Tinkersofi's Planning Thread - Azul Fives August 13, 2015

[acw271011]

Thanks for the tip on the weights. I saw veil weights in Hobby Lobby last weekend in the US. I got the veil I think I'm going to wear. It's short, just past shoulders but I haven't totally decided if I'm wearing it so didn't get the weights. I have a ton of time to decide and final dress decision isn't made yet, but the veil was really cheap from preownedweddingdresses.com It's exactly what I was looking for. Yours is gorgeous!

 

I've had music on tonight and I have the song I want to walk to to meet Doug. The problem is it makes me cry every time I listen to it! lol He thought something was wrong tonight because I was sitting here bawling my eyes out for some stupid reason! lol It has been a long 3 months and I'm exhausted from all the overtime. I get weepy when I'm over tired lol

 

I'd be concerned about your timeline. The one thing we've always found is that sunsets down south are fast. You can literally sit there and watch the sun go down in about 15 minutes. We've done it from a cruise ship and it's amazing, but it can royally screw up pictures. That's what happened to us in Jamaica. We have exactly 3 sunset shots. We weren't ready and the sun set so quickly there wasn't a lot of time. If your sunset is at roughly 7:15, a 5pm ceremony makes more sense. You need at least 20 minutes for that, then the hugs and kisses after. You won't get away from those but you can put a time limit on it. Even at 15 minutes for hugs and kisses you're after 5:30 at least. That gives you just over an hour for pictures. That's cutting it awfully close especially if you're going to try and get family shots as well as ones of the two you alone. I would email the photographer and let them know what you're thinking and see what they say. Who are you using?

 

Those shoes are wow!! I love them! And the heels aren't too high. I want blue shoes. I've decided that much at least lol That style is pretty and in the pink with the sparkles! Definitely!

 

I found vows books and they aren't that expensive. Just search them on the Etsy site and there are a few really pretty ones that you can get in a groom's colour and a bride's colour. Something to think about I think. I know there are a couple of things that I want to say to Doug, but I don't know if he'll write anything. He's not really a "flowery" guy like that. I'll have to wait and ask him. I just know I want the marriage poem in our ceremony. We had it when we got married and I want it again since it's in essence a renewal of that poem.

[TinkerSofi]

Love the pink shoes!! They are seriously adorable

 

Thanks, my Canadian MOH hasn't seen them yet but I can quote her, she'd say "Oh God! Those are so you!" haha. 

 

@@TinkerSofi I looove those shoes, the pink ones are really nice I do agree that these will look gorgeous with your wedding gown. I love the bow and rhinestones on the ankle cuff. Elegant with bling, can't go wrong with that!

 

I'm a big fan of brightly coloured shoes with wedding dresses. I'm also looking for a pink/coral or blue (for something blue). Since I have time, I'm waiting for a trip across the border to try them on.

 

And don't return the other sandals. Maybe shoes for your semi-private dinner?

 

As for your timeline, I think mingling at the bar or lounge would better so it's not as formal. I find that long tables aren't conducive to getting to know a lot of ppl, just those around you. Why don't you just have everyone meet at the lounge an hour or two before the dinner for everyone so ppl get to mingle before dinner? Then just make a separate reservation for your rehearsal dinner? Would that work?

 

As for your wedding day, I've been told that the optimal light for sunset pics is an hour before sunset. So if sunset is at 7:19, maybe moving the ceremony to 5-5:30 would be best since optimal time would be 6:19. Then you can take pics from 5:30-6:45 and start reception at 7. The sun sets so quickly that you may lose a lot of light by 7. This Wil ensure light and beautiful sunset pics for your couple shots

I was thinking of the cocktails after the dinner but maybe before is even a better idea! And there's only 13-15 of us for the rehearsal dinner so that shouldn't be a problem to get a reservation as long as we do it as soon as we get there. I agree with you, I'm not a big fan of long tables for that same reason, you can only hear about 3-4 people but you don't tend to socialize with anyone else. We just don't get a choice for this dinner so we'll take what we get . 

