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I cannot believe we are less than 3 months away from our destination wedding at Now Jade Resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico! The planning has gone by so quickly!! I am finally beginning to feel like I have a lot accomplished, until I look at this site then I feel behind again! Ha-ha! HOW WE MET Christopher and I met in the fall of 2006, when I started as a sophomore in high school. I was 15 and Christopher was 17, a junior in high school. We met one night cosmic bowling with mutual friends at the Bowling Lanes. A mutual friend, Slade, gave us each other’s numbers and we have been inseparable ever since. We officially starting dating on December 3rd, 2006, so this December will mark 8 years together as a couple! OUR ENGAGEMENT When it happened: Saturday, June 15, 2013 I woke up to a note and a bouquet of flowers sitting on the island in their kitchen. The note read "Kacie, Good Morning Sweetheart! As you can see I did get that switch to the day light shift. Please do not make any plans for this afternoon! All I can tell you is to sit back, relax, and wait for further instructions. Love Always, Christopher" Then I received a phone call from Christopher around 2 P.M. and he told her to go downstairs and look in the laundry room cabinet. Another note was placed there with a rose. The note read "Kacie, Hope you had a relaxing morning. This note is to inform you that you should pack an overnight bag with clothes and toiletries for the Pittsburgh area. Once again, after you have that finished sit back, relax, and wait for further instructions. Love Always, Christopher" I thought that, that was the last note and he was going to meet me at home and take me out to Pittsburgh for the night but that wasn't the case. Christopher then called again shortly after 5 P.M. to tell me to go out to the shed and look down to my left. Here I found yet another note! The note read "Kacie, This is the final note for the day. By now you should be all packed up, relaxed, and ready for the Burgh. Now comes the test! Come find me. Do not cheat and use your phone! You should know this; meet me where we first met, leave now! Hurry, Hurry, Hurry! Time is of the essence! Love Always, Christopher" I then drove to the Bowling Lanes where Christopher got down on one knee and proposed. I said 'Yes!' and now we are planning a destination wedding! THE RING The diamond is actually the center diamond to my grandmother’s ring. Chris had me pick out the setting to set the diamond in since it had such a special meaning. This is what I picked; it was designed especially for us! The picture has the wedding band on as well! I love it! NOW JADE RESORT The hardest part of the planning process was picking my resort. My sister got married at Dreams Palm Beach in Punta Cana in 2011, and it was gorgeous! That is when I knew that I was going to have a destination wedding, as well. However, that also means the pressure was on for mine to be just as nice! So, I did a lot of research on the price, location, wedding services, and I came upon Now Jade and fell in love! As you all know, there are so many conflicting reviews about every resort! It is so challenging to go with one without visiting, when my sister picked hers she was never there before and I found that to be crazy but then I did the same! My fiancé and I did, however, visit Now Jade in November 2013, after we already had around 60 people booked! We loved the resort and were very happy about our choice, luckily! The food was amazing, the beach was gorgeous, the pools were awesome, the bars were great, and the rooms were really nice! My biggest concern was food because at Dreams in Punta Cana a lot of her guests got sick, including me, and I didn't want that to happen at my wedding. Although, I am sure someone will have some complaints, they always do! In addition to the great food, I loved the garden area for our reception, and the beach for the ceremony! TRAVEL AGENT We choose the local travel agent that works with Apple Vacations, who also did my sister’s wedding. The rates we got for direct flight, round trip airport transfers to the hotel, and hotel were $1449 per person for 7 nights! I also had an option of 5 days, 4 nights for $1049 per person, which I thought were both very affordable rates for the package! Children under 12 were about $200 less on each package. We have filled all the spots that we had held for guests which bring us to about 80 guests! ASKING OUR WEDDING PARTY We simply sent these cards in the mail to our bridal party and most of them called to respond or sent us a text accepting! We had one groomsmen so far that informed us after he accepted that he could no longer make it and I believe that deserves great respect