ChocoTaco7568

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miss J 

That's so pretty! Is it a comb or clip?

Alligator clip, worked prefectly and stayed put all evening.

That would be awesome, I'll keep my eyes open for you!

on the plane and waiting for boarding to complete. I can't believe my moment is finally here....woohoo!

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrsShoreytobe 

I am so jealous of you ladies wearing high heels - I want to wear them but I am 5'10 1/2 and will definitely tower over my man with those things!

I've worn them plenty next to him (we are same height) but on wedding day, don't wanna show the guy up lol!

Same here... I'm 5'10", FI is 6'1" and I am no stranger to 4"-5" heels. But my Fi did request that I not be taller than him on our wedding day, so I capped them off at 3" and his shoes have about a 1/2" lift. I guess this worked out, because i didn't need the hem on my dress altered at all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Furturemrsg 

Can't believe how calm I am right now and I leave in less than 2 weeks!  I am so excited.  All though I tired my dress on last night because I am now 10 weeks pregnant and it doesn't zip! I am going to have someone help me with it tonight!  I am almost thinking of adding a corset that way it will continue to fit while waiting for my reception in 6 weeks!  I am still calm and know everything will fall into place.  We worked on our OOT gifts and I am super excited!  We had shirts made for everyone going and should get those Friday!  We are going to stand out in the airport like a sore thumb and I love it! lol

It may not be as bad as you think. Before having my dress altered down a size I couldn't zip it up on my on. But you are correct, whatever alterations are required, you have plenty of time and everything will fall into place perfectly.

Congrats Michelle, You look beautiful and very Goddess like!

Hey Kristen,

We depart Wednesday morning for Now Jade but we leave for Playa on the 19th. 

Less than a week for you, are you ready!?!?!?

I'm so happy that our paths crossed even though our wedding dates are 6 months apart and at different resorts.  You aided in my sanity through this process; I think your my BDW BFF!

Originally Posted by AllieH 

10 days!!! I'm sooo excited for you Tova. I can't wait to see how it all comes together. 

  

 

 

Thank you. I'm glad you infiltrated the May 2013 thread; it's been great planning beside you.  I wish the two of you many years of love and happiness.

Originally Posted by uhura526 

You are awesome, Tova! All this hard work you have put in and now your day is coming so very soon. I wish you the best and hope your wedding is everything you've dreamed of.

Beautiful! Congrats.

Originally Posted by CourtandMatt 

MARRIED!!

 

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by KristieT 
The days before I leave have been so busy! Sorry for lack of responses!
Sooo good news! I have my dress!! Basically I went back to the salon and they brought in their "master seamstress" who said it would be no problem to fix! She added some boning and some other magic tricks and wa-la! I have a dress! So be honest I wish it fit a little better in the bust (more push up) but I'm happy it fits and I feel good! I leave Saturday morning before dawn! Soooo excited! Good luck to you Tova and all my othe may brides! I wish you all the best and happiness on your wedding day and everyday after that! I am so excited to see everyone's pictures! Enjoy every moment ladies, we only get this day once!

No worries on the delayed reply, I'm just happy that you're dress is in hand and ready for your big day and you feel good in it. Safe travels Chica, and I wish you and your FI the best!

Ali, welcome back newlywed! glad to read that your wedding week was a success and absolutely fabulous. But that's no surprise, we all knew it would be. can't wait for the pics and the planning thread.

Yay ladies!!!!! Congrats to everyone who leaves soon! I just got back last night and it was the trip of a lifetime! Had so much fun and we had the best crew and everyone got along famously and exchanged info at the end to keep in touch. The week was fabulous. The day was perfect.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ironman 

I didn't get a reply from them at all! 

We will definitely look in to providing mugs for our guests. Where did you get yours from?

No reply, that sucks... I actually got my tumblers from my local Dollar Tree and used Avery's weatherproof mailing labels to create custom/personalized tumbler labels.  You can also order labels from Etsy Seller Davet Design if you're not up for the DIY 

PHOTOGRAPHY

I fell in love with Elizabeth Medina and Del Sol Photography but quickly learned that they were both out of the budget (double my budget).  Another mourning moment, but I was quickly on the hunt to find a photographer that would preserve the memories of our special day and capture the essence of we are and the love that we have for each other.  We put our trust in the hands of Sascha Gluck and we’re confident that we made the right decision.  We will aslo do a sunrise TTD shoot which I’m super excited and nervous for.