 

I'm used to the Canadian sunsets which are very long, I forget over there the sun sets so quickly. Good thing I mentioned it!! I was totally losing sleep over it and didn't want to finalize the welcome brochures for this reason (i'm including an itinerary)

 

Those shoes actually come in blue, they're a very light blue. I considered them but I'm all about ballet and dancing and things like that so pink was more fitting . 

 

That sounds like a good plan!! The mingling is key! Sean and I were talking to a friend last night about DWs and she said she went to one two years ago but no one introduced the group to each other or had any sort of events (private or otherwise) before the wedding so she didn't know anyone when it came time for the wedding date. I thought that was a bit bizarre. I don't think you need to do private events every night but at least get the group all together in some way so they can start to get to know one another. 

 

As for the first look, we're still learning the process as well. At first Sean wasn't sure if he wanted to see me before the ceremony, not for superstitious reasons but he always thought the first time he'd see me in my dress would be walking down the aisle. The more we talked about it and after talking to our photographer we thought it would be best to do it to maximize our time. I also love the idea of capturing the reaction of both bride and groom seeing each other for the first time.  Our photographer says he usually only schedules them for 15 min.

 

We're going to do:

 

Getting ready photos

First look (15 min)

Bridal Party Pics (15-20 min)

 

Ceremony

 

Group Pics (family & friends 20 min)

Couple Pics (in addition to the first look 45 min)

 

Reception

That's just horrible, if we're all in the same resort for a week it would be nice for people to be acquainted with one another. That's the beauty of a DW that you get to enjoy a whole week with all these people. I'm trying to get the social juices flowing. I know alcohol will help lol, it always does . 

 

I thought the first look was a lot longer but if it's only 15 min it's nice. Have you seen the pictures of those gorgeous walls around the resort on the brides' facebook page? I'm thinking those would be super nice spots for first look , before heading down to the beach club and then taking pictures around there. I'll definitely talk to our photographer about it. We discussed it with Juan and thought it would be nice. I just want to see his face and I know that once I enter the ceremony I'll be so nervous that his face will kind of get lost in the whole moment. I think first look are a nice private moment to kind of take everything in before getting married. It might also help with my anxiety . 

 

Thanks for the tip on the weights. I saw veil weights in Hobby Lobby last weekend in the US. I got the veil I think I'm going to wear. It's short, just past shoulders but I haven't totally decided if I'm wearing it so didn't get the weights. I have a ton of time to decide and final dress decision isn't made yet, but the veil was really cheap from preownedweddingdresses.com It's exactly what I was looking for. Yours is gorgeous!

 

I've had music on tonight and I have the song I want to walk to to meet Doug. The problem is it makes me cry every time I listen to it! lol He thought something was wrong tonight because I was sitting here bawling my eyes out for some stupid reason! lol It has been a long 3 months and I'm exhausted from all the overtime. I get weepy when I'm over tired lol

 

I'd be concerned about your timeline. The one thing we've always found is that sunsets down south are fast. You can literally sit there and watch the sun go down in about 15 minutes. We've done it from a cruise ship and it's amazing, but it can royally screw up pictures. That's what happened to us in Jamaica. We have exactly 3 sunset shots. We weren't ready and the sun set so quickly there wasn't a lot of time. If your sunset is at roughly 7:15, a 5pm ceremony makes more sense. You need at least 20 minutes for that, then the hugs and kisses after. You won't get away from those but you can put a time limit on it. Even at 15 minutes for hugs and kisses you're after 5:30 at least. That gives you just over an hour for pictures. That's cutting it awfully close especially if you're going to try and get family shots as well as ones of the two you alone. I would email the photographer and let them know what you're thinking and see what they say. Who are you using?

