January 2016 Mexico Bride - Planning And Budget

[vancouverpetunia]

@@JenniferH114 - Thank you so much for the vendor info. Better than ordering from the US, even if it's not local. If anyone can recommend a vendor local to Playa del Carmen or Cancun for papel picado, please let me know!

 

@@Jewilso23 - I'm sure everyone is different as to how much time they want or need. We just booked our resort and secured our group rate with Transat last week for our April 2016 wedding. Like @@JenniferH114, I think you probably have a few months, but better sooner than later. I found it took me a long time to decide on the resort, but then I'm really detail-oriented and like to do a lot of research. Take your time and make sure you find the place best suited to you! 

[MarisaQ]

Hello beautiful brides!  Has anyone on here done a scouting trip for non-resort (more boutique bed & breakfast type) places in Tulum?  Our guest list is see-sawing between 25-40, and we are trying to keep our budget to 10k (including our 1k airfare & accommodations for the week.  Dress/jewelry/etc are heirlooms).  We are looking for a very quiet, private place for a bohemian wedding. Any suggestions welcomed!

[TaraMarie33]

Hi everyone! 

 

Its been a while since I have updated my thread, I thought I would get everyone caught up. The past few months we have finally solidified our venue, date, and sent out invitations! Now I am making a list of about one big thing a month to get accomplished. I have learned quite a bit in my process so far, so I hope you find some comfort in my mistakes and don't make the same ones! 

 

INVITATIONS: 

I have mentioned before that I don't really want a "beachy" theme, I want more of a classic vision. Nudes, burgundy, blush, hints of gold. Our invitations follow the same sort of style. Our budget was $1000 (because we didnt send save the dates), and it came to $580 with postage, invitations, printing, calligrapher, stickers, information cards, etc. We also didnt have an RSVP card - so I made a wedding website for guests to RSVP electronically. 

www.weddingwire.com/tarakenny 

 

My invitations were a little DIY - not totally, but I made my own belly bands out of thick glitter paper, and attached square labels to them. If you need more information about how to make them, inbox me! I just used heavy duty glue dots to attach the square to the belly band. Had to do some measuring and such, but after a few hours it was all gravy. 

 

This is how they turned out! 

 

** TIP: Attach a return address! Kenny and I just moved, so we didnt have return labels on our invitations (plus I thought they were tacky) BUT .. huge mistake, because now, a month later I am finding out some people didn't get there invitations - and there was no address to send them back to. AHHH!)

 

BRIDESMAID DRESSES: 

 

I finally found THE dress for my girls. My maid of honor and I went to a few places, and nothing made her feel quite as beautiful as this dress. She said she felt sexy, which made me happy - I want all my girls to feel special and beautiful! 

The dress I chose is the Donna Morgan Laura dress - in blush. I REALLY didnt want to pick a pink, (Im not very girly), but I think it will be perfect for the rest of the accent colours. I will have them wear burgundy accessories, and darker bouquet. 

 

http://www.donna-morgan.com/blush/laura-blush/invt/d0869mxeblh$230 USD 

My girls unfortunately wont be able to try it on (the ones in Canada), because it is based in the US. But we will get all the proper measurements and it shouldnt a problem. I told them to be ready to order by mid June. I will keep you posted!! 

 

** TIP: all bridesmaids should order together, or the colouring may be off. Sometimes the dye varies order to order, so you want them all to order at the same time! 

 

BOOKINGS: 

Deposits to travel with us are due by June 15th, so we are a few weeks out. 17 guests have booked so far, some of them only traveling the few days before and after our wedding, not the whole week! (Which is fine with me!). We are expecting about 40 total, so I will see how many actually decide to book. Beware brides, despite having a website and invitation with all the info, you will still be asked 100000000 times the same questions. Depending on how many people book, we are thinking of throwing a little celebration when we get home. (hubby doesnt like the idea, but if only 25 people come, I may want one night with all the people who couldnt make it!) 

 

Thats my only update for you ladies. I hope I have more soon. Trying to bang things off the list one day at a time. xx

 

T

[TinkerSofi]

the invites look amazing! Super classy

 

I agree with you that all bridesmaid dresses should be ordered together, also sometimes they give you a bit of a discount. We got 10% off for ordering 3 or more . I love the dress you chose too, it looks so nice and summery. 

