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Hi All I am getting married at Moon Palace this October, have chosen a beach wedding and have been allocated the Caribbean Beach spot, I have also chosen the Caribbean Rooftop Terrace, recommended by Alejandra at the hotel. We have decided to go with Dreamart for photo and video as the ouside vendors with the fee was working out too expensive. We chose 5 hours photo and 4 hours video to ensure we capture the getting ready, wedding ceremony, cocktail hour and reception. Any thought or tips on this? We are currently thinking about DJ or IPod. Also decor for the ceremony, I am thinking to go with the white tables and chairs and add some colour with sashes and table runners, was also considering taking my own. Has anyone doen this before and were you charged to have these set up? Any tips and ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks Surekha
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Newbie planning a wedding for March 2016 at Akiin Beach! We are in contact with the wedding coordinator but would love any suggestions from fellow akiin brides!
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After 3 site visits in February (Royalton, Rose Hall and Riu Montego Bay and Lady Hamilton) we decided that the resort we didn't get to visit would be our destination wedding. We will be getting married on May 9th 2016 and would love to get any feedback from all brides who have been married at Riu Tropical Bay or are planning to get married there in 2016 if they have any advice or reviews regarding this resort. We plan to have over 50 guests and will have to have a private beach reception. We have read that the cocktail hour and reggae band for the reception was not worth it. We have a mixed group of families, couples and singles and hope this resort will cater to our group. IF you have any pictures that you could share with us please email deeandbryJamaica2016@@gmail.com We are wondering what photographers, flowers did you all use? Any extras pricing that wasn't included in the package (i.e. we are going to rent the dj equipment but will have our own dj traveling with us) How was the weather? Do we need to bring bug spray since the reception will be on the beach? Did you have a beach party/welcome party? Pricing for excusions (i.e catamaran to Rick's cafe) Any help would be much appreciated. The countdown is on... We are both tremendously excited. Dianne
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Hello everyone! I just wanted to introduce myself! I am Meg, I run a beauty blog on the side, AND I am currently planning our Destination Wedding in Punta Cana at the JellyFish! I am so excited to be joining and starting to plan our wedding! Any tips for a newbie to this board/planning a wedding in Punta Cana??
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We got married at the Grand Sunset Princess on June 20th, 2015. The majority of our guests stayed at the Platinum Yucatan Princess hotel (adults only) but the wedding took place at the resort next door. We had two families attend with their children. Guests staying at the Platinum Yucatan Princess have access to all three Princess hotels. It was a perfect day. I’m struggling to combine the right words to accurately express how blessed, grateful and elated we feel. We keep replaying our wedding week in our heads and we know that it was a unique, epic, ‘once in a lifetime’ event that we will never forget. I truly enjoyed myself. I was in the moment and as everything was happening around me I knew it was an epic experience. I took in all the love and really felt it. A few days to ourselves June 13-17 We decided to leave a few days before the group and I can’t say this enough, but it’s honestly the best thing one could do. We had time to unpack, set up, meet with vendors, run some errands. When our guests arrived we were ready for them and were ready to spend time with them. I can’t even imagine arriving at the same time. I would feel like I was constantly trying to catch up. Sunwing Vacations We were lucky that they cancelled our Sunday flight and rescheduled it to the Sat June 13th. We stayed one extra night at the resort courtesy of Sunwing! Yay! Our group rate for our guests with a price drop was $1250 double occupancy. The rooms were gorgeous and our guests were very happy. We received 1 free trip for every 10 people. We ended up receiving two free stays. Since we stayed for 11 days and upgraded our rooms we ended up paying a difference of $1600 for both us. Well worth it though. We received a free upgrade to Elite Class which included 30kg each + 20kg each just incase. Our travel agent was