Bride2012 February 14, 2012, After the fact planning thread

[Bride2012]

After the fact Planning thread:

Our background:

My husband and I have been dating about 2 years prior to getting married.  We went to the same college and even graduated on the same day…but we never met.  We had some mutual friends and sometimes I would be at the gatherings and sometimes he would…but never at the same place at the same time. 

 

 

And instantly fell for me.  He started asking his friends about me but everytime he asked I was in a relationship or he was.  One day I was bored at work and asked one of my friends to add me to a work chit chat email thread, it was something they did and just made fun of one another to make time pass….and guess who one of the members was…my current husband ! He started asking me a few questions and said he was interested, I had recently got my heart broken and told him all I wanted was a friendship.  So a few weeks later he invited me for a “friendly†dinner at his house, he was making crab legs…and I couldn’t resist a free meal…and we have been inseperable ever since. (sidenote:no nookie was given that night…im a good girl!!! LOL)!

 

Proposal:

When we first started dating I told my husband when I got married all I wanted/needed was a wedding band…nothing fancy as I would be marrying the man I love…and to me that’s all that mattered.  But as soon as it was clear that he was the one…all that went out the window.  He started joking that he already purchased my “band†and was just waiting for the right moment to give it to me/propose.  I started to think he was serious so I marched him into a jewelry store and showed him what type of ring I wanted, told him if he bought me a band I would say no, no matter who was around! LOL!.  So he pointed at a different ring and asked, “what about this one†it was gaudy and flashy and I told him I wanted something vintage classic like the one I pointed to. Turns out he had already purchased the ring I said was too gaudy…he dropped me back off at work, drove 30 minutes home and back to get the ring I wanted and proposed the next day on Mothers day in front of all his family and friends .

 

 

Picking the resort:

We had to find a resort that would work with everyone’s time and budget, we chose the DR because it was one place neither of us had been before…we really wanted Hawaii but the travel time was horrendous…so we chose something a little closer.  We didn’t want anyone to spend 2 of their vacation days solely on a plane.  We contacted our travel agent Marcy and she was so helpful, she contacted all my guests for me and she was the POC for the hotel.  She got us a great rate and it even included transfers.  I am so glad to have found her!

 

 

The Majestic resort has good reviews online, that’s how/why we chose them.  We decided on the elegance as opposed to the colonial because we knew that was more our guests speed. The cost was/is slightly higher but well worth it.  I will do a resort review separately.

 

Save The Dates:

We sent out our save the Date Magnets from Magnet street, we mailed them off in June to make sure everyone knew our intentions.  

 

 

Our Logo:

I purchased these from Etsy and it was well worth my $5…we put it on EVERYTHING!

 

Invitations:

 

I don’t think I have a good photo, but I did passport invitations, took a lot of time…but my guests LOVED everything about them!

 

 

OOT Bags:

I was so busy with everything I didn’t get a shot of everything in the OOT bags…they took up and ENTIRE suitcase all on their own.  Each person had a tshirt, a first aid kit (came in handy after my nephew had a peanut allergy incident), a personalized mirror for all the ladies as well as pashminas.  Each bag had a welcome brochure, pens, notebook, hats, keychains etc, etc.  Too bad I didn’t get to take a picture .  They also had 20 0z drinking cups…these didn’t get used much,

 

 

Colors: 

My husnband wanted an ocean blue and silver, so we found the closest color from the manufacturer, Alfred angelo had a marine blue he loved, no silver…so we went with cornflower…it worked! 

 

 

Bridal Party:

Bridesmaids

We purchased the bridal party dresses, each dress was different and they had the same shoes.  Nina Sammi in Silver. I bought them personalized bracelets as their gift and also bought their earrings for the wedding day.

 

 

Groomsmen:

We bought the groomsmen suits from www.studiosuits.com, we had a few hiccups, one groomsmen didn’t get their linen shirt on time, and was charged 3 times to his credit card.  The suits were supposed to have working cuff links as my husband bought them personalized cuff links for their groomsmen gifts…none of the suits had them…including his own.  But for the price of the suits and the quality..we give it a thumbs up.

 

 

Ties:

The ties were purchased from solidcolorneckties.com.  They didn’t have a blue and silver striped ties, so they went out their way to make one for us.  It came together so nicely!

 

 

The bridal party also got tshirts to wear for the day before the wedding…loved them.

 

 

We only had a ringbearer (my son) we got his suit from a seller from Etsy…a little pricey…but well worth it.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/finehandmadeclothing

 

 

The sign he held  came from another etsy shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/OurHobbyToYourHome?section_id=6505844

Everyone laughed and loved it! ….one side note…he SOOOO stole the show 

 

 

Grooms Gift:

This was a hard one, I did a BD shoot, I lost 30 Lbs for the wedding and wanted him to have a nice “before kids†keepsake! LOL!

I also bought him a watch, he loves his bling and I knew he really wated a nice one

 

My dress(es)

I went shopping way too early, I found a dress I thought I loved, but the more weight I lost the less I loved it.

 

 

So I sold it on www.preownedweddingdresses.com and fell in absolute love with this one:

It was soooo made for me! Casablanca 1995

 

 

I also bought a reception gown from www.jasminesbridal.com it is a knockoff of a pnina 4066, I had so much fun in it and glad I had a reception gown!

 

 

 

My jewelry was my something borrowed:

www.renttherunway.com

 

 

 

Shoes:

My husband picked the hardest color to match! Luckily right before we left I found these from bebe.com! I abz loved them!

 

 

The rings:

My husband got three rings, his blinged out ring, a tungsten carbide ring, and a titanium ring.  It was so hard to find a mens diamond wedding band, but after months of searching we finally found his!

