hanna

Thanks for all of your advice. We have heard so many nice things about Old Town Arlington. We had originally ruled it out because we felt it was too far away from downtown DC and all the "action". But now thinking if we should reconsider. Our first choice has been the Dupont Circle area (although super expensive). We really want to be in walking distance to restaurants/bars/shopping. Any advice? Is Old Town boring? We like to be active and go out on the weekends.

Also, if you email Olga Ramos, the Guest Reception Manager prior to your stay, you can see about getting a complementary upgrade. Therefore, if you pay for the Jr. Suite, she can upgrade to Mayan Suite (but Not Royal Suites). Or if you get a regular room, see about upgrading to Jr. Suite. "Olga Ramos" <[email protected]>, We are thinking about just doing the regular room and upgrading to Jr Suite. Not sure if Mayan Suite is worth the extra $$. Seems like it is just the outdoor shower that is different.

OMG, no way, that is wayyy to similar to what she made. She is always so defensive..grr

I tried to search too with no luck. If you really wanted to know you could message her on myspace: MySpace.com - www.myspace.com/357747576 Sounds like they wore their own wardrobe, so thats why there isn't really any info on it. It might be too flowy for a wedding dress though

Congrats & Welcome. I'm getting married at the GP June 5, 2009. Staying at the Colonial, wedding at 5pm on Kantenah beach, then private reception at La Laguna. Happy Planning, let me know if you have any questions!

I guess it depends on thr resort. If you look online for prices, that resort is $350/night for 2 guests in Nov 08 (Nov 09 prices arent available yet). So that is round $2400 per couple. I think it is so pricy cause of the resort, not your TA. If you are really concerned you would probably have to switch resorts. We chose our resort, Grand Palladium Riviera Maya cause it is 5* and nice, but our group rate is $170 per night per couple, cause we wanted to find somewhere affordable for everyone. Although in Cancun, your guests could always stay at a different resort and just come in for the wedding. Although be sure to find out what the day pass cost is for non-guests.

That is so frustrating, especially because you have come so far had had your invitations printed already. That is a really challenging situation, however I would be pretty dissapointed not having the photag that I dreamed of. You can consider doing a TTD with Del Sol offsite?? Or, what if you book their minimum package, and supplement it with your own photag? I would say try to figure out all options before you switch, but if you can't work anything out, consider switching. We are getting married at the Grand Palladium, Riviera Maya, and they allow outside photags, so I can only imagine how frustrated you are.

Voted! Good luck!

It is super pretty! I love it, I think you should be stoked you found your dress!!

My vote actually is for #2. I think it is beautiful. Although I love #1 except not totally fond about the lace under the waist. Slightly distracting, but omg, the back and the fabric on the bottom is gorgeous! I think overall though I like #2 better

I love them. What was the final price after imprint charges, shipping, tax ? Those are exactly what I have been looking for, although worried about transporting them all down to Mexico.

I think it is pretty normal! I got really nervous when I was putting our deposit down on our photographer, so I waited a week, talked it over, then did it. I feel better now that it is done, but it is normal to second guess and be worried. But, just reassure yourself the reasons that you chose to make this decision in the first place.

We are going to do a joint party at Coco Bongo 2 days before the wedding. We are staying in the Riviera Maya at the Grand Palladium, so we are renting a bus from AGI for $500 to take us to Coco Bongo and back. If you are staying in Cancun, there are a lot of party-hopper tours available. Coco Bongo is a lot of fun though, especially if you get a private table. I recommend you contact the activity director at your hotel to see what days they have events.

Make sure you use their "free" items sale where you just pay for shipping. I highly recommend Vistaprint. I agree, don't pay extra for the fast shipping, it doesn't make much difference. We got our STD magnets, STD calendar magnets, tentiative rsvp and final rsvp postcards, calendar, tshirt, hat, pens, letterhead, post it notes, thank you cards, large postcards. We uploaded some images, which costs about $5, and they payed for some extra envelopes for $5, and then payed for shipping. Everything was under $50. Awesome!

Heres a link to the Bose site. $400 for a portable one. If you look up where a bose store is in your area, you can go there and try it out. See how loud it goes and how the sound is. SoundDock Portable Digital Music System - Bose iPod Speakers and iPod Docking Stations - iPod Accessories

We have one at home and it gets pretty loud. It would be ok for first dance, it just isn't super great when it comes to base and dance music. You could splurge and get the bose docking station. Its more expensive, but it sounds great. Hey, if you are spending a lot to rent speakers, might as well invest in a bose docking station you can keep.. hmm might just look into this myself

I emailed Claudia Rodriguez to confirm she does in fact recommend their work and here is what she said: we DO refer their work as an option when couples are on a budget, they are a group of photographers and I think you can trust them, I've heard good things about them but I don't know them personally.-Claudia Rodriqez So, I have put my $100 deposit down to hold them for our wedding.. YAY!

