jnitschke

Thanks for the advice... Did anyone have a pre-made general schedule for when/where they planned to have dinner or drinks each night, if others wanted to join them?

Originally Posted by AllieH 

this is awesome!! I vaguely remember getting a small list of the restaurant times, but it didn't include the bars or snack corners. So I think this would be really helpful.

 

I would suggest a note added to check restaurant's days and times, just in case there are changes.  and all of the restaurants aren't open every day. I think there was one night Kampai was closed, and another when Rincon was closed. Rincon has dinner hours also, from 6-10pm.

 

You may also want to add that room service is 24/7, and typically takes about 30 minutes to deliver. (try the lobster quesadillas - we loved these!)

 

There are two D'Italia restaurants - one in the Royale side, and one in the Casitas side. I've heard the menus are identical, but the service was a little better/nicer in the casitas (we ate at the D'Italia casitas several times!!)

 

The other thing with the restaurants that you may want to mention is that there is a dress code at lunch - no swim suits, except at the pizzeria. Ladies will need a cover up & shorts, gents need a t-shirt and must be dry.

 

Bars:

There's also a champagne bar above D'Italia Casitas. They have most other alcoholic beverages too, but this place was always quiet when we were there. It's on the 2nd floor, and has a lovely balcony that looks out over the beach.

 

The other bar to mention is Gaviotas - this is the one on the beach across from Kampai. It was one of our favorite locations. They don't have hours listed, but I think it opened around 10 or 11am, and closed around 9 or 10pm.

 

Hope that helps!!

 

Originally Posted by melnryluvco 

 

I will ask my May Brides since you all are the quickest to respond. So I have a Maid of Honor, a Man of Honor, and 3 BM. I have the girls gifts figured out but what do I do for my Man of Honor/GBFF(Gay Best Friend)? I have a cute flask so far but I am at a total loss. I mean it's not like the groomsmen stuff (ie Golf stuff and Beer) so what now??? And I don't think he'd enjoy lipgloss and pink spanx like the girls. UGH I need some ideas ladies!

Cuff links or a watch maybe... fun dress socks in your colors to wear at the wedding...

Originally Posted by Lfcgirl88 

 

 

I adore the hair vines, any idea where you can buy these/ have them made (I'm guessing etsy?). I love your overall style I think it goes really well together! I would choose the second earrings btw! X

Thank You!

I'm actually just going to make my own hair vine.  I know the basics of beading and jewelry making, so I figured I could handle making a simple beaded necklace.  I read an article on Jennifer Lawrence's hair vine from the Hunger Games premiere that said she just took a vintage gold necklace, braided it into her hair and then flipped/pulled apart the braid pinning it with the necklace intertwined.   seems simple enough. 

I'm going to make a necklace that I can then later wear as a memory of the day.  So, just could just do some necklace shopping for it, vs. using something specifically made for hair.

I'd like to apologize for the random super posting of my last post... not sure what just happened there.
 

Originally Posted by riz157 

 

Does anyone know what type of makeup the spa uses?

 

I believe someone in an earlier post said they use MAC products.

Originally Posted by riz157 

 

Does anyone know what type of makeup the spa uses?

 

I believe someone in an earlier post said they use MAC products.

Originally Posted by riz157 

 

Does anyone know what type of makeup the spa uses?

 

I believe someone in an earlier post said they use MAC products.

Originally Posted by riz157 

 

Does anyone know what type of makeup the spa uses?

 

I believe someone in an earlier post said they use MAC products.

Originally Posted by riz157 

 

Does anyone know what type of makeup the spa uses?

 

I believe someone in an earlier post said they use MAC products.

Originally Posted by LKocelko 

 

Has anyone ever bought/done the private dinner on the beach? I was thinking of giving it as a gift to my MOH, and wanted any input people had. Worth the $140 a couple? That or I was thinking of doing a massage for them, but thought they might just book one themselves.

 

She's the only person in my bridal party, and she is so hard to shop for because if she wants something she just buys it! So I thought doing something there might be a nice surprise instead of a gift.

So funny, I was just debating that for my inlaws as a gift.  They're going to be celebrating their 35th anniversary down there too. So they're staying an extra week.  Maybe dinner and couples massages?  Any other good ideas for gifts to give people down there?