able to negotiate this for us. It helped us out a lot indeed. PACKING We ended up bringing with us 4 luggages, 2 large carryons, suit, dress, and my sister brought 1 luggage for us an another BM brought another luggage for us. NOTHING BROKE!!!!! And we didn’t lose anything. We cleared customs just fine. We got the green light, literally, and off we went to the resort. All my tumbler packing tips I received from @@calgarybride2015 CHECK IN We were so impressed with the hotel when we arrived. It was so pretty and luxurious. Our check in went smoothy and the concierge staff was really excited for us as they knew we were getting married. They upgraded our room by one category. The hotel was fully booked the entire time we were there. My sister also travelled with us and she booked a swimout platinum room. The room was stunning. Her room was ready as soon as we checked in at 10am. Our room was ready at 3pm. We left our bags in her room and went over to the buffet. We checked in on June 13th and the rest of our guests check in June 17th. Nobody had any issues with their rooms. Nobody had to make any changes. It worked out perfectly. The guests that were there for R&R somehow got the rooms with the swimouts that were further away from the party pool. The party crowd had the rooms close to the party pool. Our group was quite loud. The resort suddenly had life when our group arrived. The nice thing about the rooms close to the party pool is that you couldn’t hear anything when your balcony door was closed. Tropical Storm The day we arrived it was raining non-stop. The pilot announced that it was a little misty and that it would clear up by the afternoon. I think the pilot just wanted to make us happy and get us off the plane because that was far from the truth. The storm was actually a tropical storm category 1. It lasted from Saturday until about Monday night-ish. There was no escaping the storm either. We tried to drive out to Tulum and it was even worse there. We started getting nervous because everyone said that usually the rain passes but that this actually very strange. The staff at the hotel kept saying that it hadn’t rained for weeks prior to this…all things I didn’t want to hear. I was nervous about our outdoor wedding events because I kept checking the forecast and it kept saying, rain, rain, rain, rain… I finally cried a bit on Sunday and decided to just let it go. We made sure to work on all the last minute details and ironed out the things we needed to get done. Monday: We met up with Katy from Love and Lace. We rented quite a few décor pieces from her to personalize our wedding reception look. She was extremely patient and easy to work with. I truly recommend working with her. We had 6 luggages with just our clothes, and gifts, and welcome bag items, I can’t imagine bringing décor too. Meeting with Wedding Coordinator We met with the wedding coordinator on the Tuesday and she was very nice. We went through all the details and it felt very official. She went through the décor details and a few details with our ceremony. We added a few things and added a bit of a script for a ceremony. We also asked the officiant to do a ceremony in Spanish and English. I didn’t translate my vows but we thought it would be nice to have the ceremony in English and Spanish. Finally the weather turned and it was nice and sunny. Welcome dinner: The majority of our guests arrived the Wednesday and we booked a welcome dinner at 6pm at the Mexican restaurant La Hacienda. Everyone came out. We were worried people would be tired and it would be too rushed but it worked out fine. We decided to bring all our welcome bags with us. My dad arrived late as he arrived a little later so we gave out the bags as we waited for him to come down. The food was delicious and the guests loved the bags. They were so impressed with the details and snacks. I think everyone’s favourite items were the snacks and the hangover kits. Handing over those bags was like handing over a newborn. We were so proud of them, people thought we totally over did it , but we were happy to be able to do that for our guests! J Some of additions in mexico were candies from Sam’s club, post cards, sabritas (chips). Welcome bag fails: I had ordered plastic hotel key covers from a vendor on ebay and instead of mailing me the covers, he sent me 1000 grommets. Ya, no. We purchased small bottles and made labels for aloe Vera and sun lotion. We thought that we would be able to find somewhere that carries bulk sun lotion and aloe…but no. They sold them in the smallest volumes and they were still pretty pricey and though they were stores outside of the typical tourist areas. TBC....
