ajs3531

thanks everyone! It was a total last minute decision (like 2 weeks before!) to book Claudia and she just happened to be available. In hindsight I would have booked the 5 hours instead of 3 hours since we didn't get much of the reception but other than that it was great!

Yay! We got our slideshow today and I keep watching it over and over : ) http://www.claudiaphoto.com/slidesho...ndrea_spencer/

Just got my pics back yesterday - think this one might be the 'hottest' : )

It's been two weeks since my wedding and I'm still thinking daily of things that I loved and things I wish I did different - here is some info that might be helpful to those planning DO AGAIN: -Go to Isla Mujeres Palace Resort. The WC, staff, location, wedding ceremony site was perfect. Wish we would have stayed on Isla the whole time instead of going to Cancun for honeymoon. -Do the legal ceremony at home first. We had our two best friends as witnesses and didn't advertise that we got married beforehad to anyone else since we didn't want there to be hurt feelings - not even our parents knew! We didn't wear wedding rings until the DW and consider that our real anniversary. It was much more simple this way. -Fly first class. I hate flying and this made it so much better. -Carefully plan out what I was packing. I laid out outfits for each day and ended up pretty much wearing everything I brought. It was probably the first time in my life I didn't overpack. -Make the flower canopy backdrop for the ceremony. This was last minute idea we did before we left with dollar store flowers and ended up looking amazing. -Used lots of sunscreen before the wedding. I was so happy I didn't have bad tan lines in my strapless dress. -Paid the extra $10 per person to have the dinner reception set up on the beach - so fun. -Stayed an extra night at the hotel after the wedding. We were so beat the next day that is was great we didn't have to pack up and travel. -Have my SIL do my makeup. We went to MAC counter couple days before we left and ended up great. -Have 2 days off work before I went back. Gave some time to unpack, do laundry, etc. -Do the little cake that came with the package. It was plenty big enough and everyone said it was really tasty. -Do the Welcome Cocktail Party and Sunset Catamaran cruise. We planned these two events the nights before the wedding. Really fun to hang out all day then people went back to their rooms, changed and got ready for the evening. -Get in good shape before the wedding. i lost 15lbs and felt great. -Made tip envelopes ahead of time for WC (gave her $100 and well worth it), photographer, justice of peace, harpist, etc. -I put a little frame up for my DH's mom who passed away that at the guestbook table. His dad and sister told me how much it meant to them. -Marry my DH! WISH I DID DIFFERENT: -Have someone during the night take me aside and have me take a few deep breaths! It was all so overwhelming I wish I would have just had a couple moments to really take it all in. -I wasn't 100% on my dress. I'd bought it years before and since I had it I didn't feel like I should buy a new one. I wish I would have at least gone and tried some on. My dress was great but probably not 'the one' -Used clips to secure my veil - it blew off during the ceremony! -Spent the extra money on the bouquet. I just did the one that came with the package of a dozen roses and it looked pretty skimpy : ( -Drank more water and less champagne!!! Have someone be your designated water lady for sure and give you water throughout the night. -Spent the extra money for photographer. So glad we went with outside photographer but 3 hours wasn't enough -Practiced my toast ahead of time. When a microphone was hanged to me all I could get out was a lame "thanks". Wish I would have thought of what I was going to say. -Got to the hotel one day before all my guests. It ended up working out okay but I think I would have been a lot less stressed if we had one day to get our bearings and set things up. -Not plan any day activities. People were happy just hanging at the pool. I planned a swimming with the dolphins excursion and people who rsvp'd before we left ended up not wanting to go and it was non-refundable. Only time I cried on whole trip was over dang dolphins! -Got a photo of the whole group. This is only photo I wanted and didn't get and still bums me out. Make sure you write down the absolute 3 must have photos on a sticky note and give to photographer. -Made a point to have 1 on 1 time with each of my guests. Sounds silly but you get so busy that afterwards I wish I would have had more time - you should make a list and just check off that you've had a few special words. We had 35 people and it would have been doable. -Getting the harpist is still debatable. I didn't hear it at all but some of my guests did and enjoyed the music - not sure it was worth the $400. -Told someone that the parasols were not just for decoration! The WC set them up but the guests didn't know they could use and it was HOT! Would have kept the beating sun off of them. -Worried about everyone else so much. We had 6 kids including 2 infants in Mexico and I worried myself sick before we left - they all ended up having a great time, no one got sick and it was a blast. -Did the ceremony barefoot. I just forgot to take off my flipflops. -Shortened the ceremony. It was REALLY hot out and people were just dying in that sun instead of listening - would have cut it to 15 minutes. -Packed my iphone charger, Woolite (washing swimsuits in sink), safety pins, scissors. -Brought more cash. Ended up taking it out of ATM at hotel a few times for a $15 fee. Good luck to everyone!

