rodent

i think these might be seperate. I would think a row of princess cuts would just look like one big sparkle.

is it called diamond dust? i didn't find what I was picturing by googling that though.

I'm picturing it but I don't know what it's called...off to google "smushed diamond sparkle sparkle"

I love colored shoes for the wedding. you don't see your shoes in many pictures so if you don't like it later it's not like the colored shoes ruin all your pics.

Quote: Originally Posted by Dez921714 We're thinking we'll have 50-75 people. Right now we have 14 with plane tickets. we can count to almost 30 people who are "definates". 50-75 travel mugs could take a lot of space unless they are more compact. I was expecting more like 50 people when I bought the cups. Now that it's 25 I could have done mugs. oh well, it's done. are you in the same town? you could pass out the mugs before the trip. my guests are all scattered.

I did cups because they are easier to pack. To me the purpose is so they don't have to go back for refills as often. The AIs have small cups. Insulation would be nice though. I think there are travel mugs that stack nicely so you could do something like that. I didn't want to use more than 1 piece of luggage for the wedding stuff so I kepts all the OOT stuff compact. If you want to keep them cheaper you can skip the personalization or paint it yourself with a paint pen.

Quote: Originally Posted by LC_Rachel I think your guests will regret staying only 3 nights. We had a few who did that and they were so sad they didn't splurge more. But you can't help that. it's an issue with vacation time for most people. they are all just making a long weekend of it. 2 couples are staying 4 nights. it's a quick flight from texas & that's how long my parents usually stay in mexico. So I hope by our guests not staying as long it will make 7 nights enough for us. We'll see.

i can't imagine anything more difficult. are you in the same town? can you see her before you leave? my grandma said right before she died that she was happy to see me with a great person that I planned to marry. We were not engaged yet, but we were planning a future together. She was very much at peace knowing that everyone was in a good place. I miss her, but I'm happy thinking about all the great memories. She was also given less than a week. We gathered around her & told stories, laughed & she ate icecream. I live out of state & my return flight was 2 days before she passed but I was happy I got to spend that time with her.

Quote: Originally Posted by melglnh2o What I would do again: 1. Have a destination wedding. It was magical. It was amazing. It was beautiful. It was more than I could have ever imagined. Don't even question it. Just go for it! 2. Treat all of our guests (70 total) to a sunser dinner cruise the night before the wedding. We did this through Aquaworld Aquaworld Cancun's Sightseeing & Attractions , Cancun, Cancun Diving, Diving in Cancun, Cancun Tours, Cancun Fishing,Swim with Dolphins Cancun, Cancun Jungle tour, Cancun Snorkeling, Cancun Hotels. It was exactly right and everything went perfectly smooth. We had a blast!! 3. Make OOT bags. It was quite a bit of work but all of the guests loved them and we received so many comments from guests about how they really felt welcome and appreciated for their coming to our wedding. That was so great to hear. We didn't go overboard with the OOT bags but we did the iron-on transfer canvas totes with welcome notes, itinerary, personalized map, personalized custom crosswords and word searches, personalized frisbees (although we could have done without these but FI really wanted them) snacks and water. 4. Hire a videographer. Well this was actually a surprise gift from FI's - I guess I should be saying husband now - grandmother and there was so much that I missed that the videographer captured. I would definitely say get one. 5. Hire Martha Roque to do our photography (she also did the videography). I took a chance on her since I couldn't find any reviews but it was a chance worth taking. She captured out most precious moments and it was like she wasn't there! It was one of our best choices. 6. Have fun!! Don't worry about the small stuff. There were several things that went wrong with our wedding and no matter how prepared you are, that is just the way it goes. Don't get caught up in. The day and weekend was still unbelievable. What I would have done differently: 1. Stay longer. We went Wednesday to Wednesday (wedding was on a Saturday) but we really needed at least 2 more days but probably more. It all went by so fast but it was a blessing to spend a lot of that time with family and friends. 2. Be adament about using my sand ceremony instead of letting the person do hers. I wasn't clear enough about what I wanted and I ended up liking the sand ceremony the least. Although we had a church ceremony, I also wanted to do a sand ceremony just for symbolic purposes and to take advantage of the beautiful backdrop (ie the ocean). It should have been short and sweet but the "minister" asked if she could do her reading and I said yes. What I didn't know is that she was going to make us read our vows again and exchange rings and it lasted a lot longer than we thought. This was definitely not what I wanted but it was my fault and I am still beating myself up about it but we joke about it. Of course the guests didn't know that it went wrong but my point is to be clear about what you want. Have people repeat things so they understand it and don't assume that they will do it the way you want. 3. Stay at the Fiesta Americana Condesa. They are fabulous at selling the place (it is a gorgeous hotel) but once you are there, they don't really care too much about you. I expected more, a lot more. Those are the highlights. I'm doing the same time frame. too late to change it, but I hope its enough time. Our guests are only staying 3 nights. how long did your's stay? if people were staying 5-7 I'd want more time for sure. I want some alone days.

