Rmarino222

My dress is Paloma Blanca 4001. I'm lucky enough to have big folds in the front of my dress that will hide the front bustle. But i'm sure that if you talk to who ever is doing the alterations, they should be able to figure out a way to help!

*** A tip for any brides that are going barefoot during the ceremony and wearing big heels for the reception *** I had my 2nd dress fitting last night and when i told the woman doing my alterations that i wanted to practice walking in the dress barefoot because that's what i'm doing in my ceremony she came up with an amazing idea!! since my dress was dragging and it was VERY difficult to walk in, she made me a front bustle that's hidden by one of the big creases in my dress so that the dress can be taken up slightly in the front so that when i'm barefoot it will be the perfect length and i can walk in it easily. If anyone plans on going barefoot in the ceremony but is wearing large heels for the reception, remember to mention it to the person doing your dress alterations!!!!!

I have no intentions of wearing my shoes very long either! i primarily got them for the getting ready and detail pics!!!! but one thing that i did discover that came in really handy is that you can get heels shortened if need be. I'm in NYC and took my Badgley 4 3/4" heel shoes to the Leather Spa on 5th ave and 54th (i think) and for $20 they took the heel down 1/4" which really makes a difference. they are MUCH easier to walk in!

I LOVE the blue!! you should totally wear those for the wedding as well as the shower!!!

Jwed12 - i had the same concerns that you did about the length of the dress. i'm going barefoot for my ceremony and then putting on close to 5" heels for my reception. I've actually been stalking peoples pics to see what they've done and have notice quite a few girls who did the same. I spoke to one and she got her dress hemmed for the shoes. it did drag on the beach but she said she just took careful steps and it wasn't a big deal at all. I feel like it's better for the dress to drag on the beach than it is for it to be too short at the reception. check out this link: http://www.danielaguilarblog.com/?p=776 Kristine wore 5" jimmy choo's and went barefoot on the beach and her dress looks amazing at both the ceremony and the reception! hope this helps!

the shows that i'm wearing come in white too (Badgley Mischka "Lissa" Evening pumps)

i have tons of info for you. if you want me to send you some, just send me a PM with your email address and i'll send some info along!

are the flip flops badgley mischka too? I love those!!!!

those are gorgeous Bride2012!!!! LOVE!

Welcome LennyJune2012 and congrats on your engagement and choosing La Amada!! Send me a PM with your email address and i'll add you to the chain!

I finally got my shoes and couldn't be more excited! I am totally in love with them. For the ceremony i'm going barefoot but then putting these on for the reception!

Welcome to the forum EVTL55 and congrats on your engagement and on picking La Amada for your wedding. send me a PM with your email address and i can add you to our La Amada bride email chain.

Absolutely gorgeous!!!!!!! I have full confidence that Melissa will do a great job at my wedding! thanks for sharing!

Leanne, thanks for sharing the photos. Everything looked beautiful! M&M, is there any way you could send me a pic? for some reason i don't have access to open the attachment you posted. I'm so happy to hear what a great experience you had with her. I just sent in my deposit for her to my hair and makeup as well as my 6 bridesmaids, mom and mom-in-law. I can't wait!

LeanneMarie - would love to hear how the wedding went and see any pics of the makeup done by MVP if you have any!

I would love it if you could send pics from the wedding!!! I haven't met her but she came very highly recommended by a vendor that i'm using.

I am pretty sure that I am going to be booking Melissa V. Parry (MVP Hair and Makeup) for my wedding in December. I haven't seen too many reviews of her services and was hoping that there were some girls out there that have used her and could send me some pics and tell me about their experience.

2 things.... (1) does anyone have any recommendations for hair and makeup? I'm still undecided about whether or not we are going to do our own makeup but i know that we definitely need someone for hair. I'm waiting to hear back from the hotel salon to see how much they charge. Has anyone used them before or seen any of their past work? if anyone has any recommendations for good and not crazy expensive hair/make-up people, i'd really appreciate it. (2) for any of you that have already gotten married at the fabulous La Amada Hotel, do you have albums online that you wouldn't mind sharing so we can see how everything looked and maybe even get some ideas? Thanks and happy planning to all!

the pics look great Gabi! The hanging glass balls and candles look great and I'm so happy you recommended them to me!!!!

I'm getting married at La Amada in December and actually just got back from there last week. I am absolutely in love with the hotel! The service is amazing and it's a beautiful hotel. Very white and modern and clean and the rooms are great and really cheap (for my wedding in December the junior suites are only $165/night). Another bonus is that they now have an optional all-inclusive plan for only $80 per person per day. It's totally worth it since the hotel's prices are pretty steep for food and drinks. The all-inclusive package includes ALL food and beverages (even room service 24/7). THe hotel is rather isolated so if you are looking for something close to all the action, La Amada is not the right choice. I wanted a place far away from everything so that my guests don't get distracted with a million things to do and we can all have some quality time together. You can organize activities and day trips and Isla Mujeres is only like 15 minutes away and there is also a golf course on the premises and a marina where you can charter boats for the day. Feel free to ask any questions you might have about La Amada! Happy planning!

