Majestic Elegance Wedding Review April 2011

[smikit]

My Majestic Elegance Wedding Review and Prep

 

Part 1: OOT Bags

 

OOT Bags: We started planning months ahead of time with our OOT Bags because we wanted our guests to really have something special and useful. We didn’t really budget for them intensely but they turned out to be in the $45-50/bag ballpark. It was the first impression that our guests would get of what we were striving to make our wedding like: romantic, thoughtful, detail oriented. Throughout our stay we saw almost all of our guests utilize the contents of the bag. Most of the prep work was done at home and we left basic assembly for when we got there. It was easier to take an entire suitcase and fill it with all of the contents and to assemble at the resort. This was a great idea since my hubby helped with the process and took most of the pics you will see on here. Our theme was traditional wedding vows- we adhered these to each item type with blank hang tags that we found in Michael's and some natural raffia. The following are the contents of our bags and where you can find most of them:

 

Large beach tote:  http://www.discountmugs.com/nc/tote-bags/1082/premium-tote-bag.htm ( this website is excellent because of the huge tote variety) Ours were extremely sturdy and have a front pocket. Most of our guests used this as a beach bag. We got it in white with the blue straps without the custom printing( too pricey) Instead we got custom beach themed sticker labels and adhered them to the front pocket from www.zazzle.com . See pic below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inside each tote we had a mini craft caddy that doubled as a small tote- it was great because it has 4 little compartments and helped to organize our theme for the OOT bag. The mini craft caddy was from a company called Allary item number 1630: http://www.allarycorp.com/item1630.html, these are only sold in some dollar stores.  I found three or four in a local Dollar Daves, but contacted the company directly and spoke to a lovely lady who was thrilled to help me get more. They don’t usually do this because they sell in bulk (sewing kits, cosmetic cases and other junk) to stores, but they bent the rules to help me out. If you find them, they are usually $1 each.  If you can't find them, try a clear vinyl cosmetic case or one large enough to stick toiletries into. I got them in tan and blue, although they also come in a tan and purple variety. See pic of mine below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Vows-

 

From this day forward- Magazines we purchased at Barnes & Nobles using a Groupon that we paid $10 to get $20 dollars worth of merchandise- we each had one so we got $40 worth of magazines. We had 11 guest rooms so all the ladies got a magazine that we thought would interest them: Elle, People, Us Weekly, Cookling Light, Food & Wine, Shape- this way they could also swap on the beach. Some of the men also got magazines: Forbes, Mens Health, GQ. We wanted to get a few more by interest: Yachts, Fishing, Poker- but the day we went to B&N they seemed to have a limited selection.

 

 

 

 

 

To have and to hold- Pashmina for ladies, Custom T-Shirt for men.  We are from NYC so we headed down to Chinatown to pick up our pashminas, we got something like 15 for 3 dollars a piece if not less.  I saw websites where you can get them for cheaper, but then shipping balances out the cost so I preferred to just go and get them. We got them all in bright, different colors that I thought would suit each woman’s particular personality. The one below is for my sister- she looks like a turquoise blue, and she loved it! The t-shirts we ordered in bulk from here:  http://www.customink.com/. They are a local company so they were able to give us a break and really worked on the design with us. Gabe was the guy who we worked with- great suggestions on his part. We really wanted to add a little fun and humor to each bag and we knew our guys would appreciate it- we even ordered by estimating what size would suit which guy best. We also ordered based on quality of the shirt and went with the softer cotton American Apparel T shirt.  The T shirts cost us approximately 10 dollars a shirt. See pics below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For better, for worse- Shout wipes, travel sized Aloe vera, sunscreen. These can all be found in Target for approximately a dollar. We had issues in our Target because it may have been off season and we couldn’t find the Aloe Vera, so we ordered it online from: http://www.alltravelsizes.com/03-b-04-l.html, it was an item we really wanted to have so we were willing to pay the $1.69, but I am sure it can be found for less and is better available in season.  This was the most useful item in the bag as almost all of our guests got sunburns and used it for relief. Some more ideas for this vow- chapstick- i just forgot to get it!! See pic below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For richer, for poorer- We wanted to make this vow interactive and fun so we got 2 lucky 7’s lottery scratchers per room( we searched for a sun themed one that I have seen before but I couldn’t find it!) I put each scratcher inside a little clear pouch and threw in a penny that could be used for scratching. It was cute and fun and some of our guests were happy to have won a few dollars. We placed these inside one of the caddy pockets. The other caddy pocket had the for better for worse vow, the other one had in sickness and in health vow. The fourth pocket could be used to place an itinerary or note card.  See pic below-

