JoannaBanana

So I got to thinking about bombonieres, which initially I didn't think I would do. But this whole process tends to sweep you up, doesn't it? Some friends of ours make a habit of buying a set of shot glasses from each destination they visit, and Sean and I have adopted the idea. So why not shot glasses? I don't want anything with our names on it, but possibly the date. I really would like to do sugar skulls, but I think maybe some older guests might not like that. So I think maybe 50/50 sugar skulls or traditional Mexican style flowers.

@@calgarybride2015 I know you posted your timeline once before and I was poking around in your review, but I didn't find what I was looking for. What time was your ceremony, and at what time did your reception proper begin? I'm doing the same thing that you did, free package with the palapa upgrade. So if my wedding is at 5pm, what time will the reception begin, and what happens in the middle? Is there an awkward standing around phase, or is it all relatively seamless for guests? The champagne toast and canapés is included, yes?

SOLD! Paypal?

So I mailed out my invitations today. Now I'm kind of at a loss. Picking the resort was huge, then the push was for invitation design and creation. Now I'm just going to sit back and wait for RSVPs aaaand... what's next? I can't really pick my dress yet so that's off the table. What's the next big fish to fry? Speaking of invitations, my shoulder is completely screwed up from my marathon invitation production. I have a Japanese style coffee table (which you can eat at sitting on the floor) and this is where I made all the invitations. Sitting on the floor for four days has caused such a mess that the muscle in my left shoulder has been cramping up (like how it feels with a leg cramp!) Might have to go see my Chiropractor sooner rather than later. Or maybe a RMT.

Hmmmm... interested but does this offer exclude Canadians?

Hey lady, fellow May '16 Sirenis bride here /fistbump. Love your dress. I did a site tour of Grand Sirenis venue options. You're probably going to have to go with the semi private beach party option. I know, the palapa location is amazing. But the party area on the beach is pretty nice too. With a group as large as yours you are sure to have an amazing time. Unless it rains.... Speaking of which.. do you know what the emergency back up plan is in case of rain? I don't! @calgarbride2015 do you know? PS we invited way more people than we hope to see come. So I hope our guest list doesn't explode like yours! I tallied up my list and with kids were looking at about 140 invited. We're hoping for more like 30-60. How many people did you invite? Your wedding and planning is so far ahead of ours. May 12, and our deposit deadline is in October.

So very close!

Michael's! $7.99! As for the meet up, I'm debating. It's far, I'm shy, and $$

Need a break, I've been working hard at these invitations. I took some action shots for you guys.

Glad to hear I'm not cheap! I was literally laughing out loud. I've never had invitations made before, and I know all things wedding related tend to be inflated in price so I thought maybe it was normal! I have all next week off, so I'm going to try to buckle down and bang these out. I borrowed the giant paper cutter from work, I'm skeptical that it will cut with enough precision, but I'm going to try. With the design I'm having difficulty putting an image behind and still having it show up. I'll fight with that over the weekend.

@@deecol GBP had SO many Brits vacationing when I stayed there, so your guests will feel at home! @@TinkerSofi My family keeps telling me the same thing "people barely look at them."

Thanks ladies. So last night I rented Microsoft Office and fiddled around in the short evening hours that I had available. I got it looking decent but not quite where I want it to be. At the same time I was waiting for a response for a quote request from an Etsy vendor. $800 for 100 invites, and another $125-160 if I want RSVP's included. Haaaaa. Sorry. Maybe that's normal. But haaaa!!! I'm sorry I think I've mentioned a few times how cheap I am. Now I just need to find a nice 80lb cardstock that I could use. I found the selection at Michael's rather limited, I was hoping for a raw paper look, or light grey. DIY it is! Good news is that even though I'm lazy, I'm also pretty artistic.

I had no idea you could rent Office! I was looking at Etsy invites, but I might reconsider another hand at DIY if I can open these templates at work, then rent Office at home to finish them.

So I'm feeling a little frustrated. I'm trying to pull together the ol' Boarding Pass invitation. I think they aren't working on my computer because I don't have Microsoft Office, so I'm trying to make it work in Open Office. I'm kinda hoping I could just get away with sending out email invitations with a link to our wedding website. That's what my friend did. I'm going to try from my work computer tomorrow and see how that goes.

@@calgarybride2015 At the risk of making others green with envy - $1247 per person. I know that price is crazy because of the insane amount of research and quoting I went through. @@maybeoneday Royalton was my top runner for a long time, we could have gone either way - but this price was too good to say no to for Sirenis, especially after our site tour @@yycbride2016 I changed my username, and my original "Planning" thread involved too much pussyfooting around, so I decided to remake the whole thing, and copy some parts.

Whaaaaat happened?

