Rachelle E.

Congrats to you!! SO glad you had a wonderful time! Can't wait to hear all about it!

Well, for what it's worth - I think that was a great decision! :-) I was going to say that i LOVED the first ones and I didn't think the $35 was too outrageous. I think I spent like $42 on my wedding earrings...which felt like a LOT at the time, but I adored them and after searching for weeks wasn't about to pass them up! I can't wait until you can try them on w/ your dress!! It's amazing what the accessories do to an already beautiful outfit! Oh yeah...and just to chime in some more, I think Edyta's hairstyle would be lovely on you! and I love the flower clip you found...I know those can be pricey sometimes...did you get that one or find a different one? also, I don't think w/ the dangly earrings, dress, fancy hair and veil (I'm assuming??) that a necklace would be necessary. I DO think the gold necklace would look out of place w/ the earrings you just bought. So I'm all for using it elsewhere. My MIL actually gave me a pearl necklace that was a gift from her mother - and it's LOVELY...but I already had the sparkly earrings and the trim on my dress was similar to yours...not very "pearly" at all. I ended up wearing the pearls to my rehearsal/dinner instead. I think it was a nice compromise and she wasn't offended at all. Whew! That was long!! LoL! Sorry!

yay for you!!! You're going to have so much fun!!

No advice about adhesives from me! lol! But just wanted to say that I think your invites are gorgeous!!! Love the colors, the fonts, the little starfish...can't wait to see them once you've got them all finished! Your guests are going to be impressed!

Quote: Funny story: last night we got into bed around 11 and I announced that although we were both exhausted, we should do the dirty. FI said "sounds good" and then... nothing. Apparently we both assumed the other would be doing the work... after about 20 minutes of arguing we both decided that catching up on Survivor was a good compromise... sigh LOL! Ahhhhh! I HATE when that happens! usually if DH is being lazy like that...I'll kinda' "compromise". Like I'll get all close and start the kissing...and usually he'll get involved and take it from there. It's like he needs a little jumpstart or something! lol!

Well, honestly it varies a bit. I think a fair average would be a couple times per week. I prefer it to be more like 4 times per week....but he seems to be happy w/ once or twice per week. Which is nuts to me...but apparently I'm a freak. It used to be a sore subject 'cause I took it very personally when he didn't want to. But then one of my girlfriends was griping about her FI wanting it all the time and her just not being in the mood....that it wasn't like she didn't love him, or think he's sexy, good in bed etc...it was just that she flat out wasn't interested at that moment. It was honestly a little hard to wrap my head around but hearing it from her perspective helped a lot. That being said. . .I've learned not to freak out if he doesn't want to...and to basically demand it when I've had enough of waiting! lol! He's a pretty good sport about it since I'm not as persistant as I used to be...he realizes I'm trying. So he "tries back" when I need him to. :-)

I love this thread! Great idea Tammy! Ok... Dear Psycho Texas Weather, Please do your best to make the weather man look like a fool again and NOT rain on Saturday afternoon during Monica's outdoor AHR. Because even though we have a "plan B"...it's way less cool that being outside at the winery and we don't want to use it. Dear uterus/AF, Please stop cramping so much! It hurts and I'm only allowed to take two of my pills per 24 hour period...and right now thats barely cutting it. And I'd strongly prefer not to be the MOH who would rather be curled up in the fetal position at home than at her best friend's AHR. I mean, I appreciate that you stayed away for Mexico and the wedding...but geez...cut me some slack! I plan to wash down my second dose of narcotics with some booze when I get home tonight...please accept that as my peace offering and let's just all get along. Cool? Dear DH, You are F*CKING awesome and I LOVE YOU!!!! You made my day yesterday with all your thoughtfulness. I'm a damn lucky woman. You're the best! Dear BDW friends, You guys are amazing! Thanks for being so fun, smart, creative, caring and brutally honest. Love you all kids to bits!!

oh Heidi! I'm SO sorry! I hate that I don't know what to say...But just know that my heart goes out to you and Reggie and You're in my thoughts. Just let us know if there's anything at all that you need! I wish I could give you a big, teary hug right now!!

Those are gorgeous!!!

Oh! Don't be nervous...It's going to be great! I LOVE LOVE LOVE getting massages! I can see how you might feel a little nervous about the undressing part...but honestly it's not so bad. They keep you covered up except what they're working on at the moment. And it feels so great you won't even care after a minute! The only advice I can think of is to just relax and be honest. If you want more or less pressure or anything ....just say so. They just want you to be comfortable.

