2011 Iberostar Brides

[nucci]

Hey Erin...find me on FB b/c I def want to see your pics...Katie Iannucci...Thanks!!!

[Hanna20]

Hi Girls!!

 

Just wanted to check in to see how everyone's planning is coming along? After reading Erin's post and seeing some of her photos it is definitely making this all seem more real! I am currently trying to finalize all of the last details with Karla (ie. flowers, seating plan, menu, rehearsal dinner, ceremony etc).

 

Photographer is hired, DJ is now hired (we decided to go with DJ Doremixx based on all of the wonderful reviews), my dress will be ready on March 9th, and best of all the group rate deadline has passed so at least that is one less thing to worry about!

 

Our budget is quickly being eaten up so I dont think I will be able to do the OOT bags that most destination brides do... I am a bit disappointed by that but none of our guests are expecting them (this will be the first destinationation wedding for most of them).

 

Next is trying to actually get FI to buckle down and get working on the playlist for our reception.... that was pretty much his only task! We also need to buy him a shirt and sandals for the ceremony.

 

I still need to buy a couple of summery things (ie. bathing suit cover up, a new bathing suit, maybe a sun dress) so that will be my mission over the next couple of weeks.

 

So thats my update for now.... can't wait to hear about how all of you are coming along!

[tfletcher1124]

Hey Kelly,

Don't let those Negative Nancies at work get you down, and don't feel guilty about marrying the man you want the way that both of you want!  All some people can do is complain, and try to make everyone around them miserable.

I hope everything works out with your wedding planning!!! and feel free to vent anytime you need!!!

 

Ty

Originally Posted by klc52379 

Good luck Erin!!  Can't wait to see pictures

 

I would also love to be part of the traveling starfish pins!  I'm June 25th at the Del Mar.

 

I couldn't agree more about the stress!  My FH is pretty upset because all of his friends are backing out now, and one of my closest childhood friends has avoided every single one of my phone calls related to his address for the save the date card since September.  Too bad, he can post on my FB page though all the time about "come home and let's go out!"  I think he got the point when I messaged back "I don't know where your home is since you can't return my phone calls."

 

I'm getting so sick of hearing "we'll just come to the reception when you get home."  Too bad, we can't afford to do the DW and the AHR    I was even told by his brother the other day that we're being "selfish."  Needless to say, that caused a breakdown

 

For years, we've been everybody and their eighth cousin's bridesmaid, groomsmen, day of coordinator...so why are we "selfish" for waiting the most important day to be spent with our closest family and friends?  I want to be in a room with the people that matter to me the most, than that random fourth cousin I see only at holidays.  I  think that some guests get so wrapped up in the "party" aspect of the wedding that they forget what it's truly about. 

 

I'm also majorly stressed about work and being away for the wedding.  I coordinate fundraising events for a non-profit and summer is our busiest time.  I actually will be missing one of my events because I'll be getting married that weekend.  My two immediate bosses are completely cool with it and even laughed when I asked for permission to get married in the summer.  It's just the nasty comments I get from other co-workers and others with my organization that make me feel so guilty.  Some of my volunteers have even been making snide comments.  I really can't tell off volunteers though

 

At the end of the day, I know I'm going to make someone mad with the wedding.  People's true colors are shining through right now, which pretty much sucks. 

 

Sorry, needed to vent to people who completely understand!!

[tfletcher1124]

Welcome back Erin!!!  and congrats on being a Mrs!!!

Wow what a story!! but I'm so glad the your day turned out sooooo perfect.  And I'm glad to hear that the Best Man came through like a trooper!! 

I'm soooo happy for you, and thank you for the review, it was great, very, very, helpful!!  I would love to see pics!! Can I PM you my name so you can add me on fb??

Again, Congrats on the wedding, and thanks for the review!!

 

Ty
 

Originally Posted by radiochic10 

I actually have a free minute, so here I am again.  So we got there on a Monday-exactly one week before the wedding-and Karla had a letter waiting for us at the front desk saying Welcome & she'd meet with us at 6p in the lobby that night.  She also had scheduled our blood tests for the next morning at 9:30am and gave great directions on where to go for that (The medical center on the property...it was easy to find)  When we met with her, she was just so sweet and super organized-I knew we were in good hands.  We finalized some details about the centerpieces and we gave her all of the welcome bags to hand out when our guests checked in,  Our first round of guests came Wednesday-and neither room got their bags at check in.  I wasn't thrilled because I had put SO much work into them & didn't want to track the people down to hand them out-especially since 18 rooms of people would be checking in that Saturday.  I went back to Karla-told her they didn't receive them on check in & from then on-every single room got the bag upon check in.  So if you're doing that-just remind her what day(s) people are coming to avoid any and all confusion.  I had that printed out on the bag tags themselves, but people get busy-reminders help.  The best man & his wife checked in, as did my mom's best friend and her boyfriend.  All 4 of them met us in Karla's office at 6 & filled out the paperwork to be our official witnesses.  Then.....2 hours later, the best man was with me in the lobby trying cigars to help me decide which ones to have the cigar roller make at the reception (was a surprise for my hubby-as he LOVES cigars) and the best man fainted.  And then fell..face first on the marble floor in the lobby.  He woke up with me holding his head in my hands and began to spit out pieces of his TEETH.  I lost count at 15.  The emergency people on staff took us to the medical center-I found his wife *who was shopping with my fiance to distract him so I could figure out the cigar thing and the Dr. at the Iberostar sent us to a hospital in Cancun to get the huge gash in his chin stitched.  Upon arrival to the hospital, we found out he had broken his jaw in 3 PLACES and had to have surgery.  He pulled through like a champ, but my fiance & I were apart a lot because he wanted to be at the hospital-as did I-but I had stuff that had to be still taken care of for the wedding.  I had to get the original 2 witnesses to re-sign the marriage license request and Karla & Ivan (guest services-awesome guy) ended up being our other 2 because we weren't sure if the best man could even make the wedding.  It was a mess & I just thank God he fell forward when he fainted instead of back.  He had never fainted before-but was on a crazy eating schedule-had lost a lot of weight & hadn't eaten anything all day (this was like 9pm that it happened) and with the travel, change in temp, dehydration, etc=it was too much for his system to take apparently.  As you can maybe tell from the story, it was super stressful because I was so worried about him but I also was trying to balance the remaining things that needed to get taken care of for the wedding.