We got married at the Isla Mujeres Palace Resort on June 20 and it was absolutely perfect! Resort : A+ This is the smallest of the Palace Resorts (about 65 rooms). To get there you fly into Cancun then it’s 20 minute ride to the ferry dock and another 20 minute ferry ride (gorgeous!!) and finally a 10 minute cab ride to the resort. Sounds like a pain but it really wasn’t that bad – all 35 of our guests including 4 kids and 2 babies made it just fine. I cannot say enough good things about the staff at the resort. They were so kind and responsive it was unbelievable. The resort was small enough that it was easy to keep track of everyone and felt more like we rented our own private villa on the beach instead of a jumbo hotel. I’d say the only drawback is the beach which isn’t the best even though they have someone out there raking seaweed every morning! You can jump in the ocean off the dock or there are a ton of great beaches on the island which aren’t too far since it’s only 8 miles long by 1 mile wide! Wedding Coordinator: A++++++ Rebeca was once of the best things to happen during our wedding. I seriously bugged her with emails probably every day for months before the wedding and she was always so patient and responsive. When we met her at the hotel it was like meeting a friend and she exceeded all expectations. She worked her tail off the day of the wedding, got there early, stayed late etc. We really appreciated her and it I honestly didn’t have to worry about anything – she got every detail right to the point I didn’t even check out the area before the wedding and just trusted her and it was all perfect. Photographer: A We haven’t seen pics yet but I’m assuming they’ll be great! We hired Claudia Rodriguez just a few weeks before the wedding. I originally was just going to have a friend take photos but last minute decided I Needed one of those little fancy slideshows and luckily Claudia was available. She showed up on time, stayed out of the way and was really nice to work with. There are a couple shots I know we didn’t get, like one of the whole group, which I’m kinda bummed about. I’d given her a list but in hindsight I should have mentioned the must have’s to her. Flowers: C I got the free roses that came with my package and they were, well, free : ) I had debated the flowers and my advice to anyone else would be to splurge. Hair & Makeup: A My sil did my makeup which turned out just great. I had a lady in the salon (Rosie) do my hair and up until the time I was sitting in the chair still couldn’t decide if I wanted it up or down. It was SO hot that day I decided to go up and loved how it turned out. Rosie barely spoke any English so it was great I had pics. Music: B We hired the harpist for $400 and I couldn’t have even told you if he was there or not! I didn’t hear any music although a couple of my guests said he was great so who knows. We had the ipod for the reception and in hindsight I would have just used it for the ceremony also Ceremony: A The setup was breathtaking – just like I’d imagined it. To be honest, this was such a blur I barely remember any of it! I think there was just so much buildup and it was SO hot that it felt more dreamlike than anything else. We did the symbolic ceremony (we’d gotten legally married the day before we left for Mexico) and the officiant was nice but I’d only met her about a minute before it started. The sun was beating down on our guests and I was very happy I’d done the fans. I brought parasols which the WC lined the aisles with but no one told the guests they were to use them to block the sun! Oh well. The best part of the ceremony was the kiss at the end. My poor hubby was drenched in sweat by the end: ) Reception: A We paid the extra $10 per person to have the reception set up on the beach and it was perfect. Our WC even made a kids table that was absolutely adorable. We chose the Mayan buffet and it was so good. I do wish I had reminded someone to have me drink waster during the night because I kept having glass after glass of champagne and could have used some waters in there! We did some impromptu speeches that were very touching and just ended up dancing on the beach into the night – perfect. Overall I would highly recommend Isla Mujeres Palace Resort and would be happy to answer questions for anyone planning wedding there!

THANK YOU! I know that I've picked your brain so you've probably told me most of this and I'm sure it will be very helpful to other girls. 8 days till our wedding at the Isla Mujeres Palace and it's SO nice to have this info!!

Hi girls - I did the luggage favor tags from Beaucoup then got the box from another site (sorry, can't remember) and glued ribbon and sandollar on top. I'm going to put them at the dinner table during the reception and personalized with each person's name and address. Came to around $9 each.

hey girls - I'm getting married at the Isla Mujers Palace in 8 days! A couple of our guests are staying at the Privilege Aluxes and found this review that might be helpful: RE: Privelige Aluxes?: Isla Mujeres .info Message Board Archive

I would love to see pics of you in the dress! Quote: Originally Posted by Erika J Great Choice with Dress 1 !!! We are now dress twins!

Thanks so much everyone! And the winner is......Dress 1!! I feel more comfortable in it and was leaning towards it. And dress 2 (J Crew Sophia) came from ebay for $75 so not too worried about it - will probably do a TTD. I'll be sure to post pics. Thanks again!!

Dress 1 or Dress 2? Thanks ladies : ) Dress 1 Dress 2

Everything has been taken. Thanks & happy planning : )

Hi girls - getting all packed up and found these extras in my stuff. Hapy to give to anyone for free (hey, we all have spent enough $$ on these weddings - lets pass it on!) just send me a prepaid envelope. Here's what I have: Tow sizes plastic bags for OOT kits About 25 of the plastic tip/room key holder SOme wood craft sticks 4 door hangers Mini starfish and sanddollars Some other plastic bag type things

Hi Ladies - I'm already getting white lillies as part of my package at the hotel but I was thinking it would be really nice to have some colors in some of the photos. If anyone has a bouquet similiar to this one I'd be happy to borrow and return in perfect condition, or buy if it's not to $$$ since I already do have one bouquet - always wanting more! : ). Thanks! Destination Wedding Flower bouquet fresh touch real touch natural

Thanks guys! We were going to have our friend take pics but the more I think about it I really think I'd regret not having pro pics. Wish me luck! : )