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It is usually the most expensive item of the reception: Dinner and Drinks! So what can you do to budget and organize well? Of course it all depends on your available money for the wedding total but for argument sake let's take a budget of about 100 dollars per person which is about average for all night bar and food service. First let's start with the bar. I personally do not recommend the 4 to 5 hour bar to anyone in Mexico It is a party and no cash should be needed at any time. Also, in our venue we do not close early so it is an all-inclusive all night concept. So just consider the bar to be open during the entire party. The costs are going to be based on if you want well brands or top shelf brands and also I often set up a Specialty Sctrach Bar with all fresh ingredients for Mojitos and Margaritas So as you can guess, the cheapest is an open bar with well brands and beer and then it goes up according to the brands used and if we set up a cool looking bar and lounge area. Second, the food, yummy , the food can cost about 40 dollars per person for a good quality 3 course dinner, up to 150 dollars per person for 8 hors d'ouevres and 4 course gourmet dinner with imported ingredients such as Foie Gras and such... The dinner/food service cost is really very variable since we in www.Martoca.com for example, create all our menus for each wedding according to the taste and budget of the couple. In order to plan your budget I suggest you take in consideration the duration of your party and if it is more than 5 Hours you should have a late night taco bar for example . You should not have your guests without eating for longer than 3 or 4 hours. I try to have something, even small hors d'ouvres for example every 3 or 4 hours... This is a cool tip: If you are a mixed culture couple like for example Mexican Bride and American or Canadian Groom, it is fun to do for example hors d'ouevres from Mexico and Dinner from the Cajun/Southern Sould Food/France/italy/Irish or whatever the couples better half is originally from or his ancestry, and then close with amazing cultural desserts from Puerto Vallarta region in our case or wherever your wedding location is going to be. So Bride or groom gets hor's d Ouevres then the other gets the dinner choices and the dessert is local And if the budget permits and your party is longer than 5 or 6 hours like in our venue we do up to 10 hours... you should invest in a Taco Bar. It is a great feature for your wedding and it is only about 10 to 15 dollars per person to set it up with awesome fresh made salsas and tacos. So to summerize you need to consider the bar, types of brands and duration of open bar and if you want a specialty drink bar set up like this one for example: Then comes the food budget, in summary you need to consider qulity of food for example the steak can be Kobe, Prime, Choice... do you want Organic or Grassfed beef, or Lobster and Jumbo Shrimp versus Chicken or pork. All this matters. This is why I always interview my couples and find out if they enjoy fine dinning or are "foodies" and if not then I go with a more standard menu. If they enjoy food and want the dinner to be a showpiece in the wedding then we will offer exotic menus and combinations and create amazing culinary experiences for our brides and their guests. Once you decide on the quality and type of ingredients the cooking cost the same if we are making chicken or Lobster Does this make sense? It is about ingredients and then we cook what you like to serve your guests. Then you must consider after quality of ingredients is the Quantity of "servings" i.e. Fists Hors d'Ouevres, then dinner, then dessert bar, then taco bar and Mexican Coffee flambee for example Here are some pictures of levels and types of food services offered. I forgot about buffets... sorry. We do not usually do buffets because the quality of the food suffers on the line. In Mexico labor is cheap so it really is no difference in price so buffets are not recommended by me. You should treat your guests to great 5 star service An important part of catering is the dinnerware and silverware and glasses used, as well as the table settings... this can vary from about 10 dollars per person up to 30 or 40 per person or more. It simply depends on your taste Thank You for reading and if you have any questions I am glad to help Jimmy james@martoca.com -
The bride and groom have exchanged their “I do’s,” the officiate has pronounced them husband and wife, they turn to be received by their guests, and they are pelted with… glowsticks? Today’s brides are forever looking for ways to make their wedding unique, and the post-ceremony “toss” is just another way for you to incorporate your own personal flare! Traditionally the ceremony toss is done with rice to symbolize a fruitful marriage – in Ancient Greece it was customary to throw apples in the air for the same reason! – but today bride’s are looking for ways to be creative, and some venues have restrictions on what can be “tossed” around. We’ve all seen rose petals, bubbles, and sparklers, but what about something a bit different? Here are some of our favorites! Sprinkles: Birdseed (for our particularly eco-friendly brides): Confetti (look for biodegradable confetti, purchasable online): Flags or stick streamers (for venues that don’t allow you to leave anything on the ground): Spring loaded streamers (think New Years Eve crackers): Lavender seeds (smells good too!): Mini-Marshmallows: Pom-Poms: Mini-pom-poms: And our personal favourite... Mini Beach Balls!!! And don’t forget that how you package your ceremony toss, whatever it may be, is also a great way to personalize your wedding! For the DIY or thrifty bride: Always remember to check with your hotel for their policies before moving forward with any of these ideas! And let us know if you have something different you’ve seen or done at your own wedding!! Happy Planning! LUXE Destination Weddings -
Can use our services to the ship for different activities to your guests the day before or after the wedding to enjoy music for a tour at bavaro beach. This is my email if you're interested to send photos and packages: contact@weddingboatsanael.com Include transportation to pick them up or pick them up at the hotel with boat on the beach of the hotel if you are staying: Barcelo, Paradisus, Now Larimar, NH or secret Excellence. It is the only boat on the beach collecting guests without getting wet feet and elderly, even in wheelchairs can be on the catamaran. -
Hi, I'm basically from Toronto, Ontario and I'm here to inquire about hiring live entertainment for wedding parties. Me, along with my brother are planning our sister's marriage at our grand's place in La Baie, Quebec. It's a beautiful place and we loved to go there during our childhood and have got really great memories of that place. We made our plans of the wedding and the crazy thing we are trying out is that we love a band at our place and we thought of taking them as live performance for the wedding party, but now we have to take care of their travel too. We've contacted them through a event management group but didn't mention the wedding place, we just quickly went through their main performance list and our demands were placed. Now we are thinking of mentioning the place and all, but also have in mind whether the rates will be too high and it's better to drop the idea. Very badly need advice on this. Have anyone hired a live performance and had to travel them to whole new place for the party?? If so, how much did it cost you extra?
