jnitschke

Ok.. I bought bubble tube 8ct packs at the dollar tree... and then on clearance I scored two bubble machines.. I'm going to put the bubble machines at the front of the aisles and tell the people sitting by them to turn them on when the person says "Man and Wife"..

these are the pictures that are my inspiration for using the bubbles... and a lot of them...

   ...

another cute idea I saw that I like was this confetti arbor... you hang a fabric horizontally over your altar, cover it with confetti and when you kiss someone pulls a string allowing the confetti to fall over you.   ... then later confetti or petals that the guests can toss.

Originally Posted by mstigger 

Thoughts on bubbles ladies?

Found these really cute pink bubble bottles with hearts on them. 24 bottles for $2.89 and I love me some bubbles.

I really am a big kid!!

Thanks!!

Sorry.. you have to deal with that... just remember to breathe, and while it hurts that friends- who are important to you- don't value your wedding above their other concerns.. My FI's aunt and uncle said they couldn't go because they already planned a trip to Chile in 2013... utter crap because we've been engaged for two years-and she was at the engagement party when we said we'd be doing a destination wedding.  Another friend said that she's decided that she'd rather take a trip to Ireland on her own this summer... then not even a half second later said she wasn't sure if she'd be able to afford going to Mexico in May... I feel like we all have friends with those kinds of "concerns".... But, the day isn't about them... and the day being about you is something to be very happy about.  ... that being said... remind me of this in March when all of my room payments are due and I'm angry at the people who back out... or when I'm disappointed that I don't have the numbers I wanted.

That being said... those of you who have been through this and had people you cared about back out of attending... When it came down to it.. on the day did you care if those people weren't there?... I've got to think that things will be so crazy and exciting that you won't be able to think of anything but the moment.  Or at least... that's what I keep telling myself.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by mstigger 

So, I feel a mini-melt down coming. I'm just really fed up with so called friends complaining about the cost of attending my wedding. REALLY?? It's my wedding, and while you are invited it in no way means you have to be there. How about someone who is supposedly one of my "best friends" saying her boyfriend wanted to know how we can "expect" them to pay that kind of money to go to our wedding. Have I mentioned this is my 3rd marriage? I know that's a lot, but first time was my baby daddy who was abusive.....took 10 years of that and had enough. Second time was a minor lapse in judgement....he stole some of my 401k and gave it to his ex-wife. As I told my family, my picker has been broke for years!!! So Chuck and I went to high school together and I feel like I finally got it right......it just took some trials and tribulations to get there. We both wanted to get married on the beach and we wanted it to be small. I still sent out numerous invitations knowing most would not attend. I just don't get this kind of friendship....it is unbelievable. My MOH is actually a girl we graduated with and her and I reconnected last year while I was debating rekindling things with Chuck. She was great then and has been great now. She is actually making my bouquet out of shells - took that project on all by herself!! So, my local friends have done nothing. Offered no help of any kind and the one friend who I really thought would help me out has been MIA. My mother is attending the wedding and we are close, but she's been no help either. No input, no suggestions, nothing. I'm a hot mess right now!! I think this is what I need!!!

With my son leaving for basic in 20 days, I'm kind of stumped on the whole wedding thing. I have no motivation and just feel so frustrated and irritated!!

 

Think all that's normal?? Sorry for the long dialogue, just needed to vent!!!

Anyone know what size tablecloths I should buy?  Round tables for 6-8 people.

  Shannon, is there anything in particular that made your night so much fun?  Anything other than the typical I should be thinking to include?

Originally Posted by Shannon Burgess 

Gazebo 55 is perfect...the back drop is absolutely gorgeous. There are rocks behind it and when the waves are big enough it makes a beautiful splash behind the gazebo. Tucanes is definitely the way to go for the reception. Everything was beautiful, we rented the sound system for $250 and brought my iPod and one of the staff played our music all night. We danced for hours then everyone ended up jumping in the pool. All of our guests told us is was the best reception they had ever been to. Will post pics as I get them. Also, instead of buying flowers for the reception, we had glass cylinders on the tables for the bridesmaids bouquets and we had the flowers we had made for the gazebo placed on the table also. Everything came together beautifully.

