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

[Prettyhazardous]

I waited a while to answer this question bc I really wanted to think it over. So here goes...

What I wouldn't do again

My wedding was such a beautiful day, but there were some huge issues that stemmed from my WC: So this first thing I wouldn't do again is work with Island Bliss Weddings in St Thomas.I felt that my WC was unprofessional. She wore shorts to my wedding, she lied to us about a bill that we had to pay when we arrived on the island. The bill ended up being 60% higher than we were told. Since we've been home she said that she was reimburse us for the bill. She sent us a check for less than 1/3 of the bill. Also she changed the site of my wedding and we found out from the cab driver enroute and then of course she lied again stating that she told us and the info was on our invoice. That was untrue so everything we had printed with our wedding site was wrong. I would never work with her again.

 

I would change going on the 8 day cruise with 42 ppl. While I love my family and friends after my wedding I really wanted to be alone with my hubby and while my family and friends afforded us that opportunity I felt bad about it so we ended up hanging out with the family alot.

 

Wear A sweetheart neckline gown- My breast are way too big for that

 

Getting my alterations done at the gown shop- That wasn't a good idea I spent way too much on alterations and while I won't quote my gown shop bc I really liked them (or at least the ledo's pizza place next door haha) they really messed up the front of my gown by cutting the top layer to short. Once it was done it was done so i didn't freak out about it but I was very disappointed.

 

Things that I would do again

Get married in St Thomas on Megans Bay Beach (Ok so yes I'm mad that my wedding was moved to Megans Bay beach but I had to admit it was a beautiful beach, just way too busy with 3 other weddings surrounding ours and ppl swimming in the ocean right where my wedding was)

 

Work with Ana De Roux for invites, programs and menus. She is truly the best. She works with you and I can't say anything more expect she is just great!!!

 

My tour after the reception with Sunny Liston- he's the best tourguide in St Thomas everyone loved him

 

Book a suite with Carnival OMG the room was awesome and while I would only get the room for my wedding it was great

 

Over organize in the beginning so that once we started the vacay I was really on vacay and was stress free. As you see above we had alotta stressful event take place on our day, but I was so carefree that no one knew ab it but me and my hubby!!!

 

Ok I think that's it.

[RonNMel]

Love this thread so much!! GREAT and helpful advice in here. I have to have a Word page opened as I read through this thread as it gives me so many ideas.

[*Linds*]

This was really helpful for me! Thank you for sharing!!

[debbmach]

Thanks everyone for the great advice. Makes me really think about what's truly important.

[Fivecents]

Thanks this is great....it's always nice to hear what some people would and wouldn't do again.....gives me some ideas and some info to rethink what I had in mind...

[erinleigh]

What I WOULD Do:

 

- Have a destination wedding! It was amazing, and truly beyond all my expectations. If anyone is doubting the decision – don’t! Every single one of our guests said that if they could do it over, it would be this way.

- Have our reception on the La Barcaza Yacht. It totally MADE our wedding. Our wedding was reception was the best party I’ve ever been too! He he, and it was my wedding! It made the day so much more extra special to leave the resort and do something so spectacular as a sunset dinner cruise for our reception.

- Stay for 2 weeks – one week with family, one week alone. It was really sad to see everyone go, but it was really nice to have a honeymoon all by ourselves!

- Upgrade to the Royal Service - all the little extras where really nice.

- Go Swimming on my wedding night – yup, I went swimming. Our reception boat docked at a natural swimming pool and the party was in full swing…a few of the guys decided to strip down to their skivvies and get in…then a few of the girls followed and they convinced me. I handed my dress to my mom and got in! When I got out, I dried off, put my dress back on and kept partying, it was so great! An awesome memory!

- Have Orange and Aqua wedding colours. Some people thought I was crazy when I told them my colours, but they just POP in all the photos. I love it. And my beautiful bouquet was all orange roses and tigerlily’s, it was so pretty!

- Hire HDC photo instead of the resort photographer. Our photographer, Arnaud Brichet, was phenomenal. I love every single picture he took. Plus he gave us all 700 digitals.

- Have my wedding in the garden gazebo instead of the beach. It was so private and intimate; all my guests were inside the gazebo (which is beautiful), and there were no topless or speedo-clad people in my photos! We took lots of pictures on the beach, so I still had that as a part of my wedding.

- My DIY projects – they added really nice, personal touches and I think people really appreciated all the little things.

- Hire the musical trio and have them stand inside the gazebo, rather than follow me down the aisle. They were awesome! And because I had them inside the entire time, everyone could hear them the entire time.

- Sand ceremony with my cousin as the reader. It extended the ceremony a bit, made it more personal and was beautiful.

 

What I wouldn’t do again

This is hard for me, because I honestly loved everything about my wedding. These are very minor:

- Stress so much about small details. Everything was beautiful.

- Forget my cake topper. I left it on the boat and I’d really like to use it again at my AHR.

- Not be more firm about booking our welcome dinner. I didn’t get the restaurant I wanted, but it worked out fine in the end.

- Not have any wedding cake. I only had the small bite when we fed it to each other and forgot to have a real piece. I heard it was good and wish I had some.

- Write my speech the day before the wedding. Although it turned out great, I should have done it before we left, I felt rushed.

