A Frugal Bride's Riviera Maya DIY Wedding

[Mlite83]

congrats! everything looks beautiful and your big day is almost here!  all the best!!

[BrideMichyBoo]

Oh la la I will have to check out paper circle.ca, thx!!

[BrideMichyBoo]

Love this colour! Everything looks fab, all the best as your big day approaches!
 

Originally Posted by janette34 

Wow, I can't believe its my time to start a planning thread!!  For the past year I have been counting down the months until we leave and as of today only 17 more sleeps.  I don't know how I would have been able to accomplish anything had I not found this site.  Thank you too everyone who has contributed, this site has been a wealth of knowledge and ideas for me. 

 

Resort

One of the toughest decisions by far was picking a resort.  We knew it had to be Mexico since we have been going there for the past seven years and always love it.  Just after coming home from a trip to Mexico in April of 2011 my aunt (also TA) called me with some prices.  One of the options was the Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya which we had stayed at in 08 and since the price worked for everyone so we booked it. 

Their private palapa was part of the deciding factor and they had a nice range of wedding packages. 

 

Attire

Second toughest decision without a doubt!!! I live in a very small town with the closest major shopping area 2 hours away.  I tried on so many dresses and couldn't find the "one".  I fell in love with Pronovias dresses but could only find a limited few to try on in my province.  Without any luck I took a chance and ordered a knock off from China.  I did this early on in case it wasn't great and I would still have time to find a new one and I could use the knock off for our TTD.  Well the dress came and it was well made but not exactly great so back to dress hunting.  My next trip out I finally made the decision to order a dress, its Pronovias, Alfil.

Colin's Suit from Le Chateau.  His best man will wear the same pants and shirt.

Maid of Honour dress.  We're going to add a starfish brooch to the waist.  I made her a pair of barefoot sandals to wear but I forgot to take a picture before I gave them to her.  We went to a bridal show that holding a gown and dress clearance and this dress matched the groom's shirt perfectly so we got a great bargain.

My Mother's dress: 

 

 

 

 

[dominiqueamber]

So purty! You did an amazing job! I love the attire the best. Please share where you got the bridesmaid and mother of the bride dresses from?? I love your in flight snack packs with homemade cookies...your diy projects are awesome and I love that you were able to save so much money! I'm so glad I found your thread!

[cindy2013]

Wow you did an amazing job! Congratulations!

[jolene028]

Everything looks so good!!!!

[janette34]

 My mother's dress came from Ebay and the maid of honor's dress came from a local bridal store that was having a huge gown sale so we got it for $49.  My sister in law is currently uploading our photos so once she is done I'll post some pictures from ceremony/reception.

Originally Posted by dominiqueamber 

So purty! You did an amazing job! I love the attire the best. Please share where you got the bridesmaid and mother of the bride dresses from?? I love your in flight snack packs with homemade cookies...your diy projects are awesome and I love that you were able to save so much money! I'm so glad I found your thread!

 

 

[Fabiola Cadet]

Wow! So impressive Janette. Congratulations on your wedding. I want to know if making the starfish decorations was as easy as it looks. I'm making some for my sister's wedding and really have no idea where to start. Did you find directions somwhere? Thanks!

 

Next up was pew decor.  I was at Winner's one day and found a huge bag of starfish, I think there was 12 in a bag for about $14 so I bought the last 2 they had.

 

 

 More to come

 

 

[janette34]

 They weren't hard to make at all.  I just found a picture on google I liked, played around a bit until I liked what I had and went from there.  Basically I started with a loop of rafia, added some ribbon and tied that around the starfish to hold everything in place.

Originally Posted by Fabiola Cadet 

Wow! So impressive Janette. Congratulations on your wedding. I want to know if making the starfish decorations was as easy as it looks. I'm making some for my sister's wedding and really have no idea where to start. Did you find directions somwhere? Thanks!

 

 

 

 

[Fabiola Cadet]

It does sound very easy when you put it like that. I am waiting for the starfishes to be delivered and will practice as soon as I get some raffia. So you didn't use any glue or adhesive, correct?

 

 

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by janette34 

 They weren't hard to make at all.  I just found a picture on google I liked, played around a bit until I liked what I had and went from there.  Basically I started with a loop of rafia, added some ribbon and tied that around the starfish to hold everything in place.