The Proposal I'm going to tell a story that may seem unrelated, but will always be tied to the proposal for me. In 2002 I took a sweet little Bengal kitten in to my life. I named him Toby, and he was mama's boy. When Sean and I decided to move in together I was devastated when he told me due to his "allergies" he didn't want me to bring either of my cats. I knew my other cat Lucky would be okay with my parents, but Toby and I had a very close bond. I basically begged, and Sean relented. Over the past 2+ years Sean and Toby got to love each other too. Well, one day Toby was not well. This was right during the Christmas season. He needed life saving surgery and I could not afford it. Up to this point he was a vibrant cat, and the vet pleaded with me to do the surgery, and lowered her cost. I still couldn't do it, and it was tearing me apart. Sean told me he wasn't ready to say goodbye, and he stepped in to pay for the surgery. Coming from someone who is mildly allergic, and never wanted a cat to begin with, he was my unexpected hero. The next night, when I was still stressing over the surgery Sean asked me if he could change my mood and got down on one knee. He cried, I cried, and it was one of the greatest moments of my life. Just in our kitchen on a regular weeknight, I think I still had my jacket on. Apparently Sean hadn't stepped in sooner to save him because he had just dropped his money on the ring hours before the bad news came from the vet. Suddenly it felt like Christmas again. We brought Toby home the next day, but he still needed a lot of care. We slept on a mattress on the floor of our spare bedroom with Toby between us so we could be close. Over the days that followed Toby stopped eating, and I had to bring him back to the vet. She kept him in her care overnight, but I got the call at 9am, that it was time to come and say goodbye. Sean met me at the clinic and we went in together. She led us in the room and as she slipped out she said "I'm sorry he passed away." I was overcome with grief, and basically ran out of the building. Sean handled everything, and told them not to call me. He paid the final bill, returned the special foods they had sold to us, and arranged for his ashes. This kinda sounds like a depressing proposal story. But really, these two events were intertwined to me, and it's as though after Sean proposed the three of us became like a little family if only for a couple of days. The Ring In September 2014 we went with two other couples to Riu Palace Tropical Bay in Negril Jamaica. It's a beautiful resort. I've always wanted a destination wedding, and after this trip Sean was on board. He told me he could see both our families here at this resort, and when we got home I should start looking at rings, and he would ask my father. So I knew it was coming. I must have tried on 100 rings. One day on a whim I decided to swing by People's even though I had already seen all their rings. They were having a travelling "Design your Own" event. Basically a whole bunch of mounts, and then individual diamonds which they will then put together for you on the spot. The moment I tried on this ring, I knew it was for me. They weren't coming back for a month. I had given Sean two other ring selections, and this was the third and most expensive, and least accessible. I really didn't think this would be the one, and I was so happy to see that he found it again. I LOVE it, and he picked a beautiful diamond to go with it. It's too large (I've lost 35lbs since I had my finger sized) but I haven't been able to part with it yet for resizing. EDIT: I had it sized while I was in Mexico! The Destination So I have been intentionally not posting much for months now, because it took me SO LONG to pick a resort. I was more easy-going in this regard, but my commitment-phobe-come-procrastinator fiancé seemed to find a way to swat away almost every suggestion. Last month (June) on a whim we went down to the Riviera Maya area and stayed at the Grand Bahia Principe Tulum. While we ultimately did not choose to stay at this resort, we did take the opportunity to do a site tour of the Grand Sirenis. We rather liked what we saw, and at the time my fiancé said he could definitely see both of our families staying there and having a great time. Somehow between then and now he kind of lost his focus and started daydreaming about Jamaica again. After a few more quotes and a week long boys drinking trip on his part, he finally pulled out the list of quotes (which I had provided to him for his ease or consideration) and he circled Grand Sirenis. With less than a year to go I jumped in to game mode. Travel Agent We are not using a travel agent in the traditional sense. I know. I had great experiences with a few travel agents, but ultimately with my sister being an Air Canada employee no one could beat the quote that they were able to provide to me with her discount. The savings are worth not having an actual agent/coordinator that specializes in this sort of thing. I hope I'm not missing out on too much in this respect. That said if any GTA brides are looking for a good agent do not hesitate to contact Tracy Sinclair at Romantic Planet. This lady was so patient, so fun, prompt, and provided excellent recommendations and prices. I actually have a lot of regret for not going with her anyway. But I can't justify spending more, and making the decision for all of my guests to pay more. I have a unique advantage to get Air Canada employee discount, but I know most people do not. I really do hope that people will see my opinion of her and give her their business because she absolutely deserves it. tracy.Sinclair@@romanticplanet.ca www.romanticplanet.ca

TADAAAAA - We have a date! 8 months after our engagement, and 5 months after joining this site. A whole lot of researching, nagging, a site tour, and basically blood, sweat, and tears. We have finally made the commitment. I should have just listened to @@calgarybride2015 to begin with! Props lady! This is a Planning Thread v 2.0 for me, so I'll just copy/paste some of my previous backstory. How We Met He likes to call it "Fishing Off the Company Pier" which basically means we met at work. I was a Service Advisor, and he is an Automotive Technician. I've since left the position as it is considered a conflict of interest (although no one had any idea we were together). Initially we were both in relationships, but I always thought he was cute. I never thought we would end up together. He says he always knew we would end up together. Sometimes I still stop and look at him and I have to shake my head. I love him so much, and I feel lucky to be with him. He's a challenge some days, and so am I. But I guess that's the beauty of a loving relationship. Even from the day he proposed to today I feel our love has evolved to such a higher place.

Thank you. I actually plan on retiring this thread once I confirm a booking. It has too much pre-preplanning and I'd like for my real planning thread to have my actual username, resort, and date in the title. So hopefully you'll see a new thread for me at the beginning of July.

I'm going to go practical and say #3 as well, but I'm horrible with heels. So when I see heels I consider all the difficulties I'd experience wearing them. #2 would be a nightmare for me at Sirenis. All of the three are attractive. I'm a bit of a Tomboy though.

PM'd

I got an unbeatable quote for Grand Sirenis. No matter our selection I think we're closing in on a choice.

Ladies - you really have me on the right track. Thanks for all the suggestions.

Thanks ladies! Your suggestions have helped, and I might stop in to Champagne and Cupcakes still @@snswedding2016 - their website doesn't show much. I'm also seeing a ton on BCBG! http://www.bcbg.com/Magnolia-Strapless-Gown/NST6P904-A1D,en_CA,pd.html?dwvar_NST6P904-A1D_color=A1D&cgid=dresses-by-category-gowns-evening-gowns#start=104