Yycbride2016 Grand Sirenis Planning Thread February 2016

[yycbride2016]

Ok I admit, I've totally neglected my planning thread. But I haven't neglected my wedding planning completely. My apologies for the long and picture heavy post. 

 

I will start with decorations pictures and then go into planning info:

 

DIY decorations->candle holders I mainly used twine on these and some burlap and starfish! The fishbowl will eventually have sand in the bottom with starfish and seashells (will be used for AHR because of its size and weight.

 

My guest book!

We are going to do a message in a bottle idea for our guestbook. So I cut a bunch of squares of paper and tied ribbon to each one. The idea is that the guests will write their message on the paper, roll it up and tie it with the ribbon. The top of the bottle twists off and they can drop their message in there. After 1 year we will open up the messages. The bottle opens up in the middle making it easier for us to take the messages out in a year. 

 

Table numbers:

I designed, printed, and cut my own table numbers. I'm not sure how to place them on each table yet. I'll either have them propped up in the centerpieces or find a little picture holder stand they can be clipped onto. 

 

Twine bottles:

After a serious hot glue burn to my hand, I had to stop crafting for a couple weeks. The blisters finally are starting to heal after about 3 weeks. But these are the result of my hot glue burns! I think I figured out a safer way to make these now. Also these won't come to Mexico unfortunately (even though I wish they could). They are too heavy so I will be using these to decorate my AHR.

 

OOT BAGS!!! yay finally posting this!

Left is guys, Right is girls. 

 

I'm only making these for the wedding party so i've made 6 total. 

 

Girls:

• Mesh black backpack
• Facemask
• bikini shot glass
• lotion & body spray
• mints
• toothpaste
• facemask
• bandaids
• nail file
• eos lip balm
• sewing kit
• waterproof phone case

 

Guys:

• 1 drawstring bag
• Advil
• sunscreen
• mints
• hand sanitizer
• mouthwash & toothpaste
• Chapstick
• Cards (one bag has dice)
• bandaids
• Waterproof phone case
• pop up shot glass (see picture below

 

Chalkboard signs. I will probably put sign the guest book, Mr & Mrs, or something like Happily ever after on these. I have another one that is like an easel that I posted a while back. 

 

Bubbles! I finally printed off my bubbles tags. I want the guest to blow bubbles as we walk back down the aisle after we say our "I do's". I think I will have one of these placed on each chair or a little basket at the ceremony location for them. 

 

Now I've been working on budget and photography packages. My budget is looking a little brighter now that I've talked with the resort about what extras we want. We were originally told we needed to rent the gazebo for the ceremony in order to reserve this location. Turns out that's not the case thank goodness. That saves us $440! We did find out that we have to pay for 30 people though even though we don't quite have 30 people coming yet (we have the potential for 31 people to come). 

 

Photography:

I need you help, ladies! We are torn between different packages and different photographers. I really want to book the photographer this weekend! So here are our two options at the moment 

 

Elena Fedorova

http://elena-fedorova.com/

4 hours coverage with vendor fee = $1603.97 CDN

6 hours coverage with vendor fee = $2133.01 CDN

 

Lancelotti Photography

www.lancelottiphotography.com

4 hours coverage with vendor fee = $1802.59 CDN

6 hours coverage with vendor fee = $2616.50 CDN

 

Lancelotti has better quality of photos but Elena Fedorova has better prices for more coverage. I'm curious to what everyone else has chosen for length of coverage. I really want to make sure I get:

• Getting ready
• Ceremony
• Cocktails
• Photo session
• Reception (cake cutting, first dance)

Thoughts?? I need help. I'm so torn. is 4 hours enough?? 

Edited August 28, 2015 by yycbride2016

[calgarybride2015]

Everything looks fantastic @@yycbride2016

Your wedding will be beautiful...

 

From my experience you won't want your table numbers resting on your centerpieces, they will blow away.

I had my table numbers in plastic frames from Michaels (IKEA has a similar one) and they blew over hahah!

I know Michaels has little bases with wire coming up to hold table numbers, etc. and they seem pretty sturdy (ie heavy) so those might be an option for you. I remember them being pricey so you would probably want to wait for a good coupon!

 

Your bridal party is going to love their bags!

 

Ugh - photography is hard.   Is Lancelotti's quality that much better (in your opinion) that you would regret your decision not to use him? If not and Elena is a very close second you could go with the one that better suits your budget.    From my experience with all the shots you want taken a 4 hour package will be tough!  If you moved all your 'events' at your reception to the beginning you may have time. 

