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I learned how to zoom in where I want & pan from one side to the other. I downloaded a program from here Rehan Pan Zoom Effects There is a free 15 day trial. Its $8 after that or you can keep the free version which isn't as good. It was easy to install & the new options were available in my "effects" menu.

I think we might have 30-40 people. We are going to have dinner in one of the hotel restaurants together. I don't know yet what we'll do afterwards. I'm hoping that Saturday is karaoke night at the hotel. A lot of our guests love karaoke. If not, there is always something going on it sounds like. We could hang out at the hotel lounge or by the pool. My dress is really casual so I won't feel strange mixed in with the other hotel guests. There is a disco at the hotel that opens at 11pm. I want to stay at the hotel, because I know some of our older guests wouldn't enjoy going out somewhere in the town. I've talked to other people who got married at the same place. One person told me she didn't plan a private meal or reception for 30 guests & it worked out great. Until hearing that I was a little worried it would be awkward. I'm trying to keep my budget around $3000 (including everything), but I still want everyone to be great for my guests. Hopefully I can pull it off.

I'm using movie maker too. I'm glad to know there is a way to zoom into different corners. It could be this program doesn't let you overlay multiple pictures, but if it does I want to find out how. Also, if anyone knows of a program that lets you do that, let me know.

The camcorder I bought today connects to the computer with a firewire. I don't really know what that is, but my FI says we have one. Getting the video on the computer from this camera is supposed to be simple. I don't think it will be hard to mix video with pictures, but I don't know how to do more advanced stuff. Like the part where they are dancing & pictures are flashing behind them. I want to know how to do that. I also want to be able to zoom into a specific part of a picture. I can just zoom into the middle. I want to be able to zoom into eyes, hands, maybe a sparkly ring. I also love where he is singing to her. I'm going to say "Mike, sing to me! It will make a great video."

Quote: Originally Posted by michelle08 I am more excited and interested in planning group excursions and doing oot bags then about centerpieces, music, etc...probably because I didn't want a traditional wedding!!! Me too. Thats how I know it was the right choice. The thought of picking out centerpieces & other decorations made me feel sick. I'm loving planning excursions, picking a hotel, making OOT bags and all the other DW stuff. I also love that there isn't a lot to do so I can just overdo what little there is. I'm spending way too much time on OOT bags, my website, picture montages, etc., but its so much fun.

I'm glad to hear you are feeling better. I have moments of panic that we shouldn't be having a destination wedding, but then I look at pictures from DWs on this forum & see how much fun the bride/groom/guests are having at the wedding and know its what we should do. The weddings I've enjoyed the most were not the most elaborate, but the ones that were a lot of fun. So I'm keeping that in mind when I plan. And you know the pictures will be amazing because the background is already beautiful. What I really want from my wedding are pictures of our friends & family laughing together and having funny moments that we will talk about for a long time. So I just feel like if we get everyone together in a fun & beautiful location (and add a little alcohol) everyone is going to have a blast & its going to be a vacation we'll never forget.

I've been going through my mp3s trying to find more songs & I'm adding Maroon 5's sunday morning & she will be loved to my list. I also like Hoobastank's the reason.

Great video!

I think you almost have to set a date & stick to it. If you move it to accomidate 1 person it then may not work for another. When we decided to do a DW, we thought about how we'd feel if siblings or close friends were not there. We decided that as long as we had a few people, that would be enough to be happy. So as long as a few people make it, we are not going to worry about the rest. I don't think I'd want it to be just the two of us, but thats me. It may be too late to say it will be just the two of you. I know I feel that way about our wedding. People are already excited & planning their trip. I think we'd let a lot of people down. We decided to go with the strategy of "here is our date, if you can come we'd love to spend time with you in mexico, if you can't we'll miss you but spend time with you when we get back." We are now just going to sit back & see who ends up coming. I'm trying to avoid getting involved. We are not doing a room block so I don't need to know in advance. We are also not having a reception afterwards. We plan on just enjoying all the hotel has to offer. There are already bars, restaurants, karaoke, & a disco at the hotal. I think we can have a great time just using whats already there. I'm glad we are doing it this way because I don't have to get so concerned about how many people are coming or who brings guests along. I could also be considered cheap, but really I think its that I look for value. My guest are laid back people who will just want to have fun. They will not be expecting me to impress them. So I'm focusing more on planning a really fun vacation, not a beautiful wedding. I think my guest will love it & we are saving a lot of money. I also feel the same way about having a local wedding. I feel like it would turn into a production & we'd have to invite more people than we want to. Thats why we opted for a destination wedding. We wanted to keep it fun, simple & inexpensive. Everytime I started planning a local wedding I felt sick. I hope it works out. Let us know what you decide.

