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

[RNtoBe]

I'm learning to not stress about things that are out of my control, i.e. guests who have no booked etc. Thanks for the great advice!!

[Marymack]

Love the honesty in this thread...

[Brenners]

Originally Posted by Labebita911 

 

Great thread !!!!.. Especially for those who go into this without any clue of what to expect. I got married 07/14/2012 with 18 Guest.

 

Things I would do ..again

1. By far the best decision I ever made was getting married in Cancun. MX… WOW Words cannot describe the feeling of not only Our Wedding but having our close family and friends there with us that otherwise wouldn’t have traveled to Cancun or internationally.
2. Arranged private transfers for me and my guest. This was a way to say thank you and don’t worry about getting to and from the airport. We arrived before everyone so it gave us time to greet them as they arrived. )
3. Organization.. Knowing everyone’s flight information, room numbers, etc..
4. Ask guest to stay at the resort. We had 16 guest stay at the resort plus us and 2 people stayed elsewhere. This kind of sucked because we didn’t get to hang out with them other than the wedding night.
5. Definitely have a play list or list of song/genre that you would like so that the DJ has some direction.. My guest and I did not stop dancing!!!!
6. Definitely invest in a light up floor. I was apprehensive about spending the extra cash.. but wow am I glad I did!!!! We got married outside on the beach and it was amazing once those lights started lighting as we danced the night away.
7. Spent time with everyone!!!!
8. We all arrived the same day but we stayed an extra day after everyone left. I thought I would have wanted more time with my Husband and we almost booked more days but after our friends/family left we missed them and were ready to go.
9. Kept it simple and brought down with me most of the things for the wedding.  )

 

Things I wouldn’t do!

1. Stress over whose coming!!!!! I overly stressed this but you just can’t predict what’s going to happen 2 days before we flew out the Best Man and the maid of honor cancelled!!!!! Due to private matters.
2. Not let things bother you or let people make you feel selfish. This was OUR wedding and this is how WE chose to get married. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but at the end of the day Its about Our day and those who went had an awesome time and those that didn’t missed out. Plain and simple… . Believe me this event/experience will teach you a lot about yourself and those around you. You will learn that there are a lot of phony people in your life. I was disheartened at some people’s reaction and actions. But what doesn’t break you makes you stronger.
3. Rain…. I stressed about it raining.. but you cant fight against mother nature. Thankfully It didn’t rain but even if it would’ve there is always a plan b.
4. Hair and makeup.. I went into the spa with no pictures or ideas on makeup of what I wanted , thankfully everything turned our great but do your research.  ALso ... having more time to get hair and makeup done. I rescheduled my appt to a later time thinking i was ok but then i ended up being rushed thru getting ready!! which bring up another point..
5. Be on time.. and spend some quality time with your mom/grandmother etc.. while getting ready . I was rushed and missed out on spending some really good time with them because they were rushing geting me ready and g
6. Just plain and simply Stress!!! I stressed about things that didn’t need stressing.. There is nothing to stress about. Everything turned out better than I ever dreamed or imagine.. It was really the best day of our lives.. Wished we can go back to that day and relive it ) you just have to trust that no matter what happens you are marrying the man of your dreams and that in itself is enough..

 

 

Originally Posted by Labebita911 

 

Great thread !!!!.. Especially for those who go into this without any clue of what to expect. I got married 07/14/2012 with 18 Guest.

 

Things I would do ..again

1. By far the best decision I ever made was getting married in Cancun. MX… WOW Words cannot describe the feeling of not only Our Wedding but having our close family and friends there with us that otherwise wouldn’t have traveled to Cancun or internationally.
2. Arranged private transfers for me and my guest. This was a way to say thank you and don’t worry about getting to and from the airport. We arrived before everyone so it gave us time to greet them as they arrived. )
3. Organization.. Knowing everyone’s flight information, room numbers, etc..
4. Ask guest to stay at the resort. We had 16 guest stay at the resort plus us and 2 people stayed elsewhere. This kind of sucked because we didn’t get to hang out with them other than the wedding night.
5. Definitely have a play list or list of song/genre that you would like so that the DJ has some direction.. My guest and I did not stop dancing!!!!
6. Definitely invest in a light up floor. I was apprehensive about spending the extra cash.. but wow am I glad I did!!!! We got married outside on the beach and it was amazing once those lights started lighting as we danced the night away.
7. Spent time with everyone!!!!
8. We all arrived the same day but we stayed an extra day after everyone left. I thought I would have wanted more time with my Husband and we almost booked more days but after our friends/family left we missed them and were ready to go.
9. Kept it simple and brought down with me most of the things for the wedding.  )

 

Things I wouldn’t do!

