Surfingsara

Wow, so much has changed since I originally wrote my first post in January. We are now getting married in Vero Beach, Florida and will go to Mexico for our honeymoon. I think this will be for the best, as my parents and many other special people were not going to be able to travel to Mexico. So far since the switch to Vero, things have just fallen into place! We have all our vendors booked, our outfits ( including the bridal party members outfits) purchased and ready to go! Before paper items were my hardest thing to figure out, but I found a local stationary shop to to everything. Our save the dates are sent. My biggest problem now are lanterns!! I can't believe how expensive 18" shinny silver lanterns are and how hard they are to find at a reasonable price! I'll elaborate more later...

Congratulations!!! You look beautiful! Can't wait to see more photos.

Hello! I'm starting this planning blog early, partly because I need a place to keep all of my ideas and to keep me focused. I'm very grateful for all of the ideas and support that I've received on this site so far, and hope to share my knowledge with others. So if you have any questions, please let me know. About me: I'm currently in School for Medical Social Work, and will graduate May, 2016! Due to this, my wedding planning time will be limited. I'm hoping that getting an early start on planning will limit stress right before the wedding. My dream wedding: I really want a simple beach wedding. The beach has a special place in my heart, as I've grown up at the beach here in North Carolina. As my screen name suggest, I love to surf! Despite living close to many beautiful beaches, I quickly found that a small, home beach wedding, isn't going to work for us. Mostly because I want a small wedding, about 15 people. Once we started planning, we quickly realized that the only way to get a small, less stressful beach wedding is to do a destination wedding. During the planning process, I've quickly learned that weddings are stressful! And to keep me focused, I look at this saying that I found on Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/523402787918929278/) and I felt it really helps me when I'm stressing over the little wedding details. Wedding Date/Resort: Early June, 2016 (We still need to confirm the date with the resort, Excellence Playa Mujeres. They don't open their 2016 wedding schedule for a few more weeks. But we are hoping for June 4th, 2016) Colors: (image found somewhere on Pinterest) My two bridesmaids will be wearing this Ann Taylor dress. (Photo copied from Ann Taylor's website) I have a similar dress, in a similar color that's been dubbed my "lucky blue dress" and I wanted my girls to have one of their own. Plus they can wear it many times after the wedding. I feel bad asking them to purchase a dress to wear just once, but this dress is one they can wear all the time. Also, I would never ask them to wear something that I wouldn't want to wear myself, so I may be ordering one for me as well! I'll be wearing the JCrew Dune gown! I fell in love with this dress, and purchased it with out ever trying on a dress or seeing it in person. This dress is even more beautiful in person(I'll share the story behind how I found the dress and the special meaning at a later date...) (photo copied from JCrew) I have most of my accessories at this point, veil and jewelry, I still need to purchase my shoes but I'm considering the Tommy Bahama starfish sandals or something similar. The Groom will be wearing Tommy Bahama. 2 Grooms men will be wearing the same, just a different color shirt. Amazingly, the pants actually match the color of my dress perfectly! (photos from Tommy Bahama's website) Wedding Guestbook:(once again, Pinterest.) I plan on using this as an inspiration and making my own. Here are a few of the paper products that I'm considering using. For some reason,the paper products seem to be the biggest stressor for me. I think because there are so many choices to choose from. So far, I'm liking the paper products that I can print myself. After I try printing them myself I may change my mind... One reason print yourself paper products are appealing to me is cost. I'm really trying to keep the cost of our wedding down, so I really don't want to spend a ton of money on paper products that people are just going to throw away. Plus, my fiance thinks Save the dates and invitations are a waste, and that we should just send electronic invites. Paper invitations are one area that I feel tradition needs to be kept. -Save the date ideas: Idea # 1 (https://www.etsy.com/listing/97726119/printable-save-the-date-coastal-theme?ref=related-0) Idea #2 -Thank you to go with gifts(oot bags) for the guest that are coming to Mexico with us. This is copied from Esty (https://www.etsy.com/listing/164114529/welcome-bag-thank-you-note-printable?ref=favs_view_6), and the price isn't too bad either, at $10.00! -Door Hangers:https://www.etsy.com/listing/188760879/fast-shipping-set-of-12-tropical?ref=favs_view_12 For the beach Ceremony and our house later on. https://www.etsy.com/listing/110826658/beach-wedding-chair-sign-shoes-optional?ref=favs_view_11