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You're invited to the Real Wedding of... Jamie & Kyle Wedding Details Bride Jamie Groom Kyle Wedding Date February 16, 2013 Location Villa Mia, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico Hometown Tahoe City, CA Pictures from Jamie & Kyle's destination wedding (click to enlarge): Why did you choose to have a destination wedding? We choose to have a destination wedding because we wanted to celebrate in a tropical place, and keep our wedding intimate. Why did you choose your location? Villa Mia was amazing. We had a 15 bedroom villa and then we had two other villas on the property. Villa Cosmica with 5 bedrooms and Villa Gran Dia with 6 bedrooms. It included a full cooking and bar staff along with housekeeping. It was an amazing opportunity to have our own private resort. What were your wedding colors and/or theme? We had a Mexican themed wedding with many traditional parts of the heritage, along with lots of beautiful patterns and laces. We had a mariachi band and fiesta the night before the wedding. At the reception we had a pinata, churros, and lots of fun! Every wedding is special in its own right. What made your wedding unique? Our wedding was amazing. We had 60 guests who were all able to have our own private resort for 3 days. Our guests all are saying they have to make it back one day. It was so beautiful, private, and the setting was amazing. One of the major challenges of putting together a destination wedding is finding and working with your ideal vendors from afar. What wedding vendors did you use to put together this spectacular wedding? We had great vendors. Our photographer was Seth Warren. He is from Baja and is an amazing photographer. Our florist was flowers to go Vallarta they were great. The wedding coordinator was named Vanina. She is included with the villa and is the owners daughter. My wedding dress was Ann Taylor. We got our wedding invitations off of Etsy through Sprazzle designs. They were in airplane ticket format. Your wedding was absolutely beautiful! Your posts and reviews will be extremely helpful to our new brides. Thank you for sharing you special day with us at BDW. Dear members, if you planned your wedding with the help of our community we would love to hear from you! Contact us at admin@BestDestinationWedding.com if you are interested in sharing your wedding experience with BDW. For more information here is the "BDW Real Weddings | Featured Wedding Submission Information Thread". Thanks! -
Hi Everyone!! My fiance and I are Eloping to Jamaica December 22nd of this year!! Were super EXCITED after 9yrs its finally time to say "I Do"!! Its just the 2 of us going, were having a ceremony on the beach, I think were also going to do a sand ceremony as well even though its just us, it will allow us to bring it back home and display it in the house! There are 2 things that I can't decide that I'm lo oking for some input on!! First Dance?!?!! Is it cheesy to do a 1st dance on the beach right after our ceremony?! It is going to just be the 2 of us which I thought would be kinda romantic but I'm so indecisive. We will have a photographer and videographer to capture the memories. What are your opinions do we do it or let it go?!?! My next thing is: Should we play music as I walk down to him or no just walk with silence?!! I can't decide on these 2 things especially the 1st dance!! Can't wait to hear what yaw think!!! Thanks, Ali -
Hi Ladies, I leave for Mexico in 27 days!!!! I'm so excited but at the same time I am stressing over last minute details. I am going to write down what I have done so far and if anyone notices something I am missing please let me know I have my dress, veil, shoes, (flip flops and heels) earrings,and necklace. Tux and shoes for groomsman, groom, and my father are ordered. I will order boutinerres when I arrive. I have bridesmaids dresses, necklace, and flipflops. My bouquet along with the bridesmaids are all ordered. Gifts for groomsman and bridesmaids are all finished. I have robes for all the girls to wear when we get ready. Hair and make-up appointments are made for the wedding day. As for the ceremony we have few cute signs, sand ceremony, chair bows, aisle decorations,and fans for the chairs. Programs are already made. Guest book is bought. Photographer and DJ are both booked. All my wedding songs are picked. We have a rehearsal dinner set up, and a dinner for the night of the wedding. We made menus for dinner. We also have keepsakes for the guests along with hersheys in a little box. I bought maracas for the table to shake for the kiss. We have little seashell frames for our seating name cards. I am still up in the air about the centerpieces but I have a pretty good idea what I want to do. Groomsman gift is bought. I have a box for the ringbearer. still need a flower girl basket. I need to buy my garter still and gifts for my ring bearer and flower girl. Ages 8 and 6...any suggestions? OOT bags are all finished and packed. What else am I missing!? I would hate to arrive in Mexico and forget something. Thanks for your suggestions. -
Planning a wedding is a big commitment, and could end up consuming your life for several months. There are so many wedding planning professional who guide with the design, planning and management. Here are the few steps which will help to reduce the stress before wedding planning.. Wedding Dress- After booking of your vendors..Now it’s time to relax and go for wedding dress shopping. Shopping for a wedding dress will be one of the most exciting parts of the whole wedding preparation process. To do research, design and order properly before you even start to look around and you should have the bit knowledge about dresses. Try to find latest magazines that provide the information about the latest trends. Wedding Songs- I have been thinking that the music is a big part that make our day special and memorable. I have come up with easy tips for music that will help a memorable day. If you are hiring a band, So be clear about your likes and dislikes. First think about the kind of music you want your wedding to have. Select the music according to the theme of wedding, if it is a high energy party than go heavy on the up tempo tunes. if you want a dreamier or more romantic tone than go for your favorite love songs. It is mostly impossible to please everybody, but music is one section where you may try. Take ideas from your relatives and ask them to suggest few tunes.You can also add a spot in your response cards for guests to recommend their favorite dancing songs. If you have a song that you precisely have at your wedding- but you have fear it could be odd or offend by older relatives, than save it for the late in the evening, when most of the remaining will be your friends. Research vendors- Choosing the right vendors can be quite time consuming if you are not sure what you are looking for and how to research. Make a list of certain vendor categories that you need for your wedding helps to organize the vendor information. When you are researching, I suggest that you check the vendor’s portfolio, vendor’s company websites, bio, pricing info and vendor’s blog. To do research on every single type of vendor that you need, but book up quickly the essential ones like photographer, videographer and caterer. Wedding Venue- When all 3 tasks have completed and once you have taken all of those decisions, than start searching venues. When you are researching for venue and find a venue that you like, I suggest contact them and asking for availability on the actual date of the wedding. If they do, then go further and visit the venue. You can also plan out some nice venues from Event Planners like those in Long Island and make sure the place is well equipped to make your wedding party memorable affair. Make checklists- Make lists for everything what you have done and what to do. By writing down everything you need to do, and assign time frames for every tasks, this will make you relax and feel confident that you are not forgetting anything important. Make sure you note all appointments and consultations, too.
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Just started thinking about what music we want at our wedding. ie. first dance, father/daughter dance, reception music, etc. Does anybody have their list they'd like to share?
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I managed to bang out a few of my DIY projects today and thought I would share the results. Excuse the poor iPhone photos. ALTERNATIVE GUEST BOOK Like my save-the-dates and wedding invites, I turned to a free printable to make our alternative wedding guest book -- wedding advice cards. This project came courtesy of Marry This! The colour combinations don`t match the rest of our DIY items or wedding theme, but we plan on framing some of our favourites and hanging them in our upstairs hallway -- where it will match the current artwork. Items needed to make them: White linen card stock from papercircle.ca. I bought 8-1/2" by 11" which let me print two cards per page. You could probably print four per page if you managed to export them from the Adobe file (which lets you customize your initials) but it wasn`t worth the hassle to me. Paper trimmer. Recipe box Cost breakdown: This was a fast one. It took a little over half an hour to print 40 double-sided advice cards (they have a pattern on the back) and the pop-up card. .20 per white linen envelope = $4.20 Wood recipe box with glass, patterned lid from Target = $14 Grand total: $18.20 I could have cut costs by finding a cheaper recipe/memory box, possibly from Michaels where I could have taken advantage of their coupons. BRIDAL PARTY JEWELLERY Items needed to make them: Resin cabochons from Etsy seller snapcrafty. Lace-edged settings (snapcrafty). Silver lead-free hairpin blanks (snapcrafty). Silver earstuds and backings from Etsy seller PrairieDogSupplies. ADH001 glue Leftover scrapbook paper (from another project) for packaging. I've seen these flower cabochon hairpins all over Etsy and in some of my favourite local shops but I didn't see myself coughing up $20 for three hair pins. It took me all of about 15 minutes, if that, to put the tiniest dab of glue on the earstuds settings and hairpin blanks and attach the cabochon. I let them dry for a couple hours and then used some scrapbook odds-and-ends from another project to make some packaging, which took me about another 5-10 minutes. I simply used a needle to poke holes for the earrings and a box cutter to make small slits on either side of the paper for the pins. Cost breakdown: 30 cabochons of various sizes: $18.18 total 12 settings: $6.30 20 hairpin blanks: $6.30 10 pairs of silver earstuds and backings: $1.50 (yes, you read that right) Glue: $3 Grand total: $35.28 This works out to $8.82 for each bridesmaid (2) and flower girl (2). KIDS`ACTIVITY BOOK Here's a DIY project that takes less than a couple of minutes. Simply download the free printable kids' activity book from Lovely Indeed and follow their printing instructions. I used regular computer paper. I then punched two holes in the spine and tied it together with leftover baker's twine from our wedding invites. NEXT UP: I'm in the middle of making laminated luggage tags to send with our pre-travel mailer along with these packing tips and their tickets. Here's my inspiration. I'll follow up with a new post when I'm done.
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Hi there, Mint condition items : ring barer pillow; flower girl basket, unused guest book with pen all for $50 plus shipping. lanyards 17 with key card holders; 10 without. $5 plus shipping.
