MrsCtoB

Love the maraca tags and CDs @@veryvalentine!! Looks like everything is coming together nicely for you! So excited for you 

So in the end...this is what the welcome bags looked like:

I traveled with all the items loose and grouped together by kind. I didn't pre-package them just in case customs would go through them and rip them open.

The bags were labeled with a small tag with the names of each guest.

The small rolled up paper, tied with string is a map of the resort. I opened it in word and labeled where all the events were taking place.

I placed all of the kit supplies in cellophane bags and used a topper template from this site. ( I forget who initially posted this but I will find out and link it here)

I created a welcome letter in publisher and used a font that I loved from @calgarybride, thank you!!!

I also created the timeline in publisher. 

As for the kit itself it included everything that I mentioned in the initial post, but I also included Advil and Tylenol.

The popular/most used items:

-the bag itself! Everyone used it! I could easily spot guests from afar by the bags lol Even the men carried them with the SPF etc.

-The wrist coils. I was pleasantly surprised at how many guests used them and liked them. I included a card in them from Vista Print. The front said "To have and to hold..." in large print and "your room key and money" in small print at the bottom with our hashtag. On the back, I added some Spanish phrases.

-First aid kit

-Shout wipes

-SPF, many of our guests kept their larger bottles of SPF in the rooms and carried around what we provided.

-Blowfish 

-Pepto

-Bug wipes

-Advil/Tylenol

Things I didn't see used or hear about:

-hand sani

-aloe

I prepared the bags on the morning of the guests arrival and handed them out at our check-in event. Overall, I am very happy with the bags and happy I did them. The guests LOVED them and were very excited to receive them. 

@@calgarybride2015   I'm sure your guests were totally fine with it!  I have been on the other side of a destination wedding where I was the guest.  I didn't monopolize the bride's time as I knew she was super busy and had a lot of other people to visit with.  The Bride and Groom made dinner reservations with different guests during the week.  They tried to do group dinners with a few couples to visit with as many people as possible.  I'm going to try to do that with our dinners.  Breakfast and lunch are less predictable.  We have room service so I may not bother to leave the room.  lol 

 

We are also staying for 10 days so we will meet with our WC the few days that we arrive early and get all our errands done in those days so when people do arrive we will be more chilled out and prepared.

I can not tell you how much I recommend arriving early!!! I think that is the biggest piece of advice I would pass on to future DW brides. We only arrived the day before our guests and having that one day to confirm everything with the WC and focus just on unpacking etc was perfect!!! I felt relaxed and ready when our guests arrived. I can't imagine that would be the case if I arrived with my guests. 

Also, we did a chill pool day for the day after the wedding and it was perfect! 

@MrsCtoB  awww I'm so happy to hear.   I'm finding I'm using it more as the date comes closer.

 

by the way, ummm, I love your dress.   So pretty.  LIke it fit you like a glove.  I love it.  I wish I had found something similar.  It's sooo pretty!! 

@@veryvalentine Thank you!!! I went through hell for that dress LOL but it really was worth it in the end. I am sure you will look amazing in your dress! It will be here before you know it!!! so exciting 

@@MrsCtoB

 

Great advice!!!  I am going to start packing soon and I love the idea of organizing all the paper work.  I should start doing that now. 

 

I think I was the bride that inspired your post-it wall.  I love taking them off too!!!!  Sometimes I keep them off to the side just to remember what I already did do.  I'm a visual person too and it has helped out immensely. 

THANK YOU!!! Your post-it idea is pure genius and really helped me! 

Yes!!!!! Lol. I actually appreciated that. I am

Going to get a close up from mine to show you

 

 

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If it's not they look A LOT alike

 

 

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That is definitely him!! Pretty cool that we ended up married by the same minister.   I thought he did the deep breath thing with me because he thought I was nervous but hubby said he probably did that with all the brides. I surprisingly wasn't all that nervous. It was weird...this intense calm came over me that morning and lasted throughout the day into the ceremony. I got a little nervous right before the walk with my dad because I couldn't see anything and was really anxious to see the hubs and the decorations and EVERYONE!! But that was really it. I really thought I would be more nervous. 

Oh I'm sure it was him!!!!

 

 

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That's awesome!!! I liked him...he had a nice accent but still very understandable. Did he make you take deep breaths when you got to the table/altar/arch?