The next day-the favors showed up at Karla's office!! The ones that I sent back on Jan. 6th that were lost in space.  I took it as a sign that it would all be alright.  That didn't end my stress though.  Most everyone else checked in on Saturday.  By Sunday, my father-who is normally the most responsible person I know-lost his passport.  I spent much time with him reporting it lost, calling the embassy, ripping his room apart searching for it.  We reported it to the front desk-eduardo-I think his name was-TOTAL jerk.  That is the one complaint I have-the majority of people at the front desk suck.  My dad is standing there asking if anyone found his passport & the guy cut him off "No-NEXT."  ooooohhh--that made me mad.  Then my aunt's kids (not kids-20 & 25) had an issue with their room & were basically told 'too bad' so she asked me to step in.  I did & eventually it got fixed.  But not before I spent LITERALLY 3 hours trying to put out other people's fires. Then the photographer we flew down asked me to change his flight the DAY BEFORE my wedding.  I'm online in the lobby and trying to fix it-this took up nearly 2 hours and had me in tears.  Tara said when she got back to let other people solve their own problems and I SECOND that suggestion.  I'm the type who loves to help and believe me-it bit me in the butt.  Then my maid of honor (my sister) and another b-maid got hammered 4 hours before the rehearsal-my b-maid missed it altogether & the only reason my MOH made it was because I had my cousins nearly break down her door to get her there.  She really never parties and it showed...but I wasn't mad-just annoyed because it felt like I spent almost the whole week taking care of everyone else.  It was exhausting.  My hubby & I did get to spend time together and the best man got out of the hospital Saturday...he rallied and somehow stood up for us at the wedding.  Damn impressive

 

At one point, I said to Karla that I wouldn't be surprised if it rained because nothing was going right & she gave me great advice.  She said the brides who spend tons of time worrying about the weather always seem to have bad weather...she said it was weird how it worked out that way.  So I let go of the weather,  and it was perfect.

 

We got the saxophonist to play for our wedding and it was SUCH a good call.  It sounded sexy and beautiful for a beach ceremony.  My flowers were PERFECT as were the ones for my bridesmaids.  They gave my flower girls TONS of petals and they did great.  Karla walks you through the whole thing-walkie-talkie in hand.  They have security that keeps people away from the actual ceremony & clears the path for you. The "Mac Daddy" package was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G and I'm so glad we went with it.  We were in building 10-1st floor-right on the beach.  I highly recommend it.  It's also right next to where the reception was and in the same building as the presidential suite we got the night of the wedding.  The day after, they brought incredible breakfast in bed and we stayed in that room til they kicked us out.  Then we just walked right back to the other room-they don't make you check out of your original room so you can go to the presidential suite-which they didn't explain ahead of time, so I thought we'd have to pack all of our crap.  We didn't.  I got hair, make-up and nails done that day at the salon.  Beautiful job.  Note to my acrylic nail girls out there-they ONLY do regular manicures-no fills or anything.  I made it work even though I could have used a fill They put my extensions in no problem and thankfully-I asked about eyelashes ahead of time.  They'll put them on but you have to bring them! (*had to call my sis & have her bring them from home)  Give yourself plenty of time.  My mani-pedi started at 11am, then they did the hair and then make up.  I made it to the presidential suite at 3 & the wedding was at 4:30-so that was perfect timing.  And call Karla and the people in her office-they will get a golf cart to drive you around the day of the wedding so you are on time & don't run into your fiance!

 

The champagne hour before the actual reception was AWESOME.  Both my hubby & I loved this because it gave us time to relax & visit and kind of put a freeze on how quickly it was all passing by.  We soaked up EVERY second.  Then DJ Doremixx announced the bridal party & we all walked into the reception area.  When he announced us, my hubby & I walked in & I was swinging a plastic ball & chain over my head-it was hilarious!  He LOVED the cigar roller-OMG-even his friends talked about it for days.  The food was wonderful (we got roasted potatoes & steamed veggies instead of a baked potato & corn on the cob) and then there was the cake.  GET CHOCOLATE CAKE.  OMG-WOW.  It had this chocolate filling that is like a smooth brownie-it's the best cake I have ever had & everyone said that!!!  They decorated it exactly the way we asked for too.