 

OMG, I totally had the same experience with the website and the questions haha. I'm kind of glad I didn't spend the extra money on more extensive invites with all the info because people wouldn't have read them anyway haha. I thought that it helped a little when I put things in point form, but people still asked . 

[TaraMarie33]

I have been reading other planning threads and have completely forget I havent ever mentioned ANYTHING about how my fiance and I met or got engaged! 

 

I thought I would add a little bit here, so that it made for a more complete story! 

 

 

Kenny and I met about 6/7 years ago now - working at a restaurant together. He actually trained me on my first day! We didn't get along at first, I am not a great listener. My management team told me to stay away from him .. he was a lady killer they said, haha! I was dating someone else, and so was he - but we became great friends. A few years later ..  Kenny chased me around enough to score a first date. (we were both finally single!) We had our first date at the Dip, an Italian restaurant in Little Italy. Sometime around June, 2011 we decided to give this whole relationship thing a try. 3 months later we moved in together - 6 months later I got accepted to a great program abroad and we both decided to moveto Melbourne, Australia! We lived and worked in Melbourne for about 9 months. In November 2012, we set offf for Southeast Asia to backpack for about 7 weeks. 

We finally got home from our year abroad in 2013 and immediately began working, saving, and a bit more traveling, of course. Kenny is half Belgian, half Trinidadian - so before I commit to anything I had to meet his whole family! In 2013 we went to Europe so I could be introduced to Kenny's Belgian family, whom live in Ghent. In 2014, we went to Trinidad and Tobago to meet the other half of Kenny's family. I loved them all so much! 

This past August (2014) Kenny and I went to the up north for our annual Gastaldi's cottage trip. Although the weekend was rainy and wet, it ended with a HUGE surprise! While we were on the boat, kenny pulled out his guitar, started singing "All of Me" by John Legend, and asked me to marry him! The ring .. HOLY, the RING! I loved it. He had his brother take pictures, and it was probably the greatest day of my life. I think I was shaking for 24 hours. I couldnt stop staring at this beautiful ring he created. He ended up going to a jeweler 5 or 6 times and designing it on his own... so special. 

Here are a few pictures! 

 

Thats all for now! I just figured I would share. Much love, and happy Monday! 

I also have a few questions for you guys! 

 

-- What do you think of flying out a photographer instead of paying for one? Resort is quoting me about $1500 for the day to take pictures of the wedding.. One of kennys friends offered to do it but we have to pay for his trip. We are thinking of flying him out for the day before the wedding, wedding day, and day after ($1100!) - saves us $400 and we have 3 days of photos?! What do you think? Has anyone done this before? 

 

-- Hair and makeup for my girls .. I dont know if they expect it to be done. Its quite costly I think to have it done for all my maids (4 girls, 1 guy - so just 4 in total). Or I am thinking of treating my mother and mother in law to hair/makeup instead? Thoughts? 

 

-- How far out do the men have to get their suit fittings? Recommendations? 

 

-- How much decor to you think I can realistically bring myself? I want to bring all my own flowers (silk flower bouquets), I would love to bring my own chiffon for the chair covers. Favours, and lighting (tea lights, string lights, etc). Am i outrageous to bring that much? 

 

All advice is welcomed!! I need it! 6 months out, and I am starting to freak out about not having planned any of that yet! Thank God for my TA keeping me on track, she is AMAZING! If anyone lives in the Toronto area, I need to recommend her to you! 

 

@@TinkerSofi @@MarisaQ  @@JenniferH114  @calgarybride2015

Edited June 2, 2015 by TaraMarie33

[vancouverpetunia]

@@TaraMarie33 Holy Moly! That is quite the ring. Gorgeous! Very cute engagement story What resort did you end up booking? I didn't see it mentioned in your thread.

 

Unfortunately I don't have much advice to give regarding your questions. However, regarding the photographer, you'll want to check with your resort as to their external vendor fee. It may apply to him in which case there may not be a savings. Then again, it may not apply if he is a guest. We have a friend who is a professional wedding photographer, who is also coming to the wedding with his wife for the week. For approx what I was going to pay for 4 hours for a local photographer, I can get him for 8. We are not paying for his trip, as he was already invited and coming anyhow. We have no outside vendor fee for him because he is our guest.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TinkerSofi]

I have been reading other planning threads and have completely forget I havent ever mentioned ANYTHING about how my fiance and I met or got engaged! 

