Mishi

I don't know if I am too late and you have already decided, found a solution or even mailed them out, but I had to post. I used starfish in my invites, and they are VERY FRAGILE. I tied them around the top of bottles (msg in a bottle) and put them in bubble wrap and in a hard box and still 2 out of 10 got broken in shipping. You definately will need some kind of protection for them. Sorry, but I would rather you know. If you can figure out a way to protect them, it is worth it because they are beautiful!

I love these! I decided to do them too and was going to do DIY, but when I found this site I opted to let them do the work. Here are a couple of pics of what I chose: Here is the link to where I ordered them from Tropical Message bottle wedding invitations * Tropical Message bottle invitations perfect for your beach weddings

I saw you guys talking about Spanx (sp?), does it work? Has anyone used it?

I have dark brown, almost black hair down to my waist and am wanting to curl it and wear the sides back with white flowers all in the back (I have an inspiration pic I will scan) and there are a couple of flowers on the link that I like, but if anyone has any other great links, please let me know!

Thank you guys for all the congrats and trust me if I can do it, anyone can do it. Oh, omg and one more thing I learned about a month ago that I would have loved to have known: you are probably working out too hard. Your body has a target heart rate in which it burns fat. You can find yours by doing a google search and is by weight, height and age. It is usually between 140-150, mine is 150. Anywhoo, if you go above that your body will not burn fat. It thinks because you are over exerting yourself that it is in survival mode and starts to conserve energy... and what is the number one thing that uses energy, burning fat! So, a lot of the time when you are running or really working out hard, your heart rate will be so high you aren't burning fat, it is only working on your stamina. I wear a heart rate monitor at all times now (most machines have somewhere to hold or a band to put on) and try to stay right at 150, and literally sometimes I have to walk slow on the lowest level. Doing it this way makes it very easy to go for the minimum of 20 minutes a day too. Knowing this months ago, there is no telling where my results would be and I would have saved a lot of breaths. Just wanted to share.

Hey Kash... what is the cigar roller? Like, where they really make them? The guys would love this. I am setting up for a bonfire one night too, I have these at home all of the time and think they are such a great way to open up and have great discussions.

You guys have great ideas... I love the idea of a scavenger hunt, and read somewhere else on here of doing it like a photo scav hunt... so I think I am going to do that maybe over a couple of days, but have to figure out how to get instant. Hopefully they will have digital cameras within the teams. I really think I am going to use that Newlywed game too, lmao. We are all couples with two guys as the odd ones out. But, the funny thing is we tease them all the time that they are "a couple" because they are inseperable best friends. I think it would by hysterical to have them as a team because they would prob win, lol! Thanks guys, keep them coming, I am love this!

LOL, no problem, most of the brides on here are getting married in Mexico, so easy mix up. I did a slide show for my STD and am doing one at the two AHR, so I don't think I will there.

Well, mine is in the Dominican and 2 of the guests are over 80, lol, so that may not work but that is a great idea for anyone doing one in Mexico, how fun!!!

I fought this too, suit or no suit. In the end my FI loved the idea of linen pants, a white linen shirt and all of us barefoot, so thats what we are doing. I found a great website for island clothes. Beach Wedding Attire: Drawstring Linen Pants, Cotton & Linen Shirts, Shorts for Men & Women - Island Importer

I don't want to have one at all, but unfortunately I am having 3. We are having the DW one, and then I am from NC, so one here, and my FI is from NJ, so one there! UGH

I just noticed you asked about a reasonable goal weight... they say 2-3 pounds a week is healthy but doing 4-5 is not unreasonable as long as you do it healthy. A lot of the weightloss centers want you to stick to 2-3 because it keeps you in the program longer. I would set a 3 pound a week goal, so that when you do venture off a few days you are not hard on yourself, it happens. So, if you have roughly 3 months, or 12 weeks... it would not be hard for you to lose 30 pounds or so. If you are planning on working out and toning up, I would set that goal at 20 pounds and concentrate on building some muscle too. Once you decide that feeling and looking good is a better result than the feeling you get from that hamburger, it really is mind over matter. Everytime I get hungry and want a cheeseburger, I think, I can eat a shake and it will suck for 5 minutes, but in the end a "feeling full" result is what I am after. Either one of these will give me that.

