Snswedding2016 Planning Thread - Jan 9 2016 (Azul Fives)

[snswedding2016]

@@calgarybride2015 surprisingly we did eat quite a bit of it. The room service arrived and everyone (minus sean) woke up and then we all just started laughing as he unloaded  all of the food onto the table. So we all sat there half asleep eating burgers and club sandwiches at 3am. I was still on my wedding planning sleep schedule so I was fairly alert! haha

 

As for the names yes, our TA sent them out and kept saying to check it over and I reminded everyone to look. One couple checked theirs several times but even they missed the spelling mistake on their own names. None of them were obvious errors - you had to really check over it to see it (which they should have done though). One guy just didn't check it until 3 days before we left....sigh. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink...

 

@ I know the USD ....so terrible. We were so lucky they found it for us! It was especially stressful because we had to pay our videographer the balance in cash ....so it was a large amount. 

 

Option Plus was awesome!! On our flight home though we were so booze'd out that we actually turned down the additional drink. We offered it to the girl beside us but she also declined as she was coming home from a destination wedding herself! lol!

[bride2016]

@@snswedding2016 HAAHAHH! I'm laughing at your comment about the way back. The EXACT same thing happened to us. I'm like.. can I just have water? and she was like "well the drinks are free though.. you might as well take them" so she convinced us to take to cans of beer home with us lol and we did.

[calgarybride2015]

@@snswedding2016 HAAHAHH! I'm laughing at your comment about the way back. The EXACT same thing happened to us. I'm like.. can I just have water? and she was like "well the drinks are free though.. you might as well take them" so she convinced us to take to cans of beer home with us lol and we did.

 

Same and also for food!

[acw271011]

@@snswedding2016 Hey Steph!! Welcome back Mrs!  Well, I know you're already a Mrs but now you're a REAL Mrs!! lol

 

Love everything in your review!! Sounds like so much fun!! Makes me feel so OLD!!! We didn't do anything like that lol  We didn't have the energy after being in the sun all day! By midnight we were cooked! lol (it's ok - your turn will come... lol)

 

Looking forward to reading more and seeing photos!! And to seeing you next Friday!!

[snswedding2016]

Wedding Day

Where to begin describing this day…it was more than I could have dreamed of. It was everything I hope for with a few surprises of course and some funny stories! Sean and I have been living together for 3 ½ years now so we didn’t need to spend the night before our wedding apart. We of course got ready separately but it was important for us to be together the night before as well. We did final touches on our vows and drank champagne and just tried to savour it all.

 

Ok well maybe Sean took a nap after our rehearsal dinner and then we did our vows and drank champagne

 

 

The day of we woke up early and ordered room service and drank our mimosas on the balcony. We had to do some last minute pick ups and drop offs to the WCs. After our rehearsal dinner I realized that centerpiece napkins I brought and dropped off to the WCs were not ironed and had major creases in them. I panicked and told Sean we had to get them first thing in the morning and iron them and drop them back off! Haha! He told me not to worry and to leave it to him and he would take care of it. So we went and picked them up, came back to our suite and I packed up for my spa appointments.

 

 

 

On my way to the spa I spotted these Disney Princesses – I was trying to take pics for my niece who loves all of them! I think they were coming back from the kids club. Too funny to see Belle, Cinderella and Elsa walking around!

 

 

I said my “see you soon” to Sean, we had a lovely moment filled with butterflies and excitement and then I yelled out as I was leaving “Don’t forget the napkins!!!” lol Sean was like “Really?? Is that the last thing you want to say to me before our wedding” hahaha oops I totally ruined the moment. We laughed and had a little romantic moment before parting ways for the afternoon.

 

 

Off I went to the spa and found my Maids of Honour finishing breakfast right in front of the spa….EARLY for their appointments! Trust me when I say I’m surrounded by friends who are perpetually late. I was super impressed! I used my free Hair and Make up perk from my TA (FYI for future brides you still have to pay for tip and tax….still a great deal but it isn’t totally free) and that included a mani/pedi for myself as well as a mani/pedi for a friend. Since I had two maids of honour I was able to change it to two manicures for both girls. I opted out of the bridal suite and decided to just use the spa and then get ready back at my suite. It was really nice to have time with my girls while we all got pampered. Halfway through Maribel (one of my Wcs) came in to give me the weather report. She showed me the chance of rain from two different sites and the time frame we were looking at and then let me know my options. Basically if you choose not to go with the back up location and it rains, they will move you inside but won’t move any of your décor. Maribel said it is always safer to just choose the back up location just in case. It showed a range of 5-20% rain between the hours of 4-10pm. It seemed low to me but I felt a lot of pressure to make the right decision. The only back up option was the ballroom. I’ll go into this more in my full review of the resort but this was the one thing I absolutely did not want. I know some ladies have had their receptions in there and loved it but it was just not appealing to me or Sean. I had even requested any restaurant back ups but I found out they only reserve a restaurant as a back up if there is more than one wedding that day.  On top of that Maribel said I had to make the decision by 12pm…I think it was around 11/11:15am when she asked me. I got one my girls to text Sean to come to the spa – I needed to run this by him. I told them to tell him to come to the spa and turn around to face the wall to speak to me…haha! While we waited for him I talked it over with the girls and I felt like the chance of rain was fairly low right at the time of dinner when I think it is the most crucial (it was only 15%) plus at the time the skies were completely clear. I felt that if it rained during the dancing portion we would just move up to the Sky Bar or just get wet and have fun with it. I joked that at least the Azul Fives umbrellas were in my wedding colours! By the time Sean came I felt confident in that decision but wanted to make sure he was ok with it too! He completely agreed and we went ahead with the garden reception and I signed the waiver. As soon as I did that Maribel said “Don’t worry, I think you’ll be fine”. I know they can’t really give their opinion before you sign it but it was just funny.

