Jess's Riviera Maya Planning Thread - Aventura Spa Palace

[jszy10]

Hey Ladies!!!!  I'm saying it..everyone ones -- ITS MY TURN!!!!! lol  )  Thank you to everyone that has helped me come up with the most amazing ideas to make my wedding one of a kind.  I can't even begin to imagine what my wedding experience would be like without these great ideas (although I do know there would've been no passport invites...no OOT bags..no pre-travel brochures..no good! haha)

 

I will try to remember to post my thread links to everything I've done along the way and I will post any templates I can think of at the end!

 

Here we go!!!

 

 

Our Engagement

 

We got engaged 4 days after our 2 year anniversary, with pretty cute reasoning.  I always had this running joke with my FI that I had never dated anyone longer than 2 years, so if he wanted to keep me, he had to propose by then!  Of course I was joking, but he must have thought it would be perfect to really do ) and I was shocked as ever!!  He had actually planned on proposing on our anniversary, but the ring didn’t come in in time!  So he ended up proposing the day it came in – 4 days after!

 

 

My sister-in-law took our engagement pictures at a local park that we frequent...here is one of my favs )

 

 

 

Let the Planning Begin...

 

I was so excited and surprised that I didn’t want to wait one minute to start planning!!  I chose Riviera Maya pretty quickly because it was affordable and I have heard great things about it, so I researched day in and day out for a resort until I found the perfect one – Aventura Spa Palace.  This resort had the adult only aspect that we wanted, and offered a great wedding package.

 

 

 

 

 

As soon as our wedding date was confirmed with the resort, I did the ‘non-traditional’ and sent out a basic STD that announced when and where we were to be married, with more information to follow.  I just made a real basic DIY magnet… (thinking back I wish I would have taken more time to really make something nicer, but I think I made up for it with my invites)

 

(I think its making me submit now....more coming!!)

 

[jszy10]

The Dress

 

I also got too excited to wait very long to try on wedding gowns and found my gown fairly quickly.  I actually searched for this dress EVERYWHERE and could not seem to find it in a shop ANYWHERE.  I then found out that Maggie Sottero does loaner dresses that you can pay to get delivered in to a shop to try on, so I decided to do this because I just could not get it out of my head!  (It was only $50 and they credited that money towards my purchase, so it really wasn’t anything) 

 

Two days after I placed the ‘loaner’ order, I walked into a bridal show in my hometown and there it was, the dress I had been dying to try on, on one of the models!  I said quite loudly, “Oh my god, that’s my dress!!†and practically ran over to her! Haha.  The woman was so nice and actually took the dress off so I could put it on, right there at the show!  It was my size and everything! And I LOVED it! 

 

This is actually me at the bridal show  )  The dress is Maggie Sottero’s Leoni.

 

 

 

My TTD

 

I also purchased a Bill Levkoff bridesmaid dress in ivory (inspired by the style of my wedding gown) for my TTD session and dinner and dancing in Mexico.  I couldn’t trash my wedding gown because I will be wearing it again for our AHR.

 

(sorry for the quality, obv. a cell phone pic!)

 

 

 

Groom:

 

My FI will be wearing a Claiborne Tan Linen suit that we purchased on JCPenney.com on sale -- $85.  The pants are the same as the groomsmen (listed below), with matching jacket and white linen dress shirt.

 

I will also be surprising him with a BD photobook that I plan on leaving on the bed for him to find when he goes to get ready for the ceremony )

 

 

Groomsmen:

 

The guys are wearing Claiborne Linen pants from JCPenney w/ an orange linen shirt from Men’s Wearhouse. 

 

We purchased Reef “Slap II†sandals as their gift, along with a privately chartered morning deep sea fishing trip through Tequilla Sunrise Adventures.

 

[jszy10]

Bridesmaids:

 

My girls are wearing Bill Levkoff #533 in the glacier color (like tiffany blue).   They will wear Coloriffics Annie shoe which we are having died to match a shade of orange to match their flowers.

