tinabop

Thank you girls for your help! I will try these lipsticks. I have heard rave reviews about Viva Glam before, so here's hoping I love it too!

Thanks girls, I appreciate your opinions! It is definitely not a shower thing, and there will definitely not be any gifts. It will probably just be dinner, and then going out. Maybe I just invite a small group (aka the girls invited to the wedding) to dinner, and others out to the bar or club after. OR I'll plan something with the girls invited, and if it comes up with others (who weren't invited), and they seem interested, I'll invite them. Which one would be better?

Hey girls! So, my FI and I have decided to do our bachelor/bachelorette parties in Cancun the Thursday before our Saturday wedding. This will work out great for all of our guests that can come, but some of my friends were sad that they not only cannot come to the wedding, but since they can't come, they also cannot participate in the bachelorette party. So we decided to do one here too, as quite a few of my friends from NY cannot go to the wedding. My question is this: can you invite people to the bachelorette party that aren't invited to the wedding, or is this tacky and rude? If it were a normal wedding where we were inviting 200 people, I would def. think this was tacky and rude, however, since are really only inviting about 40 people to the wedding, I feel like it's different. I tried to put myself in that position, but I still can't decide what I would think. What do you ladies think?

Francine Metz [email protected] It's so hard to tell if you like how someone will do your hair and makeup without having tried it, but she claims to have done makeup for 20 years all over the world. Do the salons do a good job? I'm just worried that there might be a language barrier, and/or that it is not good and then I'm screwed. Any thoughts?

Hi girls, I have a posted a question similar to this a while back, but I just thought I would see if anyone has any new advice. I found someone I wanted to use for my makeup, but she is in Playa del Carmen, and doesn't travel. I will be at the Gran Caribe Real in Cancun getting ready, so I wanted to see if you girls knew of any hair stylists or makeup artists in Cancun. I definitely do not want to be doing either of these myself...

If I find a gloss that has good color, I will wear that. Just from photos of me with gloss on, my lips get kinda washed out because there isn't much of a color difference (in photos). It's fine for most days, but I would like to have a little more color/definition of my lips for wedding photos....

Hi girls, So I am having my makeup done by a professional in Riviera Maya before my wedding. She said I should bring my lipstick, as I will need to retouch it all night. Now, I am a chapstick/colored lipgloss wearing girl. I wear makeup everyday, but for some reason, when I try to pick out a lipstick, it just never looks right. I wear a lovely pinky/gold lipgloss from Chanel that I love, and am considering getting just a different color of that for the wedding. But I wanted to see if you girls had any favorite lipsticks. I am obviously going for a very natural/nude color, but something that still has color. Let me know what you favorite brands and colors are! Thanks : )

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS POST! My mom passed away when I was really young, and I have been trying to think of ways to remember her in a way that included her in the ceremony, but didn't make the entire ceremony about that. I love the locket idea in the photo too. Since my mother passed away from breast cancer, I was also thinking of donating money to the American Cancer Society and then making a note of it somewhere that money was donated in the guests name. This works well too since my FMIL is a breast cancer survivor. These are all lovely ideas, and again, thanks for this post.

Jen, The cake is beautiful! I would love to do something like that, but I fear what the outcome would be if I make it too complicated for the baker. But I take you idea and see if they can do it...if not, mine's a very simple square, three tiers cake with dots all over. Classy and simple : ) As long as it tastes good, I'm happy!

No, I don't have either of those, but I do have Shutterfly. Is that the same thing?

Jen, This has been a helpful post for me too! I literally came on today to post something asking whether I needed to have 'colors.' I like blue and green, and I too am trying to figure out how to incorporate both of them. So it's reassuring to hear that everyone thinks I can do whatever I want! I love what you are trying to do...I think it will look gorgeous. I am getting married on the private beach, and then going to a seperate hotel down the road for the reception. So on the beach I will have white chairs with bright blue bows and a matching aisle runner, as well as a bamboo gazebo with bright blue and white mesh fabric over the top. Then at the reception, since the tableclothes will be white, I am going to pick out a great green fabric, then have a friend make table runners. I still need to work out the flowers, but I would like to have blue green and white in the flowers in sqaure vases, and white votive candles. And if I can figure out how to fold the napkins properly, fold them so I can have a pocket for the menus, and then put a little sand dollar on each. Those are my ideas right now. Let me know (aka PM me) if you think of any more good green and blue combinations. I would really appreciate it! Good Luck!

This is great, thank you for posting!

I had my hair trial and it is in the same style as some of the others posted, but I thought I would post it anyways. Here's hoping I figure out how to post photos correctly! ...and I can't upload my jpg apparently. Sorry!

I don't know where you would get it, but I plan on going to a fabric store and then having a good friend make me table runners. It is the easier sewing there is, but I don't know how to do it, so I'm getting help!

It seems that all of us have had the same issues, which seems odd to me since more and more people are doing destination weddings. I am from Oklahoma and live in New York, and apparently people were expecting me to have my wedding in Oklahoma. Well that last time I checked there wasn't a beach in Oklahoma, so I'm going to Mexico. I actually researched, and found it would cost people LESS to go to Mexico than to Oklahoma, so why not have a vacation on a beach? The most important people will be there (aka you and your fiancee), and you will be married. Everyone else that can join is just icing on the cake. It amazes me how people make this about themselves...they really show their true colors. Be strong, live your dream...you only get to do it once.

