jajajaja

Wow. Your wedding is just around the corner. I bet you are so excited!!

Your hair looks so dramatic against all that white. Beautiful contrast. Love the outfit change too! Congratulations! It was beautiful.

You can barely tell the difference in the dresses. You look great Julie! I loved that dress...especially since I nearly bought it.

I just remembered that someone had posted a discount Maggie retailer. May have been an ebay person? I'm sorry I can't remember, but she ordered her dress and she was going to keep us updated on the status. Maybe someone else remembers what I'm talking about. I have done a couple of searches to find the thread to no avail. I want to say it was victorias something- that was the website. I'll keep thinking....

Can new brides do this? I love seeing that you all look better than the models!! My dress isn't here yet, but I promise I will do the comparison shot.

Susan did! So beautiful and it photographs so well. I hope my dress shoes the detail as beautifully. I hope you can find it cheaper. I'll try to search for it as well. It's def. worth the money.

I love #1 and voted for it. But honestly if you already ordered #2, go with. It's beautiful too. I don't think you could lose either way. Being a bride is tough huh? I second guess everything.

Beautiful Julie! You are right- your lashes do look super natural. Definitely adds to the beauty shot. Congrats! Turned out beautiful. Can't wait to see more!

So I nearly had a bridezilla moment last night but I think I kept calm. My BM dresses came in and my sister picked her's up. While the dress isn't so bad, the color is all wrong. My colors are cantaloupe and hot pink with brown accents. The dress was a light light peach to nearly a baby pink. It had a lace overlay which totally deluted the cantaloupe color underneath. Ordering from swatches is NOT a good idea...so I've learned. Overall, it was totally not the look we wanted. My sister and I contemplated for a few hours on how we could improve the dress. We couldn't come up with any feasible ideas, so I whipped out the credit card and bought the girls a new dress at Nordstrom's. Here it is: I decided brown will do. They are having mango calla lillies and with hot pink sweetheart roses. I think the bouquet will pop against the dress. Thank goodness the dresses were on sale for $55 each. Just FYI to all brides, Nordstroms has some pretty dresses on sale right now. Some are selected sizes. And look for my old BM dresses on ebay! lol

Yah! I love visiting with my parents. Sounds like fun for you! Oddly enough, I'm kinda guilty of the same thing but I don't take the entire fault. haha My parents live 4 hrs away and his lives like 20 mins away. I see my parents all the time because they come to visit...A LOT! His parents are only seen on holidays/other special occasions. FI seems hurt about it, but I feel it's not really my responsibility to plan his family outings. Yikes, that sounded mean, but honestly, after 3 years I can't say I feel really close to them. He, on the other hand, has a great relationship with my parents. His mom makes comments that she doesn't see us often. Pick up the phone and make a dinner date, right? Yikes, hijacked here. Sorry.

Grrr...I need facebook. Julie I want to see your eyelashes. I have been so curious about them! It's so expensive to get them done here.

Any pics yet

Quote: Originally Posted by Wisco4 Ugh, this thread is so great, I'm glad someone started it. We are having a heck of a time with our guest list. Mike and I both work for the same company at management level (well he's actually a VP) and we have become close friends with lots of our coworkers (4 of them are actually in the wedding party). Between going out for happy hour, company trips, and just working closely our circle has grown immensely. Now, the sticky part is if we start to invite coworkers where do we draw the line? We have to see these people day in and day out leading up to our wedding and then every day after that. Not only that, I think they'll all come! This group is always up for a party. I need advice, please help.... BTW, our guest list has already grown to over 100 with just family and other close friends. Our limit is 100 if we want to maintain our budget and not be on Platinum weddings. Yikes. FI and I also work in a company together too. He has worked here for 10 years and me for 7. With that in mind, we have developed many work relationships. We decided to invite coworkers that we see/do things with outside of work. If we only saw them at work, then we viewed it as strictly a "work" relationship. BUT we also have people that wanted to go and we didn't want to say no so I had to give them an invite. They didn't get one intitially and obviously didn't care that we did not intend for them to have one. Not wanting to upset anyone, we let them come. Not sure if this will work for you since your guest list FAR exceeds ours. Just letting you know how we handled it- kind of.

Quote: Originally Posted by foxytv That being said, I think if it gets sticky, we have to realize that some people might truly not realize the extra expenses involved with an AI DW ... and we need to let them know that there is still a LOT of out-of-pocket money for the reception, etc. Uh YA! Especially since every AI I looked into did not have a "free" reception. Even to have a welcome dinner at my AI, they are asking for $24 per head. FI and I think we will take them off property for that because it's the same price. Why not treat everyone to a different meal instead of the same ol' AI stuff we will be eating all week. I think if people are inviting themselves and you tell them no, then you can expect people to be upset. Not that it's deserving, but if they are crude enough to invite themselves then they are crude enough to be upset over it. FI and I are such easy going people that we didn't want the ackwardness of people wanting to go and us having to say no. We just decided to pay for the expenses. I don't think there really is an easy way to say no. Either way you choose there are some consequences. Keep a strict guest list, some people will get pissed. Let anyone come, then you have a HUGE bill. It just depends on what you care about most.