1. Stress over whose coming!!!!! I overly stressed this but you just can’t predict what’s going to happen 2 days before we flew out the Best Man and the maid of honor cancelled!!!!! Due to private matters.
2. Not let things bother you or let people make you feel selfish. This was OUR wedding and this is how WE chose to get married. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but at the end of the day Its about Our day and those who went had an awesome time and those that didn’t missed out. Plain and simple… . Believe me this event/experience will teach you a lot about yourself and those around you. You will learn that there are a lot of phony people in your life. I was disheartened at some people’s reaction and actions. But what doesn’t break you makes you stronger.
3. Rain…. I stressed about it raining.. but you cant fight against mother nature. Thankfully It didn’t rain but even if it would’ve there is always a plan b.
4. Hair and makeup.. I went into the spa with no pictures or ideas on makeup of what I wanted , thankfully everything turned our great but do your research.  ALso ... having more time to get hair and makeup done. I rescheduled my appt to a later time thinking i was ok but then i ended up being rushed thru getting ready!! which bring up another point..
5. Be on time.. and spend some quality time with your mom/grandmother etc.. while getting ready . I was rushed and missed out on spending some really good time with them because they were rushing geting me ready and g
6. Just plain and simply Stress!!! I stressed about things that didn’t need stressing.. There is nothing to stress about. Everything turned out better than I ever dreamed or imagine.. It was really the best day of our lives.. Wished we can go back to that day and relive it ) you just have to trust that no matter what happens you are marrying the man of your dreams and that in itself is enough..

 

I think you said it very well.  You will definitely learn who truly cares and supports you when you plan a DW.  I am so happy that you had a wonderful wedding and the people who truly loved you were there with you!

[Billandstina]

I've read through every single one of these and they're amazing! I'm hoping those of you who had a cocktail hour in a different area from your reception could perhaps shed light on what they did and didn't do or wished they had in terms of entertainment? In theory I would love to have a musician or something but the cost is painful to me especially if my new hubbie and I aren't going to be around to mingle and enjoy them if we're off taking photos. But I don't want our guests bored for an hour on the beach if we run an iPod for background music. Any help would be awesome! Thank you!

[Labebita911]

thanks Brenners )

[Labebita911]

Originally Posted by Billandstina 

 

I've read through every single one of these and they're amazing! I'm hoping those of you who had a cocktail hour in a different area from your reception could perhaps shed light on what they did and didn't do or wished they had in terms of entertainment? In theory I would love to have a musician or something but the cost is painful to me especially if my new hubbie and I aren't going to be around to mingle and enjoy them if we're off taking photos. But I don't want our guests bored for an hour on the beach if we run an iPod for background music. Any help would be awesome! Thank you!

It really depends on your crowd i guess(if there easily bored etc.) . My guest just ate, drank, mingled with eachother and took pictures of the beautiful view while we went off to take pics plus it was only an hour cocktail.. I heard no complaints. I almost did a Trio but im kind of glad because although it may sound selfish Me, my hubby and the bridal party would have really missed out on it and thats something i would have wanted to enjoy. but there other options you can take a pics prior to ceremony which is a trend now.. but yea.. some entertainement can run up any where from $500-$1,000 crazy!.. and again noone complained about the entertaiment at cocktail hour they made up for it at the reception.. Now if its ur budget go for it. 

[Billandstina]

See I'm thinking I don't want to spend the money for the cocktail hour when we'll be taking photos etc...selfish I know...but especially if we're forking out the money for a DJ. I was thinking of setting up a photo booth type area during the hour since the light will be good...just need someone to help people realize we want them to take photos while we're off getting our photos done

[RNtoBe]

Originally Posted by Billandstina 

 

See I'm thinking I don't want to spend the money for the cocktail hour when we'll be taking photos etc...selfish I know...but especially if we're forking out the money for a DJ. I was thinking of setting up a photo booth type area during the hour since the light will be good...just need someone to help people realize we want them to take photos while we're off getting our photos done

 

I am thinking the same thing! Doing a cocktail hour will add a minimum of $1000 to our budget and I don't feel it is necessary.

[Peach]

Originally Posted by RNtoBe 

 

 

I am thinking the same thing! Doing a cocktail hour will add a minimum of $1000 to our budget and I don't feel it is necessary.

No, I do not think so either. Maybe just recommend people go to a certain bar on resort during that time. Or something like that.

[Billandstina]

We have to do the cocktail hour (our resort charges $400 or some ridiculous fee if your party isn't "continuous") and if we don't our reception will be over ridiculously early! I'm just saying I don't know if I want to fork out the $500+ for live music for a 45 minute set for entertainment when we won't even get to enjoy it! I'm thinking IPod and cocktails etc with a photo booth while we take our photos then head down the beach to our reception...Ughhhhh...now you girls have me thinking maybe I should just veto the cocktail hour and head straight into dinner and take the money I'm saving from that and add the extra hour onto my reception! Hmmmm what to do...