taylorwd

Oh my gosh how beautiful!  The lighting is so soft and lovely.

 

Originally Posted by chong 

I need help... what are you guys doing for the guest book? I've been the post card, thumb print tree, book, etc... I am really torn between just not having anything to something creative and fun. initially I wanted to have a photo book...always wanted to have the actual photo booth for that's not going to happen. I got less than a month to finish up last minute stuff and I have not decided on what to do. Any suggestions? Am I over-thinking this?

 

Originally Posted by murmel 

We are getting postcards to put into our OOT bags with a little note. Please fill in a postcard with your favorite memories of the trip or well wishes for the couple and then have them put it into the mail.

 

 

Chong, we really struggled with this as well.  We wanted something that would be really personal to us so that we would actually go back and look at it over the years.  Since Dr. Seuss holds a special place in our relationship, our guests all signed a copy of Oh the Places You'll Go!  They got really into it, finding certain quotes and adding to it, finding an appropriate page that really spoke to them and writing stories.  It worked out great!

 

I absolutely LOVE the postcard idea and if I'd known about it before we'd gotten our Dr. Seuss book, I probably would have done that.

It's really great you're getting the word out about this!  A lot of brides don't know about it, and it's terrible they didn't tell you when you initially booked.  Some AB brides on here have already moved their weddings elsewhere b/c of it.

 

Originally Posted by savvybride2010 

Oh I wish I had discovered this post sooner!  I booked Azul Beach for our October wedding back in March and just found out last week the extent of their renovations.  I have attached some pictures of it from a week ago.  So bummed, we just cancelled our wedding there and had to rebook with another resort because of concern all of our guests wouldn't be at the same resort half sensatori half AB. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow!!!  I knew they were doing renovations but man, they've torn out the entire Superior side!  I'm so sorry to hear you had to rebook your wedding somewhere else.  Which resort did you change to?

 

Also, we're planning our return anniversary stay for AB.  Do you know when the renovations will be finished?

Originally Posted by daniepps 

 

 

 

 

REALLY?????? I don't think I got anything back.

 

Check your final invoice from them from when you made your last room payment.  At the bottom it should have your grand total minus your room deposit and the initial $50 deposit.

Welcome to all the new brides!!!!  We're happy to help any way we can.  The best advice we can all give is to go back and read the thread from about page 400.  Grab some wine and soak it all in as many of your questions will be answered.
 

 

Originally Posted by LoveyDovey 

another question or questionssss for you gals

 

is it true what Ive been reading that there is an outside vendor fee of $500?  if so what does this apply to?

 

also did any past brides have their hair/makeup done at the salon at Azul?

 

The thing that worries me most about a DW, is not being able to have a hair/makeup trial...my hair sucksssssssssss and I dont think I can trust anyone to get it right and get it to stay without having a trial first.

 

any thoughts?

Vendor fee: Any outside vendor.  If you choose anything that's not on Karisma's list, you pay the $500 per vendor.

 

Trial: You can get a trial down there.  It's about half the cost of the wedding-day hair cost.

 

Originally Posted by ROBINBOOSE 

Hi, I'm getting married at azul sensatori in March. Does anyone have any recommendations on photographers? Caribe and Claudia are who the hotel is telling me to use but I wasn't impressed with either's portfolio.HELP

Like Meredith, we used Andrew Jordan Photography.  http://andrewjordanphotography.com/  He is super fab to work with!  You can check out our wedding pics in my siggy.

 

Originally Posted by amcferron 

I am using jeremy gilliam:  http://jeremygilliam.com/

 

He is based out of dallas and a super nice guy!!  Also, I really think his prices can't be beat!!  You should contact him!!
 

 

Ooooh, he is really good!  I was going to use him for my BD shoot until I found someone in Austin I liked.


 

 

Originally Posted by MaggieandJay 

Hello Ladies! big prgress today!

First my dress is in and I pick it up Sat. I am then going to store it at a friends house till March when I see if we need alterations.

Second Booked my BD shoot for March with Chrstine Tremoulet here is Houston. Very excited about that!

