laura b

I got this in my email and thought I'd share with you guys.

Karisma hotels (El Dorado Royale, El Dorado Seaside Suites, and Azul are offering a fall wedding promotion for next year.

They say if you book by Feb. 1, 2008 and have your wedding between Aug. 15 and Dec. 28th, 2008, you get the following (using the codes)

Free anniversary trip (WEDRTRN)

$900 spa credit (WEDSPA)

Free room upgrade for you and two other rooms (WEDUPGR)

Hope this helps someone.

I'm late to this, but I'm in, too! As I posted somewhere else, I've gained 12 pounds since the wedding! And haven't changed any eating/working out habits. Yowza!

I'm off to run the dogs then headed to the gym. I'll check in later.

Oh, and for the person who works from 9-6, I'd suggest signing up at a gym that has early morning availability, and getting there in the a.m. (if you wait til the p.m., you'll always be too tired). When you set your alarm at night, just say to yourself, "alarm off, coffee, then off to the gym." Sounds corny, but it works.

The other thing you can do if you skip your a.m. workout is plan dinner (if you cook for your family like I do) that is in the oven for at least 30 minutes. Prep it in your work out clothes, then as soon as you pop it in the oven, head out for a run. This is good for me, too.

Ooo, I haven't been here in a while, but you girls might just have what I need (again)!

Even though I work out nearly every day and really watch what I eat (no refined carbs ever, hardly any sugar, everything low-cal), I've steadily gained 15 pounds since the wedding. Yikes! I'm so perplexed by it, I even got off birth control (which I got on for the honeymoon), but that didn't help.

So, I really need motivation and more tips.

Thanks for the posts!

Laura

Karen-

Ha! That's EXACTLY (pretty much) how our AHR went.

People started getting there while I was still setting up (and grungy) so I had to run to the B&B we were staying at to change.

Lo and behold, the dress I had brought (the one I wore at the reception at Dreams) had been dry cleaned, and I didn't check it before I packed it for the AHR. So, guess what. The drycleaners had completely ruined it! All the little rhinestones all over the dress were gone, leaving little strings everywhere. I flipped the F out. Anyway, long story short, I clipped the strings and made do. Of course, on the way back to the site, while I was trying to fix my makeup, a big blob landed on my (already ruined) dress. Sometimes you just gotta laugh.

And of course, the margaritas didn't hurt, either. And then my best friend and I did the Thriller dance for everyone as a surprise (long planned before the dang Phillipinos stole our thunder) and it was all good.

Anyway, aren't you so glad it's all completely over and you can enjoy Jay and life together!?

Tammy,

I'm late to this, but those are ab. beautiful. I love how you did everything. And you looked so gorgeous!

I did the single mom thing for the first part of Jude's life.

He was so excited when he found out that Michael and I were getting married (Michael is Jude's "best friend"), that there was no way he wasn't going to be part of our day.

He was our only attendant...best man/ringbearer, and I gave him a "family bracelet"--basically a surfer bracelet I got for all three of us in the same style that we all wear now.

At last is a great song...one of my best friends walked to it.

What are you walking off to?

I also got married at Dreams with 30 guests. I had my reception in a private room at Portofino and it was great. There was no music although we had discussed it before my wedding day. That's the only thing I was really disappointed about.

I only paid for the silver package, and it is $19 pp after the first 20 pp, I think, but they don't really count that closely. I wasn't billed for as many people as I had. In fact, my total was just under $2K, which is remarkable for such a (in my opinion) beautiful wedding and reception.

I did attend a dinner on the beach, and sand in the food wasn't a problem. The other thing I was afraid of, which was it being too hot in July, wasn't really either, because of the nice breeze. I had a few seniors as guests, though, and I didn't want to chance not having a/c for them. So, if you think your guests will be comfortable, I would def. recommend the beach reception setting (so pretty), but if you have seniors, I might would go with Portofino (private room).