because a lot of people would just avoid you and not tell you until it was too late, but I respect him for giving us a great amount of time to ask another person. TO THE GROOMSMEN: Pack up your bags, Let’s head to the beach. Have a drink and some sunscreen, Well within reach. The crystal blue waters, The warm Mexican sun. A wedding in paradise, A week full of fun. In just eleven short months, I’ll be marrying my bride. Nothing would make me happier, Than to have you by my side. -Chris TO THE BRIDESMAIDS: Pack up your bags, Let’s head to the beach. Have a drink and some sunscreen, Well within reach. The crystal blue waters, The warm Mexican sun. A wedding in paradise, A week full of fun. In just eleven short months, I'll be a "destination" bride. Nothing would make me happier, Than to have you by my side. Love, Kacie TO THE FLOWER GIRLS: Your uncle and I, Would love to have you by our side. Under the Caribbean sky, you would lead the way for me, the bride! Will you be our flower girl? Love, Kacie and Uncle Christopher TO THE RING BEARERS: At my wedding, under the Mexican sun. I have a BIG & IMPORTANT, job that needs done. And I think you're JUST the big guy to do it! Will you be my ring bearer? Love, Uncle Christopher and Kacie ENGAGEMENT PICTURES We hired Jessica Fike; she serves West Virginia, Maryland, and Southwestern Pennsylvania. http://www.jessicafikephotography.com/ Here are some of our favorites! SAVE THE DATES We ordered our save the dates from Magnetstreet.com, here’s the link to the one’s we got. They are magnets and they are great quality! http://www.magnetstreet.com/devoted-save-the-date-magnets MY ACCESSORIES I ordered this clip for my hair on Etsy! I love it! It matches the lace detail on my dress perfect! I got these barefoot sandals for the ceremony and then I am going to change into flip flops for the reception in the garden. My earrings are borrowed from my sister; she had ordered them for her wedding and did not wear them. The garter also came from Etsy, again with the lace detail. I also ordered a hanger for my dress on Etsy. This is the inspiration for my hair! MY BRIDESMAID DRESSES I chose four different dresses by Mori Lee for my 9 bridesmaids. I left them pick the one that they wanted out of all four, it came out fairly even. I picked the Turquoise color but it is darker than normal turquoise and more elegant looking, in my opinion! FLOWER GIRL DRESSES We ordered these from Etsy. We have 3 flower girls, two are 5 and one is going to be 8 months old. We thought this would be adorable for all of them. These are bags that the flower girls will carry petals in, also from Etsy. GROOM AND GROOMSMEN ATTIRE We ordered the their outfits from Island Importers. I went with the natural colored pants and ivory linen shirts, and the Groom will be wearing a jacket over his shirt so that he stands out from the group. http://www.islandimporter.com/Grooms_Outfits/ WEDDING INVITATION Below is a link to the design we used, I received so many samples from many different websites before deciding to use this one! I am very happy with my choice, it is a beautiful invitation and I got it at a pretty decent price with coupon codes. I would highly recommend ordering samples of invitations because they always send coupons for future orders, and if you are inviting a lot of people, it’s a great discount! http://www.magnetstreet.com/details/market/517/productId/50949?colors=i%3AAAAYh0kUABFkJCoAAAAYpAAPZAAAYSkcAAAYhAAAAAAAAAcC%3A Here’s what ours looks like! OOT BAGS We got bags at Silk Letter and tumbler Cups at Silk Letter and they are both great quality! I didn’t really have a ‘logo’ like some brides do; I just went with a palm tree and our names. The bags are good quality for the beach and we went with the natural color just in case if it would get wet the water wouldn’t make the color fade. The cups are a lighter plastic then normal tumbler cups, but they seem pretty durable and the lids snap on instead of screw on, so they are really easy to use because I always have trouble with the screw on lids working correctly. https://www.silkletter.com/bags/tote-bags/imprinted-colored-cotton-tote-bag.html I got 55 bags for $187.55 and 55 cups for $303.95. We ordered different cups and bags for our wedding party. https://www.silkletter.com/drinkware/travel-cups-mugs-1/plastic-travel-mugs-tumblers/custom-logo-16-oz-economy-double-wall-tumbler.html Also, in the bags we are putting a note in the cups, shown below, with our favorite drinks. I thought it was an inexpensive personal touch! A lip balm, with 15 SPF is also in each of the cups. I got the lip balm from The Knot. http://weddingshop.theknot.com/personalized-lip-balm-tube-favors.aspx Luggage tags were placed on the handles of the bags, as well. For couples, I just did one bag