calyx6

That is a long time to get a sample dress in! But they do say that it may take up to 6 months to get certain designer dresses in. I'm surprised that there would be a shortage of bridal shops in NOVA. I looked online at 5 gazillion pictures, noted the manufacturers in the right price range that I liked, then looked up stores that had those manufacturers. In the meantime, we found out that we were moving across the country for my FI's new job so we decided to take some time off beforehand and visit some of my family in France. One of the manufacturers I had liked just happened to be having a trunk show so I went, made an appointment afterwards to try on some of the dresses, and I got the 2nd dress I ever tried on. So I traveled VERY far to get my dress (but I was already there anyways.) I would say to go ahead and clip all the pictures of the dresses you like, see if a salon (fancy or not) has several of the mfgs you like, and make an appointment. Then try on as much as you can, even if you don't think it'll look good on you. You'll be very surprised at what actually works and what doesn't. Then, if you still haven't found the dress of your dreams, then at least you'll have a pretty good idea of what you're looking for which will make it easier to explore all of the online options. Is that helpful at all? -V-

I think I'll send them as is and even if they don't have a clue, at least the website address will be there. The formal invitations will be bilingual. Thank you Gals, -V-

Has anyone here dealt with sending Save The Dates to a place where they don't do them? I have a lot of family in France and the notion of STDs has not reached over there yet. They normally do announcements first followed by invitations, or they may combine the announcement with the invitation. Should I just send my STD as they are in English or translate them and send a French version? If I send them in English, it'll be obvious that this is an American thing that is pretty commonly done here. The language is pretty simple on the card so it'll probably be generally understood. If I send them in French, I'm not sure how they'll be perceived since it's not one of their traditions, but I think it'll be appreciated that they are in French. I am also, originally, from France. At least the magnet (it'll be attached to the bottom of the card right on top of the website address) doesn't have to be changed at all. -V-

Tammy, If you have too much champagne, you could always make mimosas with the extra! Actually, before you stretch a bottle for 8 toasts, you may want to look at the glasses they'll be providing for you and see how much they hold. I would be concerned that the glasses will look too empty for toasting. If you're truly concerned about wasting champagne, then you may want to go with a cheaper sparkling wine as opposed to a champagne that's "quality." That way, if there's a lot extra leftover you won't feel as guilty. -V- PS. Christa, thanks for the link and suggestions!

Dang.. I just don't type fast enough (actually I get distracted and don't finish my posts until someone else has already posted the same thing!!!). 2 full size bottles should give you 8 "full" champagne glasses of average size. Are you allowed to bring in your own champagne for them to serve or do you have to stick to their list? Even with a corkage fee, you might be better off buying the champagne on your own. -V- PS. Completely unrelated: Christa, what are your favorite wineries in your area? We just moved to the bay area and have started visiting the Santa Cruz mountains wineries.

Tammy, A regular bottle of wine holds 750ml (I would tell you that's the regular champagne bottle size too except we drank all of ours so I can't check the bottle, but I think they're the same). We usually count about 4 glasses to a bottle. Sooo, for a champagne (or sparkling wine) toast for 8, you will need 2 regular size bottles. The 200ml bottles are the "personal" or "individual" size bottles. 200 ml is only ever slightly over 6 fluid ounces, enough for 2 glasses. You should definitely try to taste the different champagnes or sparkling wines and see what tastes better to you. What's more expensive is not necessarily what you'll like best. You can also look at some of the italian sparkling wines which are spumantes. -V-

If you use a service such as Vistaprint, you can download a general template from their website. It'll show the margins and etc. that you'll need to respect when doing your custom artwork. We used photoshop for our magnet but you can probably use any graphics software (so maybe not Excel.) I would share mine but I just realized that I don't have a copy of it. Hope that helps -V-

I'm not sure about the DR, but it seems that a lot of the AIs in Mexico ban topless sunbathing by the pool. What Cassondra said is true, most americans don't sunbathe topless (unless they're in South Beach) so if you look for a resort that caters mostly to Americans as opposed to Europeans, you're less likely to run into it. And if your friend's mother does see some topless sunbathing, what's the worst that can happen? Shouldn't she be happy that her daughter is getting married as opposed to gawking at body parts she's already seen before? -V-

Quote: Originally Posted by LadyP WHERE IS THE FONS LIBRARY If you click on the finder (on my dashboard, the first icon on the left), it'll open up a window. Click on your username. That'll give you several choices. Pick "library", and when that opens up, click on "fonts." That's the folder in which you want to drop the new font. -V-

Quote: Originally Posted by RaydensMama Open your control panel on your computer then drag and drop the saved font file to the fonts folder But before you do that, unzip the folder. Then take the font file to the fonts folder, or if you have a mac, take it to the font library. -V-

Green tea has a bunch of antioxidant compounds in it (also in black tea.) There's been some studies that suggest it may prevent the onset of cancer; it has been studied in stage I and II breast cancer and prostate cancer in mice. There's also been research on animals that show topical preparations containing green tea extract to protect the skin against photo-aging, inflammation, and skin cancer. Green tea, unless decaffeinated, does contain caffeine, which might explain the boost in energy. It also contains lots of vitamin K (found usually in green leafy vegetables such as spinach) which could be of concern if someone is taking a prescription medicine such as Coumadin (warfarin sodium.) Now, with all of that being said, I just like green tea ice cream. Anyone else have a pharmaceutical/herbal question? I'm studying for my boards to be licensed here in California, so this is kind of helping me review. -V-