Originally Posted by LKocelko 

 

In case anyone was ordering runners, sashes, covers, etc., the website I ordered from has a 20% off sale right now. Every little bit counts!

 

www.tableclothsfactory.com

 

Hopefully someone can take advantage!

Thank you Thank you Thank you!

Thanks!! I can't wait either! I've got 4 months to go and after 2 years of planning,I'm starting to get really excited. I went to do a make-up trial at ulta today. It was so much fun. But, it's a good thing I've had so much time. I have some seriously obsessive personality issues that require unreal planning. The photoshopping was only after drawing it several times.... In different color combos. Currently working on my table set ups.. Once I have that put together I'll post that too. The good side of this is that it will leave less room for error on the WC's side of things.

This is SOO pretty! That's awesome how you were able to photoshop it together. I can't wait until your big day to see how it turns out. I can only imagine it will be even better than the picture!!

Originally Posted by AllieH 

 

Do you think buildings 1-5 are nicer than building 55?  Another bride suggested building 55 since it had great water views. ... thoughts?

Shannon, if you have a moment can you recommend some room numbers?  I know I want to stay in bldg 55 for the first half of my stay... but which room number has the best water view?.. and which Casitas bldg do you think seems the nicest?  I've been wondering this as we've been putting in our reservations.   Suggestions on room numbers from other people would be appreciated too. Thanks!!!

Originally Posted by Shannon Burgess 

Girls who have not been to EDR yet, you're going to love it. It's more beautiful in person than it is in pictures. I'm sooooo glad I chose this place for my wedding. Rehearsal dinner tomorrow night, the Saturday is the big day!
Those of you wondering about bugs... I have a few bites on me but no idea where or when I got them, haven't seen Mosquitos and gave but itched at all but something here bites.
If anyone has any questions let me know and I'll do my best to answer though it may take me a couple of days to get back on here as the next two are going to be crazy busy :-)
Here are some pics I've taken

Originally Posted by mstigger 

 

These are beautiful!!!

I'm debating the large arrangements for the sides of the gazebo, I'm glad to see the flowers are good quality!

My entire bouquet and the bouts, etc are all made out of shells and starfish and gems and ribbon.

No pics to post yet, but if it turns out like I hope it should be something to see!!

I've decided not to do the side flowers on the gazebo... instead I'm just leaving the draping.  I did some photoshopping of a bunch of pictures to make one photo of what it will look like... now, the gazebo in the picture isn't actually the gazebo 55 one (notice it's actually a white gazebo frame) but I did add in an aisle runner with flower petals, the ribbon stakes I made and the chair hangers that I made... I'm pretty proud of the collage actually... it's about as close as I'm gonna get to seeing the "real" thing.  

but when I see this I think I won't miss there being flowers.   Plus, I know that I want satin for my sheers, so I need to find some bolts of purple and teal.

In case people are interested... I asked my WC about fabric types for the gazebo and these are the pictures he gave me:

The Organza sheers are the most popular type of fabric, these are the ones  that we offer for $150.00 USD in any other color. Organza is also use in the bows Similar to the pictures below:

The other type of fabrics is the French Tergal, this is the one that we usually use for the white sheers:

Tulle is not usual for the Gazebos, as is placed on the tiki torches. Similar to the Organza in color but different in texture, we do not recommend it for the gazebos as we get it here in the inappropriate size for the gazebos. As we need 2 meters width/ 12 meters long at least to  cover the gazebo. It is used to decorate tiki torches or wrap around poles:

Sometimes we use Satin for the very bright colors, such as silver, gold, purple, blue or even black; satin is under request and the price is $200.00 USD per sheer:

-Personally the Satin is my favorite... but there is no way I'm paying 200 per sheer.... I will now be shopping for satin.
 

I just read something in a DW book that said make sure you put bug spray on your legs before putting on your dress.  Does anyone remember bugs being a problem at EDR?  Never even thought of mosquitoes and the like being there, which I should have since we have those crazy black spotted African mosquitoes from hell here for half the year now.  Still should I be preparing for something like insects?  Should I put those OFF wipes in my OOT bags?
 