 

Those shoes are wow!! I love them! And the heels aren't too high. I want blue shoes. I've decided that much at least lol That style is pretty and in the pink with the sparkles! Definitely!

 

I found vows books and they aren't that expensive. Just search them on the Etsy site and there are a few really pretty ones that you can get in a groom's colour and a bride's colour. Something to think about I think. I know there are a couple of things that I want to say to Doug, but I don't know if he'll write anything. He's not really a "flowery" guy like that. I'll have to wait and ask him. I just know I want the marriage poem in our ceremony. We had it when we got married and I want it again since it's in essence a renewal of that poem.

Thanks for the tips! I forgot how fast the sun sets over there and that's kind of what was worrying me. I'd look over here and you know how it takes forever for the sun to actually disappear, but you're right, it's not like that at all over there. I'm working with Octavio Montes and he takes some amazing night time pictures too, so even if we lose the sun completely I know he'd be ready to amaze us anyway. However, I think I'll feel more comfortable moving the ceremony to 5 and then if we have a few minutes of the first look, it would be perfect. 

 

The shoes I bought also come in light blue . They are just beautiful. I can't stop staring at them haha and since they're not too high I see myself wearing them all night (or most of the night )

 

I think today I pretty much decided that as much as I'd love to write our own vows this will be pure torture for Juan. He's been giving me the signs that he is not totally comfortable with it but I've been too much of a bridezilla to see it. I'm not going to put him through that. Basically when I asked, he replied "do you want to do that? ok?" but he doesn't seem too excited about the idea haha, which means he doesn't want to do it . It would be sweet for you guys to recite the same poem for your vow renewals. It's like coming full circle  

[nadiakat17]

Definitely definitely move back the ceremony! Just got married at 530 and of course in Mexico it was delayed by 15 mins and then I didn't realize how many people would want to hug us and how long group shots take. I was almost crying by the time it was couples shots because we literally had 15 mins. I had a whole list of inspiration pictures but we got to do like 2. Luckily my brother is an amazing photographer so he captured a handful of good ones but that is one of my biggest wedding regrets. Plus I was so stressed at that point I started the marriage by snapping at my DH ( trying to get him to move into different poses quickly) which I wish I could have been more calm!

[snswedding2016]

@@TinkerSofi

 

Yea I'm really looking forward to the first look now. I agree I think with everything going on for the ceremony it will be nice to have a private moment captured by our photographer. 

 

I LOVE the new sections of AF that everyone is posting on Facebook for photos - they look gorgeous!! We're pretty sure we're going to do the BDR in Sept so we're trying to arrange to meet our photographers and do a walk through of spots we want to take photos. 

 

For photos after the ceremony I would recommend designating someone (maybe a bridesmaid) to run your group photos. I've done this for several friend's weddings and it really helps speed everything up. You basically just have one person with the 'shot list' getting everyone organized and making sure that the photographer has who they need and the next group is waiting and ready.  My photographer also made a good point - he said you can always get group photos with your guests at the reception but you don't really want to lost the light for photos with you and your hubby…after all those are the pics that are going to be up in your house. 

 

I totally get you about writing your own vows. It's not for everyone and you definitely want Juan to be comfortable for your ceremony. Sean was the opposite, I tentatively asked if he wanted to write our own vows and he was like "hell ya!" LOL! I've always wanted to write my own as well but now I'm nervous I'm just going to be a hot mess trying to get through them. haha. I'm definitely going to have to practice them a lot!

[calgarybride2015]

Hey lady,

 

If your sunsets at 7:19pm, it will be dark by then. So if you want a good hour to hour and a half for photos, you should bump your ceremony time up, if even only by 30 minutes.

 

I had budgeted 1.5 hours for mine, and we didn't need it all but I thank that in part to a couple things...

1. the ceremony did not take 30 mins, 15 mins is pushing it

2. I had my MC (brother in law) in charge of the toast and group/family photos. He knew we wanted to move everything along - we did have some hugging and thank yous. He then gave a super quick toast and started to 'order' everyone around with the list I had provided him of the shots we wanted, this kept things moving. Had we not have had him, it would have been a stressful time and delayed things immensely.  