Quote: Originally Posted by leamil Hey, Can all you Dreams Tulum people tell me what made you pick it?? I love the pictures, but have any of you been down there? Have you heard about problems with the ride from/to airport?? What sort of rates are they giving your guests (I've been waiting for a reply from their sales dept) - have you found it more/ less/ same as other AIs in the area? How much flexibility is there in their packages? For example, can you choose some entrees from the silver menu and some from the gold? Do they have more than one wedding per day? Thanks!! Leah Hi Leah, From our experience, their sales dept is pretty slow at responding to group rate requests (more than a week.) We didn't find the savings to be significant enough to go through all the trouble of doing a room block (we don't really know how many people are coming and for how long they'll want to stay.) For the ride down to the resort, we have been advising our guests to book a private transport - Dreams has the option of adding a private transport or one can be done with another company. Otherwise, people may end up in a van with other folks going down to other resorts which lenghthens the commute time considerably. And yes, you can choose some entrees from the silver and others from the gold. We actually asked Sandra (the WC there) that very same question. As for your first question, we picked Dreams Tulum because we wanted a smaller AI resort, didn't want to have to wear any bracelets, had stayed at another Dreams and enjoyed it, and liked the location. Also they allow children and don't have a 3 night minimum stay requirement. -V-

I'll admit that I have no idea what the "in" things to do are nor do I personally really care. But if what's "in" happens to be something you also like, go for it. I'm not too sure about the citron color either. It might be nice just as accent color, a touch of it here or there. Lime green would probably go nicely with your other colors. There's a color wheel you can play with at brides.com to see what different color combinations look like. You might come up with something you like better. Hope that helps. -V- Wedding Reception Ideas and more | Brides.com PS. I guess you were editing your post as I was writing mine. That green is definitely better than the citron.

That is more than rude! Does this family member need attention so much that they need to steal someone's else's thunder? And why would you want to have your honeymoon with all of your extended family? I don't get it. -V-

That is too cute! Did you do the graphics yourself? -V-

They're Gorgeous! Congrats! -V-

First dances should be about the couple, not the couple and their cast members. I'm all for people doing a dance that expresses their personality, but when it involves doing a production as described in the article ( complete with auditions and understudies), that's completely over the top, and yes, tacky. If people really want to throw on a production, they should save it for later during the reception. A wedding should be about celebrating love and a new union not 10 seconds of fame on youtube. Personally, we'll be dancing an unchoreographed argentine tango. I'll admit to having picked out my wedding dress and shoes with that first dance in mind. However, our guests won't expect anything less than that since we did after all meet in a tango class! -V-

Yeah! Another Dreams Tulum couple! Congrats and welcome to the forum. -V-

The Forever Stamp is already available to buy at the post office. I got a book last week. It's not the prettiest thing though - the Liberty Bell. -V-

Tyra Banks had an episode of her talk show on how to pose for the cameras. Unfortunately, I missed it!!! However, it may come up in reruns. There's always good tips on America's Next Top Model. I find a 30 degree angle to the camera works really well to emphasize and de-emphasize all the right places as well as putting one foot in front of the other (think of the Miss USA pageants). I would practice practice practice! When else do we get to be prima-donnas? Also, trust the photographer to take the best shot at the best angle. They can help out a lot and pose you if need be. Maybe it's because I don't have that many but I think curves are beautiful. Why not concentrate on showing those off as opposed to looking just thinner? -V-

2 weeks without BC?! My fiance would freak out. Most insurance plans have an override available to patients when their mail order rx does not come in. Of course, to be able to use it, you have another current prescription at your local pharmacy. And the pharmacist there has to call the insurance so that they can process your claim with the override - alas, it's not automatic. I worked in pharmacies for 10 years and we did it all the time. I try to always keep an extra pack on hand even if I have to pay for it out of pocket. Hope that helps. -V-

Welcome Amanda! I'm also getting married at the Dreams Tulum, but in November 07. All we need now is a December bride to bridge the gap! -V-

Lucky Gal! I would go ahead and use the opportunity he's given you to pick out your engagement ring. I understand you still want the element of surprise but will you really like *anything* he picks out? Give him a break; take some of the stress out of the shopping experience for him. Try on a ton of styles, pick out a few favorite bands, then he can go back at his leisure, select one of your pre-selected bands, then buy the stone of his choice and budget. This way you'll both be happy with the choice (and you'll still get an element of surprise.) I selected my band post-engagement and there were quite a few styles I liked that just did not look right on my finger (this was all part of his plan, me picking out my own band.) -V-

That is really pretty! Yes, keep it and use it. I would use it on favor tags and envelope seals. -V-

Quote: Originally Posted by jilly76 yes, we're definetly doing chichen itza, I think we'll do it while our daughter is still there, maybe plan a group trip for everyone coming down. Steve loves to travel and to see things, so this is right up his alley. I don't know if I understand what the mayan calendar is, could you explain? sounds cool The mayans didn't use the latin alphabet like we do and had a different system of notation to write down dates and such. They also used a different calendar system to mark the passage of time. Here's a link that can probably better explain it than I can. FREE Maya Calendar information from the Maya World Studies Center