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

[deannamarie85]

What a great post...thanks for sharing!
 

Originally Posted by lalanyc 

YAYYY, IT'S FINALLY MY TURN!!!   

 

 

I'm so happy that:

• I married my husband (awwww).  I'm a lucky girl, for sure.
• We got a videographer.  By far, among the best investments we made.  I love watching that video more than I do looking over all our wedding pictures combined.
• I made it a point to get in great shape.
• We got karaoke for the rehearsal dinner.  It was a great icebreaker and people went crazy for it.
• We served tacos late in the reception.  It's amazing how much people love tacos.
• We got fire dancers (if only for 15 minutes).  It made a big impression and people werent expecting it.
• We provided OOT bags with a Facebook.  W/ over 155 guests, people enjoyed pouring over who was in attendance and reviewing names that they'd already forgotten!

 

In retrospect:

• I wish we had booked the videographer for the entire length of the reception.  We only booked for about 5 hrs and there were great moments after that time that I wish were captured on film.
• I wish I'd had back up for my bustle.  The stupid buttons did not hold and I had to carry my dress the last few hours of the night!  And I did not have a big dress!
• I wish had done my own makeup or selected another makeup artist despite having placed a deposit.  I did not like my trial run hair and makeup.  Yet, I figured that if I could just get better sample pictures or have additional trials w/ other professionals (to get clear photos) that this would be sufficient for my makeup/hair artists to get it right on wedding day. Nope!!  I should have either done additional trials w/ the SAME artists or learned to do the work myself.  As a result, I did not have the look that I wanted on the wedding day.  
• I wish we had advised our guests on mosquito spray and anti-itch cream.  I have to be honest – the mosquitos, especially in the Riviera Maya, can be brutal.  There is no way around them, but strong spray and cream can make the experience more tolerable. 
• I wish I had remembered to schedule a nail touch up the day BEFORE the wedding.  I also wish I had asked a talented relative to do this for me. Our resort did not have good mani/pedi staff and my nails looked rather bland on the wedding day.
• I wish I had NOT gotten a deep tissue massage the week of our wedding!!  OUCH. I was sore for days after.  Bad idea.
• I wish I brought holders for the escort cards and table number cards.  The hotel did not have the right tools and the escort cards blew away shortly before the guests arrived to the reception area!  Our table numbers also had to be tucked under the centerpieces to prevent them from blowing away. 
• I wish had experimented w/ taking one or half of a sleeping pill a few weeks before the wedding.  I was so nervous the night before the wedding that I hardly slept.  If I'd had something to knock me out or calm my nerves, I would have been more relaxed the following morning.
• I wish I had gotten a TEQUILA DONKEY!!  They look so awesome and they're not as easy to find in the U.S.
• I wish I had had the disciple to lose weight more quickly so that I didn't have to leave my alterations until the absolute last weekend possible.  It was not fun to stress about my weight down to the last minute!
• I wish I had taken picture of the staff at the hotel.  They were so great; it was b/c of them that the wedding week was so memorable.  Unfortunately, I dont have pics of them to remember them by!
• I wish I had not forgotten to thank the staff during our speech on the wedding day!
• I wish I had remembered to dance w/ certain men in my family, like my grandfather and my favorite uncle.  If I could do it over, I would have the wedding coordinator remind me and find them for me at certain points in the night. 
• I wish I had told the photographer to take pictures of me and my husband w/ certain special relatives.  The day went by so fast that I didn't realized we hadn't take "alone" shots w/ them until it was too late.
• I wish we had arrived earlier and also completed more projects back home.  Even though we arrived 8 days earlier, some guests also arrived on the same day.  This made it all the more difficult to concentrate on our tasks since we wanted to spend time w/ them rather than be stuck in our room working on "projects"!!  If we'd completed these projects, such as assembling programs or printing our facebook, back home, it would have been worth it to ship these materials or carry them w/ us rather than spend those extra hours away from our guests in paradise!!
• I wish I had calmed the *&@! down and just enjoyed myself more!  I was so nervous to finally see this day arrive that it was very difficult to ignore little details.

 

 

[Shaylene]

Thanks for the Advice part - really freaking out about the dress I bought and my wedding is still a year away! 

 

[Brenners]

Lala it sounds like you had a wonderful time at CDM.  Your recommendations on your review thread gave me some great ideas as well as more input on vendors to use and avoid.  Thanks so much!

[Sharon99]

This is an awesome thread! I just read over 20 pages! Gave me a lot to think about. Any new brides have other points they would like to share?

 

[gowiththeflow]

I have not been super active on this forum, but I couldn't wait to contribute to this thread! It is my favorite!

 

Would do a million times again!

• Deciding on Puerto Vallarta after looking all over the Riviera Maya. It was more affordable for guests, not super hot this time of year, the mountains are amazing, and OH MAN the sunsets!
• Choose Dreams PV. The service was wonderful! All of our guests loved it
• Canceling our wedding at Dreams after too many issues with the WCs - 1.5 months before the wedding!
• Choose Le Kliff. Words will never explain how perfect and beautiful our ceremony and reception were
• OOT bags. This was the most fun I had! The guests were telling us all week, and still now, how much they loved them.
• Greeting all of our guests on arrival to Dreams. We had people arriving over 3 days, so it was a lot of time spent in the lobby. But everyone said it made them feel very special.
• Our bonfire. I loved it!
• Obsessively putting together a list of music for the ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner, and dancing. A bunch of my guests asked me for CDs - but I didn't make any!
• Going on a honeymoon to Cancun for 6 days. We needed some serious relaxation!
• Not getting drunk on the wedding night - I remember everything about the whole day.
• wear a formal wedding gown
• getting my hair and makeup done at Dreams - they did a wonderful job

 

Wouldn't do again

• Get my dress altered to wear heels. I am that girl who refuses to take off her high heels at any wedding or function. Well, after about 500 stairs at Le Kliff, and the dress sticking to my legs and my bustle breaking, I kicked my heels off during our first dance and wore flip flops the rest of the night. It was much better and I never would have guessed I would do that. Unfortunately, my dress was tripping me all night. My friends will never let me hear the end of it!
• Worry so much! Everything was better than I could imagine!

 

[tracysf]

Hi Go with the flow!!  Thanks for the great tips!!  I am working and slightly obsessing over my welcome bags right now. What did you put in them that your guests were raving about?

 

Thanks!

[Avelyad]

This thread is so helpful! Never thought about how to hold my bouquet ...

[Brenners]

Hold that bouquet low Avelyad!  You want people to see your beautiful dress!
 

Originally Posted by Avelyad 

This thread is so helpful! Never thought about how to hold my bouquet ...

 

[JayKay]

Wow, this thread is extremely helpful!  Thanks!!

[redginger]

This is a very helpful thread...thanks for everyone's advice and feedback. Now, we have many decisions to think about!