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I made this template for a DIY wedding scrapbook. I saw some things that I liked and decided to create my own. What do you guys think?Guestbook Template.docx
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Outside Vendors For Riu Palace Possible?
caboready2014 posted a topic in Destination Wedding Vendors
Hiiii Anyone ever use outside vendors for their Riu Palace wedding in Cabo? -
You're invited to the Real Wedding of... Shannon & Maurell Wedding Details Bride Shannon Groom Maurell Wedding Date June 8, 2012 Location Iberostar Grand Rose Hall, Montego Bay, Jamaica Hometown Palm Beach, FL Pictures from Shannon & Maurell's destination wedding (click to enlarge): Why did you choose to have a destination wedding? We chose to do a destination wedding because the bride's family lives in the north east and majority of the groom's family lives in the south, therefore it would not be fair to choose one of those locations. We also wanted our wedding to be fun, but intimate, and a vacation for everyone! Once we got engaged, we instantly knew we wanted to have a destination wedding. We scoped out a few resorts in the Bahamas (we did not really care for them), looked into the Dominican Republic and Mexico, but since the Native language is Spanish in those countries, our ceremony would have to be in Spanish and we knew that was not the route we were going for with our wedding. So we could no longer contain ourselves, and thought why are we going on this massive search, when we already know a FABULOUS resort that would be perfect. So we no longer had to look any further, we chose the Iberostar Grand in MoBay, since we were already there and could give a double thumbs up! Why did you choose your location? After lots of resort site visits and review reading we decided to have our wedding at the one and only, Iberostar Grand Rose Hall in Montego Bay Jamaica. This is where my husband proposed and after seeing other resorts in person we thought it would be best to go back to our first love of the Iberostar. It is an ABSOLTELY AMAZING resort, wonderful customer service, fabulous grounds, delicious food, and a down right perfect place to vacation, so we knew it would be an easy sell to our guests! Lucky for us, since we were returning guests, we were upgraded to the presidential suite for our wedding night, Friday, and the remainder of the weekend! We sure were living large, oh I just LOVE that place!!! Check out the picture above, though they do not do it justice. What were your wedding colors and/or theme? For our wedding we selected fuchsia and orange with a hint of tan to represent love, sun, and sand, along with bringing a tropical feel. The Starfish were an additional decorating item. The starfish is seen a celestial symbol and a representation of infinite divine love. In addition to Love, the starfish also holds characteristics such as guidance and intuition. In Christian symbolism the starfish represents the Virgin Mary (Stella Maris which means Star of the Sea) who lovingly creates safe travel over troubled waters and is also seen as an emblem of salvation during trying times. Every wedding is special in its own right. What made your wedding unique? For me our wedding was extra special because it was a day all about our love! We had the opportunity to customize every bit of our wedding day and with the help of this site I took that and ran with it! Instead of having just a wedding day, we had a wedding week with our close family and friends, where we were able to plan special event and spend time with one another to celebrate love and life. By spending the time to make DIY projects, I was able to put my heart into our wedding and share that with our guests. DIY Overload Thanks to this fabulous website and all the WONDERFUL brides, I built the courage to take on almost every DIY aspect of the wedding I could handle. I love crafting and always enjoyed coming up with my own creations so I really looked forward to this part of the wedding. Though being a perfectionist definitely added to the hours I spent on all the DIY projects. Here is a link to my DIY Message in a Bottle & Passport invites thread: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/74261/our-mib-invites-with-lots-of-pics-and-additional-info Pre-Travel Brochure (see below) After learning about good old VistaPrint, I experimented with a few small things: return labels, mousepad, etc., then progressed to more important items. With the help of many brides I was able to compile what I wanted to include on the pre-travel brochure. See pictures below (what a time consuming process)! This brochure went in our Pre-travel Package to all guests. Included: Brochure, Mix CD to get everyone in the island mood, and luggage tags. Events During Our Week in Jamaica Though I felt like I was running around like crazy the whole week, we did have some pre-planned events for our guest and some time to enjoy one another. Everyone said they had a fabulous time and it was one of the best vacations of their life! All the hard work paid off! Since some guests came for the whole week and others just for an extended weekend we only planned one group excursion, earlier in the week, and had a welcome party the night before the wedding. Trip to Dunn's River Fall as a Group We booked the Cool Running Excursion to Dunn's River Falls with about 15 of our guests and it was such a blast! The excursion included: Catamaran ride out to snorkel, Dunn's River Falls Climb, and booze cruise party after! This was my 2nd time doing the excursion and still had the best time ever! Welcome Party/All White Bonfire Instead of having a rehearsal dinner, I pre-arranged for all of our wedding guests to have dinner at the Japanese Steakhouse and then proceed out to the beach for a bonfire and open bar party, the night before the wedding. I informed everyone about this in the pre-travel packet so they all knew to wear white! WHAT A GOOD TIME!!! We had wish lanterns for each of our guest to send off a pre-wedding wish for us.... they were absolutely PERFECT (well worth the hassle of lugging them there)! DIY Message in a Bottle & Passport invites DIY Message in a Bottle & Passport invites Pre-travel brochure Pre-travel brochure Welcome packet (OOT bags) Welcome packet (OOT bags) Escort cards Escort cards Time Capsule for guestbook Table numbers Table numbers One of the major challenges of putting together a destination wedding is finding and working with your ideal vendors from afar. What wedding vendors did you use to put together this spectacular wedding? Photographer: Misha Earle http://www.mishaearlephotography.com/index2.php?v=v1 Florist: Tai Flora http://www.taiflora.com/ Wedding Coordinator: Janielle (Resort WC)… THE BEST!!! Wedding Dress Designer: Essense of Australia http://www.essensedesigns.com/index.html Steel Drum Band/DJ: hired through resort Invites & all things paper: DIY You were an active member of BDW and created some great content. Could you please summarize (with hyperlinks) some of your best work for us? Planning Thread: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/82602/sunshines-a-little-late-jamaican-wedding-planning-journal-long-and-pic-heavy Post Wedding Sale: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/80320/big-post-wedding-sale Our Wedding Slideshow by Misha Earle: http://mishaearle.myshowit.com/shannon_maurell Your wedding was absolutely beautiful! Your posts and reviews will be extremely helpful to our new brides. Thank you for sharing you special day with us at BDW. Dear members, if you planned your wedding with the help of our community we would love to hear from you! Contact us at admin@BestDestinationWedding.com if you are interested in sharing your wedding experience with BDW. For more information here is the "BDW Real Weddings | Featured Wedding Submission Information Thread". Thanks! -
You're invited to the Real Wedding of... Natalie & Tarick Wedding Details Bride Natalie (nattie03) Groom Tarick Wedding Date March 30, 2013 Location Jolly Beach Resort, Antigua Hometown Mississauga, Ontario, Canada (bride) Antigua (groom) Pictures from This Girl & This Guy's destination wedding (click to enlarge): Why did you choose to have a destination wedding? I wanted to have a destination wedding after being a part of a friend's destination wedding in Jamaica and being in her bridal party. She experienced a lot less stress, saved a lot of money, and had an intimate wedding with closest family and friends (about 45 people). For these reasons I was compelled, but what really sealed the deal for me was the amazing time we all had getting to know the bride and groom's family and friends and becoming one big family. I have such fun and amazing memories from that trip (like jumping into the pool with our clothes on, and doing black flips over the volleyball net which subsequently broke) that I knew I wanted that experience for myself, my family and my friends. A dw really allows a much more personal experience and you get a vacation and wedding in one. I didn't want an at home wedding because of the cost, the stress, the size, the informality etc. Best decision we could have made, our wedding was perfect! Why did you choose your location? I met my husband while vacationing in his home country of Antigua so there was personal meaning in us choosing Antigua. We considered other countries but decided to stick with Antigua for personal sentiments as well to make it easier for his family and friends to attend the wedding too. We chose Jolly Beach Resort after we got engaged there and the place has special meaning to us. While we were there we saw that it was a fun place (very important for us as we are young and our group of friends is very energetic and likes to do activities) with a beautiful beach and pool, multiple restaurants, and most importantly affordable. Antigua is not the cheapest place so affordability was a huge factor. What were your wedding colors and/or theme? Our colours were royal blue and tangerine orange, mine and my husband's favourite colours respectively. We wanted everything to be personal in our wedding and reflect us. Our theme was "island vibes" as we are both of Caribbean heritage and we wanted to celebrate our