that they don't cut it too close with alterations.

I wasn't sure about whether or not I wanted a veil - then I tried some on when I shopped for my dress and it really made me feel more like a bride! I bought the veil but am still concerned about whether or not it would be a hassle for a beach ceremony with possible wind and all.

Yea I might just wait until some time after our wedding to travel to a new place. It looks like flights to Turks and Caicos are just 5 hours with one stop - everything else has multiple stops and therefore take way too long. Flights for that a time period would be about 700 per person- to go from Cancun to Turks then from Turks to NYC. Doesn't seem too bad but I know the price will likely change. Not sure if I will go through with it though. It would be easier to just change resorts.

Oldie but awesome list!

You'll find everything you need to know on this site! Happy planning!

Go with who you're happy with being there! It's so easy getting caught up pleasing people but this is YOUR day and you should have who ever you want there - just not a whole entourage. It was important for me to have 2 of my bridesmaids there, my mother and grandmother also came along. I was happy with everyone there to hear feedback :-) @@Mangosong - Choose whatever you're happy in! David's Bridal does have some awesome prices but if you aren't happy with their dresses then research other places. You'll know when you find the right dress! Good luck!

@@MelissaRose Welcome and congrats!! It's great that you found this site - it's SUPER helpful! It's great that you booked a place - for me that was one of the hardest parts - committing to a location! I'm not that far into my planning process but I agree with the others - read up on a ton of stuff on the site and find a TA! I recently began working with one and I feel a little more at ease. I'm sure your chosen resort has a wedding coordinator who will help you with planning - making it much easier then planning everything from scratch for a local wedding! Your coordinator will provide you options for everything that you need and assist for anything you want tweaked to fit your vision! For me, I'm not planning on using any outside vendors so that makes things a little easier - but if you aren't a fan of your resorts photographer or DJ you can find out about other resources on this site! For me - getting a binder, organizing my ideas and everything that was sent to me by my coordinator and making lists has helped me not feel so overwhelmed. Good luck!

@@Sara1603 Keep looking I'm sure you will find something you love! Once you have a style that works best for you then do whatever you do to make you feel good or more positively about your appearance! They can always take it in. Stay positive and keep searching!

@@pekchw I might bring some decor from here - maybe sashes for chairs. I really want to keep what I bring with me to a minimum - I'll already have to bring favors and contents for an OOT bag for everyone! I'm sure the setting will be beautiful enough for it to not need much extra for decorations. I didn't look much into NY locations cause I knew with the guest list it would just be too much. If we weren't doing a DW, it would just be city hall and dinner. We know people who are still paying for their NY weddings and have spent 40-50k on them easily - I can't have that! Even though the cost of a destination wedding is more then what I originally expected, it's much cheaper then doing a full wedding/cocktail/reception in NY.

I bought the dresses yesterday! I ended up having 3 of them wear the same style dress and my maid of honor will have a slight variation of the dress - easier this way! I realized for my 2 bridesmaid who are long distance, having them choose a style may prolong the process. I will get their measurements and order their dresses for them since I am paying for their dresses. Prices at David's Bridal are awesome! They have additional sales as well - bridesmaids dresses were $150!

Many of our guests have children but we definitely opted for adults only - we want everyone to have fun without worrying about watching the kids! Doesn't seem to be much of a deterrent - they have already picked out babysitters

Are there any places that are fairly easy to travel to from Mexico? Has anyone ever done this? I don't mind just changing resorts 2 days after the wedding but at the same time I love the idea of starting a new adventure and going somewhere else completely. My fiancé doesn't want to do Costa Rica - he would like to be in a place known for beaches. Belize I hear is beautiful but you would have to take a 6-8 hour bus ride - not happening. Thinking maybe Turks and Caicos? Not sure yet. Thoughts?

@@Smellsey Exciting!!! Congrats! Its like a weight is lifted once you finally decide on a resort and can then focus on all the other good stuff

@@MissJen3 - That may be a good idea to store the dress elsewhere! I wasn't expecting to make a decision so quickly. It's a beautiful dress, not chiffon but super light material , simple with a touch of glitz. I've never envisioned what I wanted my dress to look like before hand. So I'm wondering if I should go for a dress with a little more punch to it, or if I should stick with simple elegance. I do love the dress, I just tend to second guess myself. I want to make sure I look fabulous on my big day!

