leigh2011

I am with you Joanne - no need to worry over things you can't control (like the weather).

This weekend I am trying to deal with the fact that we had another couple book this past week - almost 1.5 months past the RSVP date and close date of the group rate.  We are running around trying to buy more of as many of the OOT bag items as we could.  I definitely think this couple won't have a complete bag...

Thanks ladies for the compliments on the legal photos.  I had no intention of having a full ceremony to make it legal - but once my fiance said he didn't want it to be at the courthouse it just kept going from there.  I had no what hairstlye I wanted, but I knew I wanted something that would be opposite of the curly hair that I had for my bridal portraits & will have in Mexico.  I want him to be surprised in Mexico when he sees me for the first time.  As for the dress - the slit isn't really that obvious until you sit down.  Until I saw the pictures, I didn't realize it was so high - oops. 

I love the pictures, but I think I would have prefered a courthouse ceremony to make the one in Mexico feel even more special. 

Originally Posted by JoanneIreland 

Holy smoke!! Your pictures from the legal ceremony are amazing! You guys went all out!!You look amazing, and that hair do is to die for ..... I want it!!

Dress is amazing and the slit is super sexy!

You two look like such a sweet couple. Oh and your dog is just as cute, so cool you could have him there!You are giving me doubts now, we were NOT having any pictures at legal ceremony but seeing yours makes me second guess that.

So happy for you ..... congrats :-)

If I were trying to sneak the flag out and my sister was offering to be part of the conspiracy, I would tell my fiance that my sister was planning a surprise for him for the wedding and it is related to his favorite team and she needed the flag to get the logo right.  That way he knows something is up (and he knows better than to ask and ruin the surprise) but it throws him off the trail of what is really going on.  Good luck...if he really loves the team, then he will love seeing the flag in the book you give him.
 

Originally Posted by sxcT 

Thanks for the suggestions Joanne.  I plan on doing the spray tan (actually trying airbrushing this time), I plan on bringing a few sexy lingerie outfits and booty shorts and something I really want to do is steal his huge Manchester United (soccer team) flag off of his wall and use it in some of the photos with a soccer ball.  I am racking my brain on how I can take it without him getting suspicious.  My sister said to tell him she needs it....but for what??  LOL

I am so sorry to hear that - hopefully your travel agent can work something out.  One would hope the resort would be willing to give you some sort of deal instead of loosing your wedding and all of the business your guests would bring.
 

Originally Posted by ssanders 

 So as my guests are beginning to book for my wedding my TA informs them that children are not free in 2012 AFTER I already told everyone children under 12 are free (of course she told me they were). Very very sad I may have to cancel dreams as my resort for my wedding.

I am not using Juan either.  However, I have been stalking his site to get picture ideas from past Dreams Cancun brides.  So now I have a word file of pictures I can print and show to my photographer to get ideas of locations around the resort.
 

Originally Posted by Soon2BMrsS 

He is such a good photographer I wish wish wish we could afford him!!!!

Eun-sil
I think "honey" is a good idea...
 

Originally Posted by Pucca 

Thanks Leigh!!

 

Lol! I think that's sweet! I take it as a good sign that the guys want to wear their rings.  After all, I was wondering how my honey (I'm going to call him that from now on to not do the fiance/husband thing cuz that gets confusing) would stick to wearing a ring when he dislikes wearing jewelry. 

Taryn -  Congrats on being on the front page.  And congrats on the decision to do a boudoir shoot - you have more guts than I do.  But, based on your dress pic, you are going to rock that shoot.  Joanne's suggestions are great - do whatever you need to do to feel sexy and then you will look sexy.
 

Originally Posted by sxcT 

YAY the pic of my dress is running across the board on the home page.  How exciting!!

 

 

So ladies....I gave in and decided to book a professional for a boudoir shoot next weekend.  I contemplated it for weeks and I had a few people offer to shoot it but I just knew they wouldn't turn out good.  My engagement pics were done by my mom and another session by another friend and I wasn't happy with either.  So I figured I should go the professional route for these to make sure I look absolutely friggin amazing.  So maybe I need to start doing double Insanity days next week LOL!!!  I should get the album a week after that.  I hope its worth every damn dollar I'm spending!!

So I just got back a few pictures from my legal wedding from my photographer:

In case any of you other brides stalk Juan Navarro's blog looking for Dreams Cancun wedding pictures, there is a new set that were posted today (you will have to scroll down as there were several weddings posted today):

http://www.juanphotos.com/blog/

Taryn - You look fantastic in that dress!  Your wedding pictures will look fantastic....  Just think of how perfect it looks when you are reminded of the cost of the alterations.  (my alterations were $340 - uggg)

Don't worry about having all of your parents in the same room - if they can't be civil to each other on your wedding day (even if it is just the legal day) then you will have to lay down the law

 

Originally Posted by sxcT 

Pucca - cute picture.  Congrats!!  Mine is next week with our parents - which means my mom and dad and stepmom all in one room.  I am so scared!!  LOL

 

So the dress fitting went very well.  Just need hem, bustle and cups which still ended up costing me so much.  What a shock!!

