chong

Quote: Originally Posted by msmarmar123 Just sent it over May I have it too? I would like to see check it out. Thank you! [email protected]. Quote: Originally Posted by amybermuda your siggy pix keep getting cuter and cuter Amy. And girls, I PROMISE - my planning thread will be done this weekend. Its going to be stupidly long. In the meantime, check out my adorable Maryland themed AHR favors! LOVE Them!!!!! Amy, I love your AHR favors. I love Old Bay Seasoning... My FI is from Baltimore and my parents live in MD. Ohhh... you are making me hungry for some crabs!!! Chong

Hi Ladies!!! I am finally back This has been the longest time I've been away from the forum. So much to catch up. I've been having some bad times in Houston so my life is a complete mess... like yesterday my car was towed in my own apartment parking garage. We have a place to unload and load stuff and less than an hour period a tow truck took my car! the apartment started to let them come in and out as they please and without a second thought they will tow your car. I was furious!!! I came out to my car to go out to the gym and I couldn't find my car. I thought it was stolen! I am so glad that I am back on this forum and start more focusing on the wedding stuff. I have so much to share and so much to talk about... I am about to start Chong

I LOVE everything!! The monogram is awesome.. you really pull everything together, the color, gifts... oh by the way... the shoes looks AWESOME. I wish I can wear shoes that high. Thanks for sharing! chong

Quote: Originally Posted by beaz2be Good news - JUST found out we officially have our ceremony and reception. I sent in our deposit and we are officially getting married at AS!!!! so excited! We put down the 10 deposits this week to hold a group rate with our TA and then people only have about a month to join the group at the held rate. I better get on STDs real fast. We're planning to do email STDs and then traditional invitations (for the time factor mainly). Congratulations!!! Official Quote: Originally Posted by amandamarieb 2nd dress fitting?!?! Really? Am I like so behind? I've had my dress since January but havent done a fitting yet. Can someone advise me on timeline? Also, I guess I should find my shoes pretty soon so I can be sure that when i do get fitted that my dress isn't too short. Any of you ladies wearng a veil? What's my timeline on ordering one of those? My dress is lace and I might have enough fabric removed after my firts fitting to get one made...hmm...wonder how much that will cost. My dress is being made from the scratch I was fortunate enough to find a designer who was willing to work with my budget. I will have multiple fittings... Quote: Originally Posted by KittenHeart Here is our sweetheart table... I know it's blurry but it's the only one I have that's a non-pro pic. I don't have the images on a disk yet Here's my veil which is a tulle cage veil. I had it made and my hair dresser pinned it to my head perfectly: (Excuse these pictures and my face, they just showed my veil) Here's my fascinator custom made with a vintage brooch. My photog has the best picture of it: Oh hey found some pictures of DH and I with the donkey I LOVE your veil & the brooch. I am looking for a veil & a hair piece to go with it. Where did you get it? From Etsy? Ohhh... donkey is so cute. My FI is totally not excited about the donkey. Hence no donkey cocktail hr Chong

Quote: Originally Posted by KittenHeart Let me clarify this, after reading what Amy & Wendy mentioned. I never tried to order a glass or wine or champagne. I tried ordering a mixed drink so maybe there's a difference? I also tried this the first day I got there and once I got rejected I never tried it again. Ha. Thanks ladies. Now I know how to order drinks Quote: Originally Posted by MaggieandJay Ok ladies I am one step closer! My TA is in chats with Tiffany and the resort to book my date in stone and get my group rate/block done! In the meantime, I typed out my ENTIRE budget last night and was A TON over so started making cuts only to get super depressed then cried to MY FI to which he reminded me that it really doesn't matter because we are going to have the best time no matter what. The funniest part is while making cuts with both decided we CANNOT cut the Mexican Donkey Cocktail Party. The Donkey seems to be the one keeping us sane when stress kicks in. I think of getting a beer from the donkey and suddenly everything is ok! Good News is budget is now back under a mangeable amount and next stop get this resort BOOKED!!! YAH! In GOOD NEWS I got an email confirmation for my appt at J. Crew Wedding Boutique in NYC. I will be up there for business in July so I am going to MY FIRST offical Dress outing to see what they have. Up till now it's been all on the internet! We went over our budget... Not bc we have everything but it's bc everything is a lot more expensive than we thought. We made some hard choices but never compromise what is important to us. These ladies really help me making some great choices. You might want to check the donkey part for your donkey cocktail party. I was told that the donkey is no longer allow in the resort... I know some people had the donkey present but now sure if they have changed the rule since then. How exciting about the 1st dress fitting. Hope you find what you are looking for!!! Quote: Originally Posted by taylorwd Oooooh fun!!! I would love to have gone dress shopping in NYC! I have a friend who just got her dress from Kleinfeld's. She went in expecting the appointment to go horribly awry and was more going b/c the place is so famous. She never dreamed she'd get a dress that day. I'm so jealous she got to go there! I just want the experience of it. I LOVE SAY YES TO THE DRESS!!! My FI can't stop watching it with me. The show is addictive Quote: Originally Posted by cjb0arder13 That's the million dollar question...I'll have to e-mail the company and find out. They also sell it in 100 yard rolls...I'm hoping that since it's such a light fabric, it won't be too heavy or bulky. I just don't understand the cost they charge ($300? Really?!) for such a relatively small amount of fabric. You'd think it was lined in gold or something! I have to ask my WC about the exact size of gazebo. I might have to make a trip to Ikea. I know.. the price of the fabric is ridiculous. I even got more upset when I found out that some brides got it for $75 per sheet and then LOMAS changed the price to $150 per sheet. Chong

