Amanda+Dave

I got my hair and makeup done by Spa Uno. The hair stylist/makeup artist did an amazing job. My hair and makeup were perfect.

Escape Villas operates essentially a compound of villas. So if you have a large group you can rent multiple villas through them, They offer discounts on multiple rentals.

$550 was for the flight, it was another $800 for the villa per person. Contact Fernando, he is great and getting back to people in a timely manner and really helpful.

It was just over $300!!! Loved the dress, loved the price. It was everything I wanted and my husband absolutely loved it!

We are back from our perfect Costa Rican wedding (can't believe it's almost been two months!!!) and I thought I would share some wedding pictures of me in my dress. I had doubt about it after I first bought it but it was the right dress for my special day!!! I bought it at the Coach House Bridal in Waterdown, Ont. and it is a Bonny dress.

I do think it was beautiful, it's just not what I wanted or anything like what I ordered. I had a moment of pure anger but then I decided not to let it ruin my day, and it didn't. Everything else was perfect!! Especially my groom

I could not be happier with the way our cake turned out!!! And tasted!! My only complaint is that I wish I could have taken it home because it tasted so good. Chelsea Brandeau at Mariposa Pastry in Quepos, Costa Rica is amazing at what she does, and so helpful. I would recommend her a thousand times over. (Here is the link to her Facebook group http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mariposa-Pastry/130279440355534) Here is the photo I sent Chelsea of the cake we wanted We asked for square with the bigger layer being banana cake with caramel filling and chocolate ganache, the top tier was lime zest cake with mango and passion fruit filling and coconut buttercream YUM for both. Everyone loved it!! And here is her creation (colours are a little off in this pic) And here is us cutting the cake And eating the first bites ... mmm sooooo good!!

So a long time ago I posted my bouquet inspiration. I loved the arrangement I chose and couldn't wait to see how the florist interpreted the photo I sent. Needless to say, I was SUPER disappointed and had a bit of a meltdown when I saw what they brought. It's not that it wasn't beautiful, but it was NOT what I ordered. And to top it off they were an hour and a half late!!! I was getting my hair done when they finally arrived and sent my mom to take pics since it was so hot the flowers had to stay in the fridge. When she came back I flipped, ran upstairs to the fridge and freaked!! And, because I had to see for myself, I ended up running into my FI for the second time that day!!! It all worked out in the end, but I was super pissed!! So here is my inspiration, which I sent them and they said no problem they could make this for me And here is what I got ... the ONLY thing they got right was the flower type... So if you get married in Costa Rica do no, I repeat, DO NOT use Eventos Boadicea in San Jose!!!!

We are back from an amazing trip!! Wish were still there but missed our puppies like crazy. I will post a full review in a few days when I have some time. The wedding day was everything we imagined, we had the best weather of the trip which meant no rain. There were a few hiccups and one vendor will be getting a terrible review but we didn't let it ruin our day. Our photographer was a blast to work with and I cannot wait to get the pictures (which won't be for a few weeks ) Nadyleah — ask away. Casa de las Brisas was amazing and a place I would recommend. If you need advice on vendors, let me know. Our cake was amazing, exactly what we asked for and tasted divine. The photographer was amazing as well. I cannot help with you with flowers or rentals as the place we used was terrible (see earlier where I say a vendor will get a terrible review). Our chef at the villa was amazing, he really became a part of our group. He and his fiancee (who was his assistant) even salsa danced with my husband and I at the reception and got us a gift we will always cherish. We will definitely be returning to Manuel Antonio!!!

We are here and it is AMAZING!! pictures do not even do this place justice. Just a few more days now!!! Can't wait!!!!

Ooops. Forgot rings...