with two cups and an extra luggage tag inside, because I figured most men won’t use a bag. I ordered the luggage tags from: http://www.specialistid.com/Rigid_Plastic_Luggage_Tag_Holder_p/1840-620x.htm I got the clear ones, they came with the address side of the tag and I ordered Avery labels to put our ‘logo’ on the opposite side, as shown here. The Avery labels I used were: Avery Name Badge Inserts, 2.25 x 3.5 Inches, Box of 400 (05390). I will attach the format I used to print these. I went with black and white to stay neutral and not too flashy. I got the labels on Amazon for $14.99 and I got 85 luggage tag holders for $59.56. So I spent $0.88 per luggage tag, which was great! For new travelers I provided a brochure from Vistaprint, they turned out nice, and they also come folded, if you are wondering! If you want the info in a word document I have it, just ask! I ordered 100 and they were $42.40, with a coupon. We are giving these the guests at our couple’s bridal shower two weeks before departure, to save us the hassle of transporting all that stuff to the resort. BRIDESMAID GIFTS The bridesmaids will each be getting a personalized beach bag, their earrings for the wedding, a personalized tumbler, their updo for the wedding paid for, and a credit towards their vacation. I made the box decorations with my cricut. GROOMSMEN GIFTS The groomsmen will be getting their attire for the wedding, an OOT bag, a personalized cup, a bottle of tequila, and the underage groomsmen and ushers are getting a multi-tool pocket knife. FLOWER GIRL GIFTS The flower girls are getting personalized beach towels, a pearl bracelet, their flower girl dress, and personalized cups. Here's a link to the personalized towels: http://gifts.personalcreations.com/flowers/Kids-Name-MicroFiber-Beach-Towel-30076444?viewpos=3&trackingpgroup=psektwl RING BEARER GIFTS The Ring Bearers are getting personalized camouflage backpacks, their wedding attire, and a personalized cup. (Photo Above) PARENTS GIFTS I got the women (my mom, his mom, and his grandma) a necklace, personalized cup, and personalized bag. Our dads are getting handkerchiefs from etsy and personalized cups that match the Groomsmen. SPECIAL GIFTS We only have 2 Aunts and 2 Uncles coming so we wanted to give them something special so I made these cups with the help of my cricut! FLOWERS This is my inspiration for the flowers at the wedding! CEREMONY LOCATION The Beach! I am using this photo as inspiration to how I want the chairs to look for the ceremony. CEREMONY DÉCOR I ordered this starfish garland from Etsy for the ceremony. Also, I have a sand ceremony kit I ordered online, they have the same one at Michael’s for much more. CEREMONY PROGRAMS I am getting ceremony programs that are fans, and they came assembled from Magnet Street that matches our invitation. CHAIR SASH AND TABLE OVERLAYS Instead of worrying about if the colors were going to match or if they will have enough I went ahead and ordered sashes and table overlays to take with us. The color we are using for the girls dresses is unique but I found it on Wedding Linens Direct. http://weddinglinensdirect.com/8xorsaol.html http://weddinglinensdirect.com/ortaovja1.html These will cost much less then renting the chair sashes for $4 each and $15 for the table covers! TABLE NUMBERS Since Chris and I have been together for a little more than 7 years and we are having 7 tables at our reception I decide to put a picture of us from that year in our relationship coordinating with the table. I ordered these Tolsby picture frames on eBay for the table numbers, and used my cricut to put numbers on the bases. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30151035/ RECEPTION DÉCOR We got dinner napkins to add some color without paying $4 a napkin, we are still going to use the plain white napkins provided as well. Our guest book was made on Shutterfly using our engagement pictures. I am not completely sure on what we are using for a seating chart or escort cards yet. I will probably do a starfish with a ribbon and a tag that says their name and table number. Also, this adorable cake topper! SIGNATURE DRINKS We are having a Signature drink for the reception and the cocktail hour. The cocktail hour signature drink will be the Something Blue and the receptions will be a Blue Hawaiian. PHOTOGRAPHY We are hiring Del Sol Photography for our wedding and reception and the resort is letting us use our photography credit for a Trash the Dress! Del Sol is AMAZING, I can’t wait to work with them! Here’s a link to Del Sol’s site! http://delsolphotography.com/category/weddings/ VIDEOGRAPHY We hired Cancun Wedding Video’s Mike Cantarell, he has a great reputation among brides on here as well! http://cancunweddingvideo.com/index01.php (more planning to come!)