Did anyone had a sweet heart table? just wedding party table? or did you all sit together with guests? any suggestions on the table setups? I think we want the dance floor in the middle but not sure what will be the best for about 35-40 guests. Chong

Quote: Originally Posted by KittenHeart I'm glad you brought this up... room service will NOT bring you drinks. The only thing they will bring you is cans of Tecate or Tecate light. Even if you want house wine or champagne it's like $28 a bottle. A friend ordered few bottles for my bachelorette getting ready so this is how I know. If you want champagne just for the toast you can have that in addition to your signature drink which should be free for both. Negotiations for me happened on my cake, vase rentals, manzanita branch (special request) champagne, chairs & cushions... other's I'm sure, just can't remember now. Kiara was my Miami WC. I booked the Selvatica excursion online on their website before going to Mexico. Thanks. I guess we have to order some for the room... I am really not good at negotiating and not sure what to ask. My WC is great but every time I ask about pricing she keeps saying she has to check with the others. Once I have more details... I will try to negotiate. Not sure where I can push far to get the price I want or what's not worth pursuing. Thanks for the info! Chong

Thanks for sharing. We just started to work on this.... great start. now we just have to make it little more personal for us Chong

Quote: Originally Posted by mlabbe Hi everyone!!! Our wedding day photos were blogged by our photographer today! I am super excited as they are incredibly beautiful. Now I just have to wait for the day after shots! You can see the photos here Magalie + Travis | Puerto Vallarta Wedding - it's really worth it!!! I wanted to take the opportunity to say a little bit more about my photographer, Amber Hughes. We decided to fly her in to our wedding in Puerto Vallarta. Amber is located in Vancouver, BC, and this was her first destination wedding. Because of this, we got a discount as we were helping to built her amazing portfolio. She also shot our civil ceremony at home, and her pictures were stunning for that as well. She is professional, friendly, has a quick turn-around and replies to emails very promptly. She was super fun to work with and everyone commented on how un-obstructive she was when shooting. She brought along as a 2nd shooter Michael Wachniak - he is a BDWF member. He is silly and you never know what he'll say or do next, but this means that he can make anyone smile and feel super comfortable. He is also super professional at the same time. Together, they worked as an amazing team and there never was a boring moment. The two of them worked really hard and a lot more than what was in our contract. I was supposed to get 1 or 2h of coverage for the karaoke night, 8h of coverage for the wedding day and 2h of coverage for the day-after / TTD shoot. Well, they shot like crazy on every one of the 4 days of our stay at Playa Fiesta. They covered Karaoke in details, the rehearsal walk-through, the rehearsal dinner and cigar extravaganza, the wedding day, took additional shots the day after of the group, and the TTD shot went over by 2.5 hours. They never complained, I never asked. They love what they do. The photos speak for themselves. I 120% recommend Amber and Michael as photographers, at home in Vancouver or at a destination. They are amazing. I am super happy that I got to spend time with them, dance with them, smoke cigars and do tequila shots with them. I'm glad that they are in our group photo! If you're looking for a photographer, drop her a line! You are gorgeous!!! The pictures are awesome!!! Love Love your pictures... I hope that we have wonderful pictures like you guys Chong