I am one of those people that can eat the same thing everyday for months and be ok with it... so I do that for breakfast and dinner almost everyday. I love the Quaker Oats Oatmeal Bars... Brown Sugar is my favorite but the Oatmeal Raisen and Banana bread are both good too. Slimfast has some great Protein Bars as well, but the Oatmeal ones are so filling, I can go forever without getting hungry again. Quaker Oats also has a new Protein Oatmeal out that is really really good and it is high in Protein so I do that on the weekends when I have more time to sit down and eat. As far as the water, let me just tell you if you told me a year ago I would only be drinking water, I would have laughed in your face. But, after about two months of forcing myself, I swear I refuse to drink anything else. I have gotten a Sobe, which used to be my favorite, one time and couldn't get through half of it. Just force it in the beginning and you will feel a million times better. I hated water with a passion, thats my biggest break thru. As for the vitamin, just make sure it is specifically for women and is a full multi vitamin. Look for evidence that it is getting into your system (urine turning bright yellow) because only about 30% of vitamins work because their casings are so thick it doesn't dissolve in time for the vitamins to relase before your body flushes them. I use Optimum Nutrition- Opti-Women. They are very inexpensive and I have noticed a huge difference in the way I feel. I hope this helps. Although I am not where I want to be, I feel great and I know that even though it won't be before the wedding, I will reach my goal.

LOL, yew kin doo itt!!! I worked for a weight loss center for a while years ago and picked up a bunch of great info and it seems to work. It is very simple but takes a lot of discipline or in my case FEAR. Fear of being in front of my FI family and mine in a bathing suit for a week. This is my routine: Food: Breakfast: Protein Oatmeal, Oatmeal Bar, Protein Bar (at least 4 grams of protein/no more than 4 grams of fat) Lunch: Any sandwhich or salad under 10 grams of fat, preferably with Chicken or Tuna, something with good protein, low fat (you get the idea) or Sushi (my favorite and very high protein/low fat Dinner: Slim Fast Shake (the shake at night is key) I only drink water, with an extremely rare alcoholic drink (this is the worse thing for a diet, especially wine) *Take a good multi vitamin every day Workout: I do 20-30 minutes of cardio at least once but preferably twice a day (morning/night) and then a repetition weight work out once a day, alternating upper body and lower body. So, I do 3 sets of 20 reps of upperbody every other day (biceps, triceps, back, shoulder, chest- one excercise for each) and then 3 sets of 20 reps of lowerbody the other days (quads, hamstrings and gluts). And everyday I do at least 100 crunches to work my abs. I did this consistently since last July and went down 70 pounds. There were probably 4 weeks, one here and there in that time period where I "fell off the wagon" and still was able to do pretty well. I ordered a size 12 dress when I was a 22, and am able to get into my dress. I am still a tight 12 but with about 10 more pounds my dress will fit perfect. So that is what I did. I don't know everything by any means but it has worked really well for me. Being in the weight loss industry I have learned a lot of the myths and things that really work and don't work, which makes it worse that I have waited this long to get in shape. I didn't mean to go on that long, I am a little long winded, but if anyone has any specific questions, just PM me.

We are having a very intimate wedding of about 10 people. The first night they get there I have a dinner planned but would like some kind of activities or ice breakers for that night. Anyone got any ideas? We are at a private villa with pool and beach but no one else around.

I need some serious motivation!!! I put myself on a diet July 4th of last year and my goal was to lose 120 pounds by the wedding, April 20th. I have a home gym (bowflex, treadclimber, ablounge and free weights) so I have no excuse and have done really well. I am down 70 pounds ytd... but there is no way I can lose the other 50 in the next three weeks. So... I have reset my goal to lose another 20-30. But, it's been three days and no working out and I have eaten terrible, and I came to the realization that there will probably be no one from my side attending our wedding, so I even had a martini binge last night, lol. Please girls, help me help me help me!!! My arms still jiggle, we won't even discuss the hiney and oh my goodness the dress fits but its tight. If the Fat Gods are listening, get this twinkie out of my hand and make me crave some lettuce!

We are going very casual, this is what my FI is wearing and we are ordering it from Beach Wedding Attire: Drawstring Linen Pants, Cotton & Linen Shirts, Shorts for Men & Women - Island Importer These people are sooo nice and will custom make things for you if you need them to. My FI is wearing the pants in white and a white shirt and then the best man is wearing the pants in natural/khaki and the white shirt.