win rar is free. i think i have them too but it looks like ypu are taken care of

I realize I should add, avoid making it seam like you are cutting him out of the wedding. Just find something that reflects your situation more. So if it's walking in with your FI, and giving your dad a hug that might work. Maybe tell him that as a bankity blank old woman who has been living on her own for x number of years you feel more comfortable entering with your FI. or maybe tell him you want to do it that way so you don't get too emotional. I just realized "blanky blank old" doesnt sound good. I just don't know your age but maybe <insert age here> sounds better. Sounds like I was cussing & calling you old

I'm all for adapting wedding tradtions to suite your feelings & life. I plan on just taking out the part about "who give this woman blah blah." So my dad will walk me down the aisle and then have a seat. No giving me away. I originally was going to have my mom walk me. She is the one who raised me. But, my dad worked so hard to get to where he could walk. If on the day of the wedding he isn't feeling up to it, I'll have my mom walk me. My dad's part in the wedding will be to sing a song after the ceremony. That is more meaningful to me than him giving me away. I do think the giving away tradition is outdated now that it's not 18 year olds getting married & leaving their fathers house for their husbands. When you are a woman with a career who has been supporting yourself for a while it feels odd for your father to give you to someone. Also, mike didn't ask my fathers permission to propose to me. He called to let him know, but he asked my mom instead. I vote for have nibblets walk you down the aisle. I'll loan you his hand knitted leash.

OK I have my 5.

Quote: Originally Posted by stltk Morgan, how cute are you?? What a great idea, mexican food 'n margaritas to celebrate! Congrats, everything's coming together...you're in the home stretch! Hey, what are the ferrets going to wear? just a casual outfit. it's been really hot in NC. I'm searching for a tiny sombrero for nibblets.

I love this idea!!!

Congrats on marrying your love! my advice is to only do the picnic after if YOU want to. many people say they are so tired after the wedding that the don't feel like planning an AHR. if your family isn't supportive, maybe you could just celebrate with friends. I'm having my AHR with friends only because my family is in another state & i'm not interested in flying back to throw a BBQ. The party with friends will just be casual & the kind of thing I enjoy. The other AHR wasn't something I wanted & our families didn't want it either. I hate the idea that white=pure. I'm wearing ivory because that's what looks best on me. I say wear whatever color you want. i understand parents not wanting to pay for a 2nd wedding, but it shouldn't be treated like it's not a cause for celebration. I have learned wedding planning is much more fun if you ignore the negative people. They will always find something to complain about. Don't let them take away your joy. You'll find other people who you never imagined will make you feel so loved. And if everyone around you sucks, you always have each other PS. have you seen the vegas neon sign boneyard? it's a really cool place to do a day after session. There are vegas pictures on the forum you should check out.

Quote: Originally Posted by Debs Where do you find this? Microsoft.com? google photostory. movie maker was already on my computer. if you are playing it off your laptop it's easy. then you just need to save it on a cd. if you want to play it from a dvd player you'd need a program to burn dvds & a dvd burner. So if you can get a laptop & projector that will make it much easier.