 

LOVE LOVE those shoes, nice choice.

 

EDIT:  We had a rehearsal dinner with long tables and it really made things tough to talk. You only talk to the 4 or 5 people around you. So for a welcome event I would probably suggest impromptu drinks and to use the included dinner for the rehearsal.   Or, as someone else said above, had the impromptu drinks before the welcome dinner so atleast everyone mingles before sitting at those long tables.  We an impromptu drinks at the lobby, while it was loud and hard to do formal introductions I introduced everyone personally and people just mingled, worked well.

Edited April 11, 2015 by calgarybride2015

[TinkerSofi]

@@TinkerSofi

 

Yea I'm really looking forward to the first look now. I agree I think with everything going on for the ceremony it will be nice to have a private moment captured by our photographer. 

 

I LOVE the new sections of AF that everyone is posting on Facebook for photos - they look gorgeous!! We're pretty sure we're going to do the BDR in Sept so we're trying to arrange to meet our photographers and do a walk through of spots we want to take photos. 

 

For photos after the ceremony I would recommend designating someone (maybe a bridesmaid) to run your group photos. I've done this for several friend's weddings and it really helps speed everything up. You basically just have one person with the 'shot list' getting everyone organized and making sure that the photographer has who they need and the next group is waiting and ready.  My photographer also made a good point - he said you can always get group photos with your guests at the reception but you don't really want to lost the light for photos with you and your hubby…after all those are the pics that are going to be up in your house. 

 

I totally get you about writing your own vows. It's not for everyone and you definitely want Juan to be comfortable for your ceremony. Sean was the opposite, I tentatively asked if he wanted to write our own vows and he was like "hell ya!" LOL! I've always wanted to write my own as well but now I'm nervous I'm just going to be a hot mess trying to get through them. haha. I'm definitely going to have to practice them a lot!

 

I think that's a great tip! @@calgarybride2015 I remember you mentioning that this helped so much, to have a list of people that you needed to take pictures with. It's is now on my "to do" list . The first look is looking more and more likely. I'll talk it over with Juan today again but I know he'll say yes since we already discussed it and he had liked the idea . He actually even preferred it because we'd look nice and fresh on our pictures. I was the one that wasn't sure so much. 

 

I do like doing presentations so I know that saying my vows, even though I'd be nervous, I'd be able to get through it. Juan is not so much of a public speaker, so I know he'd suffer through it haha. He just had his presentation for the final project at school and he said it was the worst . I know he was surrounded by strangers but he's just not the type to like the spotlight on him. 

 

If you can do the BDR do it! I kind of wish I had because now I feel like I'm going into this totally blind. At the time the finances didn't add up to go, and by the time we could have gone it would have been like 2 months before the wedding, so no point. The good thing is that we have quite a few days before the wedding to scope things out and hopefully be familiar with the resort by then. 

 

 

Hey lady,

 

If your sunsets at 7:19pm, it will be dark by then. So if you want a good hour to hour and a half for photos, you should bump your ceremony time up, if even only by 30 minutes.

 

I had budgeted 1.5 hours for mine, and we didn't need it all but I thank that in part to a couple things...

1. the ceremony did not take 30 mins, 15 mins is pushing it

2. I had my MC (brother in law) in charge of the toast and group/family photos. He knew we wanted to move everything along - we did have some hugging and thank yous. He then gave a super quick toast and started to 'order' everyone around with the list I had provided him of the shots we wanted, this kept things moving. Had we not have had him, it would have been a stressful time and delayed things immensely.  

 

LOVE LOVE those shoes, nice choice.

