MsBlissMpls

Reading through the gold package it's my understanding that you get 2 "Gold" level centerpieces. 1 for the ceremony table (which can be moved to your reception table, and 1 for decoration at the reception table). The upcharge from the Gold level to the most expensive "Excellence Table Centerpieces is $140-$60 = $80. Assuming you are willing to have the same centerpiece decorating your ceremony table you could get two of the tall orchid centerpieces for $80x2=$160. I was curious about the $400 price... but I don't think it should be that much. Anyways, I have to stop thinking about flowers and get back to work!!!

Love the flip flops LauraR597! That is an awesome splurge & they look comfy. The flower prices are crazy. I noticed that right away, but I think orchids are even really expensive in MN where I am from. They are typically about $20-30 a branch. We'd probably all faint knowing what this couple spent on their centerpieces!

Hey Jass7. I sent out our invitations in the middle of October 2011 for our April 2012 wedding. I'm glad I did too, because the price skyrocketed in November and the base level rooms booked up by December. In the end the price of our trip had risen additional $3,000! - which we did not pay obviously because we had already booked. We have people that booked in October on a direct flight staying 7 nights for $2,000 pp. Currently you would only get 4 nights on a 1-stop (each way) flight for $2,000 pp. Big difference. I'd suggest sending the invitations at least 6 months ahead of time, but I think the typical suggested time is 4-6 months ahead of time. I'd also mention that is it in people's best interest to put a down payment as soon as possible to reserve their room, flight & price

Can you forward her all of the emails you have? This way she can just read them and get caught up. If you have them printed insead of saved on your computer maybe you could just scan them in and send it as an attachment highlighting the important parts? I agree with Jass7. Deep breathes.

Thanks Brenners! My FMIL offered to take the dress on board with her (She acted like it was no big deal and had a ton of confience so I feel good about it). I'll make sure to tell her to get on right away & talk to the attendants. She already called the TA and the airline asking details of what she should do. She is flying on a direct Sun Country flight. We are staying 10 nights and could not get a direct flight, so it's nice that she offered to take care of the dress! We have hired Adrian Herrera for our wedding day and we are lucky enough to have booked Del Sol for a TTD 2 days after the wedding (we did this cute Honeyfund site asking that if anyone wanted to gift us something that it be a contribution to Del Sol Photos). I still haven't practiced going under water without plugging my nose. Yikes. Wish me luck

Hey Brenner, Thank you for sharing your planning thread. As a fellow Minneapolis bride heading to Mexico, I'm so excited to hear that things went well for you! When you get photos to share I can't wait to see them! Congratulations!

Thank for sharing Monica. I wish we could have just gotten back from this place! lciz - 3 WEEKS! I'm excited for you and can't wait until I'm at 3 weeks... well I can't wait until I"m done packing. Then I will be able to relax! 39 days left for me. I agree with everyone else about picking EPM. And I think it's nice to re-set any of the vents with remembering why we all picked it in the first place For us the biggest reason for picking it was the up front costs/ lack of up-charges as someone mentioned earlier. I think The ROYAL(s) do the best job detailing all costs on their website being they have a whole site dedicated to picking your package, flowers, cake etc. and they have really good photos right away (no asking for different pdf's until you finally think you have them all). However, we also picked EPM because of the location and the photos of the trees around the beach (it reminded us of an island feel instead of a man made beach like you find on most resorts), and the recommendation from our Travel Agent (who's friend goes here on her vacations, and her friend is also a TA). - It said a lot to us that a travel agent, who gets to go everywhere for work, decides to spend her personal time vacationing at EPM! I'm so happy everyday looking at the awesome reviews for EPM and we would not change our mind (even if we could).

Target has some really cute tote bags in there "$1.00" section when you frist enter the store. I think they have them by the Spring Break Stuff section. They are probably only 12 inches long and 6-7 inches wide, so on the smaller side for a beach bag, but they are $2.50 each and look super cute & tropical. Photo below.

I found these really great personalized bags for 1/2 the cost of most other ones online. (I'd like to make my own bags, but am realizing it's not going to happen , too much going on). Most bags like this with custom names on them are $16-$24 each, but these are $8.00 each! I bought one per couple coming to our wedding and put their last names on the bag. They come in a ton of colors with different colored threads. I just ordered 11 of them and will let you know how they turn out. Just thought I would share being the price is a lot lower than anthing else I've found out there... Heres a link to the Esty seller. http://www.etsy.com/listing/56950533/personalized-cheer-dance-beach Here is a link to the thread color chart. www.flickr.com/photos/personalizedgiftsbyj/sets/72157627444741473/ Here is a link to the bag colors. www.flickr.com/photos/personalizedgiftsbyj/sets/72157627426566697/

Does anyone have an idea of what the show is for Tuesday night? Tuesday is our night, and even if it not the same this April it would be nice to have an idea of the theme and the time it starts. Thank you all for your input!

Does anyone know what time the nightly theater show starts and what the theme of each night is at the theater? Also, does anyone know what time the music starts at Bar Alegria? Thanks

Great story! I was thinking of asking people to not post photos on Facebook as well. Neither my fiance or I have Facebook and we like it that way! We are having an At Home Reception and part of the surprise is showing off our photos, I'd hate to have that ruined. I'm copying your privacy sign. Love it!

stefkva - I'm guessing something has come up with your travel plans (from the big red print)? ? I hope all is well. lciz - I am curious about Bar Alegria as well! We are using the resort entertainment/ disco for our wedding evening. Our budget (and our priorities within our budget) just do not justify a DJ .... even though a Dj on the beach with a light up floor would be the best!

