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YAY YAY YAY for the last day of work!!  Only 2 hours 22 mins to go, but who's counting?!!

Awe, they are gorgeous Miriam!!

Oh, and another thing Jaime.  For the lanterns, I have the flameless tea lights for mine.  No idea how they are gonna get strung in there (I'm hoping the resort can figure that part out) but if it works out for me, you are welcome to have them. 

Also, for the girls with RSVP issues.  I'm sorry to hear things are more stressful than fun right now.  In the end, your day is going to be beautiful and special no matter who makes the trip.  Keep your chin up, and focus on the end goal  ) 

Jaime, just breathe girl!!  You will get it done.  And if you don't, none of your guests will be the wiser!  I have nixed tons that I had wanted to do.  I figure why spend more money for something that's used so briefly.  For my welcome booklets, I ended up just putting the information in Publisher and sent it out as a PDF.  I may still print a small welcome booklet with just the listing of people so others can record their room numbers, and the wedding week itinerary again. 

Kinkos is a good option though.  I used them for quite a few things.  You can take your thumb drive and cardstock up to the store and print everything in no time.  Works out pretty well. 

Oh, and Jaime I wanted to ask you or one of the other girls that have visited the resort, how strict are they with the clothing for dinner?  Do I need to tell these guys to bring dress pants for every night of dinner?  That seems a little crazy.  I wish they could wear nice jeans or shorts!! 

I also had my own panic day.  The girl that's been doing my hair for like a year and a half now, and was scheduled to do it tomorrow night texted me today saying she has strep and is contagious for the 48 hours.  Aghhh... So now I have to scramble to find someone else to do my hair so it's going to cost twice as much (she does it out of her home for half the cost) and I have to trust someone brand new!!  So frustrating.  And, I bartend on Saturday nights.  This weekend was my last night for the season.  We close for the summer, and apparently our drawer was short (first time in 5 years!) and so I have to send back $110.  Booo, so in about 2.5 hours this morning, I basically lost almost $200.  Durn.....
 

Originally Posted by JaimeCF2BR 

Geez...I keep having minor panic attacks!  Mood swings galore!  I'll get really excited, then something will go wrong (like going through an entire ink cartridge on TWO welcome books, when I have 20 more to print!)...and I'll completely freak out. 

 

I just cant wait til next Wednesday.  Whatever gets done before then great...whatever doesnt get done...oh well! 

 

 

 

Maggie, I am leaving Wednesday night to head up to the airport.  Our flight leaves Thursday morning!!  ) 

Va va va voom! What an amazing dress lesee! Congrats!

Here's a cell phone picture right after the ceremony.  We got some great pictures with our camera, but I left my connector at work.   

Hey girls, so I am legally married! We had our ceremony today at our home. I'll try and get some pictures posted soon!

First off, thank you so much to all the ladies on here, for such wonderful advice and support.  I wouldn’t have known where to start if it wasn’t for this forum! 

And also, let me preface this thread by saying that I am very much the “frugal†bride!  While there were so many other things I would have loved to do, I didn’t want to go into debt for the wedding.  My thinking is that marrying the man of my dreams in Mexico with all my closest friends and family is going to be perfect, with or without all the extras.  Now, don’t get me wrong, if I had the $, we would have had it all!! )

The Proposal:

My fiancé and I, at the time of the proposal had been together a little over 4 years.   I was getting anxious about the whole marriage thing, and so after a conversation one night, we decided that we were ready.  But, to get the date I wanted, I had to start planning SO our wedding was basically planned before the proposal!  Lol!  Then, there was some confusion about the ring and we had to wait 2 months for it to come in, special order.  L  I have a teeny size 4 ring finger.  But, in the end, it all worked out!  He took me to NY for the weekend, and I knew it was coming, but he definitely did surprise me with how he did it.  I was assuming dinner time, but as we were standing on a busy corner in Times Square, he says “Hey, look at that,†and there was his face on a huge billboard with a message “Will you Marry me?† I was shocked and so happy to FINALLY have the official proposal. 