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Hello everyone, Looking for a little info and advise. Could someone tell me what the main differences are between the Moon Palace and the Beach Palace. Are these both located in the same resort, are they different hotels? Also, could someone please tell me what their beaches are like? A good beach is a make or break for me. I love the beach so I really would love a good beach. I've read some comments that the beach is not very good and I'm a little concerned. Thanks in advance
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We are just coming down from our post wedding high! There is nothing quite like it. I have been writing our wedding review but I wanted to write this post first to seek some advice from other past brides. Everything went well, there were some small glitches that I will write more about on our review, but essentially the experience was the best time of my life. It was a combination of the people who went, the beauty of the beach and resort that contributed to a perfect day. When we left the resort I started crying because I knew that I had just spent the best time of my life at this resort with a group of people that I may never have all together again. Our guests traveled from England, Peru, Spain, parts of Mexico,Toronto and Windsor so it's probably safe to say that they won't all be in the same room again. I have never felt an overwhelming feeling of happiness and gratitude as this before and the advice I took with me from previous brides was to stop and really take it in. There was a point where I was doing the bouquet toss and my dad's wife introduce a Mexican tradition which is to do a serpent dance (follow the leader type of dance) and all the women were wearing veils that she had made and they were dancing around me...everyone was so in the moment and so happy that at that moment I remember dancing and just thinking, like wow, we pulled it off...like we threw this epic wedding and we are so happy. I don't know if anything in life can top this happiness and if nothing else does I am ok with that because it was epic. I don't necessarily have post wedding blues - but I do feel a few regrets of things that I didn't get to do. I can't seem to let them go. My sister gave me a really pretty silver bracelet and I don't know why, but I didn't wear it the day of the wedding. I felt so bad. I know she wanted to gift me something to wear and I ended up wearing a bracelet that was significantly daintier and I just didn't want something too chunky. I have been seriously thinking of asking the photographer to Photoshop the bracelet in ...is this crazy?? probably. I just feel like i should have worn it. Another regret is that we didn't take shots with each bridal party member. like individual shots. It was like 40c and I think we were all just hoping to get out of the heat but now looking back I feel really bad that we don't have individual shots with each person in our wedding party. I'm actually really annoyed about it the more I think about it. I wish we had done different shots with the bridal party- maybe i'll feel different or better once i see the pictures. I don't know. ahh We did have group shots, and here is a sneak peek but not individuals Our photographer was great and started shooting Thursday night at our bachelor/bachelorette party and took a few candids friday night and then sat and Sunday and joined us on our trip to tulum. In total he said he has about 5000 pictures...I don't know if in the grand scheme of things it's a big deal not to have individual shots but for some reason I"m really bothered by it. The day we arrived there was a huge tropical storm and the wedding that took place that day had to totally move her outdoor wedding indoors and was very upset by this..i'm sure she is full of regrets so I know that I should be grateful for the beautiful day we had and move forward but I just wondered if anyone else had any similar feelings after their wedding. I'm sharing a few more shots. We ended up doing our own flowers and I saved soooo much money. I made our centre pieces and bouquets the night before. My bouquet and the gazebo flowers were included in our package so I didn't make those but the other ones were done by myself. I spent $250 canadian in flowers versus $1000 usd. score!! Any advice would be welcomed! I"m just trying to shake off these few things that I feel bad about.
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Our wedding is 3 weeks from today and I can't believe how fast it's sneaking up on us! From day one we were not planning on having video service at our wedding. It was even an included option in our wedding package but every video I watched I was left feeling "eh" and that we don't need video. I also kept thinking that we are going to have amazing photographs to swoon over. BUT THEN... I was introduced to a specific videographer's work and after viewing his work (@@KayRae <3 I have you to thank!), I felt so compelled to reach out him them directly- seriously, I cried when I watched his videos of strangers- crazy but made me want to have our wedding day captured on film so much more! Because we weren't planning on having this service, we have not budgeted for it and it's definitely a splurge. Planning a destination wedding has proven to cost more than we had anticipated and I made some great sacrifices with flowers and decor to keep our wedding budget in check and I keep telling myself that our day will be beautiful regardless. We have an amazing photography team coming with us from home and I know that they will do a magnificent job photographing our day and we will have those memories to look back on. I'm just not sure what to do and would appreciate thoughts and advice from other brides.
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Hello fellow brides/brides to be, I've been browsing through this site and have found it incredibly informative and useful. I would be extremely grateful if someone could shed some light on the questions/concerns I have. I am currently in the initial stages of organising my 2016 wedding in the Riviera Maya. I will be travelling all the way from Europe with my family (approx. 15 of us), some friends might join us but this is not a certainty as of yet. Initially I wanted to get married at the Grand Palladium, I love this resort. It was our first big holiday together as a couple and the resort itself is beautiful. I know my family would love it! Upon checking the difference wedding packages on offer by the Palladium and the Moon Palace I am noticing that the Palladium seems to be more expensive in terms of packages. The Moon Palace seems to offer more "free" stuff ie the Complimentary Package. Also, the dinner and the cocktail hour appears to be free; I would only need to pay for guests not travelling with the same Tour Operator as myself and for any extra hours. The music system is also a separate charge. I have been emailing back and forth and as most of you know whilst they are very helpful communication is delayed and at times not entirely clear. I was hoping someone could give me any advise or tips. Thank you. Jen
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If you are looking for an amazing photographer for your destination wedding or for an unbelievably awesome trash the dress session---even if it's just your honeymoon you can not go wrong with using Christopher Lee with wpajamaica in Jamaica. He is sooooo fun and talented. There is no one else I would even consider. We had 2 trash the dress sessions with Chris. One at Rick's Cafe in Negril where my new husband and I jumped from the cliff taking the ultimate plunge in the wedding dress. The other was at Dunn's River Falls. The pictures in the waterfalls and on the beach were amazing. We had a blast taking our pictures and these memories are priceless to me. Everyone is in love with our pictures. The prices are reasonable as well and he doesn't make you feel rushed and he is willing to listen to what you want and does everything in his power to make your dream pictures a reality. The turn around time for receiving your pictures isn't months like I've heard some of the photographers are and his communication with you is easy as well. You will not be disappointed if you use Christopher Lee with wpajamaica. I promise you that.
