JOSIE

soooooooooo jealous of all you girls. my wedding was november 2009 in rivieria maya. it was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!! you'll have a blast and the weather was PERFECT for me!!! congrats!

Congrats Ladies

Candy Velvet Hooter.... haha!

Quote: Originally Posted by vlvetter7 Josie- I just tried to send you a private message but your mailbox is full...I have a couple questions about your photographer, etc... sorry! I'll go through and delete some now!

those are so fun!!!!!!! i love the one with the football between your legs

wow cassie, you look incredible!!!!!!!! i LOVE it!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by samira26 Thanks ladies, so far all 6 guests insisted that they want to pay. i just didnot know what the right thing would be :-) Katie - I checked out ur photos in FB, its beautiful! btw where di you get ur earrings from? Samira Our guests that stayed elsewhere were total $*(%holes so we did not pay for them. But that is so sweet of you to think of doing that! Quote: Originally Posted by LadyTrunck Katie- You looked so beautiful and your guests looked like they were having a blast!!!!! I also love the bridesmaids dresses- such a great mix of colors, and they looked great on all of the girls! FI also wants to know- where is the cave bar?... he was pretty insistent on it haha Paige- your day is coming up so soon too- are you ready?? Looks like everything is coming together for you velvetter- so exciting when that happens. I think the guest pass is 100 if they are not staying at a sister Riu resort- but as you see by Josie’s post, it may have changed. IMHO, I would say that it is ok for them to pay themselves. You gave them the option of staying at your resort, and they chose not to. Of course, do whatever you feel, but I don’t think it would be expected that you pay for them. What do other ladies think? Hey Josie! How’s married life? Hey Ladies, sorry for my long absence! I've been terrible at keeping up with BDW but love to check back in and see how all the weddings are turning out. Married life is awesome!!! It helps that my husband is wonderful I think I did get 2009 pricing on the guests who didnt stay at our resort. I'm so sorry that I havent posted a review yet. I'm having a bad experience with my photog who is also a forum member and I didnt want to post something negative so I chose to post nothing. I'm thinking about writing a review and just not talking about the photography though. If you have questions let me know and I do have videos of our hotel suite, etc!

Quote: Originally Posted by samira26 Ladies do any of you know how much a guess pass costs? I have 6 guests will be staying at their time share so will need a day pass but just wasn't sure how much it was I think it was $80 not sure. Also the guests offered to pay it themselves but i feel bad making them pay, if you were in my place would you have paid for the day passes or let the guests pay? Not sure what the right thing will be. For my wedding in November, our guests staying at a different resort paid $80/person. Katie - I saw your pics on FB........SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!! I'm glad you had such an awesome time. It makes me re-live my whole wedding I'm so happy for you!

Quote: Originally Posted by sammysgirl I wasn't going to get my hair done but I think I probably should or I'll stress out about it and have a meltdown when it looks like shyt lol! I had a trial here, so I knew what I wanted. But warning, when I went to Mexico they were able to pretty closely match the style, but they literally LOADED my hair with hairspray...excessive amounts. They don't speak very good english and were just talking about how the weather is different there and thats why they have to spray so much. LOL.

Best of luck to your MOH - that is so sad Sometimes, no matter how bad we want things to work out, they are just out of our control. I respect her for her effort in trying to make her marriage work, but if he walks out, at the end of the day there is nothing she can do but be forced to try and start to move forward. With two little kids, she willl have all the reason in the world to live, love, and continue on for them, and her! you're being a great friend. I'd give it some time and I'm sure she will bring your wedding up to you if she has concerns about what to do!