Hi ladies, i'm getting married at Vero Beach Hotel and Spa in June 2016! I'm hoping to find some inspiration from other Vero bride's. I have all of my vendors and I'm confident VBH&S will do an amazing job. Now I just need some help to make sure I haven't forgotten to plan anything. I live in NC and won't be able to go back to Vero until the week of the wedding. We were originally planning to get married in Mexico, and I found this site to be super helpful with planning all the "little things."

Unfortunately, we had to change plans and get married closer to home due to my dad's health. But still planning on Excellence Playa Mujeres for our honeymoon.

Love the shell guest book idea!!! I wanted to do something like this but others tried to talk me out of it. Plus I was unsure what to use to write with on the shells. Now I think I'll revisit doing this. Enjoy!!

@@veryvalentine Excellence Playa Mujeres. I knew it was going to be more expensive than those closer to Cancun. For us we didn't have enough people coming to get a group rate. We needed 10 rooms and I think we were going to have about 7 rooms. Also, we are looking at getting married in 2016. So for a year I've been looking at 2015 prices to get an idea of cost, but apparently, 2016 prices have gone up more than we expected. This has ended up working out for the best for us. We are now getting married in FL and both of our parents can now come! My parents weren't able to come to Mexico due to health reasons, I understood but really wanted my daddy to walk me down the isle! Since I had my heart set on going to Excellence Playa Mujeres, we are now going there for our honeymoon. Also, I'm not sure at my resort that there were many perks for doing a group rate. I know some places the bride and groom get free nights or other things included. I know its frustrating, but just enjoy the planning process. And my best advice, its your wedding!! Dont change for other people! They will try to get you to change things for silly reasons but if its what you want,stick to it!! This is where most of my stress has occurred. Recently someone said that my idea for favors wasnt going to work because a few people wouldn't be able to take it home on a plane. Since we are getting married in FL where the citrus trees grow, I was thinking of having citrus fruits as a favor. ( for some reason when people from here go to FL they always bring home oranges and grapefruit.) My fiance was worried that this wouldn't work because a few guest (2 households) couldn't take it home on the plane...well I've made a decision on this as our favor and only acts of God are going to change this plan!! I'm truly sick of changing things for others! This is the 4th different location/city we have picked and we always change because of other people. Someone doesn't like that the venue is small and we can't invite certain people, or and this was said to my face " you can't have your wedding that day and there because that's the day we celebrate our anniversary! And they know someone who has already been married at this location!! " so dont try to please everyone, its your wedding and its about you and your finance, other people are just guest to celebrate with you. Sorry for my rant... Its been frustrating! Good luck with your planning!

Hi, I just received two separate quotes from different travel agents and they are much higher than we expected. Our wedding is June 2016 and I'm shocked at how much prices have gone up since last summer when I started looking. My resort would not start booking 2016 weddings until February 2015. As a result of the prices coming in so much higher than we expected we are now having to change our location.... So if you get quoted a decent price go ahead and take it if you can. If anyone needs a good travel agent I would recommend contacting TAWindy on this site! She was very helpful and gave us the best price of the two agents I talked to. I've been very pleased at how quickly she responds and was great at following up.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LUYMMNS/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3C7UVJW4YF0P9&coliid=I2Q80SX1UB6P1R This is the starfish one's I was talking about. I've seen a few different people have something close to this style too. I know Tommy Bahama makes one. I'm considering getting these since they inexpensive. Oh we wear them 8-10 months a year, some people even 12 months a year.