Third All the inviations are stuff, labeled and ready. They just need my TA's booking instruction letter and I am ready to mail these bad boys!

Fourth Deposits on room have been made by all essential family members coming so rooms are booked

Fifth I am really liking my WC Maria Fay - She has been getting back to me so qick and we have most of the detail sheet worked out on details. Just Need numbers

Sixth Ordered my Thank you for booking Thank You cards with our monogram on them!
WHEW

Wow, go you!!!!

 

Originally Posted by dstinationdrmr 

     Quote:

TA's generally don't charge a fee. They get paid from the resort. I think with destinationweddings.com you have to pay like $50 just to show them you're really serious.
 

You get the $50 back when you book your rooms.


 

Originally Posted by TLGnhci 

Ooh, yay, got my junior member status too!  ) Guess I'm official now.  Ha ha

 

Congrats!!


 

Welcome!!  I'm one of those that's had a great experience with DW.com, but it definitely depends on who you get as your TA.  Certainly hit up the TAs on here.

 

Originally Posted by thefuturemrslutz 

Hey girls!!!!!  I am back!!!!!!  The past 2 weeks have truly been the most amazing weeks of my life!!!!  Being married is the BEST thing in the entire world.  Ryan and I are on cloud 9!  Everything went perfectly during our wedding weekend, including the weather!!  It was 80-85 and sunny everyday!  We even got chilly at night! Whew!!!!!!!  The wedding planners and staff at Le Blanc were a DREAM to work with and did everything they possibly could to make our weekend super special!!  I will be posting a review very soon!!  A few people have posted some pics and tagged me on facebook, so hopefully you are able to pull them up!  I also set up a kodak account, so I will share that as soon as more pictures get uploaded from the guests.  If you guys are looking for a honeymoon spot, I HIGHLY recommend Le Blanc.  It was OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!!  The people were so nice and the resort was fabulous!!  I hope all the wedding planning is going great for you girls.  Trust me, as soon as you step foot on the resort, you will not have a worry in the world!!!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!  Welcome back MRS!!!!!!!!!!  I'm just so excited and happy for you and CANNOT WAIT to see pictures of your gorgeous day!!! 

 

Originally Posted by LoveyDovey 

---

Hi Girls!

 

My name is Jenni...been lurking on this site for a few days. 

 

FH & I are planning on getting married at Azul Sensatori or El Dorado Royale, next summer!

 

We are going to visit on Sept 4th!!!!  Leaning more towards Azul because it is kid friendly and I love the sky ceremony.

 

I see a lot of you girls are working with TAs?  is this something we should be doing?

 

we thought about working with a wedding planning co called Luxe...they are TAs and wedding planners in one...but someone who is a TA told me not bother because the staff at the hotel is super helpful.

 

Anyway, Im super excited to chat with you girls!

Hi Jenni!  Yes, you should definitely get a TA.  Planning a wedding is stressful enough without having to deal with all the travel hiccups that will inevitably come up.  Also, the more people in your corner during the planning process the better!  The hotel staff is really helpful but you don't really get to deal with them until you get down there for your wedding.  All the planning goes through the Miami office.  Also, they don't deal with the travel aspect of things.

 

You do not need an outside wedding planner.  Once you've booked your date you'll be assigned a hotel WC.  Having another one would just get in the way.

 

In terms of who to go with for a TA, well the sky's the limit!  I used destinationweddings.com and would recommend my TA.  Others have had questionable experiences with the company.  Also, BDW is built around a travel agency -- Wright Travel Agency.  They're all awesome TA's from what I've heard.  Just click the link at the top of the screen.

Originally Posted by TLGnhci 

 

Hey ladies,

 

Do we have any April 30th/May 1st brides on here?  Was interested in seeing if there's anyone who will be there around the same time so we might be able to discuss sharing a photog..... 

You should check on the April 2011 and May 2011 threads to see if anyone has those dates.  Maybe you'll get lucky!

Wonderful review and belated CONGRATULATIONS!!!