Quote: Originally Posted by KimmyG Welcome back MRS Shellk!!!! Your pictures are beautiful! Despite the rain, the dramatic skyline is very sexy! I'd like to hear about your meeting with the wedding coordinators: was it difficult to make your decisions on the spot? Dinner: where did you guys eat? Recommendations? Music when walking down the aisle. Recommendations?! WELCOME HOME!!! I walked down the aisle to Jonathan Cain's version of bridal march.... its so different and beautiful! YouTube - Jonathan Cain (Journey) Bridal March Walking out we did "bright side of the road" by van morrison Bright Side Of The Road by Van Morrison my favorite place to eat was the japanease place...because I LOVE sushi. I didnt get a chance to eat at Chili's so I can't share in Lisa's love for it! The meeting with the coordiators was fun. It was a little stressful, but overall it wasnt too bad. I already had everything planned out in my mind in terms of what I wanted - but did end up getting extra flowers to run the aisles. did anyone else get the video? i paid 1,000 and my video is pretty crappy. its just really blurry and the sound quality is horrible. I'm considering taking it to someone around here to fix up. even though its bad, i'm still glad I have it!!! it was so fun to watch it back again!!! Quote: Originally Posted by sammysgirl When making a hair appointment at the spa did you just call them directly? I did everything online. Theres a spa reservation form online for brides and members of the bridal party. They will send you an email back checking for openings and you have to respond "CONFIRM" of they won't hold your spots!

Quote: Originally Posted by butterfly4kathy2 OMG!! Tux is SOOOOOOOOOO CUTE! I loooooooooooove Aussies!!! Both of my dogs are Aussie. Well Cash is half Aussie and half Border Collie! They are the best, and smartest dogs!!! Yay!!! I love it!!! I grew up with Border Collie's so I'm familiar with this type of breed. So excited to know theres a fellow aussie owner!!! Thank you everyone for all the sweet comments! Doggy daycare sounds like a blast, I think Tux would love it! But I work from home now so I can play with him all day and I'm loving it!

Hi Ladies We just got a puppy last month - an australian shepherd! We named him Tux! Here are some pics below. The first few are when we got him, and the last one I took this weekend........they grow so fast!!! seriously love him to death!!!!!!

Congrats ShellK!! You look so beautiful! I'm so happy for you! Sorry I have been gone for so long girls! Katie are you getting excited Did you find chair bows?? I completely forgot to respond to you!!! I'm so sorry!

congrats girls!!!!!!! Nora, nice siggy pic :) I love that it's from my wedding!!!!!!!!!!!!

hi girls. I got a PM from another member of the forum asking to buy my chair bows. I have about 50 and they are orange. Can you girls confirm that you are not interested or let me know if you are? I told her I would double check to make sure my RIU girls didnt want to buy them. Thanks!

ShellK - Absolutely! Especially if you have the paperwork confirming you purchased the 2009 package, I promise it will not be a problem!

Nadine!!!!!! I seriously cried reading this I am so happy its your turn!!!!! I loved his proposal story, you guys are SO cute!!! Can't wait to see your wedding pictures!!!!!!!! congrats!!!!!!!!

Thanks! I love them My mom got them online here: Elegance by Carbonneau Bridal Shoes

MrsMarch- We also didnt have an afterparty...we paid exta for the DJ to stay until around 12....it was a long day with the wedding starting at 3 and having a 3 hour cocktail hour....so pretty much all of our guests went to bed after the reception!

Quote: Originally Posted by dana Wow Josie you TTD pics look awesome. Did you use your real dress or did you get another one for the pics? Shelk-can't wait to see hear about your BD pics. I just got back from pittsburgh (a five hour drive) b/c a very good friends dad died of pancreatic cancer. While I was there I found an Alfred Angelo bridal store and I decided to go in and just look. The good news is I think I may have found my dress. The bad news is it is an exclusive dress to that store! They don't even have it on the online or there catalogs. What to do?? That's a long drive for a dress! sorry to hear about your friends dad how horrible! I used my dress Quote: Originally Posted by KLaBate54 Dana- I'm sorry to hear about your friend's dad. As for the dress, I don't think it's too far to go if you think it's THE ONE! I ended up getting mine about three hours away. I did try on a lot of dresses in my area first before traveling just to be sure going that far was necessary. Katie, I'll send you all the info now! Sorry for the delay Quote: Originally Posted by sammysgirl Lisa/Josie- what kind of shoes did you girls wear for the ceremony? Looks like I missed this...these are the shoes I wore: they were insanely comfortable!!!

