NJBride2014

@Tammyhost I really am not sure, some people are just a little weird about their cards I guess

 

@@NJBride2014 that is a really good idea, getting the cash from them and using our cards. I'll do that, thank you.

We actually have a united airlines credit card and for the people who gave us cash/checks to pay for them we would put it on that card and then immediately pay it with their money.  We got them to book and also built up a lot of miles on our card.  Basically just use any card that will give you incentives like cash back or airline miles.  Just a tip. lol

So, I found a TA i really like, from BDW. But, the problem is many of my guests are not comfortable with doing a credit card authorization and would prefer to do online payments. Since, I am marrying at Moon Palace it is essential that everyone books through the same source and I get that online payments are easier. So im stuck, the TA ive been working with is AWESOME and she has given me great rates. 

 

One of my friends is using destinationweddings.com for their wedding and it allows online payments, but I dont like how you have to pay $50 before they start working with you and I have no clue what their rates will be. My TA from BDW said as long as we block our rooms and if other people want to join thats over our room block that they will have the same rates. Our friend using DW said we needed to pay our deposit by a certain time to get the group rate. Granted, the deposit was only $100 per room.

 

I have seen mixed reviews on DW so im absolutely confused on what to do and I want to make this convenient for my guests. Has anyone had this problem with people not wanting to do card authorization forms?

 

Thanks

I used Wendy HIcks a TA from BDW and at first we didn't know if our guests would like to fill out the forms and fax/email them back to her but they did and there were no problems. Also if someone felt uncomfortable or just didn't want to fill out the credit card from they gave us the cash and then we just paid it on our credit card and paid our card with their cash.  This worked for us with a lot of our family since a lot were older family members who do not use the internet.  I guess do what you think will work best for you and your guests but just wanted to let you know that they shouldn't worry about forms with their information just from personal experience we didn't have any problems. 

We had our Vietnamese/Chinese engagement party and tea ceremony on Saturday, and I wanted to share some pics with you ladies! In my culture, these are both big events.  The engagement party is when the bride and groom become officially engaged and accepted by the family.  The groom's family brings a lot of gifts to the bride's family like money, tea, wine, cakes and cookies, fruit and a big roast pig. The tea ceremony is usually done the day of the wedding, and in my culture, this is almost like the actual wedding.  For them, exchanging vows is nice to watch, but the serving of the tea and acceptance into the family is when the couple actually becomes "married." So to my family at least, we're pretty much married . 

 

We decided to combine both of these 2 events into one big day so my grandparents who can't come to Mexico could celebrate with us.  I'm wearing a Chinese style qi pao, and you'll see some of my family members in the Vietnamese ao dai. I'm half Chinese and half Vietnamese, so we tend to have traditions from both cultures. My FI's family is Korean, and we encouraged his mom to wear a traditional Korean dress - a hanbook.

 

 

 

 

 

The pictures look great!!  What a fun event and great way to celebrate with friends and family, very cool to see different traditions.  Love your red dress!

@@NJbride I loved reading all you've done, it's really such beautiful hard work! And I'm planning to steal shamelessly lol. PM when you're ready to sell stuff, we have almost the exact same style.

Thanks, it really has been a labor of love doing most things DIY and steal away.  I can't believe we are less than 3 weeks away until we leave for Mexico!  I'll definitely post after the wedding anything I want to sell, there will be a lot of things I'm sure.  

My fiance and I actually decided to do a legal/church ceremony before we go to Mexico.  Our ceremony is next Friday...ahhh! It'll be a short ceremony with our priest and parents, siblings and just a couple of family members who can't come to Mexico.  I haven't advertised it to the friends who are coming to Mexico but if they find out I don't think they will care that we are already married. At least I hope not. At first I just wanted to do the simple courthouse ceremony but my fiance really wanted to do it at our church.  The church ceremony will be straightforward and we will recite the traditional vows they require at the DW it will be more personalized and we will do our it our way.  We get the best of both worlds now.  My fiance's father actually decided only a couple months ago not to go to Mexico because he says he's not healthy enough to go so its a good thing we are doing something at home so he can be present.  After the ceremony we are just going to a local restaurant with our family and having a private dinner.  I guess it'll be nice to be able to visit the church where we got married and one day might have our kids baptized in. This is what worked for us.  I say do whatever works for you.  As for the anniversary date we will celebrate the DW date but if my hubby wants to give me a little something for both I'll gladly accept. lol j/k

Cake Topper 

I ordered my cake topper on Etsy from a great seller.  We really wanted to incorporate our dog Linus and she did a great job on all the details.  Love our topper!!