FLOWERS

I provide the following to my WC for us in creating Bouquets, Boutonnieres and our wedding cake

DIY PROJECTS

As with many BDW brides I opted to DIY as a means to lower cost and make our wedding a bit more unique and personalized.  Since I am posting my planning thread so late, there are a few items that I have already packed so pics will be provided upon my return.

INVITES

I wrote a pretty extensive thread on this so I will provide the link instead of rehashing the details.  But if you have any questions that aren’t answered, just ask!

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/79434/chocotaco-s-diy-orchid-boarding-pass-invitations

PRE-TRAVEL PACKETS

We decided early on that we didn’t want to give out guests OOT bags, but would provide a few goodies with our pre-travel letter.  The results:

• Thank you letter
• ‘Pack This’ checklist created in Excel
• Double sided resort booklet (resort map, restaurants, bars, summary of accommodations, local excursions etc);
• Personalized Tumbler (I used the ½ sheet weatherproof mailing lables by avery and cut them out);
• Mexico misc. info sheet (weather, currency, CUN airport, Montezuma Revenge etc)
• Mexico Themed Luggage Tags (Leather Tags for BM/MOH, and Parents)
• 4GB digi cam memory card (we loaded up on these during a Black Friday Sale!)
• Schedule of events during wedding week

I started to assemble these and totally forgot to include the last two items, but thankfully Justin brought it to my attention before we distributed them.  I hand delivered all of them to our Guest in OR and WA and did group shipments to our families in MT, VA and PA and our parents broke out the packages and did the distribution to those with their states to help save on S&H costs.

Kudos to you two, I love women who embrace weight training. I keep telling myself that I want to train and condition for a bikini competition if not a figure competition (somewhere in the distant future).

Originally Posted by shannonmarie 

 

Got a response:

 

Dear Shannon, thank you for contacting us. All of the comments have been shared with the involved departments and director of area to review. We are investigating these reviews, because the resort did not have reports, clients decide to post in tripdavisor and we already contacted them to ask them about it. Regarding the glasses, we have explained them that the water where they saw to clean the glasses it is a disinfected water. Thank very much for sharing your concerns, which we will share them with the staff. We will do our best to make your stay a wonderful event and stay with us. Thank you very much, best regards Olivia

Prompt reply, but not really happy with the answer... disinfecting water, really?  Everyone knows that water needs to reach a certain temperature to be affective for sanitizing, so if it just sits there at room temperature, dip after dip of dirty glasses aren't contaminants and germs just accumulating and transferring? How often do they change this "sanitizing water"? Glad I provided my guests with tumblers.

Hey Kisha,

Don't worry, it all falls into place.  Experimenting with my bridal look was my first full on introduction to makeup. I never owned foundation prior to this, I was just a mascara and lip gloss girl.  I use to have a friend apply my makeup or I had an appt with MAC for special events. It's all about layering and blending.  Start with the basics, perfect those, and build from there. Good Luck!

Originally Posted by ironman 

 

 

I wrote about the glasses and the multiple concerns regarding their cleanliness. I also mentioned the front desk staff, the time it takes to check in and the pushy timeshare sales people. There's a lot of reviews about these three "front-end" things on trip advisor, even though I haven't seen any brides post about them here. Possibly because we all get upgraded to preferred and may not have to deal with lengthy waits, rude staff and pushy salespeople?

 

I also flat out asked if they read their reviews and do anything to respond to the suggestions/criticisms. Will let you know if I hear back.

 

FI thinks I am over-reacting, but I don't personally think sending them a note to let them know I'm concerned is a problem. I don't want to keep having nightmares for the next 7 months!

