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

[ashey063009]

DH and I just got married at Melia Las Dunas, in Cayo Santa MAria, Cuba.

We had an AMAZING two weeks away, but I wanted to jot a few things down that I thought of today,

 

What I would do again:

 

1) Go a week ahead of time. It was a great chance for DH and I to hang out, relax, tie up any loose ends before our guests arrived. We had a blast, and went into Havana for two days, and just ventured around. It made us that much more relaxed for the big day.

 

2) HAve the Cuban Trio play for the ceremony. Unlike a cd, they play as soon as there is a break of silence-- with no real chance for mistake -- because they can see that talking has stopped and action has started. Plus, they were AMAZING!

 

3) Put the BMs and GMs in black and white. Our pics turned out PERFECT, and I know they will look classic for years. Also, the entire wedding party commented on the fact that they could use their outfits again, and again, and again-- because you can't go wrong with black dresses / dress shirts.

 

4) Do a DEstination Wedding!!! I will FOREVER tell ppl that are getting married to go abroad. What an amazing week for everyone. A wonderful week of memories and laughter-- and you get to be a bride for a whole week instead of just a day or so. BONUS!

 

5) Take the group on a catamaran tour-- it was such a great way to escape the resort and hit the ocean for a bit of snorkeling, laughs and adventure.

 

6) A TTD that includes running in the ocean-- definitely my favorite pics.

 

What I Wouldn't Do Again:

 

1) I wouldn't forgoe vows. In the Cuban system, vows aren't encorporated-- and DH and I planned to incorporate them on our own (Thanks Amy, you were pivitol in this!)-- but when the big day came, we felt to crunched for time and decided to eliminate them, so we could keep things short and sweet. However, I now wish that we had made it a little more personal-- so we are planning on doing a little something at the AHR.

 

2) I WOULD NOT get my hair done at the salon on site. It was 20 minutes before I was to walk down the aisle, and I was in my room bawling and begging my sister to fix it. SOOOO horrible. But luckily, it panned out perfectly-- Best MOH ever!

 

3) I wouldn't take my CHI flat iron. Inevitably, during the hair crisis, my BM plugged it in and it fried-- it didn't even work with the convertor. Bummer.

 

Those are just a few of my quick thoughts-- I'll be sure to add anything I can think of later.

[lolosmama]

Great thread!! Keep 'em coming brides, this is a huge help!!

[ashey063009]

I WOULD get one of my family to become a designated "back-up" photog-- I found that most of my family looked at personal cameras as opposed to the photographer. (Bummer for our professional pics, but bonus for my fam.)

[crazyldy]

This is amazing thread but for the people who used a ipod dock did you have a large party so they could hear it and did people dance or was it not really a dance party

[KLC77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashey063009 I WOULD get one of my family to become a designated "back-up" photog-- I found that most of my family looked at personal cameras as opposed to the photographer. (Bummer for our professional pics, but bonus for my fam.)

Ha, when we were doing some group pics, people didn't know where to look. I kept yelling "look at our photographer, we PAID GOOD MONEY for her!" lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazyldy This is amazing thread but for the people who used a ipod dock did you have a large party so they could hear it and did people dance or was it not really a dance party

We only had a group of 28, but the ipod was plently loud and there was lots of dancing!

[floridagyrl82]

This is soooo helpful, keep them coming!!

[JTAlberta]

Love this thread!!

[slapsappyhappy]

great ideas! I am glad I found this BEFORE so I can plan efficiently!

[SillyGirl]

Thank you soooo soooo much to everyone one who's posted.

 

I had no idea what to expect or how to start planning.

 

These are some great ideas

[Brenners]

I LOVE this thread! I was thinking of two weeks at DW location - fly there on Friday and get married on Tues with the next week to ourselves. I love the idea of bringing your own IPod and docking station for music. These are such wonderful ideas. Keep them coming!