MERRYME

All in all no real complaints- some adjustments but no big deal. . The photog. has not sent me all of the pictures but here are some more. The whole wedding party & guests (just over 100) arrived 3 days before the wedding in a chartered plane. Everyone had a great time traveling together. Airport arrival & transport to Todos Santos in rented bus & vans. A+ Immigration took a while but that is standard. B- Welcome cocktail: Our whole party was received at Alegria Inn with a welcome cocktail hour- They provided as a surprise to us. Beer, margaritas, fish ceviche, salsa, chips & guacamole. Extraordinary and a wonderful surprise.!! A+++++++ This was wonderful as we had been traveling most of the day and most of us had only had snacks. Spa Day: Day before the wedding- Just the girls around the pool with yummy snacks & drinks getting massages, manicures, & pedicures. A- (only because there was only one massage therapist for 10 of us and not all of us were able to get a massage until the next day) The guys took off to go Surfing all day. Rehearsal Fiesta/dinner: Mexican fiesta; ton’s of fun and lot’s music- Sea food stuffed fish- fixed in a pit with stuffed clams and lobster. Beer & wine. Decorated with mexican blankets & papel picado it was an informal party around the pool and lasted until midnight. We used our ipod with our favorite music. A speaker dock was loaned to us by my coordinator. Everyone enjoyed the novelty of the food fixed in the pit. It was excellent. A+ Wedding Day: I had mentioned in a previous post that my family is very catholic and that we had opted to invite our “Padre†to do a blessing on the beach. This because I wanted a beach wedding not a church wedding and I didn’t want to deal with all of the things that were required by the church to get married in a catholic ceremony. We opted for the blessing because I wanted the grandmas to be happy and my mom was after me to get married correctly by the church. So... long story short. In the couple of days before the wedding my “padre“ made friends with the local “padre†( with my grandma’s help). So permission (with a special donation made by my grandma) was given for my “padre†to officiate a mass where the blessing was to take place. NOT an official wedding but a blessing in the church. BOY was my grandma HAPPY. So we had to adjust EVERYTHING because now I had to get ready earlier and everyone had to show up to the church and then go to the beach for the civil ceremony. Not to mention that we had to think about decor for the church. My coordinator came up with a great idea with galvanized buckets and flowers. She was able to get extra flowers shipped the day before the wedding !! AND she also used the same flowers at the beach so it tied everything together. A+++++++ I’m actually happy that we ended up doing this as it made my family happy and it was a really wonderful moment. We even got to place a special flower offering before the Virgin Mary. This is a tradition in Mexico. I loved being able to take pictures at the church!! A Civil Ceremony: At the beach. Very casual and laid back & very private we were the only people on a very long and deserted beach! . My DIY project (huppa) did not turn out like I wanted. It was short ... I didn’t take into consideration that the poles had to be buried in the sand. It was also windy and so the fabric did not stay like I wanted it to. BUT looking back it really didn’t look that bad. My coordinator had the Galvanized buckets with flowers hanging from small poles in the sand Forman an isle. Since I wanted the ceremony to be informal I opted for no chairs but we did have white fabric on the sand so people could sit if they wanted to. Everything looked great. Everyone was very happy. Especially when two whales started jumping and playing. It was a wonderful ceremony. A++ NEGATIVES: It was windy and it got chilly very quickly. Plus since we had the church blessing we had to move back the civil ceremony at the beach by 15 minutes and those 15 minutes could have been used for pictures !! It got dark quick. Reception: Gorgeous- paper lanterns everywhere as well as candles in paper bags and candles on the tables. Everything looked fabulous. A+ Food: VERY YUMMY A+ Appetizer: 3 stations Shrimp Ceviche & chips Fresh ranch cheese, tomato & basil Star fruit, mango, pomegranate salad Alegria Salad: Plated & served on the tables Organic greens with papaya, red onion, nuts - balsamic & olive oil Buffet dinner: Diabla Brochettes: Shrimp & lobster or beef brochettes cooked on the BBQ with a diabla sauce. Mango fish Rice 2 Vegetable dishes 3 salsas home made flower tortillas corn tortillas Cake: 10 two tier chocolate cakes decorated with roses & rose petals. To die for. LOVED THEM!! A++++++ Midnight Tamales & buñuelos with hot chocolate & coffee- Kalua optional BIG, BIG HIT Tamales were: Chicken with green sauce Beef with red sauce Sweet Corn & raisin Buñuelos are a traditional Christmas sweet - made by deep frying flower tortillas and sprinkling with sugar. Kind of like a very thin fry bread. VERY GOOD. Music: 15 piece band & mariachi - Peninsular - very good worth the money. They played salsa, merengue, etc.. They had everyone dancing . During their breaks we played our ipod. It was perfect. Next day - breakfast & brunch buffet for everyone as most people were leaving that day. Most of our guests only stayed for 3 days but our whole family stayed for 2 weeks to celebrate Xmas & new years together. It was a wonderful and very happy time. After everyone left we stayed and basically relaxed & enjoyed ourselves for 2 weeks. I can’t say enough about the friendly town & how wonderful the people are. My coordinator is a saint! She is wonderful and I would definitely recommend her to anyone. She was willing to roll with the punches and put up with my grandma and was able to make everyone very comfortable & happy. A+++

It is cold at night this time of the year!!!! No one told me this except my coordinator and I really did not believe her so I didn't warn any of my guests. During the day it is gorgeous! Mid to high 80's. But at night it got down to low 60's high 50's!!! So warn people to bring pashminas or light jackets! Especially if you are wearing strapless gowns.

