MsBlissMpls

I knew I was going to do this and I ran across the wording from another BDW bride YEAY for this site! If anyone was offended they did not act like it at all. I had one family memeber that didn't understand right away (I mentioned it to this person at a lunch we had pre-trip), but when I said that we were having an AHR and wanted the photos to be a surprise for At Home Reception she totally understood. We also offered a WikiAlbums site for everone to share their photots with other Mexico wedding guests. WikiAlbums is great because the photos do not show up in a Google search like those for Flicker or other photo sharing sites. They all loved the WikiAlbums option and everyone has shared all of their trip photos on that site with no problems. We only had 16 guests and at the dinner the night before my father-in-law actually went around and gently reminded people to not bring their cameras to the ceremony. This was REALLY great because everone was in the moment on our big day and not worrying about telling everyone else to "WAIT.. stay there, No, that did't turn out... One more time..." so that they could all get photos. We had a photographer for the whole day (8 hrs) and we trusted him to get all the good moments. Of course now we are DYING to see the photos. Maybe the anticipation is part of the fun? That's what I'm telling myself Either way it worked well for us because we are not on Facebook.

Welcome Back LauraR597! Congratulations!! Glad to hear everything went well. Yeay for Adrian! Isn't he just the sweetest person?!? I'm dying ot get my photos. Hoping for some sneak peeks this week.

I couldn't tell you the location exactly, but it is family owned land that is open to the public for a small fee. The locals go there, where ever it is. Debora & Sol told us they have multiple cenotes they take photos, and just chose whichever calls to them on the day of each shoot. They are such beautiful people in every way.

If we are talking about the same Hidden Worlds, we just did an excursion there and the cenotes were amazing. There was something really magical about them - but I haven't swam in an cenote that I didn't love. We did a TTD with Debora from Del Sol in some family owned cenotes and it was the most amazing experience that we will never forget. I think about it every day.

The sand that the guests poured was from the beach. The sand that we poured was purchased from Michaels (the fine decorative sand, not the big grains usually used for sand ceremonies). We picked white and green sand to represent opening of the heart and the light of the Divine. I poured green and he poured white.

Hello danak71, We put the candles in groups of three down the center of the tables and over by the paper lanterns. We brought 24 of them I think all of them were used. There were lots of candles. After wards Edgar loaded all of the flowers and candles and put them in our room. Double use of these mood setting items

I'm just dying to get my professional photos, but here are two of the only photos we have so far of our reception. These photos don't really give the whole feel of the space, but they are all we have so far. I really liked the area because it was private, yet close to everything. And there are fountains around the whole area with beautiful bright pink flowers. The shade is down in the first photo because it was raining and they wanted to protect our table. After the rain they lifted the shade. Toscana Terrace (actually the whole terrace for Toscana, Basanti (Indian) and some other restaurant that I can't remember the name of.

Here's a link to the ebay seller that I bought the containers from. The site says it is 3 ml per container. If you look to buy a similar container make sure you are getting ones with lids and not the stackable ones (they do not have lids but screw into the next container). At 3 ml each we had 16 guests add sand - so you can see from our photo that it didn't fill it up very far for 16 people. I'd be comfortable having 40-50 guests fill the frame with the 3 ml. containers (for this specific frame). It would probably fill the frame about 1/4-1/3 of the way and would make a GREAT foundation before you and your family added thier sand. http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200704509458&ssPageName=ADME:L:OU:US:1123 We also did a little meditation ahead of time explaining why it was so important to us to have them to participate in our ceremony. It was really beautiful and totally from the heart in the moment.

Yes we brought the containers from home. I bought makeup containers - what I think they use to give samples of makeup, etc. on EBay and then my fiance and I went together to gather sand on the beach (in a bag so that we didn't have to bring each container to the beach). Back on our deck at the resort we filled up the containers before putting the finished product in the welcome bags. I bought some double sided clear adhesive things at Michael's to stick the container to the card. The heart rhinestones are from Michael's in the bridal section. I didn't have the 40% off coupon I'd suggest printing off a coupon if you go to get the hearts they are $6.99 for 20 of them. However now Michael's has theses cute bottles with cork toppers I would have bought these instead, if they would have been available when I was looking. If we would have bought these bottles we would have only filled them up 1/4th of the way (we had 16 guests adding sand).... and then we would have asked everyone to re-fill the bottle with sand to take home while we were all on the beach as a memento of our ceremony. Instead we brought home extra beach sand and we will be sending everyone a printed photo of our ceremony (with them in it) and a small container of sand from "our" beach in Mexico.

Thanks for the love ladies! Happy Planning!

Thanks Shay4966 - The seller is very nice, you would not be disappointed with getting his handmade items. He even added hanging hardware on the back for me in case we decide to hang it on the wall.

