lisa203

Our Flower Girls: Their outfits: Another DIY They tossed freeze-dried petals from flyboynaturals. Aren't they adorable?! The MEN. Our super dapper guys all wore linen blend suits from Cubavera, Steve Madden loafers and hats I picked up while in NYC. Their outfits were a part of their gifts as well. This handsome little man carried our rings in a shell. Of course while the ladies are spending hours getting ready, they're hanging out by the pool table.

All things bridesmaids: Who they are - from left, Millicent - Omar's sister, Stephanie M. - my sister, Stephanie C. - my maid of honor and my very best friend, Patricia - my other sister who sang during our ceremony, and Jasmine - my other best friend. Attire: Gifts: In addition to their dresses, shoes, and jewelry, we gifted our fabulous girls the items below:

Hair & Makeup I had the super fabulous Rashel Edwards do airbrush makeup for me as well as my bridal party and our mom's. Her also fabulous assistant did my hair. All of my bridesmaids did their own haid and each wore it down.

Dress: My mom insisted on buying my dress and I didn't want her to spend a ton. I was pleasantly surprised to find my dress at David's Bridal. Stock photo: My mom sewed in this tag into my dress : I had to include a picture my super-manly husband carrying the dress through the airport. He was holding my purse too, lol! How could I not love him?! Shoes: I couldn't make up my mind about shoes and ended up buying 3 different pair. I kept going back and forth about wearing heels or flats. In the end I picked the flats and happy I did. Here are what I almost wore: Jewelry: Wish I could wear these everyday! Garter and 72" cathedral veil: Both from eBay. Hair Flower: Here are a couple non pro pictures of my look in action: The dress bustled:

Save the dates: Once we booked our resort we created a wedsite and sent out post card save the dates from Vistaprint. We included pricing info on our website in hopes of giving everyone at least a year notice/ample time to save. With the word out, I got to work on picking colors and my will you be my bridesmaids cards. Our colors: Ivory and gold with touches of yellow. Will you be my bridesmaids cards: My very first of few DIY projects! Invitations: I had bought supplies to do message in a bottle invitations but changed my mind. I wanted passports instead so took the loss and had the super talented Sarah Sproull do our passport invitations. They were a hit and REALLY got everyone excited about our trip. Pre-Travel Mailings: As our guests booked their rooms, we sent them luggage tags and a brochure from the Jamaica tourism board. Also, about a month before we left we sent them a letter with more useful travel info. We've NEVER sent out that much mail in our lives, lol.

The Resort: Omar is originally from Jamaica and we always kind of knew we'd get married there so that part was easy. We picked Moon Dance Cliffs in Negril Jamaica about a month after we got engaged, primarily for its rave reviews and size. We're so happy with our choice. I did things a little backwards and already have my review up in case anyone is interested. Our wedding guests took over the entire resort from Sunday June 19th to Wednesday June 22nd. It’s a small resort and we were thrilled to be the only ones there for the entire time. Our events were as follows: Sunday: Welcome Reception. We got t-shirts made that say "I went all the way to Jamaica for Omar & Lisa's Wedding" and asked everyone to wear them that night. We don't have all of pro pics back yet so these are just some from our camera. Monday: We took our guests on a catamaran cruise during the day and had the rehearsal dinner that evening. We asked our guests to wear all white to both events. Tuesday we got married and Wednesday we had a farewell brunch that Omar and I missed! We partied hard and until late and didn't wake up on time. No one woke us up!

I joined this forum well over a year ago and was hooked from day one! My favorite threads, hands down, were planning threads so it is only right I finally write one, even if a month late! A special thank you to Tammy and those behinds the scene who keep this site running as well as fellow members who keep it running. My wedding would not have been what it was without you. Without further ado, my planning thread. About us: My now husband, Omar, and I met at a party the night of my high school graduation on June 21, 2002. Omar proposed on May 25, 2010 and here we are now, married nine years to the day we met. Our rings: Mine, both Tacori: Omar works with his hands and needed something durable but insisted on diamonds so we got him two rings. An indestructible Tungsten to wear to work as well as one with diamonds for fancier days: I tattooed O's initial on my ring finger soon after getting engaged. He LOVED it! It's discreet as you can't see it when I have my rings on.