 

Your cake makes me laugh because it reminds me of our own terribly-botched wedding cake.  We had the resort do ours, we picked one of their 5 standard cakes and made minimal changes, and it was uuuuuuuuuuuuuu-gly!  You should submit your cake to www.cakewrecks.com

 

Originally Posted by msmarmar123 

 

My TA just got back from a seminar at Karisma Resorts...she said it was beautiful and service was amazing...food was delicious...she suggested room service for breakfast and late night snacks. 

 

I think I only had breakfast in the restaurant two mornings out of 10 during my stay!  Every other morning was room service on the balcony.  Soooo good!!  Why get dressed when you can eat in a robe?

 

Originally Posted by amybermuda 

 

Full disclosure: DH and I are pretty anti-gifts.  We'd rather go on vacation or out to eat than buy each other stuff.  And for Xmas, we tell our families to do secret santa or nothing. 

 

We are exactly the same way!!!  I'm very anti-giving gifts just because you're supposed to.  It needs to mean something.  Every anniversary instead of giving gifts we stay at a B&B somewhere.  I tried to get my family to do the secret santa route, but they wouldn't hear of it, sadly. 

 

 

Originally Posted by dstinationdrmr 

Hi Ladies!

 

Hope you all had a great weekend! I was wondering if any of you had suggestions for gifts for our parents. I want them to be somewhat sentimental and I am having a really hard time coming up with ideas. FI has been zero help in this area. His mom mentioned to ME that she needed a new address book (she's very computer illiterate) and that's the only idea he keeps giving me ! So let me know what you brides are doing/have done. Thanks!!

 

Sorry, I'm with Danielle on this one.  Our parents didn't contribute to your wedding, so we didn't give formal gifts.  However, we did pay for my mom's trip, so I think that would count as a gift!  I bet AmyKH will be lots of help in this area
 

Originally Posted by murmel 

 

I will take a look for the dress, I know they were odd sizes only, so which would you rather have a 7 or 9 (if I find them)?

 

9 please

 

 

Originally Posted by murmel 

 

The bridemaid dresses were from Smart Set. They were around early summer, and I am grateful I bought them when I did. What size do you wear taylorwd? If I see any around I'll grab one and mail it to you. They were about $50, but I expect they would be marked down by now!

 

I'm an 8 (or Medium) and would definitely pay you for one!!


 

Originally Posted by JaimeCF2BR 

 

http://theperfectpalette.blogspot.com/

http://bighugelabs.com/

 

Thank you both for these sites!  I know how I'm spending my Friday night!

 

Btw...this is JaimeT...I changed my user name.  Call me paranoid, but I realized I didn't want to have mine and my FI's name as the user name.  Just incase someone googled our names, wouldn't want them to see all my wedding planning posts! Silly, I know.

That's not paranoid at all!  You really can't be too careful these days.  I keep pretty much everything on the highest privacy settings.  I wouldn't want non-brides poking around on here and seeing what I'm doing either.  Sharing, venting, ranting, congratulating---this is for us!
 

What a sweet story!!!  You're very lucky. 

 

I can't believe he carried the ring around with him for so long!  Lucky you didn't find it!!

For anyone who's interested, I just posted a thread on some starfish jewelry I found:

 

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/63171/starfish-ring-and-necklack-from-premier-designs#post_1397335

Hi ladies!

 

Just wanted to share this find.  Premier Designs has a matching starfish ring and necklace.  I haven't seen them in person, only came across them in the recent catalog.  The description says:

 

Rhodium plated cubic zirconias.  Ring is item # 1603 ($48).  Necklace is 16" with a 2" extender, item # 20101 ($54)

 

I love Premier jewelry and wish these were around when I got married.  I love it that the ring is fairly petite as so many out there are too large for my taste. 

 

If you don't already know a Premier rep, you can look one up on their website.  Sometimes I can find their stuff on ebay, too.

