TinkerSofi
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Posts posted by TinkerSofi
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Heads up for the ladies who are recently married (or about to be married and would like to save this for the near future). Groupon has a discount for Photobook Canada. You can get $27 worth for only $5, and there's other offers, where you can pay a little more to get a bigger photobook. It goes all the way up to $27 for $85 worth. As someone who bought hers full price, you definitely want to get your hands on this!
Happy shopping!
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That's great to hear that you're now including the Canadian market
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I'm sorry to hear about your job
Your dress is very pretty! Did you end up figuring something out with the top? Mine had the same problem, it had a tiny little waist but the cups were huge! I don't even know how would anyone fit into that dress perfectly unless you were a model. I ended up getting those stick on bras and that helped a little. I bought mine at David's Bridal and, taking after some of the ladies here I call them the chicken cutlets, because that's what they look like haha. I've seen some at La Senza as well, but they're made out of fabric rather than silicone. I think those might be better as they seem to have more structure.
The countdown is on! I love the men's suits, they look very nice.
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@@snswedding2016 i'm going to talk to him about it again today. keep your fingers crossed for me lol
yes, i totally want to come to the next GTA meet up. i missed one because it was one of my bridesmaids birthday, another because we were in Montreal for Mike's birthday and i play hockey on friday nights. i'll miss hockey for the next one
@@TinkerSofi lol don’t say sorry – I am just happy you’re around to answer my questions. Selfish, I know lol Hope being an adult is everything you had hoped for J
Oh, love that they grill the food right there and that everyone gets what they want. That’s perfect and definitely puts my mind at ease.
You’re so right about not wanting to spend the time inside. It seems silly to do that when you are in MEXICO! I’ll likely be too scared that I will run out of time and not end up getting my fingers and toes done while I am there that I will get them done ahead of time. We arrive on the Friday, most guests arrive the Sunday and we get married on the Tuesday. I should be able to keep the shellac looking nice for 5 days – I hope J
Oh my gosh – if you were able to fall asleep on the day of your wedding with your mind going a mile a minute that reflexology session must have been amazing. They mention bites for the groom and nothing for the bride. Glad to see they took care of you too. I can eat…a lot. I don’t see the morning of my wedding being any different lol Good point about the light – my photographer is a friend and will be there the whole week. If we book the bridal suite I’ll be sure to take her by beforehand so she knows what to expect. LOL at Juan inviting people haha Obviously he had good intentions, not wanting people to be alone, but I’d be so mad at Mike. I imagine I’ll be quite stressed out and won’t want people other than my girls and my mom there. If I need to scream I want to without any judgement lol
So by getting the ceremony for free you mean they waived the $1700 fee or the $950 fee? Either way if that’s the case…WOW! My TA will be no help, I wouldn’t even ask her. I have a hard enough time finding out who has paid their deposits or not or who has emailed to inquiry about rates. That’s a story for another day. Ugh.
Good to know they asked you right before and gave you a better deal. Maybe those things I want that I can’t justify paying for they will give us a better deal on in the moment. I won’t chance it for the important things but those unnecessary wants may come to fruition last minute…
Nice thing with having our friends as photographers is they are there the whole week. I by no means expect them to work the entire time but it’s nice to know they will be there and can snap random pics at any time. I guess that also means we don’t have to be as strict with timing because they aren’t going anywhere.
Oh ok, then you should do a first look, if you have the time
. I would! They waived the $950. I thought it was fair, since we were paying $1700 for the sky deck.
Definitely ask them to check out the bridal suite and see what you think
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I'm stuck. I got the groupon to clean my dress before taking it to Argentina. I go in 3 weeks before we leave (thinking that was plenty of time) and they tell me they need at least 6 weeks to clean it. Anyway, since I have to take it somewhere else, I'm trying to sell the groupon. I paid $250 for it and asking $200 for it. It's for Green Fine Dry Cleaners in Calgary. Any takers?
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@@TinkerSofi Thank you for popping in to share your wisdom! I am so scared for when all the bride’s I’ve been following or communicating with leave. How will I ever make a decision? Sure I have Mike but well…he doesn’t see the reason to put so much thought into any one decision. Example – we get white table cloths, why would we want anything else? lol
My concern with family style is how much of each will they provide. I’d hate that the last person to get the dish gets stuck with something they don’t like. I hope it is one for each person?! I am going to ask our WD if she has actual pictures of the food that will be served. Is that crazy? lol I asked her if pop was included because it only says “includes 4 hours of international open bar and coffee, decaffeinated and herbal teas”. She laughed and said of coarse but I had to know. I was thinking how embarrassing would it be if someone is like “can I have a coke?” and they said “the bride and groom didn’t pay for that”. The charge for everything else; I didn’t think it was that crazy of a question.
