nadiakat17

Ah sorry I never got back to you! It was amazing. Very cheap once you get there. Capetown is very cosmopolitan - a mix between Europe and California. Did a 4 day safari at Kruger national park and saw tons of animals. Went to the wine region and had amazing wine. Super romantic and fun. Let me know if you have questions.

Hmm this is a hard situation. As the others said don't be too hard on yourself- no one died and it's an event that like half of Americans go through- and you luckily didn't even have to go through an actual divorce and you realized it early on. As far as the wedding goes it is complicated by the fact it's his first wedding and he might want the full experience- I'd sit down w him and find out what he really wants. Maybe his family can't travel easily and he'd rather an at home ceremony. But I wouldn't blame your parents and friends for their feelings....they may not want to go through the whole thing again. eloping would be ideal but I can see him wanting family there. The bottom line is screw the haters and do what you want. But at the same time remember it is just a wedding and the marriage is the most important part. I loved my destination wedding so if say I got married again I can see wanting a similar type thing- but maybe I'd pick a differnet beach area with a new feel like Costa Rica or do a destination wedding in a city like Italy or have a New Years wedding in the snowy mountain cabins. If I did do a beach wedding again although I loved my decor I'd go for a new feel that I loved equally ( my wedding was coral and gold but if I did it again I'd do a peacock theme).

Bridesmaid and groomsmen outfits and thank you gifts ? Ring bearer and or flower girl outfits? Rehearsal dinner details and outfit? Plans for a future honeymoon? Thank you gifts for parents if doing those? Sourcing ideas of what you will buy for OOt bags? Centerpieces? You are way ahead though! Good job

That's basically what I did !

I did the same thing. I bought the cheaptotes bc they were literally the cheapest! Then I used coupons at Michaels to get transfers ( I only made around 25 bags, one per couple or one per single). I made my own template... A knockoff of the Hola Amigo bag ( so ended up spending like 1.50$ per bag instead of 5 or whatever) Everyone loved it

As everyone said above we have all unfortunately been through it. And I think all of us have been shocked at the people we thought for sure would come that didn't. We had some horrible times including good friends who we put a deposit on who didn't even have the decency to text back or RSVP (and then not offer to pay the deposit and obviously no gift). I got so stressed and enraged and was questioning the destination wedding. I've been on a forum where everyone there was saying destination weddings are ridiculous and selfish and you can't expect people to pay to go even if they have the money. (I'm sure we've all heard these comments too). However I disagree. You should get married however you want . I think that all really good friends and family should make a real effort to go- not "having money" (and I'm talking about people w decent jobs who go out, etc) is not an excuse to me when I've given you like 16 months to save ( put away 150$ a month and trip is more than paid for!). To the "friend" who said they were saving money then I see FB pics of their vacation to our DW city 2 months later- you just obviously didn't value us enough so the friendship is over. Zika is not an excuse when there still isn't concrete evidence out there! Anyways some of my "friendships" have ended or forever changed but really that is to my benefit. I don't think I'll ever get over that aspect. One of these friends had essentially a DW after me and I didn't go partially bc of my schedule but I could of made it work w effort but why give effort to someone who obviously didn't give you any? In the end we had a blast and our group was perfect and I didn't feel like anyone was missing (actually glad these other groups of friends didn't come bc we already had another groups to try to spend enough time with). People who did go still bring up our wedding as one of the most fun weeks of their lives . Would go through all the drama and pain of getting guests again in a heartbeat to have that wedding again!

Lol I'm literally sitting in the airport lounge connecting for my honeymoon in SA!!

i think you can do whatever you want! Agree w above, wouldn't drive six hours for something casual. We had a lakehouse party w food, cake (not a wedding cake), drinks. With a nautical theme so no wedding stuff except an album and a sign that said we tied the knot. Everyone had fun. We also said no gifts (didn't want people to think this was some gift grab)

Yeah that is what is sad about the media having a field day...people freak out and make rash decisions

I went to a destination wedding there. The island is lovely, however I felt it was very expensive compared to every other Caribbean country and Mexico I have been to. So my friends were complaining. Don't know how much weddings cost (my friend is aruban so got deals). Will be interested to see if you can get an affordable package. They also don't have a lot of all inclusives ( the one I visited the Divvy was pretty trashy) but I know they have a riu . We stayed at the Marriott which was nice and the wedding was at Manchebo which was nice as well ( on eagle beach which is the quieter beach than I think Palm beach which is more party). I'd highly recommend renting a car for a day and driving to more remote beaches like Baby beach and eat at Flying Fish ( tables literally in the surf so you have to be barefoot). The best thing we did was do an extreme jeep tour ( as part of the island is very rocky/desert). Let me tell you that was hair raising!