I’ve always loved this thread and so I’m happy to be able to add to it: What I would do again: MARRY MY FANTASTIC HUSBAND! Join this forum! Choose Moon Dance Cliffs. We took over the entire resort and were treated like royalty. Our wedding and the level of service we received during our week long stay is like no other we’ve ever experienced and we will never forget it. OOT bags – we gave our guests tote bags, travel mugs, first aid kits, t-shirts, pashminas, key chains, toys for the kiddies, and welcome letters/itineraries. They loved everything! Hire every single one of our vendors. Our WC, baker, makeup and hair artists, dj, florist, fire dancer, steel band, photographers and videographer all worked so hard and made our day and memories perfect! Treat our guests to a private catamaran cruise – what a treat that was. Besides the wedding, this is something our guests are still raving about. Arrange group flights for our guests with Air Jamaica. It made out to be a great deal and entitled my hubby and I an upgrade to first class! Remain super organized and stress free throughout the entire process. I kept track of absolutely everything in excel and put tons of faith in my WC who did not let us down! What I’d do differently: I would not have concerned myself as much with who was or wasn’t coming. Some of the people we invited initially complained about the costs. It caused a lot of guest list doubts and there was even a time when we considered changing resorts. That would have been a huge mistake that we would have regretted. In the end we had over 80 of the most important people in our lives come to our wedding and most stayed on-site. Many have said that was well worth it and have plans to go back. I wish we went to the bank before we left and got small bills for tipping. I meant to but it slipped me. We had a hard time getting change in Jamaica and couldn’t tip people before we finally did. If I could go back, I wouldn’t have gotten eyelash extensions. I have naturally long lashes that I love and thought these would make them look extra special. They were pricey, not as full as I wanted them to be and I couldn’t use mascara on them. On the day of the wedding I still ended up wearing a strip of lashes and the other days I ended up not looking like myself. The worst part is they ended up breaking off my natural lashes. I’m on the fence about this one but maybe it wasn’t the best idea to go on our honeymoon right away. We were in Jamaica for a week and went for a week long cruise right after that. It was a really a great time but Jamaica was plenty. We got a bit homesick and missed our puppy. We could have probably waited until later in the year for the cruise.

LARAAAA! Are you ready, baby?! Sooo excited for you!

Hey Nicky, thanks for the compliment. We had booked before they made renting a tent mandatory so it didn’t apply to us. I’m so grateful we did not need one!

Thanks everyone! Sharae - your post went through! I meant that they did not have too many options on their menus. It didn't bother me but if you have guests that are used to travelling to all inclusives that boast things like 8 different places to eat different types of food, they may be disappointed. Everything they listed on their menus seemed to be available.

Thanks Jacki! Forrester Gayle's email is [email protected]. He was always quick with his email responses. Good luck!

Hello ladies! I’m back and married! I included Rashel in my full review of our wedding but thought Rashel deserved another shout on here because she’s just that good! I found Rashel through this thread so I hope this really helps someone who is considering makeup artist options. Our photographers blogged us today and I happily included the pictures that showed off her handiwork. Rashel applied airbrush makeup for our moms, my four bridesmaids, maid of honor, good friend, and myself for our wedding at Moon Dance Cliffs in Negril. Airbrush seemed like the only way to go to me when dealing with nerves and the brutal Jamaica sun.The airbrush looked natural, felt lightweight and best of all, lasted. We ate, drank, and danced the night away and looked great the entire time. I seriously considered going to be fully made up because I didn’t want to wash any of it off. I also had Sherna, Rashel’s hair stylist, do my hair. In no time, Sherna gave me EXACTLY what I wanted. I explained the look I was going for, showed her a picture and had to do or say nothing more. She did an awesome job as well and the two ladies stayed with us until after everyone got dressed in case anyone needed touching up. These two really cared and we loved them for it! If you’re on the fence, go ahead and book her. I'm sure you’ll be as glad that you did as I am that I did .

Hi ladies! I'm back from my honeymoon! Tanner, a couple lbs heaver and MARRIED! Got back last night and got to working on my review right away. It's up. http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/products/moon-dance-cliffs-jamaica-negril/reviews/4779

Hey ladies! I hope everyone’s planning is going well! My time is finally here. I leave a week from today! We’ll be at MDC June 17th-23rd and in JA a few days after that. Any BDW brides getting married then? I won’t do a planning thread until I get back. Some of our guests know about this site and I want to keep things a surprise. Catch you when I get back!! J

I just said the same thing to myself! Great minds...

I like 1 and 4 best on you. Good luck!

Glad I could help

Sent

Hi Rini - I bought my pashminas from Pioneer too. I also went to a store named Real Evergreen International at 24 West 28th Street. I got paper lanterns (12 for $15), compact mirrors (12 for $7) and Jamaica (they had other countries) key chains (12 for $6). While you’re in the neighborhood pashmina shopping, you should stop by. You may find cool stuff for OOT bags. I don’t know that you’ll find travel sized health and beauty stuff around there but while you're there maybe ask around. Good luck!

Kera - you looked gorgeous! Congrats!

Thanks for posting the song list, dmob. Super helpful

thanks for the tips. kicking myself for not getting these sooner, lol.

CT bride here! I'm in Norwalk

Wow, these are so so pretty! Very nice job!