 

These were taken on my phone.  My dress is so beautiful and I am so happy with it.  It just flows when I walk!!

 

 

 

 

 

Pucca -  Congratulations on your legal wedding!  What is it with the guys and wanting to wear the rings?  I suppose it is a good thing they want to be married (and marked as such).  My fiance/husband (whatever he is called now) switched his ring from the right hand to the left hand after our legal ceremony.  He said that I was marked with my engagement ring so he wanted to be marked as well.  I am not sure if that is weird, so I will just go with it being sweet.
 

Originally Posted by Pucca 

 

I can relate. We just had our civil ceremony yesterday. It was nice, short, and sweet. But it was by no means complete with the wonderful dress and all the prep that has gone into the DW. I said he could wear his wedding band for the past two days but no more cuz I don't want it to get dirty or anything for the DW in Mexico. Lol! I just used my engagement ring for the ring exchange. We tried to keep it as low key as possible but my mother-in-law (one of our witnesses) just kept on and on about how important the legal ceremony was (even if we didn't tell them where we were going till the night before). And we haven't told many people, and don't intend to until later. But I know my fiance/husband is chomping at the bit to change his FB relationship status. Lol! He's just gonna have to wait till the DW! Here's a snapshot of us after the civil ceremony: 

 

 

I received a spa list last year (so there may be changes) and there wasn't any mention of spray tanning.  It might be worth emailing the spa and asking just to be sure.

Originally Posted by jana297 

Do any of you soon to be Dreams Cancun brides know if they have sunless spray tanning etc at the spa? I am a redhead and do not want to go tanning prior to my wedding due to the freckles I will get! Yikes...this is one of the major things that stresses me out.

I am with you Joanne - I plan on logging on constantly after the wedding to see how everyone else's day went.  I will be especially eager to see everyone's pictures.  And I too can't wait to post my planning thread.  Because of this forum, I have actually been composing my planning thread along the way throughout my engagement - so I think mine will be way too long.

As of right now I think all I have left to do is finalize the wording for the ceremony and finish picking the music for the reception.  I am sure there are many more things I can take on if I have time, but they are all small enough that I won't let them stress me out if they don't get done.  Most of my guests have not been to a destination wedding, so they wouldn't know if something was missing or not.

mgl27 and Soon2BMrsS - you are both getting so close...just 19 and 11 days (even less based on departure dates).  So very exciting!!

 

Originally Posted by mgl27 

Holy cow!!!!  It is almost here!!!  What are your travel dates??? 

 

The wedding felt "weird" to me - not real.  Nothing leading up to that ceremony was traditional in any way so it didn't feel like a wedding.  I went to get my hair and makeup done in the morning then came home and went out to lunch with my fiance/husband (so weird to type that) and his whole family.  So he definitely saw me before the ceremony.  Then we all came back to our house and played cornhole.  I was playing cornhole up to an hour before my ceremony - how could it feel real when you do that?!  We then all drove to the park together and met up with my family, the officiant, and the photographer.  I will say that during the ceremony we read vows to each other and Paul got to the last sentence before he got choked up and had to stop.  It was very sweet.  I am hoping the photographer will post our pictures from the ceremony in the next day or so and I will share a few with all of you.

I know the day I wear the big white dress will be the day I feel married.  Until then, we each have a sterling silver band that we are wearing on the ring finger of our right hands.  The real wedding bands will go on the ring finger of the left hand.
 

Originally Posted by anudrm 

Leigh - that picture is stunning.  Your dress is gorgeous!!! How does did the wedding go?

 

Thanks ladies - I think it is a Southern thing to do bridal portraits ahead of the wedding day.  Traditionally you are supposed to go to a pretty park and get a full length shot of you standing with a bouquet.  You would then choose your favorite picture and have it blown up and framed.  The framed pic would be displayed at the reception and then hung on the wall at the bride/groom's house or the parents of the bride's house.  I wanted to have the photo session, and obviously not in a pretty park, but I don't know what I will do with the pictures yet.  Here are a couple more pics...(the first one was photoshopped for colors)

So it is technically Sunday now and I am getting married today!  It feels so odd because I feel the weight of the commitment that I am about to make but there isn't all of the hoopla of a big wedding.  I left work on Friday with just a few people knowing what was going to happen and I will return on Monday as if nothing has changed.  It is all so weird.

On Thursday I took my bridal portraits with the photographer that is coming to Mexico with us... below is the teaser picture he sent me Thursday night:

I think that cover is fantastic!  It is the perfect teaser picture.....
 

Originally Posted by JoanneIreland 

My hubby to be is out on a job so I am home working on my BD book to him. Want to order soon to esnure it's here on time, you think this is an OK cover?