cultures. We wanted everyone to be relaxed and have a good time, with good food and good dancing. We used the hibiscus flower as our main design element. Every wedding is special in its own right. What made your wedding unique? Our wedding was special because we personalized as many aspects as possible. We did not compromise with anyone else, we stuck to OUR vision of the day and that is why it was so special to us. We had boarding pass invitations which no one in my family or circle of friends had seen before and once I had seen them I had to have them. We had a lot of DIY projects done by myself and my bridal party including the wedding website, seating chart, table numbers, wedding program fans, seat sign, tears of joy packets, just married sign, guestbook and Mr. and Mrs. chair signs. We had the bachelor and bachelorette party, wedding rehearsal dinner and group excursion to Shirley's Heights taking up the two days prior to the wedding. We also pre-booked a few a la carte dinners at the resort for our guests so they could get to know each other and we arranged group transportation from the airport. Our wedding was the day before most people left which gave our guests a good amount of time to get to know each other before the wedding. Our Christian faith is very important to us and was represented in the music choices and the ceremony aspects which we let our friends and family do since beach weddings in Antigua cannot be done by pastors but rather by a marriage officer. It rained and we had to move our ceremony to a covered location but we took our pictures on the beach afterwards and we brought in all of our decor for the ceremony and reception. We wrote our own vows and ceremony and included a scripture reading and sand ceremony (done by friends), hand ceremony, pledge to my husband's daughter/my new daughter and a parental blessing. We had an interactive guestbook where guests filled out different categories: names, where they met the bride/groom, favourite memory of the bride/groom, advice, share a recipe or draw a picture. This was a huge hit and hilarious to read after the wedding. At the reception we danced in to the "iron man band" a local, cultural band that usually plays during carnival season in Antigua. Our table numbers were Caribbean islands that either my husband or I had visited. We had karate demonstrations by members of my husband's karate school where he is a 3rd degree black belt. We had trivia questions and played the newlywed shoe game so people could learn more about our relationship. We lit wish lanterns on the beach in the night, the first in memory of my maternal grandmother who passed away. We danced for 3 hours thanks to our dj who combined a list of my songs with his own choices which made for an incredible end to the most incredible day. Our guests are BEGGING us to have an anniversary celebration so they can all come back. One of the major challenges of putting together a destination wedding is finding and working with your ideal vendors from afar. What wedding vendors did you use to put together this spectacular wedding? Invitation company: Allurements by Rebecca Wedding coordinator: Beverly King Wedding dress designer: Maggie Sottero Bridesmaids and flower girl dress: Ebay Groomsmen's outfits: Studiosuit.com Videographer: Marlon Jeffers Flower bouquets: Budget-bride.com Groom ring: JustMensRings.com Table Runners and sashes: Tableclothsfactory.com Rose petals: Ebay Table number frames: Ikea Disposable votive candles: Candle Factory Products Sand ceremony vase: Ebay Wedding shoes: Ebay Dj: Dj Nez Band: Urlings iron man band Karate demo: Purple Dragon Antigua We were very pleased with all of our listed vendors. They all did amazing work and had amazing communication. Your wedding was absolutely beautiful! Your posts and reviews will be extremely helpful to our new brides. Thank you for sharing you special day with us at BDW. Dear members, if you planned your wedding with the help of our community we would love to hear from you! Contact us at admin@BestDestinationWedding.com if you are interested in sharing your wedding experience with BDW. For more information here is the "BDW Real Weddings | Featured Wedding Submission Information Thread". Thanks! -
You're invited to the Real Wedding of... Marin & Andrew Wedding Details Bride Marin (BDW username: Marooon13) Groom Andrew Wedding Date April 25, 2013 Location Playa del Carmen, Mexico Hometown East Lansing, Michigan Pictures from Marin & Andrew's destination wedding (click to enlarge): Why did you choose to have a destination wedding? First and foremost, my husband and I have always loved to travel! We took our first vacation together just 2 months after we started dating in 2009 and have been traveling together ever since. Warm, sunny destinations are definitely our favorite and we have both always dreamed of getting married on a beach. A destination just seemed natural! Second, we wanted our family members to spend some quality time together. Our families live 2.5 hours away from each other and have only interacted during small family gatherings. We knew that if we were going to bring two families together through the bonds of marriage, we wanted them to be more than acquaintances. What could be more inviting than an all-inclusive vacation to Mexico to get to know your future in-laws! Why did you choose your location? In 2011, we attended a friend's wedding at The Royal Playa del Carmen. It was then and there that we decided this was the place. Breathtaking scenery, sandy beaches, and phenomenal service. Two years later, we became Mr. and Mrs. on the exact same beach with 50 of our closest friends and family members as witnesses. But, “Why The Royal”, you ask? I definitely did some extensive research (months before we were even engaged)! The Royal checked off our boxes on every level and we felt comfortable returning with 50 guests, knowing that they would not be disappointed. In the end, the top three deciding factors were price, location, and all-inclusive. Price: (Airfare) Cancun was one of the most affordable international airports to fly into. (Accommodations) Wendy Hicks, of Wright Travel Agency, was able to get us an amazing deal with our group booking- we just couldn’t pass it up! Location: The Royal sits just one block off of Playa del Carmen’s main pedestrian walkway, 5th Avenue. This gave our guests the option to leave the resort at any given time and enjoy a taste of Mexican Culture. 5th Avenue hosts everything from souvenir shops, guided tours/excursions and massages on the beach to bars, restaurants, and clubs (including the famous Senor Frogs and Coco Bongo)! Playa del Carmen also has gorgeous beaches and is much more relaxed than Cancun. All-Inclusive: The Royal is a Luxury, Adults Only (16+), All Inclusive resort. There is, however, a sister hotel located next door that allows families of all ages. Andrew and I do not have many children in our families so the adults only resort was ideal. We chose an all-inclusive resort so our friends and families could be relaxed as possible during their vacation. It was wonderful going to dinner with 10+ people and not worrying about who was going to get the check or asking to split it onto 6 different credit cards. What were your wedding colors and/or theme? Our colors were coral and tan. We wanted a Mexican vibe without the harsh red and orange. Coral was a perfect combination of the two. Not to mention, the bright coral of my bridesmaid’s dresses looked stunning next to the beautiful ocean backdrop. Every wedding is special in its own right. What made your wedding unique? Our wedding was very special to us because my brother performed our ceremony. We were able to write our own ceremony script and vows, which made our day that much more meaningful. We have never been very religious so having a minister perform our ceremony just didn’t feel right. Also, we absolutely love to laugh and had a few jokes written into our ceremony. Our guests loved it and it was definitely a personalized ceremony unlike any other! We are very fortunate that 50 of our friends and family members made the trip to Mexico to spend quality time with us and be there, as they have always been, on the most important day of our lives. Plus, we are husband and wife now and have vowed to spend the rest of our lives together! What could be more special than that? One of the major challenges of putting together a destination wedding is finding and working with your ideal vendors from afar. What wedding vendors did you use to put together this spectacular wedding? Photographer: Photos In Cancun (Derek and Lorena http://www.photosincancun.com/) Florist: Flores Riviera Maya (http://www.floresrivieramaya.com/) Wedding coordinator: Lorena (appointed by the resort) Wedding dress designer: Casa Blanca Bridesmaid Dresses: David’s Bridal Invitation company: DIY Boarding Pass- Template from ayleebits http://www.ayleebits.com/2009/03/09/passport-invitation-template/ At Home Reception Invites- http://www.etsy.com/shop/WDesignGallery You were an active member of BDW and created some great content. Could you please summarize (with hyperlinks) some of your best work for us? Review: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/86978/marin-andrew-s-wedding-at-the-royal-playa-del-carmen-a-planning-thread#post_1932012 Your wedding was absolutely beautiful! Your posts and reviews will be extremely helpful to our new brides. Thank you for sharing you special day with us at BDW. Dear members, if you planned your wedding with the help of our community we would love to hear from you! Contact us at admin@BestDestinationWedding.com if you are interested in sharing your wedding experience with BDW. For more information here is the "BDW Real Weddings | Featured Wedding Submission Information Thread". Thanks! -
