Kcole123 Planning Thread - April 17, 2015 - Melia Caribe Tropical

[tygrrlily]

@@kcole123 - That's so weird.  I'd maybe just suggest clearing out your cache/cookies for the site, then relogging in and hoping it's there?  Do you have the button that says "More Reply Options" at home?  That brings up all of the icons and things too

 

 

[kcole123]

I have the option of more reply options but just the text box comes up and no icons. I will try that though when I get home with what you suggested.

[kcole123]

My Dress and Accessories

 

Well when it came time for dress shopping I knew what I had envisioned for a while now. I wanted something with sweetheart neckline and also lace. This I found very challenging because not every lace dress I had tired on looked flattering on me or wasn't the lace I wanted or something just didn't look right. I went wedding dress shopping by myself which actually wasn't too bad. I sent my sister and MOH pictures and my mom as I was out trying them on. After a couple of attempts in a couple of different bridal shops, I finally found one that thought, yep this is it. So I put the down payment on the dress and away I went.

 

While I was waiting for my dress to arrive though I was having a lot of second thoughts. I kept looking at the pictures I took and something just didn't look right. I didn't like how I looked a little bigger in the hip area in pictures. But you know we are our own worst enemies at times. I was thinking about this until basically my dress came in. So when my dress did finally arrive I couldn't wait to go try it on again. This time I searched for a belt to wear also with the dress. At first I wanted a flower belt but after trying on many it just wasn't looking right with the dress. So I tried on blingy and oh my it looked and matched the dress perfectly. I was very happy with that choice. I still didn't feel 100% on how I looked in the dress so I attempted to lose weight. So when it came time to try my dress at the first dress fitting, I had 8 pounds gone and that made a difference. I still have 5 more to go but by then I will be completely happy with how it looks on me.

 

The Dress is a Alfred Angelo and the cost was $1300. I purchased the dress at The Bridal House in Edmonton. The belt was more than I wanted to pay but when I put it on with the dress nothing else compared so I had to have it. I can't remember the designer of the belt but the cost was $400. Yes I must be nuts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[acw271011]

Yay!! It worked!!! It looks awesome!!!!!!!

 

Now keep going.... lol  I want to see more details!! I love the threads!

[kcole123]

Hair and Accessories

 

I don't know how many times I am after doing this and deleting it because the picture thing isn't working out for me so much...lol Hope it works again this time.

 

Anyway continue on..lol.

 

My hair I know I want to have it up basically because if it's not then I will have nothing but a complete knot of sweaty hair up against my neck. And I don't want that. So I was thinking of having it up loosely. Here are some hair inspiration photos. My favorite is the second from the left on the bottom.

 

 

As for the hair piece: I didn't want to have a veil and this I knew as soon as I chose the destination wedding. Instead, I am having simple orchids for my hair, which I love. I ordered them from Etsy (which has become my new favorite addiction) and the seller is Herecomesthebride. The picture does not do the orchids justice. They are beautiful in person.

 

 

For my jewellery: I wanted to have pearls because they are simple but just so pretty especially with a lace wedding dress. Well that's my thoughts anyway. So when I was home visiting my family in Newfoundland, mom decided she wanted to buy me pearls. She knew that I wanted pearls so she offered to buy them for me. I did want drop down pearl earrings but mom didn't know this and bought me pearls that went with my necklace. I couldn't say that's not what I wanted and I think they will look just as great and simple.

 

 

Shoes

 

So of you maybe surprised but I am not actually a big shoe person. I would rather wear flats on a regular day but for my wedding I wanted to have something to add a bit of height but yet I wanted something comfortable. After searching around malls and wedding shops I couldn't find anything that looked entirely bridal for a wedge. So of course where did I look, Etsy...lol I found a seller that does amazing work to customize shoes how you want them. Again, I spent more on shoes than I had thought I would ever pay for shoes. But we only do this once so why not make it good and get what you want. The shoes are from the seller DesignYourPedestal.

 

 

 

The Grooms Attire

 

Well Nathan brags now about how long it took him to find a suit and how long it took me to find a dress. Hello?? But I think it's a little different for women looking for a dress..lol

 

When we were out visiting friends in Grande Prairie over Christmas, Nathan and his best man went to Moore's to look at suits. Nathan went in and told the lady "I would like to look like Daniel Craig in James Bond." Surprisingly the sales lady knew exactly the look he was going for. I basically let him decide on what he wanted. So he wanted a light grey suit. That's all he new. The sales lady did awesome helping him pick one out and Nathan was very happy with the service him and his best man received that day. He told me his suit cost him close to $1000. But he ended up getting 2 shirts, jacket, pants, belt, shoes, and he even bought socks there...lol

 

I knew I wanted coral as one of the colors and ivory, but when Nathan said he wanted a grey suit well I put that as one of colours as well.

 

Here is Daniel Craig...lol

 

 

The groomsmen will be wearing light grey pants as well and the long sleeved ivory shirt similar to Nathan's.

 

Bridesmaids Dresses

 

So for the girls, I was wanting of course coral floor length dresses. I wasn't particular in where they bought them or what style they had or even if they were off in color a little bit. I know bridesmaid dresses can get very expensive especially when they are already paying for a destination wedding to attend. SO I just told them coral floor length and left it in their hands. My sister and one of my bridesmaids (Nathan's sister) went shopping together. My MOH lives in a different province so she is thinking of ordering hers online.