I'm pretty sure my MOH is getting a clutch from me.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/95005779/silk-clutchpursebagpersonalized-heirloom?ga_search_query=photo

The best part is that you can personalize it by putting in a silk photo lining for an extra $25.  So that's what I'm going to do.  I think she'll love it, since she's the kind of girl who could have 1000 purses... but always seems to need 1 more.   One of the fabric choices is a black brocade with teal peacock feathers and is just perfect for my theme.  I love giving things that people will use again, and think of you every time they do.  I think the shiny black silk makes it a really nice dressy clutch, that can be used for all kinds of occasions.   

Originally Posted by TealMarie 

 

 

Thanks for letting us know. It looks great! How does it fit him? We might visit one in Washington to see how they fit and feel. We have a lot of time to find him a suit so I'm guessing a few more sales will come up before we need it. I'm thinking the groomsmen will only wear pants and a shirt, so it seems like it might be more economical to just buy those things rather than rent.

I'd say get yourself on the mailing list.  If I hear of another sale coming up I'll try to post something about it.  You live in DC? I live in So. MD, Charles County.  If fits him great, but I don't have any pictures of him in it... I should probably do that.  He's sometimes a hard fit, super broad shoulders and thighs from years of football as a teen.  Suits and clothes have a tendency to come slim fit these days, and everything hangs pretty nicely on him.  Luckily, Jos A Bank tends to offer choices in cuts of their suits.

Since we've all been discussing music lately, Amazon has 3 free albums up for valentine's day.   I've downloaded all 3 of them and there's some good stuff in here. 

http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1360690801/ref=sr_pg_1?ie=UTF8&keywords=Valentine%27s%202013%20-%20A%20TuneCore%20Artist%20Compilation&page=1&rh=n%3A163856011%2Cn%3A!624868011%2Ck%3AValentine%27s%202013%20-%20A%20TuneCore%20Artist%20Compilation%2Cp_n_feature_browse-bin%3A625151011%2Cp_n_feature_browse-bin%3A625151011

Since we've all been discussing music lately, Amazon has 3 free albums up for valentine's day.   I've downloaded all 3 of them and there's some good stuff in here. 

http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1360690801/ref=sr_pg_1?ie=UTF8&keywords=Valentine%27s%202013%20-%20A%20TuneCore%20Artist%20Compilation&page=1&rh=n%3A163856011%2Cn%3A!624868011%2Ck%3AValentine%27s%202013%20-%20A%20TuneCore%20Artist%20Compilation%2Cp_n_feature_browse-bin%3A625151011%2Cp_n_feature_browse-bin%3A625151011
 

Originally Posted by TealMarie 

 

For some reason it won't let me quote your response correctly. Have you received his suit yet? How is the quality of it? My FI also hates to be too hot and uncomfortable so I'd like to minimize that for him if possible....in a good looking suit.

Yeah it's very nice, light weight.  It isn't scratchy or anything, pretty much what you'd expect from a typical summer weight suit, only this one is wicking. Todd really likes his, he also got the stays cool white dress shirt.  Now, obviously it hasn't been field tested yet, so I can't speak from experience.  Our wedding is May 25th, so I can tell you after he's worn it on the day of.  I don't want to risk something happening to it before hand, and I figured it's got to be better than a standard suit, and at 70% off we couldn't really argue. 

here's the link to the one he bought

http://www.josbank.com/menswear/shop/Product_11001_10050_372007

and then he bought this vest, it's about as close as we're going to get to a match.  The color is spot on, but the tooth is slightly different, but nothing noticeable from a distance. 

http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom/claiborne-mens-suit-separates-silver-gray/prod.jump?ppId=1af57f6&catId=cat100250022&deptId=dept20000014&N=1260%204294965092&topDim=Brand&topDimvalue=claiborne&dimCombo=Brand%7CItem+Type%7C&dimComboVal=claiborne%7Csuit+vest%7C&currentDim=Item+Type&currentDimVal=suit+vest#1dd555e

Originally Posted by JEM236 

 

 

These are two sashes. One with a flower and one without. 

