krystalball

Okay, so I just looked up the resort you chose for your wedding (clearly having a really productive afternoon at work) and it looks absolutely stunning!

I never considered it when I was looking at resorts since I knew that kids would be attending our wedding, but now I just want a separate Mexican vacation to this place. Great choice!

Honestly - every time you post something I'm pretty sure this is my planning thread too!

We're having three attendants each, I've asked my girls to pick any dress that suits them within the colour family, and my sister (MOH) is also currently very pregnant with baby #3 - due in 7 days! We actually wanted to get married in Nov/Dec 2015 in the beginning stages of planning, but my sister requested spring 2016 so the baby will be easier to travel with and she will be "bikini body ready", lol.

Love the pouches you found - so cute! I think those will be great for putting the jewellery in that you plan to buy for them.

@@JaeD My TA is Sandi McConnell, and she works with destinationweddings.com. She's actually located in Brighton (between Toronto and Kingston), but didn't seem like a big deal to me that we wouldn't easily meet in person. Her email address is: smcconnell@destinationweddings.com

She's seriously been awesome to work with and she seems to work 24 hrs a day - emails are usually answered within an hour! She's in the Mayan Riviera this week, but is still responding to emails (though not as quickly as usual), and back in the office on Monday.

 

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about working with her or want her number for when she's back in the office

 

There are a few other Toronto brides with great reviews of their TAs, so you'll probably have a few to choose from @@snswedding2016 @@TinkerSofi

Aug 14th works for me too. I'm free for most of August except around the long weekends. 

@@LeighC Ummm, are you me? After reading this thread so far, I'm pretty sure that you're my doppelganger!

My FI and I have been together for 9 years, we met in University at a party when we were 20, he proposed over the Christmas break in a very laid-back way (after all the festivities with family and friends were done), we're getting married in Riviera Maya, and our wedding date is April 9, 2016! 

I'm so excited to follow your planning thread and see the decisions you make re: decorations and other little details since we're also going for a relaxed/laid back wedding. Looks like you've done a great job so far - and I love the dress!

Ooh, I love the convertible dress and I'm so glad you found it in a shade of teal that you like! That colour can be difficult to pin down because it means so many things to different people (one of my bridesmaids kept sending me pictures of dresses she found as possibilities and they were all pretty much just blue, maybe one of them had the slightest hint of green, lol).

I'm also on board with just ordering your own convertible dress because it definitely looks great on you and seems very versatile. Now that I've switched my colour to purple, I might just have to pick up a teal convertible dress for myself (and thanks for the heads up on thedaintyard colouring) 

I can do the meetup on another day as well.

I know people may be busy over the summer with wedding planning and other obligations, so if we can't settle on one date that everyone can make, we could always do two.

I'm game for patio drinks whenever I can get them, especially with you lovely ladies 

So sorry to hear about your nephew. Eloping sounds like a great idea under the circumstances and you've picked an awesome location to do it.

My FI and I spent 3 weeks in SE Asia (China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam) back in 2012 and it was amazing trip. We've visited lots of places all over the world and that trip was our favourite hands down.

We jam packed a lot of cities in our Asia trip so unfortunately didn't get to visit the beaches there, but if you have any questions about the big cities in the area, places to see, modes of transport, anything at all - just ask!

Yay, you're on your way! I can't imagine how exciting and nervous it must be to be leaving for your wedding week.

Wishing you amazing weather, lots of fun and relaxation and the wedding day of your dreams! Can't wait to see pictures showing off all your hard work!

We had been dating for 9 years when we got engaged, will be 10 years when we get married.

@@deecol Those dates in August work for me too 

Love the welcome book - it looks so professional!

Looking forward to hearing all about your beautiful wedding day. With all the planning you've put into it, I'm sure it will be an amazing day. Best of luck!

@@TaraMarie33 I'm another Grand Sirenis bride (April 2016), and I actually spent a few hours on the weekend reading the Grand Sirenis thread from post #1 onwards. I didn't get all the way through, but I can tell you that a few of the brides brought their own lanterns and the resort charged $5 per lantern to string them from the ceiling. Pricing may have changed since that was a few years ago, so you might want to ask the resort to be sure.

Great job! Not surprised that your mom cried when she got her album - it's beautiful!

@@beckys98 So glad you got this worked out before you left for the wedding. I can't imagine the extra stress of this happening so close to your big day.