Hello! I am planning a destination wedding in Mexico for end of April 2015. That's pretty much as far as I've gotten with the wedding planning. I got engaged last week and i'm already stressing on how to start this process. I want to give my guests as much notice as possible so that they cant start saving. I live in Kitchener, Ontario and I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good travel agent that they trust? Also, I have family that would be flying from different countries, has anyone gone about planning something like this? I have about 5 people flying from Guatemala and about 6 flying from the US. It would be nice to get an idea of the logistics of how this would work. Thank you in advance to anyone who replies, any and all information is appreciated!

Sometimes it is very hard to calculate the overall cost of wedding planning. Your money is distributed over many different vendors and shops, so it is hard to keep track of the innumerable expenses. If you want to keep track for you’re spending, than planning is essential to maintain your budget and decide where you need to cut costs. These tips can light you the right way to saving money on wedding planning. Off-season wedding- Plan your wedding in off-season will help to save 10-20% off your whole wedding expenses. November or January through March is not in high in demands as some of the summer months and often it is bit cheaper. These are not more suitable months for an outdoor ceremony. But you will get good opportunities either you can save large cash or go with higher-tier vendors for the same amount that you were going to originally spend. Supply and Demand- Try to schedule your wedding day both Friday and Sunday because Saturday is popular day for wedding so it is so expensive or posh day. By choosing the wedding venue intelligently can be helpful to save some money and it can be largest money saver for your wedding planning. You can also save more by choosing the non-traditional wedding venues that do not charge as much as your standard reception hall like long island wedding venues, country club or restaurant. In non-traditional wedding government buildings, museums, parks, and gardens fall under this category and these are equally amazing than a typical wedding reception venue. Food And Beverage Bargains – Take estimates on the prices of buffet dinner and sit-down dinner serving from the caterer before you hire one or the other. Go for lunch option instead of dinner reception which will save huge because lunch prices are based on smaller portion sizes will also save the costs of alcohol cause of take less alcohol in evening rather than evening. Best to avoid the traditional, pricey seafood. Not only is cultural food trendy also pocketbook friendly. Cut the list of dishes you serve, Rather than serving so many courses, display your guests with either a salad or an appetizer, and serve wedding cake for dessert. Cheap decoration ideas- Try to choose wedding locations that don’t require additional decorations like museums or botanical gardens which are available for a small fee. Decide you’re wedding around the holidays, because that time church’s and reception venues are already decorated for the occasion. Use the house linens, potted plants, candles, and frames at the hotel, restaurant or catering hall where your wedding is being held rather than spending so much money to rent special tablecloths, floral arrangements. Find the look for less- Try to choose the discounted or sample-gown racks at bridal shops and department stores for is one of kind bargains, also explore consignment stores and internet sites for word dresses, or brand-new gowns that never made it to alter and wear your mother’s dress. Order a bridesmaid dress in white or ivory because there are plenty of beautiful styles out there. You'll end up with an elegant look for a fraction of the cost of a bridal gown.

