In true BDW form it just wouldn’t be right if I didn’t start my thread the way everyone else does I honestly do not know what I would have done without this forum. Thank you sooooooo much to Tammy for creating the most amazing place for destination wedding everything. Tammy has been extremely supportive through some very difficult times. (Mexicana going bankrupt and our flights being cancelled lol) and lots of other times. I can’t believe my time is here!!!!!!! We leave in a few short hours and I could not wait to post my planning thread. I waited until the very last minute because I did not want any chance of FI seeing my dress, lingerie and other goodies lol A huge shout out to my Royal brides!!!! Everyone has been so awesome and many have given me so many ideas. I couldn’t pull this day off without them. There are just so many people I want to thank but we would be here all night lol so thank you to everyone. PS sorry my camera broke so a lot of these pictures are not the best, they were taken on my iphone sorry S0 here goes…it all started at La Tortuga Hotel & Spa in Playa del Carmen. The funny part is I had surprised FI with this trip for his birthday. I truly had no idea. I never shared our engagement story but literally it is something out of a movie lol. If you would like to read the story grab a glass of wine and visit www.jnj.wedsite.com to read all about it. This is my ring that FI had custom made and it just blows me away every time I look at it if you turn it over it has to small hearts embedded it n on the back. It’s more than I ever dreamed of getting. It is from Michaels Jewelers in Milford Connecticut. For any east coast ladies this place is amazing! The best customer service. They worked with FI to make exactly what he wanted.
And here it is with the band which we also got custom made.
Here is FI’s ring that we got an Etsy from titaniumknights – He just wanted a simple titanium ring and both of us loved this one. They were great to work with and even engraved it with our monogram and wedding date. http://www.etsy.com/people/titaniumknights?ref=ls_profile Next was the website. We immediately chose www.wedsite.com.com. They were just different than the others I had seen and had the option for guests to RSVP. We also offered for guest to RSVP by mail or phone but everyone used the site and it saved me so much time! You can check it out at www.jnj.wedsite.com After the website came the save the date. I designed it myself in Photoshop and had them ordered on vistaprint.com. Vista has the best and most affordable prices! We just did a large fridge magnet and it was the best decision we made. Our guests all put them on their fridge and it was an easy way to remember our website. We than sent out invitations 6 months before our RSVP date. I designed them in Photoshop and purchased all the paper and envelopes from http://www.paperandmore.com/ awesome company great prices and they will also cut your paper to size. We bought ribbon from Joanne Fabrics and also made the monogram tags with a hole puncher from Joanne Fabrics. We had the wedding invitation and also added the rehearsal/welcome dinner invite in the pocket. This was truly a labor of love because FI actually put all these together I purchased a stamp on Etsy for our return address from lovestocreatestamps. I absolutely love it and I will use it for life now. http://www.etsy.com/people/lovetocreatestamps?ref=ls_profile After invitations came the dress. It was the first one I tried on. I got dragged to 8 other stores and still nothing compared. I bought it at The White Dress by the Shore in Clinton Connecticut and I cannot say enough how amazing this place is. http://www.thewhitedressbytheshore.com/ They go above and beyond. It is called Holly and it is by Modern Trousseau. I ended up adding a halter to the dress. Here it is on the model And me Here is my hair inspiration, again sorry I know the pictures are not that great My flowers are all orchids so I decided to have one in my hair and my MOH is going to as well. The orchid in this picture is exactly what I was looking for. Here is my bouquet also all white orchids, My shoes were such a steel!! I am a shoe girl big, big, big time and I found these Cole Haan the one’s that have the nike air pump in them. They are very comfortable and of course cute lol. I bought them on Neiman and Marcus. Shoe clips, head band and one pair of earrings shown were from Etsy Seller Lottie Da http://www.etsy.com/shop/lottiedadesigns I decided I wanted the orchid instead of the headband so I am going to wear the head band for the welcome dinner. The other two pairs of earrings are from Express and I can’t decide of any of the three pairs which ones I am going to wear lol. For my something old I am going to be carrying FI’s grandmothers hanker chief. She also had it on her wedding day. For the welcome/rehearsal dinner I am wearing this dress from BCBG Garter from Beneath The Gown in Clinton Connecticut and lingerie for the night as well. The panties for the night of the wedding say “I Do†. Josie the owner did my alterations and she is amazing! Her store is up stairs from where I bought my dress http://www.beneaththegown.com/ For the girls and my maid of honor, the dress is by Alfred Angelo, http://www.alfredangelo.com/ it is chiffon and sunshine yellow. They all look amazing in it. They did get them shortened and in the picture the model is pulling it to one side. The dress actually falls closer to the body. Sorry did not have a better picture except for this one of the girls getting them fitted. They are going to be carrying parasols which I purchased from Asian Ideas, http://www.asianideas.com/paper.html they are really good quality and came packaged really