What I would and wouldn't do again...

[Cole5worm]

This is a great Thread! It has made me not stress so much about what i have in my OTT bags.. they have mugs so i guessing they will be happy! Thanks again all you pro-Brides!!!

[Tobi]

this is one of my fav threads. it made me change the list i have for items to put in my oot bags, confirmed the importance of a good photographer, makes me happy with the small cake in our package, and not so freaked out about the inexpensive dress i found that i LOVE. keep them coming guys =)

[Opice34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tobi Jessell this is one of my fav threads. it made me change the list i have for items to put in my oot bags, confirmed the importance of a good photographer, makes me happy with the small cake in our package, and not so freaked out about the inexpensive dress i found that i LOVE. keep them coming guys =)

Tobi - you and FI make such a cute couple! The pic in your sig is adorable!!

[Opice34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NYJen Here in NY, the cocktail party is the BIGGEST part of the wedding. Most people prefer the cocktail hors d'oerves over the reception dinner. So I made sure we had a big cocktail party at our Cabo wedding (since our guests are from NY.) But we changed it up a bit and had the cocktail party before the ceremony. This way everyone could have something to eat and drink before heading to the beach for the ceremony. And then it gave them a little time to digest before the dinner. We had a pretty elaborate cocktail party (by Cabo standards) for the 33 guests that we had. We had 3 stations (Mexican, veggies/bread, and cold seafood) and 8 different passed hors d'oerves. Everyone LOVED it and ate everything. And then after the ceremony, as everyone headed up to the reception area, we had some more hor d'oerves and some gucamole and chips served to everyone while they waited for us to take pictures and then start the dinner. I didn't feel it was a waste of money. I HATE going to weddings where there isn't enough food (or bad food) and you leave still hungry. So I felt I would rather stuff our guests than not have enough food. I hope this helps.

I too am a huge fan of the cocktail hour and hors d'oerves! It's a must for me! I find that people are always so excited to find what's being passed around on those little trays!

[newprincessbride]

This is by far one of the most helpful threads. It has confirmed my decision about the IPOD and docking station. IT'S A GO!!!! Keep em coming ladies.

[amy706]

THANK YOU EVERYONE! This is very helpful! Keep em coming is right!

[theresasc]

Appreciate your tips. From your advice I am not doing a cake since I'm doing a candy buffet. Now, I am not going to worry about a band either...............just music for ceremony. Then off to a hotel bar w/ live music so all can dance & drink w/o me paying for it.

[cincin]

This is a wonderful thread!!! I am soo glad I read this now. Our wedding is in October and I was just thinking about upgrading the wedding cake to something else. I think I'm going to just go with the standard cake that comes with our package.

 

I also like the ideal of a welcome dinner. Very good idea!

 

Thanks again! This was extremely helpful!

[Debs]

Here's my list:

 

Would do again:

 

Have a DW: First and foremost! I'm so happy we decided to go away to get married and not here, and get caught up in the hooplah. I'm so happy we decided on the Dominican, and Ecstatic we chose Ocean Blue. It really was a dream come true.

 

Not get caught up in a 'wedding': We know what we mean to each other. We kept everything to a bare minimum and loved every minute of it.

 

My dress/veil: I had the opportunity to borrow a friend's wedding dress, tried it on even and was just not into it. I'm so happy I found my dress, which was a bridesmaid dress done in white and light blue, and only paid $275 for it. Very simple and elegant I think, perfect for a wedding on the beach. My veil was very similar to one I saw in the bridal shoppe for $275 but found it on Ebay for $30 including shipping! Woot! Score!

 

Pictures: We were close to signing with a photog but had some financial setbacks. We ended up paying for half of a friend's trip (he's a wedding photog) and he shot over 1700 pictures on the wedding day and TTD day! Incredible. He's going to put them on disc as a gift. Bonus!

 

Flowers: Decided to not go with the fakies I bought, though they looked really pretty. It was only $50 for a real bouquet, so decided at the last minute to change. We used the flowers in the flower girl's basket, so they were not wasted.

 

Wait till we got down there to get my ring: We did everything else so uniquely, why not? We bought a blue topaz and diamond ring while down there that I'm using as my wedding ring. My engagement ring is like a band, and my band is like an engagement ring (though a topaz). Whatever!!

 

What I would do over/not do:

 

OOTS: these were somewhat cobbled together at the last minute anyway, but I had bought waterbottles from the buck store and put in candles, certs, matches, sanitizer. Made a custom label for them but, meh, they didn't turn out like I hoped. Our guests used the candles mostly but that's about it.

 

Not video'ing the ceremony This was an oopsie! I got back to my room from the spa and the guys were in the room! So I grabbed the cleaning lady and told them to get out but they forgot to take the video camera with them and then I couldn't get it to them. We had someone who would have video'd it, but alas, it didn't work out. Ah well, we'll have tons of pics anyway.

 

Not stress about who is/isn't coming UG. The worst part of the planning process. Dealing with people giving me a guilt trip for THEM not having a wedding to go to, and free booze/drink was rediculous. Piss on them all, they missed a fantastic time!

[StephanieMN]

What I would do again:

 

Day-off coordinator-

She saved our butts a few times and I wasn't stressed about stuff getting done!

 

The oot bags- The guests that I heard from just loved them and could just feel the love.

 

Get a dress I love!- I ended up getting a second dress and really couldn't have felt more like a princess. Spend the money to get one you love.

 

Slideshow-

I spent tons of time on it and thought people wouldn't appreciate it but we got some tears and laughs.

 

Not pay for liquor- not too many people in our crowd drink so we bought a few flasks with and some rum. It was kind of high school but for the amount of money we saved it was well worth it. We had 80 guests and the cost for low end beer and wine would have been $1500 and only about 20 guest would have drank it.

 

Not do:

 

I would have stuck with our DW plan! We ended up spending more when we switched to a home wedding. More guest equals more stress. I don't want to say I regret it I just would mix it up some if I had the chance.

 

Skipped the honeymoon!

Take a freaking honey moon-

I started school just days after so our honeymoon was spent with me taking CPR and First Aid.

 

Worried!

I worried about silly little things and no one even noticed! I got tons of compliments on all the effort I put in and everyone loved the little touches. Our flowers got screwed up so we scramble the last minute and there looked great! So I didn't need to stress.