Did you do a first look? I want to so badly so that we can have some of our pictures done and because I want to see Mike before everyone else does but he is NOT on board – like won’t even budge on the topic. Good advice. We need to sort this out.
So you got to enjoy your ‘Welcome Drink’ at your wedding? Our WD said “well remember you are picking for everyone else because you won’t be there to drink it!” Glad to know you liked the pink juice and I hope @@snswedding2016 reports back that she loves it too J
Good point. Didn’t realize the Oriolla grill was so close as well. I am really leaning towards not paying for a cocktail hour (or two). That money could easily be spent in other places. Mike agrees that it seems silly to pay for something everyone already paid for. Glad to read you didn’t regret or feel bad for not having one.
Question about the spa – do they do shellac? I chip regular polish in 5 minutes so if they don’t offer that I will for sure have my nails done before heading to Mexico. Would you do the bridal suite again for getting ready? I like the idea of getting ready in our room – that is if we get upgraded to a Sky Suite (FINGERS CROSSED!) Also thinking air brush is a must. I have a ton of freckles/sun spots/moles and I’d love if they could cover them (not all just the big ones lol) and I think air brush is the only way. They seem to EAT concealer. Too much info? Sorry lol
Being a bride that LOVES a deal, can you suggest any areas that you were able to get them to come down in prices? If you don’t mind sharing of course.
Thanks so much for all the help. Much appreciated!!
Yeah, sorry I haven't been around as much. I know I used to hate it when older brides would never come around. I had so many burning questions! haha. We moved and then I've been settling down into my role as an adult haha. It's been time consuming
. We had the BBQ deluxe, which was also a family style dinner. The way it worked was that they brought bowls with the salads and sides to each table, so people could serve themselves. They grilled the meat right on the sky deck and one server would come around to each table and you could pick whatever you wanted. You really have nothing to worry about, they are very good at what they do and everyone will have a chance to try everything if they wish to. I tried, but there wasn't enough room in my stomach haha.
I can't remember if they have shellac. I have the same problem, regular nail polish takes ages to dry for me and lasts 5 minutes. That's why I decided t get gel nails before I left. I got them french and just my natural nails' length. They looked very nice. If they do have it at the spa you probably need to pay an upgrade fee, kind of like the same for airbrush makeup. My suggestion is that if you want to get that done you get it before you go. I was planning on getting my feet done while there, but I just really didn't want to be inside for longer than I had to. In between going to appointments, organizing last minute details, etc. I was in my room for longer than I wanted to be. I had gotten a quick pedicure before I left and I just went with that. Usually shellac is not very expensive at home, so I would bite the bullet there.
The bridal suite had its pros and cons. Pro's: The service was amazing and I was so relaxed that I fell asleep at one point. I am extremely ticklish and I thought I wouldn't be able to get through the reflexology session but that's where I fell asleep haha. It was nice that everything is there, there's even a shower so you can shower right after your massage to wipe off all the oil. Then they come in with all their tools and do your hair and makeup. They also bring you mimosas and a few bites for you and your bridesmaids (I don't know who said brides don't eat, I devoured those things haha. I think it was the anxiety). The only con I can think of is the light. There's not a lot of light in there, which makes getting ready pictures a bit more difficult for your photographer I imagine. It's not super dark, but there's more light in your room for sure. Again, I've been trying to post pictures forever and the system won't let me, it always freezes. Also, it can get crowded if you have a lot of bridesmaids. For me it was my mom and Juan's, my two bridesmaids and Juan's sister initially. But then Juan decided to invite people who weren't on the bridal party, to my bridal suite (grr, I know haha). Only one girl showed up, thankfully, and I wasn't going to kick her out. It was getting a little crowded though haha. Would I do it again? Absolutely
. I didn't get a lot of deals. We got the ceremony for free because we upgraded to the sky deck for both the ceremony and the reception and because we paid for the vintage elegance tables. Our TA actually negotiated this for us before we left, but that's all we got. I tried to negotiate getting a photo booth company for a couple of hours for less than the $800 vendor fee but they wouldn't even let them in. They wouldn't budge on anything. I'm guessing you could negotiate the set-up fee when there but we thought what we paid was fair. Right before our ceremony they asked us if we wanted to cover the chairs with the vintage elegance chair covers for $100 and I said yes. I thought that was worth it, it definitely added to the whole thing, especially considering I didn't have many other decorations. You might have different luck, but that was my experience.