Here are some of the pics she just sent me.  https://www.etsy.com...ction/217692400

I ordered my cake topper on Etsy from a great seller.  We really wanted to incorporate our dog Linus and she did a great job on all the details.  Here are some of the pics she just sent me.  https://www.etsy.com/transaction/217692400

@  I know its becoming very real.  20 days until we leave for Mexico!

@@NJBride2014 Your dress is breathtaking! You look amazing in it. My dress is mermaid as well.

Thanks!! I'm not for the super tight dresses with a lot of cleavage but for some reason this dress felt right.  I have my last fitting on saturday I can't wait to take my dress home finally!! lol

I understand what you mean when I first went to look at dresses I had it in my mind that it had to be flowy and all chiffon and beach appropriate.  That went out the window when I went to try them on lol I kept gravitating to the more fancier mermaid type dresses.  I don't think my dress is quite DW style but it fits with our venue and still has a beachy feel to it.  Also I don't really care what people think, I feel GREAT in it!! I say do what makes you feel awesome and it will radiate throughout on your day and in pics. Here is the dress I bought. 

I was gifted a nice set at my bridal shower from my future MIL it actually matches our Oneida cutlery set that my future FIL gave us years ago when we moved into our new place.  At first I didn't really care what I used for cake cutting but now that we have a nice set I'm going to bring it and use it and have it in the pics.  It will also be nice to bring it out on special occasions, like birthdays or holidays and remember our wedding day. 

Sandy, everything is looking really awesome! I can't wait to see it all together. Your ceremony location is stunning - and did I read complimentary white tiffany chairs?? Amazing

 

I LOVE the idea of the dog cut out haha - I think that'll be adorable.  You have so many goodies and nice surprises for the guests - I think I would LOVE to be a guest at your wedding

 

Oh and I did a Cuncrawl 2 years ago for a Bach. party. It was super fun! And I have to say it, we had THE hottest guide haha... my single gfs loved him.  We are definitely planning on doing another one this time around too

Yes, they actually give us white tiffany chairs for the ceremony but only 25 are complimentary and you have to pay if you go over.  We will need 32 so I'll pay for 7 extra so its not too bad. I can't believe how fast everything is coming and I have such a busy 3 weeks before we leave for Cancun.  My 30th birthday is tomorrow, my last dress fitting is saturday and then I'm having a big 30th birthday BBQ.  Next week I have my work bridal shower, church ceremony on friday and then a week to get everything together and packed before we leave.  It's getting down to crunch time and I must admit I'm a little stressed. lol 

I'm pretty excited for the cuncrawl I've never done it and only have been to Senor Frogs in Cancun so it should be fun to try out a couple bars/clubs with all my friends and family. I'm so ready for a vacation can't wait to be away from work for 2 weeks. 

Another DIY Project done!!

Ceremony fan/programs

I bought the sticks from amazon for about $6 and then used leftover cardstock to print the program then hot glued it together, very simple and cheap.  The template I found online and just customized it. 

Custom Sunglasses with our Wedding hashtag

Love the way they came out and they will be going in everyone's welcome bags.  I also made the tags in word with a basic template and used leftover gold paper I had.  

Welcome bags done with name tags

Maracas all done with tags

Free Guestbook from Shutterfly

I just went with a photo book of our engagement pics for our guestbook it was free just had to pay for shipping.

show us, show us

These are the dresses, 2 my BM's are wearing the same dress. I bought the dresses they paid for the alterations. 

Try the sale section on the Donna Morgan website. I got all 5 of my girls dresses there for $300 bucks. Not too bad when each dress was orginally $250 each.

I'm using Discomovil as well and am just curious how you were able to get around the outside vendor fee with the room stay. Did your wedding coordinator approve that you can get him a room in lieu of the fee? If so, this is awesome and I'm totally going to try it! It seems like some of the other outside vendors are easier to get around their fee with (bringing a photographer and having them stay, bringing in your own decor, etc) but I wasn't sure if there was really a way to get around it with the DJ since they are obviously coming in from the outside. I was actually starting to get worried it was going to be even more than the $800 fee since I noticed in one of the pamphlets that they also have a $250 electricity fee, not sure if that just applies to certain locations or what... Any extra information you have would be much appreciated! 

