vancouverpetunia

It's so cute that you are concerned about us waiting for your pix & review. I love this group

@@calgarybride2015, @, @@deecol, @@ashhtayy Thanks, ladies! It was perfect for us. Still weird to think we're married LOL

So... we're legal! We had our legal ceremony on Sunday, with our best man and his girlfriend. We had the ceremony at a restaurant on the waterfront, with a really lovely officiant. Followed by bubbles & some seafood tapas. Our friends bought us a bottle of Dom Perignon. It was amazing! Then the four of us went to an Italian restaurant for dinner. We had such a great day! Jeff was really nervous. I didn't feel particularly nervous, but I didn't know what to do - where to stand, where to look, etc. I kept giggling. So I guess I was nervous, too! Here are a couple of pix:

So... we have 25 days left until we leave and 29 days until our Mexico wedding. Here is the updated to-do list:

• send info to MC as requested (timeline, email addresses so he can ask people for silly stories about us, etc.)

• undergarments/lingerie

• hair accessories

• put together program fans & label/stuff welcome letter envelopes

• get to the tanning salon! 

• book our honeymoon transportation in Costa Rica

• start filling out the form for the WC 

• order place card & table number artwork

• Dress alterations. Minor, probably just taking in at the waist a bit.

• Work on playlist - Making progress. We spent some time last week compiling songs. Need to put them into playlists, etc.

• Finalize seating plan 

• Figure out signature drink  -  Cucumber Vodka Mojito (I'm not a fan of rum, but I love mojitos made with vodka.... adding cucumber for something different)

• Draft final email (events for the week, phone plan/apps, meal choice)

• Book airport transfer from resort to CUN

• Place cards - in progress

• Table numbers - in progress

I can't wait!

Thanks, ladies for all of your posts. I've been busy the last week or two and haven't had a chance to respond. 

@@krystalball Have you been assigned your WC yet? I find that so strange - at my resort, my WC was assigned right away, over a year ago. 

@ Yes, wine tasting is always a go-to for me!

@@calgarybride2015 Autocorrect is priceless. But is "dinkage" any more a word than "dinklage"? LOL

@@ashhtayy I think our guest list is finally complete. The guy needing a transfer booked his own (I assume). The potential Australian guest has not said anything to me directly, so I doubt that is happening. There was talk of one more person coming, but apparently they are not. And then my SIL was going to bring a plus-one all of a sudden (just for the trip, not for the wedding events), but then her friend couldn't come. So I think we are good! The tanning has been going well. I had a colleague ask me if I had been tanning today, because I have a "healthy glow". Seem to have figured out how to avoid the white spots and the heat rash! Thanks for the suggestion on the green signature drink. I poked around and I think I found something. 

@@deecol Thanks for the encouragement/support. It's so close now!

I finally got some photos from my bachelorette party! My friend has tried emailing them a few times but I guess they were too big to come through. Here's one of the group at the first restaurant (after the wine tasting):

And then at the second restaurant:

@@WPGBride17 Congrats and welcome to BDW! Looking forward to hearing more about your planning. 

@@JoannaBanana What was your final count? 

@@cruisebride2016 Looks like your bachelorette & shower were a lot of fun Glad you are happy with your flowers. Your date is so close! 

@@vancouverpetunia Thanks Erin. Did you include this information for your guests? I'll look back on your thread to try and find your wording.

No, I mentioned it in an email and on our web site, but nothing really detailed.

We sent email STDs and then sent formal invitations later. We did send the invitations to everyone, as we felt like some people would like to receive paper invitations (like grandmas, etc.) and there were also still people who weren't sure if they were going to come (even though our deposit deadline had passed). I put an RSVP date on it, but I didn't include RSVP cards at all. I directed everyone to our wedding web site which had an RSVP form on it. A lot of people still never replied either way. Given that our wedding is a month away, I'm assuming if I haven't heard from them, they are not coming!  

I think you can buy medical insurance at any time and through various sources (your credit card, bank, CAA/AAA, etc.). It's the trip cancellation insurance (which often includes medical) that has to be purchased in advance. 

@@deecol I don't think you are far behind at all! A lot of this stuff I've only recently done or haven't done yet. Here are a few things that I've either recently thought of or I didn't notice on your list, in case they should be:

• Get summer clothes out, wash them, etc. I'm also going to take Jeff's wedding attire to the dry cleaner. His is very casual but it's brand new, never washed, etc. 
• Do you have your playlist done?
• Your vows?
• Photography shot list - to make sure you capture all the groupings, etc. that you want. I think it's easy to miss some in the excitement of the day. 

@@Wafflesmom Love your review so far, Jer! So glad you had a great time and can't wait to hear more

@@Emilychristine92 Welcome to the forum! I haven't been to Cabo and I'm not getting married there, so I don't have suggestions for resorts or venues, but I think $10,000 is doable if you are talking costs just for the wedding day. Lots of ladies on here have done their weddings for around that budget. Good luck!

@@ashhtayy I think you have everything covered. The only thing I can think for you to add is travel medical insurance. Everyone should have it!

