ska2m

haha, yeah, i know! it's crazy and getting expensive. They have yet to give me any offers, like a free one hour open bar or something, so i think i will wait until i personally get there and basically show them the total revenue that the 70 guests that i brought to their resort is bringing them and even the possibility of repeat customers. Maybe that will make them think twice, it's much harder to try to negotiate over the phone or email. =) Plus the other thing i did try to "reconfirm" with my WC, which i love her, she is great and responsive, but i asked again about the whole new policy about not charging for photographers anymore for a day pass and she said that this is not true, but i printed out the FB page where the concierge states that there is no charge any more, therefore i am not going to bring that up until i am in there in person. SOmetimes the communication amongst them at the resort is not always consistent, which is fine and also i am glad that i saved all emails i exchanged with them, so if anything changes, i can say that they stated otherwise. But i will not hold my breath, i think they change their minds whenever they want and there is nothing you can do about it. Oh well..... But other than that, yeah, everything is going great! Got all my oot bags, that i ordered from oriental trading, very cheap, but cute, i didn't care that it wasn't fancy, i figured it was good enough, especially since the guest list is sooooo big. Plus we are going to send them personal luggage tags we had created, they are so pretty and they can use them anytime, we didn't put like our names or wedding date on there, just so they can reuse them. The design is the custom logo i have for my picture and it's embroidered. Very pretty, i ordered them through a wholesaler in China, so they cam out to like $1.50 a piece, which is very cheap for luggage tags, i had to order a minimum of 100 though, but great deal! Now we are trying to finalize centerpieces, i am going to have three vases per table (each of a different height) and have submerged calla lillies in each vase, then i will be using luminaries for my table number (a wrapped votive with vellum paper) and possibly the led candle will be a teal colored light since i am not dishing out money for colored table cloths or bows. Then i will have scattered rose petals around the vases, thinking teal and brown, but haven't confirmed (but those are my wedding colors). This will hopefully add some color to the table and not be too white. For tent cards, we wanted to be original, so we are making wine charms with a guests names and table number in there, and those will be hooked on a glass and they will take the glass to their table for their wine. =) We aren't providing any "favors" i figured there is really nothing worth buying that they will actually want to keep, also since we are having a cigar roller for the cocktail hour they will have that gift, along with everything else we have provided to them thus far. So all in all, everything is working out great, just wish i could be guaranteed everything i asked for and for the price they quoted me. So we'll see. But definitely when i am done with the wedding, i will give everyone on this forum all the details of everything i used and planned and cost. And i will share pictures of course as well! How is everyone else's wedding planning coming along?

This site has gotten really quiet! Where are the brides getting married this year? I have my wedding on November 5! Can't wait. Just finalizing all the details for the welcome dinner and the wedding day. So far 70 people confirmed! It's getting so exciting!

Wow DRwedgal!!! How exciting! You are going to have an amazing time! Can't wait to see your pictures and hear all about it when you get back! Have an awesome time!

As far as i know, they said yes when i asked. But they change their minds all the time, contracts i think mean nothing there.

Hey Ladies, I visited Secrets last year as this is where i was going to get married, but between last year and this, it changed owners and also became an all inclusive adult only resort. So since i will have kids at the wedding, i had to change. However, from everything i saw personally, the resort is absolutely beautiful, the pictures are just a beautiful as in person! It had a lot of spanish style buildings, which i thought were stunning. When i was there, it was very quiet, not as busy as the other resorts, also there aren't many activities for guests, so very minimal things to do, this is more of a place if you prefer to just lounge on the beach/pool all day. But again, this was April of las year, so things may have changed, especially with the new owners. There was this great room that had like the biggest terrace attached to the room. I can't remember if they threw that room in for the bride and groom, but if not, you should totally rent it for the after party! It was that big, i was already picturing the after party on the terrace! Hope this helps!

I love the pictures Kwaller! Looks like you had a great time! Congrats!

Hi DR, I actually encouraged folks when they booked to make sure they tag on the roundtrip transportation to their packages, i also encouraged them to book vacation packages and not flight/hotel separately, it came out to be cheaper then booking separately. I also told them if they want to book separately, the car ride to Dreams from the airport if $70 each way. As for your buffet, how many guests are you having? I know the limit for the sit down dinners is 50, so are you saying that they won't let you have a sit down dinner with more? Thanks, Ska2m2

The bag you found is really cute! I ended up buying these, they already came in and are very nice for the price. http://www.orientaltrading.com/large-hibiscus-tote-bags-a2-34_737-12-1.fltr?Ntt=hibiscus+bag

So are these for the inside of the luggage tag or the actual luggage tag itself? It doesn't look as horrible as you mentioned. How many did you need? I had mine embroidered from a manufacturer in china, they only cost $1 a piece, but the minimum was to order 100, which is fine since i have many guests. Plus we got to personalize them with our logo. They came out great and the company was very responsive! PM me if you are interested in more details! We are printing on stock paper the insert that goes in the back with Name/Address.