Here is a link to the Esty seller that I purchased it from : http://www.etsy.com/transaction/73551243 Yes this frame is made specifically for a sand ceremony. The seller has smaller or shaped sand ceremony items as well. I really liked this seller. He was very nice and was quick with communication. The photo is in front of the box that holds the sand but behind the front glass of the frame. So you can take the sand box out (the sand will not be disturbed when you take the sand box out) and you can change the photo at at any time. We ill be putting a wedding photo in once we get one. My only suggestion would be to carry it back with you in a carry-on tote. I just put it in a carry-on and even though we made sure the sand was packed in tight it still settled more on the wiggly plane ride and the sand mixed a bit more than I would have liked on one side (blending the cool every-other layered look). Otherwise the trip to Mexico and back with the frame went perfectly.

Your site is absolutely amazing. Wow. So informative and it looks so good. Congratulations!

lliaPSU - I totally copied your "The Deadline for an RSVP had passed...." we are doing our AHR and still have some missing RSVP's. I like that statement.

I have a question about our reception and I'm hoping I can get some good ideas from anyone creative out there. We have 106 people who have accepted the invitation to our Wedding Fiesta. The only people invited (and who are coming) are people that we have an active relationships with, so for example, family just because you are family were not necessarily invited. Family that reaches out and emails or calls even once every two months was invited (that's what we meant by "having an active relationship"). Because of the guidelines of who we invited I thought it would be fund to make name tags for everyone so they could mix & mingle easier and also get a smile on their face from "how" we know them. I was thinking a Friend would get a name tag that says: Lisa Smith Thru thick & thin with the Mrs. (and/or Mr.) A Co-Worker (who are all friends as well) could say: Liz Smith Works & Laughs with the Mrs. (and/or Mr.) Are there any positives or negatives to this idea that I may be missing? Any ideas of how to "label" Friends, Family, Co-workers that is cute and fun? For guests of the people we invited I figure we would just put "Friend of the Mr/Mrs) to keep it simple and still include them in the fun - even if we do not know them directly. It is going to be way different than a typical wedding reception, so I'm open to silly and fun ideas to get people mingling and having fun. Here is a Program (to give you an idea of the feel of the night) that we will either hand out to everyone as they enter or a sign that we will have at the front entrance so that everyone has a feeling for the events of the evening. It is a Adults Cocktail-Style setting. Amanda & Jeremiah’s Wedding Fiesta 6:30 PM Enjoy Welcome Drinks, Passed Appetizers & the Chip/Salsa/Guacamole Bar Mix and Mingle with old and new friends Feel free to sign and “leaf†a note on our guest wedding tree. 7:00 PM Welcome & Wedding Day Photos 7:30 PM Taco Bar (selection based on your RSVP choices) 8:30 PM Coffee & Tres Leches Cake from Café Latte is enjoyed! Dancing Hosted Welcome Drinks: Draft beer : (List beers) Wine: (List wines) Original Margarita: On the Rocks or Blended Any help and ideas are very welcome!

Holy Moly Batman. I just started reading the first 2 paragraphs of this blog and started crying at work. You have to warn us not to read these things if we are sitting at our desk at work, but to save it for once we get home The photos and the blog are so beautiful. What a wonderful way to have these moments live forever. Wow.

Ok. It is really cool to see everyone's website and get a feel for all of you ladies and your handsome other half. Very fun.

May12: Your stationary is AMAZING. Wow. I love love love it. If my day wasn't over I would have just copied yours. Great job and I love the detail with the check-in card. Genius.

Here is ours. http://ChristianAndRangel.ourwedding.com It's password protected: Divine (case sensitive)

Thanks ladies! It was just the most fantastic day of my life and I know it's still new when we celebrate our weekly anniversary Let the honeymoon period last forever! Right?

Yes. My 2 cents is that when we were there 2 weeks ago it was VIP. I posted the link to thier site a little while ago.

danak71 - in the past when I've clicked on the document it directs me to "why can't I download this item" and then you follow the links to "how to become a supporter". Maybe a moderator could help you out with figuring it out. They would probably be able to explain it better

Awesome. I'd love to see photos of your bags. I'm having wedding planning withdrawls I want to plan my sisters wedding now!

They were shipped with no extra padding and just in white individual boxes (which could be decorated or wrapped really cute). All of them shipped without any damage. There were a 2 mugs that had little defects so I emailed the company and they sent new ones that were delivered in days. The original order was at my door only 3 days after I hit "purchase." Really good customer service with this company. They were $56.99 for 24 mugs ($2.37 each) I thought this was a crazy good deal and with personalizing them with the stickers the mugs came to $2.87 each - way less than having to buy a minimum quantity of 50 or so from the other sites I checked out. We only had 18 people in our group so 24 mugs was a good number without having to many extra. http://thebestgeneralstore.ecrater.com/p/7373381/wholesale-lot-of-24-stainless-steel-travel