Quote: Originally Posted by LC_Rachel See- this will probably get me started on my rant, but I'm so sick of the bridezilla types that take things too far. Getting married is a celebratory occassion but why does everyone need to go broke? Does that make you a better friend? Not in my book but I occassionally read books that other's don't. LOL I would seriously like to see this whole wedding business rethought. There is no reason people should feel obiligated to spend that kind of dough. It really puts the bridal party in a hard place. If they can't afford it, they feel like shit and not a good enough friend. So so sad. i agree. I think we might be in the same book club. i often rant about the expectations of a bridesmaid. I would love to see the whole wedding business change. I dreaded having a wedding because you are expected to invite all 200+ of your closest friends & family. Then you are expected to feed them, get them drunk & play some music. Especially as our country is in some hard economic times, this really should change. I wanted a small 20-30 person wedding & we can't realistically do that without leaving the country. people always get offended for not being invited. I'd like a wedding to be more like the type of party I'd throw if I was celebrating anything else. Just simple & fun. If people want to have big, elaborate weddings that's fine. But, anytime I hear about a person having a simple, backyard wedding it's always a complaint from a guests that it wasn't good enough. Also, people get tired of going to so many weddings each year. So it would be nice if you could keep a wedding small without offending some 2nd cousin twice removed.

Vivid Peach Designs - Home here is her website

Quote: Originally Posted by Cherielee what do you mean you suggest "hosting" it on utube or wherever? why do that? i just don't know anything about this stuff...so did you guys then download it onto a cd? then? if you want to share it online (email it to people or post it here). If you are wanting to share it on your computer you can just play it on your computer. if you want to play it on a dvd player you'd need another program. stephanieMN is making slideshows if you'd rather not DIY.

what happened? or where is the thread that says what happened so i can catch up.

do you have microsoft? you should be able to download photostory for free. there is also movie maker, but I've been told photostory is easier. once you make it, i suggest hosting it on vimeo.com. much better than photobucket or youtube.

Quote: Originally Posted by Sandra E. Me too! I actually spoke up a couple of years ago when I was supposed to be in a friend's wedding. The BM were all from Chicago and I was the only one flying in from Dallas. The bride wanted me to spend 200.00 on hair, pay over 300/per night hotel by myself, pay for the 200.00 bridesmaid dress and pay 100.00 to get my makeup done. So since I've known her since middle school I asked if I was going to be invited with a guest, I was thinking about bringing my Mom since she's known her since childhood and my friend had stayed at my Mom's for about 2 months while she was getting back up on her feet. She said she couldn't believe I was asking her that and now she was stressed and how dare I stress her during her wedding planning. To make a long story short she pretty much fired me from her wedding over voicemail, I never called her back and in fact the weekend of her wedding I went to the Bahamas! wow, that is sad. In most of the weddings I was in the bride invited my mom. I thought that was really nice of them. Especially when you have to fly for the trip, it realy helps to get to bring someone along. I don't get my hair or makeup done. When it's short, i wear it down. If it's long I do a simple up-do. It makes me less distracted with appointments so I can actually support the bride. Any time I got an up-do at a salon it always ran late & made me stressed out. I just think all those demands are losing focus of what maters- having your friends & family surrounding you & giving their support.

Quote: Originally Posted by TA Maureen Interesting article, thanks for posting. I am in a wedding this summer that is getting quite expensive to be in. I started a thread a while back telling you girls how the MOH wanted us to give the bride the following as her shower gift because the bride's mother was paying for the shower so we wouldn't have to pay for the caterer or any major shower expenses: $1,000.00 gift cert. towards her honeymoon, $75.00 gift cert. for mani and pedi, then a basket with smaller gifts such as a beach bag, towels, candle, picture frame, etc. This was to the tune of $250.00 per BM. I had to speak up and say that was just too much because we were also supposed to bring a couple of bottles of wine each to the shower and chip in to get a hostess gift for the MOB. We ended up putting in $150.00 a piece in and giving her a $500.00 travel certificate instead but some of the girls gave me a lot of attitud over speaking up. We also have a very expensive bachelorette party in Atlantic City and the wedding is out of town so it's adding up. I tried to be understanding of the fact that my BM's would be paying $1200.00 just to come to my wedding so I paid for their dresses, hair, and jewelry and let them wear whatever shoes they wanted. I also had a low key bachelorette party on a Sunday during happy hour when there was lots of drink specials. Yikes! I would speak up too. It's sad that people get mad at you for speaking up. I said something once about a bachelorette party in vegas when one of the BMs was unemployeed. Honestly I don't think the bride wanted it to be so expensive either. She was just excited about the plans & not thinking about the cost.

Quote: Originally Posted by JennyK MEN! hehe I haven't even taken engagement pics bc he thinks there's no point to them I can't believe you are only a week and a half away.. all these months of planning.. it's surreal isn't it? we just had a friend take some pictures with my camera. He was a good sport about it. It was so hot that day!