[kerrij]

Quote:

Originally Posted by erinleigh What I WOULD Do: - Have a destination wedding! It was amazing, and truly beyond all my expectations. If anyone is doubting the decision – don’t! Every single one of our guests said that if they could do it over, it would be this way. - Have our reception on the La Barcaza Yacht. It totally MADE our wedding. Our wedding was reception was the best party I’ve ever been too! He he, and it was my wedding! It made the day so much more extra special to leave the resort and do something so spectacular as a sunset dinner cruise for our reception. - Stay for 2 weeks – one week with family, one week alone. It was really sad to see everyone go, but it was really nice to have a honeymoon all by ourselves! - Upgrade to the Royal Service - all the little extras where really nice. - Go Swimming on my wedding night – yup, I went swimming. Our reception boat docked at a natural swimming pool and the party was in full swing…a few of the guys decided to strip down to their skivvies and get in…then a few of the girls followed and they convinced me. I handed my dress to my mom and got in! When I got out, I dried off, put my dress back on and kept partying, it was so great! An awesome memory! - Have Orange and Aqua wedding colours. Some people thought I was crazy when I told them my colours, but they just POP in all the photos. I love it. And my beautiful bouquet was all orange roses and tigerlily’s, it was so pretty! - Hire HDC photo instead of the resort photographer. Our photographer, Arnaud Brichet, was phenomenal. I love every single picture he took. Plus he gave us all 700 digitals. - Have my wedding in the garden gazebo instead of the beach. It was so private and intimate; all my guests were inside the gazebo (which is beautiful), and there were no topless or speedo-clad people in my photos! We took lots of pictures on the beach, so I still had that as a part of my wedding. - My DIY projects – they added really nice, personal touches and I think people really appreciated all the little things. - Hire the musical trio and have them stand inside the gazebo, rather than follow me down the aisle. They were awesome! And because I had them inside the entire time, everyone could hear them the entire time. - Sand ceremony with my cousin as the reader. It extended the ceremony a bit, made it more personal and was beautiful. What I wouldn’t do again This is hard for me, because I honestly loved everything about my wedding. These are very minor: - Stress so much about small details. Everything was beautiful. - Forget my cake topper. I left it on the boat and I’d really like to use it again at my AHR. - Not be more firm about booking our welcome dinner. I didn’t get the restaurant I wanted, but it worked out fine in the end. - Not have any wedding cake. I only had the small bite when we fed it to each other and forgot to have a real piece. I heard it was good and wish I had some. - Write my speech the day before the wedding. Although it turned out great, I should have done it before we left, I felt rushed.

Oh i just looooove that you went swimming!! we are having our dance on the beach on this peninsula thingy at our resort, and later in the night i'm going to strip down and go for a swim, me and my hubby! i'm sure he'll agree to it! thanks for the fantastic idea!!

[Karen Aucoin]

Hmm...I had to really think about this as well. Everything really went well with our wedding but there are those little things that stand out both good and bad.

 

To do again:

-Book an outside Pastor from the US (That is living in Punta Cana) that spoke perfect English and provided us with the most beautiful ceremony. We had to do our paperwork at home first which I wasn't keen on doing originally but in the end I'm so glad I did it this way.

-Pay the big bucks for an amazing photographer!! We didn't know if we could afford it but my sister and parents came through as they knew how much it meant to me. In the end, these pictures are what I will have to look back on.

-Bring my own chair sashes and table runners and some decor. It really made it our wedding!

-Go with "Real Touch" flowers from Enchanting Memories! They were so beautiful and looked so real. Plus, the lasted the entire night and now I have my bouquet as a keepsake.

-Jump in the pool in my dress with the rest of my wedding party! It was so much fun and a great way to end our evening. (Well, we went and changed and then went to the Disco)

-Not worry about not being able to do a private dinner and an open bar. Our guests totally understand that we don't want to be in debt for our wedding and they do such a nice job of the dinner even when it's not "Private". We had our own waiters who were wonderful and we were tucked away from everyone else. The open bar ended up being given to us for free in the long run but our guests all brought their champagne and beer from their rooms and for the 2 hours, that would have been fine.

 

What I would do differently:

-I would have liked to have had a few poses from my photographer that I didn't ask for...I wish I would have been more assertive and asked for specific shots that I wanted.

-I would have had my husband try on his outfit for me before...I had seen what he was wearing but not all on. He wore a long sleeve white shirt with beige pants which was fine but he wore a white t-shirt underneath and it really showed and when I look at the pictures it bugs me. Not really a huge deal...

-I would have locked my IPod in the safe when I said to myself, "I should put that in the safe". Both of our IPods were stolen from our room, 100% positive but no proof of course. Oh well, my own stupidity.

-Made sure that my husband came home from the Disco with more than two hours to go until our Trash the Dress session. He had swollen eyelids, a swollen ankle from falling down some stairs, and looked HUNG OVER!! I was told by his mother that I should have been grateful that he at least showed up. Awesome...

[echo2_62]

Karen - I had to giggle just a little bit reading your last line of what you'd do differently about your DH! While I don't believe that his mother should have said that to you, I can just picture my FI in the same scenario, stumbling into the room wondering why I'm panicking the way I am! Actually, there will probably be at least a few guys in the same state after our wedding knowing my friends

 

Hopefully your pictures still turned out well despite some of the swollen parts!!

[futuremrsgoodrich]

I love this thread! Thanks everyone for giving us the ins and outs!