 

EDIT:  We had a rehearsal dinner with long tables and it really made things tough to talk. You only talk to the 4 or 5 people around you. So for a welcome event I would probably suggest impromptu drinks and to use the included dinner for the rehearsal.   Or, as someone else said above, had the impromptu drinks before the welcome dinner so atleast everyone mingles before sitting at those long tables.  We an impromptu drinks at the lobby, while it was loud and hard to do formal introductions I introduced everyone personally and people just mingled, worked well.

I can't wait for those shoes to arrive! I really like the first ones I got, but I absolutely LOVE these ones haha .

 

Thank you for the photography tips. I wasn't sure how much light you have "at sunset", I was comparing it to here and how at sunset there's still some light so you could take some cool looking pictures, but I think it's different over there. I'm sure glad I mentioned it here, you guys have been super helpful . We also want a short ceremony, Juan doesn't want it to go over 15 min.  

 

Apparently there's this one bar over there that doesn't have a lot of people, they have tequila testing there and it's a Mexican themed place. If it's quiet I think it'd work perfectly for mingling with everyone. Most people have at least seen each other at some point at one of the parties we'd had so they're not total strangers. Now I'm getting super excited!!  

[snswedding2016]

We were on the fence about the BDR for a while. We really wanted to go but we didn't know if we could swing it financially but I just found out from my mom that she can transfer a travel voucher she won to my name and we can use it to get our flights for free! That sealed the deal for us. It will be kinda close for our wedding but it will be before our final payment is due so at least we can make some changes. 

[TinkerSofi]

Wedding planning is back to full swing! Yesterday I worked on the signs to put around the reception. I came up with 3 different ideas but still need to decide which one I'll pick. I'll ask Juan today what he thinks. In the meantime, which one do you guys like better? I had to take a screenshot because I don't think most people have that font, so it might change it if I put it as a ppt. 

 

 

 

 

I've also been working on the idea of the fans as seating chart. I'm planning on dividing them between ladies and gents and attaching a tag with the person's name and their table number to them. The ladies' fans will have a pink ribbon and the guys' will have a blue one since they're our wedding colors anyway. The idea right now is to put them in a box or basket/bucket of sorts with one of the signs above saying "find your table Ladies" and another with "find your table gentlemen". It's a fairly small wedding so I think dividing them into two groups should do the trick in terms of finding your fan easily. Something along these lines: 

 

 

 

Edited April 11, 2015 by TinkerSofi

[calgarybride2015]

I apologize for my horrendous grammar there!!

 

I was told that by sunset the light is gone - it's completely dark and there isn't a sunset like here. Thankfully we were done in time and in the palapa before it was black. I will look back at my pictures to see if I can see the transition for you.

 

I have to assume your family and friends are like you, so if yes when they are put in an area together they will naturally mingle and talk! My guests still rave about all the new friends they made

 

I like the first sign - black! I love that look. I do also like the chevron pattern ... Are you using either styles anywhere else? I'd probably stick to a theme.

 

Love the 'to keep you cool' fans sign. Not long before our wedding I found a planning thread on here that did fans and shades -- something like 'to keep you cool' and 'to make you cool' haha it was awesome and I wished I had seen it sooner. Although it's also nicer for the shades to be used all week.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited April 11, 2015 by calgarybride2015

[TinkerSofi]

True, a theme would be nice. I don't really have one, which is why I'm kind of all over the place haha. The best I have are just a bunch of words to describe it vintage, lace, and travel hahah (so random). I'm definitely in between #1 and #3. I think #1 would go nicely with the guestbook cards that I made, which are kind of a vintage travel thing. I also got my inspiration from this picture from the hotel. This is what our tables will look like, minus those centerpieces: 

 

 

Then, I like the third one because of the shape of the little label. It kind of goes with our table numbers and with this picture, but yeah the chevron probably doesn't go with anything (as much as I love it):

 

 

 

I have to try and print it. I wonder how the "chalkboard" effect will translate on paper. Maybe i'll try something else all together. Here I go obsessing again haha.