foxytv

Thanks Alyssa! It can be daunting to log on and have so much to catch up on!

OUCH! Are you kidding? I am so glad I went with another company. The prices for fresh flowers are unreal for weddings!

Tiffany's is so much $$ IMHO. I was able to get my BM's a lot more stuff by not using pricey names like that. I actually got each girl a knock-off Tiffany starfish necklace as one of their gifts (complete w/ a knock0off Tiffany blue box and jewelry bag) all for 99-cents each plus $5 shipping from eBay. Totally worth it b/c I also had embroidered beach bags for each girl -- flip flops, pashminas, Mamajuana & Brugal Rum, earrings for the wedding, City Lips lipstick, make-up brush sets, etc etc and I think it was all stuff they enjoyed, as opposed to one or two small, pricey gifts.

lol. I sure do. I drink ice water with lemon almost exclusively at restaurants. Rarely will I get a soda or anything other than water (besides beer or wine of course!). But I always put in the lemon. Heck, today we ate at Cracker Barrel and she brought me a bowl of sliced lemons and I put like 6 in my water. uh-oh!

Quote: Originally Posted by jamisoncollette Those cupcakes are AWESOME! Did you get a mold and use chocolate? I may need to steal this idea from you... Yep, I bought several different starfish molds off eBay ... but this was the only one that looked like real starfish. I used the Wilton Candy Melts from Michael's or Hobby Lobby and used Vanilla and Cocoa. I did some of each and them swirled or marbled most to get the different shades and colors. Easy, but time consuming since I only had 2 molds that did 5 at a time. UGH!

And a final cupcake close-up. lol

Here's one final pic. Once the bar opened up to the public, many of us stayed and partied. This is a random couple who wanted a pic with the bride ... so we did a makeshift pyramid ... and Tom jumped in the background just in time! :-)

Our AHR was last Saturday. I was hoping to have some pics emailed to me by now from friends and family, but so far -- nada -- so I am going to go ahead and post the few set-up pics that I took on my camera just before our guests started to arrive. I wish I had more/better pics ... and I pray that someone took pics of the food spread, singer (who is from Nashville and about to release his first single and CD -- he is going to ROCK!) and some guest pics ... b/c I only snapped a few pics, which I hate ... but it was so crowded and busy that I really wouldn't have had time. We had about 150 people. The AHR was at Tom's bar "Oysters on the West End" in downtown Greenville. We have a rooftop deck and bar ... so the entire upstairs was closed for our reception until 6pm. We had a Low Country Boil as the buffett, along with bread pudding, hush puppies ... all the simple seafood-style stuff that made for a very relaxed day. Here are some pics: The entrance (nothing fancy -- and it still looked like a bar) ... but it's very "beachy" so it fit perfectly with our DW and starfish themes! Here was my last-minute guest book table. I just got unlined note cards and fine point Sharpie's and asked guests to write down some thoughts or advice for us. I'm going to make a scrapbook with these notecards and pics of our guests from the DW and AHR. For a last-minute idea, I think it turned out pretty awesome. I bought the pails on Friday afternoon. (I just read some of the notes and I am crying right now -- especially what my Dad wrote ... OMG! Some are so funny and cute and others are touching.) I found these striped table runners, a matching tablecloth, placemats and napkins at Tuesday Morning like 3-days before the AHR. I loved them and bought up everything at 2 different stores. Then, I went to a fabric store and bought 10-yards of the aqua fabric and 12-yards of orange burlap and used that as the tablecloths (I just brought scissors and cut the fabric as I was setting up Saturday morning, so nothing fancy). I also got the paper lanterns at Dollar Tree ($1 each) and hung those around as well as some matching strings of smaller paper lantern lights ... but we didn't turn them on b/c it was still daylight). These are our centerpieces. I brought back what we had from the DW and used those, as well as some other small candles, pails, etc. Unbelieveably, none of the starfish, sand dollars or shells broke during thr trip down or back from the DW. I got the plates at Dollar Tree ($1 each) and the votive holders at Old Tyme Pottery ($1.99 each) and had Tom's Mom bring some sand from Hilton Head. I loved the final outcome. Here's my favorite -- the cupcake tower!!! I had Mom and 2 girlfriends bake the cupcakes and then Mom and I iced them on Friday night and Saturfay morning. I spent each night the week before making the starfish candies. I sprinkled brown sugar to look like sand on each tray and on the tower, then more brown sugar on top of the cupcakes, then stuck on the starfish as I set it all up on the table. They were a huge hit and no one believed they were DIY! Hopefully I'll get more pics soon ... but it was a blast (albeit exhausting!!!).