 

I thought I would add a little bit here, so that it made for a more complete story! 

 

 

Kenny and I met about 6/7 years ago now - working at a restaurant together. He actually trained me on my first day! We didn't get along at first, I am not a great listener. My management team told me to stay away from him .. he was a lady killer they said, haha! I was dating someone else, and so was he - but we became great friends. A few years later ..  Kenny chased me around enough to score a first date. (we were both finally single!) We had our first date at the Dip, an Italian restaurant in Little Italy. Sometime around June, 2011 we decided to give this whole relationship thing a try. 3 months later we moved in together - 6 months later I got accepted to a great program abroad and we both decided to moveto Melbourne, Australia! We lived and worked in Melbourne for about 9 months. In November 2012, we set offf for Southeast Asia to backpack for about 7 weeks. 

We finally got home from our year abroad in 2013 and immediately began working, saving, and a bit more traveling, of course. Kenny is half Belgian, half Trinidadian - so before I commit to anything I had to meet his whole family! In 2013 we went to Europe so I could be introduced to Kenny's Belgian family, whom live in Ghent. In 2014, we went to Trinidad and Tobago to meet the other half of Kenny's family. I loved them all so much! 

This past August (2014) Kenny and I went to the up north for our annual Gastaldi's cottage trip. Although the weekend was rainy and wet, it ended with a HUGE surprise! While we were on the boat, kenny pulled out his guitar, started singing "All of Me" by John Legend, and asked me to marry him! The ring .. HOLY, the RING! I loved it. He had his brother take pictures, and it was probably the greatest day of my life. I think I was shaking for 24 hours. I couldnt stop staring at this beautiful ring he created. He ended up going to a jeweler 5 or 6 times and designing it on his own... so special. 

Here are a few pictures! 

 

Thats all for now! I just figured I would share. Much love, and happy Monday! 

I also have a few questions for you guys! 

 

-- What do you think of flying out a photographer instead of paying for one? Resort is quoting me about $1500 for the day to take pictures of the wedding.. One of kennys friends offered to do it but we have to pay for his trip. We are thinking of flying him out for the day before the wedding, wedding day, and day after ($1100!) - saves us $400 and we have 3 days of photos?! What do you think? Has anyone done this before? 

 

-- Hair and makeup for my girls .. I dont know if they expect it to be done. Its quite costly I think to have it done for all my maids (4 girls, 1 guy - so just 4 in total). Or I am thinking of treating my mother and mother in law to hair/makeup instead? Thoughts? 

 

-- How far out do the men have to get their suit fittings? Recommendations? 

 

-- How much decor to you think I can realistically bring myself? I want to bring all my own flowers (silk flower bouquets), I would love to bring my own chiffon for the chair covers. Favours, and lighting (tea lights, string lights, etc). Am i outrageous to bring that much? 

 

All advice is welcomed!! I need it! 6 months out, and I am starting to freak out about not having planned any of that yet! Thank God for my TA keeping me on track, she is AMAZING! If anyone lives in the Toronto area, I need to recommend her to you! 

 

@@TinkerSofi @@MarisaQ  @@JenniferH114  @calgarybride2015

lovely story . 

 

I think it's great if you can fly your own photog and have it still be cheaper. Double check with your hotel that they won't charge you an outside vendor fee anyway. Ours won't if the vendor stays for at least 3 nights at the hotel, but you never know.

 

I'm not paying for my bridesmaid's hair and makeup because it would have been wayy to much money for us, but I am giving them the choice to do it themselves if they'd like. 

 

We bought the men's attire this month (3 months before the wedding) because we found the perfect clothes. We just got it at RW&Co. Juan got a made to measure suit about 4-5 months out and it took about 2-2 1/2 weeks to come in . Technically you could leave it until the last 3 months and you should be ok . I just like to have things done ahead of time, but it's just me and guys totally don't think that way. 