 

(picture the shoes in an orange!!)

 

 

 

I purchased them each hair flowers to match mine (from etsy vendor - thehoneycomb), a starfish necklace from Kohls, sterling ball stud earrings and orange custom wristlets (from etsy vendor  - FrankieLloyd) to match their flowers/shoes.

 

 

I also purchased them a lounge chair cover for the resort from the vendor DBROTH on Amazon and a bikini bag (from the girls shop ‘Justice’ believe it or not) for traveling.

 

 

 

The Extras:

 

All of the men will be wearing starfish boutonnieres and the girls and I will have silk orange and white tiger lilies.  I put these all together myself and spend less than $30 in all!!!

 

THREAD -- http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/72665/my-diy-bouquets-and-boutonnieres

 

 

 

 

 

[jszy10]

Our Invites:

 

One thing this site introduced me to was Passport Invites, which is what I decided to do for my formal invitations.  Again, sort of ‘non-traditionally’ I sent my invites about 10-11 months out with resort information, booking information, and RSVP postcards.  I only sent out about 25 invitations (because we only wanted to invite close family and our bridal party), so we knew we would have no trouble with keeping track of who was coming or not.

 

For my Passport Invites I used Aylee Bits template, along with ideas from a lot of you girls, and added my own special touches.  That template was definitely the best $10 I ever spent.  The RSVP postcards were free from Vistaprint.

 

THREAD -- http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/63119/my-diy-passport-invites

 

 

 

 

Pre-Travel Brochures and Lugguage Tags:

 

One month before the trip, we sent out Pre-Travel Brochures and Luggage Tags.  I made them both courtesy of VistaPrint and got the luggage tags cheap from a vendor on Amazon.

 

THREAD -- http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/73204/riviera-maya-pre-travel-brochure-luggage-tags

 

FRONT:

 

 

 

BACK:

 

 

 

 

Luggage Tags:

 

 

 

 

[jszy10]

For Our Guests:

 

We aren’t going to have actual favors for our wedding day, but we will also be surprising my guests with filled OOT bags upon their arrival to the resort…

 

THREAD -- http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/72302/jess-s-oot-bags-done-w-pics

 

 

 

Our AHR:

 

We are having an AHR 1 week after we return from Mexico (on July 9, 2011).   I sent these AHR invites out in the very end of April and made my RSVP date June 10 so that I could finalize everything before we left for Mexico, since it’s so soon after we return!

 

THREAD -- http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/70743/my-diy-ahr-invites

 

 

 

I will post pics of our AHR when we return, but here are a few teasers of things we have been working on:  (sorry for the pic quality, they’re all from my cell phone!)

 

Centerpiece flowers:

 

These were created by silk orchids, tiger lilies and grass w/ orange pedals that we found at Michaels! These centerpieces are approx. 18†tall and there will be sand and shells in the bottom of the vase and orange ribbon wrapped about the neck of the vase.  The tables will all have tiffany blue satin overlays.

 

 

 

 

 

[jszy10]

Favors:

 

The back of the tag says…

 

“Instead of tapping on your glass,
here’s a system with Mexican class…
Stand and shake with all your might,
to see the groom kiss bride tonight!â€

 

 

 

and this is our cake inspiration!

 

 

 

 

I think that's it!!!  If you have any questions, feel free to shoot them my way!

[mexicobride422]

Jessica, everything came out soooo great!! You must be soooo excited.. Less than a month to go!! Can't wait to read your review when you get back..

 

I hope your wedding is everything you have ever dreamed of!

[aeluzu]

Jessica, It all looks really great. Your details are so well pulled together. You're such an early bird! No procrastinating for you, huh?

I bet your guests will be amazed by all of the work that you've put in. Thanks for sharing so much with us and I cannot wait until it's your turn to report back as a Mrs!!

[erinbrooke124]

Jess!  It looks amazing!  Everyone will love all the work you've put in!  I can't wait to hear all about it!  Congrats, girly!

[AcutieRN]

Such great ideas, thank you so much for sharing!