The thing about choosing everything once you get there is really right on. I had all kinds of ideas about flowers and decorations, and Sandra just handed me a book, I picked out my decorations and cake, and it all turned out great.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Lisa-

Those are awesome! It makes me wish I was there...we could've stayed an extra three weeks, right?

Congrats, girl. And you look so beautiful!

I especially like the one of James with his attendants all scattered. That one's good. And it goes without saying that all the ones with you in it are luv-lee.

Karen, that's a good idea, you're sweet.

One of the things I got from my mom, that you might be able to include, is some charms to pin on the inside of my dress.

So maybe you could find like a lucky star or horseshoe, a butterfly, something blue, and something old of yours, and it could be her good luck and something old, new, etc.

Jen- I hear Ana y Jose's is great. Check that one. I also saw them building some down the beach when I was running.

Kacey- You were def. there! We were there from the 4th (jay/k's wedding) til the 14th. Very loud, obnoxious group with luchadores masks.

P.S. Although my photog. did a great job.

Oh my goodness! You look so beautiful! And you've probably already said this, but I didn't have the patience to wade through 3 pages of responses...who was your photographer??

Because they did an AWESOME job! Those are the pictures I would've loved to have for my wedding!

Kaykay...

but that picture was taken at Dreams! Were you there for mine or Jason&Karen's weddings?

Hey, and I'm in Austin, too.

Thanks, girls, for all your kind words.

Annie, did your veil drive you crazy? Mine did, I regret the cathedral length. But yours looks really pretty.

We did the TTD at about 7:30 a.m. Most of the pics weren't taken at the resort but at a couple of blue houses to the south. I had scouted them out the week before and asked the groundskeeper if we could do some photos there. The hammock one was at the blue houses, in this two story palapa they had right there.

My wedding was at 10:00, but I think having your wedding at 3 will give you sufficient daylight. They say the evening weddings are better over by the seaside grill, and truth be told, I wish I'd had mine there...not so fond of the diveshop in the background. Just know that a wedding at 3, and you and your guests will be sweating your $$$es off. Parasols are definitely a good option. And originally I had wanted to have my wedding in the chapel, but it's not big enough to hold 30 people. But they sure do decorate it nice for weddings.

Another option I liked was at the base of the stairs of the lobby of the resort. The idea of the bride walking down that staircase had a very "Gone With the Wind" feeling. That is, if you're not tied to the beach idea, which we were.

I am shocked about Lisa's theft. None of our guests had any problems, we had quite a bit of cash that wasn't bothered, and my photographer left her laptop out with no problems. I can understand being hesitant about things after hearing that story (poor Lisa!), but I think it's the exception rather than the rule.

Hope this helps!

My photographer was Sasha Haagensen and she was great (http://www.sashaphotos.com).

Here are a couple of shots from the TTD session:

For my AHR, I made the photo luminarias. I bought frames from Ikea, spraypainted them and glued them together, printed photos onto vellum paper, and put votives in the middle. They were the hit of the party! Here's a few of them:

I think that's it. I hope this helps any future brides.

Sorry it took me so long to get to this...I just got done with my AHR and now I can finally breathe again!

I'll start at the beginning.

The Dress:

You all know that I had fits about this. I originally ordered a dress made for me in China to copy an Italian dress. I really hated it when it got here, so I went dress shopping again and bought an Anjolique gown. For more about my extended wedding dress dilemmas, you can go to this post:

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...04-post14.html

Anyway, the dress was great, everyone said it was beautiful, but MAN was that m'fer hot in Tulum in July.

The Invitations:

We were DIYers on this front...they turned out great! Our wedding colors were pink and brown, and we had a hibiscus motif throughout everything.

We ordered our envelopments online and I don't have the name of the place but PM me if you're interested and I'll find out. They were pretty inexpensive. Out of California.

Here's what the invitations looked like, and cost about $200.

When closed up, I tied a pink ribbon around them. They also included an RSVP card which I didn't have any more copies of.

Here are our thank you cards and cds we made for the OOT bags.