If you can't find anyone who needs the whole thing, let me know, I would only maybe need 1 package.

I'm interested! Do you have any thing left?

I did find some cute starfish ones! I'll send you the link when I get to my computer.. I'm in between classes right now. I do have nice leather flip flops that I wear as my every day ones. Here in NC, flip flops are standard in your wardrobe. People even wear them in business settings... They are called olukai. Much better support than rainbows.

@@Giocivs88, Well, at least your not alone! I know I want to get married on the sand and I know about clothing and accessories (I have been purchasing them as I find them, have my dress, veil and earrings. I think I know what shoes I want, but I really dont like wearing shoes and if we are getting married on the sand, do I really need them?) We purchased luggage this past weekend at Costco, they had a good deal on Samsonite luggage. I know what I want to transport my dress in, its a Wallybag. I'll find the link for you. It has amazing reviews from destination brides!!

@@Giocivs88, I'm happy to help! I've had many people be so kind and help me. Some tines I wonder how I'm going to make all of this happen... But I know it will all come together. Plus we have some time... But its actually about 17 months!! Squil!! Have you checked out excellence Fb group?? Its for all 3 resorts. People post pictures and will answer questions. I've found one lady who sent me a pm and has given me a bunch of tips about the resort. Plus she has friends who visit frequently and they have said they would check things out for me too! I think it says something about a resort when people go back one or more times a year ( wish this was me! But maybe I'll be a super successful social worker and professor and I'll get to visit excellence all the time!! Gotta dream big!!) Plus people who visit here make friends with other guest and the friendships continue once they leave the resort!! The Fb group is invite only, if you can't find it, pm here and we can exchange Fb names, and I can send you the invite to the group. Oh! I really like your ideas for chair covers, and table runners!! I think I may use your idea. After you said this, maybe colored napkins might be nice, so its not all white. I actually told my fiancé about this this morning and he's not opposed to it. This is huge! He keeps thinking the resort will do eveo, all he has to do is show up. Well, he is correct, but I'm not sure he will like the cost if the resort does it all. We are in wedding savings mode right now. Our goal is to have enough saved by this June to cover the wedding. So wedding budget is a frequent topic of conversation. Do you know when we will have the final cost of the wedding? I haven't talked to the resort since August. They told me then that it would be February before the 2016 wedding schedule opens. He wants to pay for it all 100% before we go. So all he needs to bring money for is tipping. We had a very bad experience with a photographer that we paid for the package up front and then after the shoot, I went to see the photos while he was working. Well I was blindsided at this meeting because I was told this was the only time I could view the photos, plus I needed to pay an extra 600-1300 if I wanted any photos!! I called him crying!! I just couldn't imagine picking out photos in less than 30 min. Plus I had not expected to pay extra. Much less 600-1300 more!! The photographer even felt bad! She didn't own the business so she didn't have any control over this, plus the she had no idea the owner had not talked about pricing with me. But out of the kindness of her heart she let me come back to view the photos ( and with out charging me for another viewing!) Plus she worked out a better pricing since she couldn't get in touch with the owner. I only got 10 images, but at a total of $600 for only 10 digital images, this was expensive!! So needless to say we never want to have anything like this again! I also think I said I would get images of something or a website or something for you... I apologize, its been a crazy two weeks and I completely forgot!! Sorry! Remind me again, and I promise I'll get it this time! I have a few hour break on Wednesday and can do it then. Once again I'm so sorry! Normally I'm on top of things. How much were maracas from the resort? I found a few suggestions on this site for maracas at a good price. ( I'll try to find the link for you or you can look under my topics/ post and you should be able to find it.) I was thinking of doing these for our at home reception. Oh lucky you for having him to handle the paper goods! This seems to be what's causing me the most stress. Well this and everyone annoying me over when I can provide them with pricing.