 

Do you and your fiance both want getting ready shots? if yes, I would atleast allot 45 mins for this as you have to take into account the time for them to walk between rooms.  Especially (like for us) if you are on one side of the resort and he is on the other.  We did 1 hour and that was enough, but the photographer was not at the spa only in our rooms afterwards. 

 

So for a 4 hour package maybe

45 mins getting ready

30 mins for ceremony and toast photos

1.5 hour for family/group shots, then wedding couple shots

15 mins cocktail party

2 hours for reception with dances, cake, etc. at the beginning

 

Just an idea -- we didn't have any photos of the cocktail party from our photographer, she got one of us with the mariachi band. Otherwise just ones from our friends as honestly not much goes on here. They stand around and drink! haha, while watching you take photos. Unless you plan to be at the cocktail party?

 

Depending how much you want of the reception and the partying - you may be more comfortable with 6 hours.

 

We had 7 hours and we got all of the getting ready, ceremony/toast, group/family photos, wedding couple, reception - entrance, speeches, all dances, cake, and then lots of us partying.

 

Given my experience I would probably opt for the 6 hour package but it's not my budget so obviously it has to work for you guys.    I checked out both of their sites and I think they are both quite talented and personally you probably can't go wrong with either.

 

Sorry I was probably no help!

Edited August 28, 2015 by calgarybride2015

[Wafflesmom]

@@yycbride2016 wow, again I bow down to your crafting ability! Sigh, to have but an ounce of your skills. You ladies are seriously gonna give me a complex LOL Everything you've done so far has tied well together and looks so professionally done. As per many of the previous brides' suggestions, I would also suggest having your table numbers weighted. The wind may play tricks on you and blow them away. That was the reason why I opted for place cards attached to napkins

 

As for photography, I concur with @ and think photography is such an integral part of the wedding. Like her, I researched photographers and was actually the first vendor we booked. We went with Samuel Luna, have you looked at his website? I've heard so many great things about him and fell in love with his photographic style. We're going with a 5 hour package and am aiming for having pics of all the things you've listed minus the cake cutting. In order to accommodate, we're going to set our first dance right after we enter our reception. That way, we'll have the beautiful sunset too. If it's based on those two photographers, do you think Lancelotti is worth the $500 extra? It's basically your choice but based on their websites, both seem really talented. Perhaps the deciding factor can be testimonials?

[yycbride2016]

@@calgarybride2015 thank you for your help as always! I think you are right about the table numbers. That makes me think my placement cards will probably blow away too I'll take a look for something to hold them up with.

 

I think you are right about the quality. I don't think I'd really looked at Elena's photography in detail enough. I think she is a really good photographer and the fact that we can save money is a bonus. I think 6 hours would ensure we got enough coverage. I don't want to have to move all my events around just to ensure we get pictures of everything.

 

@ I think you are right. Photography is so important and I think if we are to spend money somewhere it should be there. It's something we can look back at forever. I actually quite like Elena's work the more I look at it so I think we are going to book 6 hours with her.

 

@@Wafflesmom haha thanks, you'll love my next craft then... And thanks for the photography input! I agree, photography is really important and not something we should just ignore. I think we are going to go with 6 hours with Elena. I quite like her work. She has an eye for fashion and positions the wedding dresses in all her photos in a way to really showcase them. Yay!

 

 

I have made another craft! My card box. I'm not sure If this can come to Mexico though. It's a bit big and I kind of glued it open because it kept falling shut. I think this might stay for our AHR because about 90% of the guests coming to Mexico will also come to our reception back home and can leave a card then.

 

Btw this was made out of a shoebox, twine and burlap!

 

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Edited August 29, 2015 by yycbride2016

[deecol]

@@yycbride2016 Thanks for posting your list!

 

For swimsutis - Try and hit some end-of-season sales now, Colin and I went a couple of weeks ago and got some really good deals on bikinis and mens shorts. 

[yycbride2016]

I'm so excited! We have officially picked our wedding hashtag! Yay! #HappilyEverBrade we had a list a page long so it took forever to pick one. We really wanted #UpgradeToBrade2016 but we felt like my side of the family might not think its funny. Excited to start using our hashtag though!

 

 

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[Wafflesmom]

I love your hashtag! Yeah, the upgrade quote might not go well with your family lol. I even thought of #FromBrideToBrade

[yycbride2016]

Ahhh @@Wafflesmom that's so cute! I love that. I'm going to tell my sister she should use that for my bachelorette and bridal shower!

 

 

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[TinkerSofi]

@@Wafflesmom I love that one

[yycbride2016]

I found my veil today! I feel like I practically stole it! It was only $35!! A woman who worked at a bridal shop that closed down was selling a few different ones from the store that closed. It's simple but has sparkle! I'm so excited! I was panicking a bit about finding one for a good price!

 

 

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