oh, PS: we didn't do first look. I wanted to at first, but that meant that there would have been no pictures of our reception and it was important to me to have pictures of our first dance and the dance with our parents. We had our photographer for 5 hours
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Decisions, Decisions, Decisions...
I had sent about 10 questions to our Wedding Designer and instead of responding to all of them she felt we should schedule a call. Maribel and I spoke from 4:30 - 5:30 last night and she filled me in on everything I needed clarification on. She was so lovely to talk to.
Dinner -
My mum and I found the menus so confusing. Really they're not but we couldn't believe you get as much food as you do. We couldn't understand why it didn't say "pick two of five options" but that's because we don't have to pick - we get it all. Because we are getting married on the Sky Deck we cannot have a plated meal. Initially we were pretty bummed but now I am grateful because it limits our decisions. We've settled on a family-style dinner. One thing I dread when going to a restaurant is having to pick one meal from 75 and luckily now it doesn't feel that way. Our options are international, mexican or italian. We're deciding between international and italian. Both options are attached.
Welcome Drink -
We picked the bellini. My fingers were crossed it was served frozen but they don't have a blender on the sky deck so no luck. Our WD said it was her favourite drink and that it is a soft pink colour. I like the idea of it matching our wedding colours lol We're going to try it the day we arrive and if for some reason we don't like it we can switch it the next day when we meet with our on-site WC.
Hor D'oeuvres -
Very confused. Way too many options. I've attached the two we are considering - mexican donkey bar and white glove service. Apparently we can mix between the two.
Timing -
Initially we were getting married at 4PM, cocktails 5PM to 6PM, pictures 5PM to 6PM, reception 6PM to 10PM and paying extra to keep the bar open until 1AM. The WD recommends switching this up - one to save costs and two to give us more mingling time with our guests.
New Plan: married at 4PM, cocktails 5PM to 7PM, pictures 5PM to 6PM then join cocktail from 6PM to 7PM, reception 7PM to 11PM and pay for only one additional hour of bar service.
Ladies, what do you think of the new plan? Any suggestions or feedback is appreciated.
GI Freebie -
Although our TA said the cocktail hour was the best value the WD says the voucher to the spa is more valuable. The spa voucher gets your hair and makeup trial, hair and makeup wedding day, mani and pedi for bride and for one other member of the bridal party. I haven't priced out spa services but once I do I'll decide where to spend the voucher.
@@snswedding2016 - what did you do? I think @@TinkerSofi took the spa voucher.
Other -
- Do we need a cake? They cost a fortune. And no way I'm subbing cupcakes in for cake - they're $7 US each. I laughed when I read that. Outrageous.
- Need to decide between bringing silk florals or purchasing from the resort.
- Waiting on DJ prices
That's it for now. The ball is rolling
My opinions, I'm glad you went with the family style. You'll have so much food!! and since you have wedding planners on site making sure everything goes smoothly, you can busy yourself with eating hahah. The food is very good and there's tons to try. Everyone will be satisfied.
I'd leave a little bit more time for the pictures. I know it sounds like an hour is a lot, but we had an hour and a half and even that felt like a really short time. We still got tons of pictures in that time, but it felt a little rushed for me. The good thing is that since your reception is not starting right away it's not a big deal if you guys show up a little bit later to your cocktail hour.
Your drink sounds a lot like ours. I can't remember what it was, but it was delicious, it also looked like a pink juice. At that point there was so much going on that all I cared was that it tasted good haha.
I chose the spa package. I felt like that was the best value because people can always go down to the sky bar to have a few drinks for free. No one really missed a cocktail hour I don't think. There's also the Oriolla grill right downstairs if they want a taco for a snack before the reception. I didn't feel bad at all for not having one.