 

 

Now onto some of the drama…lol it actually wasn’t that bad and it is pretty funny looking back. So Sean’s biological father came to the wedding with his wife (Sean only met him 12 years ago). His father lives in China where he met his wife who doesn’t really speak English. To give you an idea, her English is like my Spanish. Unfortunately my Chinese side of the family doesn’t speak the same dialect so she could only really communicate with Sean’s dad. So she told Sean that she really wanted to see me get ready the day of the wedding. Keep in mind neither my mom or Sean’s mom were there and I really only wanted my bridesmaids with me but I felt like I didn’t have the option to say no. Instead I said should could come but requested that she would arrive half an hour before the photographers got there. I figured that would give me some time with my girls but she wouldn’t miss me getting into my dress. Well half an hour before we she was supposed to be at my suite we get a frantic call from Sean saying she’s in the lobby pissed off and feeling offended. Thankfully one of my bridesmaids took care of it and went to go get her. Once she got to my suite and realized I wasn’t dressed and we hadn’t even had lunch she calmed down but then this is when the craziness started. As soon as my photographer arrived and we started doing getting ready pics she started snapping photos like she was the paparazzi…to the point where she swatted one of my MOH’s dress that was hanging in front of the balcony with all of the other dresses, it fell on the floor and then she crumpled it up and tossed it aside!!! Luckily my cousin’s wife who was dropping something off was there and saw it and immediately put it back on the hanger. This just continued all day ….she was getting in the way of our professional photographers, she kept moving all over during the ceremony (which thankfully I didn’t notice at the time) and even pushed aside my flower girl to get a photo. Somehow I felt really calm for most of the day and didn’t let it bother me. It wasn’t until I was leaving to go to our first look and was already late when she let us know that she needed to go back to her room to change and we needed to arrange for a golf cart to take her back. First of all why would you show up to a brides room while she got ready, not dressed and ready to go yourself?? Secondly this was so not something I felt I should have been dealing with on that day. So I just looked at her and my bridesmaids and said “can someone please figure this out, I’m late, Sean’s waiting for me” – My girls were great and totally jumped on it! I wasn’t upset with them at all but just a bit annoyed that Sean’s dad’s wife was being difficult.

 

(these are still the raw images from my photographers)

 

 

First Look

I’m so so glad we did a first look. It was so special and I loved that we had that moment together before the ceremony.  It was also one of the very few times Sean was there waiting for me and I was running late. Only on my wedding day! Our photographers were great at executing this as well. For those who have been or who are going – we took our first look pics in Plaza Fives by the thai restaurant and the cantina. The golf cart picked me up at my suite with my bridal attendant (more about her in my resort review – she was so awesome!) and photographer and we drove to the lobby where we met our other photographer (who was with Sean getting ready). He explained how it would work and left me in the Gin Bar with the A/C while they set up the shot and would get me when they were ready. I really appreciated all the A/C I could get leading up to the ceremony that day! My heart was pounding walking up to Sean and tapping him on the shoulder. His face when he turned around was the reason I wanted to do the first look. He cried, I cried….we were a mess! Lol!

 

 