 

http://www.premierdesigns.com/

 

 

Originally Posted by murmel 

So our groomsmen clothing arrived! We are doing a much more casual feel, the bridesmaids are wearing summer dresses in the blue color we are using. And the groomsmen are wearing shorts and short sleeve dress shirts. Much to my delight we found a shirt with our wedding colors in it!  As well, my maid of honor was visiting, so I finally have some pictures of me in my dress. Please mind it is much to large in the top, and too long! But my seamstress will solve that in due time  (I am hoping the photos work...this will be my first attempt...and I am not good with computers) 

 

LOL, thanks goodness there is an edit button. I don't think I am getting the photos to work sigh...

 

I LOVE your dress!!!!!  It's really going to shimmer in that tropical sun!  And I want one of those blue dresses for me just to wear as a sun dress.  Where'd you get it?
 

 

Originally Posted by dstinationdrmr 

 

I agree with just going with your vision. My wedding will be more formal (formal gowns and tuxes) and honestly I was scared it would be too formal for a DW but I always envisioned my wedding a certain way and that was something I didn't want to lose. So, my dress is formal but the dresses I've seen that aren't still look nice for the most part. As long as you keep things constant throughout it will be fine.
 

 

 

I'm doing dark purple/lapis!!! Our accent colors are bronze, our mothers/aunts are wearing champagne and our bouquets have lime green in them and we're bringing in white to lighten everything up. PM me your email and I can send you the inspiration board that BigBop did for me.

I can't wait to see your vision come to fruition!!!  This sounds like it's going to be absolutely gorgeous!!!  And I know you're going to have fab pictures to show off
 

 

Originally Posted by mmc1105 

I"m still trying to decide whether or not to get married before we get to Mexico... I'm not sure I want to do the blood test and everything once we're there. Any advice?  Are you glad you got legally married before?  Not sure what to do 

Thanks!

 

Originally Posted by MaggieandJay 

I think it's a matter of preference. We are going to get closer to the date of Mexico and see if we have time to do it before or after. I look at it as, we are getting married infront of our family and friends in Mexico so that is without a doubt "my wedding". The Legal ceremoney really if you think about it nothing but a paper for the government.

 

We took the same attitude as Maggie on this.  Even though we went to a JP before Mexico, there is absolutely no doubt in our minds that our Mexico wedding is OUR WEDDING.  Our legal day was a private affair and was a wonderful, emotional day.  It will always hold a special place in our hearts but our Mexico wedding is the one we poured our blood, sweat, tears, and money into.  I was worried that if we went to the JP before Mexico that it would take away from our wedding day.  Many brides are anxious about this and nothing could be farther from the truth!!!  Not a one has ever said their wedding day felt less special or less real b/c they were already legally married.

 

As for why we got legally married first, it was because we just didn't want the hassle or extra hoops you need to jump through to have it legal in Mexico.  Wedding planning is so not my thing, and adding on just the few extra things I would have needed to do would have been too much.

 

Originally Posted by KittenHeart 

First of all, I don't know if I've met you before, my name is Amy!

 

I LOVE your color scheme and ideas. The gold and this fuschia/magenta deal is fantastic!

 

I like the idea of orchids but you're right, that could get pricey. Another girl on here had a fushia orchid theme and it was simiply stunning!

 

I don't know if this will make sense to you... but this was my first thought. I was thinking ok, you could pick a time period or taste that you like and have one of the colors be a focused theme but still keeping the other.

 

For example, say you love vintage... books, frames, trinkets etc. Doesn't all have to be the same thing, but it's all vintage & gold. OR Art Deco, or modern... so everything if it's modern is sleek and has clean lines and it could be different items (not just birds or starfish etc)
 

I'd have fuschia as your color... then I'd do the accent color in your theme or taste. Vintage gold picture frames as table numbers. Vintage gold trinket atop your cake... vintage looking placecards write in a gold metallic pen... gold chiavari chairs... gold jewlery for you and your girls, fushia dresses for them, fushia hair flower/feather/accessory etc.

 

Just a suggestion off the top of my head!

 

If ever a person were born for event planning, it's you!!