When I went on my site visit last year I met my onsite wedding planner and had her email contact info so I asked my onsite wedding planner about booking one room night early on and she agreed to let me do one night to bypass the vendor fee.  But just today I saw on my final bill that my wedding coordinator (different person) added the $800 fee for my DJ and I already booked the room for my DJ and his assistant.  I actually just finished emailing my onsite planner today to get this fixed I'm sure she'll change it and if it does become a problem I will fight it because I saved every email where she assures me that one night will be fine. If you want to go around the vendor fee by booking one night try asking your wedding coordinator they might say yes or no I feel like it all depends on the person realy.  You'll get different answers from different people which is strange. Remember to save every email where they promise your something so that when its time to get your final bill you can fight certain things. I was also promised to only pay for 2 day passes for my photographers and when I first got my final bill they had charged me the vendor fee instead I reminded them that they said I could do 2 day passes and they quickly changed it.  Look at your charges very closely.  

We are flying first class and get 2 suitcases each at 70 pounds to check in so all together we will have 4 checked in bags and 2 carry ons.  I also have family who will use their free check in bag to bring stuff for me.  I'm hoping to be able to fit all wedding decor/favors and any extras into 3 checked bags.  So far I have 2 bags filled and I'm almost done packing everything away so I should be good with 3 check ins for decor alone.  Now I hope I can fit all my shoes in my own bag along with 2 weeks worth of clothes.  Oh and I need to carry my wedding dress and my fiance's suit.  I can just picture us now with all this luggage lol.  Kind of sucks that we will be completely alone when we travel since we will be going a day earlier than everyone else would be nice to have some extra help. 

More DYI projects

@@NJBride2014

I'm nervous about bringing the maracas as I have found and made just enough!! Lol hope they all make it! Any goodies anyone can think of that will travel well for welcome bags?? So far I have sleep masks, travel candles, mini massagers, mini maracas and I was thinking candy and Advil packets lol

I actually packed my maracas the other night in my suitcase.  I wrapped every maraca up with tissue paper and put bubble wrap on the bottom of the suitcase.  All 50 maracas fit just fine and the suitcase is super light since the maracas don't weigh a lot I also packed some of my welcome bags in the same suitcase. I think I'll probably have 3 suitcases of decor/wedding extras. Ahh this is not going to be fun in the airport with so much luggage. lol

The same thing happened to my fiance. His best friend/groomsmen who he's known since he was 3 isn't staying at our resort either. He booked a much cheaper resort and will only be joining us for the wedding day which I feel kind of defeats the purpose of him even coming since we are having pre wedding events. He didn't even tell us he booked somewhere else until my TA informed us on our last day that he never booked. Our wedding is a month away and he still hasn't spoken to my fiance about not booking with our resort. Oh but he's going to the bachelor party this weekend and dropping $400 for Atlantic City. I don't get it he knew about the prices and deadline for 16 months and didnt have enough time to save. Its disappointing because my fiance drops everything to help him out when he needs it but when its my finances turn he ignores him.

The crappy part also is this friend/groomsmen actually convinced some other guests to cancel with my TA and book the resort he's staying at. So for all of these outside guests we now need to pay day passes for them to be at the wedding. My fiance says they will pay for their own passes since it was thier choice to stay at another resort but we'll see if that actually happens. I have a feeling we'll end up paying for it. Its funny because the friends that were the first to book are guys my fiance has only known for a couple of years. They are so excited about coming and couldnt wait to book their trip. Other people who you would think would be there no matter what are actually the disappointing ones.

@@calgarybride2015 haha you have no idea how much wedding stuff is all over....my poor fiance can't even sit down at our dining table because there are piles of wedding stuff. Lol

If you already put donw your deposit and set a date they should honor the old benefits. Ask your wedding coordinator just to be sure.

The resort doesnt consider it part of my wedding group if they don't book with my contracted block. The guests booked on their own from a third party site so they are only considered guests of the hotel so any event they go to that I have planned is extra for them. That's the resorts policy. I'm hoping not too many more people book this way because it really starts adding up.

Start sending out reminder texts or phone calls now. People will wait until the very last minute and it sucks. A quick reminder will give them the push to book. Thats what I had to do last month I had people booking up until the last day and even someone booked just last week on their own which is another story because now they aren't considered part of our wedding group and I have to pay extra for them. People forget deadlines so a quick reminder is good.