 

I can't speak for all the decor. We're not bringing much decor per say, most of the stuff is OOT bags stuff. We piled it all up the other day and I think it will take about 2 or 3 suitcases or one big suitcase and a couple of carry ons. I know other ladies have brought a lot more stuff than I am. There's a lady that rents out a lot of decor in Playa del Carmen. Her business name is Love & Lace decor on fb. I don't know if she has the style of stuff you want, but it's an idea so you don't have to bring absolutely everything. You can check out what she has on facebook . Another idea is asking your hotel how much the chair covers are etc. Sometimes when you factor in the extra luggage and the trouble, it's not worth it to bring them from home. I know the lady from Love & Lace has been able to get some stuff from Playa for brides so that's another idea if she can find things for you .

 

We're bringing all of our flowers, quite a few lanterns and votives. Now that people are cancelling like crazy I probably could have saved a lot of money on decor but oh well. I will probably need 2/3 of what we were planning on bringing

[yycbride2016]

@@TaraMarie33

Awww your planning thread is so good! I love your engagment story! Super cute. And you're right.. THAT RING! OMG! Amazing!

 

Sounds like you've got things under control. I think 10K as a wedding budget it completely doable. When I worked out my rough budget and put estimated costs in I was under $15K and that incuded our flights, dress, suits, gifts, and an at home reception. I might be a little under budget because now that I'm actually planning and buying things I might have to stop myself from going over board hahaha.  

 

I love your theme. Its so nice taht you didn't go with the typical beach theme (like me). I love the idea of it being elegant and romatic and gitlz/glam! It will be stunning!

[andreaberretta]

Hello Brides!! Congratulations to each and every single one of you!!! I recently got married on May 1st in Playa del Carmen, so I wanted to share with you the best Dj and Photography Brands that I got for my perfect Day!

 

If you don't have any idea or recommendation for these two, I am glad to share my experience now that I finally got the chance to meet and work with them.

 

For the photos I got in touch with Shenko Photography, www.shenkophoto.com, a married couple that are real real artists. Their pictures took my breath away, and they uploaded a blog on their webpage for a sneak peek of my wedding day photos!

 

They made us a photoshoot one day before the Wedding, so we could meet each other in person and get to know each other working with the camera, which really helped for the big day so we could feel more comfortable.

 

Here is the blog if you want to take a look! 

http://www.shenkopho...-at-azul-fives/

 

I 100% recommend these people! Also because I think that wedding pictures are the best and only memory you got from that day, everything happens so quickly that I didn't even remember some details until I see the pictures!

 

For the music, I took a friend's recommendation and I love it ! Dj. Rickalvin from Fuzion Musical 

Ricardo Trujillo Duran

Entertainment Manager
9981604069 · [email protected]

 

He was really great! He also works with his wife and they were really punctual and very well organized, also got great prices and packages!

 

The music was really good and he was really interested to know our choices and what we liked and what we didn't like, so he did the best work!

 

I really hope to help you guys and don't hesitate to ask me whatever you need!

 

Best Regards!

 

 

[JenniferH114]

@@TaraMarie33 - Great story!! Here are my thoughts...

 

- I don't see a problem with bringing a photographer. Lots of people do it. We ended up not going with our resort's photog and booked a different (local) one, and we are so glad we did. My only piece of advice would be to make sure you really like your friend's work. I know it's a friend, but this is one of the most important days of your life. I personally think photos are one of the most important elements of the day. You want to make sure it's done right.

 

- We only had a maid of honor (my sister) and best man (his brother), but we paid for MOH, MOB and my SIL's hair and make-up. (MIL declined the offer since she has short hair and doesn't wear much make-up anyways.) It was a drop in the bucket considering how much help everyone had been, on top of paying good money for their trips to the wedding. I wanted the ladies closest to us to look and feel their best, so I knew from the start we'd be treating them. I kind of think it's just part of planning a wedding/budget, especially if you want a more polished look for everyone. It's kind of hard to have a couple girls do their own and then a couple get theirs professionally done. It might be a little obvious, but that's your call.

 

- Groom and BM ordered their linen blend suits online a few months in advance to leave room for exchanges for different sizes, so I can't speak to going to fittings.

 

- We brought two extra suitcases of décor and gift bag items. We brought a number of things including chair sashes, cake toppers, table runners, seashells, starfish, menus, colored straws, custom drink coasters, tote bags, mini aloe and sunscreen, etc. What helped was that we ordered custom maracas, fans and papel picado from Puerto Vallarta, which shipped straight to the resort, so that saved a lot of packing room.