Very detailed planning! ***pics***04/04/09

[montegobay09]

Wow, I actually think I've been procrastinating from posting all this because that means it's real and all of this planning truly is coming to an end! I can't imagine how much more difficult this would've been without everyone here on BDW. I've received great advice from everyone and found the bestest weight loss partner ever!! Thank you all so much for your advice and support

 

I only have 6 more sleeps!!!

 

I've been putting this together since the beginning so it's pretty long...here it goes

 

Our engagement

 

We got engaged on September 28th, 2007. We finally decided on RIU Montego Bay as our resort and since it wasn’t even open yet and they had great opening deals we got a great price! To allow our friends and family to save $$ for the trip we waited an extra year and we’re so happy our weddingmoon is finally here!

 

Our monogram!

 

After playing around for hours and asking lots of questions I finally found this site that is so well known here on BDW Sproullie Designs - Custom Photobooks, Invitations and more! She has great designs, awesome customer service and extremely reasonable prices!!

 

Invitations

 

We didn’t send STD’s because once we decided on the resort and booked the date people needed to start booking right away, so we sent emails, updated our website (we chose ewedding.com) and made lots of phone calls so that everyone would know how to book the trip if they wanted to.

 

After a house fire (invite cardstock was in the house as well as laptop with invite layout) and a huge delay with our wedding planning we sent out invitations to all of our guests inviting them to our Jamaica wedding as well as our AHR the week after we get back.

 

(inspiration pics from knottie brides)

 

Our invites with DIY instructions on this thread http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t38771

(the font is just like the inspiration pic)

 

more to come....

[montegobay09]

Wedding Attire

 

(inspirtation pic from knottie bride)

 

We bought FI’s shirt from Beach Wedding Attire: Drawstring Linen Pants, Cotton & Linen Shirts, Shorts - Island Importer and I love it!! (so does he!)

 

We finally found a pair of white pants (very hard to find) on ebay and we bought his thong sandals from there too.

 

My bridesmaids will be wearing turquoise/aqua dresses picked out by them. They live at different ends of the country so I just let them find any knee length turquoise dress that they’ll hopefully be able to wear again. I sent them the pic of FI’s shirt for an idea of the color and then I gave them a few pics of dresses I found online.

 

Here’s one that my sister (MOH) picked from ebay and it looks great!

 

(sandals bor BMs and MOH pics posted with BM gift)

 

 

We asked our groomsmen to wear a pair of beige pants and we bought them these shirts to wear for the wedding. We love that they’re casual and that they will wear them again!

 

Junior Bridesmaid is 11 years old (she’s my cousing and God daughter) and is terrified of flying so we’ve included her in our AHR and have found a very special way of including her in the celebration. She will be *interupting* our reinactment of our first dance and saying “you call that dancing? I’ll show you dancing!” and then she will proceed to show us her talent. She is an amazing dancer and she’s just so excited about the whole thing. She especially loves that no one else knows about this except for my mom and her mom. Here is the dress she has bought and is so cute in it!!

 

The BRIDE!

I knew I wanted something simple and light...practical I guess you could say. The wedding dresses I tried on just had too much extra material in the skirt or were too pooffy or had too much detail. I’m so not the bridal type but I finally found the one! It’s a bridesmaid’s dress that I ordered in white!! Super inexpesive that way!!

 

Like we all say...don't mind the hair!! and I'm not wearing my sandals in this one...but I still love it!!!! So comfy!

 

Shoes I bought on ebay

my necklace

 

I did buy a beatuiful turquoise teardrop necklace and Mom's letting me borrow her beautiful braclet for my wedding day and my sister is letting me wear her earings...if you can't tell I like to borrow!! I have a pretty simple style, if you can call it style!

 

I will also have a turquoise pashima - not sure if I’ll need it but I’ll use it for pictures! I have also considered wearing these turquoise sandals for pics and for the evening...not sure yet. Maybe you could give me your opinions and let me know?!!

