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But cheap, expensive, or otherwise, I have to say: the Polaroid guestbook was a HUGE hit. Everyone loved snapping their picture, and because the Adesso Album is so user-friendly (guests just slip their photos into slots on every page), that the albums were beautiful and assembled for Mr. Penguin and I to enjoy by the next morning at our send-off brunch!

Messages ranged from sweet…

…to strange.

Some people had more to say…

…than others.

Some were funny…

…and some were ridiculously funny.

But mostly, everyone that signed it had a good time snapping their picture and leaving us a little message!

And now our albums sit next to Minnie at our house, waiting to be thumbed through by guests.

Remember, Polaroid cameras (and soon, film) are no longer being manufactured or sold by Polaroid, but various online retailers still sell them. It was definitely fun to have a dying product of our generation at our wedding. Perhaps one day, our children will look at the albums and realize how ancient we were to live in the era of the Polaroid!
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Have you ever been at a wedding wondering when something is supposed to happen? During the lag time, have you hesitated to explore the venue grounds in fear of missing out? Well let me tell you that I am ALWAYS the one who is away during the good cake smashing or a fantastic toast. For those out who share my affliction, here’s to you.

Are you providing your guests with a timeline of events?
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In case you haven’t noticed, I am a frugal gal. I am not stingy, I simply take measures to ensure I do not spend much more than necessary to satisfy my needs. I believe that I deserve what I have earned. I put myself through college and bought my humble dream car without getting into debt, so I surely am not about to do so to throw a party, even if it is in fact ‘once in a lifetime’.

I am all for great weddings, which is something brides define in vastly different ways. Big or small budget, most brides share the same goal to mark and celebrate the beginning of their new lives. To me, it means a small party leaving a small nest egg in my coinpurse to build upon. I’d like for my plastic to be left out of being a payment option.

What is your approach when it comes to managing wedding debt?

(image source)
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Image courtesy of Southern Style Weddings

Here’s how Alexandra described this Kissing Menu:

My husband put together a great list of toast alternatives – instead of simply kissing when a bell was rung or a glass was clinked, we put our guests to work. Jeremy created a mini menu that listed some fun kissing alternatives. Guests could either serenade us with a song (the “Singapore Sing”), demonstrate a kiss for the bride and groom to copy (the “Carolina Kiss”), recite a limerick about love (the “Irish Blessing”) or share some time-honored marriage advice (the “French Toast”). Some amazing talent came out of the woodwork that night, including a tag-team comedic rendition of “Can’t Help Falling in Love” and a few kisses that we can’t copy for you here.

Isn’t this so friggin’ adorable? I’m sitting here spinning ideas around that I could incorporate into my own Kissing Menu on our big day. I love the Irish Blessing and the French Toast, as Mr. Pomegranate and I have both Irish and French in our lineage, but the Singapore Sing and Carolina Kiss don’t apply. Here’s our sample menu, with a couple custom additions at the end:

The Pomegranate’s Kissing Menu
The better the performance, the longer the kiss!

The Irish Blessing
Recite a limerick regarding love.

The French Toast
Share some time-honored marriage advice.

The Kiss Me Kate
Serenade the bride and groom with a song - preferably song and dance - of your choice.

The Embarrassed Embrace
Share a funny story involving both you and either the bride or groom.

What would you serve on the Kissing Menu at your wedding?

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The Lobby

When people had asked us where we were going on our honeymoon, several frowned and said that they loved everything about Mexico but the endless solicitation they encountered on the beach, while eating, and pretty much anywhere they went. This wasn’t the case at all at the resort. Because, at least for now, it is so far away from other resort areas, so no one really has access to the hotel, restaurant and beach areas except hotel staff and guests. There are always plenty of cabanas open to lounge under, and at any time there were maybe only 20 other couples sharing the expanse of beach with us. The seclusion was bliss.

seclusion on the beach

The food was really delicious. The only major complaint that I had were that all salads at all restaurants were consistently less-than-stellar. Main courses were wonderful, but the fresh greens never quite did it for me…the dressings were usually really heavy and a little strange. Vegetarians, beware. Meats were all wonderful, lobster and steak in particular, however, and despite the fact that it was an all-inclusive resort, they never skimped on quality when it came to food. Not surprisingly, the Mexican restaurant and cuisine was the best…the Asian restaurant, my least favorite. I know it sounds silly to eat Asian food in Mexico, but we were intent on eating at every restaurant on the resort at least once.