The Miriam & Luke's Azul Sensatori Wedding Miriam and Luke were wed on January 24, 2011. Miriam, username Murmel, used the BDW Community to bring her destination wedding to life. Miriam gives back to the BDW Community as she kindly shares the details of her perfect day in an interview below. Miriam & Luke's Wedding Profile The Bride Miriam / BDW member: Murmel The Groom Luke Hometown Toronto, ON, Canada Wedding Date 1/24/2011 (legal 12/04/2010) Wedding Location Azul Sensatori, Puerto Morelos, Mayan Riveria, Mexico Why did you choose to have a destination wedding? There were quite a few reasons why we choose a destination wedding. The first one was a very personal choice. I lost my father to cancer as a teenager, and my mother is ill and now resides in a nursing home. I feared having a “traditional” wedding would bring a flood of emotions of not being able to have my parents there. So I thought- “Sun, beach, drinks-that would make it a happy and relaxed location for me”! Another huge reason was that almost all of our guests would have had to travel to our wedding no matter where we did it. Our family and friends are so spread out that we figured we might as well all travel! There have been so many weddings that we have travelled to, only to get a minute or two to spend with the bride or groom over the weekend. So since we don’t get see each other often, we though what a great way to spend a week together. Why did you choose your location? My husband and I are blessed that we manage to travel quite often, and we simply love Mexico! So it was an easy choice for us. As well the Cancun airport is such a popular destination it made it easy for our guests to make their way there from all over Canada and the USA. Choosing the actual resort took a lot of time and research. A few of the major wants and needs were: We knew we had guests with kids coming, so a family friendly resort was required. We wanted good food (not just buffets!) Nice rooms, good service and all for a decent price. So after using a number of resources (Trip Advisor, Debbie’s Caribbean, travel agency resort flyers, friends suggestions) we narrowed down our search to 4 resorts. (I only discovered BDW after we had already chosen…and after that it’s history. I used this site to help me with everything else!) We then travelled down to the Mayan Riveria and toured through the resorts. We fell in love with the Sensatori. It was big enough to afford lots of activities, space and privacy-but small enough to make it easy to find each other and create an intimate feel. The staff were friendly and helpful, and the food is the best we have ever experienced in the Caribbean! (We have returned 3 times now because it is such a beautiful resort) The only downfall is the beach, which is small and the water rocky. But we are more pool type people anyway, so it doesn’t affect us to much! Our travel agent was also able to get us a group rate of about $1500 CDN/person for the week. (this included return flight, transfer to/from airport, room and all food/drink) So we were sold! What were your wedding colors and/or theme? Turquoise and lime green, with some accents of black and white. You’ll also notice some pink and purple-this was a tribute to my mother. When my parents got married she carried pink, purple and white flowers down the aisle. So I wanted to do the same! And my husband loved the idea so much that he carried the pink into his outfit. He had custom made pink Converse sneakers and a custom made shirt with pink collar. Every wedding is special in its own right. What made your wedding unique? I married my best friend that day! What more do I need to say. There were so many special moments that day. My sister walking me down the aisle. Having breakfast with all my girls in the morning. Celebrating with family and friends. Having our guests serenade us during dinner. Heartfelt speeches. Hearing the ocean lap up on the shore, as we said “I do”. The whole week was just such a wonderful, relaxed time with friends and family- I could not have asked for a better experience! Also having 2 “weddings” really made it special for us. Even though we downplayed the legal wedding, it held very special meaning for us. Since my mother is ill, we knew she would be unable to attend our wedding, but we were able to find a wonderful judge who went out of his way to help us, and got married at the nursing home in front of my mother! One of the major challenges of putting together a destination wedding is finding and working with your ideal vendors from afar. What wedding vendors did you use to put together this spectacular wedding? Photographer -- Taylor Jackson Florist -- The alter display was designed by the florist at ASP and all bouquets were made by mother and myself Wedding Coordinator -- Onsite Resort Coordinator Wedding Dress -- Pronovias Invitations -- VistaPrint You were an active member of BDW and created some great content. Could you please summarize (with hyperlinks) some of your best work for us? My DIY Fabric Luggage tags My Pre-Travel Brochure Kids Airplane Activity Booklet Miriam's Planning Journal Murmels Wedding Review at Azul Sensatori Your Wedding was absolutely beautiful! Your posts and reviews will be extrememely helpful to our new brides. Thank you for sharing your special day with us at BDW. Dear members, if you planned your wedding with the help of our community we would love to hear from you. Contact us at admin@BestDestinationWedding.com if you are interested in sharing your wedding experience with us. For more information here is the "BDW Real Weddings | Featured Wedding Submission Information Thread" Thanks! -
The Best Time for Your Beach Wedding Ceremony I have been doing Weddings and Events for over seven years here in Cancun and the Riviera Maya and most Weddings are outside, whether it's a beach location, a cenote, or a luxury garden. So, having that in mind, finding the best time for your outside wedding is crucial! Getting married on the beach may be a romantic way to start your new life. But the time for your ceremony in this location might represent some unique challenges. Here we’ll try to help you plan for your big day and start to think of some things you may not have considered yet: Most couples get married a few hours before sunset. I recommend scheduling your beach ceremony within an hour or so before sunset. Why? Here’s some things you might consider: Beautiful Photo Shoot: Most ceremonies last about 20 minutes. We suggest you have your beach wedding scheduled 1 and a half hours before the sun disappears so you’ll have at least 1 hour left for your photo shoot before it gets dark. Otherwise non welcome guests may show up…(mosquito time): When it’s getting too dark, mosquitos can become a problem and you will end up with multiple bites. Some options to get rid of this unwelcome guest can be citronella candles or providing repellent to your guests. Stay away from ponds, lakes and mangroves because they are very tiny little bugs called CHAQUISTES that actually bite you! So, it's as easy as that, keep in mind your photo session and how to get rid of the uninvited bugs during your ceremony and you will enjoy your moment just as you imagined! P.S. Worried about rain? That is a whole different subject... Rainy season and dry season, plus the crazy rains that shows up without notice, so make sure you always have a plan B ready to go! Throw me a question or a request, I will be more than happy to help you![/size] Regards Saku Our Sponsor Page on BDW
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Mexican Musical Choices Tips Chose the right band for your ceremony or dinner music! Please make sure when you hire Mariachi Bands that they are at least a 9 piece Band and authentically dressed. They must wear their full outfit so they look amazing. The attire of a mariachi group, called a "traje", consists of botines(or ankle boots), a sombrero(or broad-trimmed hats), a mono(or large bow tie), a chaleco(or short jacket), snug trousers without back pockets, a wide belt "cinto pitiado", and botonaduras(or shiny buttons) on the side of the pants. This will make your night even more memorable because most guests end up taking pictures with the sombreros and it is an enhanced experience! Insist of your wedding planner that they verify this for you. Check this Mariachi out, I threw in Luis Miguel as a bonus for you girls! Click here to watch the video. Also discover Trios for your musical entertainment. A Trio is a very romantic and an excellent choice for dinner music. This music is very famous in Mexico and if you would like to listen to what it is please check out Trio Los Panchos who are the best there ever was in Mexico on you tube click here to watch the video Either type of music group should cost you about 400 to 600 Dollars an hour for very good musicians. Thank you for reading my tip for today, for more free advice visit... www.martoca.com or email james@martoca.com Buena Suerte! Jimmy A few more Mariachi moments courtesy of del Sol Photography:
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Dressing Room Tips We really want to stress that this is YOUR day. We want to photograph any portion of the day that you feel warrants a photographer. We do love to photograph the bride getting ready as it is one of those many moments during the day that is filled with great emotions. The bride preparing for the biggest day of her relationship, full of excitement and butterflies in her stomach... This excitement is a very important piece of your wedding story. Normally, the bride feels most comfortable with only one photographer in her dressing room. The photographers goal is to mostly be invisible and let the girls prepare for the big day. Some important photos in the dressing room include 'details'. 'Details' refers to items that are a big part of the day. Things like the brides shoes, flowers, head piece, etc. These items often do not get enough attention and, in the end, are easily forgotten if not captured. Helpful Hints for your Dressing Room Some of this may be difficult to plan for your destination wedding but any efforts will definitely be reflected in your photographs! How to get good wedding photos in the dressing room: Have the cleaning service come to tidy your dressing room so it is made up when you return from your hair appointment. Have your girls clean up all the non-wedding related messes. Don't make the room look too neat; messes are ok, if they're wedding messes Empty shoe boxes and dress bags should be placed somewhere outside the dressing room. It looks wonderful to have all the dresses hanging and shoes lying around on the floor, but they look awful if they're still in the box, or if they have piles of plastic wrappers and cardboard boxes lying next to them. Cover up any ugly furniture with plain white drape cloth Light is extremely important: Choose a room with lots of space and natural light. Large North facing windows is the photographers dream come true. This type of room allows for a ton of soft natural light! Drapes should be open. If there is something distracting or unsightly that would be visible thru the open windows, place some light gauzy curtains over them to cut back on the view while still allowing light to come in. If you have no window light, get creative. Use lots of candles or little white Christmas lights around the room Shafts of sunlight streaming in the windows may look great to the human eyes, but that extreme level of brightness in an otherwise dark room is a photographers nightmare. If you must use a room with direct sun on the windows, use some curtains to diffuse it. Lincoln Lehmann http://momentsthatmatterphotography.com/ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Moments-that-Matter-Photography/18683524486