Sometimes it is very hard to calculate the overall cost of wedding planning. Your money is distributed over many different vendors and shops, so it is hard to keep track of the innumerable expenses. If you want to keep track for you’re spending, than planning is essential to maintain your budget and decide where you need to cut costs. These tips can light you the right way to saving money on wedding planning. 1. Off-season wedding- Plan your wedding in off-season will help to save 10-20% off your whole wedding expenses. November or January through March is not in high in demands as some of the summer months and often it is bit cheaper. These are not more suitable months for an outdoor ceremony. But you will get good opportunities either you can save large cash or go with higher-tier vendors for the same amount that you were going to originally spend. 2.Supply and Demand- Try to schedule your wedding day both Friday and Sunday because Saturday is popular day for wedding so it is so expensive or posh day. By choosing the wedding venue intelligently can be helpful to save some money and it can be largest money saver for your wedding planning. You can also save more by choosing the non-traditional wedding venues that do not charge as much as your standard reception hall like long island wedding venues, country club or restaurant. In non-traditional wedding government buildings, museums, parks, and gardens fall under this category and these are equally amazing than a typical wedding reception venue. 3. Food And Beverage Bargains – Take estimates on the prices of buffet dinner and sit-down dinner serving from the caterer before you hire one or the other. Go for lunch option instead of dinner reception which will save huge because lunch prices are based on smaller portion sizes will also save the costs of alcohol cause of take less alcohol in evening rather than evening. Best to avoid the traditional, pricey seafood. Not only is cultural food trendy also pocketbook friendly. Cut the list of dishes you serve, Rather than serving so many courses, display your guests with either a salad or an appetizer, and serve wedding cake for dessert. 4.Cheap decoration ideas- Try to choose wedding locations that don’t require additional decorations like museums or botanical gardens which are available for a small fee. Decide you’re wedding around the holidays, because that time church’s and reception venues are already decorated for the occasion. Use the house linens, potted plants, candles, and frames at the hotel, restaurant or catering hall where your wedding is being held rather than spending so much money to rent special tablecloths, floral arrangements. 5. Find the look for less- Try to choose the discounted or sample-gown racks at bridal shops and department stores for is one of kind bargains, also explore consignment stores and internet sites for word dresses, or brand-new gowns that never made it to alter and wear your mother’s dress. Order a bridesmaid dress in white or ivory because there are plenty of beautiful styles out there. You'll end up with an elegant look for a fraction of the cost of a bridal gown.

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.

Hello Ladies! I'm planning for my April 2015 wedding and in the process of narrowing down my top resorts in the DR (Punta Cana) and wanted to see if anyone has any particular recommendations or feedback they can provide regarding the "best" resorts and family-friendly as well, since we will have children attending our wedding too. I've been looking at a TON of resorts and really seem to like the Paradisus Palma Real & Punta Cana, Majestic Colonial & Elegance, Dreams Palm Breach, Sanctuary Cap Cana and NOW Larimar. Has anyone recently gotten married at any of these resorts or looking into them as well? I'd also be open to suggestions for any other resorts not mentioned too, since I'm still pretty early in the process of narrowing down my "top picks" and recommendations, feedback, etc. is always a huge plus. I'd also really like to be married on the beach and have our reception elsewhere (inside on "solid ground') as we don't want guests to have to worry about walking around in the sand at dinner. I ideally would love to have the reception in an area with an inside and outside, so guests can be in the AC and out in the fresh air as they choose. I have found a few places that seem to offer this, yet it's always so hard to tell from the pictures and the responses sometimes are a bit vague from the WC's. It's also a little bit difficult since we do have quite a large guest list (about 275) and know for sure that we will have at least 50 people attending (our closest friends and family) and possibly 100-150, but I really think we may only end up with 80-100 in total, although you never know for sure! So we're somewhat limited in choosing locations that only allow for a smaller number of people. I may ask guests to RSVP sooner rather than later, so I know for sure. Another concern of mine is privacy. I know getting married on the beach isn't generally all too private, yet if anyone is aware of resorts that offer more privacy for a beach ceremony, I'd greatly appreciate it! Also, I'll be reserving a private area for the reception to ensure we won't have any "unwanted" guests crashing the wedding. I'm open to suggestions and recommendations for the reception area as well, so feel free to send them on over! It'd also be a huge plus to find a place that has great food too... not just average. However, I know this varies from person to person. I,saw a few posts where people mentioned getting sick. I'm not sure if it was from the food or what, but that definitely scares me quite a bit, since it would really put a damper on my wedding day. Has anyone experienced getting sick themselves or any guests not feeling well? Some of the reviews were a few years old so I'm hoping things have improved at those resorts since then, yet you never really know. Any feedback, suggestions, recommendations, pictures, etc. would be a HUGE help and GREATLY appreciated as this process of narrowing down the resorts is pretty overwhelming for sure!! THANKS SO MUCH!!