This resort was completely top-notch. We did not marry here but it was a weeks worth of our stay b/c we honeymooned in room 1121 (Royal Service Garden View) and it was absolutely amazing! Very luxurious ... but also very little in the way of nightlife, which we found a bit of a bummer since our wedding resort was hopping with activity until the wee hours of the morning. but then again, we were there to relax ... and there is a little locals bar down the beach as well as the most fabulous restaurant in Punta Cana -- Jellyfish!! You will Love PPR!

Went out and got hammered last night without planning to, but Tom and I ran into a bunch of friends and ended up staying out til like 4am and having a blast. Today -- laid on the couch most all day, lol ... and eventually made it to Cracker Barrel for hangover food and then to Home Depot to try to spend some of our wedding gift cards. Tonight -- we might stay in (still have that fuzzy head feeling). Tomorrow I have to work at this big hot air balloon festival. We have a bunch of wine tents so I have to pour wine from 4-11pm both Sunday and Monday. PLus I have to run my regular customer route on Monday for any bars and restaurants that are open. Ugh. Not much holiday time in the wine industry since holidays mean we are extra busy. But we get 2 extra days off since we work tomorrow and Monday ... so we're hoping to take a long weekend trip in July. :-)

Sounds like that reception rocked out! How fabulous!!! PICS PICS PICS!!!

I LOVE these! She did such a fantastic job!!!! She needs to be a BDW member if she isn't already!!!

I moved in with Tom after we had dated for almost a year. Then, 3-months later, he was deployed to Iraq for 14-months ... so we didn't actually live together for very long ... and then I was in his house for the entire time that he was overseas (we got engaged a week before he was deployed). So, he got back in August '07 and we've lived together since. It's been fabulous and I would not have gotten married without living together first. I know it's much different than how our parents did it ... but it's certainly been a benefit of our relationship.

Great review! I know what you mean about being nickel and dimed. That almost happened to us but luckily we had to pay for the wedding and reception ahead of time so we were able to negotiate the terms and refuse some excessive fees and so we weren't surprised with anything after the fact. It sounds fabulous though, even with the few hiccups that the resort caused.

Once we get our pro pics back, we want to choose one and design our thank you cards using Vista Print. The options are endless .. but we're going to use a pic and a simple "Thank You" in block letters on the outside, as well as our wedding date and location ... with a blank inside. PS -- How was it? I haven't seen your pics or review yet. Have I missed it?

We didn't even do an intro. There were 40 of us and everyone knew each other in the days leading up to the wedding ... so after our bridal party pics on the beach ... everyone just made their way to the reception and we got it underway. One less hassle and it was perfect.

At Paradisus Punta Cana, that's what we did for the rehearsal dinner. We had to pick a fixed menu ahead of time ... but there was no charge to just have dinner, as long as you don't privatize the restaurant. That's a great money saver! We chose lobster as the entree, but knew some people didn't care for lobster. Those people were able to order steaks and pasta ... so don't worry if you have to pre-choose your meal. They were very accomodating.

Wow! I'm still going through the pics but I love them! I really like how you hung the fans from the chairs. Very simple yet elegant. We had to put ours in a basket for people to pick up on their way to sit down because the breeze was just enough that the fans would have blown away. Wish I had thought of your idea!!!

Oh I like it! I haven't seen one quite like that before. You are going to be stunning in it!!!

How fun!!!! I just loved the DR! Which resorts were you shooting these at? I hope you got to bouncea round to different resorts so we can get some feedback and comparisons on them all! Very nice!!!

Punta Cana was absolutely amazing! YOu are going to have such a wonderful time! Happy planning and welcome to BDW!!!

Absolutely amazing, Morgan. You have outdone yourself!! Your guests are going to be floored at how effortless you have made it all seem for them!

Steve's was ssoo fun! We loved the bartenders and the locals! Here are a few pics -- highly recommended.

You are going to love BDW! Just got back from our Punta Cana wedding and it was amazing! CONGRATS and happy planning!!!

hhmmm ... that name doesn't ring a bell to me ... but i'll try investigating more. :-) she must have a fancy secretive BDW screen name.