SMB Photos

I found a few more great resources for photos of the Secrets Maroma Beach Resort - check them out when you are feeling procrastinatory! :o) Many of the albums were created back in the Fall, so some things may have changed (more grass, etc.).

Album 1

Album 2

Album 3

Album 4

Album 5

Album 6
The SMB Lobby Bar-->

I get by with a little help from my Friends...

Planning a wedding in Mexico has its ups and downs, ins and outs, and half the time I feel completely behind and alone in the process, while other times, I know many people who are willing to help and do so without even knowing it. Today is a gracious kind of day! Not only am I super happy to have a full Saturday without too many obligations on it, but I am also very thankful for my friends and family.

At this point, our 'people present' guest count for our Mexico wedding is 32 warm bodies. I have no idea how that happened, and I completely did not expect that many people to make a priority out of our wedding day (and a Mexico vacation in August...c'mon people, I'm realistic too). How amazing, especially in a year of economic recession, heightened concern for the drug war violence in Mexico, and crazy exaggeration of the "swine" (H1N1) flu by the media (many of the businesses in that country are suffering greatly due to travelers changing plans and heading to other countries for vacations). I often joke that we picked the worst possible year to have a wedding in Mexico, but at this juncture I believe it will be a wonderful experience for us, and for our guests.

In this same vein, in response to my earlier posting about my hair-flower-obsession, a friend took some time to look on the internet for similar hair pieces. She found 3 options, all of which were amazingly close to the original, and it means so much that someone would spend time to help me in that way. Here is a picture of the one I chose to purchase, for a mere 23% of the cost of the other flower! It was found at "Wedding Factory Direct" and I will update this post when I receive it in the mail, and include a full review of that vendor. Hooray for gracious Saturdays!

OOT Bag Addition...

Drumroll please!

We received the FI's favorite addition to the OOT bags in the mail on Friday. And, I have to say, I tihnk they will be my favorite too! We found an EBay seller who was able to take the monogram that I created and recreate it for their printing purposes...and voila, a super fun favor for guests at a DW who also happen to be at an all-inclusive resort (read: the guests can bring this to the bars and get their favorite drink anytime!).

The EBay seller we worked with is called Factory 21 (the woman's name is Kaylan) and they were fabulous. She even let me send her the font files that I used to create the monogram so it would be replicated exactly on the cups. She was very responsive and the cups were here in just 10 business days.

Bridal Accessories: Part 2

I forgot to mention - I'm completely obsessed with a hair pin that would not only match my ensemble amazingly well, but I feel like it would be 'the' standout piece for my ceremony-dress-ensemble. However, it is $125...and as I have said before, I get a bit stuck on the 'it's just one day!' business, particularly when every cent is coming out of our own coffers. This stuff is harder than it looks people!


Photo courtesy of glamgal.com, maker of said obsessed-about-piece

Bridal Accessories

Although I ordered my veil a few weeks ago and still have not seen it in the mail (I'm only concerned because an independent seller on Etsy.com has agreed to custom make it for me, and I haven't seen any estimated shipment information at all yet...), I actually was able to pin down a pair of shoes and a lovely little clutch purse for the wedding day. I still may purchase a second pair of shoes to better match the second dress that I purchased (for the reception and Trash the Dress photo session the day after the wedding) but both of these items work rather well even if I am unable to find a second pair. I like the idea of wearing flats mainly due to the fact that I won't have to worry as much about either taking them off, or falling face first into the sand while walking down the aisle. We'll see how that goes.

For all you DW brides out there, I purchased the shoes at TJ Maxx ($50) for half the cost at Nordstrom, and the clutch purse is from Target boutique ($15).

The Sounds of Mexico

In the case of our wedding, the sounds of Mexico will no doubt include a large percentage of the wedding guests belting out some awesome karaoke at the Desires Nightclub, located right inside the SMB resort. I found some photos of the festivities...get your pitch pipes out people and start practicing!

The OOT continues

Our OTT bags have some fun new contents! I have read many postings around the web about how much guests of DWs enjoyed having a little pen and game book to bring to the pool, so I grabbed some fun brightly-colored pens at the Dollar Tree, along with some word search books from Target's dollar bin section.

And who doesn't love a little pack of Chiclets?

I also nabbed a few boxes of randomly-sized bandaids (Walgreens/Dollar Tree), along with some great individually-packaged antibacterial hand wipes (Dollar Tree) for the first aid kit (and hope to add little packets of pepto and advil in the near future). I'm surprised that I have thus far been able to spend relatively small amounts of money and come out with some really fun stuff that I hope our guests will enjoy. It can be done!