Fun Wedding Extras

I had the luxury of having all summer to plan our wedding and think of fun creative ideas (one of the perks of being a teacher!)  I spent way too much time on the computer when I should have been enjoying the beautiful summer days but I think it paid off!

I wanted to find a creative thank you gift for our guests that fit the Mexico theme.  I was looking for maracas and came across this website: Mishka Designs.  They are an event design company out of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  I contacted Mishka and they were exactly what I was looking for and even better....within our budget!  I was able to pick the colors and design and then they hand painted and personalized them for our wedding!  They shipped them straight to our resort and they turned out great!  We had them on each place setting and rather than the traditional clinking the glasses, our guests were able to shake their maracas for a little newlywed smooch.  They ended up being a hit!

Along with a thank you gift, we wanted to provide our guests with a welcome bag once they arrived to Mexico.  I found many ideas in magazines and on wedding websites.  I found bags at target that matched the bridesmaid dresses and I made a little luggage tag for each of the bags with a little greeting from Adam and I.  Inside the bag, we put travel sized lotions, sunscreen, aloe vera, gum, advil (necessity for an all-inclusive), personalized playing cards, and a can koozie.  Adam and I had a good time putting these together the night before everyone arrived at the resort.  We polished off the coronas in our mini fridge then decided to order a few more from room service.  They came on a silver platter within a few minutes....this is when we really knew we were in a good place!  At some point a little beer was spilled on the bags...the beer/lime smell just added a little extra Mexican flair :)

Another one of my ideas came to me one day in the shower. I was thinking about how I could have a llttle piece of our wedding for many years to come.  Many people eat a piece of their wedding cake for their first anniversary but I knew we weren't going to be able to bring our cake back to the states and neither of us are big cake people.  I came up with an the idea of having anniversary cards for each guest to write in.  I went back to my favorite place, Paper Source, and picked out some cards and a cute little stamp.  On the front of the envelopes, I wrote 1st Year Anniversary all the way through 46th Year Anniversary.  Each of our guests got a card and wrote us a personalized message.  Now we will be able to have a little piece of our wedding over the next 46 years!

Planning from thousands of miles away...

Since we were having a destination wedding, we were able to work with a wedding planner at our resort. Our planner was Lizette at Secrets Silversands.  They had a wedding guide that we were able to look at and choose a package and customize our wedding.  This part was quite easy but all of the other details were a little more involved.  Trying to plan a wedding with someone that is thousands of miles away and a native spanish speaker was a bit tricky at times.  Many times I would be a typical American and want a quick answer but would wait days for a response.  I quickly learned to relax and ask fewer questions in each e-mail.  After countless e-mails back and forth, we finally got every detail finalized!  We would meet with Lizette once we got to Mexico to see all of the venues and make sure everything was in order.  She was very helpful and knowledgable about all of the intricacies of a destination wedding.  She did a wonderful job of making our day perfect!  Thanks Lizette!