I love the idea of the just married over the chairs... or for something a little less obvious, you could have larger chairs where you two will be with perhaps a different chair covering than everyone elses (if you are having that) or the only ones with chair coverings.

I know pretty much everything has been said, but I think the best advice I have ever been given on relationships in general, but also pertaining to living together, is to PICK YOUR BATTLES. You will never meet someone that does everything exactly the way you want always and that would get pretty boring if they did. So, just remember the reasons you fell in love and don't get so wrapped up in the details of weather he left his socks laying in the floor and you will be fine. Oh... and one more little secret that I have tested and can attest to... men are ego driven. They want to please, so if you constantly tell them all of the things they do right and build them up, they won't want to let you down and will be much more eager to make you happy. They will even think it is their idea

Here is my dress...

Since there are only going to be a dozen of us at the wedding and its on the beach, and my fiance isn't crazy about traditional wedding music this is what I am thinking... I did a CD to give out as a favor with all of "our songs" on it. I am thinking of using the appropriate songs for the ceremony. So while they are waiting play Norah Jones, and then when my fiance does his walk, it will play Where Are You Going by Dave Matthews Band, and then I will come out to We Belong Together (my fiance starting boo hooing when he suggested I come out to this and we listened to the lyrics to see if it was appropriate) Then as an inside joke, for the processional we want a Techno/House Dance song that is one of our songs to play, because we are really into that kind of music and everyone picks on us about it. I think this is so much more us, but I don't want to take away from the event either. What do you guys think?

You guys have read my mind... there are only going to be 12 of us including us... and I thought it would be weird for us to be busting a move with his parents and not many more people. And even though we aren't big dancers, we love music, as I always say, "I live my life to a soundtrack" so... I think I am going to have the music play, and have the main first dance and a mother/son, brother/sister dance (my brother is walking me down the aisle) and leave it at that. If people want to dance to the other songs, so be it. If not, it will be like a normal party where music is playing and everyone mingles. But I don't think we can cut the whole thing out, especially a destination wedding where people don't just go home. Let me know what you guys decide... I am still not 100% convinced.

Hey Amy, Ok, I put your image in Photoshop and the green registered at this color. If you are using RGB color is it R150, G202, and B3. If you are using CMYK, it is C40, M4, Y100 and K0. So, if you go into Photoshop and work on whatever image you are using, when you want a color, just plug those numbers in and it will match every time. If you have questions about anything with Photoshop, or want me to convert something, work on it, whatever, just let me know. I was a graphic design major and now own my own Mortgage Company so I am always itching for a project, lol.

Just sharing our setting... when we decided to get married we really wanted a more intimate setting since we were only inviting immediate family and a couple of friends. We set our limit at 14 and found the most incredible place. I have been in direct contact with the owners and wedding planners and feel like they are family. I have a great travel agent too who, I swear I would make her a bridesmaid if she wasn't going to be in Fiji during the wedding ;-} The villa has one large house with the master suite in it that has a living room thats close to 2000 sq ft alone. It has a pool table that opens into a huge bar area that spills over into the party hot tub and huge pool. Then there are seperate villas spread out over the other 2 acres of the property. I loved this idea because everyone had their own space but we were all right there together. You have a private beach that shares with the house next door and a cliff. You also have a full staff that includes a chef, bartender, masseusse. It is crazy. And... it is all inclusive, $50 per person per day for food. The wedding price includes Surf and Turf dinner, champagne, massage, manis/pedis for bride/groom, photographer, dvd, cake, flowers, bouquets, everything you need! I love this place and just felt like it was more romantic and private than a larger resort. If you want to look at it it is Dominican Republic Villas, Caribbean Beachfront Vacation Rentals and Unusual Luxury Vacations at Sunrise Villa

I am getting married in a private villa in Cabrera which is much further north than Punta Cana, but I am going on the first leg of my honeymoon to the Paradisus and let me just say, everything I have seen and heard has been great. You can not beat the price, which allowed us to upgrade to a better room and the reviews are above average. I would love to hear from anyone who has been and I bet a wedding here would be beautiful!!!