Quote: Originally Posted by amybermuda Oh - and did I tell you guys we had wedding crashers in mexico? These 3 people walked past the reception, did a double take, and came in for a dance on the dance floor! It was hilarious! We were like "who are those people?" and someone started laughing "wedding crashers!!!" and they laughed and I think took some pictures with my guests. It was hilarious. That is hilarious!!! Wedding crashers I hope you guys took some pictures with the wedding crashers. I saw a picture of groom & bride with some random swimmers at the bar. So perfect for the beach wedding pictures... random picture with some not so attractive swimmers Chong

Quote: Originally Posted by KittenHeart Yeah, I doubt they'd charge you onsite. I literally told them, this is what I want with the exact recipe and they even said they'd make a sign for me with my drink name. Also, no one pay for champange, if you want champange poured for your guests while they MOH & BM etc. give their toasts, just requets it, it's free. It's just house champange but better than having to overpay for a bottle of something only slightly better. Thanks for the info. I want to ask about getting the room service (drinks) while we are getting ready and everything. Do you just ask for a room service? Awesome that they put the drink name too. House champagne? Sounds good. We decided not to have champagne bottles since my FI don't drink champagne. That's why we got the signature drink. Quote: Originally Posted by KittenHeart Being very patient and understanding and boarderline overly nice is what helped me the most. I wasn't rejected on anything except fireworks. AND, everything can be negotiated, everything! Kiara was the negotiations queen, we became great friends actually and she'll kick ass for you if you let her So.,.. I am wondering when do you negotiate. I have put my basics (food, setup, etc) down with Miami WC. If you want more or extra, do you just talk to the onsite WC when you get there? Don't bother negotiating with Miami WC? Who is Kiara? Is that your TA? Quote: Originally Posted by KittenHeart I highly recommend both. I did the Zip/Cenote trip with Selvatica too which was awesome, great experience. We are looking at excursion... Selvatica looks great. Did you book with them at the resort or did you guys book before going to Mexico? I love the cenote... we are planning to do a photo shoot at one of the cenotes. We will see what they will charge for that. Chong

Quote: Originally Posted by daniepps Good morning ladies. I have a question for former AS brides. Did anyone who had a signature drink at their reception have to pay for the drink? I was told that the drink would be $6 which I really don't understand because first of all we're at an all-inclusive resort and secondly I'm paying for open bar at the reception! Everything has been smooth sailing with my planning so far. I hope I didn't come this far for stupid stuff to start happening. We are also having signature drinks!!! We don't know what we want (we are pretty easy to please and actually we cannot agree on one drink) except that we want to have mojitos. My WC told me that some drinks cost extra and some drinks are included. We decided to pick our signature drinks once we arrive to the resort. There is no cost (or yet). We have made a note to have a taste testing for our signature drink(s). I am going to fight for no cost with the onsite WC if they are planning to charge us. Quote: Originally Posted by daniepps I just reached Member status! Yay for me!!!! oh wow.. i am just waiting to be a junior member status. Congrats!!! Quote: Originally Posted by KittenHeart No way, no charges for me and I had two signature drinks! One at the ceremony spot, one at the reception. The coordinator even called us one day and said the restaurant manager wanted to set up a tasting for our reception signature drink. During our coordinator meeting earlier that day they brought in our ceremony signature drink for us to try. They made us feel very special and offered up different options to our drink to make sure we had exactly what we wanted. I LOVE that idea. Having signature drink at the ceremony spot and one at the reception! I have to ask my WC once we get to the resort. Thanks for the info. Chong

Quote: Originally Posted by KittenHeart Yeah this took forever... I actually never decided on shoes, that's how hard it was. My designer bought my shoes for me and I rolled with it. They were pretty basic, nothing crazy, made shoe clips for them and that was that. I ended up with them off halfway through the ceremony anyways. I know... the price for my fabric is ridiculous. But too much work to buy something that's perfect for the canopy. DONE! I am committed to pay for them I have already ordered multiple shoes and been returning them. I just got one today and NOPE! I am returning it. I hope I find something soon.... hopefully before my 2nd dress fitting... FYI - I am so glad that I am not the only one going crazy looking for shoes. Thanks for the encouraging words! Chong

Quote: Originally Posted by gingerlover36 I am so excited! I said yes to the dress this weekend Its so weird I feel now that this is really happening hahah! Congratulations! That was the very first thing I purchased once we put the deposit down for the wedding. The hardest part is done... the rest should be easy (actually I thought the dress was the easiest part... but felt great to get it out of the way) I have my 2nd fitting in 2 weeks. I lost 10 pounds already and going for another 10 pounds (if I can... 5 pound is more realistic). Horay!!!! Chong