Thanks Lisa! I loved them both. I know it sounds cliche but I liked RIU better for the wedding and secrets better for the Honeymoon. They're so different! Secrets is definitely more upscale, private, and smaller....but RIU has a better party atmosphere for a group! At secrets there are no wristbands, towel cards, or reservations for restaurants. Those were huge perks. The food was amazing and all the restaurants were open from 6-11. The drinks at the pool & beach were bigger as well. Secrets was smaller, more wooded, and the beach was a little bit brighter with whiter sand. it was VERY relaxing and romantic... but RIU was spectacular, especially the rooms & service. The people were a little more friendly at RIU and the waiters were definitely more fun!

me too!!!!!!!!!

shell- no problem! sammysgirl- thanks! they are from my TTD... I got a few unedited sneak peeks today.... here they are! it was overcast in the afternoon when we did the shoot...but i think it made the pics turn out kinda stormy and romantic looking. cant wait to see the rest! we even got in the fountains and pool

Ah!! I'm supposed to get automatic email notifications if someone posts in this thread...so i thought no one had been chatting. sorry for my delay but here are my answers! Lisa- I didnt get all my shower thank-you's out either, and my shower was over a month before my wedding, so don't feel bad! I'd send a combo...just make it extra nice! Quote: Originally Posted by shellk josie/lisa - help me tonight before i go to bed please.i have received THE EMAIL today and on there my wedding date is correct but at the bottom in red (i think thats the only part of the letter they change)it says my meeting date is the same day as the wedding at 11am.please tell me you dont have a meeting on the day of the wedding?? im sorry to sound dramatic i am feeing really emotional today.fi is working away all week and we have been looking forward to receiving this forever and it comes whilst hes away.and i cant even speak to him for a few hours either. i am really excited tho now omg IM GETTING MARRIED TO LOVE OF MY LIFE absolutely not! my meeting was 2 days before my wedding. I'm sure it was just a typo!!!!!!!! don't worry AT ALL!!!!!! So Happy for you and can't wait to see your pics and hear about your experience! you're such a sweetheart! Quote: Originally Posted by sammysgirl Lisa- did you take chair bows? Were the white covers automatically on the chairs? I know this wasnt to me, but i took my chairbows.... i got them for .99 and at riu they were $4. The white is included. Quote: Originally Posted by Paige2010 Josie and Lisa thank you so much for all your info! Your pics are gorgeous! I'm so glad to hear you both had excellent weather and a great time! Josie- where are your BM dresses from, and their shoes?? I really love them! Did you take the matching chair bows your self? I got my BM dresses at JC Penny for $25 dollars a piece!!!!!!!! They were amazing!! It was seasonal though so I don't think they have those exact ones anymore....but I'd definitely check the department stores. Especially during prom/homecoming and the other high school dance events. All of my bm's were tiny...so i was able to get these from the juniors department! The girls got their own shoes... i just told them "gold"...so you can probably tell from the pics that the shoes did not all match! Also yes, i brought the chair bows down, and still have them if you want. I have about 55 orange ones. They were small and easy to pack! Quote: Originally Posted by DreamingofSunshine Hi Everyone, Joise - your wedding looked amazing!! did you bring the chair bows and fans yourself or was it through RIU i was wondering what you girls are doing / did in terms of the photographer. Did you just use the one they recommended or did you bring your own. I was kind of hoping to bring in an outside photographer and was told it would be 100$ for a day pass for them.. however i never really realized how much wedding photographers are.... what do you guys think is a reasonable budget also about the reception i remember that some of you girls are having a private reception with a dj. i'm worried that my guest count wont be enough for a private reception and i dont want to pay extra if i just have 25 people. but then again i dont want to miss out on the first dance and father daughter dance.... any ideas? Lynn Yes, I brought my own chair bows (not the white covers though, those are provided) I also brought the fans down which i thought was a beautiful touch... everyone LOVED them! My photographer was flown in and I DID NOT pay any $100/day fee. I simply told the resort that my guests were photographers and would be taking my pictures, and they never charged me! I would go that route if you're planning to fly someone down. I won a BDW contest so I just had to pay for flight and hotel, I had 2 photographers and it ended up being around $1400 total which I think was very reasonable! But depending on what you want, you can spend up to 5 or 6K. I didn't want to go over 2, but that is just me personally! In terms of the private reception. They will work with you. Even if you have a small guest count I'm sure they'd still do a private reception. The DJ was one of the best parts of my entire night and I couldnt imagine my wedding without him....... he was a BLAST!!!!!!!! So don't sacrifice