 

I think these two, with pearls to match the color of your dress would be best.  Think white pearls with a white dress and off white pearls with an ivory dress.  I like how the floral-rosette details seems to match.  And belts with simple dresses are so flattering.  I don't really think that the turquoise necklace would match the belts you've chosen very well.  The idea is that you want to look cohesively put together.  I think that if you were going for a really bohemian look then the turquoise necklace would be good.  But, all of the other accessories you've picked out don't say bohemian to me.  What I would do is look at some bridal pictures that have the "style" you're going for, not necessarily the same dress, and then try to match the size and quantity of the accessories to it.  Or, at least that's how I went about picking mine out.  Also, how are you considering doing your hair and earrings?  Are you going to use big statement pieces.  A big necklace with big earring and big hair jewelry might be too much, so that might be something you want to think about too.

Here's what, after what I'm sure amounts to hundreds of hours on pinterest, I'm thinking for my accessories.  My dress has a lot of bling along the neckline, so probably no necklace.  Chandelier earrings and a simple rhinestone headband.  The latest thing I'm debating is including a hair vine in my hair as well, I have the beads that match the beading in my dress and I'm thinking I could make a vine that later could be worn as a necklace.   the big thing is that I want to feel light and luminous... radiant even.  I want people to think they should have worn sunglasses when they look at me.

I've posted a couple of these before...

detail and wide shots of my dress (no glasses on the day of the wedding)

This hair color and makeup

Here's the headband, which couldn't match the beading pattern and rhinestones more perfectly.  Also the veil which has some rhinestones and pearls, it's two tier scalloped edge, fingertip length. .. try to ignore the roots.  I'm also going to make small rhinestone-magnetic veil weights to keep the veil from blowing all over the place. When I get them made, I'll post them on here for you all to see.

This style with the headband behind the braid

hair vine idea shots, I also love the little tendrils on the last shot.

I haven't decided btwn these two earring sets yet, but I think I'm leaning toward the second set.

shoes

nails... I also have a rhinestone cuff, but I don't have a picture of it.

essentially, everything about me is gonna sparkle... and that's just the way I like it.  I'm hoping that if I keep it pulled back a bit on each piece it won't be too overwhelming all together.. Posting all of this was pretty helpful actually, it's the first time I've seen it all laid out together.

Originally Posted by Feb2013 

 

I read on a website when I was figuring out how I was going to do the sand ceremony a suggestion to melt wax over the top of the jar to seal it. So that might be an option. 

how would you do that?

Did your girl Vanessa happen to suggest flowers to use that would be in season there?  It's the same problem I'm having, all the flowers I like are out of season. 

Originally Posted by MrsHK 

Okay, here's the flower info! There are quite a few little flower shops in town, or "florerias" as they are called down here. One is on 30th Av between Constitueyntes and 20th St and its a little shop painted green. I'll keep an eye out for other ones and will let you guys know the cross streets if I see one. Another place I've consistently seen flowers available is Walmart. I took a picture of what the roses cost and as of last week it was 47 pesos for 6 roses ($4) and 85 pesos for 12 roses ($7).

 

At both places, the florerias and Walmart, I've only seen roses, carnations, lilies, orchids, china mums and maybe a few others that I'm forgetting. The selections are not as big as you'd see at home but between Walmart and maybe one floreria you would be able to find enough for your bouquets and tables, depending on which flowers you want. The roses come in various colours too although I'm not sure exactly which colours aside from the usual red and pink. The quality here can vary, meaning that the displays could have have a combination of flowers in good condition and some not so much, but there will be enough in good condition for you to choose from.

 

Another thing to consider is if you'll have a fridge to keep your bouquets in. It is very hot and humid down here and your bouquets might wilt if you leave them out for a day or two even if they're in water. I'd recommend keeping them in a fridge in a bucket of water if you can. 

 

We're getting married in Tulum which is a small town south of Playa Del Carmen by about an hour, for those who don't know. I have yet to find a flower shop down there, so I'm using Vanessa Jaimes for my flowers. http://www.vanessajaimes.com/ 

 

I want peonies and ranunculus for my bouquets which she said they'd have to import from Holland for a very high price. No thanks! She suggested that I buy silk peonies and ranunculus and she will mix them with roses, freesias and lisianthus for my bouquet and centrepieces. She's had brides do that in the past and she said they looked good. I'm going to order the silk flowers from afloral.com and save-on-crafts.com to Canada and bring them down here before the wedding. That's another option if you are particular about the types of flowers, although its probably more expensive than just grabbing them in town. I wish I knew where she gets the freesias and lisianthus from, I would just buy them myself! I'll keep looking over the next few weeks though before I give her a deposit.