Originally Posted by nbateman 

 

haha, and i'm not sure If i'd want my mom yelling in my walkie talkie as my wake up call "wakie wakie" lol, i can only imagine

true true... the facetime thing is a good idea too for talking around the resort too... and with skype you can send text messages... but I'm still going to use walkie talkies and pick a channel for the people who don't have smart phones yet, like my FIL.  I'll pick a channel for the group and then you can always tell whoever pages you on it to switch to a different channel for your conversation.   Plus, I'm not sure what I'd think about leaving my IPhone on the beach or at the pool when I went into the water, I suppose that's a plus of having a swim up.   I guess another plus of the swim up would be having your room phone so close by too.

Originally Posted by nbateman 

 

Fantastic, this makes me feel so much better!! We have some pretty picky eaters and ones who are willing to try new things but may be a little put off by the fanciness and now i'm more at ease.  Good to hear about the dress code as well.  I know places really like to stress their dress code on their website, but I'm glad that it's not as bad as it seems when you get there.  I had the same experience on a cruise, my fiance went out and bought a suit for the formal nights but we saw people just wearing a hawaiian shirt and had to laugh, but its ok b/c my man was fly! haha, thanks for the info!

I have to say Ditto to this too... my FI is unbelievably picky eater, and can be impossible when they don't get his personalized order right... he gets anxiety sometimes over trying new foods and the last thing I want is a groomzilla on a hypoglycemic rampage from not eating the whole week we're there .  Plus there was one time on the cruise we took last summer that we were turned away from breakfast because of dresscode, so I'm a little paranoid about that too... so it's refreshing to see that it's not so strictly enforced. 

Originally Posted by Shannon Burgess 

 

Important question girls...how did you communicate in Mexico...amongst each other at the resort and with people back home? Did your cell carriers offer Mexico plans? Or did you do calling cards? What is the best/cheapest way? 

We're planning on using walkie talkies... and making room phone number cards to give to people.

Originally Posted by LKocelko 

 

Thanks Allie! Finally, the fiance is starting to pull his weight

 

I emailed our WC, and she was actually able to send me pictures of different gazebo setups with all different fabric. I don't love it as much as some of the thicker fabrics, but not enough to exchange it and spend more $$. I'm sure they will make it look great. Thanks for the reassurance

would you be able to forward to me or post some of those pictures?  I'm really curious about this too.  wondering what the fabrics will look like before I go to the effort of spending the money.

I know some people were talking about buying a bluetooth speaker for outdoors... I just saw this in a cyber week deal.. thought I'd pass it along

http://www.meijer.com/s/jensen-bluetooth-smps-650-wireless-outdoor-speaker/_/R-226452

44.99 reg. 79.99
 

Originally Posted by AllieH 

 

I think we took about $500 down in cash, but I only took about $250 with me to my meeting with the onsite WC - that's all I wanted to pay, and I figured it was a good bargaining place if they quoted higher. I'm sly like that...

Wait? you have to pay in cash on site?  That doesn't seem right... and might put a bit of kink in things... hmmm...

Originally Posted by LKocelko 

 

Allie gave me a great website for the sashes and table runners. The sashes were $0.60 per sash, as opposed to the $4 per sash EDR charged. In addition the table runners were just like $3, instead of the $15 they quoted. We just ordered it all yesterday!

http://www.tableclothsfactory.com/tablecloths-Table-Linens-Chair-Covers-Sashes-s/6.htm

 

We also went ahead and bought our gazebo sheers, and will bring them down in one of those space saver bags where you can vacuum seal it so they don't take up much space. I couldn't stomach the $150 per sheer, but really wanted to have them. We got them for $20 each! A steal if you ask me.

http://www.efavormart.com/tulle-and-organza.aspx

Thank You SOOOO MUCH FOR THIS!  I have been looking every where for affordable sheers.  What did they quote you to set up the sheers that you're bringing?

So, after seeing Allie's most recent blog posting I thought that it might be nice to compile some wisdom from our past brides.  So here it goes ladies... can you answer these questions?

-What things from your wedding would you do again?What really worked?

-What things would you have changed, or done differently?

-What was the best expense that you would recommend that other brides add on?

-What wasn't worth the extra money?

Allie, this is so super helpful... I'm actually thinking I'm going to pose a set of questions for the brides that have done this already... see what kinds of good info we can compile.

Originally Posted by AllieH 

So I'll hit a few highlights while I wait for my photos. 