 

The DJ isn't the one 'on site.' He was $900 and worth EVERY penny.  My hubby's 86 yr old grandmother was even dancing.  It was magical.  He gets everyone into the whole thing and mixes the music perfectly.  He knows traditions-announced my 1st dance, my dance with dad, bouquet toss, etc. and works with you ahead of time to get the right songs for everything.  He even found the songs I asked for & played every one.  I AM a DJ-(radio-but still, I know music well) and you can't do better than this guy & his company.  They are amazing.  Spend the $$-it is absolutely worth it.  You've put so much effort in-you'll want a microphone for speeches & someone who knows what they are doing.

 

I think that's about it.  Everyone had the BEST time.  It really was magical and worth every bit of stress and $$ we put into it.  You made the best choice getting married at this resort. They are pros who go the extra mile and are genuinely happy for you & will help you in any way they can. 

 

I'll post pics as soon as I can figure out the new facebook layout to copy & paste them!

;)Erin

[Lindobride14]

Hey Erin aka my fellow newlywed!!

 

So glad to hear you had such a wonderful time!  I cannot wait to see your pics.  I don't have FB though so I hope you post a link to your album! 

 

SOOO friggin crazy about your best man!! What a freak accident!  I don't know if I told you this, but we had a running joke that people were dropping like flies like the movie Final Destination during our trip as well!  My mom rolled her ankle in the room the night she arrived and was unable to walk.  The entire trip we had to push her around in a wheelchair.  After thinking it was just a bad sprain, she just convinced her doc to order an MRI and found out she has a fractured cuboid (it's a bone in your foot)  She is STILL off of work a month later.

 

We almost killed one of John's groomsmen  when we jokingly (all right, drunkenly) tried to hoist him up onto the wooden horse in the shopping center.  We gave it a little too much lift and he flew right over the horse and landed on the pavement with a sickening thud. 

 

Then my brother-in-law's ears (both of them) mysteriously started bleeding.  We were like WTF are you having stigmata?  Hilarious. 

 

But I must say your Best Man takes the cake on injuries.  He lost 15 teeth?!!  Is he going to have to get a whole set of implants or what? 

 

Anyway, just wanted to send you a quick congratulations!!  Best of luck to you and your husband (it's weird saying that word, right?) in your new life together!

 

Tara

[Hannah5611]

Erin and Tara, I have a question for you....did they charge you for the chairs with the white bows or round tables??  Since I am getting married that the Lindo, the ONLY venue that is included in the mac daddy package is the El Jambalaya restaurant which is INSIDE...BOOOO  AND, it has these hideous chairs (Tara, you may remember??) so they want me to pay an additional $6 per chair to upgrade to tiffany chairs!!  ugghhhh...they are getting me EVERY way possible I feel like! 

 

LOVE LOVE LOVE both of your pictures!!! 

[radiochic10]

Hi all!

Tara-thanks for the Congrats!  I know exactly what wooden horse you're talking about because my best friend-one of my b-maids-tried climbing up on it after a fun night at the Galaxy dance club.  She also tried to breast feed the Speedy Gonzales statue, but that's a whole other story....lmao.  The best man broke all but 4 teeth.  The roots of the teeth were still in tact (OMG-this hurts my mouth to talk about!) but the majority of the teeth are at least broken in half, and I have no clue what they'll do for that.  They haven't gotten that far because they are secondary to the 3 fractures in his jaw line.  When he got back to the states, the Dr. said they did a great job with the operation in Mexico-BUT one of the breaks was through the joint, so that Dr. took off the rubber bands he had on & wired his mouth shut completely. The poor guy can only eat what the straw can handle for 5 weeks.

 

Hannah-this is another reason why I say the Mac Daddy package rocks.  They put covers & bows on all chairs outside on the beach AND inside the reception for no additional cost.  It was in our package I guess.  They looked amazing though-I highly recommend getting them done.  I LOVED the venue we had our reception in too.  It was fabulous.  I'm going to post some photos now & more over the weekend Ok-anyone know how to make a pic. smaller??!?  Sorry it's so big!

[radiochic10]

 

 

 

This is what the reception looked like.  I'll have to get the pics on snapfish or something to show you   Sorry-I'm semi-computer illiterate!

[Hanna20]

Erin,

 

You may be able to just share the link to your album on facebook and she should be able to view the photos even without having a facebook account. Go to your album, scroll down to the very bottom and there should be something in very small print that says "to share this album provide this link etc etc"..... see if that works, it may be the easiest solution.
 

Originally Posted by radiochic10 

 

 

 

This is what the reception looked like.  I'll have to get the pics on snapfish or something to show you   Sorry-I'm semi-computer illiterate!

[radiochic10]

Hanna-your starfish is on its way!  I sent it on Friday :)Erin