I think it's great that you've made her understand the consequences of her actions in a constructive way - just taking beautiful pictures isn't enough if the bride never gets to see them! Hopefully she gets her act together now and you'll have your beautiful wedding photos within the timing specified in your contract 

@@beckys98 This may not work given you're having troubles communicating with your photographer and your wedding is so close, but could you propose to her that you will pay $1,000 or $1,500 of the balance owing now, and hold back the additional payment until delivery of the photos given the slow turnaround times other brides are experiencing?

Maybe that will make her deliver the photos per the contract timelines, knowing that she has additional money coming her way once she finishes her editing...

Crossing my fingers that everything works out for you!!!

Yay, another planning thread! Love your engagement story, your beautiful ring, and the cute pick with your puppy. Your FI should get lots of props for the romantic proposal!

So sorry you had to go through so much grief and lose out on $400 with your first TA, but glad things are working out well with the new one! 

Your STDs look so professional, so I'm sure everything else you create will be just as amazing (and put everything I might make to shame, lol). I'm looking forward to hearing more of your planning process, especially since you're getting married at the same awesome resort and we seem to have the same taste in colours 

@@vancouverpetunia Awesome, thanks! It looks like they almost out of stock online, so I may have to hit a store soon before they are sold out completely.

Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear about your flight issues with Air Canada   Why would they cancel the flight altogether?

I'm not sure what the best course of action is to get this straightened out, but I'll be crossing my fingers that however this gets resolved somehow ends up with even better flights and/or savings over the originals for you and your guests.

I agree with @@calgarybride2015 - it's a beautiful dress and you're glowing in it 

If you're worried about it being too hot (and that may not be an issue for you), you can always get a separate reception dress in a style/fabric that will keep you cool. But in terms of appropriateness for your destination wedding, that dress looks perfect to me 

Love those designs, especially the door hanger. The FI should get an Etsy shop too!

Your guests are going to be so impressed with everything you've planned for the wedding 

@@krystalball

 

Thanks! I'm hoping that my bridesmaids are getting fed up with me haha. I keep sending them pictures like every day of different dresses hoping that they will just pick one and make my life easy haha. I actually found a great store online called lilly boutique that has reasonable prices and some super cute dresses! You should check it out. They have a selection of dresses in teal under dresses-->color-->green.

Oooh, thank you for this! I actually have a few of her teal dresses saved on Pinterest and just assumed they were super expensive because they were so cute! The prices are really reasonable, so I'll definitely be sending the link to my bridesmaids as an option. Thanks again!

Looking forward to hearing what you decide on for your dresses 

Congratulations on a beautiful wedding day   

Your photographer did an amazing job - that last picture of you two at sunset is to die for!

@@yycbride2016 You don't sound picky at all! It's your wedding and your vision, so you get to decide whatever you want that fits that vision 

I think that black dresses with a teal sash would look amazing especially with the groomsman in black and teal too! It's too bad that the teal convertible dress isn't true to colour on the website (and thanks for letting me know - I was thinking of ordering that colour for myself as just a summer dress. I would have been so disappointed receiving the wrong colour).

@@calgarybride2015 Thanks for your sage advice, as always   I think the shade of teal I was looking for would be a little more contrasting with the water than others, but the more I think about it the more I want the dresses to "pop" in the pictures for lack of a better word. I'm thinking maybe purple with teal and navy accents (same colours, just different main colour).

@@yycbride2016 My official deadline for my group pricing is this week, but I told everyone it was last week to create some buffer. I still have one couple that hasn't booked yet that I am sure are coming and the majority (including 3 bridesmaids and 2 groomsman) booked within 3 days of the deadline I gave them. Friendly reminder emails seem to do the trick!

My main wedding colour is/was also teal and I just told my girls to find a dress close to the right shade (I pinned a bunch of dresses on Pinterest as examples for them) so they could find one in the right style / price point that suited them. Not sure if that fits in with your style for your wedding, but could be an option. Another option is the infinity dress from thedaintyard, they have a beautiful shade of teal: https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/194342202/short-straight-hem-teal-green-bridesmaid?ref=shop_home_active_15and the price point is great.

I'm actually struggling with possibly changing my colour as I've heard that teal/turquoise dresses don't photograph well against a water background since it's essentially the same colour.... It's my favourite colour though so I might just say screw it, lol.