 

 

 

The other two we got for a low price for attending a wedding presentation, and since I didn’t need a wedding band, we got two for him…lucky fellow. We have a certificate for two more if anyone is pressed for cash and needs two bands, we will gift it at a reasonable price!

 

My rings (plus his ) we got from Littman Jewelers…a little pricey, but we love em!

 

 

 

Photography:

 

I  did a lot Lot LOT of research, and after looking at photos and reviewing the prices we decided to go with HDC, we definitely made the right decision, best prices and the videographer stayed with us until the end of the reception.  Arnaud was great to work with and friendly, he made sure we got the video to us before we left, and we were on a time crunch.

 

 

For our TTD we used ***** Nova, Brides…if you get a chance to work with her, I would do it! Her artistic style and her personality made our shoot so much fun. The photos that we have seen so far have absolutely taken our breath away! We couldn’t afford her for the wedding, but I wanted her after seeing her work www.*****novablog.com.  She responds quickly and we absolutely adore her and her husband.

 

 

 

 

For our reception we bought a camera to use, it was one of the best decisions we made, we cut out that cost and our guests had so much fun “playing†photographer, we got a lot of good shots and we are so glad we invested in a quality DSLR.

 

Ceremony:

Our ceremony started bright and early at 11am,  we did it at the Gazbo because I am clumsy and would trip in the sand.  It was a gorgeous day outside and I couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather!

 

 

 

Decorations I bought Poms off etsy and some chair ribbons on ebay, we put a “please no facebooking†note on everyones chair (some took offense, but its our day and we wanted it private so we didn’t care), I made tissues for each seat and bought some wedding bells of etsy. Our WC didn’t charge us to set it up.

 

 

Our sand ceremony frame off etsy from sayanythingdesign

 

 

Bouquet:

Truly blessed that the resort bouquet matched so perfectly! No extra cost except $15 for the bridesmaids single flower and the groomsmen single flowers.

 

 

 

 

[Bride2012]

Reception:

The best decision I have made, besides marrying my husband, was having my reception off the resort.  The Jellyfish was booked for Valentines day, so we took a shot with the La Barcaza since there are not many reviews posted. It was honestly the best time of my LIFE. I loved the food, the crew the atmosphere…it was EVERYTHING I could have asked for and more! 

 

 

 

Our cake topper was purchased off etsy from dealeasy

 

Weeks Events:

We had our welcome dinner at the Japanese restaurants, followed by advice to be given to us and introductions in the lobby

 

 

Day 1 we had a volleyball game and a day at the pool, where the men played water volleyball…

 

 

 

Day 2 we met in the lobby to play cards and give our bridal party their shirts to wear for the day before the wedding,

 

 

Day 3 we went on the Bavaro Splash Excursion, a lot of fun, make sure you eat before you go, theres no food served on the 4 hour excursion

 

 

That night we went to the Jellyfish for the rehearsal dinner, perfect atmosphere and ambiance, the food left little to be desired and my Groom didn’t get the $56 dollar dinner the whole 2.5 hours we were there, they said it was a new ordering system and it was their mistake…they still made us pay for his meal even though it went uneaten.  This left a bad taste in our mouth. We did do the fire dancers, nice visual…not worth the cost…

 

 

Day 4: Wedding day, so amazing, memorable and one I would do all over again in a heartbeat

We had our going away dinner as it was part of the package included, at the steakhouse. we did our photo guestbook that night, we bought props off etsy….so much fun and one I will keep and look at for life

 

 

In closing my advice to future brides is don’t sweat the small stuff.  If you are getting married in Punta Cana DEFINITELY at least take your guests on a welcome cruise on La Barcaza, some of my guests weren’t to fond of the resort food and they really enjoyed their time off the resort and a chance to eat a FAB meal.

If you are having your wedding on the resort but having your reception off the resort, give yourself ample time to take pictures with your photographer, we were pressed for time and missed A LOT of photos of just me and him…this is my BIGGEST regret  and something that I cant change now because its too late 

Take your guests off the resort at least one day, they will appreciate the break from resort food.

Take Immodium AD and a first aid kit, ours 

 

[2012mrstobe]

Great thread!

And yes, I would have to say my favorite part of the thread was your son stealing the show; too cute!

You looked amazing in your dress and it looks like it was just made for you. Looks like you had a great group of people and you had a lot of fun!

 

 

[teamboyd2012]

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Everything about it! Congratulations on your V-day nuptials and having a fab wedding!!!

 

I am soooo thankful for your planning thread as I have been going back and forth on booking La Barcaza for the welcome dinner, but now I will be sure to book tomorrow (hope my date is still available). Also, for the great pics of your groom and groomsmen in studio suits wear. My FI is very skeptical about ordering his suit online, but I think the pics will sway him.

 

Will you please share who the seller is for your guestbook props? I must have them. LOL

[JayKay]

Great thread, thanks for sharing!  We are considering going to one of the Majestic resorts for our honeymoon.  What are the major differences between the two and what made you choose one over the other?? 

[emstypes]

Great thread!! Looks like you guys had an amazing time!!

[AllieH]

really love the no FB postcards - I'm going to borrow that idea. 

 

Your trip and wedding were lovely! thanks for sharing all of the details!

 

[Blujaye]

Congrats to you and your husband! You looked absolutely beautiful and you're son is just too cute!  Both your wedding dress and reception dress were gorgeous. The "no FB" postcard was a great idea; you were correct in saying that its your one moment you'd love to keep private. Key word being "your moment". And I think I'll be stealing that idea as well.

 

Thank you for sharing your journey and all the best to you and your new husband!

[Kristy28]

Your planning thread is great and your wedding looks beautiful. I love your dress.

[kristen6212]

Congratulations!! Your wedding looked perfect and you looked absolutely beautiful in that dress!  Oh and I agree, your son is too cute and looked so precious!