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Hi ladies! Our wedding was on 6/25/11, and we didn't have to pay extra for an outside DJ. I don't know when the change was made and if they're honoring their prior bookings before the rule was made. But, DJ Doremixx was definitely worth every penny. No one sat down the whole reception, including my parents who are in their late 60s. EVERYTHING was beautiful, amazing, and more than I ever imagined. Our coordinator, Luciana, was absolutely on point with everything we wanted and quite possibly the nicest person I've ever met. I'm going to get a review up here soon, once I get some photos back. We did not go with the Mac Daddy package, but we paid for the little extras. There is a main lobby bar in which you can meet up with your guests for a general meeting point. I was very happy with what we chose. Of course, I would have loved to see the Presidential Suite, but I was happy just to be at the resort The only bummer is that we had rain on our wedding and two days after. We still did the ceremony on the beach and made it until the ring exchange before some rain came down. Hopefully, the old wives' tale is correct about rain being good luck on your wedding day Being married is great Even after dating my husband for eight years, it's finally nice to be married!

I'm glad to hear that everyone is hearing back from the resort. I still haven't, and I'm 4 weeks out. I guess I'll email then again

Thanks Hannah! I seem to worry about the smallest things We're going back and forth about doing our own vows. I should probably figure that out! Yes, we are flying out of O'Hare and taking US300. I think I misunderstood our travel agent with the bags. I'm glad to know that we can take one extra suitcase and just pay. What's $25 at this point in the game - right

Amy, I'm so sorry to hear about your aunt. My thoughts are with your family. Hannah - your pics look great!! That is horrible to hear about your brother. I think I'm going to take a lock box with us to put our rings and any cash/credit cards in and hide the key somewhere. YIKES!! We leave in 4 1/2 weeks and I still need to submit my document that Karla emailed us way back when! If Karla's not there, I haven't heard from a new contact at the Iberostar yet, which I'm not too overly concerned yet. I honestly have no clue where the past year went with my planning and feel that these next two weeks are going to be ridiciously busy! I am so nervous about packing - I have no clue how we're getting everything there! Any tips? For the ladies that just got married, did they give you a copy of the script for the ceremony? I have no clue what it looks like or if we make our own. For times sake, I'm hoping they have something done! I don't know if I need to by sand for a sand ceremony (which I'm hoping not to). We still have to figure out a day to get married here. We applied for our license last month and it's valid for two months, so we need to get moving on that! And I decided a few weeks ago that it would be a brilliant time to start looking for a new job! Fingers crossed that I will have a couple of big changes coming soon

Hey ladies!! Yes, I heard back from Karla about the kids' meals which was a big sigh of relief! Hannah, she also mentioned that you don't need any documentation for the non-legal ceremony and that you have to be there two days prior. Like Nucci, we're getting married here first to avoid all the other hub-bub. I'm so glad that there's others who feel the same about the extras! I was so gung- ho to do it all until my Excel spreadsheet kept growing! I really wanted the private dinner, so I'll forgo the welcome cocktail hour & possibly the cocktail hour. My parents surprised me the other day with what extra they decided to give us. My dad's stipulation was a dinner for extended family & bridal party sometime when we get back. My co-workers are throwing me a shower on Friday, which is so generous. My boss slipped that it's a Mexican food theme. I saw a sombrero in her office and am terrified

I think we're going to stick with the beach I haven't seen pictures of the gazebo, but i just think that the ocean is going to be great scenery! We're also getting married at 5

Argh! I had two wedding nightmares the past couple of nights! One being my dress got lost and I had to wear a long blue flowered dress and borrow my mom's black Crocs! I'm trying to get some ducks in a row so I can really start nailing down final details. I am losing my mind about what documentation is needed if you are doing a non-legal/blessing ceremony. I looked back at my paperwork from Karla, searched on here, and still can't seem to find it. I found what's needed for the legal ceremony. Can anyone help me Thanks ladies Kelly

