Well, it’s official. I’m now Mrs. Rossbach. Last month, we got married in sunny Riviera Maya, Mexico, and I can honestly say it was the best time I’ve ever had! Having all our family and friends in one place for several days was magical, memorable and downright fun.

When I first started planning the wedding, I interviewed fellow Pony and wedding planning guru Meghan Hodgdon. Her advice came in handy (an open bar and wedding planner is a must!) and now that I’ve made it through the matrimony marathon, I’d like to share some advice of my own for anyone planning a destination wedding.

The Hard Rock Riviera Maya

Get A Travel Agent
We had more than 80 guests attending our destination wedding, and there is no way we could have kept our sanity without the help of a travel agent. In addition to booking travel, they answered guests’ travel-related questions and were on call throughout the process to help me coordinate with the hotel. Their services were priceless.

Have Something For Everyone
There were a lot of things we had to consider when we were reviewing resorts for the wedding. The biggest consideration was finding a place that would provide family-oriented activities — and a more “adult” atmosphere for our guests who came sans kid and ready to party. The Hard Rock Riviera Maya ended up being the perfect resort for our group. It had two sections to the hotel: one kid-friendly and the other adults-only. The adults-only side was called Heaven (it lived up to its name) and offered a non-stop party atmosphere that even included an indoor night club with a pool. I’m not sure what was offered on the kids’ side, but I hear from the parents it was great.

Adult-only fun at the Hard Rock

Be Pro-Choice
This subject has become highly controversial, but I firmly take the position that letting your bridesmaids choose their dresses is the way to go. There is no one-size-fits-all dress out there, and the quickest way to add drama to any wedding situation is an unhappy bridesmaid. I let my gals pick any blush dress they wanted and the result was happy maids, happy bride. The champagne helped, too.

Some happy bridesmaids

Function Before Fashion
I was convinced that I could make it through the day in my shoes. While people tried to encourage me to wear them around the house before the wedding and break them in, I was delusional in thinking I would be just fine. Well, I was so wrong. These shoes, even with their sensible wedge design, were difficult to walk in on the beach and were aching my feet just hours into the day’s activities. I ended up throwing on a pair of tacky flip-flops for most of the wedding. Ugh. I should have listened to my mother. Break your shoes in or they will break you.

My something blue and something uncomfortable…

Embrace The Crazy
Something about weddings makes people downright crazy. Couple that with the logistics of travel — and the Mexican sun and tequila — and you have a recipe for crazy town. The only way to manage through it is to expect and embrace it. Guests will be complain about something, your dad will say something stupid, your mother-in-law will point out something you did wrong, and someone will get too drunk — but that’s what makes weddings memorable!

Wedding crashers (on the left) partying with our guests in the photo booth

The craziest thing that happened at my wedding was having wedding crashers. While I wish I could tell it was a dynamic duo like Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, it was more like Snooki and The Situation from “Jersey Shore.” These two yahoos literally partied with my guests like they were long-lost college friends. They ate our food, drank our booze and even posed in our photo booth and signed our guest book. I was totally fine with these crazies, but eventually they had to go after they tried to use the dance floor as a stripper pole and the woman stepped on my dress and demanded that I tell security that they could stay. Bye, Felicia.

I’m so glad we went with a destination wedding. We got to spend more time with our guests than having a wedding at home, and Mexico provided the perfect backdrop to say “I Do.”