Like many of the ladies above mentioned, the last month was consumed with lists! LOL I am not sure who suggested this idea from this site (Sorry!) but I took her advice...I made a wall of post its. Each post it had a task on it and as each thing got done, I got to rip off the post it and throw it out which feels extremely rewarding btw. I am super visual so it helped to see exactly what needed to get done and FI gained responsibility to help with the tasks as well since he couldn't say he didn't know what to do. 

I also packed all of my wedding supplies/crafts in one suitcase pretty early on. I had a folder inside with all my receipts, a wedding invitation, and a note in Spanish explaining what the items were for. Luckily, we didn't need it.

I also prepared a wedding binder type thing that ended up being really useful. I purchased an accordion style folder/binder. I organized all my paperwork by theme. I printed the final email with my WC with all my selections (made it very easy to review with her), copies of our travel insurance, copies of the readings for the ceremony, back up copies of the seating arrangements, rooming list, travel documents, basically anything that would be helpful to have from my laptop at home. 

Plan out all your appointments. The last few days before you leave are hectic so if you have a game plan in place, it helps. 

Most of all, SUPER IMPORTANT, have fun and enjoy this time. I know everyone says it, but you will blink and the day will be long gone and you'll be wishing you could go back to this point. 

OMG OMG!!! you are absolutely gorgeous, like seriously! Can't wait to see all the pictures.

I LOVE the cocktail hour one, your husband looks awesome!

 

I would have to look super close but your minister looks oddly similar to ours

 

Glad it was everything you could have imagined and more. Congrats!!!

 

EDIT: I went back and opened mine beside yours and it is a strong possibility we had the same minister hehehe!

That is too funny! I will attach a closer pic...maybe easier to see his face 

Thank you ladies! Arrived home a week ago...slowly get adjusted and coming down from cloud 9. Uploading our pictures! Definitely will post some more pics and a review soon. It was everything I wished it would be. I would do a DW a thousand times over. It was perfect!!! <3

My favorite guest snap shot! 

Thank you everyone! It was a dream come true! We don't have any photographer pictures yet but I'll attach a few pics from our guests!

The ring ceremony & cocktail hour

The time has come! We are on our way to the airport!!

I figured I wouldn't be able to update this thread as much as I would have liked but I'll be sure to post pictures soon!

Good luck! I'll see you Wednesday lol Congrats and enjoy every moment!

I'll have to see them with my hair - I can't wait!!  We have like a week to go - are you super excited?  One of my co-workers is actually getting married in RM the same day too - popular day

I am!!! Nervous, excited, stressed... lol many things at once but I really can't wait to get there. How about you? Hope your toe is healing well! 

Really? Which resort is she getting married at? I am still thinking we will see each other at the airport lol If I see someone who looks like you get toted around, I will say hi! 

I definitely don't think you HAVE to do one. I think you should do one, only if you want to. I agree, by the wedding day, I think your guests will have a good grasp on who is who. I have raffia fans decorated and I am thinking I might print a simple program myself. Only for a keepsake but I don't expect my guests to even notice, to be honest lol 

I feel your pain! It sounds to me like your FI is going through what mine did about 3 months out from the wedding. I think he was super overwhelmed and we were trying to do as much for our guests as we could, and ask very little of them since they made the commitment to attend. I think he felt like we were doing sooo much (and we were, as we should) that it kind of made him resentful that NO ONE was asking to help us. Not sure if that is the case with you both, but I could understand what he meant. People were asking US to do things for THEM, not the other way around (print tickets, research this, find out about that). When I finally pushed to get a direct answer about his GM gifts, he felt very nonchalant about it. Said he would figure it out and anything they get would be good enough. 

Soooo (LOL) My FI is a very black and white person. He needs to see visuals and examples. I sat him down and explained how I felt about it and that we may very well be overwhelmed, but we asked these people to stand besides us on our big day. It means something, and they have made sacrifices to do so. I left it at that and the next day sent him a ton of emails about destination wedding etiquette in regards to gifts and examples of what people give.

That pretty much did it and he apologized for being so stubborn. He came up with some awesome ideas and shopped for most of the stuff on his own.

Maybe the stress is talking when he says what he has said about them and he just needs some time (or examples lol) to come around ? 