Hi ladies! March came and went! I just realized that I haven't been on here all month. After my full on panic last month, I'm happy that people have finally booked their trips. We're up to 31 right now, which I'm more than happy about! I'm so thankful for those that are coming and know that we'll have a great time no matter what! Our RSVPs are due at the end of April, so hopefully a few more can join us And thank you to all of you who calmed me last month. It made a big difference!! I am a pure slacker on this wedding! I read everyone's posts and write another thing to do June 25th is quickly approaching! I need to start thinking of flowers, meals, rehearsal dinner and such, but I don't know where to start. For being so Type A, I'm surprisingly too laid back on this wedding. I haven't spoke with Karla (I"m at the Del Mar) since last fall. So, of course, I have a wide range of questions for her, so I'll get some input from you before I bombard her 1. Rehearsals? Is there a run through of the ceremony and can we select a restaurant to do a rehearsal dinner? I'm guessing that it would come off people's meals. Our guests are asking me and I keep telling them I'm planning it. 2. Private Reception? Probably going to upgrade our package as we're at the basic right now. I'm not 100% if we're going to be able to get four more guests for the private reception (when I booked they told me you needed 35 guests for the reception). So, I may just bite the bullet and pay a little bit more. Doesn't that seem to be the theme Plus, I already booked DJ Doremixx last summer, so i don't want to lose my deposit and a battle with the FH about jumping the gun on booking things 3. Meal choices - with the private reception, you can select a couple of meal choices, correct? I was hoping that I could also add a meal for my niece and nephews (who will be 2, 3, and 8). Chicken fingers can't be too hard 4. Ceremony? Does anyone know what the ceremony entails? I want to make sure I have everything that we'll need in case they have any kind of sand/unity ceremony in it. There's a few people I owe PMs to, and I apologize for not getting back to you! Hannah - I started the diet and it works! I got sick for a couple of weeks with the weather (it's almost 60 one day and then back to 20 the next in Chicago these days), so I had to lay off. It's amazing that I'm not even craving Diet Coke anymore! And this is coming from someone who would drink two big gulps a day! If anyone is looking for bridesmaids' gifts, check out Thirty One. They have the world's cutest bags!! I bought my bridesmaids' a beach tote, makeup bag, flip flop luggage tag from them. Very reasonable prices. I also will throw in their earrings and sandals in the bags. I'm actaully going to give them their bridesmaids' gifts at the wedding shower because I want them to have the items for the trip, so it's one less thing for them to buy. Thanks ladies Kelly

Hey Hannah! I was interested in learning about the catamaran cruise a bit more. Could you PM with the link to it? Since people are dropping like flies, I'm going to make it a blast!

Good luck Erin!! Can't wait to see pictures I would also love to be part of the traveling starfish pins! I'm June 25th at the Del Mar. I couldn't agree more about the stress! My FH is pretty upset because all of his friends are backing out now, and one of my closest childhood friends has avoided every single one of my phone calls related to his address for the save the date card since September. Too bad, he can post on my FB page though all the time about "come home and let's go out!" I think he got the point when I messaged back "I don't know where your home is since you can't return my phone calls." I'm getting so sick of hearing "we'll just come to the reception when you get home." Too bad, we can't afford to do the DW and the AHR I was even told by his brother the other day that we're being "selfish." Needless to say, that caused a breakdown For years, we've been everybody and their eighth cousin's bridesmaid, groomsmen, day of coordinator...so why are we "selfish" for waiting the most important day to be spent with our closest family and friends? I want to be in a room with the people that matter to me the most, than that random fourth cousin I see only at holidays. I think that some guests get so wrapped up in the "party" aspect of the wedding that they forget what it's truly about. I'm also majorly stressed about work and being away for the wedding. I coordinate fundraising events for a non-profit and summer is our busiest time. I actually will be missing one of my events because I'll be getting married that weekend. My two immediate bosses are completely cool with it and even laughed when I asked for permission to get married in the summer. It's just the nasty comments I get from other co-workers and others with my organization that make me feel so guilty. Some of my volunteers have even been making snide comments. I really can't tell off volunteers though At the end of the day, I know I'm going to make someone mad with the wedding. People's true colors are shining through right now, which pretty much sucks. Sorry, needed to vent to people who completely understand!!