 

still more....

[Corvette79]

looks great so far! we have the same colors, i am also getting my planning thread together isnt it fun? cant wait to see the rest! congrats on your upcoming big day!

[montegobay09]

Rings

 

My wedding band was easy to order and looks great. FI’s on the other hand has been a battle!! We found a ring that he loved but it was stainless steel and he preferred to have one made just like it, but in gold. We ordered it from the same place we got mine since we had good service and the price was reasonable. To make a long story short, it took forever to come in and then wasn’t the right one so with only 6 weeks left we ordered the stainless steel one. I went back 2 days later and secretly ordered the same ring but in gold. I was promised that it would look identical to the stainless steel one. I surprised FI with his gold ring and he was so excited and happy that he didn’t have to “settle†for the stainless steel one!

 

Hair

 

At first I wanted my hair down because it is somewhat wavy, especially in the summer/humidity. After I considered the wind though I decided on an updo. What I really want is a low french twist with all the ends tucked in, but I want it kind of loose so that you can tell that my hair is wavy. Hopefully it will work out. These are the only pics I could come up with for inspiration.

 

Loose like this but in a french twist

 

my hair flowers that I might use...

 

Makeup

Here are my makeup inspiration pics...I want natural since I don’t wear makeup. They might have a challenge though since I’m recovering from 2nd degree burns on my face and neck...hopefully the can cover the scars!! If not, they’re part of me so it’s ok!

 

Flowers

 

I couldn’t get in touch with the florist for my resort (they didn’t respond to emails) so I took it upon myself to order my bouquet from Bitter Sweet Wedding Designs . I was referred to her by edssbride09 and I’m so happy with them. They really look real which was a huge issue for me cause I really am not a fan of fake flowers but if I wanted my white calla lilies I had to make the sacrifice!

 

inspiration pic

 

my flowers (I’m going to wait till I’m in Jamaica to put them together in my bouquet.)

 

We will get the bridesmaids’ bouquets from the resort’s florist. I’m hoping for something like this

 

We’re getting married on the west end beach on the resort which is a more private part of the beach.

This isn't the right pic but the chairs set up in the setup close to the water there will be exactly the same as on the west end of the beach

 

We chose to have our reception dinner at the Mahoe Bay restaurant on our resort. Our ceremony is at 4:00pm and we will do our first dance just after the ceremony, get some pictures taken (by Michael from Photoshop) and then our dinner is at 6:30.

 

Mahoe Bay Steakhouse reception setup

 

 

still more...

[tylersgirl]

Everything looks so beautiful! Congrats!!

[montegobay09]

Welcome bags

 

I really didn’t think I’d put the time and effort into any extras for my DW but the motivated and ambitious brides on here were an inspiration and I decided to put together some welcome bags for our guests.

 

Bags from Party supplies, crafts, party decorations, toys: Oriental Trading

2 mini bottles of Purel

2 mocha tealights

1 package of matches

2 mini tubes of SPF 50 sunscreen

2 pairs of flip flops!! From Party Flops (Here’s my thread about these http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t36092 )

1 welcome letter (template borrowed/stolen from BDW brides)

1 invitation (free from Suquest) to our beach wedding ceremony and reception (pic)

 

All of our guests will also be getting a thermal mug (to keep their drinks cold!) upon arrival at the airport!

 

 

Attendant’s gifts

 

Our bridesmaid gifts are a brown pashima as well as their sandals for the wedding. I’m also including a gift certificate from LaSenza and I’ve paid for them to get their hair and makeup done.

 

 

My junior bridesmaid is getting a headband and necklace as well as a pair of our personalized flipflops since she won’t be in Jamaica with us to get them.

 

Our groomsmen gifts are these awesome frames FI ordered from Unique Groomsmen Gifts From GroomStop They are really nice and he even had the option to add his own wording to the frame to personalize them.