 

Here are the girls in their dresses. The dresses are blue because they didn't have the coral in the store and it had to be ordered. But I do have a picture of the colour that they have. It's the stripe of colour that's straight out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kcole123]

Flowers

 

For my bouquets I wanted coral and grey incorporated somehow. I wanted to search someone that would do a complete set for me at a low cost. So I actually found someone on Ebay that did the whole set of what I wanted and the cost was just over $200. They are not real to the touch but they look great to me and for the price compared to others I have shopped around for, I couldn't be happier. I think they colours are beautiful as well.

 

 

Vendors

 

Photography -

I did some searching here because I didn't want to settle with the resort photographer. I was reading good but mostly bad reviews on the resort photography. It seems that a lot of people were saying that you pay a lot and don't get a lot in return. So if I was spending the money on photography (which was a big deal to me) then I wanted a lot of pictures. So after some researching and a couple of people on this site too mentioning about HDC photography, I decided they were the best choice. I have looked on their website and I love the way they take pictures. They are amazing at what they do. Their packages are reasonably priced as well. The only downfall is I have to tack on another $1000 for an outside vendor fee. Yup that's what the resort charges. I was upset about this at first but if I had to pay for a photographer back home it would cost me the same if not more.

 

Carribean Celebrations

 

I decided to not actually have a reception on the resort. So therefore I had to find someone that would do the décor at the location. I am not artsty, crafty at all so I won't be making anything for the reception. I would rather pay for it then go through the stress of making it something only for it to turn out horrible and have wasted money. So I have chosen them for my décor.

I just want simple mostly. Just table clothes with floral centre pieces and some white lighting.

 

LA BARCAZA WEDDING BOAT

 

Yup this is the thing I am most excited about for sure. Besides marrying my best friend of course. I seen actually on this site that someone had their reception on the La Barcaza and I fell in love with that idea. I wanted something relaxed and that the guests would enjoy off resort. I love this idea so I ran it by Nathan and he also thought it was great. Nathan and I aren't the formal type of people. We wanted relaxed and no pressure for anyone to do speeches or any of that stuff. We just want to get on the boat and have a great time. Their packages were really reasonable as well. They even provide a DJ. Nathan and I are going to bring an Ipod with our own music on there and they can play it for us. They have everything needed for that sort of thing. We had to bring our own music cause you know there has to be some Newfoundland music in the mix.

 

Here are a couple of pictures of what I would like for the decoration on the wedding boat and also what the wedding boat itself will look like. THESE COLORS ON THIS BOAT ARE NOT WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR BUT I WILL SHOW YOU AFTER WHAT I AM HOPING FOR MY DECOR TO LOOK LIKE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The colors are similar to the last one it's just that the table clothes will be a light grey.

The Ceremony Decor

 

For the Ceremony Décor I am keeping it very simple. A lot of girls told me who have had their wedding their say that add-ons are basically not needed. They say the resort will add something simple anyway, and because I am having it at the Garden Gazebo, there will be no need for any extra add-ons aka extra expense. So here is what it will pretty much look like with minimal décor.

 

[MrsCtoB]

Great thread! Best of luck to you

[marinah84]

I love the coral and grey - the bouquets turned out phenomenally!  I think that you got a great deal for all of that for under 200!  Your dress is gorgeous, and the belt is very similar to the Allure s33 that I LOVED.  I couldn't bring myself to spend $200 before tax on it, lol!  I think you look phenomenal in the dress - no second thoughts, it's perfect for your shape!  Keep updating us, this is great

[pddcmc]

@@kcole123 - You look stunning in your gown!!

 

I think it's so funny that we have the same wedding date and pretty much the same taste!

 

A little less than 3 months!!!!

[kcole123]

Thanks @@marinah84

 

Timeline for Day of Wedding

 

ok so this was a little confusing for me to figure out but I hope I have it figured out without too much of a gap in between. So here is the timeline I have figured out for the big day.

 

11:00 - 1:00 - Hair and makeup. I have having me and my girls hair and makeup done by Krystie Ann. I have heard alot of great reviews and I booked her well in advance. Probably 8 months in advance if not sooner. I didn't want to miss out. The things I knew I wanted I basically booked right away.

 

2:00 - Ceremony. At first this was a little disappointing for me because I wanted to have a 4:00 time slot. But if you book a wedding at Melia, the only way to have the time slot of 4:00 is if you go with one of the bigger wedding packages. And because mine was the "free" wedding package, I didn't have that option. So I am dealing with it even though it will be blistering hot. As I also stated earlier I will be having my ceremony at the Garden Gazebo. So hopefully the shade will help just a little.

 

3:00 - 4:00 Cocktail hour. I wasn't sure when to arrange this because I know the ceremony won't take that long. When I was going throught he lists that the resort had sent me you pay for the cocktail hour, of course, by the hour. SO I felt at the time that a 2 hour cocktail hour would be too long, so I just kept it at one hour.

 

5:00 - 8:00 La Barcaza Wedding Boat for reception. This boat I arranged for a 3 hour boat ride. If you wanted any extra time you could add it on but I figured I would play this one by ear and see how the three hours will go. I am not sure if booking a 5 hour boat ride right now would be smart considering the guests may not want that. So I figured I will wait and I could extend it then. I already asked them this and it would be fine.

 

So if I don't extend the boat, I will be planning for us and our guests to join us at the Disco on the resort to finish off the night. I did the best I could with the timelines. Like I said I was hoping for a later ceremony so that the times would fall into place better but you do what you can with what's given. Not going to stress out about that part.