Melissa's (wilsoml2) DC planning thread

[wilsoml2]

Engagement:

 

First thing is first: the engagement. I posted the story on the forum here:

 

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...-4-days-48130/

 

My engagement ring is from GreenKarat.com and I love, love, love it! It is three blue lab-created diamonds on a recycled platinum band. I love that FI let me pick something that’s environmentally friendly!

 

 

Location:

 

We knew from the start that we wanted to get married at Dreams Cancun. We stayed at the resort in July 2008 with some friends and fell in love. Here are pictures of the Wedding Gazebo and Club Terrace where the wedding and reception will be. They’ve redone the Gazebo since this picture, but you can’t beat the location. I can’t wait to see that amazing blue water again!

 

 

Our wedding coordinator is Cecilia and so far she’s been great. I haven’t emailed her too often since I know the WCs down there get swamped, but she’s been getting back to me within a few days as the wedding is getting closer. No complaints so far!

 

STDs and Invitations:

 

So after we decided the site, it was time to start the real planning. For our Save the Dates we used DIY boarding passes. I used so many wonderful ideas from this forum, I don’t know what I would have done without it! Note the cute return address labels with our logo on it! We printed those off ourselves. We also tried to use paper with at least some recycled content.

 

 

For the invitations, I did pocketfolds. I used the same blue cardstock for the folders as the folders for the STDs. Trying to figure out where to cut and where to fold was interesting, but I think they turned out nice.

 

 

Here are some more details: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...tations-54156/

 

To be continued...

[wilsoml2]

Wedding Attire:

 

I actually got my wedding dress almost a year before we were engaged! I started perusing preownedweddingdresses.com when my older sibling got engaged and fell in love with one on sight. I bought it from a lovely bride in Idaho who had found it in Hawaii. The blue embroidery goes well with my ring and I love that I’m recycling a used dress. Hopefully I’ll be able to pass it on to another bride when I’m done with it!

 

 

Here’s my crinoline. I had originally chosen a hoop skirt, but decided against it. FI and I had started taking dance lessons and I realized that my heel kept snagging the lower hoop. I bought the crinoline used on craigslist for $15 and decided to dye it blue. I used RIT Evening Blue at about half strength and I love how it turned out!

 

 

Here are pictures of my jewelry, shoes, and purse. I ordered the flip flops from JCrew and decorated them myself. I got the inspiration from a pair that destie Amarillis found in Canada! After taking dance lessons and realizing that I need something that would stay on my foot, I decided on the 2 pair of heels. I still wanted them to match my flip flops so I made some flowers out of the beads I already had.

 

 

The jewelry was handmade by pureallure on Etsy. I love the entire set, especially the earrings! I got the purse on ebay for $6.99 and made the flower using white wired ribbon. I added the beads in the center to match my shoes.

 

 

We ordered our wedding bands from GreenKarat.com as well, both were the recycled platinum bands called Celestial Light. greenKarat-Jewelry Product Detail Page

 

As part of their gift, I paid for my bridesmaid’s dresses. I can honestly say they were the best deal ever since I got them on clearance for $14 each at Target! We did replace the ribbon with one that was more of a 'tiffany blue' color.

 

Here is one of the dresses on me, sorry it's wrinkled:

 

 

FI got his khaki suit at Banana Republic.

 

 

The jacket was a bit too large but he had it taken in and it looks great on him! We were lucky since there was a 4-hour 30% off sale the night we bought it so it ended up saving us some money!

 

For the groomsmen, we just asked them to wear long-sleeved white button-up shirts with khaki pants. The ushers and my father and stepfather were asked to wear short-sleeved button-up shirts and khakis.

[wilsoml2]

OOT Bags:

 

I decided that I wanted to attempt to make my own totes for the Welcome Bags and I love how they came out! I even added my own “Made by...†tag!

 

 

The details for the bag are discussed here: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...ot-bags-57739/

 

The tote bags were for couples and single ladies. For the single guys we got cooler tote bags (the brand was Liberty, I believe) from Amazon. These were a little more expensive than the totes that I made but we only needed a few and my FI loved the idea. They can fit a 6-pack. For my FI’s teenage cousin, we got a matching drawstring backpack.

 

Here is a picture of the contents:

 

 

In the bags we had stadium cups with our logo; puzzle books; a welcome booklet with resort map, schedule of events, etc; keycard/tip holders; and finally, wedding weekend survival kits with ibuprofen, antacid meds, pepto, personalized chapstick, shout wipes, aloe gel, drink mixes, bandaids and mints. We also added some balls to throw around in the pool and an underwater camera to the teenager’s bag.