Guest books

 

We didn’t like the idea of the typical guest book. To us, it seems silly to have a book of names. We decided that for Jamaica we’d do a photo album. Guests will receive a 4x6 piece of cardstock and they can leave us a message on that card. We will then incorporate that card/message into our photo album of candid photos of our wedding day. We’re just using a regular photo album for that.

 

For our AHR we wanted something similar but more detailed since we won’t be spending the whole week with everyone. We bought a scrapbook and a TON of pages. I have asked two of my former students to be in charge of taking pictures (polarioid) of everyone as they arrive at the reception. We will have a table set up with scrap booking materials and our guests will be asked to leave us a message, tell us a story, or just sign their name to their page.

 

 

Some of our supplies for the table

(some of our supplies)

 

Here is what is written on the cards we will leave around the room to remind guests to do their page. (with different font and looking very creative of course)

 

Guest Book Instructions

 

❀ While your Polaroid photo is developing you can start to decorate your own page. It can be as fancy or as simple as you want it to be. When you’re done you can leave it in the basket!

 

Make sure to leave a note for the bride and groom and most importantly don’t forget to sign your name to your page!

 

Here are the instructions we are leaving for the girls organizing the guest book

 

Our Guest Book

Jenny and Jenna

 

One of you needs to be in charge of taking the photos. And the other can explain things to people and show them how to do their page.

 

Hints...

❀ Encourage people arriving in groups (couples or families) to get their pictures done together and to a combined scrapbook page. We don’t have enough photos for everyone to get and individual picture.

❀ When you look through the lense make sure that the peoples’ heads aren’t in the center of the picture. Put the heads closer to the top of the frame so that you get more of the person in the picture.

❀ Make sure to tell people before you take the picture that they only get one chance to they should be ready for you to take the picture.

❀ Count to 3 before taking the picture so that everyone knows to be ready.

 

After the picture is taken...

 

❀ You can give them the blank (developing) picture and point them towards the scrapbook table.

❀Simply tell people to leave the bride and groom a special message, advice, or even tell a about an experience they had with the bride and/or groom.

 

Thank-you so much for you help!

 

Suggestions card for those who are creatively challenged

 

Suggestions for your page

 

 

❀ Leave a message for the bride and groom.

 

❀ Do you have artistic ability? Decorate your page with a drawing for us.

 

❀ Tell about how you met the bride and/or groom.

 

❀ Write about an experience you had with the bride and/or groom.

 

DONâ€T FORGET TO SIGN YOUR NAME(S) TO THE PAGE!

 

 

only one more page...I promise!!!....

[montegobay09]

Centerpieces

 

I’m not traveling with any decorations and I’m sure we will be totally happy with the decor at the resort...the ocean itself will be enough for me! However, for our AHR we will have very simple centerpieces on each table. I have two or three different ones so each table will be similar, but different.

 

Here is some of the stuff for my DIY centerpieces

 

AND LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST!!!! (the most exciting..especially with all my new clothes that I would've loved to post on here too!)Weight loss

 

I had to add this at the end here because it was a huge part of my planning process. I am so happy to say that I have lost 23 lbs and have maintained that for 2 months now. I couldn’t have done it without fellow BDW bride edssbride09. Our daily emails kept each other focused on the prize. Thanks so much C!!

 

(These pants used to be too small for me!)

 

 

And that's it! I hope this is helpful to someone on here! Please let me know what you think and let me know if there's anything I can add to help some more. If you have any questions...as away!!!

 

Montego Bay...HERE WE COME!!!!

[montegobay09]

Wow, now that I read it all it doesn't seem all that long!

 

Enjoy!

[Dana_C]

Great job! Everything looks so fantastic- congrats!

[Jacilynda]

OMG You look fantastic!!!! I'm so proud of you. You're wedding is going to be beautiful i can't wait for pics. and I LOVE your wedding dress!!! It looks amazing on you! Congratulations hun I hope its the best day of your life!