smith3576

I like the Salem too. I love the detailing on #1, but it looks like a dress that might look trendy years from now; #2 is more timeless to me. But most important is how you feel and look in them! Go with your gut! They really are both beautiful!

I have one of the best bridemaids, and she designed our invites. I LOVE them so much - I told her she really should market them! She even printed them out for us. The only think I did to them was to add a red crystal at the base of the flower (red is our accent color along with the blues). The invites were so much more fun that I thought they would be! Jamie+Matt_Tweaks.pdf

Sorry I never responded to questions - it's been an insane month with work and my wedding shower (yeah!) and bachelorette party (double yeah!). Now I am back to seriously planning because suddenly the wedding seems so close!! Most of the bonfire questions have been answered (we are doing this without dinner), although Rebecca told us that the bonfire lasts until the fire burns out. She did not say whether they would give us extra wood. Would be good to ask. You have to be off the beach by 10:30 pm. We are going to bring some chocolate and graham crackers to have at it too. I still need to find out about whether that includes a beverage waitstaff. If not, we might also bring some alcohol down there with us too. She said Tuesday nights are Caribbean night and start at 7:pm. I'm not sure about the other nights. I was concerned about it interfering with our wedding but she seemed to think it wouldn't because at that time we would be at dinner and our music would drown out theirs. Has anyone had issues with this? Has anyone done floating candles in the pool? I feel like there are so many details to consider!!!!

We've had some of the same problems. We couldn't find any actual crime stats for Mexico from an "objective" source other than that the type of stuff that's been listed (the US gov doesn't keep those stats) so we included stuff like what been listed. We didn't include the US gov travel warning page because when you read it it isn't specific to PV and so actually made Mexico sound worse (IMHO). We also included some crime stats from US cities concerned guests were from/visited, etc. This helped to show that even places they consider "safe" have crime.

Slapsappyhappy: I can't imagine that it would be cheaper to do it yourself. We ordered 100 save the dates (postcards) that we uploaded our own image to (color front, black and white back), rush ordered the process, and paid $28!! and they came out great.

Rebecca told us that they only needed to know 11 days out what our food options will be (we are having 2 entrees also). She also told us we could bring in an outside cake. And that they would put up whatever decorations we brought but made it sound like there wouldn't be a charge. I guess I better double check. I love all the detail stuff on decorations! I'm in the process now of planning all of that out so it's really helpful!

In the US. It was easier for us for lots of logistical reasons. And we wanted a friend as the officiant. No one knows, though, except us, our TA, and the officiant. We are still counting the wedding day as the REAL day - we figured we kind of get 2!

We are not planning on tipping our photog as she owns her company, it's not cheap! and we are paying for her meals. I like the card/rec idea (and waiting until you get the pictures). We are definitely planning on bringing some money for tipping generally and recommended our guests consider it also (on our wedding website). We have read that pesos are appreciated so we plan to get pesos for that. We are also having friends as the officiant and DJ, so they are getting gifts and we plan to do something similar for Rebecca as others have mentioned in lieu of money. In terms of the wedding, how much have people tipped the waitstaff/barstaff at the reception (cocktail hour and sit down dinner)? I'm really not sure how much is appropriate. We have a small wedding, about 40 people, and the reception/cocktail hour will last 5 hours.

One of my bridesmaids designed our invites - I love them so I had to share!!! They are less beachy but I still wanted a Mexico - beach feel. I told her she should go into the invite business!!! Jamie+Matt_Tweaks.pdf

We love ours too!

jamieandmatt1109.com

We did a postcard. We got engaged on a beach, and thought ahead enough to write our STD message in the sand on that beach! We took a picture of it and then put it on a postcard using Vista Print (cost us $27 for 100!). They were also inexpensive to mail out, and fitting with a DW and personal because it was the beach we were engaged on.

Hi Jaclyn (that's my sister's name!) We are using Elizabeth Lloyd. We primarily looked at PV photogs because they were cheaper even with just paying travel expenses for out of area photogs and there are a number of talented PV photogs! We also really seriously considered Carlos Melnick and someone else i've forgotten his name now. Finally decided on Elizabeth even though she is more expensive just because we loved her style. Carlos seemed like an excellent deal and also had great pictures. They were all very responsive. This was probably our hardest decision!!!

I haven't done the logo yet, but have been reading through the threads on various options. I'll post them when I get one done, but I don't think it will be difficult. They were so cheap (it worked out to less than 90 cents a cup) but don't look cheap. So if it ends up being something that guests throw away, I won't really care! We are mainly doing it to use at the resort.

Okay, really random question, but does anyone know if Dreams gives out straws with their drinks? I like the idea of leaving stuff behind for future brides...I'll do that too Our colors are navy, white, teal and light blue.

I think it's fine to register at as many places as you want. The more options you give guests, the better! We are definitely registering at REI and doing a honeymoon registry, and we are going to look at Pottery Barn, Williams and Sonoma, Crate and Barrel and Macy's and register at any or all of them depending on what we like where. Although after reading this, we might look into Bed Bath and Beyond and Target too. Is the quality worth the difference in price? We're not doing fine china, so maybe it doesn't matter.