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You're invited to the Real Wedding of... Lauren & Anthony Wedding Details Bride Lauren Groom Anthony Wedding Date May 14, 2013 Location Vista Del Mondo, Spoleto, Italy Hometown Seminole, FL Pictures from Lauren & Anthony's destination wedding (click to enlarge): Why did you choose to have a destination wedding? We knew we wanted something different for our wedding ceremony, something that would give a true reflection of all the love, passion, and hard work the led to our accomplishment of our dreams together. Why did you choose your location? We chose Italy because it's a place we both have always wanted to visit...it's a place our families had always wanted to visit....and it was a great way to celebrate the end of our education. We had this vision to have a small ceremony in back of a Villa with our immediate family and loved ones in a place full of magic, surprise, love, and tradition for all of us to experience. What were your wedding colors and/or theme? No colors/theme. The backdrop of downtown Spoleto and mountains gave us all the theme we needed. Every wedding is special in its own right. What made your wedding unique? Anthony and I met 6 years ago in a undergrad course called Comparative Anatomy at the University of South Florida. First day of class, when he walked into the lab we locked eyes and there was this unexplainable attraction to each other. With different lab partners but the same table, the minute he started busting out Zoolander movie quotes, he caught my attention. I could go on and on about us but in summary, after a year of developing our friendship, we started dating. What makes this even more special, we both had aspirations of going to medical school. I had an average MCAT score which led to rejections year after year. During that time, he worked two jobs, went to interviews, got accepted into med schools but would pay money to defer for the following year in hopes that I too would get accepted. This went on for three years. During that time, I went onto get a masters degree in anatomy hoping to increased my chances while he continued to wait for me, having people ask him if he was nuts for not going, and working jobs to keep him afloat. Finally, I got accepted into one of the Caribbean medical schools, Ross University. He knew he had to make a decision. He could either stay in the U.S and do a more traditional route for med school or follow me. He took the chance and went with me to Ross University where we completed 16 months of our basic science education in Dominica, started clubs, gave back to the community through charity events or student government, came back to the U.S passing our boards....Now, after a total of 4 years, we graduate from medical school on June 14, 2013. There aren't enough words to express how special the ceremony turned out. Just to give you an idea, Anthony and I paid for a whole villa for the week, ceremony, etc. using our student loans. In summary, the only thing planned was the day May 14th and an itinerary that our wonderful property managers helped organized. Day of the wedding, rehearsal went on about an hour before the wedding, I met the priest for the first time at the altar, music had to be played from a car that was managed by our photographer. The whole thing was improvised, but I loved every minute of it. I kind of sat back and enjoyed watching everyone laugh and have a great time with the whole event. The ceremony was performed on the side of the villa with two gorgeous mountains on the sides with the view of the city down below. It was supposed to rain, 70% chance, but the weather turned out beautifully. Because the group was so small, 13 in total, everyone played a role. My husband's cousin walked me down the aisle to the music blasting from the rented Fiat. Everyone lined up like bridesmaids and groomsmen, facing the altar. Each person used one of my little brooches (it was part of my brooch bouquet) and put it on their blouse or suit pocket. It was the cutest thing to see when I walked up to the altar and saw all of them with one. After our ceremony was performed, we all had a toast, then we were led on foot through the streets of downtown Spoleto, with kind people shouting out congratulations, taking pictures, making us feel so loved and welcomed. A bonus: a movie was being filmed in one of the spots that we stopped to take pictures and everyone thought we were the movie stars. It was awesome. After we walked the streets, we ended the night with an incredible dinner served by a family that enjoys making dinners for special guests in back of her house. The meal was incredible. Everyone enjoyed all the different appetizers, drinks, meals, bread..all of it. And to top it off, she made us a wedding cake using the flavors and design we dreamed of but couldn't afford. She didn't charge a dime for the gorgeous cake, just gave it to us as a gift. I wish I could describe the amount of love that was shared amongst strangers, friends, family, everyone that day. One of the major challenges of putting together a destination wedding is finding and working with your ideal vendors from afar. What wedding vendors did you use to put together this spectacular wedding? Photographer: Brentwood Photography (https://www.facebook.com/BrentwoodPhotography?fref=ts) Florist: vaLori Fioristi (ask for Roberio) Wedding coordinator: Laurie and Norma Williams, Ioana Vescan Wedding dress designer: Bought on clearance at CCs Boutique in St. Pete: Madeline Gardner by Mori Lee Invitation company: look for groupon deals!!! Love Vistaprint.com Hair salon and make up: Isalo Your wedding was absolutely beautiful! Your posts and reviews will be extremely helpful to our new brides. Thank you for sharing you special day with us at BDW. Dear members, if you planned your wedding with the help of our community we would love to hear from you! Contact us at admin@BestDestinationWedding.com if you are interested in sharing your wedding experience with BDW. For more information here is the "BDW Real Weddings | Featured Wedding Submission Information Thread". Thanks! -
Priyanka and Cliff Get Married at Gran Caribe Real Cancun
alexisinjamaica posted a article in Real Weddings
You're invited to the Real Wedding of... Priyanka & Cliff Wedding Details Bride Priyanka (BDW user mizpriya) Groom Cliff Wedding Date April 23, 2013 Location Gran Caribe Real Cancun, Mexico Hometown Milton, Canada Pictures from Priyanka & Cliff's destination wedding (click to enlarge): Why did you choose to have a destination wedding? There were several reasons why we decided to do a destination wedding. Cost was the major factor. Our priority was not to spend a fortune on a beautiful wedding because we wanted to have a house and a home to live in before doing so. We bought our house before getting married and spending thousands of dollars on one day was not in our budget. Another reason we decided to go this route was because we saw how laid back weddings were for other couples who did destination weddings. I had been to 3 and Cliff had been to two of our friends. It was really inexpensive for them. Lastly, we have friends and family all over the world- people were coming from India, Singapore, Dubai, USA and all over Canada. It didn’t make sense to just have one day for the wedding to spend time with all these people who came from all over the map just for us. We wanted to ensure we were able to spend time with all of our guests…for some of us it was a reunion because we hadn’t seen each other in years. This was the perfect setting for all of us to connect and spend quality time by the beach just chilling and relaxing. Why did you choose your location? When we were researching resorts and venues for our wedding, there were a few things that were really important to us, and we really stressed this with our travel agent who was helping us find the perfect location. Number one was it had to be under $1500 (for flight and hotel stay) for those of us traveling from Canada since the majority of people were coming from here. For those who were coming from out of town, the cost was pretty decent for them as well- and the fact that so many people came from out of Canada is a true testament to that! Secondly, we wanted a small, intimate resort. We both had been to destination weddings where the resort was so big, it was hard to find people. And since our priority was to spend quality time with everyone, the smaller resorts were key to us. We also hated walking everywhere just to get somewhere! Lastly, we are big foodies, so good food was important to us. Gran Caribe Real Cancun was the ideal location as it met all of our requirements down to a T! What were your wedding colors and/or theme? We selected red and yellow for our colours. We were making our wedding website and we had a picked a theme from the templates we had and they had the colours red and yellow. I knew I wanted red as one of the colours- being half Indian, it is a colour you would see traditionally. And when we saw the template, we were just like “Oh, that’s a nice combination!” So it really was by fluke that we made that selection, but it worked out very nicely