Quote: Originally Posted by moepeedy Table No.s thought I add a unique touch and bought the little people from Michaels. Painted them and gave them all an outfit. glued all couples. Bought table no. holders from Michaels as well. I made the table no.s. I think you all will get a kick out of this. My Guest super loved it. OMG I love your table number with each person's picture idea. That is soooo funny and cleaver. I think I might have steal your awesome idea. Thanks for sharing!!! I have to read more of your SUPER LONG THREAD! Chong

Oh my gosh... I love your pictures. The pictures at Cenote is definitely my favorites. I have to see if there is money in our budget to have additional photo sessions. Thanks for the great review! Chong

Oh wow... can I just say this is the most helpful wedding planning thread I have read so far! I cannot believe I missed this thread all this time. My wedding is coming up so soon and I was so stressed out about saving money and trying to do things myself. I love love your DIY stuff. Thank you so much for posting wonderful templates and links. I will be using all of them shamelessly. Thanks again for the wonderful information and I am hoping I can pull it through without having a major breakdown. Thanks again!!! Chong

I cannot find THE SHOES for my ceremony/reception. I am having both beach wedding & reception so I don't need high heels but I am having such a trouble finding the right sandals. My FI thinks I am nuts to go crazy over the shoes. I just need to pick something before my 2nd fitting... AHHHHHH Chong

Quote: Originally Posted by taylorwd I'm so excited for all you new ladies on here! How lucky that there are 3 of you that are going to be at AS at the same time. I think that's fabulous!!! Oh, and pay no attention to those tripadvisor reviews. They're crap, overexaggerated or just plain wrong. Chong, I used to interrupt DH all the time because I was getting overwhelmed, stressed, or stuck on some little detail that I should have been able to move past but couldn't. He was always so great at stopping whatever he was doing to talk me down. So I say go wake up that FI!!! hehe... yes. My FI keeps me sane. He offers to help but I just cannot let it go. I am kinda of a control freak. It's gonna be hard to let him just have it. My mom offered me some help but she is sooo far away. It's hard to coordinate. Wish she was near by... FYI - I love your picture! So sexy. Looks like you guys had a lot of fun! Chong

Quote: Originally Posted by renee1811 Thanks Chong! I arrived on Wed, my meeting with my coordinator was on Thursday, and my wedding was on Friday. I had done my details sheet online with Tiffany (the off-site wedding coordinator), and my meeting with the on-site coordinators was just about one hour. She had a copy of the details sheet also and confirmed all of the details, and I gave her all of the decorations I brought down. There were two wedding coordinators on site that worked with me--Liliana, who was the coordinator for Azul Sensatori, and Elaise (I think I am spelling that wrong, sorry!), who came from Lomas and who was absolutely AMAZING!! She definitely knows what she is doing, and had some good ideas of her own. For the reception, I wasn't really picky about the set-up; I gave her the decorations I had brought and told her she was the pro, and the reception site was GORGEOUS. I was so happy I let her do her own thing. For my flowers/decorations, I went with the Premium Deluxe Package, which was $1300. In it, it included: 4 sheets of sheer fabric, 24 chairs with covers, 2 hanging corsages, my bouquet, one boutenniere, 4 baskets of tropical flowers (this is where Elaise turned them into the tall glass vases and the flower arrangements on top were then turned into our reception centerpieces--we had 4 tables at the reception), 3 bags of rose petals (one bag went to the flower girl, and the other bags were used to decorate the wooden plank), and the wooden plank. Girls, do not worry about reviews on Trip Advisor. My TA told me to take it with a grain of salt because there have been cases of competing resorts writing negative reviews for other places. All of my guests were floored with the resort--they couldn't stop raving about how beautiful it was, how awesome the service was, how delicious the food was, and what a "storybook wedding" we had Thanks for the info. I have not even decide on the table setups and how to decorate it. I am hoping that onsite WCs will be flexible at changes and recommend stuff that will make my life easier. Chong