Originally Posted by Sophia2616 

 

I joined my fitness pal and its been working out really good. I love it and highly recommend it to anyone who wants to count calories. I eat pretty healthy but I was surprised to see how quickly calories add up!! if anyone wants to join let me know!

I've been on MyFitness Pal for almost 2 years now.  We can be buddies if you want.  My screen name is jsspiff on there.  I've got about another 10-15 pounds that I want to lose in the next month and a half.  My goal is to get down to a size 8 by May.  That's the size I was when my FI and I got together 5 years ago.

Originally Posted by CanadianLindsey 

 

 

I saw some picture of bouquets on the lomas website I liked so I just told my WC the styles I liked along with my budget and colours. They ended up looking beautiful and I just got smaller versions in only orange for my BMs. I think it was $35 for BM and $100 for mine. I brought down the extra hemmed fabric from my gown and wrapped the stem of my bouquet with it for an extra personal touch. Look in my pictures/review and you can see the flowers.

that's a great idea, I'll have to remember to ask to save the extra fabric from my dress too!!!!

Originally Posted by Darcy 

 

I posted on the Knot that I was looking for malibu blue sashes and someone responded.  I wish she had the runners but she doesn't she had to rent those.  Did you find a place to buy the sheers  if so where?  I planned on renting them I was just getting two.   I think the flowers are pretty expensive too but nothing can do about that!

Hey Darcy, Here is where I'm getting my sheers.  http://www.efavormart.com/tulle-and-organza.aspx

They have a bunch of different fabric types in all different colors.  I think the polyester rolls probably would have been ok too.  I decided to do satin.  I think if you go back to some of my other posts I put up the photos that my WC sent me of different materials.  I liked satin best, so that's what I'm going with.  I think they're 29.99... way better than the 200.00 a piece the resort wanted me to pay for satin.  That's an awesome score on the sashes too by the way... maybe I should be posting on the knot... I haven't been looking there.

What is everyone doing/did for their bouquets?  I'm trying to get a good idea for a purple cascading bouquet, but one that won't cost $680... like the first picture I sent over.  Apparently Calla Lilies, Peonies, Orchids, Freesia and White Roses are out of season in May.. How did you guys go about decided on the blooms for your bouquet?  The other annoying thing is that he won't give me a price per stem... only pricing on photos I send him altogether... maybe I just need to start photo-shopping my own bouquet, since that's the only way he gives me prices.

Well ... we're having an AHR but my MIL offered to cover the cost and throw it in her backyard since our "Rehearsal Dinner" is covered by the resort.. plus I think this gives her the ability to do all the planning stuff she really wants w/o saying no to my Destination Wedding ideas... essentially we're both getting what we want this way.  She gets the party for her family with all the stuff she wants... and I get the BEACH!!!  Not to mention that she's just all around super anyway.  Plus, this has turned out really good too, because I have some family now that can't go to Mexico and they wanted to do something back here in the states too. 

Originally Posted by PuntaBride 

Anyone doing an after the wedding reception??? I was originally not thinking about this .... but now I am.  Worried about cost.

Originally Posted by melnryluvco 

 

Did you see that there is a Goupon for the lighted Chinese laterns as well?? $50 worth of laterns for $25.

 

http://www.groupon.com/deals/big-fireworks-4?p=4&utm_source=channel_occasions_VD1-deals&utm_medium=email&sid=a36be0f3-6b05-4aac-912e-79ac4d0d40ea&division=denver&user=5ae8581f19b70c54800005ed72207544b18baa91d8748dc245b3d7628f9fc0d2&date=20130124&s=body&c=button&d=groupon_occasions_deal

I wanted to do these sooooo badly.. but our resort won't let us since there are palapas everywhere ...

The thing is that those take up space, and would people really use them in the resort?  I want to make sure that I don't buy one of those wedding things that you get and then never use... or worse just throw away...

thoughts anyone.... any other good items out there for OOT bags that were really useful?

I'm thinking maybe some of those little battery powered fans...

Originally Posted by ChocoTaco7568 

AllieH purchased these for her OOT bags and loved them. They even survived a few cycles in the dishwasher. She also bought special water resistant labels.  I honestly don't think you can beat the price.

Originally Posted by LKocelko 

 

Unless you have 150 posts you wont' be able to open, I'd need your email, if you want to PM it to me. Thanks!

I'm getting soooo close to that 150... I'm at 124... well this one makes 125 I guess...