Tami, We are doing the same thing. We have a couple people who have not even acknowledged our STD or that we are engaged (needless to say these are people we were forced to invite), and we also asked for tentative RSVPs. So we're not sending them invites, since they obviously don't care and aren't excited for us. I also had a childhood friend IM me and say, "Am I invited to the wedding? I mean, I'm 99% sure I can't come because of work and school, but it's the thought that counts." Ouch! I mean, I'll invite her because I had been thinking about whether I should invite her, but since we talk about 2 times a year on IM, didn't really think that qualified as close friend. I have told others though that we are having a small wedding with close friends and family. Don't be pressured into inviting people...esp. if you can't afford it! Sounds like you have a big group that wants to come too, and that's overwhelming. Good luck!

Oh, also, I forgot to mention, that it was actually come in handy with some of the vendors I am working with. Since we can't meet them in person, it's nice for them to be able to get to know us a little from our stories and info on the website. And I agree with everyone else...the closer it gets, the more people will use it.

I did the same type of website you did (from Wedding Window). I did have people give an initial RSVP on the website after we sent the save the dates, just so we had a gage of how many people might come. Also, whenever people ask me questions or need info about the wedding, I tell them that it is posted on our website and to check it out. This is mostly because I think it is easier than writing down information everytime someone asks, but also gets people to the website. It was designed to be useful, so they should use it!

Fabulous, thank you Anny! I will send this to my coordinator. By the way, you look gorgeous in your dress!

Hi Jennifer, I believe I replied to one of you other posts, but I thought I would explain a little more about my photographer situation. I was using a Lomas Travel property to get married, and before I hired my lovely photographer Sol, I specifically asked whether I could bring in an outside photographer. Faith told me yes, if I put them on my guestlist, there was nothing they could do, and it would be fine. So I got ahead an hire Sol. Then Faith leaves, and I get Monica. I had read on BDW that Lomas brides were being charged $500, so I asked Monica to get in writing what Faith had told me I could do. She refused. Perhaps if I had known this up front it would have been a different story, but the fact that I asked and then they went back on what they told me infuriated me! The entire reason I went with Lomas was because they told me I could have an outside photographer, and it would be alright. So for that and other reasons, I left and found a lovely place/coordinator in Playa del Carmen (45 minutes south of Cancun). I totally understand being in love with the place, because it was really hard for me to leave Lomas as I had fallen in love with the ideas we created, but my anger and frustration won out. I don't think that they wouldn't let you bring your photographer in on the day of your wedding, I think they would just tell you to give them the $500. It has been about two months now with the new place and coordinator, and things are awesome. Good luck with this decision, and please let me know if you want more information on my new place.

Anny, I was so excited to find this post, because the chairs are my reception are an awful red and black! I don't know if it's just me, but I still can't find the contact info you put. All I see is the photo of the chairs, and how much they cost, but not the name of the company or contact info. Can you repost? Thanks so much!

Hi Everyone, I too started out with Faith, and was very excited, because she was awesome, and my travel agent had a great report with her. As you know, she got promoted, and I was given Monica. I'm not sure why I was different than other brides, but she was not responsive to me at all. It took her three weeks to write me back once, but usually it took one to two weeks. While I completely understand that they are busy, if it takes three weeks to get an answer, just write me back and let me know that. So we (myself and my travel agent) complained as well, asking to be switched to another coordinator, and instead they told me to write to three people every time I sent an email. So after all that complaining, she was beginning to write me back in reasonable time, and I was so happy, but then they dropped another bombshell. Someone on BDW suggested getting everything in writing, so I asked to get two things in writing that Faith had promised me. She had told me that I could bring my own photographer as long as they were on my guestlist (I asked about this BEFORE I hired my photographer), and that I could bring my own minister and they would credit me $500. Monica told me that unless I had these in writing, they couldn't honor it. That was my last straw. I have since taken my business elsewhere, and am very happy I did. It was just getting too stressful for me because I couldn't trust Monica. I am happy to hear that things have turned out well for people though! I was pretty sure they would do a good job, but the communication issues were driving me crazy, and I didn't have the time to deal with it. Sorry to be so negative, I was just very upset at the situation they put me in.

I have a great dressmaker, and am actually having my final fitting next weekend. I took advertisement photos of the Priscilla of Boston dress I wanted to copy and brought them to him. But he is in my hometown of Oklahoma City, which I see is quite far from you. Send me a private email if you are still interested despite the distance! Good luck!

Denise, Congratulations! You look like you had such a great time, and I am so happy for you after everything you have been through. You look gorgeous Dee, and Elizabeth, you did an amazing job!

Hi Everyone! I am having lot of problems with my current coordinator/site (which I will post in the appropriate section later), and am trying to switch to a new coordinator/site. I have been talking to Irene at Caribbean Blue Weddings, and she seems great so far. I just wanted to see if anyone had used them before, or heard of their work. Also, we are looking to have the reception at Mosquito Beach Hotel, and I wanted to see if anyone had done this or been there. Anything you ladies know would be helpful! THANKS!