Congrats and welcome to the forum!! I've been talking to a bunch of past and future La Amada brides and it really helps!! I still haven't seen the place in person but am finally going down on Thursday! Your first move should be to email Ileana, who is the La Amada wedding coordinator. Be prepared that she does not respond right away. It doesn't mean anything about her work from what i hear, they just move a little slower in Mexico! I've been talking to Gabi from Planner 1 and will be meeting with her when i'm down there this weekend. I think that's who the hotel normally uses so she's really familiar with the hotel. Plus, if you contact her through this website, she offers an additional discount. A word of warning...don't expect too much in terms of a good deal for a group rate. We actually opted not to do a room block because they were only going to give us a $6 discount. They figure that the prices are already really cheap and we shouldn't expect them to go down more. So instead of entering into an unnecessary room block contract, we're just having everyone make their own reservations. I have a friend that owns a travel agency and they have her contact info if they want to do the hotel reservations through her. Her name is Lia Batkin, of In the Know Travel Experiences and her email is: [email protected]. Just tell her that Rachel Marino referred you to see about booking a wedding at La Amada. She's the one who originally recommended La Amada to me. I would be thrilled to give you any information that i have, just send me your email address and we can chat! Congrats again and happy planning!!

Kristine - let me check with the bride to make sure she's ok with it and as long as she is, i'll email you some pics. what's your email address?

Agreed, for a destination wedding, things are still adding up quite quickly. but it will all be worth it in the end. I'm going to sort out my menu and open bar options first and then see how much is left over in the budget for all the decorations. I think that i might bring some DIY decorations with me, like ribbons to put on the aisle chairs for the ceremony and tissue paper to make my own pom poms (as seen on martha stewart's website). hopefully i can save at least a little by doing things like that. kristine - how many guests are you expecting? For the celebration dinner that we're going to do the night after the wedding, i either want to do a mexican buffet and bonfire on the beach or do the mexican buffet at Lupita Lounge. I saw pics from a wedding at la amada in december and she did a mexican buffet in Lupita Lounge and it looked great. it's a great space and they have the ability to block the wind, so i might take advantage of it. we shall see. If you don't mind my asking, how much does your hair/makeup guy charge and is there a charge for bringing him into the hotel? how many bridesmaids do you have? is it just the one person or are there others to do the bridesmaids and mothers hair? As of now i was planning on having hair done at the salon and we'll just do our own makeup, but if there are cheaper and better options, i would love to know!!!

Sorry about the double replies. It had looked to me like the one i tried to submit the other day didn't go through, so i took the time to write another one. opppssss.

I’ve got 10 ½ months and am excited that the planning is moving along well! I found my dress on Sunday and am sooo excited about it! Even better, I’m heading down to finally see La Amada in person next week! I can’t wait to finally see the place with my own eyes and to meet Ileana and Gabi to start going over all the options! We are also taking advantage of the all-inclusive plan both for my site visit next week and for the week my fiancé and I are down there for the wedding. We’re all big eaters and drinkers and there’s no doubt in my mind that we can eat/drink $80 worth a day! and especially during the site visit when we’re going to do our best to taste a little everything so that we can decide on our wedding menu! I’m not sure if all my guests will be doing it but from the sounds of it, it seems like at least most of them will be. That being said, it might effect what I choose to include in my open bar for the wedding, as well as the dinner we’re going to host the night after the wedding. (we’re doing our wedding Friday and then instead of a welcome or rehearsal dinner, we’re doing a celebration dinner Saturday night) I’ll have to talk to Ileana about how it would work if the guests are doing the all-inclusive option. Does anyone know if they make you wear bracelets or anything so they know who’s all-inclusive and who’s not? Kristine – I LOVE the idea of putting floating candles in the pool and the paper lanterns and think I’m most likely copying you on that! it sounds beautiful. Do you have any pics of what its going to look like? With 4 months to go, you sound like you’ve got everything under control! Now that I’ve found my dress I can start moving on to figuring out what everyone else is wearing. I’m putting my bridesmaids in fuschia and have a few possibilities that I need to see in person and see on them. I know I want strapless (with optional straps for the bigger-chested girls) and then my gift to them is going to be a big chunky turquoise necklace that they’ll all wear, which will match the big chunky drop turquoise earrings that I’m going wear. for the guys we are doing navy blue suits with pink shirts, no ties and my fiancé is going to wear a dark grey suit with a pink shirt and no tie. I saw someone else’s pics with that color scheme and it looks amazing! then I’m going to have my mom and my fiance’s mom in navy and/or teal/turquoise. I’m excited to meet with gabi to start talking about candle and flower options. I want bright colored flowers and soft candle light everywhere. Kristine – I’m totally thinking of doing a lot of the things that you described. Hopefully after the wedding you won’t mind sending along pics!!!! I still have no idea what songs we’re using but I figure I have plenty of time to figure it all out. I figure that most of the planning will begin either at the site visit or following it because I really want to see the place in person and taste the food before making any big decisions. I have a long list of things to go over with Gabi and Ileana and am counting down the days till I get there. I would love to hear how everyone else’s planning is going. Since I’m still at the beginning stages of planning, I would appreciate any ideas or tips from those of you further along. And if there are any La amada brides out there who would like to share pictures, I would LOVE to see them. Happy planning to all!