I want to start like everyone else and thank all the amazing brides on here who have shared their ideas and inspirations. My wedding wouldn't be what it is without this forum. Here it goes… How we met We officially met at a party in high school. It was a brief meeting, but one we both remember. Flash forward two years and I got an MSN e-mail saying that Dave wanted to talk to talk to me on MSN. I thought, what the heck, and accepted. He was online as I accepted the invitation and we started talking. We were from the same small town and had common friends. We actually we both talking to the same person on MSN at that time as well. So I grilled my friend about him, found out he was a good guy and agreed to meet, a double date, me and my bff (former, but that's way too long of a story) and he and his bff. And the rest is history. We have been inseparable since that night. Moved in together two years later and bought our first house four years after that. And on July 3, 2010, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. The proposal Algonquin Park has always been a special place to me. I have been going there since I was a child and my family has history there. So our first summer together, I took Dave on a camping trip to Algonquin and we have gone back at least once a year since then. We had gone to my parents house in Parry Sound for Canada Day, which was a Thursday. We watched the fireworks at the docks, went to the farmers' market the next day and had a great time. We decided to leave on Saturday and head to our favourite place with our dog (we now have two). First place we stopped was Track and Tower trail since one of our favourite things to do in the park is go on the trails. Somehow I did not notice the big box sticking out of his pocket. We got to a waterfall with a bridge over it and I took out my camera to take some photos. While I am snapping away, he is working up the nerve to ask me something. I put my camera away and look over at him. He is crouching down with the dog, then he shifts onto one knee and pulls out the most beautiful ring I have ever seen. He tells me I am his soulmate and asks me to be his wife. And then the funny story … as Algonquin is a famous tourist spot, of course we weren't alone on the trail. So shortly after the proposal, we are hugging on the bridge and someone taps Dave on the shoulder and sticks a camera in his face, " take our picture". At least we have a funny story to tell. Of course, I said yes and that begins our planning. The planning begins… We already knew we wanted a destination wedding, it is something we had talked about. We both always wanted to go to Costa Rica, but it was out of the running because my sister and her husband had just honeymooned there and he likes to make things all about him so we didn't want our wedding to be all about him. So we looked into other places but never could agree. I would suggest a place and he would have a reason to hate it, he would suggest something and I would have a problem with it. Finally one day he just said, let's do Costa Rica. Who cares about him, it's our day and it should be what we want. And so we started looking at Costa Rica. We found Escape Villas online and fell in love with Casa de las Brisas, a very unique nine-bedroom home with spectacular ocean views. Here's a few pics, can't wait to see this place in person. First DIY, message in a bottle invites + Monogram This forum has been a Godsend! Ever since I came across a thread on message in a bottle invites, I knew I had to do have them. I scoped out so many different ones on here and decided to do the bottles along with passport information books and boarding pass reply cards. The guests were so impressed with them and I couldn't be happier with how they turned out. Thanks to all the previous brides who inspired me. Second mail out We sent out the invitations in October and in February sent out an update to everyone with the payment plan and more information on Manuel Antonio, the wedding, travel requirements and a packing list. We also included luggage tags for everyone. Each person got their own unique luggage tag with a different Costa Rica animal print. FInal mail out With payment deadlines approaching I decided to send out a final mail out in August. I had already done passports, boarding passes and brochures so I wanted something different. I had came across Katrina's Wedding Update Brochure (http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/22236/katrina-s-wedding-update-brochure) and loved the layout of her newsletter so I decided to do something similar. I had a blast laying out this newsletter. I am going to miss all of my crazy DIY projects once this is all over because I had so much fun doing them. The newsletter included information on flights, the villa, payment timeline reminders and information on the area. I sent this out with print-yourself Spanish booklets. The dress etc. I am surprised it took me so long but I finally went dress shopping in October. Me, my mom, my MOH and bridesmaid headed out for a day of dress shopping. I had heard from some brides prior to my own experience that it can be exhausting and not as fun as it sounds but I loved it. I tried on so many beautiful dresses it was hard to choose. I fell in love with a dress at the first store, it was the last one I tried on there. But I wasn't done yet. I couldn't just pick a dress after one store. Especially since I hadn't tried on any dresses that resembled the ones I most liked in magazines. There was another bridal shop up the street so we headed there. I still wasn't finding what I was looking for. There were a lot of beautiful dress but nothing that screamed the one. Then my bridesmaid, who I had spent hours with going through magazines, saw it. She knew I wanted something with one strap with a flower resemblance and she found it. My mom's reaction to it on the hanger was "are you really going to try that on?" I came out and my mom loved it. My MOH had cried over the dress I loved at the other store and not this one. I was conflicted but didn't want to take the dress off and that's how I knew. I was disappointed that I didn't cry. And then later on I had doubts that maybe I should have chose the other dress. But when I went in for my first fitting I knew I made the right decision and cannot wait to walk down the aisle in it. The