Clockwise from top left: NY strip steak from The Steak House, Salad Nicoise at Chez Isabella, Lobster at Agave, Duck at Chez Isabella

The resort had an amazing day spa (circular building, below). None of the spa services are free, nor are any of the services cheap…the prices were pretty on par with spa services at a nice spa in the U.S. If you’re a honeymooner, you receive 15% off of any spa services before noon, so Mr. Penguin and I each got a massage. All spa treatments big and small come with a one hour “Marine Circuit” where they guide you through a series of rooms and pools with different stimulating water treatments…very cool! It was a wonderful experience, and if you go as a couple they put you in the same room. Seeing your new hubby in paper panties is quite the hilarious experience!

The Mille Spa

the water circuit **

couples massage rooms**

The public pools are nice, but they’re pretty crowded, especially the one with the swim-up bar. The lazy river is quieter, and great if you just want to float around the resort.

plenty of empty hammocks on the lazy river**

the lazy river that circles the resort**

Our room was spacious and wonderful. Honestly, it was kind of hard to get me to leave. I could only take so much beaching, and reading on one of the three outdoor beds right outside of our room was really comfortable. However, there was obviously no one to make us slushy drinks in our room so we preferred to spend most days at the beach or at the pool. But honestly, if we had a blender or a freezer, we’d have probably stayed in a lot. Junior suites all have their own private rooftop pools, and it was pretty fun to have some alone time up in our own pool, however if I ever visited again, I don’t think I’d pay extra again for the private pool. It was fun to have for our honeymoon, but we didn’t use it every day, and it was just more of a novelty then something that really enhanced our experience. All rooms in the resort include a jacuzzi tub that opens up to the balcony. I really liked that!

our room

bathroom

oversize jacuzzi tub

rooftop private pool

views on both ends on the roof

The property had some sort of leopards or jaguars or scary cats that I wasn’t to thrilled to check out. They looked scary and bitey. All I knew was that I was glad that we did not have a room on the ground floor in case they had gotten out of their habitats. There were some interesting large lizards too, none right on the grounds of the resort, but right outside, near the big cats.

All-in-all, a great time, and a perfect honeymoon for the couple that really doesn’t want to do anything in particular but relax. As far as the “all-inclusive” aspect of the resort, they never failed to deliver. I’m a big skeptic of anything that’s all-inclusive, but Excellence does a beautiful job at providing a great all-inclusive experience. They carried decent, recognizable brands of liquor, and never limited us to how many restaurants or meals we could visit or have in one day.

We admit to visiting one restaurant for drinks and appetizers and then heading to the Lobster House for our main course. Even the nighttime entertainment was really fun. We went to a magic show, got entertained by mariachi bands, and every night there was beautiful live music filling the air. They set up horseshoe games on the beach, and had cooking demos and kitchen tours, even a woman walking through the gym with cold water and cold towels to give to you while you were working out. We could participate in as much or as little as we wanted. We never felt like we needed anything, because it was always right at our fingertips. We consistently tipped the wait staff, maids and bellhops, but we noticed that not too many people did so, and it’s not required. Also, we didn’t get treated differently than those who didn’t tip, which was a little disheartening sometimes when we got a bad table facing the kitchen and little things like that, but whatever. The staff is beyond professional and nice, and the comfort of not having to “watch your pennies” everyday was very relaxing, as Mr. Penguin and I don’t share bank accounts, and so usually we have to decide who pays for what when we go out to dinner…but since everything was paid for beforehand, it was great to just order whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted, and to not have to worry about our wallets.

**starred photos from the Excellence Playa Mujeres website
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We were the most haggard looking couple on the plane. The bags under our eyes were so big from lack of sleep the few weeks leading up to the wedding.