I very much agree w/ Ann. Unless your mom is willing to pay for all the food/drinks/snacks etc for the guests. . .that's not a very sensible idea, IMO. Obviously you'd be paying for the events/meals she mentioned anyway. Even at an AI, the dinner for the reception or any other special parties (with your own servers, menu, bar etc) cost XX amount per person - that you as the hosts will be paying for. With those costs, plus the cost of the wedding itself...I can't imagine she's really that concerned about whether or not the guests can eat or drink their little hearts out in their spare time! lol! Besides, a lot of hotels offer a complimentary breakfast w/ a stay...is she going to still buy breakfast for people every day even if it's included? Also, as someone who was just a guest at a destination wedding...I LOVED that we were at an AI! Bascially once we were there, DH and I didn't have to worry about paying for anything besides our activites (spa, golf etc) and that was a relief! Also, If I knew someone was covering my tab...I wouldn't indulge as freely in the mango daquiris out of guilt! :-)

Quote: I just loooove the mountainous backdrop of PV. Ahhhhh..... It really is SO beautiful! I think most of our friends were expecting it to look like Cancun...everyone was really surprised and liked it a lot!

Here are some of the pics from our camera. I'll try to get some of the pro pics from Monica when we do her review. Oh yeah...and my camera battery was dead while we were getting ready...so I don't really have any good pics of just her in her dress or her hair or anything. But anyway - here they are. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...ZMXDZm2cM2LCTA

Hi! Ok, so I know I've been back for a week now, but things were just so busy right when we got home. We're gearing up for the AHR (this saturday!) and after that things will be back to normal. Monica is working on a proper review...I was going to ask her about it, but she beat me to the punch and said she was excited to work on it! Even though she wasn't on the forum personally, she has been SO appreciative of all the help and advice we've found with you guys here. So...as soon as I get that from her, I'll be sure to post it. All that being said...everything was GREAT!!!! PV was beautiful...hot and SOoooooo humid (esp in the evening) but absolutely gorgeous! My husband had never been before and he is sold on it! He keeps saying he had no idea it was going to be so cool! And it really was. We loved it. Can't wait to go back! I would definitely prefer not to go during their rainy season next time (didn't have a choice this time!) but I have to say, it honestly wasn't bad at all. The only time it seemed to rain was in the late evening...like maybe during dinner. And it didn't ever rain for long. It did not interfere with any activities, laying on the beach etc during the day...which was nice. BUT it did rain right before Monica's wedding. her wedding was scheduled for 7pm, and it started raining around 6:30 or so. Not hard but still...Gaby was a champ though, she set up extra seating indoors just in case but totally left it up to Monica and didn't try to convince her one way or the other about where to have the ceremony. As it was, Monica decided to wait a few minutes, the rain stopped and we started about 15 minutes later than scheduled. Everyone was great about it...even poor Gaby who was running the decorations back and forth! lol! The ceremony went off without a hitch and it was great! Monica & Caleb were SO happy - it was amazing! I know some concerns had been expressed about the WC at Dreams (mostly about Marilu I think...Gaby is there now.) but I have to say, that she was a superstar the entire time we were there. She was right on time for any meetings they had set up. She was extremely helpful, very flexible and accomodating. I really had some concerns going in, but Monica & I both agreed - she did great, absolutely NO complaints from us at all! I'm sure Monica will have more details, but she was 100% happy. The photographer, Roberto Aceves (sp?) we acutally found here on the forum. He is the sweetest man!! As far as I know he was right on time for their meeting, he came to the rehearsal to kind of map things out and snap a few pics...nothing formal but very helpful I thought. The day of the wedding he was right on time - he got some really fun shots of the guys and girls getting ready. He was just SO easy and pleasant to work with. Monica and Caleb LOVED him. He really worked with them to make a package that suited their needs and budget. And I have to say...the fact that he had a TON of 5x7 proofs printed for them (just some of his faves), as well as their proof CD (ALL the pics he took) delivered to them at the hotel before they left...very nice. Is it Leigh Miller/Jonathan Thrasher/Juan Carlos type photography...no. It is good quality - yes. Is Monica happy with her pics - yes! Did it only cost about 1k...YES! So yay for all that! If you need a photog in PV and you don't have a huge photog budget...we'd highly reccomend him! Ooh! one more thing! Even Monica's dad (who was extremely skeptical about the forum and hiring a photog found on here) said that Monica should write a nice review about Roberto and what a good job he did. . .and he admitted that the forum was "pretty cool". lol! Ok, this is getting LONGER by the minute! I wasn't really intending to go into that much detail. Monica's review will obviously be more complete...but if you have questions in the meantime...ask away! Overall it was a wonderful trip...things couldn't have gone better! We even had a couple (our friends) get engaged while we were there!!!! It was so fun!! We were all VERY excited! AND I have some pics...so I'll post those in this thread in a minute!

