What I would and wouldn't do again...

I have been completely floundering since booking my DW back in December - This thread is such a help! My wedding's in a little over 3 months and this thread is helping me get it together! finally!

Awesome..Thanks for such great tips, I've got 11 months to go and have moments when I feel so angry with myself for stressing over the details, this thread has helped chill me out enormously and gives me real focus for whats really important.

You girls are the best, dont think I'd be doing half this well without you...even if my FI is a little worried by my forum addiction!!! HA HA

Thank you for the rose petal information. That helped make that decision.

My wedding is not done yet, but I can already tell you ONE thing that I would not do again : NOT sign a contract when we negotiated everything and just sign a commitment letter ; now they are changing everything that we discussed. What an opportune forgetting faculty !!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW! I just read all 25 pages of this post (at work of course). I think this is a MUST read for everybody who joins the forum. We're planning our wedding for Feb 2010 (probably jamaica) and this helps SO very much. It's nice to know that my $340 ebay wedding dress will be great and won't take away from the day. I'm leaning toward a welcome dinner or something of the sort more and more while wanting to almost completely opt out of a cake (might as well get the free included one). I'm still on the fence about OOT bags as we'll be going to an AI and I don't know how much of that stuff would be used. We vacationed at an AI back in august and never took drinks with us since they were free everywhere we went - I think coolers and/or koozies would be unnecessary as well as sun screen (most people will bring it and the resort has some for free if not). One huge reason for having a DW is that I don't want to plan all the details and stress out about it all. I'm certainly going to try and limit the amount of things I take down there but want naturally want a nice/unforgetable wedding. I'll certainly be trying to make room in the budget for fire dancers or fireworks. BIG THANKS to all who contributed so far!

thanks! I am considering a lot of what you have on your list and really appreciate your feedback

Wow, this thread is amazing. I've been doing so much research in planning my November 9 wedding. Just from reading this I have decided:

- To scrap OOT bags and just give thermal mugs with a welcome letter (I think they are a must for keeping drinks cold in the sun and everyone will def. use them)

- To stick with the small cake that comes with my package and not upgrade

- To not overschedule the week with group events - just a few scheduled things are enough (a welcome dinner and maybe an excursion - and of course the wedding day) otherwise people can do what they want - afterall, they are paying a lot for their vacation.

- To download my own music to my ipod instead of a DJ

- Not to worry to much about my hair - it will be windy, so no point in

stressing.

- To not stress in general, and realize it's going to be amazing and fun no matter what!

This is the best thread yet. Can't wait for more "would" and "wouldn'ts" to be posted!