shoes Originally I had wanted aqua coloured shoes but on a fluke, while flip flop shopping with my FMIL I found them. They were perfect. Right height and would match my dress perfectly. Picture of the shoes Jewelry etc. Since my dress has one shoulder strap, I can't really wear a necklace so I decided instead to focus on earrings and bracelets. My bridesmaid bought me one at her . It was similar to one I tried on at the bridal shop with the dress and it looked gorgeous. And my mom bought me earrings and a bracelet as well Hair flower My mom took me to a dress shop where she bought her dress for our wedding and I found it. After searching in stores and online I finally stumbled across a hair flower I felt comfortable with. I wasn't sure about online shopping because sometimes what you see isn't what you get and you couldn't beat the price on this hair fascinator $17!!!!! I will be carrying calla lilies so this piece will go beautifully with the my dress and bouquet. Bridesmaid dresses I had seen dresses in the Sears catalogue a few times and thought they were cute, but I was skeptical. Finally, my MOH was just like, let me order one and we will see how it is, if we don't like it, no big deal we send it back. I am glad she finally convinced me because they were perfect and cheap. The first pic is the style, the second is the colour. For their gifts my mom found starfish necklaces at a craft show she was at and I bought them earrings to go with it. No pics yet sorry. Groom's outfit The fiance HATES shopping, I mean hates. So getting him to agree to go to a mall took forever and when he finally agreed to go, summer clothes were almost all gone. We came across these nice shorts at RW & Co. that were 60% off making them $20 but didn't find any shirts so we put the shorts on hold and kept looking. At Banana Republic we found perfect shirts for the guys, but nothing for the fiance. I wanted him to have ivory to match my dress but who knew finding an off-white dress shirt for men would prove so difficult. We ended up finding a shirt similar to the groomsmen's but a lighter shade of blue. Total cost for fiance's outfit $31.75 plus tax …. not too bad. Groomsmen outfits As I said, we found the guy's shirts at Banana Republic for around $50 …. I feel bad that my fiance's shirt was so much less but what can you do…. We also plan on getting them the leather Reef sandals with the bottle opener on the bottom as their gift for being in the wedding party, which they will wear to the wedding. Details This is how our ceremony setup will look This is my bouquet inspiration. Bridesmaid's will be smaller versions with ivory flowers. Fiance will have a green boutineer and the groomsmen's will be ivory. Since I wanted something that my mom and FMIL could keep, I had these corsages made back home for them Cake inspiration - originally I wanted something beachy with shells and starfish but then I came across this design and we both loved it, beachy but unique. WE are doing two square tiers with this design and flavours are banana cake with caramel and chocolate ganache, and lime zest cake with passionfruit, coconut rum buttercream and mango (my choice). We are dealing with Chelsea Brandeau at Mariposa Pastry in Manuel Antonio. She has been great to deal with. Message me for contact info. hair inspiration Fans and programs I found fans in our colour while shopping at Michaels and they were perfect. I was going to order raffia fans online, but after shipping and everything, it seemed it wasn't worth the price. These were on sale plus I had a 40% off coupon so I think they worked out to around $20 or so. I printed out tags to go on the fans and they will placed on the benches we are having at the ceremony. They say: Good friends and a gentle breeze are blessings that make our hearts sing A&D 11.18.11 (stole that from someone on here ... can't remember who but thanks) Will post pics when we get back. Paper lanterns My bridesmaid came across Martha Stewart paper decorations while looking for decorations for my bridal shower. She loved them and then thought, hey, they are flat and perfect to travel with. So she called me, we went to check them out and stocked up. Will post pics after. Shower My mom and my wedding party threw me a shower on July 24. They had a beach theme given the theme of the wedding. Everyone had a great time. Because we have lived together for more than five years we didn't really need stuff. We registered at Sears for a few things but asked for gift cards, which we mostly got. We used our RONA and Home Depot cards to renovate the stairway in the house we just bought, which is a century-old farm house. The stairs were horrible but now, thanks to the generosity of our friends and family we no longer have to cringe when we see them. Stag & Doe A lot of planning went into this!! I was super stressed leading up to it, but it was a lot of fun and we raised a good chunk of money. My FI was fed a little too many shots though and we ended up taking him to emerge. Luckily he didn't have alcohol poisoning but because they pumped him so full of IV he didn't feel dead the next day. Well that is all for now. Wish me luck and I can't wait to share our pics and experience when we return.

Looks amazing and looks like you had an amazing wedding. Congrats and thanks for sharing!

So I have been searching online for months trying to track down an umbra ether frame for our sand ceremony. I finally gave up and bought some other shadow-box type frame that I was hoping FI could transform into something for the ceremony. We were at Winners yesterday to get some last minute things when we checked out the picture frame aisle and there it was. Umbra Ether in silver on clearance for $13. There was one left after we bought it (Hamilton Mountain Winners) and not sure if any other Winners stores will carry it but it is worth checking out if you are searching for this frame.

November is just around the corner. Everyone getting excited? I have my final fitting on Thursday (last time the dress was a little snug so fingers crossed it's a perfect fit when I go on Thursday). My bachelorette is Saturday too, so very excited to see what the ladies have planned for that. It's down to the wire now. Getting my final DIY projects out of the way and dreaming about being on the beach!!! How are you ladies making out with your final plans?