CourtneyV

Out of curiosity, why is the cake cutting part of the reception so important to you? I don't even know if we have pictures of it, although I'm sure we do. : Oh yeah, and everyone ate the cake at our wedding! Although I'm not sure everyone was eyeballing it the entire reception either, so I'm sure a dessert would have been just fine.

lol, its kind of funny that you just bumped your own thread out of impatience! Yeah, I'd agree, do a search... I'm sure you'd get better results than trying to re-ask questions.

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Oh Kayte, your boys are ADORABLE! I remember when you announced you were having twins (back when I actually checked this thread more often!!), and look at the gorgeous outcome! Too bad about the Maple Leafs bib though! Ha! Kidding... sort of! It's so exciting to see all of the BDW twins - and singles! - I need to upload a picture of my little Evelyn, who somehow is already 7 months old!

I'm thinking it's not about how long you've been a member of the forum, but how many posts you have.

Congratulations on your little girl!!! Isn't it funny how they have their own personalities right from the get-go?!!

Wow, your website is 20x better than mine ever was! You have a lot of really helpful information on there for your guests. You did a great job!!!

It's true, you're not going to be able to make everyone happy. It doesn't matter what you do. But you've also got to think that everyone is thrilled at the idea of it, they probably even envision themselves on the beach in St. Thomas, but when it comes down to whatever their current life situation is and the cost of the trip, people start backing out. It's just something that comes with having a DW, and you really can't take offense to it. I think people genuinely want to go, but it's just not a viable option for them. If you still find yourself truly caring how people feel about your wedding, there are a few options... you can look at other resorts (even other islands/locations?) if you really want to. St. Thomas was our first pick too, but we found it to be a little more $$ than we knew we could spend, and likely most of our guests as well. We changed our location early on, but that was OUR decision and we absolutely loved our final wedding location. If you're set on St. Thomas, don't change it. The other option is an AHR (at home reception) for your guests to attend. So you can still have the wedding you dreamed of on the beaches of St. Thomas, and you guests can still celebrate afterward, at home with you guys. The way I see it, if you plan a DW, you have to go into it expecting that it'll only be you and your FH... everyone else is a bonus! You really can't try to please everyone - you'll just end up stressing yourself out!!

I can only echo what Magalie said above; I didn't have a bridal shower either. My parents came with me to choose my dress, but I would have just as easily brought friends and not worried about asking them to be in my bridal party. In fact, I've been dress shopping with my FSIL and the very idea of being in her bridal party didn't cross my mind, it was just fun going shopping with her! I think you're reading too much into what is "suppose" to happen, but your wedding is what you make of it! I loved planning my wedding, and wouldn't have accepted help if it was offered; I bounced ideas off of the occasional person, but I planned every detail and wouldn't have had it any other way - I had a blast planning all those details too! ENJOY this experience!!!

I think I remember seeing a thread on this a while back, but either way I'm pretty sure moods are gone for good after Tammy upgraded the forum/server; it looks like you're eternally grumpy!! ETA - this is posted in the wrong section also... if you try to do a search in the "Bugs, issues or "how to" navigate forum questions" section of the forum, I betcha you'll find the old thread on this!

Quote: Originally Posted by Kristy! Did you do a search? There are tons of threads talking about legal vs. symbolic ceremonies and getting married at home first. Amen!! This is probably one of the most discussed topics, there is definitely lots of information out there already!!

Looks good to me, the only thing I think I'd change is to add a - between twenty and second (reads: twenty-second). I think adding the - is the "correct" way of writing it, but I don't think it'd throw people off if you didn't add it!

Agreed - pictures always help! But I think tennis shoes might be a little toasty to wear all day/night? It's up to you though, whatever you're comfortable in! Flip flops are a little more common for beach weddings (or even going bare foot!), but again, it's whatever you're comfortable with/in.

I was going to ask the same thing; is he a professional photographer? Dealing with money between family can be awkward, but I agree with what was said above; ask him how much he'd charge. I would do my research about approx. how much you'd expect to spend for a photographers wedding fees plus travel so you know what you might expect to hear back from this distant cousin of yours. Regarding paying for his guest - again, I think it depends on whether or not he's a professional/if his guest would act as a second shooter. If his guest is just going as a guest, then no I don't think you should pay. If this guest would act as a second shooter to the photographer/your cousin then you may need to consider absorbing that cost.