On the other hand, the spa package saved me a lot of money. I didn't get a chance to use the mani and pedi. Like I said, there was tons going on that week and I didn't want to be stuck inside a spa for a couple of hours. I wanted to be on the beach with my guests! I got some gel nails before I left and that was perfect
. After my free trials, I decided to book the bridal suite for getting ready. It included the hair and makeup on the wedding day, plus a massage, facial and reflexology. I could have gone earlier to use the hydromassage room as well but you'd be surprised how insane your wedding day is haha. However, it was nice to relax for a couple of hours before my bridesmaids and the moms arrived and we got ready together . That service was worth every penny. I then gave the "free package" to my mom, so she could get her hair and makeup done and not pay anything. I think it was all worth it, even if you can't pay for the bridal suite, I think it's a very good value. Had I stuck to it, I would have paid $80 in the end, just for upgrading the trial and wedding makeup to airbrush. cake - if you do want cake for the picture, and because it's a tradition that you don't want to break, I suggest you get the cheapest cake you can. We got one for 25-30 people, 2 tiered, and had 30 guests. We had about 3/4 of the bottom tier left at the end of the wedding, which they put in our fridge by the time we got back to our room
. It was delicious and i'm happy we got it, but I could have easily gone for a cheaper/smaller one. -
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@@TinkerSofi maybe not all table cloths but runners for sure...
thanks. i saw the 5 feet in diameter. i will email my WC. you bought all your table decor for $250 per table, right?
yes, I paid for all the decor for $250 a table, minus the centerpieces that I brought from home
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Im roughly 3 months away from my wedding and wanted to post another update!
I selected a photographer, which was rough! I did a google search for playa del Carmen videographer and photographers. I want both at my wedding, and as was hoping to find a company that could do it all. When I started looking for that I realized there were only a handful that actually did it. Price and quality were huge factors! Everyone we know has been telling us not to go cheap with photography. I also want a video of our day. I think it would be great to watch on our anniversary, show our family and friends who couldn't make it to the wedding, and really be able to relive the whole day.
Octavio Montes does both! His portfolio on his website looks promising and I think he will be able to capture what I want. I think having him and his team do all the video and photography will be beneficial- one stop shop and they can collaborate and work together on my wedding day.. Communication with him was easy, he suggested a timeline ( which was less hours then I thought I needed ) so kudos on that, and gave me a list of things I need to decide on before the big day. He was responsive when I emailed and called me from Mexico to discuss the wedding. Which is also something else I was interested in. I wanted a photographer whose been to the resort, knows the area and can suggest the best picture spots and poses. Im really excited and cant wait to see how everything comes out! Here is his link if anyone is interested www.octaviomontes.com
Additionally, we booked DJ Dormixx and his light up dance floor. Not sure if he has a website. He sent me an email after the resort secured him. He also sent me a list of things I need to decide on, asked tons of questions and seems super legit.
I'm going to do flowers through the resort and hopefully DIY my own table numbers and seating charts. I'm looking forward to getting crafty with it and keeping cost lower.
I'm happy that you picked Octavio. He did our photos too, and I agree, I couldn't find same quality pictures for that value. I wrote a review yesterday on his vendor page and posted some of our pictures on there
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I've tried searching but can't find the answer - we are getting married on the Sky Deck and I'm wondering what the dimensions of the tables are. Looking for dimensions for both round and rectangular.
Thanks
I know that the round tables are 5 feet in diameter. I don't know the height though. Are you planning on bringing your own tablecloths?
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I really like the bridesmaid dresses and I think the necklaces will look great with them
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Yay!! Congrats
. This is so exciting. Agreed, I want to see pictures!! 
And thank God that guy bought his pants finally, what a drama king. I was catching up on your thread earlier
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I'm just catching up on your thread. I've been so busy lately that not much time on the computer at all. Life is definitely different when you're married and have your own house, but I love it.
You looked absolutely stunning. I loved your dress and it all came together so nicely with your hair and makeup. Doug looked pretty handsome too! I agree that the suit and the turquoise looked very nice together.Congratulations to you and Doug. I know how much this trip meant to you both and I'm so happy for you that you could make it happen. I'm sorry to read about your son but it was good that you were able to put it behind you and enjoy your trip anyway.
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Sounds like the review may have been wedding related? It's tough. We had some bad reviews before we left but truth be told once you've been there you wonder how picky or uptight those people were lol
That said, trust in the fact you've been there. Take comfort in that you know numerous brides from here with glowing reviews and just try to go in with an open mind. Not everything will go as planned but take it in stride and if something does happen don't let it ruin your day.
