CourtneyV

Haha sleepy puppy eyes are the best, but he's not looking too impressed! Jill, they're so cute!!

Aww Laura! I just really hate it when the parents expect their kids to behave. Ok, this is a true story... I use to work in a store in the mall and there'd be this one lady who came every single week, sometimes twice a week and she had a little girl, probably 2 years old. They both spoke Russian, her mom spoke some English her daughter none. The mom would go into the fitting room and lock her daughter out and WE ended up watching her little girl. Once the girl wandered outside of the store on a busy day and the mom totally went off on us. We were just like... ok, no - she's not our responsibility!! Anyways, I get that parents can have a tough time with children, it's the parents that IGNORE their children and don't do anything that is annoying. So they start getting loud to get attention. I like the mom's the bring a small toy, or feed them some cookies that they'll purchase to shut them up! It doesn't bother me when kids cry, it's when the parent's don't even pay attention to the kid at all from the beginning!!

Here's what Tammy has on the non-forum part: Destination Wedding Countdown Checklist Below is a timeline to help your wedding planning go smoothly. You can adjust it to suit your needs. 12 Months or more Cut out pictures and articles that inspire you. Keep them organized in a binder. Martha Stewart has a great binder that has pockets to keep photos, cards of vendors, swatches, etc. Start looking at bridal magazines and look for local bridal faire to attent. This is a great way to meet wedding vendors and see their work first hand This is the hard part. Set a realistic budget. Start on your guest list. Invite those that you want to spend your wedding with. Destination weddings are smaller more intimate affairs so do not feel guilty about not inviting your coworkers that you barely know. Be prepared that some of the guests you invite at the wedding may not be able to come for financial or logistical reasons. If you plan on getting married out of the country, be sure to check the laws to make sure your marriage is recognized in the states. If it is a larger wedding, you may want to look into hiring a wedding coordinator who specializes in destination weddings. Start researching different locations for a destination wedding. Things to consider: travel time, seasons/weather (you do not want to have your wedding during hurricane season), cost of accomodations, etc. Choose a wedding date and start working on Save The Date Cards. If you are planning a wedding at a resort or place you have never been before, negotiate a site visit. Some resorts even offer a free site visit or at least a reduced rate. Determine your budget Considerations: airfare, hotel, document processing, meals, transportation, activities. Don't forget the all important wedding items such as attire, photographer, flowers, ceremony fee, etc. If you are having friends or family, you must consider if they can afford the expense of the trip. Location Make sure the wedding day is not during the local hurricane season or wet months? How many people do you want to be there...just you and your future spouse? Friends? Family? Are you also planning on honeymooning there or somewhere else? 8-10 months prior If you can make a wedding planning trip it will be really helpful to meet with local vendors like: florist, baker, photographer, etc. During the site visit would also be a great time to take your chosen photographer for a test run. Maybe take some engagement pics on the beach for your Save The Date Cards. Create wedding website with travel information and FAQs for your family and friends. Contact a travel agent specializing in Destination Wedding to help negotiate a lower room rate and block your rooms. Decide if you wnt a legal or symbolic ceremony. If you would like to get legally married outside the US, be sure to verify the local marriage residency requirements. Start looking for wedding invitations. Research the marriage requirements It may be as simple as going to the local courthouse to sign a marriage license, or it may be as complicated as having to be a resident. There are destination wedding coordinators who will handle the entire license processing for you. If you are planning on having a legal ceremony in Mexico, it does require a blood test. Wedding Theme You may want to decide early on what colors or theme you would like. Make sure the bouquet you dreamed of will work at your destination wedding. A lot of flowers can be shipped in if not grown locally but make sure in advance. Reservations Book your reservations early! Many resorts and hotels are booked months in advance, especially during peak travel seasons. If your group is larger, you may want to consider blocking rooms for your guests. 6-7 Months prior Start looking for your wedding dress. Some dresses can take 4-5 months to make. Start looking for the groom and groomsman attire. Order groom and groomsmen attire. Take into consideration that linen suits are seasonal and may only be available to purchase in the spring. Shop for wedding rings and jewelry for your big day. 3-4 Months prior Finalize your wedding invitations and mail them out. Start ordering items for Out Of Town Bags or wedding favors. Start working on your wedding ceremony. Consider writing your own vows to make the day more personalized. 1 Month prior Release any unnecessary rooms Finalize all wedding day itineraries Confirm travel arrangements with the hotel/resort 2-3 Weeks prior Make sure you confirm and re-confirm EVERYTHING with your vendors before the wedding 3-4 Days prior Arrive at your destination. If you plan on using a local styilist for your hair and make-up, do a test run with your veil or hairpiece. If you are having a legal ceremony finalize all the local requirements to make it legitimate. Meet with the hotel events coordinator or your wedding coordinator to go over the final details. Have a welcome dinner in lieu of a rehearsel dinner to thank all your guests who have travelled so far to share this event with you. Relax, you're Contact a travel agent specializing in Destination Wedding to help negotiate a lower room rate and block your rooms. on vacation! Residency requirements Once you arrive at your destination, how many days do you have to wait in order to get married? The day of Be sure to eat a bit and keep hydrated. Enjoy your special day. You deserve every bit of happiness that comes with it!