I did - I got them a few months ago.  I'm going to decide next week when I'm getting ready

Nice!! Always good to have options. I love them both but the first ones   

@@marinah84 Did you purchase both of them already?

We have very similar earrings!  I got mine off of ebay tho, lol.  They are VERY heavy, so not even sure I'll end up wearing them!

really? Mine are super light, thankfully! I can't do heavy earrings. My earlobes will end up the size of golf balls if I try.

Love it all great choices. I also prefer my short hair down but it's got a mind of it's own and I knew the heat and humidity would ruin it, so I sucked it up and grew it out for the wedding. Out meaning almost to my shoulders haha

 

 

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I loved your hair!! I think it was perfect for you. I have a LOT of hair but oddly enough, it does not frizz. It holds a curl very well so I just decided to roll with that. Otherwise, I would have definitely researched some up options. 

@@SteeleTheSpotlight thank you! They were not cheap but I seriously love them SO much I had to make the exception lol 

Next up....

Hair and make up inspiration:

I debated back and forth for awhile about how I wanted to look on the big day. I am an on location hair and make up artist, specializing in weddings and special occasions so I am pretty de sensitized by the whole thing and didn't really know what direction I wanted to go in. Up dos are the general go to (keep you cool and hair out of the face) but I NEVER wear my hair up. So, I decided that I wanted to look like myself and keep the hair down. This is what I am thinking...

Not super fancy but I love the simplicity of it. I intend on making it a little more finger wave-ish. 

For make up, I will be using this for inspiration (who doesn't want to look like Megan Fox) but making some adjustments for my eye and skin tones.

Here is a test run from the other day

@@MrsCtoB  You're 2 weeks away!! How did you decide to differentiate who was eating what? I remember the coordinator saying that this was expected so avoid any confusion during reception. 

 

Be sure to come back and let me how things went! I believe we are both using mainly the resort's resources so I would love to know your experience with them. Hair/Makeup - getting it done by resort also? 

Yes...I can NOT believe how fast time is going by. 

We ended up adding a small bedazzle thingy to each place card (blue for fish, red for beef, and green for vegetarian). Ana said that was perfect so pretty simple. 

I definitely will. I am using most of the resort vendors, yes, so I will be sure to let you know how they are. Hair/make up is the one thing I am not utilizing. It does come with my package though, so my mother in law and a few other guests will be using the salon so I will let you know how theirs comes out. I have seen some of their work and its pretty good. I am an on location hair and make up artist so it didn't really make sense to use that lol. My best friend (and owner of the company I work for) is in the wedding party so she will be providing hair and make up for the bridesmaids too. I will pass on any photos I have of the VIM salon services though! 

I honestly have no words. Well. I have them but they are not appropriate to post here. I am so sorry @@JennyZ that you are dealing with this. I am sure your FI feels horrible as well. Who wants to have the family who causes all the drama? I speak from personal experience when I say, it stinks to have family members who are less than supportive. But, he is exactly right when he points to how positive your family is and views them as his own. 

If by chance, this is all due to similar feelings as have been posted previously, then at least you know that it is their stupidity and selfishness that are preventing them from attending and you can't fix either of those. 

I think what gets lost in planning a wedding is who it really is about. It is NOT about your wishes, comforts, cups, beds, or anything else. How utterly selfish to seem so put out by a happy occasion. Unfortunately, life is short and I would bet my last dollar that many parents wish they could attend their child's wedding and likewise, many children wish their parents were ALIVE to share that special day with them as well. So forgive me, but china and a bed should not be the priority. YOUR CHILD and what he or she has chosen should be. The lack of support is absolutely disgusting to me. 

Oh no!!! Sorry to hear that   I know you must be so upset. At least now you can tell the airline that you need extra time to get to your seat and settled in! Not sure if your traveling with your dress in hand, but extra time is always a good thing. Rest up and I will be hoping you won't need surgery!! ::fingers crossed::

Oh my gosh I love this! You're really getting close now! And I really love the second dress. It's one of the ones I've looked at but I'm in love with a keyhole back so I think - don't know for sure until I try something on - that's the style I'm going with.

 

I love your save the dates! Who made them for you? They turned out really great!!

Thank you!! The save the dates and invitations (promise to get around to posting those) were made by Serendipity Beyond Designs.