andreapurcell1

Initially we were getting married October 17, 2017 at the Grand Palladium, Riviera Maya. I spent months researching and we had finally picked everything we wanted and I e-mailed the resort to book. Well, the resort had changed some reception options for 2017 and our 75-100 person wedding was going to end up costing us $5,000 more than it would in 2016 OR we could not have our reception on the beach. We're going to Mexico to get married we want the reception to be on the beach or at the very least overlooking the ocean. We visited the Grand Palladium in the past and loved it which is why we picked the resort. Now I'm at a loss. Where do we go? Recommendations please!!

We are going to be getting married in 2017. My mom isn't a fan of the AHR and I tried to scrap it but FI really likes the idea. We are getting married in October and I told my fiance that if we were having an AHR it HAS to be within the first 2-3 weeks after we get home so it will be before the holidays and such. After the holidays I am not going to want to plan anything else, I just know it. Not to mention we will see all of our families over the holidays. Anyway, the reception will be at a firehall. Literally a large room with a dance floor and absolutely NO decorations at all. It's legitimately a bingo-hall fire hall. FI is a firefighter so it is cheap if not free so I will make it work. We will rent/buy table cloths and napkins, caterer will bring the plates and flatware and we will supply beer/liquor/pop and the firehall will provide us with a bartender. Great. Well I have NO idea how to decorate. Are bare walls going to be awful? It's a pretty large room and I don't want to spend a fortune on draping and such. Also do you invite those who attended/were invited to the DW to the AHR as well? If so, does everyone come again? Trying to guesstimate how many people we will be expecting too. Thank you!!

FI is a "automotive collision repair tech" -- he fixes wrecked cars and he hates when I say mechanic-because he's not. But anyway. He's also a volunteer firefighter. Needless to say, daily wear of a ring is impracticable and dangerous. So he came up with the idea that he would get a "nice" ring for weekends or when we go to weddings, fancy stuff. Then, he is getting silicone bands to wear daily which I never knew existed, he found them! Look at him all determined to wear a ring. Anywho They're like those livestrong bracelets they sell and they are like $20. They're designed to break under 40lbs of pressure so if it get stuck on something it will snap much faster than his finger will break. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OBT4HV4/ref=twister_B00OBT4IAO I also found this which is pretty cool. It's for when your knuckles are much bigger than the top of the finger http://www.fastcodesign.com/3030074/a-safer-wedding-band-for-active-husbands?utm_source=facebook

I was ready to scrap the AHR all together. FI is the one who really wants it. So, we are having it. Now I have started thinking about when/where/how. We will be having it at his fire department probably early November. We won't be back from Mexico until late October and if we go past the second week of November now we are getting into the holidays which we don't want. And after November I feel like I'd have to push all the way until March, April or May to avoid Pittsburgh snow. So, we are decorating, hiring a DJ, bringing in a caterer, etc. I am wearing my dress (when else will I get to wear it ever in my life? I might wear it on the plane home!) I want to do a cake cutting but the ONLY reason for that is that FI is a firefighter (hence the fire hall) and I found this REALLY cute engraved fire ax cake cutter on Etsy. I obviously can't take an ax on the plane to Mexico so my only time to use it will be at home. We will probably do the first dance again because I feel like it opens the floor to everyone dancing but we most likely won't do the dances with our parents again (or maybe we will, I'm being VERY laid back). Speeches probably won't happen because they were already given once. And lets be honest, our friends don't care about the speeches. The speeches are for us and our families from the people who wrote them. We heard them already. I say do whatever you want! It's your party!

We went to Mexico last October and the Bubba Keg was seriously the best idea EVER. A friend told us we had to get them so I did. Well, my Margarita stayed cold all day, I didn't have to worry about spilling, it was Ahhhh mazing! We are getting each of our guests a Bubba and I am putting a vinyl decal with each guests name on their tumbler so they don't get mixed up (I have a Cricut so I will do all of that myself). We are likely going to have around 75 people so we will deliver the bubbas in the week leading up to the wedding since we will be over the $300 limit to bring things into the country (75 bubbas run about $500 after the bulk discount). Our OOT bags will have much less in them since we are doing the bubbas

Did any ladies have any issues getting Real Touch flowers into Mexico? I was considering only doing my bouquet and not doing them for the brides but now I'm not so sure. Did they travel well and did you have any issues at customs?

My fiancé and I have been together for almost seven years. I don't doubt for a second being together forever. Maybe it is because we compliment each other so well but the wedding planning has been a breeze. We are having fun with the planning. He has brought a lot of great ideas to the table (like a shadow box in the shape of Mexico for our guest book alternate-- I would have never thought of that) and he has been really involved which has made it more for us than just for me. When you say you met someone what does that mean? Acquaintance? Secret lover? Friend? If your mind is wandering before the wedding that should be a red flag. I don't think you should blame wedding planning for straining your relationship. This is supposed to be fun. My sister called off her wedding 48 hours before it was supposed to happen. She said she didn't want to spend the rest of her life sitting on the couch watching TV. She wanted to go out and see the world. If you are unhappy with how he is then it is important to re-evaluate what you want. His job situation likely will not change after the wedding and it's a lot more expensive to walk away after the wedding than it is to walk away before.

The Grand Palladium, Riviera Maya has a really pretty church on the resort. We were there last October for vacation and we loved the resort so much we are getting married there.