I ended up bringing my own. My wedding planner said like something ridiculous like 400$ for it and I asked what would be included and she said umm like chips. lol expensive and not what I wanted. I brought a few glass and plastic apothecary jars, scoops and tongs, stick on chalkboard signs to write on the labels, mini bags to place the candy in ( I decorated them w travel stickers). I brought an assortment from America that I bought at Costco and grocery store ( no chocolate bc it will melt) and some local candies in Mexico ( they don't have many of my American favorites there so glad I brought). Part of the point was to show my love for candy and my favorite kinds to make it more personal. Success!

Health professional here. The Zika virus has been blown out of proportion. We aren't even sure if it is the cause of microcephaly yet or if there are other factors at play. Also a lot has been faulty in Brazil ( microcephaly there has broad criteria for diagnosis and some babies just have small heads , also now there is overreporting due to the panic. The govt already looked at 700 ish of the 4000 reported cases and already threw out 300 of them as they were not true cases ) also most of the pregnant women w these babies reported some symptoms early in the pregnancy like rash ( w most viruses the damage is done early on) and the Zika virus only causes symptoms in like 20% of cases. Cytomegalovirus in the US causes about 5000 babies a year to have issues including brain damage and no one is freaking out over that. Plus every resort I've been to in Mexico sprays and I have never been bit there. Very low risk. If anything be worried about dengue fever. Just take proper precautions against mosquitoes if any. Of course pregnant women should do what they feel best , but I'm just saying I think the media is instilling fear and not all the facts and I personally would travel if I was pregnant.

I feel like we took the most from anyone I've seen lol....table clothes, cloth napkins, candy bar jars, huge welcome bags, candles, vases, fans, maracas, glow sticks, candy, silverware, kids toys, and the list goes on lol. We got confused w the suitcase sizes and bought big duffels but turns out they were out of the dimensions. Would recommend cardboard moving box with maximum airline dimension.. That will be the best way to maximize space. (Engineer husband ) We put really fragile stuff in our carryons but packed other stuff inside bags, vases etc. we also got his parents to take a box ( they were not that happy) people will give you looks but they held up pretty well ( bring extra duct tape for ride back) and yes we did get attention for customs but they just peeked at the top and we said wedding and they let us go quickly. I was glad I did it myself bc that way I knew all the decor was what I wanted plus did a ton of DIYs and it was fun

We brought candy w no problem. I'm not sure what's exactly allowed so just pack more questionable items on bottom ( when they looked in our bags at customs they just opened the top rustled it and then closed if)

Well I think it depends on the RSVP . I know some brides on here have people make deposits and things like over a year in advance so it's already a done deal. For us we had more of a standard timeline...sent stds like 9 mo in advance then like 4 mo in advance sent invites with the final yes or no being due 3 mo before the wedding. With this timeline there was a lot of time after the std and then invite for people to change their mind and a few firm initial nos completely changed their mind! On the flip side my friend had a destination wedding with a similar timeline and even tho I told her I didn't think I could come I appreciated the invite for the connection and also I was hoping I could maybe swing coming more last minute (before final rsvp)

Oh definitely tacky but hilarious and probably what everyone wants to do. Obviously they aren't planning on keeping that friend. I think a text or email is warranted for sure. You're right no one has time for a call but I bet most brides are on their phone for part of the day getting ready I know I was checking Facebook on wifi in Mexico! A girl never showed up to my friends wedding ( no text no call) and my friend the bride was checking her phone wondering if she got Into an accident! You bet she shouldn't have wasted time on that. I just think people these days are so rude as evidenced by planning my wedding. We had one guest no show ( she did email) due to not making the appropriate arrangements. I think in that situation she should have sent a gift but I'm just going by etiquette here it just would have been the right thing to do but whatevs there goes 100$