Very creative & awesome. If you started a business on Esty I'm sure it would be a hit!

Love the bags! Spray painting is such a cool idea & they look great on the brown colored bags. How did you get the paint to look so neat (& not get all over the bag?) also what size was the bag? Did you order them online? Definately considering copying your bags! Thanks for sharing!

Everyone has different needs on vacation, I for one love not knowing the time on vacation - just rolling out of bed, rolling to the beach, and wandering to eat when I feel like it. But then again, my mom just mentioned that she noticed I do not have any clocks in my house. Just the microwave & my cell phone....

So BEAUTIFUL!!! Wow. You take great photos. Let us know if you mom agrees Quote: Originally Posted by kellykanester This is my favorite so far, this one is a couple sizes too small, but I have lost ten pounds already and still have 9 months to go. I am positive that this is the one, but I need moms approval !

Wow. I agree with May12. I would have been very scared off of using a TA if they were charging that much. You are probably really lucky & you are super smart for making the choice you did. Better off without that TA! I can't even believe someone would try to charge that much extra off of the online prices. My TA did a price reduction when I found my exact flight & room less expensive online than the vendor that she was planning to use (which she said rarely happens). On top of that if the price goes down, she automatically adjusts it down for each guest. Sorry to hear about that expierence. I'm getting married just shortly before your date. Hopefully I can be very on top of things and get some reviews, tips, and unprofessional photos up soon after the big day! I was kind of hoping that current brides would be posting and sharing their photos Maybe they did not find this website? I'm already working on my planning journal. So hopefully that will be ready shortly after our trip as well.

Thanks for the mug comments. It makes me smile!

2012BeachBride Do you know how much it would cost for a room for 1 night for a photographer and an assistant? Thanks for the info! Regarding a Travel Agent: We have 16 guests plus us and I would totally recommend Nichole at http://www.destinationvacationtravel.com/ She has been doing destination wedding planning for many many years and I LOVE her. We are her first wedding at EPM and everything is going really smoothly. All of our guests are booking directly with Nichole (so no one asks us about anything, which I love, because we have enough going on) and I love knowing that she can run multiple scenerios with each couple to see what flight and number of nights will work with everyone's budget & schedule. Nichole already told me that the two days that our guests are arriving (April 14-15, Sat-Sun) she is going to be in her office ready and waiting for any calls from our guests if they need help or guidance during their travels. She also said if there is any inconvienece, if we have the insurance plan, she does all of the paperwork and makes sure we are reimbursed for the littlest things (like lost luggage, delayed flights, etc). On top of that she checks every week and adjusts for the low price guarantee. I feel really confident that everyone is taken care of because of Nichole & it is nice to have someone answer calls and questions RIGHT AWAY. She responds to everything really fast and calls me randomly to make sure I'm feeling good and relaxed about how things are going. On top of that she is the one making sure everything goes smoothly between "what we want" and "Mexico response time". I have apsolutely NO worries and we are 56 days away from our big day - We did not pay anything for her to book our rooms etc, but we are paying a fee of $400 for her to coordinate our wedding details (invitation ideas, general sounding board, etc.) and communicate with the resort (worth it in my book, but some might not feel they need this additonal help) Oh, and she is organizing our group excursion, which is awesome, so we don't have to organize it when we get to the resort and worry about everyone knowing what's happening. She is based out of Minnesota, so I am lucky enough that when we have our Pre-Mexico get together she will be there to answer questions and hand out everyone's travel documents. (I just mentioned that on her 2 days ago for March 10th, and she was SO excited to be invited to meet everyone) I would highly recommend going wtih a TA, even if it's not Nichole. They take care of everything and it does not cost anything to have someone on your side incase things are not as smooth as you would have hoped. Hope that helps!

I got all of the items in for my mugs! This is a photo with my (old) iPhone, so the quality is bad, but you can get the idea. Seriously LOVE these things. I already showed one of our guests, because I can't hide anything well, and she we really really excited about getting one... Ok. Now I'll be quite about the OOT stuff Oh, we decided to put our names in green (to blend in with the design) instead of black because from what I've read on the OOT threads is that guests are less likely to really love the stuff (& use it again) if our names are plastered all over everything. I guess I'd feel the same way if someone gave me a gift with their names branded all over it. We'll see what happens....

Thanks for the updated list! That is a big difference from what I was told. Good information.

I have all of these items in and started my OOT bags officially. Here is a photo of one of the mugs. We decided to put our names in green instead of black so that they did not "brand" the whole thing with our names in case ppl use them at a later date. We did put the theme of our destination marriage on the mugs in black so that it stuck out a little bit more. I tried and these stickers are not coming off. Being I'm bad at secrets I already showed one of our friends who will be getting one in Mexico and she was SO excited and thought they were awesome.

Love your journal. The hair & colors & bags are all inspirational! You looked beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

Welcome Jass7! We are using Adrian Herrera. As far I we've been told the only vendors not allowed on the property are La Luna & Del Sol. Every other photorapher can be used as long as you pay the $500 vendor fee (which does not include meals for the vendor). Have fun planning! For some reason I remember them saying the band was around $450 for the hour. I'd have to look through my emails to verify that. That's how much we've been adding on to the Silver package for the trio anyways. I'd love to know if anyone has a current quote. Quote: Originally Posted by Sharon99 Welcome & Congrats! We are using Moments that Matter. You will find tons of info from this site...Happy Planning! Question for you guys - does anyone know how much the Mariachi Trio Band is? I know it is included in the gold package but we maybe doing the silver now & I still want to use them. I cant see them being that much, but you never know.