@@deecol Thanks for the list! Since I'm 3 weeks before you, I checked it against mine to make sure I didn't miss anything!  For the guest book, we are doing a mad libs card, which I plan to scan and make into a photo book. Here is a pic of the card:

@@yycbride2016 Congratulations! Looks like you had a wonderful day. You look so happy  I love seeing your maids in their dresses - mine are a very similar colour. When you get a chance, wondering how the girls with their hair half up did. I'm thinking half up for my wedding and hoping it doesn't blow around too much (although my hair is quite short). Looking forward to hearing all about it!

We are flying from Cancun to Costa Rica for a week! 

I'm jealous!

@@ashhtayy I think some colour would liven it up. Looking forward to seeing the next version

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Hi ladies! I've been waiting to update you on my bachelorette party until I had some photos to share, but I still don't have anything, so I will post them later. It was a really fun night and pretty low key, as I had hoped.

We started with a private wine tasting for the 10 of us. Really yummy wines with some nibbles. And my friends were super sweet, chipping in to get me a really expensive bottle of wine of my choosing. We also played a "newlywed" type of game. I got 4 wrong haha (out of 10), but I was lucky in that I kept drawing "punishments" where I could pass them onto other people. The only thing I had to do was the macarena haha. Here was the poster the winery made up:

Then we headed to restaurant #1. I shared a delicious octopus salad & crab pasta dish with my MOH. And I was treated to some bubbles. Then onto restaurant #2, where I shared a prawn appy and some wine. And finally onto restaurant #3 where I was too full to eat most of what I ordered. And then I dropped a margarita on the table and that was kinda the end of the evening LOL.

Oh, one of the highlights of the night was seeing Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones). I guess I texted Jeff that we had seen “Peter Dinkage” and he thought we were at a midget stripper show. BAHAHA

Overall, it was a great night and a fun weekend. My MOH was visiting from out of town, so we did a lot of shopping, eating & drinking! (It was not good for my pre-wedding diet, let me tell you!). I bought my lingerie and some hair accessories (decided to exchange what I had and get something different for a half-up-do), so I think I now have everything that will be on my body for the wedding day. Haha.

On other topics, I’ve made some really good progress on my to-do list:

• send info to MC as requested (timeline, email addresses so he can ask people for silly stories about us, etc.)

• undergarments/lingerie

• hair accessories

• put together program fans & label/stuff welcome letter envelopes

• get to the tanning salon! - I’ve been 3 times now. Last time I used the lowest power bed, didn’t get any redness (guy at the tanning salon said it could be a heat rash) and I’m starting to see a bit of a tan.

• book our honeymoon transportation in Costa Rica

• start filling out the form for the WC - IN PROGRESS

• order place card & table number artwork

Next up:

• Dress alterations. Minor, probably just taking in at the waist a bit.

• Work on playlist. Jeff is supposed to be doing this, but he has made little headway, so I may have to get involved! We’ve downloaded the Wedding DJ app.

• Finalize seating plan (we are doing assigned tables, not seats)

• Figure out signature drink - something green/with limes. Any suggestions (other than a standard margarita)?

• Draft final email (events for the week, phone plan/apps, meal choice)

It’s getting so close! 39 days until we leave & 43 days until our wedding! CRAZY.

@@snswedding2016 Loving your review. Everything looks amazing! I am dying over the OOGA CHAKA, OOGA CHAKA. That is hilarious and bizarre.

@@nkavanaugh Welcome back! Amazing to hear you have 70-80 ppl paid! That's awesome.

Like @, we are planning to do "MadLibs" cards. In fact, I may have been inspired by her I know it was someone here, anyhow. I'm planning to scan these and make a photobook out of them. Because we are doing this, I am planning to bring a card box, as I will need to collect the MadLibs, even if there is nothing else to collect. Here is a photo of the card:

@@banana2016 Lots of brides have done real touch bouquets and brought them with them. You should do a search in the forums to see what you find for vendor recommendations, etc. You might be able to get away with bringing real flowers in if you go into Playa to buy them and bring them back, but I don't know if you want the hassle. I think this would work better with loose flowers that you would have to arrange yourself (and supply vases, etc.) because otherwise it could still be considered using an outside vendor to have fully done bouquets, etc. Again, if you search, I think there are some recommendations for local florists. You might be able to get away with meeting a florist outside the gates, but I wouldn't tell Juan Carlos about it.... 

You also might want to check out the NOW Resort Brides group on FB to see what brides on that page have done in the past. 

@@yycbride2016 Early congratulations to you! I hope tomorrow is amazing!

@@yycbride2016 I saw on MFP that you lost 0.8 lbs ?!? So you hit your goal? That's awesome. Congrats. When do you leave - must be this weekend?

Wish me luck for the next week, ladies. I have my bachelorette party Saturday which will involve a lot of food and drink, plus my MOH is visiting from out of town and we already have dinner plans for tonight and brunch plans for tomorrow.   Likely no workouts this weekend, either. 

Then next week, I have a work event going on where I will be out 3 of 5 nights, plus likely eating on the go for 3 of 5 days. I should be able to get to the gym at least a few days, but probably not as much as usual. And then next Saturday we're going to a wine festival! 

Oh boy. And I'm up a pound from last week already. Oh well, what can you do?  Hope you have more successful weeks ahead of you!