Kim, congratulations!! Sorry to hear about your dad, hope he recovers soon. Y'all looked beautiful in the photos! Can't wait to see the rest of the photos!!

You may also want to post this on preownedweddingdress.com, this is where I purchased my dress.

I'm so excited for you Kim!

Thanks ladies!! I've never heard of mywedding. I'll definitely pass this info on. Password protected is a nice thing!

@@Giocivs88, I'm not exactly positive about linens. I know they did tell me that for a beach ceremony, the love package included chairs with white chair covers. I specifically asked about this because one of the pictures I was sent from the resort didn't have chairs in the photo. Ill try and find you the photo they sent me. I have it saved on my computer, and I'm writing this from my tablet right now. ( it may be a few days as I have a bunch going on right now, but I will get it to you.) As for the reception, I'm not positive of what's included, I didnt ask any specific questions about. From what I have gathered from the website, this site and the pdf's from the resort, the reception is usually at one of the restraunts, so I assume they have tables and chairs. Also, every photo I've seen has white table cloths, so I assume this is included. If you are interested in chair sashes or colored table cloths I think its extra or you can bring your own. I saw a photo posted on the excellence playa Mujeres page here that showed some of the terraces available for a reception. I'll try to find this for you too. I know your at erc, but the two resorts are similar when it comes to wedding stuff. Also you may want to post this question to TripAdvisor. I found a lot of information there. Plus I had many people respond to my questions. I even found a few people who visit excellence playa Mujeres multiple times a year and they checked on something for me, as I won't get to visit the resort before my wedding. I know from this site, people talk about bringing decorations. ( for all different resorts) Im still trying to figure out what, if anything I'm bringing. I'm in school right now and will graduate I only weeks before my wedding. So I only have time to think about this kind of stuff during my breaks.

Hi Ladies! What do you think is the best and/or easiest and/or most user friendly wedding website host? Or what did you use? (examples: weddingwire, the knot, weebly, WIX and so on) I'm helping a friend who recently got engaged with her planning process, as I've been researching at home weddings and destination weddings for about a year now. (I personally started with having my wedding at home, but then quickly learned destination wedding was a better fit for me and hopefully less stressful.) Anyways, she asked about a wedding website. I made mine, but did it from scratch. I can't recommend this to her as she has no prior website design knowledge and I don't have time to do it for her. Thanks!

@awc271011, I'm so glad to hear that not everyone has weird dreams right before their wedding!! I was starting to get worried.

Great job!!

@@Giocivs88 I'm getting married at excellence Playa Mujeres.( just north of Riveria Cancun). Have you looked at the flowers and center pieces from the resort? I was sent PDF catalogs when I contacted the wedding department. I would start here. Your inspiration photos are beautiful, but check if they can get those flowers during your wedding month. They dont have every flower every month. Plus, some colors of flowers are more expensive. Also consider the charge for outside vendors. You could probably bring all of the supplies for the second from the bottom photo. But glass vases can get heavy in suitcases. I'm not planning on bringing many decorations. My package (Love) has a center piece included. I may bring a few things but I dont want to have to bring tons of stuff with me. I may do pretty flower center pieces for my at home reception. I was overwhelmed thinking about what to do too. One think I've heard many times is not to try to recreate images from Pinterest ! They are not DIY, they are done by professionals with unlimited budgets. This goes for finding dresses on the site too. I have a friend who fell in love with a dress on Pinterest, when she went to get it, it was discontinued. Hope this was helpful!

FYI, Microsoft clip art ( also Publisher's clip art) is no more. Microsoft did away with this in December 2014. They now use Bing, but I found it unfriendly and I didn't find what I was looking for. Publisher is still around, and user friendly, just clip art from the program no longer exists.

@@Kayla88, that's cool. I've seen on Pinterest about making flowers from streamers. I was wanting to try to make these.