Samantha's After the Fact Planning Journal (Long and Pic Heavy)

Our wedding was 4 months ago and I’m finally getting around to posting all the details.  This site was a HUGE help to me.  I could not have come up with so many ideas, vendors, sales, reviews, etc. without the help of the brides before me.  I would have been lost or spent a lot more money had I never stumbled upon this site.     

Our Story

Lane and I went to the same high school, but did not actually meet until College (Lane is two years older than me).  Lane was playing around on Facebook one day and noticed that we had a lot of mutual friends and we began talking.  Our first date took place at a carnival, but we never talked to each other after the date.  A year later, we ran into each other at a bar, got over the awkwardness of neither of us calling the other one back and the rest is history.

Proposal

We went on a vacation to Mexico and Lane got the idea to propose on our flight.   He had spoken with the gate agents before our flight, met the lead flight attendant and got us bumped up to first class.  About 5 minutes before we boarded the plane they announced that everyone needed to fill out emergency contact information form.  We thought that was an odd request but complied.  As we boarded the plane, the gate agent told us “Good Luckâ€.  I started freaking out because they had made us fill out emergency contact information and it made me feel like the plane was going to go down.  Lane was freaking out because he thought they just ruined the surprise.  Once the plane reached cruising altitude Lane pretended to go to the bathroom.  The stewardess handed Lane the microphone and he proposed in front of everyone.  It was so sweet, but I was so embarrassed.  Neither of us remember what all was said due to nerves, but I said yes and the whole plane started cheering and crying. 

Resort

Our wedding took place at the Iberostar Tucan All-Inclusive Resort, Playa del Carmen, Mexico.  The Iberostar Tucan is approximately 30 miles south of the Cancun Airport, just a few minutes from Playa del Carmen.   You can find my review here.

Save-the-Date

My sister designed our save the dates and we purchased a magnet with a Groupon to Vista Print.  We ordered 100 Large Magnets and Envelopes from Vista Print for $0.52/each.  I purchased a $17 Groupon for $70 worth of product from Vista Print and we ended up spending an additional $35.00.

Wedding Website

After we chose a date and a resort, I spent hours creating our wedding website.  It included information about the Riviera Maya, the resort, our travel agent, etc.  Sometimes I don’t know why I even bothered spending so much time on the website, Lane and I had a TON of people asking us questions about the wedding, resort, passports, etc . and when we told them it was all on our website, the most common response was “oh you have  a website?† Mind you we mentioned the website on our save the dates and our wedding invitations.

Wedding Invitations

Our wedding invitations were semi-DIY. 

I made the ticket jacket myself for about $0.56/each.  Everything was purchased from Hobby Lobby on sale or with coupons (Palm Tree Stamp: $4.19; Mr. & Mrs. Stamp: $3; Stamp Ink: $5.99; Cardstock: $35; Hemp Rope: $3; White Tags: $7.96)

We ordered the Mexico Boarding Pass Invitation and Response Cards designed by La Bella Rue from Zazzle.  

After coupons, the invitations cost $1.35/each and the response cards cost $0.87/each. 

Attire

We got a great deal from Macy’s on Lane's outfit (we spent about $80).  Tasso Elba Pants, Linen Flat Front Trouser Pants and Tasso Elba Shirt, Island Linen Roll Tab Shirt.

My dress is BLU By Mori Lee Style 4902

I ordered wedge shoes in ocean blue from Design Your Pedestal for $84 and the shoe clips from LX Designs for $29 both on Etsy

Welcome Bags 

Our welcome bags were a huge hit.  Our guests loved all their goodies.  The cups, cameras and totes seemed to be utilized the most. 

We gave one bag per single guest/couple and had a total 24 Welcome Bags.  They cost $11/single guest and $12/couple before tax.   For couples, we included 2 tumblers per bag. 

Tote Bag ($1, Dollar Tree) and Flip Flop Luggage Tag ($1.67, Target)

Underwater Camera ($4.13, Ebay Seller aqua2209)

Plastic Tumbler ($1, Dollar Tree) and Waterproof Tumbler Sticker ($0.40, Davet Designs on Etsy)

Spanish Phrases for Dummies ($1, Office Depot)

Aloe ($1, Dollar Tree)

Extra Tote Bag ($0.79, Ikea).  Our guests got two tote bags because I didn’t feel like running back to Ikea to make a return for $24.  Both bags were used by our guests.  I liked the Dollar Tree bags more for the presentation and sturdiness and I liked the Ikea bags because they were bigger and you could fold them up nicely.  

Sunglasses

My sister and brother-in-law surprised us in Mexico with custom sunglasses for all our guests.  My sister and I were at the printer (Scudder Press, Inc.) working on my AHR invitation when I noticed the sunglasses and said I wish I had thought about doing them for the wedding.  She ordered them and didn’t even say anything about it until we were in Mexico.  We handed them out at the Welcome dinner and everyone wore them the whole weekend. 

Fans

We ordered fans from The Knot in light blue and blue on sale for $0.89/each.  The fans were placed on the chairs for the ceremony. 

Maracas

We ordered maracas from Amols in brite blue and light blue for $1.95/pair or $0.99/each.  The maracas were placed on the chairs for the ceremony and I made the shake at the kiss tag. 

Heads up, the designs on the maracas do not match what is pictured on the webpage.  Some were very pretty, others had paintings of bunnies, crabs, fish, etc.  I ended up ordering way too many before I knew the exact number of guests so I was able to pick out the designs I liked the most. 

Reserved Seating Signs

I made these reserved seating signs for our parents, siblings, spouses and their children.  

Cake

Our Cake Toppers ($25.99) and Aqua Blue 2.5†Sola Flowers ($4/12pack) are from Save-On-Crafts

Centerpieces

I didn’t get very many pictures of the centerpieces.  My mom made the table runners and the tables were lined with candles, and floating flowers.  

3†Square Glass Candle Vases ($1/each from Dollar Tree) with 2.25†Sola Zinnia Flower ($6/12pack from Save-On-Crafts) and White Candle Bio Light ($28/48pack from Save-On-Crafts). 

Place Cards

I got the idea from another bride on this site.  I purchased Kate Aspen Shell Placeholders from Target ($7/per set of 12) and painted them blue.  I made the name tags with cardstock that matched our invitations. 

Guest Book

We had our guests sign a sand dollar and had them standing up in a tray of sand.  I plan on displaying them in a shadow box, but I’m still playing with the lay out.  I ordered 2 ½†Sand Dollars from Quality Shells for $0.72/each. 

Photographer

We used Fine Art Studio Photography.  We hired Diego and Alvaro for 4 hours.  You can read my review here.

Love everything! Do you know where your sister got the sunglasses?  I want to include them in our OOT bags.

She bought them from Logo Lenses and she really liked the company. http://www.logolenses.com/shop/wayfarer-2-tone-sunglasses

Wow everything looked amazing!!! Congratulations~

Love the guest book idea. Thinking about doing something out of the box like you. Thanks!