jajajaja

We only had 20 and it was the BEST time. Very intimate and everyone got to really know one another and have a great time for the rest of the week. We just returned from a vacation in which we had a mini-reunion trip with several of the people from our wedding. Group vacations are a hit! Don't worry- it will still be a party. Just advice people to not drink so heavily the day before. That happened with us so everyone was hungover and not as party-ish as the day before. LOL But we had a blast on BOTH days so we weren't too bummed.

Oh i'm stupid. I see you already said that. My bad! I'm in an after lunch comma right now so I'm not thinking properly. LOL I just checked it out- very dramatic! Lucky girl gets two dresses!

Oh wow that's a saucy red dress. I love it! What's the ceremony dress?

Love your dress- timeless, elegant and shows off the curves perfectly! BM dresses are sooo beautiful and I love that they were personally made for each one. Awesome idea! Great planning thread... have a wonderful time getting married!! WOOHOO.

Yes! That was her Ann. She had a really big bridal party and I'm pretty sure she did a review so maybe she mentioned how they all got ready.

Quote: Originally Posted by islandbride317 Anyway, thanks for 100% catching what I'm throwing out here...you're straight-talk rockstar, Rach! I'm picking up what your puting down. LOL I know- I'm pretty straight to the point and blunt. My DH always tries to tell me that I could soften the blow a bit and I try to! Anyways- your party will still rock and you will have 50 guests there that WANT to be there. So drink til it's fun. That's my life motto!

Portland Oregon 2011. WOOOO Fun Erika. Now I know why I missed out- my school year. BOO. Cute pictures and how awesome is it to have BFFs with BDW girls. It's like match.com for brides.

There is a link in my siggy to view pictures. Our colors were orange and fuschia but at last minute, we switched their dresses to brown. I liked how all the colors blended together because the brown really complimented the shade of my dress. Plus their dress had goldish beading too. Have you seen the color in person? It's reallly beautiful and reminds me of sparkling sand. Plus it's very complimentary with a tan!

There are showers in the massage area too- but I don't know how that would work out. I think it would be awesome to take everyone for the day and worth the expense, but the logistics might make it more difficult. ETA- now that I think about it, we brought 8 over and I remember another LC bride had a HUGEEEE bridal party. I cant remember her name...shoot. (actually I think her name was Vanessa and went by something like "nessa" too. I kinda laughed at first because your name was so similiar to hers.) Maybe another girl will. Anyways, they all were able to shower and get ready so something had to have been worked out. Since you will only have 12 people it's not that huge of a stretch. As for cake boxes, I bought mine from another bride, but there's gotta be a seller out there somewhere. ETA more: search for favor boxes. That's what they are and I found a ton. LIke 100 for $20. That's a lot but maybe you can find another bride to split or maybe find a few you can purchase singlely in Michaels or something. my photog came on a boat- a little fisherman one- around 2pm. Nicole told me that they can go to the nearest city and a boat can be hired to take them there. THey then came back on the catamaran with us.

Oh and Amy brought the sunshine in her comment so yes- she's right. Read hers because mines too bitter this morning. LOL I need more coffee.

Wow- I'm really sad for you but since a lot of people suck, I'm not surprised. It seems like more and more people are becoming really self involved and you can never get people to either commit to something because they are waiting for a better invite to something else or are incredibily flaky. It's the world we live in I suppose. As for your sister- I literally laughed out loud at her excuse. Beyond retarded. Something is going on there because who can really say something like that with such a straight face. News flash- 13yr olds don't give a shit if grown ups are at their party. They'd rather it be all their friends. That's the time in your life when the grown ups are annoying. LOL I'm really sorry though. Hopefully more people show and didn't RSVP because we ALL know- RSVPing is realllllly difficult and it's way too much to ask people to do.

I don't know the answer, but I would assume they do. However, I just wanted to comment- AWESOME welcome gift. I think it's fab and I totally wanna be your friend! LOL

You and Andi went to Vegas together? Did I miss something I def need it for my shoes too! Vegas is brutal on the feet.

Wow that's a lot going on at once, but I honestly don't think anyone should stay in a job that makes them miserable. You seem like a person that's really responsible, has their shit together, resourceful, etc. I have no doubts that this will work out for you in the end. Good for you having the balls to find your happiness! As for you health, I hope they figure out what's going on. Let's hope the colonoscopy gives some answers.

Love how it worked out!! Very cute! We changed our date after the STDs too. Oh well- my STDs sucked so I guess everything happens for a reason! lol

Cindy- I like the idea of the blister blocker. I'd feel more comfortable buying that than the stick for chub rub. Seriously- it's embarrassing. "Oh honey... I'm struggling to walk right now because my chub is rubbing me raw."

Wow these are realllly beautiful. I love the color- it's so vibrant and the image really wants me to go somewhere tropical so I bet it will be a great inspiration to get a few more guests to say "yes please." I can't believe how talented some of you DYIers are. Totally impressed over here. And you totally trusted your FI! I remembered when mine helped with a few projects I was on pins and needles.

