jlarruda's Majestic Elegance/Jellyfish Restaurant Planning Thread 11.12.11

[jlarruda]

Hey everyone-

I figured I would start a planning thread, even if it isn't huge I wanted to give back because I know I loved getting ideas from the planning threads.

 

Pre-Engagement:

My fiance, Steve is active in the United States Army and we met each other in March 2008 when he came home from a deployment in Iraq.  My best friend was engaged to Steve's best friend so she through him a welcome home party and thats where we met and hit it off.  He was stationed at Ft. Bragg so he returned, but we exchanged numbers and talked often.. and we knew there was something there but we were states apart and lost touch after awhile.  In December I was celebrating my birthday with friends and he ended up calling his best friend, who spoke with my best friend and she got him to call me.. so there we go again, we start talking a lot again.. but this time I didn't really give him the time of day lol.  Anyway, I went on vacation to Europe with my mom in March 2009.. and he would call me when I was there practically everyday, even when he was in the field in the woods training.. so I knew it would turn into something, he asked me to go to a military ball in May.. and after some hesitation, I did and thats how we officially started dating.  With a lot of flights back and forth, he got orders to Georgia and I decided to make the move with him since it would be a new start for both of us in a new location so I moved in March 2010.

 May 2009 Military Ball

 

Engagement:

We both knew we'd get engaged, just wanted us to be in a stable time.. so 6 months later when I finally found a job that required a college degree and was salary, I went away for a 3 day training (up until this time, we were together each and everyday) and Steve proposed the day I came home.  Something simple, but it was just us two.

 

 Engagement Picture

 

My Engagement ring with my bands: 

 

Steve's Wedding band:

 

Wedding Planning:

Early on, we knew that we wanted to have a destination wedding.. I have a huge family, but they're all in other countries and I knew that they wouldn't be able to come to our wedding.. so easily, we'd have 300+ of friends and family friends at our wedding and that wasn't what we wanted.  I drove myself crazy trying to finalize on a resort, and needless to say.. we're staying at the Majestic Elegance in Punta Cana and we're getting married off the resort at the Jellyfish Restaurant.  It is exactly what we want, the beauty of a resort and the intimate ceremony and reception off the resort.  You only deal with one wedding coordinator from beginning to end, when shes busy it make take a couple of days to hear from her.. but just to give you an example, with about a month left until our wedding.. she just emailed me back twice today and we've been emailing each other practically daily.  Shes amazing and it takes a lot to give someone your vision of a wedding and trust them.

 

All of our wedding planning has practically been done back home in Massachusetts.. we've gone home almost every 3 months.. I found my dress there and my dress fittings are there, my bridesmaid dresses, groomsmen suits, everything & everyone is there.  Our wedding colors are white with hints of pink & orange.

 

 

Save the date postcard & magnet:

 

 

 

My Dress:

Sottero & Midgley- Adorae

 

Jewelry:

ordered off of ideeli.com, definetly check them out and ruelala.com for their wedding deals every so often.

 

Sandals:

What can I say? I love the destination aspect of it, but I'll still be a blinged out bride

 

 

Bridesmaids:

Dress is from Jasmine in "razzle dazzle" and the rose comes off, the material is cotton chiffon which is really soft and great for a ceremony on the beach.  All my girls chose this.. and this is another thing that drove my crazy, dresses online never do the dress justice.. so make sure you go to a salon..  we found this dress at the salon I ordered my bridal dress from.

 

 

Sandals from payless:

 

 

And instead of bouquets, the girls will be carrying ivory parasols

 

Guys:

Fiance & Groomsmen will be wearing a 3 piece khaki "linen look" suit from JCPenny, which I want to say ended up being $105 total and they will be wearing a pink tie and khaki boat shoes.

 

 

I decided to "DIY" for the guys boutinerre's:

 

Luggage tag & brochure we mailed out 2 months before the wedding: (amazing vistaprint savings website: http://vistaprint-goddess.weebly.com/sample-email.html free uploads, brochures, hats, tote bags.. just customize and add everything to your bag each time and pay shipping)

 

 

Can't find a wedding invitation that we sent out for the life of me, thanks to the whole wedding planning in two different states.  Heres our wedding program though, its an extra large postcard and on the back side has all our information

 

 

Another DIY, made bride & groom signs to hang on the back of our chairs

 

 

Etsy finds:

 

Bridal Hanger

 

Finger print Wedding Tree

 

Details:

 

Bouquet

 

Makeup

 

Hair

 

 

Ceremony/Reception Details:

 

Jellyfish Restaurant

 

 

Ceremony:

 

 

 

Reception:

except in pink/orange

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think thats its for now.. OOT bags are in the making

[jlarruda]

Please ignore all the misspellings/wrong words.. that's what I get for not spell checking and making a planning thread at 1:00AM

[Peach]

Everything looks awesome! Congratulations!

[Liz T]

Looks Amazing.  I'm really impressed!

[venus909]

Everything looks great!  I love your FI's ring...it looks exactly like the one I picked out for my fi...is it tungston? 

 

Your wedding is soooo close!!!!  I look forward to hearing all about your day and seeing pics!

[jlarruda]

Yes it is.. we got it from Kays

[venus909]

Ah! then it is the same one FI is getting.  both our rings came from Kay's...It's a gorgeous guys ring!  And FIs requirement was that if I get diamonds so does he....  lol...

[Mel2010]

Wow, you did an amazing job so far!! I absolutely love love your e-ring and wedding band, and you look stunning in your dress! Can't wait to see pics of your wedding day.

And I love your antique bride/groom signs. They turned out so cute.

 

Keep it up . . . next thing you know our weddings will be right around the corner!!!

[JayKay]

Where did you get your wedding fingerprint tree?  I have been looking for one similiar.

[jlarruda]

I ordered the wedding fingerprint tree from TJLovePrints on Etsy, easy to work with & fast.  Their link is:  http://www.etsy.com/people/TJLovePrints