Mrsctob's Planning Thread-3.14.2015 Valentin Imperial Maya

[MrsCtoB]

Sooooo I realize that this is probably way too late to start one of these but I have been meaning to do this for quite some time. Unfortunately with work, school, and wedding planning there was always something else to be done. BUT, now that I have a major chunk of my school work done before we leave for the wedding and everything is falling into place, I find myself with a bit more time to start one now! This probably won't be your typical planning thread as I won't have time (or remember) everything to post, but if there is something particular that you want to know, please ask! I have learned so much from the ladies on this board and consider a few my friends, so please let me know if I can help any of you. So... where to begin. Hmm the engagement maybe? LOL

 

Meeting:

My FI and I met in 2008 through mutual friends. I don't know how but from the moment I met him, I knew there was something about him that was different (so cliche, I know) We became inseparable after meeting and formed a pretty strong friendship before it became anything more. We had both been burned pretty badly in previous relationships, so we were hesitant to move forward but by the end of 2008, we were official. He is my best friend and I really could not picture my life without him. I have learned so much from him and he accepts me for who I am, but always pushes me to follow my dreams. Ok, enough with the gushy stuff. 

 

Engagement:

We got engaged on October 21, 2013 at our wedding venue, actually! We first visited the VIM in 2012 after my graduation. We fell in love with the resort and the people and EVERYTHING! We joked about getting married there one day and of course, I busted his @#$s about if he would ever get the nerve to ask LOL (we were 4 years in at that point). We promised to return as soon as we could. Of course life has other plans so we finally got around to returning about a year and a half later. I don't really know how I wasn't expecting it. I guess I was so excited for the trip that a ring didn't even enter my mind. Late one night, we walked on the beach and he asked me if I remembered what we talked about the last time we visited and I said a bunch of things that had nothing to do with a ring LOL and he got down on one knee. I don't really remember the rest except that there were lots of tears and I think I was jumping up and down. I will try and attach some pictures.

He had a camera ready:

Sorry for the running mascara:

The next day:

So for me, I guess picking a resort was a bit easier LOL We met with the wedding planner the next day and she showed us a few options and gave us her contact.

 

Choosing the resort:

As mentioned above, we chose the resort after we already fell in love with it. We loved the lay out of the resort, how it had a relaxed feel. The service was amazing and we loved the food so it really was a no brainer for us! I loved the set up for the beach wedding and saw the Mexican Terrace all done up for a wedding so those options became my favorite right from the start.

 

 

Picking the day:

When we returned from our trip we started to think about when would could possibly set the date for. We knew we wanted a long engagement so that we could save the money ourselves as well as give our family and friends time to save too. January-March are slow times for my FI and we knew the next January was too soon so January-March 2015 became our target area. January and February are peak times so we looked at March to see what worked. When we figure out that pi day 3.14.15 was on a Saturday, that was it! We are nerds but we liked the whole pi day idea so decision made. 

 

I am going to post this now because I am afraid I will lose it but more updates to come in a few minutes!

Travel Agent:

This is the one area of the planning that went kind of blah. We weren't sure if we wanted to use a TA but decided it would be helpful and one less thing for us to worry about. In the end, I basically did her job for her. I was responsible for most of the organizing etc. but she did help negotiate a pretty good rate for our guests (after I told her that her first set of rates weren't acceptable, they were the same as expedia/travelocity!!) We had some bumps in the road (she booked a brother and sister in a one bed suite after they asked for two separate beds and she refused to fix it at first) but ultimately, it all worked out. She did put together a cute zipper pouch with luggage tags, pens, and their documents so I would say she redeemed herself. I also prepared a pre travel letter for my guests that went in the pouch. If you are interested, I can email it to you. 

 

The inspiration:

I got to work pretty quickly after the engagement and started to think about a theme that I wanted. The picture that started it all is this...

I loved the colors and the way they all worked together.