Now I'm incredibly curious on your stupid question! lol

Holy, you did a really great job! It seriously looks professionally done! What a money saver... good idea, I'll have to steal that idea too!

Hey Zoraida, welcome to the forum!!! :0) Well, in my opinion you have two of the hardest things figured out; location and date(ish!). Let us know if there is anything we can help you with!

Wooohooo, congrats! I'm so nervous for mine! Are you going to post some pictures when you get them? How did you DIY the boy shorts? Was it like little gems that you stuck to your boyshorts? That's such a cute idea! How fast did the 2.5 hours go? I'm trying to determine how much time to use! And last question (I swear!) was It as liberating as everyone says it is?!

Quote: Originally Posted by lryates76 What do you do at your job again?? haha!! lol Nothing... can't you tell?! I'm an office manager - aka lots of "paperwork" my onbox needs some major attention, but I have no desire to work today!

Aww Congratulations Anny!! You look so beautiful for your legal wedding! Are you wearing the same dress for your 07/07/07 wedding? How does it feel to be a Mrs.?!

Quote: Originally Posted by host i saw the rooms and took some pics but i forgot my digital so these need to be developed...they look great. it is all cosmetic: paint new furniture etc. so there isnt much loud noises. i was told all rooms would be completed by august (they are behind...it was supposed to be may) Can you say "One hour photo?!"

Quote: Originally Posted by Rkiss For the Calgary girls - so happy that spring is finally here!! Ooh, Rita I know, it's gorgeous I heart spring!! I had no idea there were so many Calgary (and surrounding Calgary area) brides here!! Your thread brought them all out from hiding!

1)Employees who complain to customers. E.g. Employee “Hi, how are you?” Customer “Good, and you?” “I’ve been better. I just started my shift and it’s a Saturday! I hate working Saturdays!” (Seriously, I hear this every freakin’ Saturday! 2)Employees who complain ABOUT customers! E.g. Employee Jane “Omg, that last customer was such a bitch! She actually made me double bag everything!” Employee Joe “I hate that!” 3)People who park their carts in the MIDDLE OF THE FREAKIN’ AISLE!! Seriously you idiot, where is your common sense. I love it even more when you go to move their cart off to the side and they just watch you to make sure you take anything from their carts! 4)People who bring their children to the grocery store (this applies to malls too!) and expect their kids to shut up and behave the entire time they’re there no matter how long it takes and how little entertainment the kids have. And then the parent just ignores the kid when he’s yelling “Mom..Mom…MOM…MOMMY...MOM!...MOMMMMMMYYYYYY!” and it goes on for ever. 5)Employees who walk away when you ask for help. Ok, seriously this happens all the time. I walk up to Employee Jane and ask for her help and she says “Oh, Employee Joe knows more about that, let me grab him for you” and no one shows up… or for the even lazier employee she might say “Ya, go check for Employee Joe in the produce section!” 6)People who rush/sprint to aisle #5 when they see you heading straight for it so they beat you into the line up… ya, that’s right B!tch, I saw you yesterday! 7)People who don’t put the separator bar thingy down on the conveyor belt after their items at check out. This might seem small, but it’s the little things that go a long way! 8.)People who pay in small coins… omg!! Go to the bank and exchange it for bills… save yourself money on belts, and save our precious time! 9)People who ask for something when they get to the front of the check out. E.g. Customer “Oh, I forgot cheddar cheese – I’ll be right back!” and then they take forever.. they come back and employee says “Those are on special for 2 for the price of one!” Customer says “Oh!!! I’ll be right back!” when customer gets back she has Employee ring up the 2-for-1 and then customer says “Oh… you know what? I actually only need one!” Oh – my – god.. SERIOUSLY, LADY?! 10)People who don’t say thank you when you hold the door for them when you leave. I always make a point to say “YOU’RE WELCOME” nice and loud!