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Hello! I want to share with you all about a great company located in the Cancun/Riviera Maya location that specializes in beautiful hair and makeup for your big day! I am getting married at the Dreams Resort and Spa at Puerto Aventuras and was interested in having my makeup professionally done and I will be putting clip in extensions, among other things such as false eyelashes and was looking into airbrush makeup as well. I researched trying to find an affordable company who also had great reviews and did honest business, which is really important when you are planning something so big from another country. I kept coming across a company called MVP Hair and Makeup! They have been voted the best of the best through Weddingwire.com in 2012 and 2014! I know it may sound like I am being paid to do this blog but I assure you I AM NOT! I seriously emailed the company just like everyone else for prices and information. I actually let a few weeks go by without responding because I wanted to make sure I was spending my money wisely. Edgar reached out at and gently asked if I had any questions and boy did I! I asked a million questions about the quality of work, asked what they would recommend for certain things and he PROMPTLY responded to my emails, which is a big deal I have found by planning from the US. They offer a variety of hair and makeup packages which include a trial for hair and makeup along with the day of. The package I got included both and the price was super reasonable. THE BEST PART??????? They now have a location right in Puerto Aventuras situated within walking distance or a short ride to some of the best resorts in the area!! Know why this is so great??? You will NOT have to pay a resort fee for outside vendors!! This saves so much money and was honestly what made me decide to go forward with them because Dreams charges $150.00 for outside vendors (quality work, great service and no resort fees). I asked which hotels they can service from this location because I actually have a friend getting married in another resort next year, here's what they said: Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya, Barcelo Maya Palace Riviera Maya, Dreams Puerto Aventuras and Catalonya Puerto Aventuras I searched and searched the entire area of Cancun for the best hair and makeup team and I found it. My wedding is September 5th, 2015 and I will come back and do a review with pictures of the work they did so you can get a better idea of what they can do. Until then, here are the links for the website: www.cancunhairandmakeup.com http://www.weddingwire.com/biz/mvp-hair-makeup-artistry-playa-del-carmen/9e36a82950784f36.html https://www.facebook.com/teammvphairandmakeup
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Hi all, I'm newly engaged (well about a month old - April 30th). My guy proposed to me on the beach at Now Larimar in Punta Cana the day after close friends of ours married. It was amazing and I was totally surprised, no idea it was happening at all! Anyways, we are doing destination wedding, all inclusive somewhere in Mexico. Haven't narrowed down what resort exactly yet, but looking for May 2016, family-friendly, not in the heart of the hotel zone in Cancun (we want a more resort feel rather than a bunch of high rises right next to each other), great beach for pictures of course and our ceremony location (possibly reception location), has to have night time entertainment/disco for dancing, we would prefer no reservations for the a la carte restaurants (we were spoiled at Now), and no wrist bands if possible = Dreams resorts seems to be the only one I know of that has the last 2 features. Are there any others? I'm sure there are a ton of other things I'm forgetting about our wants, and I also find myself thinking a lot about my guests and their wants/needs before my own vision, so I think this is why I'm having a super difficult time choosing a resort that hopefully has the date I am shooting for. Has anyone else had this issue? Also, reading both positiv and negative reviews for resorts, as well as previous brides' experiences are making it very difficult for me to choose a resort, as well. I'm worried I am going to pick a bad one or have an awful experience. I have been in contact with a TA from apple vacations and Beach Bums vacations, both of which have only responded to my inquiries a few times and I feel like time is a ticking and I need to get these save the dates out like yesterday for guests to start budgeting for their vacation next year. Any thoughts/suggestions/concerns greatly appreciated.