Quote: Originally Posted by A10CALGAL Oh wow! Thanks for your post Merryme (you have remained anonymous to this point! Now we know what you look like!!!) Everything looks wonderful. Love the drowning roses centerpiece! Have a very happy New Year ... party like its 1969 I'm such a moron I just never figured out how to post pictures untill recently(thanks Tammy). Plus I really hate how I photograph

Quote: Originally Posted by NHPT congrats! the pictures look beautiful- and i LOVE your centerpieces- i may want to do something like that. did you do it yourself or did the coordinator do it? Certerpieces were totally the coordinator!! I thought I wanted something very different but a few days before the wedding we did a dry run and she had set up what I wanted and what she proposed and I absolutely fell in love with them. They were so unusual. I really liked the way the water magnified the roses. She bought everything here- total cost for table decor for 20 tables: $3,500 usd plus flowers $500 dls (10 bulks of 10 dozen lilies and 25 bulks of 25 roses). The cost included the rentals (tables, chairs, glassware, etc..), glass centerpieces with metal stand, gravel, canddles, cloth runners, ribbon and man time for coordinator and helpers.

Thanks for all the good wished everyone!!! I just read everything! This is such a great group!

Alegria Inn and Todos Santos were absolutely magical!! We had the ceremony at the beach and the guests actually saw whales! Our photog. took tons of pictures but for some reason I don't have any- my brother was supposed to take some candids but he never did- only of the venue. At the beach we had a small arch- smaller than what I wanted but it still looked gorgeous. It was a DIY project:). The isle was marked by small wooden posts with galvanized buckets filled with roses and lilies it looked really cute. We opted for no chairs and just white fabric for everyone to sit/stand on. Then we walked back with the mariachi band to the reception. The reception was soooo much fun... great music, great food and tons of friends. I will write a full review when I get some more time. I can't say enough about my coordinator and Alegria Inn they really did an incredible job. Everyone in town has been very friendly. We had a great x-mas and hope to have a great New Years. There is a huge party planned at the Hotel California.

Everything was incredible!! We had a great time!! I can't complain about any of it! It was lovely. No real problems at all.

I'm trying to upload more but it is slow from Mexico.

I'm still in Todos Santos! WE have had a wonderful stay. I don't get back for a few weeks yet but here are some quick pictures. I will post the pro pics as soon as I get them! We ended up using roses and red lillies with gravel tons or canddles and luminarias.

I'm here!! and it is GORGEOUS. WEATHER IS GREAT ! A little chilly at night but gorgeous. The town is still as cute as I remembered. Everyone arrives tomorrow! I am doing the last minute details but all in all everything seems to be under control. Let's see if it will be on Friday.LOL I know something will go wrong but I really don't care anymore. It is gogeous and we WILL have a great wedding and everyone will have a great time no matter what happens! I'll post as soon as I get pictures.

We are getting married at Alegria Inn -Located in Todos Santos, a small town one hour North of Cabo. It is going to be a 10 day celebration. Starting with rehersal diner on the 21st, wedding on the 22nd, Family x-mas and new years and then we leave for the honeymoon- one month in mainland Mexico.

I absolutely LOVE anthuriums (They last for ever) but did not find a supplier untill last week and I had already ordered the roses and lilies. I will post pitures as soon as I can. I'm numb right now because there is sooo much to do. But I'm getting to the point where I really don't care anymore I just want to have fun and really enjoy. I leave on Monday!!! Yay!

I'm getting married next week and I'm using red roses and wine red lilies. I will post pictures as soon as I can! You can also try red gerberas.

The colors are incredible and fun! I will be using (I HOPE) the white, cream and green with red roses.

It is a great price! You do have to make your own but I like the idea of doing that. She is in Todos Santo sat Alegria Inn. You can reach her at [email protected] Apparently there is a growing season for the flowers. I think they are just starting because they will not guarantee all the flowers I want by Dec. 22nd (wedding day). I will try to post the other pictures she sent me.

Hi! There is a Calla grower just north of Cabo. They supposedly only sell to hotels and restaurans but my coordinator got me a quote for loose bunches of Callas: $20 dls for 12 medium size and $15 dls for 12 miniature callas: They have green, white, white with green, yellow, orange, pastel pink, bright pink,and purple. This is one of the pictures from my coordinator. They can't guarantee they will have large quantities of a particular color. It is first come first serve.

Well there is the saying "kill her with KINDNESS!"... and a smile! You need to step back and realize just how much energy and time you are waisting going back and forth. You should be spending that tiem with Cain or planning you wedding! Listen, you are giving her exactly what she wants- you are letting her make you miseraable AND she is enjoying it! Step back and put this into perspective.. you asked her to move in... you had to have known that she was a piece of work even before she moved in? HECK, I knew my FMIL HATED me right of the bat! I knew to stay away from her! Try to make the best of a VERY BAD situation and just grin an bear it! (TWO MONTHS!!) Stay away from her and try not to lether get to you. Maybe if she sees that her behavious no longer affects you then she will STOP!

Go an try out the dress with the dres maker there! That way she can see the dress and you can take secret pictures. Just send the attendant to get other dresses for you!

It soundslike wine isn't going to help but maybe it is time for some tequila? I'm sorry you are going through this. Just take it easy and get all the stress out. Punch something! (NO- not her! a punching bag, a pillow etc..) Two months isn't too bad - try to stay out of eachothers way as much as you can.