when we saw the pictures. It was quite unique as we had never seen anyone do that before. We also wanted to keep it very relaxed with the décor. We just played up with the beachy scenery and added seashells and burlap all over the place. Every wedding is special in its own right. What made your wedding unique? Our wedding was special because of all the small details that we put into it. We wanted to do unique things that had a lot of meaning for both of us. From the beginning stages of the wedding planning, we wanted to add our own touches that were not your cookie-cutter wedding details. We made our boarding pass invitations together as a couple. I designed it and personalized it according to our personalities. We wanted everything to reflect the love we shared with each other and spread it with the group. We wrote our own vows and even edited the script that the officiant read to suit our personalities. Our wedding was definitely not your traditional, run of the mill kind of wedding. I had a Man of Honor rather than a Maid of Honor. None of the groomsmen had boutonnières - just my Man of Honour. My bridesmaids had no bouquets, instead I made them red clutches to hold that had a flower on it and was personalized with their names on the inside. My Man of Honor was the ring bearer as well and he held the rings in a Mexican painted pottery that was filled with sand. We had no DJ. My best friend sang our first dance song. We had no mother-son, father-daughter dances. It was very simple and perfect for us. Even for the bouquet and garter toss…we had everyone get up to participate instead of just the single guys and girls. We wanted to have fun and make the day be a celebration of our love. AND we even had fire dancers at the wedding! No one in my group has ever had that so we thought we were pretty cool and special to be the first couple to do that for their wedding! One of the major challenges of putting together a destination wedding is finding and working with your ideal vendors from afar. What wedding vendors did you use to put together this spectacular wedding? Photographer: Tony di Lorenzo http://www.tonydilorenzo.ca/ Videography: Mike Cantarell Films http://www.mikecantarellfilms.com/ Wedding Coordinator: Elsa Torres (email correspondence) and Flora de la Garza (onsite coordinator) from Gran Caribe Real Wedding Dress: Elizabeth Stuart Discount Bridal store (Mississauga) Save the Date invitation: made by a friend who happens to be a graphic designer Invitations: materials bought from Michaels, dollar stores and ebay Groom and Groomsmen: Linen Shirts from Express; Linen pants from Old Navy Custom Clutches for Bridesmaids: Etsy (CordesCreations) Custom Bridesmaid Hoodies: hoodies and iron on came from Ebay Man of Honor Custom Shirt: Etsy (CustomTeesForTots) Custom Guestbook Poster: Etsy (InkedMemories) Custom Hanger for Wedding Dress: Etsy (Inspiredbykenadi) Rings: For Her- from Charm Diamond Centres; For Him – can’t remember the store name but it was in Pacific Mall (Tungsten and Carbon Fiber ring) Flower Bouquet & Boutonnieres: Renata K. in Brampton Your wedding was absolutely beautiful! Your posts and reviews will be extremely helpful to our new brides. Thank you for sharing you special day with us at BDW. Dear members, if you planned your wedding with the help of our community we would love to hear from you! Contact us at admin@BestDestinationWedding.com if you are interested in sharing your wedding experience with BDW. For more information here is the "BDW Real Weddings | Featured Wedding Submission Information Thread". Thanks! -
You're invited to the Real Wedding of... Andrea & David Wedding Details Bride Andrea Novella Groom David Nanni Wedding Date March 14, 2013 Location The Gazebo at Cinnamon Hill Golf Course - Rose Hall Development- Rose Hall, Jamaica Hometown Andrea: Guatemala originally, living in NYC. Dave: Montreal originally, living in Miami Pictures from Andrea & David's destination wedding (click to enlarge): Why did you choose to have a destination wedding? It was so hard trying to choose where to have our wedding since our friends and family are spread out all over the world. So our first motivation for a destination wedding was choosing a place accessible to everyone easily. Secondly, we wanted to do something different. For us, a destination wedding was not just a one day or night event, it was a week-long experience. We wanted it to be memorable and for everyone to have a great time, and extend the celebrations for longer! We decided to do a cruise wedding because we met through our work in the cruise industry and thought it would be a fun, different option. Because food is included, we figured it would also be an affordable option as well (we looked into all inclusive resorts in Mexico, but pricewise it was better to go with the cruise). Why did you choose your location? Originally we were going to get married at Labadee, the private peninsula on Haiti that belongs to Royal Caribbean. However, my dream wedding had the ocean in the background and a gorgeous gazebo/huppah. Labadee was limited in terms of venues and didn't offer all of the infrastructure that Jamaica did. In order to have the wedding I dreamed of, I had to sacrifice the date 3.13.13 to have it in Jamaica. What were your wedding colors and/or theme? Shades of turquoise, with yellow and red accents. The theme was beach wedding: Sanddollars, starfish, and seashells. All our flowers were orchids. Every wedding is special in its own right. What made your wedding unique? We made OOT bags for our guests that featured sunglasses, starfish earrings, personalized water bottles, mini toiletries kit, a survival kit (e-boost, advil, alka setlzer, tylenol, bandaids, etc)., sunscreen, antibacterial gel, and more. They also had a bottle of their favorite liquor. They were delivered to each stateroom on the first day. Our first event was a meet-and-greet at the Champagne Lounge, where we toasted with bubbly. Then we headed to Johnny Rocket's for a fun dinner that ended with us dancing along with the waiters to oldies songs. The second night, we had a bachelor and bachelorette party. My husband had to walk around all night wearing a prisoners outfit and a Mullet. I got off easy, and just had to wear a sash and a cowboy hat with a veil. After going around separately and doing a variety of "dares", both groups met up in the nightclub. On the third day, we stopped at Labadee, where we had our TTD photoshoot. My husband and his friends hung out at the cabanas, while I went jetskiing with my sisters and mom. Other guests did tours around the island. The actual wedding was in Jamaica. We hired two buses to take everyone to an area on the Cinammon Hill Golf course at Rose Hall, overlooking the water. You could hear the waves crashing softly in the background, and the canopy perfectly framed the beach behind it. Guests were greeted with iced coconut water and cold, lemongrass scented towels. I walked down the aisle with my brother to an instrumental version of Bruno Mars' Just the Way you are. Our music for the ceremony was a mix of everything from Claire De Lune to Debussy for the Sand Ceremony (Claire De Lune in honor of my grandmother who passed away) to Happy by the Rolling stones for the bridesmaids (my husband's favorite). We wrote our own ceremony, which included traditions from both religions and cultures (Catholicism and Judaism as well as Latin and Italian). We included all our family in the ceremony at different points. His best friend was ordained as a minister and was our officiant. Our mothers did the Sand Ceremony, our close friends who have been married 40 years were the "godparents" (also a Hispanic tradition) and put the lasso around us. His stepfather was the arras bearer, which were made of jade coins engraved with the thirteen sacraments of marriage. My stepfather did a reading of Song of Solomon, his stepmother did a reading of the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. My sisters read the 7 Jewish blessings in Hebrew, and his brother (the best man) did it in English. Both his parents walked my husband down the aisle. His childhood friend's baby was the ringbearer, and father and son, holding a "pillow" made of a seashell, took it around for everyone to touch and bless the rings. To end the ceremony, my husband broke a glass. After the ceremony, we had a cocktail under the Gazebo. We made a pitstop at Scotchie's (a local spot) on the way back to the ship, and all relaxed drinking Red Stripe beer, ting soda, and eating jerk pork and festivals. A few hours later, we had a cocktail at the Olive or Twist Lounge, which was decorated with crystals and rose petals. Where we had our first dance. It started off as a Waltz to Norah Jones Come away With Me, and midway turned into a salsa to the Gypsy Kings Volare. Two of the dancers from the ship had helped us with some lessons and choreographing the routine. We went to dinner at Portofino, an Italian restaurant, where we enjoyed as appetizers: shrimp risotto, tuna carpaccio, and antipasto. Mains were an option of filet, lobster/scallop skewers or rack of lamb with sides of mushroom papardelle and caesar salad. Dessert was tartufo de cioccolato or tiramisu, as well as wedding cake and "bomboniere", little sating bags with jordan almonds inside. We were not ready for the night to end so we went to bolero's Latin Club, where my husband and I danced again (everybody cleared the dance floor) and practiced our new salsa moves. After the bar closed around 2am, we headed over to The Catacombs, the nightclub, and danced until 5 in the morning. One of the major challenges of putting together a destination wedding is finding and working with your ideal vendors from afar. What wedding vendors did you use to put together this spectacular wedding? Canopy/floral/and other ceremony decor: Rose Hall Development Wedding Coordinator: O'Neisha Brown Ceremony Dress: Vera Wang Reception Dress: Rosa Clara Trash the Dress Dress: DH Gate Mini-book picture invitations: Minted Photography: Image Photography (onboard Royal Caribbean) Ship: Liberty of the Seas Your wedding was absolutely beautiful! Your posts and reviews will be extremely helpful to our new brides. Thank you for sharing you special day with us at BDW. Dear members, if you planned your wedding with the help of our community we would love to hear from you! Contact us at admin@BestDestinationWedding.com if you are interested in sharing your wedding experience with BDW. For more information here is the "BDW Real Weddings | Featured Wedding Submission Information Thread". Thanks! -
