starchild

Beautiful Jen!! #2 is my favorite, love it!

I love them!! You were a beautiful bride but I already knew that from the teasers...lol I love the smirk in #625 and the look on your face in #589 ("the good one" haha). Your photog got some great shots! I love Caletas weddings!!!!

I know, it's crazy! And how sad is it that he died in a crash 8 years after the ruling? I love the last name too...Loving vs. the Commonwealth of VA - how fitting

Yeah that's not good! Is your layover anywhere cool? Maybe you can check in for your connecting flight then leave the airport for 4-5 hours and do something local? If you're stuck with that flight it beats sitting in the airport, kind of a little bonus vacation, that's how I'd look at it. Good luck

Early Marriage Equality Pioneer Dies :: EDGE Boston A pioneer in the cause of full and equitable marriage rights for all Americans has died. Mildred Loving, who together with her husband Richard took on the state of Virginia and all states with laws against interracial marriage, died at age 68, reportedly of pneumonia, said a May 6 article in the New York Times. Loving and her husband had married in Washington, D.C., despite living in Virginia, because their home state forbade interracial marriage under a law known as the Racial Integrity Act. When they returned to Virginia and lived together as husband and wife, they were subjected to arrest in the middle of the night by a sheriff and his deputies, who entered the couple’s home and their bedroom in the dead of night and dismissed their marriage certificate, which hung over their bed, saying, "That’s no good here." Indeed, in an early parallel to today’s patchwork of state measures regarding same-sex families, the nation in 1958 included some states where people of different skin tones could marry one another, and states where they could not. In Virginia at the time, interracial marriages performed outside the state were not acknowledged as valid. The couple were booked on felony charges and pled guilty. The judge in the case, Leon Bazile, informed them that God’s place had been to keep the races separate, but offered the couple a deal: they could leave their home state for not less than 25 years, returning for visits only separately, and their sentence would be suspended. It was a deal the young couple took. Five years later, however, they came back fighting, and took the issue to court. The case was supported by the ACLU and the NAACP; four years later, in 1967, the Supreme Court unanimously invalidated all state laws that criminalized marriage for people of different races. The New York Times article noted that those laws, called anti-miscegenation laws, were the last vestiges of legal segregation. The New York Times article recalled the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., uttered in 1958: "When any society says that I cannot marry a certain person, that society has cut off a segment of my freedom." Last year, to mark the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s affirmation of heterosexuals of any race having the freedom to marry the person of their choice, Loving issued a statement in which she said that she supported the rights of all people--gay as well as straight--to marry the person they loved. The statement, which celebrated the June 12, 2007 anniversary of the ruling, started out, "When my late husband, Richard [killed in a car crash in 1975], and I got married in Washington, DC in 1958, it wasn’t to make a political statement or start a fight. We were in love, and we wanted to be married." In the third paragraph, Loving wrote, "When Richard and I came back to our home in Virginia, happily married, we had no intention of battling over the law. We made a commitment to each other in our love and lives, and now had the legal commitment, called marriage, to match. Isn’t that what marriage is?" Loving’s statement recalled that, "...on June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that, ’The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men,’ a ’basic civil right.’" Wrote Loving, "My generation was bitterly divided over something that should have been so clear and right. The majority believed that what the judge said, that it was God’s plan to keep people apart, and that government should discriminate against people in love." However, "The older generation’s fears and prejudices have given way, and today’s young people realize that if someone loves someone they have a right to marry," Loving continued. Wrote Loving, "I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry." Loving went on, "Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people’s civil rights." Writing, "I am still not a political person," Loving nonetheless stated, "I am proud that Richard’s and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life." Wrote Loving, "I support the freedom to marry for all." Until the Supreme Court ended such laws, 38 states had had legislation at some time that denied interracial couples the right to marry. The Virginia law that criminalized the Lovings’ marriage had been on the books since 1662, reported the New York Times. The New York Times article also noted that in the South, state constitutions continued to include language barring mixed-race couples from marriage rights despite the 1967 ruling. Alabama was the final state to purge its constitution of such language, in the year 2000. Currently, voters in 27 states have amended their constitutions to ban marriage equality. Several other states are expected to put ballot questions regarding similar anti-gay constitutional amendments before the voters this November. Only ten states offer some form of legal acknowledgment for gay and lesbian families, whether in the form of domestic partnerships, civil unions, or marriage. Only Massachusetts offers full-fledged marriage equality, and has done so for four years.