Hi Shelly, Question, for the sashes that you are buying, are you going ot have a set for the ceremony and then a set for the reception? Also, what about once you get to DR, are you going to have to steam them or will they not wrinkle? If you are steaming them, are you doing this or paying for the resort? I thought about bringing my own sashes since they are a ton cheaper, but i will have over 140 of them, so not sure if i will have time to steam (assuming they will be wrinkled) and i never inquired about the resort steaming..... Thanks!

Hello Ladies, For those of you who have already gotten married or if you know the answer, I would like to know what is the proper amount to tip al the vendors we are using (photographer, DJ, wedding coordinator)? I actually have no idea, do we tip like we would tip here in the states? Thanks!

Thank you for sharing, I'm sure I'll find some items for my wedding! Will let you know what i end up going with!

I'm not sure what non typical gift you could get them that wouldn't be a typical gift for their bday or holiday. But, what about making them both a scrapbook with all your memories from when you met up until your big day? Go to like Michaels and buy a scarpbook and just start cutting out pictures of the 3 of you and adding stickers and quotes and you will fill it up in no time. You will have to make two of them since you have two close friends. This is very personal and not a "typical" gift. But if you want to add more to the gift then just a photo album/scrapbook, you can also treat them to a spa day on the beach on DR.... Just some thoughts of what I would think would be very thoughtful and better than monogrammed items as a gift. =)

Thanks Kwaller for your update on the chairs. I was definitely interested in the chairs, until i saw the price! Who is the outside vendor that you are using for the chairs? I think i may just use the chairs and the chair covers and have the tables decorated with color so it's not too white. Still debating as i don't want splurge on chairs and instead splurge on food and drinks. As for the OOT bags, I am also including the above items you mentioned, and additionally, bandages, key card holder with lanyard, hand sanitizer, toothpaste, hand fans, pen, powder drink (for the bottle watered), crossword book, playing cards, spanish phrase book, wedding day events, who's at the resort, welcome letter. I am not including snacks as they will be able to find food/snacks anywhere they are on the resort, so i think it would be a waste of money and space for me to bring. Hope this helps!

Thank you all for the great suggestions! I will totally bring it on as carry on and hope for the best! Jet BLue flight attendants are usually very nice, so I'm hoping they will also be very nice about this as well. Thanks again for your suggestions! =)

Hi All, I have no idea if anyone has had any experience on this yet, but i am flying through JetBlue and apparently there aren't any "closets" so I may have to put my dress in the overhead. I can't imagine having my dress rolled up and going in the overhead without any other luggage's squishing it... I definitely DO NOT want to check in or ship my dress, way too risky. Has anyone any suggestions? Or thought of what they are doing? I do not even know how my dress is getting packed by the store, need to ask that too and let them know I'm traveling with it! Thanks! Ska

Fortunately my mom paid for my dress, she is so excited about me getting married. First daughter and all......

Agreed, i never thought to have to tell my MOH and others that speeches should be prepared, but i guess it can't hurt. Thanks for the suggestions!

I was trying to think of something that'll get the party started! Still a tough one....

I'll be having private reception on the terrace and we have to stop playing music at 11pm. Then we are heading to the club on the resort that is open until 2am for the after party!

I deifniteley think you can use the same song for you and your bridesmaids! =)

OH No! What about maybe changing the date, maybe January is peak season..... could you check other dates? I also wouldn't rely on the prices"dropping".

Hey there, I went to visit the resort last year before finalizing and i asked about the fireworks as we wanted it added too. The only thing i can say that we didn't like and figured the cost was not worth it, was that apparently you will have to walk with your guests to the lobby floor and overlook the balcony on the entrance and that is where you will see the fireworks. So basically it would've been inconvenient for that price and you would probably have hotel guests surrounding your group and wanting to look. So we figured it's not worth the hassle or the cost. Hope this helps! Ska2m

I also really like number one, the second one seems a little over the top if you do not want the princess look.

OMG Nat, has time flown by that fast??? I've been on here since last year in May and saw all your posts when you were planning! Can't wait for my big day November 5, 2011 =)