I agree - I hate it when something arrives not acknowledging me and only addresses him - it's really rude. We took care of this this morning - he definitely gave me some push back for it being so tedious! He ended up filling out these envelopes himself so that he can text them individually for more info as he goes along. He bitched about it for a while then got over it lol

We are hoping to stay under $15,000 - I'm hoping we can stick to that! I was hoping to keep guest list down but my fiancé is mister popular and has a huge family so that may not happen. I was super excited finding a wedding dress for under $500. I went shopping yesterday and bought 2 dresses (ceremony and civil dresses), 2 of the 4 bridesmaids dresses, preservation kit, 2 veils, belt - for less then $1,500! Even when I add on the other 2 bridesmaids dresses I will still be under 2,000 - which is pretty awesome. Just sent out STD's today so I'm hoping our number of people who actually book isn't too crazy!

I'm hoping everyone will book through our TA as well! It will make things a little easier and as mentioned - easier to help out certain people. Much of my fiancé's relatives do not speak English and our TA is not bilingual. Hoping these relatives can have someone else close to them assist with booking. If not, my fiancé will take this on to be the liaison for them and the TA...should be fun. @@TinkerSofi - that must be incredibly frustrating! Hopefully it doesn't end up taking time away from you and your hubby when it comes to spending time with people at the resort :/

I just purchased my dress yesterday! I love the dress but can't help but to obsess over pictures of it and the other dresses I tried on. I can relate to the second thoughts - for me the dress is perfect for a beach wedding, then I wonder whether or not it's too simple, should I have gone for something a little more, does it have that 'wow' factor or is it just pretty, etc etc. Not sure if I should continue to browse or not but it helps to know that having second thoughts are normal!

Creeping it is! loll Getting my fiancé to do these things is torture LOL! You're right, guys do not care about these things. At all. Many of them are his friends so I guess the nagging begins!

I just received my STD's and was just wondering what the etiquette is in addressing the envelopes. My fiancé has many friends who are in long term relationships or married but isn't sure of their spouse's names. Is it rude to just put the name of the friend on the envelope? Or on the invitation the name of the one we know and "and guest" or "plus one"? I feel like for the married couples both names should be included but I'm not sure if it's necessary to go back to find out their names.

I'll have 4 BM and I plan on buying (or at least helping) with the cost for dresses. The dresses I'm interested in for them are not very expensive - and I will leave their shoes to them. I feel kind of bad having them pay for their dresses on top of room/flight cost. I'll make sure their dresses aren't pricey

We specifically sought out adults only resorts. Partly because we don't have kids and want people to celebrate and have a good time without having to worry about their little ones! No one can completely relax if they are on watch. We thought this would deter people from going (which we wouldn't have minded as this would keep guest list down) but as it turns out, most couples are excited to have a reason to leave their kids at home! Guess many parents are in need of a break and some adult time!

My reasons are similar! ~ With a local wedding there is much more obligation to invite more people ~ Better chance of a majority of the invites to show up (even if you can do without it) whereas there is less of a turnout for a DW - saving you money and making it more intimate ~ Doing a wedding/reception is SOOO expensive in NY - a DW is more expensive than I thought but still doesn't come even close to the cost of planning something at home. ~ So much more planning goes into a local wedding - more stress! ~ It's one day/ several hours of celebration locally instead of a celebration/vacation for everyone ~ We love the beach :-)

I have still not been to Vegas! One day :-) I can totally relate to the guilt! More so because of a little push back I was getting. However, there are much more people who are excited about it and really looking forward to being in Mexico - and this made me more excited about it! I just learned that all of my sisters will be going (we grew up apart so we are rarely all in the same place at the same time). It would be a nice way to celebrate and have some quality time in a tropical place! Needless to say, I'm feeling less and less guilty about the price.

@@kmk2016 - Thank you for saying that. I think the reality is my family does not like inconvenience. From the moment that she found out it would be in Mexico she was against attending. I know of another destination wedding where the bride's wheelchair bound grandmother attended. Even my aunt/godmother will most likely not attend (who is perfectly healthy). At least there will still be a city hall legal part that I'm having her attend - and this I rearranged for her benefit. We wanted to quietly get legally married before Mexico but decided to do it after Mexico (and where another white dress) for my grandmother's benefit although she still isn't really pleased. Guess I should really just stop trying to please everyone!