 

Save the dates:

We sent out STDs a full 11 months pre wedding. While I knew it was pretty early to get people to deposit, I wanted to give everyone plenty of time to plan. I think I have posted them before but here is the save the date we had made.

The photo came right from one of our trips. We love that path to the beach so decided to use it. The back contained some basic info about the wedding date, location, and our wedding website. (We used mywedding.com)

 

Deposits and Final Payment:

Deposits were due by July 14, 2014 and we didn't have any issues to be honest. All of our family and friends were quick to deposit. I made a Facebook group for the wedding and I found that extremely helpful. I added those who had deposited and was able to send out updates and reminders about final payment. Final payment was the end of December and we did have those who took their sweet time but in the end, everyone got their payments in and we had a few people surprise us and pay in full at the last minute and we never knew they intended on coming! We ended up with 29 guests, 31 including ourselves.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 22, 2015 by MrsCtoB

[marinah84]

So exciting to see another Pi Day bride posting!!! Excited for the updates!

[MrsCtoB]

The bands:

I chose a band that matched my E ring. I liked how it looked together or just the band on it's own. I knew that at work I would most likely be wearing just the band, so I wanted to like how it looked alone too.

, sorry for the ashy hands! Winter sucks!

FI picked a simple Tacori band too but I love it and he loves it so   I don't have a picture of it on him but I will post from their website.

 

 

The Dress:

The dress has caused me the most stress and heart ache, hands down. It has been an adventure but I think I ended up with THE DRESS, MY DRESS! 

So I began shopping in April of 2014. I found the dress that I thought was the one on my first shopping trip. 

Its an Allure gown, 9024 I think?? I loveeed the dress and still do, but from the start I had some reservations about the fabric. It was heavy for a beach wedding but I loved the way it made my body look and the beading was incredible. I ordered the gown, figuring that sadly, a chunky girl only has so many options. I loved how I looked in it so I settled for what I thought was right. The dress did not arrive until November 2014. In the meantime, I kept looking online (BAD IDEA) and fell in love with this gown

Also an Allure gown. I couldn't get it out of my head and I had never seen the dress in person! It wasn't in circulation when I first shopped. Anyway, I went in for my first fitting and to my horror I could not get Dress #1 even past my bum. I tried over the head...no luck. I began to get panicky in the fitting room when the seamstress came in to help. She had me remove the dress and remeasured me. I had not gained any weight since the ordering of the dress. She measured the dress after that and told me that it appeared my dress was cut 3 inches too small, maybe more. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. How does that happen? She assured me it could be fixed and that Allure would make me another dress. 

I felt like this was my chance! I asked if they had Dress #2 for me to see and they did and while I was not able to try it on (sample size 6, HAHAH not happening!) I knew the moment I saw it, I needed to have it. 

I asked that since a new dress had to be made for me anyway, was there any chance I could have this new Allure?

Of course the bridal salon thought I was crazy and making a hasty decision but I knew it was right!! The salon owner pulled some strings and Allure agreed to make the dress I loved (#2) for me and rush it so as to not mess with alteration time lines. **EDIT: Allure confirmed that my original dress was made 4.5" too small in the hip and 4" too small everywhere else.** I received my second dress right before Christmas. I knew it was a HUGE chance, ordering a dress I had never tried on but the  minute it was on, I knew I made the right decision. It has the shape of the first dress, but SOOO LIGHT and beautiful beading too. I had another fitting the first week of February and the hem needs a minor adjustment. Final fitting is 2/27 so hoping it is perfect! If so, I will pick it up the weekend before we fly.

It is going to be packed for travel. My bridal salon offers a packaging method where the dress is protected with tissue and then rolled to help with creases and placed in an airtight bag and vacuumed. The finished product is small enough to put in a carry on. I have asked some brides I met through the salon and they loved it! I will post an update about it and how it worked in my review.

 

Phew! That was long 

 

 

Edited February 22, 2015 by MrsCtoB

[acw271011]

Oh my gosh I love this! You're really getting close now! And I really love the second dress. It's one of the ones I've looked at but I'm in love with a keyhole back so I think - don't know for sure until I try something on - that's the style I'm going with.