 

 

 

 

 

In sickness and in health- these were an absolutely great touch to each tote and the most used item after the Aloe Vera. Its amazing but some people really do forget to take first aid kits and medical stuff when they are on vacation. We got these Johnson & Johnson first aid kits in Target for something like $1 each- they already included gauze, bandaids, alcohol pads and some other things. We added packets of Tylenol, Advil, Pepto Bismol, Mini Neosporin packets, and Lens Cleaners to each kit. In order to add to them you have to take the packaging off of the kit. I wish I had a better picture of these but see below:

 

 

 

 

 

In times of Plenty and in times of Want: We purchased medium sized clear pouches for this vow and filled each with an assortment of candy. Our group is big on Kit Kats so we had plenty of those, M&M’s,hersheys and some Twix. Even though it was all inclusive, sometimes your guests can get a sweet tooth for old favorites. I was thinking of going a tropical route and getting some Almond Mounds or whatever they are called (with the coconut) but our group doesn’t have big fans of those so I stayed clear. Ring Pops are also cute- but I knew my guests and couldn’t picture any sucking on ring pops…Anyway, here is a pic of these. I just threw them into the tote in no particular order:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To love and to Cherish: These were just a great find and I would have avoided them otherwise but we got a great deal. It was a weddingchannel.com deal where you can get 25 cameras for something like 2 dollars a piece with shipping. Regular price on them was like 4.50 each. They fit the vow so we just went with it although most people bring digital cameras. It was a good idea in theory because people are more likely to develop instant camera pictures than to have them sit on their computers for years without printing them. I like the idea of having a tangible photo. I’m not sure if they were actually utilized, but they made for great padding. We had two per bag. See pics:

 

 

 

 

Till death do us part or As long as we both shall live- We were torn on this one because the former is a bit morbid. The latter- I thought a life savor candy would be a good fit but we already had a pouch with candy so I just scrapped it. If you do go through with it- just stick it in the fourth compartment of the caddy and attach a hang tag…

 

Contents of Main Mini Caddy Compartment: All of these were found in Target- Mini loufa in lime green or bright blue, Herbal Essences Coconut scented Shampoo and Conditioner, Banana Boat SPF 50 or 30 sunblock, Mini Mirror with pop out hair brush in blue, Dove cucumber Body Wash, Dove Cucumber deodarant for ladies, Axe Deodarant for Men, Gilette Shaving Cream Minis for men, (we bought a pack of 10 one time use razors for men- split the pack and put one in each tote), Q-tips, Colgate whitening toothpaste (smaller than regular size but not quite the smallest- also found in travel sized section in Target), Regular sized Soft Toothbrushes (colgate or crest) Pink/purple for each lady, Blue/Green for guys- so each bag got either 2 or 3 toothbrushes depending on who was staying in the room. Same with t-shirts and pashminas. We made sure everyone was accounted for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we got there we splayed everything out on the floor and started assembly. I folded all the shirts and pashminas at home and rolled them into tubes. I tied them together with the raffia and adhered the hang tag in my hotel room. This took a few minutes.

We assembled the mini totes quickly and adhered all the tags in our room also. This probably could have been done back home, but I did write the vows out at home so that saved time... Hubby documented my progress so I could share it on here!

We placed the caddy with the toiletries, first aid kit and lotto at the bottom, it was padding to fluff the bag. On the inside of the main beach tote we added the cameras and candy. On top of that went the Tshirt and Pashmina and behind that went the two magazines. For the two rooms we had with kids we also added coloring books and a box of Crayola crayons in each. 

To the main handle of the large beach tote we added a luggage tag: Chrome heart luggage tag- that we found on amazon in bulk. These werent too pricey.

Here is a pic of the final product- they look way better in person!!!

 

 

 

 

Delivery: You have a few options on this one- you could leave the OOT's at the front desk at reception so when guests check in they get them. In our case we arrived on the same flight and at the same time as most of our guests so this wasnt feasible since i needed time to assemble. Hubby had a few bags delivered to the next door Majestic Colonial by slipping a bell boy a few dollars ( the concierge service at the majestic elegance club can also take care of this- just tip them!!) A few of the other bags we preferred to use the knock, run and hide method just to check out the expression on our guests faces. A few of the other bags we had placed in our guests rooms once we found out their arrival info and they were assigned rooms on the morning of their arrival. The bags were ready for them when they came in.

 

Note: the stickers on the bag dont adhere too well to the bags- they stick but get loose after a little movement-- bring double sided tape since they are really pretty labels but can use a bit of help sticking.