Phoebe & Jonathan were married on 6/28/2012 Phoebe (MrsElephant) used the BDW Community to bring her destination wedding to life. Phoebe gives back to the BDW Community as she kindly shares the details of her perfect day in the interview below. Wedding Profile The Bride Phoebe The Groom Jonathan Hometown Toronto, Canada Wedding Date June 28, 2012 Wedding Location Miskawaan Estate, Villa Lotus, Koh Samui, Thailand Why did you choose to have a destination wedding? We always knew we wanted an intimate wedding on a beach somewhere. Our families are from all over the world so everyone would have to fly somewhere anyway. We liked the idea of a mini vacation for our family and closest friends and while they witness our union. We were able to convince our parents that we would still incorporate Chinese traditions in a nontraditional setting. We didn't want to sacrifice the experience of the tea ceremony so we were prepared to bring everything we needed for that no matter where we chose as our destination. In the end, the wedding turned out perfectly and everyone enjoyed their little getaway too. Why did you choose your location? We were looking for a beautiful venue on a quiet beach and Miskawaan was just that! We rented 2 adjacent villas and my guests stayed with me in one while my husband's stayed with him at the other. We were not allowed to see each other the night before the wedding, so being able to have our own "homes" meant we didn't have to spend our last night single hiding in our rooms to avoid bumping into each other. Plus it was nice to spend an evening catching up with family and friends who all flew all the way to Thailand for us and haven't seen in a long time. What were your wedding colors and/or theme? We had different colour themes for different aspects of our wedding day. For the tea ceremony, it was the traditional lucky China red. We brought different red decorations and red lanterns with us to Thailand. Our wedding attire was red and my traditional wedding dress had gold and silver thread embroideries of dragons and phoenixes. Since the morning was going to be about everything red, we wanted to switch to a white theme for the beach ceremony to compliment the beautiful natural surrounding. Some brides mind other guests wearing white on the wedding day, but I didn't mind at all. We had a small guest list of 24 including bride and groom. To me, every single guest there was just as special as the bride. Besides, wearing white makes everybody more comfortable under the heat of the sun! As for the reception, I had really wanted to bring paper lanterns to decorate the reception space. I didn't want to do red, and it's unlucky to hang white lanterns according to Chinese culture. In the end we decided pink, to match the pink wedding dress my moth er wore on her wedding day that I was going to wear for the reception. Every wedding is special in its own right. What made your wedding unique? I think every wedding is special in their own way but what made my wedding different from the weddings I've been to or seen on this site is our special guest - the elephant! My husband's entrance on the elephant was really awesome. My husband loves cars, but after the wedding he told me that riding in on the elephant was cooler than arriving in any exotic car! Photos with our enormous new friend also turned out awesome, so our experience with her is truly unforgettable. What makes our relationship special is that we spent 6 of the 8 years of our relationship long distance. Long distance isn't a 2 hour drive long, but a 16 hour flight LOOOONG! We saw each other 1 to 3 times a year for a maximum of 10 days. Many have asked us how we did it, and I really have no idea! It took lots of love and trust, and more love and trust. It wasn't easy waking up when he was about to go to bed, but I'm so glad we made it. Now we have the rest of our lives to be together! One of the major challenges of putting together a destination wedding is finding and working with your ideal vendors from afar. What wedding vendors did you use to put together this spectacular wedding? Photographer -- Matt and Sol from Del Sol Wedding Coordinator -- Faraway Weddings based in Koh Samui, Thailand Wedding Dress --ME! I am not a dress designer but I had dress ideas in my head and had them custom made You were an active member of BDW and created some great content. Could you please summarize (with hyperlinks) some of your best work for us? Mrs. Elephant's Dream Wedding Photos FOR SALE: Mrs. Elephant's Gorgeous Rose Dress FOR SALE: Mrs. Elephant's Custom Wedding Dress FOR SALE: Mrs. Elephant's Red Silk Cheongsam Dress for Tea Ceremony FOR SALE: Mrs. Elephant's White Wedding Dress for TTD Here are more photos from Phoebe & Jonathan's wedding: Your Wedding was absolutely beautiful! Your posts and reviews will be extrememely helpful to our new brides. Thank you for sharing your special day with us at BDW. Dear members, if you planned your wedding with the help of our community we would love to hear from you. Contact us at admin@BestDestinationWedding.com if you are interested in sharing your wedding experience with us. For more information here is the "BDW Real Weddings | Featured Wedding Submission Information Thread" Thanks! -
Erica and Al's Carnival Cruise Wedding Erica and Al were wed on April 3, 2012. Erica, username acireta, used the BDW Community to bring her destination wedding to life. Erica gives back to the BDW Community as she kindly shares the details of her perfect day in an interview below. Wedding Profile The Bride Erica Taffs The Groom Al Kruse Hometown Downers Grove, IL Wedding Date April 3, 2012 Wedding Locations Shoreside wedding during Carnival Liberty Eastern Caribbean cruise Ceremony at Limetree Beach, St. Thomas, USVI; Reception at Iggie’s Beach Bar, Bolongo Bay Beach Resort, St. Thomas, USVI. Why did you choose to have a destination wedding? We both have huge families and have been to a lot of local weddings in the past few years, so we chose a destination wedding to keep costs down and to try something a little different from other family weddings. Having our wedding during a Caribbean cruise was the best option for us to (affordable) get to see a lot of places in a short amount of time with lots of things to see and try! Why did you choose your location? When we had been dating for a few months, we started joking about how someday we’d get married on St. Thomas. “St. Thomas” became a secret phrase for us that we would say when we wanted to secretly communicate with each other, often when someone would ask us about our future plans for getting married. When the time came to plan, we decided we wanted to do a cruise that stopped on St. Thomas instead of spending a week on the island. When it came time to choose a ceremony location, we wanted a quiet private beach, and Limetree Beach fit the bill perfectly – shade, sand, privacy, affordable site fee. We wanted a very casual venue for the reception, a place where we could spend plenty of time with our guests, especially those that weren’t cruising with us. Iggie’s Beach Bar at Bolongo Bay Resort was a perfect fit for us. Guests ordered what they wanted off the menu, they set aside a whole open-air area of the restaurant for us and let us stay all day, the service was relaxed but attentive and quick, and the food was delicious! What were your wedding colors and/or theme? Our colors were Malibu blue, black and white. We wanted a minimalistic feel, with plenty of beach and tropical elements thrown in. We used palm trees on our monogram and stationery. Every wedding is special in its own right. What made your wedding unique? I did a TON of DIY stuff for our wedding – budgets, checklists, monograms, invitations, OOT bags, bouquets, boutonnieres, ceremony details. I obsessed over details for 15 months, but on the wedding day, I was able to sit back, relax and just let everything happen. It was a perfect day! Throughout the whole planning process, Al was wonderful and supportive. If there was something he felt strongly about, he spoke up. I ran everything by him all the time to make sure we were on the same page with our vision of the wedding. In the end, it truly was OUR wedding, not MY wedding, which was very important to me from the beginning. One of the major challenges of putting together a destination wedding is finding and working with your ideal vendors from afar. What wedding vendors did you use to put together this spectacular wedding? Travel Agent – Patty Jordan (aka TA Patty), Wright Travel Agency Wedding Coordinator – Janelle Scott of Island Bliss Weddings Officiant – Stuart Scott Photographer – Eric Johnson of Paradise Pictures Ceremony Location – Limetree Beach Lunch Reception Venue – Iggie’s Beach Bar at Bolongo Bay Beach Resort Wedding Dress – Enzoani “Fabi” Clutch – David’s Bridal Jewelry – Etsy seller ElegantChicJewels Hair flower – Etsy seller EnchantedlyYours Groom’s and Groomsmen’s shirt – Kohl’s Groom’s and Groomsmen’s pants – Old Navy Bridesmaids’ dresses – David’s Bridal Ring shell – Hanson Ellis Rings – Michael Hill Jewelers You were an active member of BDW and created some great content. Could you please summarize (with hyperlinks) some of your best work for us? Erica's Wedding Planning Journal Erica & Al's Wedding and At-Home-Reception Pics Erica's DIY Boarding Pass Invitations for Cruise Weddings DIY Pre-Trip Package: Passport, Packing List & Luggage Tags Erica's OOT Bags Your Wedding was absolutely beautiful! Your posts and reviews will be extremely helpful to our new brides. Thank you for sharing your special day with us at BDW. Dear members, if you planned your wedding with the help of our community we would love to hear from you. Contact us at admin@BestDestinationWedding.com if you are interested in sharing your wedding experience with us. For more information here is the "BDW Real Weddings | Featured Wedding Submission Information Thread" Thanks!