 

The welcome books and chapsticks are detailed here: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...-so-far-57223/

 

The keycard holders are detailed here:

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...part-ii-59457/

 

Here are the contents of the Survival Kits:

 

 

I also included 2 postcards per bag that I had printed for free from Vistaprint. I think I ended up paying about $8.50 for shipping and photo upload. Not too bad for 50 postcards!

 

 

Favors:

 

Since our wedding is in Mexico, I thought maracas would be appropriate favors. I wanted something in our colors so I chose the Tropical Maracas from PartyCheap.com. They have a nice discount for bulk orders, so I think I ended up paying just over $2 per piece.

 

 

We also plan to go out to the local shops once we get down there to buy a bunch of cigars for a cigar table at the reception. I made some personalized matchbooks to go on the table.

 

 

The template for the matchbooks is here: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...6/#post1339352

 

More to come!

[wilsoml2]

Ceremony/Reception Necessities:

 

We ordered turquoise chair sashes for the ceremony and reception. They were less than $1 a piece from weddinglinensdirect.com but the resort wanted to charge $4 per sash to rent them, so I think we saved a bit of money there!

 

My mom and I (mostly my mom) put together the bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres. They are all silk flowers, some more expensive than others, but I like them. I think we paid less than $150 for the bridal bouquet, 2 BM bouquets, 10 boutonnieres, and 6 corsages. I only have pictures of the unfinished boutonnieres and BM bouquets.

 

Groom’s:

 

BM’s:

 

Boutonnieres:

 

For our ceremony programs, I designed a fan with the basic information on it. This picture is just of a rough copy, it was finished when I actually assembled all 35! As these are being handed out, we will also give everyone bubbles to blow during the recessional. I tied ribbon around them in our colors.

 

 

My place cards, menus and table numbers were mostly DIY. I bought the starfish on ebay for the place cards and used raffia ribbon to tie them on. Any extra starfish will be placed on the tables. The table number holders were found on WeddingThings.com.

 

 

The template for the menu can be found here: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...6/#post1339352

 

Details about the table numbers and placecards can be found here: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...part-ii-59457/

 

For the guestbook I wanted to create something more personalized, so I used a bunch of pictures of my FI and me to create a photo book on MyPublisher. We left a lot of white space so that people can sign it, yearbook style.

 

 

Just a little more to come!

[wilsoml2]

Gifts:

 

For the groom, I did a BD shoot with Laura Ivanova, a Minneapolis photographer. She was amazing and I can’t recommend her enough. My makeup was done by Hana of Un.veiled Styling and Events, she was also great. Once I received the pictures, I used MyPublisher to make a photo book. Here’s the front cover:

 

 

For my bridesmaids, I started off with a handmade travel set by annabeebaby on Etsy. It consisted of a luggage tag, passport/boarding pass tote, and large wristlet. When I asked them to be my bridesmaids, I gave them the luggage tag and passport tote with bridesmaid written on the tag. Then I filled up the large wristlet with “Wedding Day Survival†type things, like nail polish remover, nail kit, etc. I’ll give that to them once we get down to Mexico.

 

 

I also gave them a wet bikini bag (perfect for the beach!) and paid for their dresses and makeup. For the entire wedding party, we paid a portion of their hotel costs.

 

For the groomsmen, I also filled up small travel bags with random necessities that they might need on the day of the wedding, like a lint roller, deodorant wipes, Alka-Seltzer, etc. I think my FI also wants to put mini bottles of whiskey in there as well! The day after the wedding, FI plans to take the boys to a cigar shop and let them pick out some of their favorites for their gift.

 

I think that’s just about it for now. We leave in less than a week, I can’t wait! Now I just have to figure out how to pack all of this stuff...

[KimmyD]

Wow! You have done an amazing job! Thanks for sharing.

[JanineA]

Melissa everything looks fantastic and thank you for sharing so many of your templates on your DIYs along the way. You worked hard and it shows because everything came out superb. Good luck on your day. Can't wait to see pics when you return!

[Donie Jordan]

Everything is so incredible! You did an outstanding job with the wave theme and I just love how it tied everything together! Best Wishes and Congrats!!

[AishaB]

Everything looks absolutely wonderful. I love your table numbers and the accents of blue throughout. Good for you. Good luck and have a wonderful day! Thanks so much for sharing with us.

[Geralyn]

love it all...congrats!!!