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Hello Everyone, Can you all suggest me some beautiful summer beach wedding dress which should be in trend 2015 for my childhood friend. Her height is 5'3 inch and little fatty too.
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Hi Lovely Ladies, I absolutely love looking at wedding welcome bags! I think they're such an awesome idea for welcoming guests to a destination wedding. I'm getting married in June 2016 (yay!) and I've been looking at the cutest totes on baggedandloaded.etsy.com . I'm torn between deciding on a few of the designs (see the images). Which design do you like best? Have any of you thought of using welcome totes? Which do you think is better, paper or canvas? Do you know of any other sites that sell great designs? I'd love to know what you think.
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Okay So my wedding is planned for June 2016 in the Bahamas. I saw Breezes Bahamas and thought that would be a good idea. They are all inclusive and have a simple wedding for free. My Fiancee said that the place does not have the best reviews and that their wedding ideas look cheaply made. Any brides been there or having their wedding there? We are a small party and don't need a big over the top wedding. Any place that is all inclusive that is better in Nassau? Open to all suggestions. Thanks.
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We are back from our amazing wedding and honeymoon and ready to clean house; I am accepting all reasonable offers buyer pays shipping! Pay pal only!! -10 table numbers - 1 bag of seashells - 30 orange lanyards - 29 clear badge holders - 1 sandwich bag of orange sand -1 gold tone headband -1 bride hanger -1 floral necklace -1 pair silver pumps size 9.5 fits like 9 -1 pair of blush Steve Madden Sandals -1 garter 2pack unopened -24 bubbles -2 Gray organza overlays -15 Orange organza table runners -70 Orange organza chair sashes
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Hello, I am curious if there are any other brides currently planning their wedding at this Dreams location? See, I booked my wedding September of last year and we were working with the coordinator, Jacki, and she was WONDERFUL! Unfortunately, she left (not sure what happened...) and since January we have been working with the new coordinator, Areli. I have been SO unhappy with her! She does not respond to my emails at all and on the rare occassion that she has responded it has been something very short and unhelpful. I have been trying to get with her to book a lot of stuff for the weekend (dinners, band, etc.) you would think she would want the commission but she has ignored my emails. Anyone else working with her on their wedding and if so, how is the communication? I feel like I am being a bridezilla because I keep sending management complaints about her but we are looking to spend a lot of money here and I feel like we are being ignored and like our money doesn't matter here.
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Hi Brides! Just wondering if there are any brides on here currently in the process of deciding on a resort for March 2016? I am having a hard time deciding between Punta Cana, Jamacia, or Cuba!! Anyone have any info on whether they have been given a group rate that matches with my own budget ($1200-$1500pp). I LOVE Now Larimar in Punta Cana, and the Majestic Colonal Punta Cana .. not so struck on any other resorts yet.. any feedback is appreciated :)
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Although I didn’t post any threads while planning my wedding, I did use BDW on several occasions and feel as though I owe it back to post this thread as a review of my wedding and some things I would or wouldn’t change. Just FYI- it’s a long thread! I hope this helps some of you in your planning! Dress: I loved my dress. It was purchased on clearance at David’s Bridal- a choice I made knowing that I would be “trashing” it after the wedding. Still… it’s really not that trashed, and I still really love it. So win-win! There were no closets to hang this in on the airplane so I ended up laying it across the luggage stored overhead and it was totally fine. Secrets steamed the dress and my grooms outfit so I assume any wrinkles from travel would have been removed regardless. Bridesmaids: I had 5 bridesmaids, 4 of which came to Jamaica (one had a baby!). I told them to find any coral dress they wanted and it worked out perfectly. I’d be lying if I said waiting to see if the colors matched didn’t give me any anxiety though. It worked out great in the end! I made them monogrammed beach bags and filled these with a flower for their hair, sunglasses, a necklace and earrings in a travel jewelry roll, and I made them a jewelry dish, passport and luggage tag holders, and barefoot sandals. I also paid for half of their hairstyles at the resort. My girls are awesome! small DIY items: I am an art teacher and I had a lot of time and materials available to me. I did not want to pay the ridiculous prices for décor from the resort, so most of our details were made by me. These fans were purchased from Michael’s and put on each seat for the reception. I also bought these paper straws and made the little tags for them (not all of these on one straw!)