Hello all and Congrats! When I knew I was going to have a destination wedding, I decided I would create a blog to capture my feelings, share ideas, and have documentation of my 1 year planning process. It's an exciting time and I'm really sentimental so I figured it was a good idea. I really did have good intentions. Unfortunately, I didn't realize how much time this process would consume and much of that time I was not just sitting twiddling my thumbs. I was researching, running around like a chicken with her head cut off, trying to keep the million and one fabulous ideas that popped into my head separate and retained. All of this was done while taking caring for others, taking graduate classes, and maintaining a household. Needless to say, the blog idea fell wayside, not intentionally. I find myself now less than two months from the big day- June 21, 2014. I'm anxious but regretful about not noting things like I wish I had. So I'll start but work my way from the beginning (June 2013, one year before our wedding) up to the present. First things first! Choose a location. We decided to have our ceremony in Punta Cana, one of our favorite places, I started researching places online and reading reviews, LOTS of research and reviews. I would suggest anyone doing a dw do the same. Believe it or not, some people don't! They choose a place purely based on price, the name, or pictures on the internet. I wouldn't recommend this, particularly if you have expectations. You need to get a composition book or spiral notebook and make this your wedding book for planning purposes. Grab a two-pocket folder and designate that your wedding folder to store things. This helps you keep all of your info and ideas together. You will have a lot, trust! These have become my best friends through this entire process. Jot down all ideas you have, whether you plan to execute or not. You may change your mind later and it's a pain if you don't have the website, info, number, idea or whatever. (You can thank me later about this ) Just remember to stay calm and don't get overwhelmed. It all works out in the end. Next, choose a wedding date. Now sometimes the date is chosen before the location which is fine. Whatever works for you, (not judging.) WE actually knew our date first because it has meaning for us. Luckily the resort we selected had that date available. But have a backup date just in case the date you want is booked already. In June 2013: Now as for me, I emailed & called (yes, I'm anal too), the resort and booked my own date with the wedding coordinator. You can also go to a travel agent and they will handle that for you. I discovered this after the fact. The travel agent will help you with group rates, booking rooms, and arranging travel with your guests. Oh yeah! ...Somewhere in there, we decided upon our wedding colors. I wanted turquoise. He didn't have a preference. So we are doing turquoise and royal blue, ocean and beach colors. This leaves us open to incorporate a pop of color if we choose. I'm happy and have found plenty of inspiration. At this point in the journey, I was so excited and hyped up that I decided to send out our save the dates (std's. I wish that abbreviation didn't remind me of diseases everytime I say or write it. EWWWW!). My fiance is really sweet and laid back so he let me have most of the say & he just co-signs unless he thinks it's a dumb idea or I'm going overboard. Then he'll speak up. We knew we wanted most of our guests to have enough notice to save money, make plans, take vacation days from work, or whatever they needed to do in order to be able to attend. We figured a year's notice was perfect (for us). I fell in love with so many invitation ideas. I narrowed it down to incorporating 4 things- some kind of invite/std in a bottle, a passport, a boarding pass, and a luggage tag. Basically I wanted to do everything except a traditional invitation. lol. I priced out invitations and such online and was blown away by the prices of these things. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Martha Stewart or master crafter but I am an elementary teacher! I'm creative and have been known to imagine and produce some pretty good stuff. So I figured, how hard could it be? I was a girl scout growing up and I spent my summers doing arts and crafts...I'll give it a shot and save some cash for other things. (Not tooting my own horn. I'm way more ambitious than I should be in many aspects of my life.) Okay, so once I made the trip to the craft stores buying materials, I ended up scratching the message in bottle idea due to mailing headaches. Cute but not ideal to send to guests & I wasn't spending a fortune for boxes and shipping. Remember, I was trying to save a buck or two. So I was left with the other three ideas. And we decided this would be it. The std was created with the help of my teen son who is a technology genius. We made magnet luggage tags for guests to stick on the fridge. They were in cute cards & envelopes with beach colors. We also made beach themed address labels and used post office stamps that said Celebrate. We had guests calling, texting, and telling us how cool they were as soon as they received them. YAAAYYYYYY! We wanted everyone to be as excited as we were so mission accomplished! After that, I created our website. I can't share it because it has our very personal info but there are some great websites out there that you can use. Many are free. Don't think you have to spend money for this. Our website is destination wedding beach themed and shares a welcome to the page note, info about us, our story, ceremony, reception, wedding party, info for guests about the resort, travel info including travel agent, pics of us, and a page for guests to sign in and leave messages. You make your page what you want! This is very helpful to your guests and saves you from numerous questions if you use it effectively and put most of your info on the site. Next was the passport invites which I actually designed online and purchased for a decent price. Our website url was included on the invite. They came quickly & we LOVED how they turned out. They look so much like a real passport! We mailed them out in September (9 months before) while rates were incredibly cheap. Used the same beach themed address labels but with a love stamp from the post office. I also created a boarding pass which was our rsvp. It was perforated so guests would tear part off, and return in the mail the same way a post card works. Well, the feedback was crazy about these! People were commenting about how we had the most unique wedding invitations they had ever seen, they were so original, did I buy or make them, if this is the invite they can't wait for the wedding... It felt really good to know my hours of hard working making them had paid off. Our level of excitement was transferred through the std & invites. I hope this for every couple. That your guests will get a feel of what is to come on your big day from your std or invites. In my opinion, it should be a little preview to create excitement. Well it's a lot I gave (4 months) at once but I'm playing catch up (with a little bit of time). Hopefully this helps somebody get started. Stay posted for more real soon!