Lol! My first thought was, "Oh no! tell me you weren't working on your anniversary!!" lol! yay for you guys! Hope you had a wonderful time!!!

I voted for number 1...but I like number 4 just as much! The only "drawback" to #4 is that we can't see your faces. And I think it's nice to see faces in a pic for something like that....especially for family or friends that may not have seen you in a while and stuff.

Quote: Stop lying Rachelle we know your mean. Its so evident by all your posts. Your always so harsh on everyone... I wish we could see each other through the computer b/c then you would see that I couldn't even say that with a straight face. LOl. I am clearly 100% kidding, you are one of the nicest people I have ever met. (Well cyberspace met) I know its not like that everywhere in the South. I have been to Texas so I am fully aware that it is not that way. Its just so shocking that there are small little towns where they still have these things in certain areas in the South. So bizarre!! LOL! omg Glenda...you should have seen my face when I read that first sentence! lol! I swear my eyes almost popped out of my head! Then I kept reading and started laughing. Holy crap girl...you totally caught me off gaurd for a second there! And yeah, I agree it's shocking and bizzare to hear about that kind of small-minded prejudice that still manages to exsist in places. And just for the record, I agree w/ Kelly that Canada is one of the most friendly and diverse places I've been. I adore Canada even though I've only been to a few places in BC. I'd LOVE to explore more of that country and I've always found the people to be very warm and open.

Quote: Okay first of all I 100% admit that I am ignorant b/c I while I am well aware that there is still racism I had no idea that there were still segregated restrooms in the South. I live in the south and I have never seen a segregated restroom. While I agree that there are still far too many injustices and this situation in particular is an outrage. . .the segregated restroom comment must be pertaining to a very specific builidng or something (which is ridiculous if it does exsist....how is that place not regulated?? Why hasn't anyone done anything about that!?) because I have never in my life seen anything like that. I'm not discounting the severity of the situation and I know that there are still small pockets in cities and towns where people do and say terrible, intolorent things. But I don't want people thinking that if you're anywhere south of Kansas that everything is segregated and people are mean. That's simply not true.

Quote: Oh, side note. My girlfriend Sheri was engaged to a man who's last name was Sherry.... Sheri Sherry!!! That's much worse! lol OMG! lol! My next door neighbor when I was little was Sheri Sherry! I remember going to her wedding when she married "Mr Sherry"! how funny! Anyway, I just wanted to say that I agree with the rest of the girls. Your names doesn't sound funny to me and if you want to take his name then go for it! And you can totally introduce yourself to new aquaintences as Jacquelyn to help enforce that! :-)

I think this new idea is cute! This is the first pic I found of David and I holding hands...we don't have a lot of hand oriented pics. ;-) But I think it works.

That sounds really good Tara...esp for a welcome letter, item on the website etc.

Mmmmmm! That roast sounds good! I have some favorites but I'm bad at actual recipes. We like to make a big pot of chilli. I make mine in the crockpot and it has beans, meat, spices, rotel, garlic and stuff in it. David makes his on the stove-top and doesn't put any beans at all! he's crazy. ;-) Also, I LOVE sweet potatoes!!!! I cook them, peel them and then mash them (or puree in food processor) with a little butter, cinnamon, like 1 Tbs of maple syrup and some nutmeg I think....then put it in a dish and warm it in the oven. I make this for Thanksgiving every year...and when I'm craving it! AND...butternut squash! Yum! Just cut it in half, throw a little butter and cinnamon on it and then bake it in the oven. SO good...David was skeptical at first but loves it now. :-)

That's a gorgeous dress! It looks great on you!!!

I got cute cards for all my girls and wrote them a personal note telling them how important they were to me...and of course asking them to be in the wedding. Nothing too crazy...but they all thought the cards were really cute and fun.

Wow! That's really great! Good for you...now if only I could get my fat arse to do that! lol! :-) That hoenstly is a great idea though...thanks for posting it!