Hi ladies! I feel like I've flaked out on BDW for awhile! June 25th is going to be here before I know it! Lindobride - congrats!! It's so exciting to see your day is finally here and can't wait to hear all the details I think we joined here right around the same time! I am almost done with invites - I ended up using Allurements by Rebecca. I cannot compliment her and her professionalism enough - very easy to work with and very responsive. She knew exactly what I was looking for with our boarding passes. They'll be very simple - with chocolate brown wording wth melon, pink, and lime green accents. If anyone is still looking for invites, I highly recommend her! Still debating about switching by package to the "mac daddy" one. Is that what it's being called now We did the basic package and added on the private reception and cocktail hour. Is anyone doing a rehearsal dinner the night before? Our agenda (wow I sound like a dork) was going to be a welcome cocktail hour on Thursday, something on Friday, and the whole shebang on Saturday. Big thing to go still are: getting invites addressed & mailed shoes, undergarments,& dress alterations (think I'm just doing flip flops) finding outfit for groom, groomsmen, and my dad figuring out flowers outfits for ringbearer and flower girl (I'm leaning towards a tank top and a tutu for her - she'll only be 2) OOT bags figuring out the meal for the reception (I thought we had to do the Italian dinner for the reception, but I'm very excited to hear that there's more options! Didn't do a food choice on the RSVP card but I'll follow up with everyone that's coming)

I completely agree with you! I was so stressed out with the cost of photographers. We ended up asking a family friend who has her own photography company if she'd like to be our photographer. We're paying for her trip for a seven day stay. She in turn is doing our e-pics, whatever we want on the trip, the wedding, and we get all rights & a CD of all pictures. She'll post the pictures on her company's website and Facebook page, which was fine by me. I feel like I've been out of the loop on here for months - this is the first time I've logged in a long time! Sounds like a lot of us are around May/June - I'm June 25th at the Del Mar. I took care of all the big stuff - dress, save the dates, BM dress, photographer, DJ - a couple of months back and have been pretty lazy since. I did get my sample invites in from Wedding Paper Divas, so hopefully that will light a fire under me!

Hello! I had to keep sending him e-mails, but he finally did get back to me last week. He had been out of the country. Good luck! Â Where are you getting married - I'm June 25th at the Iberostar Del Mar.

Crazy!! Sold out for February?! I need to get moving asap! I can't believe how quickly this summer flew by. My goal was to get our STDs out by Labor Day. Oops . On a brighter note, I think we're canceling our at home reception. We didn't book anything, but I just keep getting stressed about spending more and more money. We had a heart to heart this morning because I don't want to forgo something in Mexico. Is anyone else not doing an AHR? Hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend . I'm looking forward to relaxing!

Travel arrangements...the death of me right now! We've been working with a TA in our area for a couple of months, but she hasn't been the best about responding to our questions. I stopped by the agency about a month ago and she still hasn't called back with some of the questions I had asked. She also gave us some inaccurate information, which is setting me back in booking the trip. Â I'd love to get a group rate, but I guess I don't fully understand what it really is. As of right now, our trip is booking at $1410 (out of Chicago - no stop flight) for a week. It's still slightly higher than what my pocketbook and I both want. The good thing is that June is still a good amount of time for the trip to drop in price. Plus, we have a lot of our guests will be flying in from other cities than Chicago. Â The other day the FH springs it upon me that his friend's mom is TA (the impatient side of me wanted to say "hello?! why didn't you mention this a few months back...") She's supposed to be giving me a call this weekend to talk more about the trip and what perks she can include for us. I was confused about some of the stuff that was lost in translation from the FH (he heard the word "free" and everything else became secondary). Â The costs seem to be getting larger with the wedding with adding on a private reception, than what we were originally anticipating. And our guest list is growing by the day, with having a large family. So, I'm going to hear what the friend's mom has to say to see what these "perks" are. Â So, after my round-about long winded story, I'm no where on my travel arrangements. I still have to apply for my passport, which is this week's project Â