Quote: Originally Posted by jszy10 Leoni - by Maggie Sottero Sorry I didn't post the actual pic, I'm afraid to put the pictures on my photobucket just in case my FI comes across it!!!! Pretty dress. Just as a FYI- if you go to a website and right click on the picture and get the web address- under properties, you can copy it and paste the website using the lil "picture" icon here. Sounds complicated- but basically the same way as posting a photo via photobucket, but your FI can't see! Quote: Originally Posted by Melaina Yeah, I'm too chicken to purchase a dress online (heck, I'm even nervous about buying my BM's dresses online!). It was just such a huge eye-opener to see that the same dress was available for the fraction of what I paid. I'd love to see what one of those knock-offs really look like.... Sigh. We have a knock off dress thread here. Check that out to see how it's worked out for them. It's kinda too scary for me, but I think I've seen some happy reviews. I just love wedding dresses and still have Say Yes to the Dress on my DVR recordings. Beautiful dresses ladies!!

I'd ask Kelley- she should have some good recommendations for you. I can't think of any dining/dancing places that are "wedding friendly". I mean there's senor frogs and such, but I doubt that's what you want. Welcome to the forum. Be sure to check out the LC thread!

Quote: Originally Posted by ChicagoPT wow what an exciting thread! I posted before all this happened and I still think that its fine afterwards. At our wedding, there will be a proposal (hopefully after but whatev), a 21st bday the night before, a 30th bday the night after, and an anniversary (not sure of the exact date).We are celebrating ALL of these when we are there. I am super excited that everyone can celebrate all of this together...and we get to party even more!!!! PS..the guy whose 30th bday is on the day after was mad we planned the wedding too close to his bday!! So I guess Im stealing his thunder! We celebrated my mom's 50th bday on the trip too. It was fun because you can only do so many celebratory wedding shots. We then moved on to her birthday. It's a great way to keep the party going because towards the end of the trip everyone is enjoying each other and totally loving the group atmosphere! LOL for stealing his 30th bday thunder. What a drama queen. What a perfect way to celebrate! We are going to Hawaii for mine and I don't think I could get all my best friends and family to really give a shit and travel for the fun. We've tried! Really- a wedding is the only time you can use the guilt. LOL ETA- sorry it got so spirited Jennifer. LOL This isn't the first thread where opinions totally clash. Look up other etiquette type questions like is it ok to as for cash... However, I'm glad you feel better about it because the last thing you need is stress. It will find you in other ways if you let it!

Lindsey- my dress is light gold Maggie. the lace was a light gold-coral combo. I wore gold jewelry but the only thing that sucked was my ring was white gold- so it didn't match my earrings or bracelet. But I didn't really have that on til the end anyways so it wasn't a big deal. I doubt anyone noticed but me!

Quote: Originally Posted by miss_delerium *slowing backing out of this thread*....do not make any sudden movements... LOL...

This thread is like an accident you can't help but look at! Quote: Originally Posted by CanadianLindsey Wow, this is getting intense. I think when people post and ask for an opinion they want some advice, True, but not everyone will agree so you gotta be willing to accept it. Or just put titles like "Only respond if you agree...." and get no advice since everyone would have the same opinion. and all I was saying is that if she feels strongly about not wanting this to happen at her wedding-which I happen to agree with- then maybe she can appeal to the guy to think of how his gf would feel being proposed to at a DW. Maybe she feels it is inappropriate too. No need to cut me up for my opinion of making proposals special (I never said anything about over the top or expensive, just unique to them). I don't think Andrea "cut you up". She's not like that and has totally proven how awesome she has in her years on the forum. She didn't say anything negative about you. Just pointing out the unreasonableness of it all... DW are a newer thing and everyone is a bit iffy about the proper ettiqutte and what to do when the vacation and wedding become one blurred line. I think most of us on here who have ettiqutte questions are not asking to be the queen for a week, just a little respect from our friends and family about things that matter to us or seem like common sense; everything from bringing uninvited guests, who pays for what, or people proposing during our DW. Don't think many people would disagree that it's important to respect... and it goes both ways. I think the things people have been saying about their "guests".... you know friends and family that LOVE the couple enough to put their life on hold and commit a few thousand dollars to witness their matrimony- they deserve more respect than "put up or shut up." Not that you said some of this stuff, but there has been so many selfish statements in this thread. That's what's getting called out here. Not the original OP. She was respectul about her friends in her post. You did say something about the gf being embarrassed of her proposal "story." If it's about a "story" then I think she would be missing the whole point of someone asking for her hand in marriage. As Andrea noted, he just wants to propose. Not sacrifice a baby in his woman's honor.

Nessa- I had left mine at LC, but they gotta be trashed by now. But you can still ask to see if they do!

Quote: Originally Posted by TheFutureWagners I just talked to my Mama, who is also usually negative but she (for once!) helped me see the silver lining... like she said, Focus on your dress, your hair, your shoes, your fiance... all the good things. I think sometimes we get wrapped up in this without realizing that this is still going to be beautiful and perfect, just the way we want it to be. Go have a glass of wine! It helped me out of my tears last night!!! Your mom has very good advice. Focus on the things you can control. All the other stuff will drive you crazy and make you an alcoholic if you drank a glass of wine for every tear. LOL It is soooo tough being a DW bride. Develop the thick skin and focus on the big picture. I can't even tell you how many tears I cried over some of my important people not being able to make it. It's reallly hard and no one really understands that until they are in the same situation. However, it's a give and take. If you want the DW, it's the price that comes with it- unfortunately. I wish it wasn't this way- trust me, but I don't think there is a bride here that's had everyone they wanted be there. But the best part- I bet very few regret the hardships and the decisions they made to have the wedding their way. I know we didn't have one single regret! Our wedding rocked!