Welcome A destination wedding in Sardinia would be amazing! California is far and the trip can be expensive, but if you can get it organized soon enough people will have time to plan and save for it and you may be surprised to find that more people will come than you expected! Do you have a resort or venue in mind? That is a good place to start. Happy planning

Aww, that's great! How cool that someone took the time to make heart-shaped sandwiches...you are loved! Thanks for sharing

Quote: Originally Posted by LC_Rachel Ok so this isn't about stepping in your own poo (or someone else's poo) or bridal party fist fights. My mom's wedding to my stepdad was a freaking zoo. It started off by my aunt (MOH) losing the groom's ring in a creek. We were standing on a bridge waiting to go down the aisle and she grabbed one of my bratty cousin's for climbing on the side of the bridge, and the ring went flying through the air and plop! right into the creek. The ceremony was then delayed for about an hour while all the guests rolled up their pants and waded through the creek for the ring. It was never found but it made for some really great video footage. Then during the ceremony, the mic kept going in and out and doing that really loud screetch. It was horrible. It finally cut out during one of the songs that was being sung. Nothing went right for them. LOL first of all that kid deserved to be thrown in the creek with the ring, and second of all how devoted were those guests? That's awesome!

Yeah that's odd, if she kept him away all day while you were visiting why would she elect to bring him to your wedding? Can we cross our fingers that he loses his i.d. the day of his flight and can't board the plane? Good luck with the talk and let us know how it goes

hahahaha...reminds me of our honeymoon in JA, there were lots of topless people hanging out - literally! hehe Gotta love the rapture of the ceremony, they had no clue!

LOL these stories are great! Wow Abbie, that one is kinda scary though! There were no major mishaps at our wedding, more like funny moments. Like the minister giving me the mic to repeat after him while he gave DH the ring to put on my finger (so I said "I, Jamy...while he was putting the ring on me LOL the video is awesome!) Then I put his ring on the wrong finger and was all struggling to find the right one LMAO! Note to brides - if you've never put a ring on someone else's ring finger while facing them do a test run in advance, it isn't as easy as one would think! (or maybe it was the pre-ceremony alcohol?) There were sand crabs which I didn't notice, but our ring bearer did and had to be carried up to present the rings because he was barefoot and terrified to touch the sand. I'm told the photog. stopped one from crawling up my train! Make sure you have video guys, photos don't do this stuff justice

Welcome, Chandra! Nice to see more L.A. people here...happy planning

What a cool place for a wedding! I've never been but I bet someone here has...happy planning

Quote: Originally Posted by stefnicole But I didn't put + 1 on the card. I haven't even sent our formal invitations yet, just a STD card, but she RSVP'ed on the website. She's a mom, she probably got the STD, got excited, and wanted to RSVP right away. She may have just assumed she was entitled to bring a guest like most weddings. Don't get me wrong, I think it's BS and that he shouldn't go...but that may be why she did it. So are you going to express your concerns to her? I'm with Becks, he can go to Hawaii but not the wedding stuff, it's not her decision to make

Yay! Gorgeous daughter, sounds and looks like a great wedding

Season 3 I'm all in!! The next 6 weeks are full of dinners and parties and I wouldn't be giving it my all...but after that I'm ready to eat well and work it out! Good luck everyone

Welcome We have another July 4th Vallarta bride here...where in PV are you getting married?

Welcome, it all sounds lovely! Happy planning

Welcome There is a very large amount of Dreams Cabo info here. Search for it above, right. Happy planning

Very deserving winners! Congrats chicas

Very nice job on everything! Love the shirts and luggage tags in particular

Cute!!! I was wondering if you all took pictures. Nice to "meet" some of our ATL family

Hmmm...etiquette probably says you don't really have a say in the +1 of an invited guest. Realistically if it were me and I didn't like the +1 I wouldn't want the person there either. In this case, it would really really bother me. What is your current relationship with mom? If you got her alone and nicely explained that you don't want this person at your wedding - would she flip out and not go? Would she bring him anyway? Or would she respect your wishes? I hope it's #3. You should be comfortable on your wedding day and it sounds like his presence would make you (and others) uncomfortable. My BM brought a female guest to Mexico and we met her at the bach. party in PV. We couldn't stand her. She was uninvited to the WD & wedding, and she was already in Mexico. If she showed up we had a group of people who volunteered to deny her admission. (she didn't show) That's how important I think it is to be surrounded by postive people you like on your wedding day. Good luck

You can also make them yourself if you're so inclined....AmyH made some really cool papel picado once for a party. I attempted it for my AHR but ended up buying some because I ran out of time!

I missed the last one but I'm in this time