MCree

I did it! I survived my wedding day. Okay, only kidding . . . kind of! In all honesty, as hectic and time consuming as the year long process of planning was at some points, it was all worth it. I miss it more than you can imagine! My advice to all of you future brides and grooms is to try to enjoy every minute of it because it goes by so fast! Also, if you’re on a tight budget, shop around and never buy the first thing you see. I made a preliminary budget early on, brainstormed ways to stick to it, and ultimately busted my booty DIYing and waiting for sales/promo codes so we wouldn’t go over. Although it takes a lot of effort, this allowed our budget more wiggle room to splurge on things we didn’t necessarily need but really wanted later on. So, here goes nothing! First and foremost, I want to thank Tammy for her wonderful creation of this site. As creative and crafty as I am, my ideas truly would have been lost without the inspiration of so many threads on this wonderful forum to guide me. So with that being said, I would also like to send a special HUGE thank you to all of the previous brides who have given advice, guidance and freely shared so many amazing ideas with the rest of us. There are far to many inspiration threads I used to guide my own so thanks to each and every one of you who has so generously shared your ideas with the rest of us! I could NOT have done it without you! In paying a small portion of my debt back to this site, it is important that I share my planning experience with ya’ll-sorry, that’s the Louisiana coming out in me;). Although I will not be sharing my personal templates- I loved this process so much, I am considering starting a business out of this on the side-I am HAPPY to share tips and advice on any of my ideas and projects! If my planning thread can help even one future bride during her planning process than I am satisfied! I wish all of you future brides and grooms the best of luck! Our Engagement It all began on December 6, 2011! FI proposed on our five year anniversary after a romantic day of surprises. I came home from work to roses and a box about the size of a ring . . . only to open it and find diamond earrings instead. Don’t get me wrong, they were beautiful and all, but FI had successfully thrown me off by this point since we had been talking marriage for quite some time and there was no ring when I opened the box. Sneaky boy! Anyways, we later went to dinner at our favorite restaurant. He waited until we got back that night. Only after washing up and getting in bed, to my surprise I am greeted by our Chihuahua, Chu Chu, with my ring tied to a gold ribbon around his neck. I was thrilled that hubby decided to involve our baby boy in popping the big question! Groom did such a wonderful job! After the night, the planning began . . . The Rings After hearing fabulous reviews on the company and lower prices for quality diamonds, groom decided to buy my ring from Bluenile.com. Bad picture, but it is gorgeous, and I would highly recommend them! Groom works at a plant and knew he wanted a simple tungsten ring due to the work he does. We bought his ring from Kay jewelers. Sorry, I couldn't find a picture. The Resort and the Time So many options we had to consider before making the final decision on a resort and time of year to get married! I researched and compared wedding packages as well as kid and budget friendly resorts for months. After going back and forth in trying to decide what time of year would be the cheapest to travel, out of Hurricane season, and not blistering hot for our older guests especially, we decided to get married on December 1, 2012 at Dreams Riviera Cancun! Save the Dates When I first joined BDW, I immediately fell in love with all of the MIB ideas. This was before I really got on the DIY bandwagon. My busy life style intimidated me from tackling these on my own so I initially ordered them from Hansonandellis.com to save some time. I didn’t love the price tag though so it was all DIY from here on out. I did get the DIY bug after seeing so many fabulous MIBs so I decided to add my own touches to it. I turned the boxes inside out and constructed them into mini luggage, burnt the edges of the paper, made tags and return address labels for them, and ordered free magnets from Vista print with our STD info for guests to have a fridge reminder. Invitations This was by far the toughest DIY project throughout my planning process. I literally looked at every MIB thread on this site, pulled ideas from here and there and got to work with my own passport invites. Formatting, printing, cutting and creating these bad boys was a real pain in the behind, but the end project made it so worth it! This is a couple of the pages of my finished product. Pre-travel Brochures and Luggage Tags We sent DIY brochures and luggage tags that I bought from Michael's out one month before our wedding. I took out and added my own tag in each luggage tag. Here is the finished project. OOT Bags I purchased our OOT bags from Amazon. We put a bag together for each family/single. I am providing a list of the goodies we put in each bag along with where we got them from in parenthesis by each. Pink beach bag A. Folder with DIY monogram (Office Depot) 1. Welcome Letter (DIY free flyers from Vista Print) 2. Wedding Day Itinerary (DIY on paper and cardstock 3. Do Not Disturb Sign (DIY free rack cards from Vista Print) 4. Starfish Symbolism Card (DIY free business cards from Vista) B. Wedding Week Survival Kits in Biohazard bags (Workplace) 1. Small bottle of Aloe Vera (Target) 2. Anti-Bacterial (Bath and Body Works) 3. Playing Cards (Oriental Trading with DIY label) 4. First Aid Kit a. Chap Stick with DIY label (The Dollar Tree) b. Aspirin, Immodium, Pepto, Emergen-C (Minimuz.com), c. Band Aids/ Ear Plugs (from Hubby’s work) C. Yellow/Pink Personalized Koozies (www.totallyweddingkoozies.com) D. Santa Clause Beach Ornament in box (Oriental Trading) E. Puerto Morelos Shirt (free from Vista Print) F. Puerto Morelos Note Pad/Pen (free from Vista Print) G. Tip Holder/ Room Key Lanyards (Ebay) (DIY insert card) (This is some of the items we ordered from Viasta Print to add to our bags) My DIY OOT Bag Tags I bought a 2' hole puncher on sale at Joanne’s to make the circle. I designed and printed a from and back, printed them on transparent label paper, cut them out and glued them on cardstock. I then attached these to the bags using pink and raffia and twisting them together. To Be Continued . . .

Congratulations! Can't wait to hear a about everything! P.S. Loved your blog!

Thank you! They carpet comes with the package. Gina had informed me that they would be adding this with seashells on it free of charge during our meeting. It adds the perfect little touch and makes it a little easier to walk. I was in 3' wedges and my dress was long so anything to assist the walk was great!

We kept our cake simple and beachy. I brought our own decorations (chairs, edible shells) to be added to a two tier cake.