Vancouverpetunia - Now Sapphire - April 7, 2016

[calgarybride2015]

Have you thought of bringing your own vases? I'm sure you could find plastic ones but some of those colorful ones wouldn't take up much space in carry on if they were glass. Since you get 2 bags each on the plane it may not be too much of a burden. I bet you can get those at the dollar store for cheap cheap or Walmart! I've seen them there.

 

Prices are ludacris. Thankfully I brought my own stuff and the bouquets I did order were $30 each.

 

 

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Edited May 23, 2015 by calgarybride2015

[vancouverpetunia]

@@calgarybride2015 I probably could find some cheap vases to bring, but honestly I'm really trying not to bring much with me. It's my incentive to keep things simple and keep costs down If I can't do it through the resort at a reasonable cost (which is almost nothing), I just won't do it! (famous last words) KatyHK could rent me some vases. I can't remember the cost - maybe $5 each? And my WC did say I could supply my own limes. But then he said I would have to put the whole thing together. Which isn't hard, but I'm not sure it's something I want to be dealing with on my wedding day (or asking anyone else to deal with). I'm really starting to like the idea of the lime runner anyhow! 

[calgarybride2015]

@@calgarybride2015 I probably could find some cheap vases to bring, but honestly I'm really trying not to bring much with me. It's my incentive to keep things simple and keep costs down If I can't do it through the resort at a reasonable cost (which is almost nothing), I just won't do it! (famous last words) KatyHK could rent me some vases. I can't remember the cost - maybe $5 each? And my WC did say I could supply my own limes. But then he said I would have to put the whole thing together. Which isn't hard, but I'm not sure it's something I want to be dealing with on my wedding day (or asking anyone else to deal with). I'm really starting to like the idea of the lime runner anyhow!

You could always put them together before hand (well I guess if you rent them maybe not) and they are pre done. Scrap that!

 

Ack I see your struggles.

 

I really loved the lime runner and you could probably find those leaves at michaels or the like for super cheap if you didn't wanna use real ones (ie friend the gardener). That's probably the cheapest option?! And it's unique.

 

 

 

 

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[acw271011]

 

The Dress

 

I very unexpectedly said yes to the dress today!  I wanted a short dress and was actually leaning towards a BM dress. Given that you don't need as much time to order BM dresses, I wasn't going to do anything about it until the fall (hopefully lose some weight between now and then!). But I've been wanting to get an idea of what I want and I wanted to be sure that I didn't want a more traditional wedding dress where I would need more time to get it ordered. So I have been to a few bridal stores. 

 

Today I hit up David's. I was skeptical. So many mixed reviews about the place. But they have a few really cute short dresses on their web site and the price point is great - around $200 for the ones I liked. It was the first one I tried and it was not what I thought I was looking for (typical, right?). It was tank style and fully beaded. I thought I wanted a-line and lace and/or chiffon. 

 

It's been discontinued and there are only 8 left in Canada, so I walked out with it today! I'll need to have the straps taken up a bit and I might need to have it taken in, depending on how much weight I lose, but it's a pretty good fit right now. 

 

I also ended up getting shoes! Wedges with an ankle strap and rhinestones across the toes. Those had to be ordered in, as the pair in stock had marks on it. I can't believe it will take 10 weeks?!? Not that I'm in any hurry.

 

So, with no further ado... the dress (and shoes)!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.davidsbridal.com/Product_short-beaded-tank-dress-with-v-neckline-061896880_wedding-dresses-short-wedding-dresses

 

Oh and it was marked down from $249 to $179. Even better.

 

 

That is so pretty and it looks gorgeous on you! I don't know you, but the dress is definitely "you" (sorry if that sounds dumb) and I really like the shoes!! When I got married 4 years ago I got my dress from David's and it was perfect at the time for what we had going. I went to the store in Niagara Falls NY and they were great. Busy like crazy because they had a big sale on but it overall was a good experience.

I love the Oasis as well but I was bent on turquoise so I'm going with Malibu. I looked at Horizon and Pool but the Malibu just worked with what I had in mind. The other is Begonia. I love it and I love the 2 together.

 

Your flower ideas are so pretty! Geez - the more I read through these threads the more I realize how much I missed out on the creative genes. I must have been in the bathroom when God handed them out.....