We arrived to some pretty nasty thunderstorms. Cancun weather in June is spotty, at best. But it was always hovering in the mid 80’s, rain or shine, and we only experienced rain a few days out of our 10 day stay, the first big storm being on the day of our arrival, and the second big storm being on the day we left. So that was very fortunate. But, rain or shine, since the weather was warm, it didn’t really put a huge damper on our vacation.

Poppin’ the bubbly upon arrival!

Our first full day there, in the eyes of Mr. Penguin, was a “total mess.” He was poised and ready for vacation. I, on the other hand, was still in fully functioning bridal mode. My brain had yet to wind down, so I woke up at 8AM, went to the gym, returned to the room and shook Mr. Penguin awake, claiming that we’d miss breakfast if he didn’t get up. Nevermind that the resort boasted free room service that included a full breakfast menu, 24 hours a day. He grudgingly got up, and we headed down for breakfast…

…where I decided that I’d be healthy, and ordered oatmeal and coffee. Mr. Penguin wondered how long I would keep this “healthy” crap up. It lasted till lunch that day :). Then we headed to the beach, where after a short hour of lounging with a book, I decided that I couldn’t stand sitting still any longer, and that I wasn’t quite sure that “10 days of doing nothing” was going to work out for me. You could almost see the steam seeping out of poor Mr. Peng’s ears. He distracted me by ushering me to lunch a full 2 hours after we ate breakfast and prayed I would take a nap after being distracted by 700 calories or so. Worked like a charm. I zzzz’ed through the rest of the day until it was time to eat again.

By day two I was getting the hang of doing nothing. The steady stream of alcohol from sunup to sundown killed the adequate amount of brain cells necessary for me to relax. Days two through ten followed an easy-to-follow pattern:

Awaken. Eat. Go to the beach. Drink. Read. Eat again. Go to the pool. Drink. Read. Nap. Drink. Eat Dinner. Drink. Enjoy one of our two balconies. Sleep. Repeat 9 times.

Witness below…

My typical noon view. Staring up at an umbrella on the beach in-between books.

Checking out my battle wounds from the wedding (I am clumsy. Good thing the dress was long.)

Champagne brunch on our balcony

Hanging out in our private pool

A great view from the back of our upper balcony

Our lower balcony during the day…

...and at night.

The mirrors in our bathroom were kind of high for this little Asian. I had to wear high heels to put on my makeup.

Every night the staff left us a towel animal that I hoarded and refused to use. One night we were low on towels, but I dried off with a wash cloth. I did not want to disassemble my cute-as-pie turkey. The little guy had eyes! Ripping him apart would be tragic!


Floating on the lazy river

Mr. Penguin braving the Mexican waters. I am deathly afraid of sharks, salt water, creatures that swim, seaweed that looks like creatures that swim, foreign waters, jet skiiers, and overly affectionate couples invading my swimming space. Nevermind that there are no sharks in Cancun, or that seaweed is good for your skin.

We dressed up for dinner every night! Look how my posture had gotten so bad over the past few weeks before the wedding, because my back was all knotted up. A quick trip to the resort’s spa for a signature massage fixed it all.

Mr. Peng and I at the bar at night

Mr. Penguin Flambeed!

The fruits of his labor. Bananas Flambee with ice cream…what a man! And now that he’s got the technique down, I hope we’ll be having this at home?

Glorious food. One dish I ate was some manner of lobster covered in cheese. My heart hurt after I ate it.

We ventured out of the resort for one day and headed to Cancun for a day of shopping and a quick drink at Senor Frogs Cancun, where Mr. Penguin had spent many a night on his High School Senior trip. I sipped my Palm Tree drink and smiled and nodded as he relived his trip.

Our sad last morning on the beach. Don’t believe that fake smile. I was crying on the inside.

We flew Frontier airline, and they’re known for having a different animal on the tail of every one of their planes. Believe it or not, we returned home on Frontier’s penguin plane! Mr. Penguin and I got a huge kick out of that. Then he asked me when I was going to retire from blogging. Then I kicked him square in the balls and asked him when he was going to quit watching sports. “Never,” he said. “Ditto,” I said.

Next up, a full review of the resort…stay tuned!
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