Michele4172011

I love this!!! Thank you for sharing!

Thank you for sharing! I'm researching music now and love the over the rainbow idea by IZ... perfect! I also didn't plan for the music while guests are seated... this helps so much! I'm a huge Jack Johnson, Donovan Frankenreiter fan, so I'll have to incorporate that; even though, I won't be able to hear it!

I see you are now a newlywed from Azul Sensatori! I will be getting married there in April. I would love to hear what you have chosen for music.... Anyone?

Welcome! I would love to hear which resort you chose!

Hi ladies! I'm also an April 2011 bride, but in Riviera Maya. I'd love to hear how your planning is going. I'm also in the process of booking a photographer and may look to use someone within the US and fly them in, if you are interested PM me and I can let you know more about the details. What are your wedding colors? I'm trying to keep my wedding really simple and costs down, so most of my wedding will be white and tan. My sister, my MOH, is going to be wearing a purplish color, so I guess I can add that in with turquoise? Do those colors go together?

Congrats to you as well. Which resort did you choose for your wedding?

Very beautiful!

I'm in the Baltimore area, you?

Welcome! I am also getting married in April in Riviera Maya! Happy Planning. I can't believe it's only 4 months away. Do you have a photographer booked yet?

Thank you! I emailed Abbie and updated my signature page. I'm make sure I check out the April 2011 Brides site this afternoon. PS-- I'm also from Maryland. Small world.

Interesting. I'm obviously new and don't know the ins and outs of the site. Where would I find those details? And who are "the mods"? I'm not sure I know how to update my signature. Can you point me in the right direction? And do you know how to delete a thread?

Hi Ladies, I'm in the process of booking a great photographer Chris Schmidt Photography and am looking to share the costs. Great deals for BDW brides, airfare included and the option for a discounted trash the dress. Please let me know if you are interested. The more brides, the more money we all save!! Thanks, Michele

Hi Ladies! Are there any brides getting married in April 2011? I'm hoping to share a photographer. Please let me know if you are interested. Thanks, Michele

I am getting married in Riviera Maya in April 2011, if you are too and would like to share a photographer, please let me know!!

Oooh, tell me more about the "real touch orchids". I'll get the details from my sister and PM you. Is there anything specific you want to know? Good luck on your BD shoot!!! I had fun with mine. It had been the most I'd laughed in awhile at that point. A good stress reliever and escape from wedding planning. I did down a bottle of wine while there so that may have added to it! Lol. I think I forgot to answer this when my post disappeared. I found them on ebay for $1.50. It was actually the Daily Spanish for Dummies. Not really sure what the difference is but I'm sure any of them will serve the purpose. We got a seating at Spoon for 8:30 but we had to fight for it and it took about 3 weeks to get approved. If you insist on it, they'll give it to you. My WC was Carolina. have fun!!!! Just an option, you can do real touch orchids if you really want orchids. I wasn't budging on the fact that I wanted callas and orchids. The resort quoted me $300 for them and I refused to pay that. My bouquet wound up costing less than $100.

A sunset wedding will be beautiful! What time of the year are you getting married? Our wedding is at 5:30, so I figure we can get some great pictures of the sunset right after the ceremony I think I have read where there have been brides who received reservations for 7 or 7:30, but they may have changed the "rules" to get people to spend the money on a private reception. Congratulations!! I look forward to hearing your details and seeing pictures! Ladies-- my sister (MOH) finally picked out her dress today!! We are only having one person to stand for us on each side, so I let my sister pick out the dress and color she wanted. We decided on a bright orchid color, dragon fruit by Alexia. It's a brighter, beachier color than Alfred Angelo's purple and more similar to berry by Mori Lee. The pictures online don't do the color justice (unless you have a killer monitor, which I do not!). The closest thing online I have found is the home page for destinationweddings.com. Check it out the purple MOH dress on http://www.destinationweddings.com and let me know what you think!! I'm so excited that phase is over. I'm ready to start planning around that color now. Does anyone have any recommendations for flowers or should I stick with orchids? I hear orchids are ridiculously expensive, so I wasn't sure if anyone has other, more economical, options.

Ooooh, Let us know how the BD shoot goes. I defintiely want to do it, but still trying to get my body in wedding day condition. I'm sure you are going to knock his socks off! How did you find your photographer? I've been doing some research but not sure who to trust. I'd also like to hear about the light up lanterns. Where did you get them from? I've read posts from ladies that have said they had to create their own (DIY) lights for them. I'm so confused. hahaha!

Meredith- where did you get your OOT bags? They are exactly what I am looking for!

Meredith- these pictures are great! I'm getting so excited just looking at these

Tisha-- I absolutely LOVE your dress and think it fits you perfectly. I honestly don't think you have anything to be concerned with! Keep me posted. I also think the officiant is included within the packages. You can check the packages on the karisma website, it's there. I hope this helps ease some concern.

Oh gosh-- I'm sooo glad I saw this! I tried on my dress 2 weeks ago and realized that I do not love it. I think part of me bought my dress because my mom LOVED it. I tried it on and thought it was just ok, nothing great. I should definitely feel different trying on my wedding dress, right??? My mom was with me when I was there 2 weeks ago and she knew the look on my face and said "well, maybe this isn't the dress for you..." I almost brought her to tears because she has already purchased it. I was thinking about going to look at other dresses without her and seeing what I come up with. Most places will allow you to use a credit towards another dress. Can you give them a call to see what their policy is? The whole thing is making me sick so I can definitely relate. I would love to hear the outcome of your story. Extra money is a great bonus. And I love that you are planning not to go in debt for your wedding. I think too many people overspend on their one day.... part of the reason I am doing a destination wedding. My way of eloping with our families there! My future in-laws keep asking how much money they can contribute and I just don't want to throw out a number and her think it's too high. I may be overstepping, but how reasonable is it to keep the wedding ceremony and photographer below $5K. excluding travel of course. That's what I'm shooting for, but I usually have unrealistic goals

Thank you for being honest and sharing your experience with us!

Here is a picture of the one I originally liked, but is it not tropical enough? Thoughts?

I spent some time this weekend registering for gifts. Because we already have an established house, we opened up a Honeymoon Registry instead of a standard gift registry. Travelers Joy has a 7.5% fee assessed verses the 10% Destination Weddings uses. Check out Travelers Joy! http://www.travelersjoy.com. I think this is such a cute idea. Family and friends can put money towards fun items for your weddingmoon or honeymoon (if you are going somewhere after Azul Sensatori) instead of loading you up on useless breadmakers. Now that the fun part of registering is over, I need to get back to wedding planning. Tisha, your bouquets are beautiful and have inspired me to continue my search online today for pictures of bridal bouquets. I'm leaning towards white orchids, peonies, etc. but I LOVE the tropical bouquets as well. Does anyone else have inspirational bouquet pictures to share??

Hi ladies! Tisha-- I love love love your engagement photos. Were they taken in Maryland? If so, I would love to know more details. I have been wanting to do them, but wasn't sure where to turn. Gemma-- I am getting married 2 days before you, so we will probably see each other there! I may also do just white for the ceremony decor, with a splash of tan and maybe one color. I figure that my MOH and mom will have pretty colors on. I just can't decide. Feel free to PM anytime and we can chat. Nice to know I have someone so close! Question-- has anyone heard of a steel drum band they have at the resort? I was thinking this would be a great option for the welcome cocktail party. Either that, or we can put reggae on our iPod. I want something different than the reception. How about ceremony music? What is everyone doing? Thanks XOXOXO