Cups we had made for our guests (they had lids and straws). This picture is a little washed out, but they also had the hibiscus print. We got these basically for free because my DH does freelance for the lady who sells them.

Here are the OOT bags and some of the other goodies. We got them at Dollar Tree and probably spent about $200 all in all for everything in them.

Michael got his suit at Banana Republic outlet for about $200. It was beautiful. My son got a similar suit by Liz Claiborne at Macy's. It was about $100.

Dreams Tulum:

I love this resort and can't say enough good things about it. The food and drinks are excellent and all of my guests had an awesome time. My photographer was the only one who had a problem with her room, in that her a/c leaked, but she got moved promptly once she complained.

The wedding coordinator, Sandra Casillos, is extremely overworked. She does not always get back to you in a timely fashion, but she did everything she could to ensure that we had a beautiful wedding. Those ladies (she and her assistant, Landy) work their tails off and are often there from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The Wedding:

The ceremony was beautiful. We didn't get any rehearsal, which was a little nervewracking, but it all turned out okay. We added parasols and starfish to our decorations, which everyone was happy to have.

My bouquet was not the prettiest, and they painted the calla lilies and the boys' boutinieres...after which they ran onto their suits and my bouquet got all over my hands...wtf is up with that? But it was okay.

The ceremony started a little late, but this is Mexico, after all. They are on a different, more 'relaxed' timetable. All of my guests loved my minister, and even though we requested a non-religious ceremony, it was quite pray-ey, church-y. But in a sweet way.

The cake they made was great. I ordered a monogram cake topper from eBay for $27...the resort did the rest of the decorations.

To be continued...

Lisa-

Those are awesome! From the pic...did you get the sweet room above the swimup bar? We coveted that room.

I think your minister was the same one we had. He went on and on. He made us repeat, "I love you, Laura" and "I love you, Michael", but the way he said it, it was like he was telling us he loved us. My guests loved him! Michael and I had a hard time not repeating our vows in heavily accented English, though (because we're monkeys),

Sorry about the $$$, but everything else looks absolutely fab!

Lisa-

I can't believe we both made it through!

Congrats and best wishes and I hope it's everything you dreamed of.

Can't wait to hear all about it.

Except now you're not LRYATES.

The new rooms are an "upgrade" though many of my guests did get upgraded to them for free. The ones who didn't had really lovely rooms in the old section. The only person who had any problems was my photographer who had a leaky air conditioner. They moved her promptly.

The wedding coordinator there has a heart of gold but is extremely overworked. It will take her a while to get back to you. Her name is Sandra Casillos and her assistant is named Landy. They are really accomodating, and will make note of the emails you send them, but they are really slow in responding.

Hope this helps.

Ooo, you got my hopes up that I'd been made a senior member. But, nah, I'm just still a lousy full member.

I mean, proud full member.

And Lamberts...you call those table runners?? B*tch, please.

I wasn't going to say anything, but I totally saw Jason and Karen DELIBERATELY disobeying the bylaws of BestDestinationWedding.com/forum/ in Mexico--and LAUGHING about it! I won't go into details, but I'm sure you guys can all imagine how they might have brought shame to this proud group. Quite scandalous, really.

Ah, well, I guess now that they're disqualified, Michael and I will have to step up.

Sorry, Jason and Karen, but something had to be done, really. And you thought you would get away with it!

I am a Dreams Tulum bride. Let me know if I can help.

And WELCOME!

I flew Continental and carried mine on. I was expecting some kind of special treatment about hearing everyone else's stories...I even wore my "Bride" tank top. I also saw lots of ladies in the airport with big old dress bags.

The closet they had to store my dress in front was about three feet tall, so not that great. One of the connections they let me lay it flat in first class. All-in-all, it wasn't too much of a pain, but I knew I was having it pressed when I got to Mexico, so no sweat about the close quarters.

In no stretch of the imagination would I ever have checked my dress. You have to just be adamant, especially since they cost so much.

Hey Steve and Denise

I just got married in Tulum, and have also stayed in Akumal a few times. Let me know if i can be of any help.