May 2013 Brides

[melnryluvco]

Originally Posted by ChocoTaco7568 

 

Quote:

Sucks, right? We're in the same boat as you two and anticipate going over ther 25 by +/- 5 guest.  I haven't bothered trying to negotiate this price since the two wedding coordinators at Now Jade have been very accomodating to their brides.  Considering the amount of decor that I will bring with me for setup, they are only charging me $40 which I am pleasantly suprised by. And for the past 10 months, every BDW Now Jade bride has been able to swap items, get credit towards cost for wedding package items not used, and none of them have been charged the day pass fee for outside photography.  With all this in mind the cost per additional guest isn't so offensive. Have you read anything similar on the Now Sapphire thread? Also, I know the Now Jade price per person breakdown covers extra apps for the cocktail hour and the wedding cake which don't seem necessary based on feedback from the Now Jade thread, so the cost comes down by $20 or so

 

 

I am involved with the Now Sapphire thread. I am going to see if I can have a credit for extra guests by not using their clergy or judge to marry us. My aunt is a judge here in CO and since we're not have a legal marriage in MX I am going to see if by having her do it if they can just add more people to our dinner. I hope so cuz $94 is craaaazy!

[melnryluvco]

Originally Posted by didir1010 

 

I'm new to the forums and just saw this thread... I haven't read through all 90+ pages yet, but wanted to say that I am a May 2013 bride too!!  I have been seriously planning since February of this year, but just found this website.

 

We are getting married onboard the Carnival Paradise, while it is in port in Grand Cayman.  The cruise leaves Tampa on Monday May 13th, then we are getting married in port on Wednesday, May 15th.  I'm super excited to have found this website and these froums.  Not sure if anyone else out there is a cruise bride, but I have already found some really great information (like where to get the mini-passport invitations).

 

 

Welcome didir1010! May 13 is a perfect day to set sail....it also happens to be my birthday so it's a great day all around!! All the girls here are so awesome. It's the perfect place to get help and opinions.

[melnryluvco]

Hello Lovely Ladies! I am excited to share some of my engagment pics with you. We had a good friend take them and I am blown away with her talent. YAY!

 

 

 

[ChocoTaco7568]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kal520 

So...tell me if I'm crazy and delusional from wedding planning but I don't think we can going to do welcome/OOT bags. Originally I thought obviously we have to do them it's what you are supposed to do! But the more I think about it and my fiance and I talk about it, it's just a bunch of crap no one is going to use or want and all the toiletry type stuff people bring with them anyways. No offense to anyone (well...everyone!) who is doing them I think they're cute especially the bags themselves, but maybe not for us. It will be waaay less stuff to drag down there, save money, time, effort, etc. Instead, I think maybe we will buy everyone a bottle of champagne or some sort of bigger useable gift to show our appreciation for them coming to Mexico for our wedding. What does everyone think about this? Good idea? Bad? Any other ideas of bigger gifts we can do per room?
 

For similar reasons, we decided not to do OOT bags.  But we are doing pre-travel packets about 4-6 weeks out (1 per couple or 1 per single guest).  Contents will include the following: thank you letter, packing list, resort map/info, leather luggage tags/passport covers, and a 2GB memory cards for digi cams.  If we find great deals on other useable items then we'll include them.

[ChocoTaco7568]

Originally Posted by melnryluvco 

Hello Lovely Ladies! I am excited to share some of my engagment pics with you. We had a good friend take them and I am blown away with her talent. YAY!

These are fantastic and you two look great together... Love the first pic and the B/W with the train!

[melnryluvco]

Originally Posted by ChocoTaco7568 

 

These are fantastic and you two look great together... Love the first pic and the B/W with the train!

The B/W pic by the train is one of my fav!! Thanks for the kind words!!

[bride81]

Thanks for all the sweet comments on our photos ladies!  I love your pix Mel, especially the train and the blanket!  

[CourtandMatt]

Originally Posted by Kal520 

 

So...tell me if I'm crazy and delusional from wedding planning but I don't think we can going to do welcome/OOT bags. Originally I thought obviously we have to do them it's what you are supposed to do! But the more I think about it and my fiance and I talk about it, it's just a bunch of crap no one is going to use or want and all the toiletry type stuff people bring with them anyways. No offense to anyone (well...everyone!) who is doing them I think they're cute especially the bags themselves, but maybe not for us. It will be waaay less stuff to drag down there, save money, time, effort, etc. Instead, I think maybe we will buy everyone a bottle of champagne or some sort of bigger useable gift to show our appreciation for them coming to Mexico for our wedding. What does everyone think about this? Good idea? Bad? Any other ideas of bigger gifts we can do per room?

 

 

GREAT IDEA!  My fiance and I are very simple and believe more in experiences than stuff (you should see how simple our apartment is).  So, instead, we have decided to give all of our guests the gift of an excursion: we rented a private catamaran.  We are going to give welcome letters that advise that our gift is the excursion.   The only addition I have been thinking about is also buying disposable underwater cameras and give one to each group because then ppl can use it on the catamaran, bring it home, get it developed, and have the experience to share with their family and friends.  

 

So, long story short, I like the idea of one bigger gift. 

[Tulumbride2013]

I do agree about the bags to a certain extent. We did them but tried to keep them somewhat simple, and didnt do a bunch of monogrammed items and mugs or randoms ie. water bottles . I did get a few things I thought could truly be up to use, like shotglasses:) meds/ Advil, and some other things. I really like the caterman an idea... We wanted to do something like this put it was super pricey. We are doing a tequila tasting for our guests though, they'll get to try a bunch of different types of tequila, and they can bring their shotglasses!

[chrystine888]

Originally Posted by melnryluvco 

 

Just as an FYI to you since you're just starting your OOT bags is keep a look out on this site for threads from other brides who are selling off their leftover OOT stuff. Also, some of the best advice I've seen from a few brides on here was to wait on the OOT stuff until you have a pretty solid number or you'll end up going overboard. And lastly, I saw this on another brides OOT thread (sorry I cannot remember her name to save my life) but she is a bargin hunter like me and found this awesome website where you can get cheap cloth bags. Check it out. Good luck to you and congrats!!

 

http://www.ingreetings.com/regcomtshir.html

Thanks for the site!  I actually did end up getting my bags from there!  They ended up costing something like $2 each!  :-)  I agree that some OOTs have crap that you wouldn't ever use, so we are keeping a specific goal in mind: to give out things that will be useful at the resort (it is AI).  They can either throw them away or keep them as souveniers after the trip.  We have large 22 oz screen printed cups with lids and straws that people can fill up and use for the beach.  We have the key holder wristlets, body poufs, magnetic flip flop bottle openers that read "Punta Cana, May 13, 2013."  We also have screen printed pens with pads of paper because previous brides at this resort mentioned that those were not in the room (strange, but true!).  Also Aloe, suntan lotion, EmergenC, advil, chapstick with sunscreen, hand sanitizer, etc.  We're estimating 70-80 guests, so it is going to be a real pain getting all of this stuff to Punta Cana, but I think our guests will appreciate the sentiment! 

 

I really like the idea of the catamaran...I wish I had thought of that earlier!  Doing all of these little projects is getting crazy!  My FI and I were working on stuff during the hurricane since we were both out of work.  His brother came over and said that we looked like we were running a bridal sweat shop!  AAaaahhhhahahaha!!!! 

 

6 MONTHS TILL MAY, LADIES!!!  :-D

 

PS- Melnry, LOVE the engagement pics!