When last I wrote, I was heading to Mexico for a marathon weekend of site visits & feeling super confident that I had this Destination Wedding planning thing all figured out. That was all true until I attended our front-runner resort's wedding planning weekend. Prior to attending this event , I felt strongly about not using a Travel Agent with "ties" (aka certifications) to a specific resort brand/company. I wanted to work with a highly impartial Agent/Agency to help us narrow down & ultimately choose the best resort(s) for our wedding weekend. I am not ashamed to admit that my approach was a bit narrow (if not naive) and resulted in lot of unnecessary work & wasted time as we moved forward with our planning. I believe in being very candid, so I will share that I felt like a real idiot for not having gone with a "preferred" Travel Agent in the first place - especially once I later realized most Agents hold certifications/preferred status with several resort brands and not just one or two. I really flip flopped about sharing this "hard knock" - ultimately opting to share this lesson with the hopes of helping others avoid my costly & time consuming mistake. I say "costly" because not only were countless hours wasted but our first TA charged a fee for her services. We paid the fee without hesitation despite reading in my Knot's Destination Wedding Guide that you should not pay such fees. We did so because, again, I really wanted to work with someone I felt was totally impartial to help us choose the best resort for our vision/needs & save me from further confusing myself. My fiance went along because according to him, I am steering this ship. In chatting with other couples at the planning event in Mexico, we quickly realized the benefit of using an Agent who is "well connected (aka resort brand "certified" or "preferred") as opposed to one who is not. Thanks to their "connected" TA's, these couples enjoyed great perks like complimentary upgrades to amazing suites and were able to split their stay between respective top choice properties in that brand, over the course of the weekend. We, on the other hand, spent our entire stay at one property because our now former TA was unaware we could split up our stay (as long as the properties were under that brand/company). We also did not receive the same amazing room upgrade, which would have aided us in our resort selection. We further learned of certain wedding perks (e.g. free event, better discounted group rates, additional food/beverage credits etc...) these couples were receiving courtesy of their connected TAs. Couple after couple asked us which perk we were considering only to be met with our blank stares followed by an "oh, we didn't know about that" . By the end of the event, we realized just how clueless we were & that we had a lot to think about & discuss with our TA. Since we were otherwise really happy with now former TA, we shared what we learned with her and asked if she could match the perks we learned about. Unfortunately, she was unable to do so, which forced us to have to "break up" with her. I hated having to do so & felt awful about it but my fiance (the all-business numbers guy) pointed out that we have to make the best choice for our budget & guests, and put personal feelings aside when it comes to making financial decisions regarding the wedding. While he is right, it did not make the decision any easier. So you may be asking, what exactly did I learn other than "everything is better with preferred status!"? Here are the key points I learned & should have considered when initially picking a Travel Agent to help with our planning: 1) Do Your Homework - while it is important to interview your TA to assess fit and expertise (as mentioned in my previous post), it is just as important to do your homework on the various deals/perks available at resorts you think you may be interested in. While I checked out the deals & perks listed on respective resort websites, I neglected to do so from a travel agent/company perspective. Had I taken the time to look for perks offered through various travel agencies specializing in destination weddings, I would have realized that they aren't necessarily partial to one resort brand over another, and more quickly seen the benefit of working with a preferred agency from the beginning. This also would have eliminated the need to break up with our otherwise wonderful TA. Another homework point is to ask about next steps once you have locked in (e.g. signed contracts for your date and room block). Some TA's hand you off to a domestic wedding planning team that serves as an initial point of planning contact. These teams often experience high turnover and are greatly delayed in responding to your questions. Other TAs will hand you off to a wedding planning team in your wedding location (in my case Mexico) but remain in the loop as you work with that team to bring your vision to life. By staying in the loop, the TA can help move things along and ensure your concerns are being adequately & timely addressed. This also enables the TA to better advocate on your behalf should something you requested not be provided once onsite. 2) Get referrals - early on, I opted not to work with one travel agency because I had read more negative than positive reviews of that company's agents. After speaking with several happy brides at the event, I learned of some great Agents with that same company and was subsequently referred to one that several brides raved about. After speaking with the Agent, we realized the raves were truly merited & ultimately chose to go with that Agent because their company offered all of the perks we were looking for. This has decreased some of our wedding expenses & provided us with an even better discounted group rate than we were previously quoted. 3) It Never Hurts To Ask - in the event you find yourself in a similar situation, do not "hit the gas" and jump ship on your TA unless you are unhappy with his/her service in general. A good TA works really hard and aims to provide top notch service, so it is only fair to give him/her the opportunity to either match the offer you found or secure comparable discounts/perks. While this did not work out in my situation, it worked in a friend's situation. Her agent was unable to match the deal she found elsewhere, but was able to obtain discounts that were financially comparable to the deal she found. I hope you find this helpful and avoid my mistakes! I also hope this does not offend anyone in the destination wedding travel industry. As previously mentioned, my goal is to help fellow destination brides make informed decisions and hopefully avoid pitfalls experienced by myself (and maybe others) along the way. Happy Planning! xo, girlinthecity97