As you've said you know what's most important and remembering that will let you look past the small stuff
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
that's exactly what I wondered. Like I told @@snswedding2016, it seemed that the experience in question had a lot to do with the attitude of the people rather than the things actually going wrong. If you expect perfection then you'll be disappointed because no one ever gets that. Our wedding wasn't perfect, but it was perfect for us. Things went even better than I thought they ever would and I really didn't care about the things that didn't go as I had planned them.
I just find that some people expect a perfect vacation, with a perfect wedding, be treated like you're the queen by everyone around you, and the list goes on and on. Guess what, life doesn't work that way, and getting married does not make you the queen of the world. After I read this one review, I really felt awful for the wedding coordinators that they had to put up with such crap. It almost made me angry to read it and I really had to hold myself back not to reply.
Anyway, @@snswedding2016, you will have an amazing wedding. The resort is beautiful, and you've already been there, so you know that! The coordinators are absolutely amazing, they 100% know what they're doing and as long as you're clear with what you want they will follow through. They'll also ask you about things that are not clear and they will guide you through the whole day. They truly make all the headaches with Lomas worth it once you arrive
@@calgarybride2015 that probably turned into a nice tan though ...once you got through the pain of the burn and the peeling. Sigh...this is what happens when us fair Canadians go south in the winter!
I was also super paranoid about burning so I literally applied sunscreen every half an hour
. Make sure you have a hat and try to get one of those cabanas every day so you can get some shade while you're at the beach. I didn't go tanning before because my skin is already high risk and I really don't want to put it through that. I didn't burn surprisingly, not even my face! That was one achievement!I burned 2 days after the wedding when we went to Xel-Ha, but just my butt cheeks, my hands, and my face a little, it wasn't too bad though. I had one of those SPF surfing shirts and those things are amazing! However, since you have to leave your stuff in a locker, which could be like a 10 minute walk from where you are at any given time, it's impossible to keep reapplying the sunscreen as often as you should, so I burned pretty much everything that wasn't covered by the shirt. I am so glad I went on this excursion after the wedding. Juan wanted to go before but I knew some burning would happen and I didn't want to risk it.
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Hi Ladies! I'm new to this forum and wedding planning. I could really use all the help I can get!!
I'm debating between Azul Fives or Now Jade for my wedding Sept 2016. We had the chance to see the both resorts this week and are having SUCH a hard time deciding!! Azul Fives is much more extravagant. Especially the sky deck... I'm hesitating booking it though mostly because of the reviews about Lomas. Dealing with them sounds like a nightmare and I'm nervous the wedding will be completely over our budget of $10,000! We don't need expensive decorations or all the extras, but I'm not good at decorating, so the thought of bringing all my own tablecloths, etc. scares me. I'd be happy with the Always & Forever package for $950, the Petit Gourmet buffet ($26 pp) and the Sky Deck for $1800. We are expecting about 30 guests, maybe a little more. We do want a DJ and a decent photographer. Can you ladies tell me honestly if it's possible to have a wedding this size at Azul for $10,000 or less?
Our group rate at Now Jade is slightly more expensive per person (which is surprising because Azul has more of a "wow" factor). Figuring out an approx total cost for the wedding seems much easier with Now Jade. Their pricing is more straight forward and it's all done through the resort coordinator, who is very responsive! Azul Fives hasn't responded to me once yet... The practical side of me says to book Now Jade. It's not as fancy but it's still beautiful and the fees aren't as ridiculous as Lomas. The coordinator there has been so nice and helpful, his service alone makes me want to book Jade.
But then I think of that AMAZING Sky Deck! I keep flip flopping between the two. I won't lie, eloping in Fiji has crossed my mind more than once during this process so far! What doesn't help is that both of the quotes expire tomorrow. I never imagined this would be so confusing and stressful. What do you ladies think I should do?? Thanks in advance for your help!
I think it is doable. We paid, incl. the photos and video, about $8000-$9000 for 30 people. We got the always and forever package for free, but because we upgraded quite a few things. We also paid for the vintage elegance decor, so that added up. However, we didn't use a DJ, only rented their amplifier. I didn't rent much from Lomas, but there is a lady in Playa that rents stuff out. Find her on FB, her page is called love&lave decor. I rented a few things from her and she was great!