I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother. Not only is the forum incredible for offering DW advice, but also for supporting our members through tough times. Many have used this as an avenue to vent and express their sorrows, but also to share exciting life news. I hope you will find the forum to be a great support system as well. Also, cruise around the forum for a bit. You will find many tips/ideas for planning any type of wedding- not just a DW. Essentially I believe this forum would be a useful tool for any bride, whether they are planning a wedding in the backyard or in another country. Happy planning!

I thought I was a freak because I wasn't too sure about the baby thing. I like children but I'm not super excited about them either. I can't handle when babies cry. I gag at smells. I'm not very patient. I've always figured I'm doomed and motherhood wouldn't work for me. FI is so ready for babies. I think he would probably want to start one the wedding night. I, on the other hand, want to have a few married years under the belt. I want to enjoy our freedom as a newly married couple. However, I'm 27 and he's 31. Although we are getting up there in age, I don't feel mature enough. It sounds crazy, but when I think of all the responsibilities children bring, it freaks me out a bit. I'm hoping everyone is right (ie mom, friends, grandma). When the baby comes your natural instincts kick in. Your own kid won't annoy you as much as the stranger's do. You may still gag at smells but it will be ok because it's your own child. You will learn to be patient because that's the only way to survive and remain sane. I REALLY hope they are right.

So I'm late but I'll share my "Oh crap" moment in case others have this same problem. We invited anyone that was interested in going. We don't have an AI but we kind of thought "The more the merrier." However, I'm not close with my dad's family- AT ALL. I'm not close with my dad either and view my step-dad as my real father. I decided not to invite any of my dad's family, including dad himself. I felt they would bring unwanted drama. Unfortunately, my FSIL knows my aunt and uncle from my dad's side (wasn't aware of this) and she showed them her wedding pictures. I was in a few...so she informed them of my wedding. They freaked out on her and she warned me that they were really pissed. I haven't seen them in YEARS and then I run into them one day out of the blue. They confront FI (whom they don't even know) and me and tell me I'm getting married in MX because my mom manipulated it all. When I told them that we wanted to have a small intimate wedding and it had nothing to do with my mom, they then told us that it wasn't going to be "real." No one would be there to share in our love. I just told them "I'm sorry you feel that way" and went on with our business. I was PISSED but I kept it in check because I don't really care that they are angry. I'm just pissed at their nerve. So just to warn all brides out there to be prepared. Some people may get mad when they have no reason to be. If you aren't close, end of story. Why would they think they need to be involved with the wedding? Some crazies think they deserve the invite.

Very chic! Looks wonderful. I can't wait to chop mine off. I'm trying to grow out my hair to have long, flowy waves for the wedding. Once the "I DO" is over I'm cutting it off and dying it dark. Have you seen Katie Holmes hair? Sassy- like yours!

Tara- I was wondering where you were. I haven't seen you on the LC thread. My mom had the Mystic Tan. I wanted to get it done but she warned me that it peels bad and she looked horrible. She said my dad ruthlessly made fun of her for a week. I'd stick to your jergens. That way you aren't pasty. PLUS who is suppose to be super tan in November anyways. (I guess unless you live in a sunshiny state. Everyone is pasty here so I'm comfortable.)

Your dress photographs wonderfully! So beautiful! Your photographer did a great job. I love the black & whites with a splash of color.

Quote: Originally Posted by chicago88 Thanks for all the info... Does anyone know if they have any good bronzer? I usually keep my face out of the sun so I don't want my body tan and my face white. I use MAC too, but for whatever reason, I don't use their bronzer. I love Cargo's bronzer. It's a very subtle color. Some bronzers can be a little too orange and Cargo's has no hint of orange. I think it's a little softer looking than the typical bronzer. They have several different shades. I can't remember the color I use, but if needed I can let you know. But then again, I have never used MACs. They could have a good one as well.

I just ordered six of them! I thought they were so adorable. She came up with 2 different designs using my colors. I did one with margaritas for me and the BMs then I did another with daquiris for the moms and my hair dresser (who is doing my hair for free- love her!) She is great to work with. I think she gave me a deal because I got six with their names and a design embroidered on the largest tote for $132 (includes $12 for shipping). She said she will add little crystals too! I can't wait to see them.

I love the dresses from the shopping trip before. They are so elegant and sophisticated looking. Plus you looked amazing in them. I'm not as wild about the david's bridal dresses, but if you are going to choose one, the last is by far the most flattering. IMO- I would go for the other dresses. They are too pretty to pass up.

Adorable. I'm going to purchase these for my BMs and moms. I just emailed her to see if she has a daquiri design. Can't wait!

Totally unrelated but thought it would be fun to point out- Amy and Edna, your avatar pics are the opposite of each other. You both are taking pics with your men nuzzling your face. Cute!