well. For their gifts I am paying for hair and makeup and got them these cute beach bags, flip flops from Old Navy, shorts from Old Navy, and I designed and had tank tops custom made for them. Sorry did not get a chance to get pics of the shirts Next up the boys. Pants are from Cole Haan, shoes and belts from Bass, Ties from Macy’s and shirts from Barneys. The boys were easy J FI’s suite is also from Barneys but unfortunately I don’t have a picture. He’s being a brat lol, since he does not get to see the dress he won’t let me see the suite so…..pics coming after the wedding. The guys outfits are FI’s gift to them. The ceremony will be happening in the Gazebo at the Royal. Instead of the regular covered chairs we are going to do the tiffany chairs and have our ceremony programs hanging off of them. Our cocktail hour is going to be in the garden right behind the Gazebo and after a mariachi band is going to walk us over to kool beach club where we are having the reception. The second image is the exact set up we asked for at kool. Ok more fun details now: This is one of my most favorite details, I bought a hanger that says my new last last name Mrs. Nana from Lilia Frances on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/lilafrances We had our logo designed by Jessica Lehry Designs on Etsy, http://www.etsy.com/shop/JessLehryDesigns. We used the logo on a variety of wedding items. Now for OOT bags. I am sorry to say we just could not do as much with these as we wanted to with 85 guests the budget just really did not allow for it. But I am happy with what we were able to do. First up the mugs from Ebay seller Factory 21. Again this vendor was wonderful to work with and you cannot beat the price. http://stores.ebay.com/Factory-21-Promotional-Items We purchased the OOT bags from Oriental Trading. We went with the draw string back pack because it was more unisex. We had these beautiful luggage tags made for the OOT bags that have our logo on one side and “I’m pretty sure this isn’t your bag†on the other. They were another Etsy buy of course from Bragging Tags. The owner Sandra is so wonderful! She did a really amazing job on these. http://www.etsy.com/shop/Braggingtags I made door hangers for the OOT bags with details about the wedding events on the back. I designed them in Photoshop and had them printed on, http://www.123print.com I bought my clutch from ellenVintage on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/ellenVintage It is the most perfect clutch that I could ask for. It was exactly what I was looking for. We bought a ring bearer bowl from Palomas Nest on etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/palomasnest The guest book also came from Etsy (yes I am an Etsy addict) by The Handmade Boutique http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheHandmadeBoutique Our guest book was custom made for our Fuji Polaroid Camera. I also got custom drink stirrers for the bar from Etsy sell Just Loverly. They have a variety of different saying from our wedding date, monogram and eat.drink.bemarried http://www.etsy.com/shop/JustLoverly?ref=seller_info Another of my absolutely favorite details was this banner that says Just Married by Etsy seller Earmark http://www.etsy.com/shop/Earmark As favors for the ladies I got white pashminas from a friend who was able to buy them whole sale for me. I designed the tags in photoshop, got the ribbon from Joanne fabrics and printed them on business cards. For the gentleman we are setting up a cigar bar and giving out cigars as favors. FI ad I are both big time cigar aficionado’s and we bought some limited editions for the big day Here are the center pieces but the orchids will be in white and there will be candles on the tables as well This is the cake, its carrot cake with cream cheese filling, another layer is coconut with vanilla filling, and last is chocolate with chocolate ganache Here is just an image of the place cards. I designed them myself in Photoshop. I will definitely share the actual pictures of them when I return. They are going to be tied with ribbon around maracas. Here are the table numbers. We did different tequilas from Mexico for each table. We got frames to put them in from Ikea. Sorry again will actually be seen when I return The ceremony programs which again I did not get a chance to get a picture. We backed them up on canvas paper and hung them by ribbon. And the final detail is my gift to FI. It took so much courage to share these, so I shared them with my Royal girls first J After the response I felt I had to share with everyone. Every single woman should do this whether for wedding or anniversary, birthday I don’t care what the excuse is lol every single one of you should do this. I used Raw Photography http://rawphotodesign.com/blog/ They travel everywhere in the east coast. They simply are miracle workers and just amazing to work with. I am beside myself exited to give these to FI. I purchased the CD with all the images and then made my own book on Shutterfly. I am also using these pictures as my make up inspiration. Well ladies I am sure I am missing something lol but more to come after the wedding. Have a wonderful week. Talk to you when I come back a Mrs.
Ladies you are all so amazing and I could not have done this with out your support so the planning thread is up!!! http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/65328/jesmcans-pic-filled-royal-kool-beach-club-planning-thread#post_1476857 I am sorry some pics are big some small I do not know why. I wish I could go back and make the planning thread later but we leave in a few hours so...... I should probably get some sleep ahahaah I can't wait to share the big day with you guys xxxxooooo Jess