 

I love your save the dates! Who made them for you? They turned out really great!!

[kcole123]

Yay another planning thread I can creep.

Great thread and love your story so far. You made an awesome dress choice. Love it.

Can't wait to read more and see more pics.

[Meandhim]

It's never too late for a planning thread! Can't wait to see more!!

[MrsCtoB]

Oh my gosh I love this! You're really getting close now! And I really love the second dress. It's one of the ones I've looked at but I'm in love with a keyhole back so I think - don't know for sure until I try something on - that's the style I'm going with.

 

I love your save the dates! Who made them for you? They turned out really great!!

Thank you!! The save the dates and invitations (promise to get around to posting those) were made by Serendipity Beyond Designs. 

[MrsCtoB]

Next up....

 

Hair and make up inspiration:

I debated back and forth for awhile about how I wanted to look on the big day. I am an on location hair and make up artist, specializing in weddings and special occasions so I am pretty de sensitized by the whole thing and didn't really know what direction I wanted to go in. Up dos are the general go to (keep you cool and hair out of the face) but I NEVER wear my hair up. So, I decided that I wanted to look like myself and keep the hair down. This is what I am thinking...

Not super fancy but I love the simplicity of it. I intend on making it a little more finger wave-ish. 

For make up, I will be using this for inspiration (who doesn't want to look like Megan Fox) but making some adjustments for my eye and skin tones.

Here is a test run from the other day

(excuse the eyeliner, I forgot to get a picture until after work and making dinner and rubbing my eyes apparently lol)

Just a suggestion for you ladies looking for a good day of lip, Anastasia Beverly Hills sells a new line of liquid lipsticks that are out of this world!! I apply a layer of lip liner first and then two coats of the liquid lipstick and it seriously lasts through eating, kissing, etc. 

Pure Hollywood (? I think its called...Pure SOMETHING) is a great shade for brides of any skin color. 

 

Accessories 

I decided I did not want a veil. Well...I do want a veil but I don't want to get annoyed with it flapping around and getting whipped in my face. So, I settled for a hair piece. This is the picture from the Etsy shop that I order from, but I had it made smaller than this.

It wont sit as high on the head. I will post a picture with it on soon.

 

For earrings I wanted a bit of a dandle shape. I found these on nordstrom.com. The maker is Nadri I believe .

 

I had a hard time finding a bracelet that I liked. I wanted something that wasn't too small, but not gaudy either. My dress has pearls and diamonds in the beading so I wanted something that combined the two. My best friend and bridesmaid happens to make jewelry. I don't know why I didn't ask her sooner but when she saw my dress she mentioned that she had some pearls and beading that would look great with it. And so, my bracelet was born...

It looks like two pieces but its one continuous bracelet. I am so happy with it! It really looks perfect with the dress   

 

Shoes... I LOVE SHOES. I knew from the beginning though, that a heel would never work for me. Heels + sand never mix. I liked the idea of the barefoot sandal and have not ruled them out entirely but I am not sure if the heat of the sand mixed with having to walk barefoot to the beach will be a good idea. I planned on getting a pretty sandal for the reception and I think I might just wear them to the ceremony, take them off when we arrive to the beach, and put them back on for the reception. 

They are from DSW and again, have a mix of pearls and diamond blingy things lol.

 

 

 

 

 

[calgarybride2015]

Love it all great choices. I also prefer my short hair down but it's got a mind of it's own and I knew the heat and humidity would ruin it, so I sucked it up and grew it out for the wedding. Out meaning almost to my shoulders haha

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TinkerSofi]

I love your jewellery. I had seen similar earrings and I almost bought them but in the end I went for something else. I'm anxiously waiting for them to arrive now haha. 

 

I love the hair piece and I  think it can work both ways, with your hair down or up. I also usually wear my hair down but it will be a mess if I do at the wedding and I actually do like how it looks up, so that's what made my decision.