The Rings:

Oh, these rings…. Well, my fingers, as mentioned above are little and well, his are big so these rings have been a source of contention for us.

Our invitations:

We skipped Save the Dates because I felt that for a destination wedding, people are either going to want to go, and book it, or they aren’t.  And if they do plan to attend, they’re certainly not going to forget about it!  So, a friend of mine designed the invitation in photoshop and we packaged it up pretty.

The Venue:

We will marry at the Azul Sensatori on the beach, with our reception following at the Zavaz Plaza. (These pics are from fellow BDW bride's)

The Dress:

When I ordered my dress, I wasn’t completely sold on it.  My mom convinced me it was everything I wanted (fitted, little bit of bling, and lightweight were my criteria).  When I left, I was happy about my decision.  But then, when the dress came in, it fit me completely different than the sample, even though I ordered the exact same size.  I was no longer in love.  BUT, I found a fabulous seamstress who saved the day!  She fixed the fit so it was tight in the hips and butt again, made sure my little ruffle detail was more to the front and noticeable, and also made the top my favorite, a sweetheart neckline.  I now love my dress again and can’t wait to wear it!

This is the before.

And After: (Don't mind the bump on the right.  That was corrected!)

My jewelry:

I purchased a jewelry set from Maylui on etsy and found that when I tried it on with my dress, it just didn’t work.  She was so sweet, and made me a set based on my requests.  The set is beautiful.

My Shoes:

I wanted hot pink shoes but couldn’t find any that fit my “frugalness.† Ha ha, so I found some champagne colored shoes on sale at Kohls for $9.00 and I designed them myself.  Some people like them.  Some do not. To each his own, but I like them )

Bridesmaid Dresses:

Here are our BM dresses, ordered from China.  I totally wish I'd picked something else now, but you live and learn. 

Grooms attire: No pic but fiance is wearing a tan suit with a blue striped shirt.  Groomsmen are wearing white linen pants with short sleeve tan shirts. 

Flowers:

I ordered real touch flowers from etsy seller, modagefloral and they are beautiful.  Here are some pics.

These bouts were from a different seller. 

And on to the planning:

OOT bags

I ordered the bags from www.Papermart.com.  I just wanted a plain bag that people could reuse.  The bags were $.99 each and I went with black b/c I felt it would be more universal.

In the bags are the following:

DIY door hangers – Designed by Me using Gimp, and printed through Vistaprint

Welcome notes – Designed by Me and printed through Vistaprint

Personalized Lip Gloss –

Starfish Wine Stoppers – Purchased from Amazon

Lanyards – DIY print and design for the cards

First Aid Kits – DIY print and design for the cover – First aid kit purchased from the Dollar Store, and I added Tums and Tylenol packets

Stadium Cups – Purchased from www.myweddingreceptionideas.com

Sudoku Books – Purchased from the Dollar Store

Hand Sanitizer – DIY Share the Love stickers – Sanitizer purchased from the Dollar Store

Photoshare Cards – Designed by Me and printed through Vistaprint

I don't really have any great pics b/c we are putting the bags together when we get to Mexico.  But, here are a few things:

Ceremony Details:

We opted for the Exotic Gazebo décor and will just be having the white sheers with flowers on each side, in hot pink, orange and white.  There will also be rose petals in these colors down the aisle.  The chair sashes are turquoise.  I also made Reserved signs for our immediate families.

Reception Details:

Centerpieces

I purchased vases from the Dollar Store, and flowers from Hobby Lobby.  I am going to forgo my original plan of having candles because I don’t think they will stay lit.  So, we will just be putting seashells around them instead.  We will also have the turquoise table runner and other table décor such as menus, table numbers, placecards, and possibly maracas.

For the table numbers, we decided to do silly Mexican themed pics.  And we wanted to include our baby boy, our Boston Terrier!!