- we put them at the bar and had the bartender put one in each drink. Being the art teacher I wanted to have paint brushes there. I kept seeing cute ones saying something about brushing away sand, which inspired our escort cards. Our favor for the wedding was a magnet. The photo on the front is a print of a painting I made from one of our photos of a past Secrets trip. Flowers: I stalked Hobby Lobby until their RealTouch flowers were 50% and bought all of my florals from there. It cost me $90 for my entire bouquet and 5 bridesmaids bouquets. That was the cost of ONE bouquet from the resort! And you wouldn’t be able to bring it home with you. I had these in my carry on and they travelled really well. Now they are in my living room. I really just grabbed a bunch that I liked and put them together. Love them! We did get a real rose boutonnière for my husband because I didn’t like the way mine came out. Oh well. It was $40 just for that though! Yikes. We used the florals included in the wedding package to decorate around the reception area. I added little charms to the girls’ bouquets with their initials and wrapped mine with a broach that I wore for my sister’s wedding. Centerpieces: Since we only had 3 tables and a sweet heart table, I decided to use the bridesmaid bouquets as the flowers in the centerpieces. This worked out AWESOME. I wrapped gray ribbon around a clean spaghetti jar and added the sand dollar with coral ribbon. I used a gold paint pen to write the table numbers. I made four of these and numbered 1-3, I left the last one blank incase one broke, but none did so I drew a heart on it and used it at our sweet heart table instead. Once there, we filled them with a little bit of sand at the bottom to help hold the flowers upright. I bought handkerchiefs for the centerpiece to sit on since everything the resort provides is white. We used fake tea lights because real ones would blow out on the beach, and instead of using glass votives I made little coral paper mache cups that were way less heavy. I made turquoise tiles stamped with starfish for the jar to sit on… these said Montego Bay on the back, and were scoffed up pretty quickly by our guests as the end of the night. Lastly, some pink gems and additional starfish/sand dollars were added for decoration. I put all of the candles in the mason jars and then wrapped them in bubble wrap in my carry on. Again, no problems at all! Nothing broke. We also didn’t bring any of this home except one jar. Welcome Bags: We brought all of this with us and assembled once we got there. The following were included: Welcome sign/door knocker, bookmark, tissues, suntan lotion and aloe packets, sweedish fish, hand sanitizer bandaids, gym, instagram signs, a note with when to be at the wedding, a mix CD of island songs, and granola bars. I found the welcome/door hanger signs somewhere online and recreated similar ones in Word. We didn’t include any drinks and not much food because it was an all-inclusive resort, but everyone seemed to really like the bags and appreciated the thought. We gave the bags to people as we saw them instead of paying the $4 fee per room delivery fee that the resort charges. Secrets Resort: This resort is absolutely beautiful. We were there on vacation in 2012 and decided that if we got married it would be there. Fast forward two years later, we got engaged and booked our wedding without further discussions. We used a travel agent to handle our trip because it was a group of 27 people! I highly suggest someone to handle all of the details for you so you have less to worry about. We were also upgraded to the preferred side of Wild Orchid when we arrived.The view from our room was incredible. Aside from the beauty of the resort, they are not incredibly easy to work with. I understand the whole concept of email taking a while to respond, but I was made to feel like a crazy bride pulling out all of the stuff we brought with us (or maybe I just really was a crazy bride???). There was also a very strict schedule the day of the wedding. The ceremony started at 5 but guests had to be in their seats by 4:30. There was a fee for every little thing. The only thing we rented from the resort were tiki torches. They do provide lights that look like lamp posts (but don’t tell you about it) so you probably don’t need the 12 we got. They were really good about setting everything up- it looked just how I had imagined it- and never charged us a set up fee at all. We had both the ceremony and the reception at the barracuda beach which is by the volley ball courts. Our photographer was amazing and covered the vendor fee, but we had to pay for her to have a guest pass to come back the next day to do a one hour trash the dress session. It was just a feeling of being nickel and dimed for every little thing when you were bringing the resort a ton of money with a group of people and a wedding. They did give us an extra room the night before the wedding for the groom to stay in. We decided to stay together anyway, so I used the extra room the next day to get ready in with my girl since it didn’t have the luggage clutter and he got ready with the groomsmen in our room since they didn’t really care. It worked out nicely. Myself and four girls used the resort spa for our hair and I also had my make up done because it was included in my package. This was all fine until we got out on the beach and it was super windy. The extensions started to come out. Luckily my mom is a retired hair dresser and was able to remove them and pin up what was left before the ceremony started. The make up was nice and stayed all night- a few weird things were: they lined my lips on the outside of