DWandMJ, here is the price list that I got emailed from Mexico Wedding Photography: Wedding Photo Package I 70 pics 4x6 (mix of color and B&W photos and 10 B&W with a hint of color included) Ceremony, toast and cutting of the cake (right after the ceremony) group picture and Bride and Groom portrait by the ocean. time aprox of photographern service 90 min CD with the files in High Resolution and Photo Album. Price $660.00 Usd Wedding Photo Package II 80 pictures 4x6 (including 20 b&w) 10 pics 5x7 (3 b&w) 3 pic 8x10 (1 b&w , 2 color) Bride getting ready, Ceremony, Bride and Groom portrait by the beach, group photo, wedding party and family. Time aprox of photographer service 3 hours CD with the files in High Resolution and Photo Album. Price $978.00 Usd (this is the one I chose. Doing from Ceremony to about an hour into the reception) Wedding photo package III 180 photos 4x6 (including 60 b&w) 15 pics 5x7 6 pics 8&10 (3 color and 3 b&w) Bride Getting Ready. Ceremony. Bride and groom. Wedding Party. Cocktail. Bride and groom, Wedding Party, Ceremony , family and reception. time aprox 5 Hrs CD with the files in High Resolution and Photo Album. Price $2033.00 Usd Extra hour $335.00 Usd Wedding Video Packages WEDDING VIDEO I Includes: -Ceremony -Videostudio by the beach. -Includes digital and special effects, edition, music, titles. -Time aprox of cameraman service 90 min. -Your DVD will be aprox 30-40 min long. -1 professional digital cameras SONY DVR-2100. -Full Digital edition. -Master in DVD with interactive menus. -Ideal for 2-30 or more guests Price $580.00 Usd WEDDING VIDEO II Includes: -Bride getting ready -Ceremony -Videostudio by the beach. -Cocktail, -Includes digital and special effects, edition, music, titles. -Time aprox of cameraman service 3 hours -Your DVD will be aprox 60 min long. -1 professional digital cameras SONY DVR-2100. -Full Digital edition -Master in DVD with interactive menus. -Ideal for 30-70 or more guests Price $978.00 Usd WEDDING VIDEO III Includes: -Bride getting ready -Ceremony -Videostudio by the beach. - Cocktail -Includes digital and special effects, edition, music, titles. -Time aprox of cameraman service 5 hours - DVD will be aprox 90-120 min long. -1 professional digital cameras SONY DVR-2100. -Full Digital edition -Master in DVD with interactive menus. -Ideal for 70 or more guests Price $1972.00 Usd Extra hour $335.00 Thank you!!! Best Regards Marlet Guzman Mexican Wedding Photos [email protected] MEXICAN WEDDING PHOTOS

June 5, Grand Palladium, Riviera Maya (Lexico... how have I not met you yet! We are going to be checking out on June 7th, so not sure if I will see you there! Ashley Morgan is also getting married there on June 12th I think) Lets see what I have done: ~ Resort & ceremony booked (June 5, 5pm ceremony on Kantenah Beach, 7-11pm private reception at La Laguna) ~ Rooms booked (held 15 rooms so far for guests.) ~ Mailing STD's tomorrow: STD magnet, travel brochure and tentiative RSVP postcard ~ Got everything for invites, just need to print and assemble (vellum and cardstock from papersandmore.com) ~ Starting on OOT bags - made first aid kits, bought fabric as I am attempting to make OOT bags themselves... ~ Went dress shopping in August, but didn't like anything. Started working out 4x a week... dress shopping on hold until I lose 10 lbs. ~ Wedding party picked and BM's ordered their dress ~ Photographer booked so... feeling good.. I feel like there are a lot of little things I still need to do, but feel like I have a pretty good foundation.

Has anyone heard anything about or booked with Mexican Wedding Photos: Miguel Razo? I am about to put down our deposit, but trying to find anyone that has worked with them. I found out about them on this forum and they were recommended by Claudia's team. I have been working with Marlet Guzman with Mexican Wedding Photos and I really like the photos that are posted on their website: Mexican Wedding Photos.com

We are sending out a tentiative RSVP postcard as well. We also encouraged people to tentiative rsvp on our website. I pretty much have an idea of who is planning on attending, but I think it is good to get a more accurate idea.

We really wanted our wedding to be affordable for our guests. We are staying at the Grand Palladium, Riviera Maya and are booking our rooms directly through the resort. Our rate is $85 pp/pn, and $49 for children between 3-12. The advertised rate for this hotel is much more, close to $150 pp/pn, but because we are booking as a group, paying in one lump sum payment to the hotel, we were able to get this lower rate. THis also means we have to deal with collecting checks for payment, but we put it together with our RSVP, so if people want to book in the block, they have to send a post dated check with the rsvp. We have an ING savings account that we are auto transfering money to each month so we can afford the wedding without going into debt.

We are paying for our wedding on our own too. I budgeted $1000 for photography, so Del Sol was out for me. I found Mexico Wedding Photos, which was recommended by Claudia Rodriguez since she was over our budget too. Mexico Wedding Photos is a similar style to Del Sol. Worth checking out: MEXICAN WEDDING PHOTOS I really wanted to splurge on photography, but we are moving in December, I have to find a new job, and want to save up for grad school, so trying to keep within our budget so we don't go in debt.

Delta and I am sure some other airlines allow 2 checked bags for international flights. Otherwise we are just going to have to pay for the 2nd luggage to bring stuff down in. We are limiting ourselves to one suitcase of 50lbs for all OOT bags and wedding decor... It adds up fast!

My FI is an officer in the Coast Guard, and will be moving to DC in January. I have started looking at housing and jobs, quite overwhelming! If anyone knows the best places to live, I would love to hear your advice. I have done research online and sounds like the Adams Morgan/Logan Circle area is pretty popular. We really want to live where there is stuff to do, nightlife, restaurants, culture.. We are 28, no kids, so we want to be able to walk to things. I have been looking at apartments.com and craigslist to get an idea about housing. Not sure if anyone knows of any other good resources. Thanks!