I made our Guestbook online at mixbook.com and I love it.  Here's a link to it:

http://www.mixbook.com/photo-books/wedding/wedding-guestbook-5175989

I also designed and printed our ceremony programs:

Miscellaneous Stuff:

My flip flops

I ordered some flip flops with my married name.  They are adorable. 

Belly Button Ring

My mom ordered me a belly button ring from an etsy seller, that has our wedding date and initials.  It's super cute!

We had engagement pictures done, and I also did a boudoir shoot.  Here are just a few pics from that. 

And, I guess that is all for now! 
 

Love it girl!!  You did a great job!  Hope your wedding is absolutely beautiful! )

Maggie, I was told they do for about ten dollars.

Fabulous pics! Absolutely love the one with the horses! Congrats!

Yay for our April wedding gals!!  Can't wait to hear all about your big days!  

Thanks for the coupon Rosieposie!!  ) 

So happy for all you newly married ladies!  Everyone's days seemed to turn out perfectly!  I still have 10 nights before we leave, but have a ton to do.  We are having our legal ceremony at our home on the water on Friday.  So, this week I have to try and clean up all the wedding stuff!!   Oh my!  My daughter has sports a few nights a week, still have to go for another "final" dress fitting, have to run to the stores, try to fit in the gym and a few times tanning.... aye carumba.  Wish I didn't have to work!! 

Well, have a great week girls.  Keep the pictures coming. They are GORGEOUS!! 

Hey Kerry,

Good luck!!!  Dress shopping is the best!  Personally, I went to about 6 stores and tried on approximately 24 dresses.  Be sure you focus on what you want and how you envision yourself on your big day.  For me, money was a big deal because we were paying for the entire wedding ourselves.  So, the cheaper the better.  I found a dress that I liked and was considering buying but my mom had to see it  So, before driving to the shop for that dress, we went to a few others, where we ultimately found "my" dress.  Looking back at the pics, I kinda felt like I let my mom guide me a bit too much but as it turned out, that was only b/c the dress I received was a bit bigger and fit me differently.  After alterations, it's beautiful, and will look great on my wedding day.  It has all the features I wanted. 

So, long story for that but be sure you have a few features that you want.  Do you want fitted, lightweight, beading, lace??  Oh, and DON'T SETTLE!!  )

Let us know how it goes!!

And here are my ceremony programs....

Hey girls, I am actually off work on a Saturday night so I am spending the night getting some last minute wedding stuff done.  Thought I'd share our silly table numbers I've been working on.  We are a very laid back couple and our wedding is definitely focused on "fun" and informal.   

Wow, limo picking you up.  That's fun!  Hope you have an amazing trip and wedding!!

Girls, I am getting so excited!!!  I have a massage appointment tomorrow after work which is much needed at this point!!  I am also having an eye treatment done, which if it helps my eyes, that would be a miracle.  I have awful allergies and due to bad shot reactions over the past year, the puffy eyes have gotten to be quite bad.    I've looked into a lot of different ways to fix it but no luck just yet. So, fingers crossed!  I had a very productive night tonight.  FI is working, so I packed up the duffel with all the OOT contents, sashes and more, and also got some house cleaning done.  Next Friday is my legal day!!  So I will be officially married.  I think in some ways it's still surreal, even after all the planning.  Just think, this time 2 weeks, I will be drinking mojitos at AS!!    

Congrats Teira!!  Love love love the hair!!!!  Can't wait to see more pics.  

Oh no Baileybride.  Sorry to hear you got sick on your big day, but you looked gorgeous and it sounds like you were in good spirits about it all.   

I love seeing all the new brides coming back!!  So happy for all you girls!

Yay Michele, Best of luck to you!!  Can't wait to hear all about it and see your pics!!   

Wow Brandy, those Pics are absolutely amazing! If all of them are that good, ur going to have one heck of a time choosing!

Congrats Tenny!!  You looked stunning on your wedding day!

Yay Tenny, can't wait to read all about your special day!!