Bridal Party/Family Photos

We only booked our photographers for 4 hours so we decided to do all of our bridal party and family pics before the ceremony. Since I was late for the first look, we were a bit late starting the photos on the pier.  Our photographers (Derek and Lorena) were amazing though. They kept is moving and we almost got through my entire list. On our way down to the pier we ran into a groomsmen…remember Mr. Hugo Boss?? The one who put up a fight about the pants? Well he showed up with a tequila bottle. Sean’s groom’s room (that the resort gives you) comes with food for the guys and 4 full bottles of alcohol (tequila, rum, vodka, baileys). They got into the tequila while getting ready…as I expected them to. The guys loved their collapsible shot glasses! I just wanted to make sure Sean only had a couple before the ceremony. So we get to the beach and Mr. Hugo Boss pours Sean a shot - fine, then he tries to pour him another and I said no. I told him that he could get drunk as long as he was able to walk down the aisle and stand up for the ceremony but that Sean would actually like to remember the ceremony. Sean backed me up which was good. By the time we started taking group photos the bottle was pretty much done. Our photographer couldn’t believe it, he had just left them 20 min earlier and it was more than half full. I really don’t know how those guys were standing in the heat like that. I had one mimosa at breakfast and then another one at the spa with the girls but that was it. I just drank water until the ceremony was done and then I went to town! Haha! Somehow we got through most of our shot list despite Mr. Hugo Boss not focusing and being too chatty. One of my maids of honour kept getting her heel stuck in the slats of the pier (Mr. Hugo Boss had to pull her shoe out 3 time haha) and the other maid of honour was cursing my name the whole time on the sea pier (she has bad depth perception, you combine that with a pier with no railing and moving water…she was clinging on for dear life. She does love me a lot!). The only photo we missed before the ceremony was a photo with my cousins and we did that at the beginning of our cocktail hour.

 

The infamous tequila bottle...this was how the boys afternoon went

 

Stay tuned for the ceremony, cocktail hour and reception…

Edited January 28, 2016 by snswedding2016

[ashhtayy]

@@snswedding2016

 

Firstly, thank you so much for writing such detailed reviews. I can’t begin to explain how helpful and reassuring these posts are.

 

Waking up together, getting dressed in those comfy robes, drinking mimosas and ordering room service sounds like the start to a PERFECT day! PS. You two are adorable.

 

Sounds like your wedding day spa experience was fabulous. Love that they let you give mani’s to two of your girls. I think I’ll extend that to our mom’s if we get so lucky J Did you coordinate that with your Miami WD beforehand?

 

I am so glad that you decided to move forward as planned regardless of weather. I can only imagine how stressful that must have been for that 45 minutes. You’ve mentally prepared me for that conversation!

 

I cannot believe Sean’s dad wife. I’m glad you’re able to laugh about it now and that your BM’s stepped up to take care of that drama. I definitely wouldn’t have been as kind! Good for you, girl!

 

BM’s dresses, robes, YOUR DRESS, GM’s outfits, SEAN! Wow! Love how it all came together. The raw images look amazing – you must be so pleased!

 

I have to know – which gentleman is Mr. Hugo Boss? My first guess is bald gentleman with the beard; my second is Mr. Flow.

 

OMG! That photograph of Sean looking at you (I imagine right after he turned around) is breathtaking! I teared up the first three times I looked at it. HE LOVES YOU SO MUCH! You can see it 

 

Can’t wait to keep reading and to hear about it in person tomorrow. I have 1000 questions lol and I am going to start by posting some of them in the new thread you created.

[calgarybride2015]

Hehehe I hate to admit but I am also eager for you to point out who Mr Hugo Boss id!!

 

Wow is all I have for Sean's dad's wife. That's all. Sigh

 

Love all the details and all the photos. You were such a beautiful bride and the photos are gorgeous.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[snswedding2016]

@@ashhtayy thank you for your kind words! You're too sweet! 

 

@@ashhtayy @@calgarybride2015 Sean's dad's wife...yea I know...totally ridiculous. I'm actually shocked at how little it bothered me at the time. I think I was just so focused on me and Sean but let me tell you the next day when I started replaying it all and then my friends telling me more stories (some of which I didn't see)   . It was the pushing of my flower girl that really got me. I've met her a couple times before and she's always been so nice but the wedding brought out this crazy paparazzi woman! ....oh and Mr. Hugo Boss - he's the fabio looking one who was in dire need of a hair elastic on the sea pier while we were doing photos LOL! He was giving my maid of honour a hard time about not doing tequila shots with him and she looked at him and said "You know...those are some really nice pants you have on right now" he was like "why you gotta be like that?? So mean! Steph told you didn't she?" hahahaha it was a good moment!

[calgarybride2015]

Hahah yes I went back and looked.

Odd observation and question. Did it bother you their shirts weren't buttoned up all the way?

Odd things that bothered me after the fact -- shirts not buttoned up higher, poor iron job by Shawn (he says his mom - ya right) and that he didn't shave his head hahah

 

Thinking more ... Not sure why the shirts not buttoned all the way up bothered me. Maybe I just assumed they would??? They by no means look bad --- much sexier in your men haha but I do remember saying something to Shawn. He told me to be thankful as one groomsmen only wanted to button a few up lol

 

 

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Edited January 29, 2016 by calgarybride2015

[snswedding2016]

@@calgarybride2015 It's true it is the little things that bother you looking back. The buttons didn't bug me so much. I do prefer Sean with a shirt not buttoned up all the way. At one point we considered a tie and it just didn't look as good. It felt too stuffy or something. If I could have found a shoe that would fit all the guys (one guy has super wide feet and very high arches...it takes him forever to find proper shoes that are comfortable) I would have picked all the same shoe for them and bought it as their gift.