Then you just have to pay the set up fee. The set up fee can really add up if they need to hang a lot of things, or if your decor is very intricate. We didn't pay much, but ours was on the simple side of things. The nice thing about AF, over Now Jade is not only that it's more extravagant. I've heard that the food is much better. Also, the location was a huge plus for us. Many of our guests went to Playa on a few occasions during our stay because it was so close. Now Jade is kind of in the middle of nowhere, it's nice to relax, but we wanted to give our guests the choice of leaving the resort easily if they wanted to. I don't think you can go wrong with either choice though. Good luck!
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I totally love the dress! I don't even know why you were saying that you were "big" now, I don't think you are and you look great!
I love how everything is coming together. It all looks very lovely
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I like the second napkin!
Derrick's suit looks great!
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We want pictures!! sneak peaks? haha I hope you had an amazing day!!
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@@TinkerSofi I think it's a good idea to have back-ups, I'll definitely be doing the same.
Did you have trouble using the app when you first downloaded it? Any tricks I should know? It took me a couple hours of playing around with it last night even to get it going.
no, surprisingly I got it pretty easily. Then it was just a matter of tweaking things to make sure that there was music for pretty much every event haha. Also making sure that the app would wait when I wanted it to, etc.
I posted some screenshots on my planning thread about how I organized it.
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I love how the tags turned out! I wish I had made tags for our bags because some people ended up not getting theirs etc and then it was hard to keep track. I think we ended up with 2 or 3 left over. We wanted to give them out at the beach the second day but it started pouring and everyone run out of the beach and then I didn't see them until later. I got sick in the meantime and so the last thing on my mind were bags haha. Good thing you have tags!
I had the same stamps that I bought for my invites and I used them quite a bit as well
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Even for the legal ceremony, one song I think will be plenty, even when you take into account the witnesses signing
. with that said, I think I had backups for pretty much anything in case something didn't go as planned haha. I had way more music than what I needed
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Oh this brings back so many great memories!! I'm glad that you're having such a great time. I want to go back so bad! haha
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That is amazing! I will definitely need to pick your brain about planning, etc!!! Where are you having your ceremony and reception?? I want to have mine on the skydeck, but have seen mixed reviews about wind! Did you pick any of their packages?.....I feel like I have so many questions for you- lol. You are in Ontario as well- so hope some of the same planning tips will apply!
We also went with the always and forever package and then added things a la carte. It was the most cost effective choice in my opinion, unless you have the exact amount of people included in the package. Otherwise it costs an arm and a leg paying for those extra people.
We only chose their vintage elegance theme for the reception tables. They looked gorgeous!
About the wind, I was super worried about this, but I was so thankful for the breeze up in the sky deck during our wedding. It was sooo hot on the day of our wedding that if it hadn't been for the wind we would have died. There was sweat running down my legs during the ceremony bahaha. Thank God no one could see that haha. The wind kept things cool, especially when we danced during our reception. During the videos on ustream, the wind sounds a lot worse than it actually is. Our day wasn't especially windy but it looks and sounds like it was on the video. If you like the sky deck, do it! It has to be a crazy windy day for it to be annoying. In that case however, it might be just as annoying at the sky terrace or on the beach, so you might as well have the view to make up for it
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one day!!! Eep!! You'll be in this gorgeous place in a few hours
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Ashhtayy's Planning Thread - Azul Fives - June 7, 2016
in Share your Wedding & Engagement Stories!
Posted
Sorry to take so long to reply! We used only 2 sheers, at $100 a pop, I thought I was gifting them enough of my money already haha. They actually kept the sheers for the dinner I think, you know, I actually never checked and I just realized that haha, but you are better off letting them know just in case
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I love the idea for the guestbook, I think it will be an nice keepsake.
As for the suits, I think that if it's more of a darker grey, not the super light one you shouldn't be able to see the sweat. It is a possibility with the really light ones but personally I haven't heard of anyone else saying that.
Just an idea for the cake, how about asking them to have a two tier cake, with a bigger "fake cake", if the small one is enough for your guests. It can be made out of styrofoam (spell check on me here) and decorated just like the real one. No one will know the difference, and you'll only eat the top, smaller cake. I just came back from Argentina where we had our family reception and that's what we did to make it look nice without having too much cake.
I'm sure you'll be fine with your dress. I just ate like a pig for 2 weeks while in Argentina and feared that my dress wouldn't fit for the reception but luckily it did
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