them… making them look huge, they added black to my already dark eyebrows and I felt like Frida Kahlo, and they lined my eyes with eyeshadow instead of pencil. The brows they fixed right away by seeing my reaction, the other things were fine, just different. I wiped off the extra lips and lined my own eyes when we got back to the room. Our Photographer: By far, we spent the most amount of money in this area and it was 100% worth every penny. Misha Earle was incredible. She was so flexible creating the photo package that we wanted and our photos are stunning. I can’t stop looking at them! She kept us laughing all day long and was everything you could want in your wedding photographer. I highly recommend her to anyone looking for a photographer in Jamaica. I did a lot of research before choosing her, and don’t regret it one bit. We did get photographs from the resort included in our package—and they are fine. But not comparable to Misha’s photos at all! (There was also a video included with our package… if not included, it would not have been worth the money. The quality is terrible and graphics are quite tacky.) Within 2.5 weeks of our wedding we could view the photos online and within a month we had our photos on a flash drive at our door. I can’t say enough great things about her! Cocktail Hour: We upgrade to the steel drum band for $200. From what I hear, they were awesome. We were off taking pictures with Misha so we only caught the very end of it. We did a first look before the ceremony (my favorite part of the day) so all of our bridal party could enjoy happy hour. DJ: We used the house DJ- I don’t actually know what his name is, but he was pretty good. We didn’t have a choice of who we wanted. He played all of the songs that we requested ahead of time and kept us dancing all night. I only wish we had met him ahead of time to go over the order of when things were happening. My brother in law sang and played our first dance song for us and he didn’t know he was about to play until he was announced. Minor details, but would have been nice to know ahead of time. He did bring a mic/stand and made sure he had the right guitar plug ins for us though, as requested through the weddings manager. The food was really good in the buffet. Some brides say that they don’t have time to eat at their wedding but we didn’t have any problems with that. J They gave us a personal waiter who made us plates from the buffet. We got chocolate for our cake flavor and that was really good. They wrap up the top of your cake and give it to room service so you can order it whenever you want for the rest of your trip. Our last night, we took the cake and a bottle of champagne to the beach and enjoyed what we could before we left! I made the wire cake topper, and we brought the ribbon (left over from my bouquet) with us which they added to the cake. We never got the cake topper back, but then again I never asked. The flowers pictures are the ones included from the hotel. ***********having trouble with the photo uploader... guess you'll have to visit Misha's website to see the cake! Welcome Party and Rehearsal: We didn’t do one, technically. I watched some other Secrets weddings on YouTube and basically just paired people up so they knew who to walk with. I walked with both of my parents and we had 4 girls, 6 guys so that was the only coordinating we really had to do. I tried to make reservations for the whole group ahead of time at hibachi. They wanted to charge us $30 a person to book this (at one of the resort restaurants, nothing private). So we didn’t book it. Once we were there we tried again with our hotel concierge and they made the reservation for 27 with no additional charge. Because it was hibachi the tables seated 10 each so it was a little divided, but it was nice to have everyone together this first night. I’m sure there are other things I’m forgetting, so feel free to ask away. You can see a feature of our photos from Misha at http://mishaearlephotography.com/#!/images/featured-weddings/courtney-matt-secrets-wild-orchid/ and if you click on slideshows the rest of them are there. I’ll post a few, just so you can get an idea of how seriously incredible she really is!
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When I was planning my destination wedding in Cancun (it was held in March 2015), the ONE thing I was concerned about was my hair! I have long, type 3A/3B hair. I can control it at home, where the humidity is 20% on average, but it gets frizzy and wild in high humidity. I talked to SO many vendors down in the Cancun area who said "oh yea, we've worked with curly hair before, it's no problem" but I didn't trust any of them... they didn't seem to understand MY hair. Seriously, my hair was my one source of stress during the wedding planning process. Well, it IS possible to tame crazy frizzy hair down in Mexico! The woman who did my hair (Esperanza from Styling Trio) went through every single one of my curls with a curling iron, which took forever but eliminated all of the frizz and made distinct, individual curls. Then she used Paul Mitchell hair mousse to hold it, pinned it up, and sprayed it with Paul Mitchell hair spray. A warning, though... I had my hair down but kind of tied together (not a braid, but the hair was folded over itself so it was in a mass). I wouldn't suggest using this technique and then wearing your hair completely down, because the wind will blow it all apart. So to all you curly-haired brides: don't fret!