 

What'd I'd do all over again: 

--a destination wedding. It was AWESOME. Our friends and family all enjoyed the getaway, and the resort was amazing. It was great to have more time with our guests. The ceremony & reception really flew by, and I can't imagine that as the only time to celebrate this event. Instead, we had a long weekend! 

--DIY. our guests all complimented the small details that I had DIY'd. I can't wait to see the photos of the details! 

--wear the dress I fell in love with. yeah, it was hot. yep, I was a sweaty mess by the end of the night. but damn, I looked good! (hehe)

--have a friend help with my make up, and let the salon do my hair. 

--hire a professional photographer. these memories will be priceless.

--wear wedges for our ceremony in the sand; surprisingly I got a lot of comments on my shoes. part of this is also because of the next item: 

--I had my dress hemmed for flats. I knew I would kick off the wedges and end up in flats, and had seen other brides at their receptions holding up their dresses and trying to dance, because the dress was hemmed for heels. So yes, during the ceremony, my wedges showed a little more, but ultimately it all worked out. 

--marry the love of my life. of course!! 

--do the legal part here at home, and symbolic in MX

--write our own ceremony - it was so meaningful and "us". we wrote our own vows too, and my husband surprised me with his. it was priceless

--not have a bridal party - we felt that all of our guests were our party. we didn't want anyone to have to buy a special dress or suit, given that they were spending so much to be there for us.

--host a private dinner/reception - it was a GREAT party! 

--everything else!  

 

 

Some things I'd do differently (but none of these took away from how special our day was!): 

--4pm ceremony time in November was a little too late; we lost light really fast after the ceremony. I would totally move it back to 3:30 if I had it to do over again

--spring for (or bring) the sheers for the gazebo. My husband was a human shade, because the sun was right in my eyes. I'm sure those squinty pictures will be fabulous.. 

--schedule my hair appointment earlier. we had it at noon for a 2:30 first look, and 4pm ceremony. the rehearsal hair appt only took an hour, so I thought we'd be fine on the day of. day of took 90 minutes, so at 2:25 we were rushing to finish my make up (we had to eat after the hair!!)

--there was no need for cupcakes; the dessert served with our meal was phenomenal! 

 

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. 

 

A couple of the questions I've been asked is about the timing for our photographer. Here's the schedule we laid out for our day: 

11am - shower (hey, I had to schedule or I'd never leave the pool chair!)

Noon - spa/salon for hair 

1pm - order lunch/room service, make up, finish getting ready

2:30pm - first look bride/groom, couples photos

3:30pm - photographer to ceremony site for set up photos

3:40 - guests to ceremony site

3:45pm - groom to ceremony site

3:55pm - bride to ceremony site

4pm - ceremony (BOOM!)

4:30pm - group photo

4:40pm - non-family guests to informal cocktail hour

5pm - family to informal cocktail

5-5:45pm - finish post-ceremony bride/groom photos 

6pm - 10pm - dinner/reception

 

so the hair ran long, and make up was rushed. our first look was about 2:45pm. we did couples photos on the beach for a few minutes after that, and then the cart that came to get me actually took my husband to the ceremony, and we waited for another one from the wedding staff. 

 

the ceremony started a few minutes late - because my husband wasn't able to go back to the groom's room and get his stuff, his friends did. so they were late for the ceremony! 

 

bottom line? there's never enough time. build in twice as much time as you think you need to get ready. 

 

what other questions can I answer while waiting for the eye candy? 

 

 

For those of you who went and got your marriage certificate at a JOP here in the states, did you have to have your married name on your passport for when you flew down to Mexico?  I was just thinking about having to renew mine and I realized that might need to be adjusted once I'm married, especially since I'm going to be changing my name when I return.
 