[yycbride2016]

Like so many other brides before me, it would seem, I wasn’t going to do a planning thread. But I have seen how helpful they can be to others, as well as it’s a great way to solicit ideas for your own planning. Not to mention, I think it will help me stay on track. So here goes…

 

How We Met

We met at a destination wedding at Dreams Tulum in Nov 2010. I was there for my co-worker and he came as his buddy’s “plus one”. Jeff knew the wedding couple and a lot of the guests, but he wasn’t close enough to be invited. In a sense we were both outsiders, since I was a friend from work, and while I knew many of the bride’s friends, I was not close to any of them. It turned out that it didn’t matter - we made fast friends and had so much fun over the course of that week.

 

He followed me around like a puppy dog the entire week! (I hope he never reads this - he will kill me  ) Because I had not been to an all-inclusive before and I generally like more active vacations, plus the fact that I wasn’t super tight with the group, I had booked a couple of excursions on my own. Jeff’s friend “volunteered” him to come with me on one. Thank goodness he did. I was so hungover. I wouldn’t have made it back down the Coba pyramid without him!

 

 

 

But I wasn’t interested. I really liked him. We got along so well and he made me laugh. But I wasn’t into him. I was recently out of a relationship that ended badly, so I’m sure that was part of it. Strangely, he’s quite shy by nature, but he was NOT shy with me. He made his intentions clear from the start, but I wasn’t going there.

 

Anyhow, fast forward a year. I finally emailed him to send him photos from the Coba excursion (he conveniently forgot his camera). I suggested drinks, thinking that since a year had past, maybe we could now be friends. And here we are almost 3.5 years later.

 

The Proposal

We had been talking about getting married. We had been talking about rings. I inherited a ring from my grandma that is really ugly (and not an antique or anything I want to keep for sentimental reasons), but has some diamonds and gold that I suggested he use to have a ring custom made. That was a little too intimidating for him, I guess.  He told me to go ring shopping with a girlfriend, which I did, but didn’t tell him about. One night, after many drinks, and him complaining about not knowing what to do about a custom ring, I tossed a business card at him with 3 model numbers printed on it. That was summer 2014.

 

We had a big trip planned to Spain and France in Sept 2014. I thought he might propose. But as the days passed in Barcelona, nothing. I was trying not to expect it, because I didn’t want to be disappointed. Then towards the end of our trip, the two of us alone in a ruined castle tower in the South of France, he whipped out the ring and proposed. I forgot to say “yes”. I said “thank you” instead, because I had this pretty “gift” he was giving me. He had to clarify. LOL. He had the ring in his wallet the whole time - walking around Barcelona, pickpocket central. I still can’t believe it.

 

 

 

The Destination

We considered a local wedding (or somewhat local). I wanted something very casual - maybe a BBQ in a park? But public parks don’t allow booze! So now what? We thought about going to the Okanagan, which is like Canada’s Napa Valley for those who aren’t familiar with it. We’ve done an annual trip there 3 years running, and I grew up in the area, but no longer have any friends or family there. But it just wasn’t quite right.

 

We’d also been to the Riviera Maya twice since we originally met. It is our go-to place for a relaxing, easy getaway. Plus we met there, so it just seemed right. We’ve now been there a total of 4 times together, having just returned from another trip last week. And we both had so much fun at the wedding at Dreams Tulum. I hope ours is just as good!

 

Resorts

I started doing research on resorts in late November, I think. I also contacted a destination wedding travel agent in probably December, who further helped with the research. We considered Grand Princess (we’d previously been there on vacation), Grand Palladium, Ocean Coral & Turquesa, all 3 Azul properties (Beach, Sensatori & Fives), plus Now Jade and Now Sapphire. It was really tough finding the right combination of resort and wedding package, while trying to consider our guests and their needs as well. I have a huge spreadsheet with all the details in it for comparing resorts. Although it’s still early in the planning stages for me, I think choosing the resort was the toughest part of the whole process.

 

For various reasons we narrowed it down to Now Jade, Now Sapphire and Ocean Coral & Turquesa. In mid-January, we put down a deposit with the TA and she got quotes from those three for travel packages (air + hotel + transfers). OCT was a bit cheaper, but it’s not as highly rated either in stars or reviews as the Now properties. If it had been a lot cheaper, I would have considered it. It was tough to choose between the 2 Now properties, but Sapphire was a little bit cheaper, seemed to have a more “Mexican feel” to it, which I wanted, and I also have a colleague who was married there 2 years ago who had a great experience. We booked Now Sapphire at the end of Feb.

 

Guests

We invited 62 adults plus some kids. Of course, we knew some would not come. I was thinking we might end up around 40 - 50. At this point, I think it may be closer to 30 - 40, which I actually prefer. We currently have 33 people who have said they are coming (plus a few kids), as well as 12 who have said they are not. I don’t know about the other 17, but suspect not many will come. Of the 33, 11 have put down a deposit. Our booking deposit deadline is May 15.