Definitely not over-reacting.  We (including our guests) have a lot of money vested in our wedding/vacation and shouldn't succumb to sub-par service and accommodations. Granted it’s not a 5 star resort, but it’s not a Motel 6 either.  I have high expectations, but they are practical and grounded in reason and I expect them to be met. If the resort isn't aware of the problme(s), then I can't expect them to fix/make any improvements.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ironman 

I will send a PM to their facebook page. I don't want to post my concerns on their wall, in fear it will show up for my guests to see in their newsfeeds! I'll send one now, and recommend all brides reading this do the same!

Awesome! I also understand wanting to keep things private, but I personally thought I might get better results by tactfully making my concerns public...back to the idea of not being so easy to ignore.  Any of my guest who have liked or look-up Now Jade on Facebook are also quite familiar with tripadvisor and the negative reviews within. If nothing else, my guest act as added leverage to raise concerns, which is a good thing. Just my $.02.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ironman 

Thanks for the review and congratulations

 

I read it last night and had wedding nightmares overnight. I wonder if there's any way to flag this glass-cleaning situation to the resort? This isn't the first time I've heard about it being a problem, people have also posted on trip advisor about this problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shannonmarie 

Possibly contact Olivia Rodriguez who runs Jades facebook page?

I agrere with shannon.  I have personally sent PMs and posted message to their FB occasionally to raise concern and I have also had discussions with my TA and requested that she relay my concerns to the resort directly.  The more proactive we are collectively, the more inclined the resort will be to remedy these issue (just my opinion). It easy to ignore 1 voice, but not multiple especially where large wedding groups are concerned. I think they will be more apt to listen  especially if it starts to impact their relationship with our TAs and wedding groups not wanting to execute room block contracts. 

Thanks Beth.  I love my dress even though I feel it looks different on me now that I've lost weight as compared to that photo which was when I first found it during a bridal appointmet.  I wish I could find more excuses to wear it after the wedding though. 

January will be here beofre you know it!

Thanks Shannon, I still have more to post but can't seem to find the time (DIY projects, mock-ups and misc wedding stuff). 

I consider having the resort apply my makeup using my products, but I’ve been practicing my bridal look for the past year and have better confidence in my own application.  I’m using 5 different shadows, and 3 different eyeliners to achieve my eye look (extreme, I know); I can only imagine the different ways this can be layered and applied and all the sudden turn into something very different than what I want. My Face is safer in my own hands and I actually think it will be less stressful for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kal520 
Went for my final fitting on Monday...expecting to take the dress home and it was way too big! So now it needs to be taken in again!! I feel like I haven't lost they much weight since my last fitting but apparently I had. And my dress has a lace up corset so I didnt think this would be a problem at all. So now we leave in about a week and I still don't have a dress in my possession...slightly freaking out.

Obviously not the ideal situation but you have nothing to worry about.  When we start our alterations 6-8 weeks out we assume that it this long process that needs ample time, when in reality it's just our seamstresses managing their time by adding a huge buffer (understandable, but also overkill).  I started my alterations 7 weeks out, my second fitting was 3 weeks later, third fitting 10 days later (Bear in mind that my seamstress forgot to complete a hefty number of alterations from my second fitting, but completed them 24 hours), final fitting 3 day after that. I just picked up my dress this past Saturday; 11 days before leaving There's nothing like a hard deadline to light the fire under their butts. It be different if you were just getting started and needed major alterations, but a 1/2"-1" isn't a deal breaker in the alterations world. Just think of all the last minutes bride who go though this process in 2 weeks, or who have to changes seamstress last minute... it all works out!

Quote:

Originally Posted by shan0487 

(God blessed me with a nice butt and no boobs! haha).

LOL... that's my motto too!

Lindsay, you totally rocked that dress; what a gorgeous bride! Thanks for your words of reassurance regarding Pilar and the resort (less the dirty dishes).

Congrats newlwed!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rpc51 

OMG!!!!! Thank You!!!! As a dark skin bride, it is so hard finding products that don't transfer. I wish I could hug you right now, lol.

I forgot to mention 1 item - Boscia Blotting Papers.  It didn't matter what foundation/application I used, there was no getting around periodic blotting to control sheen/oil, but I was able to go the longest with MUFE HD (typically 5-6 hours without blotting). I do like the Boscia blotting papers b/c they were quick, easy and left my makeup in tact.