What I would and wouldn't do again...

[shan0487]

any new brides out there that want to add to the list? this has been soo helpful!

[Brenners]

How about having a lawyer review the contract before signing? Anyone have that done?

[shan0487]

my husband-to-be is a lawyer, so that works out well for me!

[Brenners]

Lol Shan.  I will just send my contract to your FI for final review and approval!  Works for me!

[shan0487]

lol! sounds good brenners!

[cookiemunchkin]

Things I would do again:

• join this forum
• get married at Dreams Tulum!  We couldn't not have chosen a better resort
• book with TA Becky
• make my own guestbook... ours had photos of us and romantic quotes throughout the book, but most pages were blank and templated for people to tell us how they know us, where they came from, and leave us a message.  We also took along an instant camera and had someone take a picture of each person to glue onto their page of the guestbook.  Tons of compliments on this!
• extend the trip to stay a few days after all the guests leave... we really had no time to relax while everyone was there and badly needed some quiet time to ourselves afterwards
• spend our extra days at a different resort!  Resort #1 felt empty once everyone else had left
• take a photographer from home... we were comfortable with her because we got the chance to know her and i think it comes through in our pictures
• trash the dress session!  soooo much fun
• not stress about who did or didn't come... that majority of our families didn't come (mainly our friends that came) and neither of us were bothered.  As long as our parents and some friends came, we were happy.
• custom order my wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses from a seller on dhgate
• custom order my husband's suit and groomsmens clothes from studio suits
• have our wedding rings custom made... they are very "us"
• passport invitations... people loved them, and we got a ton of compliments on our "keepsake" invitations
• OOT bags... people were so appreciative of the thought, used everything in it, and it really didn't cost us all that much after some smart shopping
• hire DJ Doremixx (Ivan).  He was great and brought some really good energy to our reception.  Such a pleasant person to work with!
• get legally married before leaving Canada.  Much simpler than all the things we would have had to do in Mexico (blood tests, 4 day requirement, translations, etc)

 

Things I wouldn't do again:

• fly with Sunwing
• allow my mother and MIL to be bothered by who didn't attend
• DIY invitations... we did passports and I now fully understand why it costs so much order them.  A LOT of work!
• buy two wedding dresses before finally having the perfect one made (oops lol)
• procrastinate!  I kept convincing myself I had a lot of time and one day realized I had very little time left
• order centerpieces from the resort... way overpriced and not what I had in mind

 

Things I wish I had done:

• give the photographer a list of specific pictures to take... I completely forgot I wanted one big picture of everyone and dont remember taking some other pictures I know I wanted to get
• videography... it would have been nice to see the ceremony and hear everything over again, it was all such a blur the day-of
• spent more time on the beach!  The days before the wedding were spent running around, and the days after were spent making sure we had some quality time with each person... there was very little "do nothing" time
• exercised more beforehand... I was totally not in the shape I wanted to be, and its because of pure laziness

[star18]

Great Thread!! Thanks for the info!

[Ali12]

This is an awesome thread, thanks for all the info!

[SeeFlowers]

Best thread EVER... A must read for newbies!!!

[lalanyc]

YAYYY, IT'S FINALLY MY TURN!!!   

 

 

I'm so happy that:

• I married my husband (awwww).  I'm a lucky girl, for sure.
• We got a videographer.  By far, among the best investments we made.  I love watching that video more than I do looking over all our wedding pictures combined.
• I made it a point to get in great shape.
• We got karaoke for the rehearsal dinner.  It was a great icebreaker and people went crazy for it.
• We served tacos late in the reception.  It's amazing how much people love tacos.
• We got fire dancers (if only for 15 minutes).  It made a big impression and people werent expecting it.
• We provided OOT bags with a Facebook.  W/ over 155 guests, people enjoyed pouring over who was in attendance and reviewing names that they'd already forgotten!

 

In retrospect:

• I wish we had booked the videographer for the entire length of the reception.  We only booked for about 5 hrs and there were great moments after that time that I wish were captured on film.
• I wish I'd had back up for my bustle.  The stupid buttons did not hold and I had to carry my dress the last few hours of the night!  And I did not have a big dress!
• I wish had done my own makeup or selected another makeup artist despite having placed a deposit.  I did not like my trial run hair and makeup.  Yet, I figured that if I could just get better sample pictures or have additional trials w/ other professionals (to get clear photos) that this would be sufficient for my makeup/hair artists to get it right on wedding day. Nope!!  I should have either done additional trials w/ the SAME artists or learned to do the work myself.  As a result, I did not have the look that I wanted on the wedding day.  
• I wish we had advised our guests on mosquito spray and anti-itch cream.  I have to be honest – the mosquitos, especially in the Riviera Maya, can be brutal.  There is no way around them, but strong spray and cream can make the experience more tolerable. 
• I wish I had remembered to schedule a nail touch up the day BEFORE the wedding.  I also wish I had asked a talented relative to do this for me. Our resort did not have good mani/pedi staff and my nails looked rather bland on the wedding day.
• I wish I had NOT gotten a deep tissue massage the week of our wedding!!  OUCH. I was sore for days after.  Bad idea.
• I wish I brought holders for the escort cards and table number cards.  The hotel did not have the right tools and the escort cards blew away shortly before the guests arrived to the reception area!  Our table numbers also had to be tucked under the centerpieces to prevent them from blowing away. 
• I wish had experimented w/ taking one or half of a sleeping pill a few weeks before the wedding.  I was so nervous the night before the wedding that I hardly slept.  If I'd had something to knock me out or calm my nerves, I would have been more relaxed the following morning.
• I wish I had gotten a TEQUILA DONKEY!!  They look so awesome and they're not as easy to find in the U.S.
• I wish I had had the disciple to lose weight more quickly so that I didn't have to leave my alterations until the absolute last weekend possible.  It was not fun to stress about my weight down to the last minute!
• I wish I had taken picture of the staff at the hotel.  They were so great; it was b/c of them that the wedding week was so memorable.  Unfortunately, I dont have pics of them to remember them by!
• I wish I had not forgotten to thank the staff during our speech on the wedding day!
• I wish I had remembered to dance w/ certain men in my family, like my grandfather and my favorite uncle.  If I could do it over, I would have the wedding coordinator remind me and find them for me at certain points in the night. 
• I wish I had told the photographer to take pictures of me and my husband w/ certain special relatives.  The day went by so fast that I didn't realized we hadn't take "alone" shots w/ them until it was too late.
• I wish we had arrived earlier and also completed more projects back home.  Even though we arrived 8 days earlier, some guests also arrived on the same day.  This made it all the more difficult to concentrate on our tasks since we wanted to spend time w/ them rather than be stuck in our room working on "projects"!!  If we'd completed these projects, such as assembling programs or printing our facebook, back home, it would have been worth it to ship these materials or carry them w/ us rather than spend those extra hours away from our guests in paradise!!
• I wish I had calmed the *&@! down and just enjoyed myself more!  I was so nervous to finally see this day arrive that it was very difficult to ignore little details.