Quote: Originally Posted by bride2be Some of our guests were a bit nervous about travelling to mexico and now after this incident which occurred at the Resort we are getting married at (Moon Palace) - I am sure I will hear a lot more about it. I agree that bad things like this unfortunate incident happen everywhere - it just seems that Mexican authorities are prone to cover-ups. I find it highly unlikely that falling 2 stories would give you brain damage....unless maybe if he dove off.... I really feel for this mans family - they will likely never know what happened that night. Meh, he could have just been incredibly drunk and thus his body didn't respond fast enough when he fell and he wasn't prepared for it. It's definately really, really sad... but it's getting blown way out of proportion. I'm sorry, I'm not going to tell people to avoid Mexico because 28ish Canadian's have died in Mexico in the last decade! It's not like it's a mass slaughtering! Just be careful... that's it!

Quote: Originally Posted by Rkiss I am not sure if it same for people from the US but in Canada lately there have been alot of incidents involving people getting hurt or killed in Mexico. A couple of my guests (including my mom) are afraid to go. The media has really done a number on tourists planning to go and has made them very afraid of what could happen. It is so unfair as I am sure more people are hurt everyday in the city I live in. Anyone else have guest that are leary of attending your wedding in Mexico? I am not sure what to tell them to insure their safety. lol you must have watched the same news program I did last night!! (I didn't realize you're from Calgary too!) They said 28 since... 1994 (?) have died in Mexico. The most recent they claim he fell off his balcony 2 stories above, but his family said he must have been beaten. I dunno.. it's possible be fell off his balcony. Honestly, I was in Cancun and the RM a few months ago (before I knew 27 other people had died) and had no reason to be scared at all. It's the media.. I say take it with a grain of salt and move on. I wonder how many Mexican's have died in Canada in the last ten years...?!?! Probably the same amount or more, we just bitch about it a lot more!

Hahaha, omg it looks like you had BLAST! I love the shirt you made for the lady who is pregnant, lol that's hilarious!! Hopefully someone scooped up your camera and they haven't realized it yet! I'd ask if you have any more pictures, but that's just rubbing it in!!

Omg, ya don't stay up all night!! Aaron did that once when we were long distance and he was coming to visit. Ya... he fell asleep about an hour before he was suppose to leave and woke up literally JUST before my mom and I were going to leave to pick him up from the bus depot! He's not allowed to do that anymore! lol

Quote: Originally Posted by dragonfly My wedding party are our children, their allowances just don't cover it, dresses or airfare (lol) Kelly~ Oh come on... make 'em work for it!! That's so cute that they're your wedding party! I love that!

Ya, it really depends on how much you want to spend and where... you can really cut A LOT of costs. For instance, if photography isn't that important to you, that can be a massive $$ saver right there. For me, photography is super important and I'll be spending about $6000 on it. For flowers - well.. IMO, who needs so many flowers with such a beautiful backdrop? I'll be spending a very minimal amount on flowers - most people will be in awe of the beach setting anyways! I think receptions/cocktails hours etc. are about $22pp so you'll be spending $1000 - $2000 on that, but I'd say you could do it for $10k if you really worked on it, did a bunch of DIY projects and cut back on some of the bigger expenses like flowers and the photog.

Quote: Originally Posted by madenerg2 Hi, I'm scouting wedding locations in the Riviera Maya during Memorial Day. I'm staying at Azul Beach, but I just found out that they can only accomodate a maximum of 60 people. Can anyone reccommend kid friendly all inclusives for about 100 people? Azul Beach is one of the locations we did a site visit at. To be completely and 100% honest, I didn't like it. But I think it was actually that fact that it was small that I didn't like. Maria, I'll try to write a review (with the pictures) soon! I'm completely in love with the El Dorado Royale. It depends if you'll be having children attend - they are an adults only resort and don't even allow children for the wedding - NO exceptions!! If it's only adults going I'd suggest that location in a hearbeat, it's beautiful!

Quote: Originally Posted by akh I also love it when people have their names in their signatures - so much more personal when I know names! I couldn't agree more! There are regulars on here and I have no idea what their names are! :| And vise versa as a newbie... it took me forever to learn Christa's name!

Oooh Kelly, this is a GORGEOUS dress! I actually had it bookmarked on my computer at home! Glad they found the designer for ya, it's so gorgeous... try to take pictures when you try it on!

I'm not a Playacar Palace Bride, but I just wanted to welcome you to the forum! Oh, and be sure to post your engagement story, we all gush over those!

Umm ok Liam is adorable! I can already tell, he's going to be a little heartbreaker!!

Haha, omg that's so crazy! I'm with Laura, I've never heard of the show before... it must not air in Canada - it's still crazy though! All of you guys keep spotting people on TV that you know... the closest I've come to that is that I knew a cheerleader on the local professional lacrosse team...that's about it! lol. I wouldn't be able to stop watching if someone I knew was on TV - let alone a show like that!

Welcome to the forum!! How much have you planned so far? Do you have it narrowed down to a few resorts, or are ya still pretty much looking at all of them?!