Ok... Finally I have my TO DO List put together. 1. Invitations - DIY & Send them out 2. Pre-Travel Brochure - DIY & Send them out 3. OOT Gift (including kids OOT bag) 4. Dance Lesson - for our 1st dance. my FI hates dancing... 5. Ceremony Script & Ceremony Program 6. Party/Dance Favor (big glasses, sombrero hats, etc) 7. Make Hair/Makeup Appointment 8. Reception Decorations 9. Buy Shoes - mine, FI & Bridesmaids (I am getting my bridesmaid shoes) 10. Buy Wedding Bands 11. Buy Grooms men & brides maid gifts 12. Find the picture for the sand ceremony frame 13. My hair piece, jewelry & veil 14. Guest Signing Book 15. Reception Sitting Chart This is all I can think of. Wow... Actually putting it down on the paper makes me feel like I have too much to do still. I have less than 4 months!!! I need the final head count... End of July. Too many things depend on the number of people attending I am about to panic. I better get my FI up from the nap and get going. Chong

Oh.. and I found out that fabric is $150 per sheet for gazebo decoration. It was $75 before and now it's $150 per sheet. Expensive... but I guess I have no choice. Chong

I got more info on the children food pricing... Children 12 and under can eat either off of the children’s menu or eat off of the adults menu at half price. Anyone 13 and over must pay full price for the adults menu. Chong

Quote: Originally Posted by hat0112 Well my FI and I went a little nuts for our OOT bags. We really wanted things in there that we thought people would like and everyone is paying a lot of money to come. So far (I’m not done yet) we got mini liquor bottles (5 different bottles per bag and we have 12 bags), puzzle books, the bags from Vistaprint, bug repellent wipes, and Advil and Aleve. I still need to get mini sunscreen, mints, small bags of chips and bags of the new M&M Pretzels. Ha, I hope we don’t have an issue with getting everything there. The only other things we need to bring with us (other then our wedding attire) is the sand ceremony frame and vases, the sand, and the favors (personalized playing cards). All the other decorations and things will be at the resort. I have my parents saving their extra suitcases for us if we need it. I know my suitcase will be overflowing with just vacation stuff and my FI’s will be packed too so I will have to have at least one extra suitcase, if not 2. Us too... We have a small group of people coming to the wedding so we thought we go crazy with the gifts. I don't have everything yet since I don't have the total count... bag, beach towel, hand sanitizer, sun screen, etc. We are carrying it all in our bag. I asked my WC about shipping some stuff ahead of time but she didn't recommend shipping boxes to Mexico. In case it gets lost... Quote: Originally Posted by wendyjd Hey Girls, I just bought a 2nd dress tonight. Its for the ttd I'm set on doing; I bought it on craigslist and when I told the girl what it was for, she begged me to send pics (she had a 2nd dress). as soon as I get pics downloaded, I'll add. its soo different from my dress, much more elegant (mine is more fun). I think I'll take part of the lining out so it is a little lighter weight and cooler. I'm going to do cups, first aid/hangover kits and aloe stuff but not food/liquor for the oot bags and plan to take receipts with me. I'm trying to limit how much I have to take down, DW are supposed to be easy after all!!! happy weekend all!! Oh wow.. I like your 2nd dress. Perfect for your TTD photo session. Chong

Quote: Originally Posted by renee1811 I am back and a Mrs!!! I had the most AMAZING time ever! Our wedding was absolutely perfect. The ceremony site on the beach was gorgeous, the weather was wonderful, the reception site (Zavaz Plaza) was awesome, and all of our guests had a great time!!!! We did the wedding on the beach, and splurged and got the Premium Deluxe Package, because I love flowers Here is an image of the gazebo: Here is a picture of me and the hubby (that's so weird to say!!) during the ceremony: Here we are during the sand ceremony: And here is the set-up for the reception. Since we had the premium deluxe, it was supposed to come with four large baskets of flowers. Our on-site wedding coordinator (who was fabulous!) switched those out for the tall glass vases and then we were able to use the flowers on top as the centerpieces for the reception site, which was great because we were originally just going to use the bouquets. Ladies, do not stress! The wedding coordinators on-site are AMAZING, and do everything to make your day absolutely perfect. Amy, I am so glad you had an awesome wedding also! I was thinking about you on Saturday, and was really happy the weather was great for you also! Can't wait to see more pics!! Welcome Back! You look gorgeous!!! I am sooo happy to hear everything went great! I love your flowers. I wish I had the money in my budget to spurge on the flowers More pictures, please. When did you meet with your onsite WC? On the first day? How many meetings/how long did you have to meet with the WC to get all the details sort out? I am still so nervous about the wedding. Too many things to do and I am just not sure when I can call it I am done... Looking forward to seeing more of your pictures and comments! Chong