 

Save the Date

We sent a simple email with links to our wedding web site (http://erinandjeff.weddingwoo.com/) and attachments including travel details. We have an RSVP form on our web site, which I built in Google Forms. I’m not planning to send paper STDs, but I think I will send paper invitations.

 

Obviously we have almost a year until our wedding, so plenty of time to plan and work on all those little touches. But I’m a planner and our wedding is my new obsession, so stay tuned for more updates soon, I’m sure!

OMG!!!! I'm so glad I'm not the only one who said "thank you" hahaha it's such a joke between my FI and I. I grew up abroad and we met when I came back to Canda for university, so he always says I'm so foreign. Because I said thank, you he jokes that it's a language barrior thing (even though we both speak the same first language hahaha). Congrats though! Super special!

[vancouverpetunia]

Haha! I thought I was the only one! I didn't mention that because I had this ring that I inherited that might have "turned into" my e-ring, I was totally expecting a token ring. A silver band or something. He had joked about giving me an onion ring! So when it was a real ring, I was really shocked. And therefore the "thank you"... for a real ring.

 

 

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Edited May 30, 2015 by vancouverpetunia

[yycbride2016]

@@vancouverpetunia

Just realised I never responded to your message haha. Thats too funny about the onion ring. We had joked about kyle getting me  cubic zirconia ring off of groupon for months and so I was so nervous he was going to do that but I would think it was a real diamond haha. I think my "thank you" stemmed from the fact that He had about 3 rings that I fell in love with to choose from and he picked my number one choice. I was just surprised because it was also the most expensive so I think thats why I said thank you. I was in such shock!

[vancouverpetunia]

Quick Update!

 

Not too much going on right now. I'm trying to narrow down an excursion for our guests. We really like the yacht  (H2Oh Cruises), as it provides a lot of options on board for our guests, including indoor, air conditioned areas that might be appreciated by the older folks and those with little kids. But we were hoping for a closer marina for the departure. I don't really want to put our guests on a bus for 2 hours (return). But we'll see. We're also looking at a couple of catamaran options out of Cancun, which is only about 35 mins by bus, which seems more reasonable. 

 

Speaking of KatyHK, I just booked some decor with her (or at least I emailed her to confirm a booking). Not much - just some lights & papel picado to string in the pergola on the terrace and along the railings. Also blue & green vases for the tables. I'm planning to do rectangular tables with individual vases down the center.

 

I've also requested the portable sound system that she rents out. We're not planning to get a DJ and the resort sound system rents for $150 per hour. For our 1 hour of cocktails + 3 hours of reception, that's $600! Or $75 to rent the sound system from Katy. I know it's probably not going to have the greatest sound, but I think it will be sufficient for us. I know some people really splurge on DJs, dance floors, etc. but that's not really our thing, so I think this is a good place for us to save some money.

 

Finally, I am having second thoughts on my dress   It's beautiful, but it's not what I imagined and I can't get the other dress out of my head. Keep in mind, I've never tried it on (it's custom from China or HK), but I did try on similar styles in BM dresses and liked the way they looked on me. Any suggestions?!? Luckily neither is expensive (under $200 for the one I bought and around $250 for the other), so I'm starting to think about ordering the other one and deciding once I have them both. I have lots of time. 

 

My dress

 

The "other" dress (I feel like I'm cheating on my dress when I say that LOL)

 

Next items to tackle: groom & groomsmen's attire (want to get this during the summer while linen, etc. is more readily available) & bridesmaid's attire.

Edited November 10, 2015 by TammyWright

[calgarybride2015]

I love them both. I think you look great in the one you have!! I do understand your temptation though.  If you like the idea of the sash, could you add one to the dress you have now?

 

EDIT: agree on the bridal parties attire. I wanted to switch out the guys shirts in September and barely could find anything!

Edited June 16, 2015 by calgarybride2015

[yycbride2016]

@@vancouverpetunia

I like both dresses! You could totally buy the second dress and have one dress for the ceremony and one for the reception! Win win! They are different styles and perhaps your ceremony will ahve a more romantic and serious mood too it (dress 1) and the reception will be fun with dancing and mingling with your guests (dress 2). Just a thought!

 

Also I'm with you. I think its important for us DW brides to get as much wedding stuff done during the summers as possible since one its winter its almost impossible to find summer clothes and decorations. Good luck!