1. roughly 1000$. My parents paid for food and alcohol ( his parents brought some too) since it was at our lakehouse it was free but parking tight so we gave 200$ to a family friend to literally shuttle people all night. We paid like 300$ for decorations , plates etc 2. Very informal. It was from late afternoon to like 11 pm. No traditional wedding stuff like dances etc . We had a nautical theme it was cute. An inflatable lighthouse cooler, hanging red white and blue decorations, anchor straws, buoy, life preserver and ship wheel decorations, table clothes plates napkins nautical theme ( I tied the napkins in brown paper I stamped w nautical themes) pic I painted of our wedding coordinates, anchor table runner, sign that said "we tied the knot" etc. we also had a serve your own margarita station 3. We did ours a couple weeks ago like roughly 6 mo after wedding ( due to my schedule, weather ) 4. We catered it from local company with burgers hot dogs side dishes and made a lot of apps. DH brewed an amazing beer and we made labels for it "hoppily ever after " huge hit 5. Way too casual for wedding dress so I wore a fringy flowy cream dress 6. we did paper invites from etsy. Super cute lakehouse theme. No presents 7. My professional photog brother who did amazing job w my wedding photos was unofficially supposed to shoot but I think was too busy relaxing so I mostly took some shots with my phone. Wished I would have talked to him more about it 8. our wedding cake was a rea let down so I wanted a re do. I spent a lot of time and money finding lakehouse miniatures to decorate a plain white sheet cake but the bakery kind of took over decorating it so I just added to it . I was bummed at first ( and wanted a 3 tier initially ) but it turned out cute. We had little Adirondack chairs w mini margarita , wine and cheese plate, Pail, sandcastle , flip flops, box of Pliny the elder beer ( DH big beer aficionado) and Mini books on the chairs of our interest ( engineering and mini grays anatomy ) the cake was blue like the lake with a big sandy graham cracker heart in the center with the scenery 9. Decorations. see above 10. Ugh I procrastinated then stayed up late multiple nights creating two beautiful lay flat $$ books on snapfish to have and paid for two day shipping. However they didn't say I needed to budget time for printing so they didn't make it! My mom had some printed photos she put in old fashioned album so people looked at that. That was the biggest bummer of the night And his grandparents and sisters fam got sick and couldn't come but overall we had like 40 people and everyone had great time. Not too stressful glad I did it.

I brought my stuff in boxes...you can get way more in a standard moving box than a suitcase plus we only brought one box back with us and tossed the others. Con is you get more scrutiny and they are bulky. DHs mom was annoyed bc we made her bring one. You might want to check before opening an airline card. I opened an AMerican airlines card specifically to get free checked bags come to find out in small print domestic only

I have not heard of any airlines waiving fees. We spent a couple hundred dollars checking bags ...it is what it is I guess. You could try asking but doubtful. If money an issue would consider southwest and having to have a stop

As everyone said you should do what you want to do. Are you planning to get legally married in Mexico? Have you thought about legally getting married your date at courthouse then going to Mexico with family at a time when more people can go ? Or having a traditional wedding and just going to Mexico you two to renew vows and take pics? Just some ideas!

Unfortunately from what I heard it is common to "scam" people with these in order to get money for alterations. I got measured for a bridemaid dress and it's coming in mail and I expect it's going to be huge unfortunately but didn't want to risk ordering smaller one. Ugh

Ah we are possibly going to honeymoon in Thailand so have done some research . Phuket is beautiful but I heard it is too touristy now. There are other less crowded islands for example we were thinking about Ko Samui

I guess it all depends how you look at it. We literally had a friend sign our paper over lunch. It changed nothing for us so I felt 100% newly married on our wedding day in Mexico. I'm a logical person and not really religious so it was an easy decision-18$ And a few mins of time vs hassle, potentially thousands of dollars etc. wouldn't have it any other way! A few people asked and we told them truth but not as many as I thought and the ones that knew thought it made sense

5000 sounds like a lot for a week ( considering airfare not factored in ) I'm sure you could find another quality resort for half that or stay at a boutique hotel . Otherwise u can save and take a honeymoon like Six months later which is what I am doing. Honestly I wish we had another week to relax ( and I had no idea id feel that way) after the wedding. I thought it was even very helpful to come one day before guests

If we could pack you could do it! We had a carry on suitcase each and backpack then each checked large suitcase and 3 50# boxes ( couldn't find suitcase big enough) Such a pain. It worked but we had so much stuff and boxes definitely draw attention