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Hello brides!! I'm 4 days away for my BIG DAY ! I wanted to share my experience in this wild ride planning the perfect wedding! I am not that nervous I think, because I trusted very professional people for that special day. My experience with the DJ has been really great! I picked Dj. Rickalvin: And he has been great through all this process, he is very well organized and very flexible. He always answers my emails quickly and exactly with the solution or answer I need to any of my doubts or questions. We told him the music we liked and what we didn't like, so this way he knows a little bit more about us and what we expect for the wedding day! I found this Dj through a friend of mine that got married on Cancun last summer, and every single person told me they had lots of fun and everyone recommended the dj a lot. Another vendor that has been in touch with all throughout this whole time are the photographers: www.shenkophoto.com As I told you before, this is a married couple that is dedicated only to taking pictures around the world. We've been communicating for more than 8 months now, and I think we now seem to now each other even if we haven't met in person. Last month we arranged a Skype session and that was the first time we saw each other, other than in photos. We talked a lot about the wedding day, the pictures we would like for that day and with who, etc. They also seem to be really interested in small details about that day, like for example flowers, centerpieces and other decoration details that we picked. Also they are really organized, and helped us make an itinerary for family pictures so that we don't lose any time and we have all the people we want on the pictures. In 2 days we are meeting for a casual session so that we know each other in front of the camera and in that way, I think, it will be easier to communicate on the wedding day for the things we want, and can or can't do. My fiancé always laughs at me because I am a very bubbly person and I don't have shame of anything, but when you put a camera in front of me, everything changes!!! I just don't know what to do it's such a dumb thing! So wish me luck!!! When I come back from my honeymoon I'll tell you more details about everything =)
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I am getting married at Dreams Riviera on Sunday July 19th, 2015 at 6pm. Wedding Weekend as follows: Friday: Welcome Booze Cruise Saturday: Rehearsal Beach Party Sunday: Ceremony on Beach Cocktail Hour on Beach Reception: Pool Deck We already have 68 people booked. Below is a gallery of some of the projects Ive worked on. Save the Dates! For our save the dates we sent out personalized luggage tags to all our of guests. Its amazing what you can do with the power of mail merge! All of the personalized information was filled out with the guests info! EventswithGrace Asking Our Bridal Party! EventswithGrace Bridesmaids: Towels: HueByJennyHouston Groomsmen: Cups: DecadentDesigns Flower Girl: Personalized Baby Bloomer: FlyBabiesEmbroidery Ring Bearer: T-shirt: KimsKreativeBoutique Wedding Invitations: EventswithGrace
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Pinata at the reception? Is anyone considering doing a pinata for the wedding reception? I saw some pictures and it looked like sooo much fun but I'm worried that it might either get overlooked or cut into dance time. I found this gorgeous pic online. I love the bright colours that it brings! It looks like it would be so much fun and we could totally fill it up with things from Costco etc etc. Anyone considering doing one?
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Hello lovely ladies, I'm looking to get some advice and or ideas. Since my mother is no longer with us, I wanted to find a way to include her in this special day. I have seen the idea where couples leave a chair empty and reserved for that special person. I really like that idea. Here's where it could be awkward though. So my dad will be at the wedding with his new wife. She's great and she's been very supportive for this wedding. I don't know where to put the empty chair. I don't want it to be awkward for her if she's sitting next to it. the space is quite small where we are getting married so I don't know if that's the best option but it was one that I really liked. I really don't want her to feel uncomfortable. Let me know what you ladies think!
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Hello lovely brides and brides-to-be! I am thinking of having sparklers at our wedding. We get married this June in the Mayan Riviera. My idea was to have everyone light up their sparklers during our first dance. I am going to make little tags that say "let love sparkle" or "let amor sparkle" since we are trying to do things a little "Spanglish" Does anyone know where you can buy Sparklers in the mayan Riviera? I'm guessing the Walmart there would have them?? But just wondering if anyone else has succeeded with this. Also, for any past brides, do you think the sparkler light up would be distracting during the first dance. I don't expect everyone's undivided attention but I'm hoping that for pictures there are enough sparklers to make it pretty. At least for sure it would draw a crowd that way. Would love to hear your thoughts!
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