You're not too far off from me. May wedding and  I'm doing Teal, Purple, and Green... all jewel tones.. with silver as an accent if it's needed.  These are my favorite colors.  The dominate combo is Purple and Teal, since Purple and Green makes my FI think Barney... but there's still green here and there.  My motif is peacock feathers.  If you look at previously posted pictures on the board you'll see my aisle streamers and chair hangers that I made over the summer. I'm thinking Purple aisle and petals, with Purple and teal sheers on the Gazebo.  I really like Nikki's center pieces and I think I'm going to use that as my inspiration, but with a teal table cloth with purple placemats, a green runner and white rose petals.  Tall clear glass vases with petals in water, clear votives with silver tea lights (which I got on clearance after last halloween), and mercury glass votives with regular tea lights(which I'm making).  I'm also going to try and get Blue Dendrobium orchids and have a few of those scattered amidst the rose petals.  I'm debating on doing chair scarves, maybe in purple. ... of course I haven't gotten any price quotes on this yet.  So, maybe all these ideas will change when I do.  I do plan on trying to bring a bunch of the supplies with me.  The real thing I'm looking for is a cheaper sheers option... $300 a sheer is just ridiculous.

Originally Posted by LKocelko 

What is everyones color scheme? I hadn't really put any thought into this, but lately I've been seeing a lot of deep purple and really been gravitating towards it. I thought it would look really nice with the light gray suit my FI is going to go with (something like the below). My question: is a deepish purple too dark for a beach wedding in May? My dress is kind of elegant/glam/old Hollywood and I thought purple was a regal color to go with it. I look really terrible in warm colors, so we were definitely going to go with a green, blue, or purple. Any input would be appreciated! Please be honest...we haven't picked anything yet so I'd rather know now than after we start buying stuff! Like the below are some examples I liked:

 

 

This is a beautiful and very class dress.  It looks like it will be light weight too.  You might want to make sure you have a good slip, so the charmeuse doesn't stick to you when you walk.  With the humidity that could be a real issue.  My dress was nothing like I thought I'd want... it has ruffles, and usually I detest ruffles.  But, I hear that's pretty normal.. do get a dress completely unlike what you were expecting.   Do you know when you'll get to have your dress in?  I was so excited when mine came in the mail.

Originally Posted by LKocelko 

It's actually NOTHING like I thought I was going to chose. I had been wanting something either chiffon or lace, however I wasn't happy with any of those. My consultant pulled a dress I would've never picked for myself, but that I love. It's very timeless, kind of old hollywood glam. It looks a lot better on me than on this model, as I fill it out better with an hourglass shape. I don't think the picture does it justice, the beaded straps are beautiful.

 

 

I was thinking of not doing a package and just picking things ala carte... but I haven't gotten an ok for sure yet on that... so I don't want to be an authority on this... I asked if I could do that and Alejandro didn't really say anything about it one way or another.

Originally Posted by LKocelko 

jnitschke - it sounds like we are having very similar weddings! We still haven't decided on casita or not, but had originally planned like you and moving their after the wedding for a "honeymoon" feel. We haven't ordered invites yet, but our save the dates will be here next week and we'll probably send out the actual invitations in February. We've only been engaged a few weeks, so we're planning the whole thing in about 7 months. Are you bringing your own decor in? I think I convinced my fiance that it's worth it to spring for the private reception. After all, you only (hopefully!) are getting married once. So are you going with the cheapest package after the free, the $950?

 

We are also going to go with the symbolic ceremony, and get legally married here before we leave. I couldn't justify the cost and extra time it requires, plus I hate needles!

 

Does anyone know if you can build your own custom package? Like not pick the free or $950 one, but just pick the things you want from the Lomas website and do it that way? I thought if so that way we wouldn't need a week at the casita, but we may still be able to custom build what we want and still come in under the $950 package.

 

Hope you all have a good weekend! I'm in Chicago, and it's finally starting to get cold....

Originally Posted by Shannon Burgess 

 

Hi Girls...I am having a private reception at Tucanes and I don't want to spend $1500 on a DJ so I thought about just bringing a device to play my ipod,,,Those of you that have done this or are planning on doing the same thing, what kind of ipod connector did you use or plan on using?? I don't want to spend over $150 for the device but I want it to be pretty loud and not sound "cheap". Any suggestions?? 

 

Thanks!!

Shannon 

My fiance has a Jawbone Jambox.  It's tiny, maybe 5 X 3 X 1.5 inches.  It works on bluetooth, the battery lasts about 8hours... and it's LOUD we use it to do sound when we're outside by our bonfire all the time, never a problem.  So if we don't do a DJ that's what we were going to bring.  It was pricey, about $150, but at least for the same amount of money you get to keep the speaker afterwards.  That's my suggestion.