 

Because my sister is my only BM, I got her a bathing suit coverup and a pair of sandals along with a Coach clutch (that I found for ~$25 at a Coach outlet) and a Amazon gift card (she recently got a Kindle).  The gifts aren't very wedding-ish but hopefully she will appreciate them.

I am sure we all want to see each others pictures regardless of whether it is before or after our own weddings.  I have an empty notebook that I am taking on my trip so I can take notes and write a detailed review.

How much are you thinking of tipping each of those people?  In my resort thread brides have written that they have tipped the WC anywhere from $100-$200.  Some of the brides feel it got them a few "extras" free while others say it didn't help them out at all.

Originally Posted by JoanneIreland 

Thanks for sharing this!! The musts on my list are my w/c, bartender and waiters.For the photographer I already feel like we are paying a fortune for services, accomodation at the hotel plus dinner at our reception for him and his wife ($66 each), so good to know that info. We will take extra cash in case we feel anyone warrants a tip or extra tip. 

 

Are any of you November brides getting legally married before your DW?  My fiance are getting married this Sunday...kinda freaky to think that in 4 days I will be his "wife"!
 

Unless things have changed, the per person price for the rehearsal dinner is $15 + tax & tip = ~$19/pp.  Some brides have definitely just shown up to a restaurant after the rehearsal and worst case your group has to wait a while.  I plan on just paying for the rehearsal dinner because I don't want the stress of having everyone waiting for an unknown period of time.  Sadly, I would rather pay the money than have the stress.

 

Originally Posted by ssanders 

 

Does anyone know how much they charge for a rehearsal? I figured we could just dine out afterwards I dont need to plan it.

We will be giving each set of parents a canvas print of a picture of their choice (we assume they will each choose a family picture of their side) that we will order once we get pics back from the photog.  So we made cards describing the gift that we can give to our parents in Mexico.  We will also make photo books for each set of parents.
 

Originally Posted by sxcT 

Still no clue on what to do for parents gifts.  His mom's bday is our actual wedding day so we need to do something extra special for her.  And the rest of the fam are so darn hard as well.  Probably the typical picture frame but no clue what else to do. 

 

Here is what I am planning for my dinner music:

Originally Posted by JoanneIreland 

Hello lovely ladies,

I know it's been discussed at different points about music playlists for the reception (broken down into dinner and party!!), but wondering if anyone has actually got theirs done? I have a million small things to do which I am tackling one by one, but in the back of my head I know this is the daunting one HUGE thing I still need to get going on. Every time I try to start I end up running in the opposit direction, LOL!!

It seems like a lot of people are thinking Sinatra and that style for dinner, but even though I don't want "party" music I wanted something upbeat so people would be tapping their feet under the table and ready to get groving after dinner. What are you plans?

Thanks,

Joanne

22 days?!  So exciting.  I leave exaclty one month from today!  My legal wedding is this coming Sunday...I will technically be a married woman in 7 days.  Oh - and I have a bridal portrait session scheduled for this Thursday, so I will get to see the whole look (hair, makeup, and dress) for the first time.

 

Originally Posted by mgl27 

OMG, I am leaving in 22 days!!!  I cannot believe it!!!!!! 

I booked my appointments about 2 months out just because it was on my to do list and I am all about crossing things off of the list.  However, you would want to book weeks/months out is in case there is another wedding on your day.  As I have both stylists from 9am ~ 1pm and my wedding is at 4:30pm (we are doing picture before the ceremoney), if there is a wedding booked for early in the afternoon then they won't have available appointments. 

And mgl27 is right, tell them it is for a wedding and be very specific about how many appointments are needed for hair and/or makeup.  Also, it is probably a good idea to mention which wedding package you are paying for if you have one where the bride's hair and makeup are included.

Originally Posted by futuremrsroo 

Thank you, Leah! I was also wondering how long they block out the appointments for I think I have 7 people getting hair done, which from the timing they gave you means we will be in the salon all day!

 

How far in advance did you book your appointments?

Ladies - I don't know when this post will get through due to mediation, so hopefully it isn't too late for you.  When I booked my appointments, I was told there are only 2 stylists at the salon at the time so you won't have too much selection.  In order to get myself and 3 others for hair and makeup (my, MOH, MOB, and MOG) we are blocked out in the salon for both stylists for 3 hours!!  They scheduled me with one stylist for the 3 hours and then the 3 other women for the other stylist for an hour each.  I wasn't given stylist names....

 

Originally Posted by Soon2BMrsS 

OMG!!! Great Question!!! I booked my appt.. But, I would love to know.... I am more concerned about the makeup!! lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by futuremrsroo 

It's getting close to time for me to book hair and makeup appts. Do any past brides have a recommendation on who to ask for? I used to see Christian's name on this board a lot, but someone said he no longer works there! Thanks in advance