I ordered these and they are great. I order the 50 for $14. They arrived quickly, are well made, and have a tight fitting lid. The only thing is that the hole isn't as large as I would like, but it still fits a straw. (Shipping was expensive, though, but they still worked out cheap). They look just like the picture.

I think it depends on how your rooms are arranged. We had a block of rooms that were reserved until a time period that were released after the deadline date (May for our Nov wedding) and we didn't have to pay for any unused rooms. Guests booking now are just working with our TA to get the best rates they can. We didn't give our guests a deadline; we just let them know when the block of rooms would no longer be available, and let them know that the hotel generally books up a few months out, and encouraged them to book as soon as they knew they were going to ensure they get the room they want for the days they want. Our rsvp is going to be for the end of Sept (our wedding is the beginning of Nov) but that is more geared around our planning than the rooms. Your TA should be able to give you an idea of when/if your hotel tends to book up, although since that's a newer hotel and with all the stuff going on in Mexico these days, it might be harder to predict. We were told ours books up generally by the end of summer, and we are finding that some room classes have limited availability now for our dates. Good luck!

So I wandered into our Dollar Store. I found some paper lanterns that run on batteries....they aren't huge, but for a $1! They are packaged flat and pop up into circles.

Thanks Britsy! That's a good idea!

Congratulations Roovian! Try searching for vilas...there are a few threads on here with a bunch of good reviews.

I JUST typed out this LONG response and the server froze on me! Let's see if I can remember what I said...and then I HAVE to get back to work!!! Congratulations KLila!!! Jaclyn - I'm getting married on the 3rd! Maybe we'll overlap? When are you getting there? Here are some of my thoughts on things that have been asked lately: We have a great TA - Jewel Ramos with Worldview Travel. She got us great rates with a room block that didn't require us putting down money per room and didn't require us to book all of the rooms. And she got the rates lowered and hotel credits (for like the spa) after people had booked them when the swine flu dropped room rates (yes, people actually got refunds!). She even coordinated my main wedding arrangements; now that I am working on details, I'm working with Rebeca directly. Rebeca has been fantastic and very responsive. We are using the basic wedding package (free because of the number of nights we booked our hotel room). I think in terms of the packages you just have to figure out about how many people you'll have and what you want and then determine what is most cost effective. For us, it was just using the basic package and then adding on a few things since we didn't want most of the higher package stuff. She told us that we could rent a dance floor if we wanted, so I don't think it's required. We decided to do the reception on terrace, but if everyone is barefoot, I think dancing on the sand is fine. We are using the white chairs that come for free, so I don't know anything about the chair fees. I definitely recommend asking questions and clarifying things because sometimes things are more flexible. For example, asking about the cake stuff, we found out we could substitute the cake for the dessert and not pay anything extra (so no extra $ for the extra people). Or we could bring in an outside cake for no charge. Or the dessert and cake would be $5 for each person over 20 (I think it said $7 or $10 on the package). So it's worth clarifying and asking about things. We still haven't decided what we're going to do because it seems like the general consensus is the cakes aren't that great so maybe we'll just do the dessert no cake. But it seems like we need a cake, so maybe just a small cake. I don't know. Too many decisions! We're also still looking for feedback on the wedding menu options for all married gals still around. Let's see, what else? Oh, our photographer (Elizabeth Lloyd) said a 4:30 ceremony (assuming a 20-30 min ceremony) in Nov is fine. That gives about 45 min for pictures and then still some day light for the cocktail hour. Even though the sun sets at 5:20, there is still light for a while. I think we're going to keep it for that ....the later the better because I'm worried about it being hot...but if we get there and it seems too late we'll move it back half an hour. We figured that since most of our guests would have had to travel to the wedding any way, they are probably saving money. The only thing that is slightly more is airfare, but that is pretty much offset by the savings on hotel, food, drink, rental car, etc. AND they are getting a vacation! But we worried about that too. We finally just figured out that you have to do what you want, and the "important" people will be there. Oh, and I have a question for ladies who have been there...instead of the traditional rehearsal dinner, we are thinking of doing a beach bonfire. Is it too hot at night for a bonfire in Nov? Does anyone know? Or, and one more question! Someone had mentioned that the nightly activities could interfere with the wedding activities. Has anyone had that experience? I figured it would have come up by now, but you never know! Thanks! Now, back to work! Jamie

I love the swimsuit idea! But there is NO way I could buy swimsuits for them and be confident they would want to wear them...they all have such different body types! I am so jealous of everyone who has already figured their gifts out! I didn't think it'd be this hard. Is everyone giving their MOH something extra? I feel like I should, partly because I was the MOH for my MOH and she did. And she's coming out to the wedding a week early to help. But one of my other BMs is doing my invites, and another is emceeing our wedding. And another is coming out a week early too, plus another week a few months before the wedding. So I feel like they are all going the extra mile. Do you think the MOH would feel slighted if I didn't give her something extra?

Has anyone arranged it so that there was dancing during dinner? Or has everyone just done all the dancing starting after dinner? What about doing the couples first dance and parent dances, etc. during dinner?

Is there any way to keep the cross fade if you put it on your I Pod? We weren't going to use a lap top.