 

Originally Posted by gom4good 

Hi All Im very new to the site and have been trawling through pages and pages of previous posts- all very inspiring!

 

to the thread!
 

 

Originally Posted by TLGnhci 

I'm excited girls.  I've been working with a friend of mine and I believe have finalized our invitations.  )  My mom and I are going to embellish them with raffia ties and sand dollars.  What do you all think?  I loved the ideas on here with the passports but I wanted to skip the save the dates and thought it would be quicker to just make something less elaborate.  But, I think she did a fabulous job and I am very happy with them!

 

Really great!!!

 

Originally Posted by dstinationdrmr 

Quote:

 

I'll try to have fun and shots will be a must!! I have an appointment with Christine Tremoulet www.christinetremoulet.com/boudoir. I liked the pics on her site, she is very nice and encouraging and her prices are in my budget. She actually has a special going on right now and I got a 1 hr session with 3 outfits for $250. She also has more expensive packages that are longer sessions, but I wasn't ready to be uncomfortable for 3 hrs!!
 

 

That is a screamin' deal!!!  You'd better be ready to hustle your booty cuz 3 outifts in one hour will be challenging.

 

Originally Posted by beaz2be 

Okay ladies can I ask about cardboxes?!

 

I have mixed feelings about them in general (ie I think they're a waste of money and a simple basket placed out would suffice just fine).  Also, I'm not keen on trying to bring down extra stuff - so unless the cardbox were to fold down etc. for travel then I'm disinclined.

 

However, what about security (a friend of mine says its something I need to consider)?  Do card boxes actually make it less likely that someone would go by and steal cards?  Couldn't someone just then take the whole box? 

But... it's an outside venue at a resort with a lot of other people who could maybe lurk and grab? 

 

What are people thinking of doing?  What did you married ladies do?  Does the resort have a cardbox you can use?  Did you set up your gift table well "within" the space where your reception was so that it was safer?  Am I totally just over thinking something that's a non-issue?

 

I just worry about it because I imagine that if anyone brings anything gift-wise to the wedding it would likely be cards (hopefully, since I don't really want to lug wedding gifts home from Mexico  haha). 

I have to be honest, but I've never heard of a cardbox.  Is it to hold the cards (most likely having cash/checks/gift cards in them) that people could give as gifts?  If that's the case then I wouldn't worry about this at all.  Theft shouldn't be a problem as outsiders will stear clear of your wedding.  Plus, there will be waiters, hotel staff, WC, and Lomas staff around. 

We were very clear that we didn't want gifts brought to Mexico, and no one did.  We did get a card or two, but guests gave us those either the days leading up to the wedding or after the wedding.  Since a DW isn't a traditional wedding, a gift table isn't something I think I've ever seen at one.  Your guests will see you and have chances to give you cards at times other than the reception.  Most likely they'll take advantage of a quiet moment when you're not around other people.  That's the beauty of a DW...quality time with your guests!

 

Originally Posted by MaggieandJay 

Forgive me ladies! I was on vacation "floating the Comal River" in new Braunsfel for the past 4 days! Catching up now!
 

 

 

Niiiiiiice!  I was floating the Guad last weekend!   We usually do the Comal but decided to change things up a bit.  4 days?...Where'd you stay?

 

Originally Posted by msmarmar123 

This is a pic of the dress I went to see yesterday..what do you guys think?  I keep thinking about it and I really like it for Dress 2

Soooooo cute!!!!!!!!
 

These photos are absolutely WONDERFUL!!!!  You look truly happy.  You picked a fantastic photographer--lucky you getting to use her twice!

Originally Posted by amandamarieb 

 

I know! I'm sure I will figure something out. I had budgeted $400 or $500 for alterations and I thought that was a lot. Do you girls know what is normal?

I needed very minimal alterations and mine was $250.  She put in cups, resewed some of the buttons, took up the straps a touch, pulled up the hem on the very front just a hair, and then cleaned it (I bought it off the rack).  I was told that to do a full hem normally runs twice the amount I paid for everything.  Good luck!