I love this video. I have watched it 3 times already. I really want to make something like this to show at our afterparties. I don't want to bore everyone with a long video of the entire ceremony, etc. I guess I am truely part of the MTV generation! I want images to flash to the beat of music to keep me entertained. I started to learn how to do something like that video. I found out windows movie maker was already on my computer (free with XP). It wasn't hard to get started. I have learned how to make videos with pictures and make them change with the music. Now I want to add in video. I bought a 2nd- hand camcorder today off amazon. I'm going to keep making practice montages until I can make something really great with our wedding pictures & video. If anyone else is interested in learning how to do this, let me know & maybe we can figure it out together. Or even better, if you already know how, give me tips Thanks Amy (and Levi & Christina) for the inspiration.

I think you should wait. It might just add to your stress knowing the dress it hanging in a closet & you are keeping it a secret.

I just read that Target gives you 10% off everything left on your registry too. I just requested their wedding catalog. Hopefully they will send the $20 gift card offer with that.

Quote: Originally Posted by KellyandMatt08 I registered us at Target at the end of last month. I only started it because I had received something in the mail from them saying if we registered we would get a FREE $20 gift card to their store. So we are only registered right now because of that, and there only like 10 things on it. Had you let target know somehow you were getting married for them to know to send you that? I wonder if they find that out from other companies. I know when I regitered with david's bridal to get a bridesmaid dress a bunch of companies started sending me wedding stuff.

This was years ago so maybe the system is better. When people would register at target too early, their items would get rearranged & not get updated on their registry so nothing was on the right aisle. Also, a lot of stuff would go out of stock. I don't think you are as likely to run into this problem at a department store. If you are registering at target, maybe you could update it later. They may have fixed the problem too. I haven't used a registry in over 3 years because I'm always flying to the wedding so I just give giftcards or a chack.

Let us know how the quality is once they come in. I voted for #4, but I'm starting to prefer #3. Peer pressure

Avoid the butterfly release. It can be bad for the ecosystem to release non-native butterfies. Dove releases are fine because they return to their owner.

Great pictures! I love the ones of you walking away on the beach with the mountains in the background.

I think you have to talk to her about it one on one. There must be more to it than her not being able to afford it. Has anything happened recently like losing her job? I think it would totally different if you were not paying for the flight already, but since you are doing that much for her she needs to be more fair to you. I don't think there is anything wrong with someone saying they can't afford to go or don't want to spend their vacation money that way, but they HAVE to tell you upfront. Its different if its really about the money, but I think often its a power thing. I understand why bridesmaids can be difficult. I've been a bridemaid 7 times & its easy to get your feelings hurt & feel mistreated. But it sounds like you are being very generous. Some people were originally unsure because they didn't think they'd like the area, or thought the hotel would be too expensive. I made a really detailed webpage & included everything to get excited about in the area & at the hotel. I tried to include things I'd know our guest would be interested in. I think everyone is excited about it now. Some people didn't like the idea of an all-inclusive. Now they are saying they can't believe what a bargain it is. So maybe she just needs more information to see that what she is getting is an amazing deal. I would be really sad to find out anyone chose to not stay at the hotel. I feel like I worked really hard to pick out a place that would appeal to everyone. They would miss out on a lot of the fun by staying somewhere else. I'd also worry they'd expect us to accomidate them by leaving the hotel & meeting them places. I think all staying at the same hotel is the best way to spend a lot of time together.

Quote: Originally Posted by foxytv I'm still very much working on our list ... but aside from our first dance and the mother & father songs ... our slow songs are going to be the wedding songs of all of our married guests. We have about 20 couples coming and 2 are celebrating either 10 or 40 year anniversaries during our trip. I thought that would be a nice way to show our appreciation for them coming, by finding out their first dance songs and acknowledging them when it starts to play. I love this idea!!! Several of our guests are celebrating anniversaries during the trip too. Hopefully I like their songs, too

Its really cute. I'm a little dissapointed, I was hoping I could just type our names into some website & make one too Wow, is that lazy? We live about 2 hours from a beach, but we never go because we always head in the other direction for mountains. I've been wanting to get some cute beach pictures for our website. I have a work retreat at the beach every October, so maybe we'll just take them then.

Shelley, This may be a really dumb question, but did you make your new signature picture at the beach or online? I know I've seen pictures people make online with writing in the sand, but that one looks real. Thanks for sharing all the websites.

Great idea to not make the name the main focal point. I might put our names on there small. So I need to make a 3rd version of our logo now. Did people put their names on the other personalized gifts like cups, etc.?

Check out metal bands or gemstones. I'd rather see the money go towards a house, retirement or a college fund personally. I made sure my FI knew I didn't want an expensive ring. I love my ring. Its a moissanite. They are durable & super sparkly. If you want more info on them, I can tell you all about them. I never want to pass it off as a diamond. I love lab created stones, theres no concern about where they came from. I think everyone on here feels the same way. Its not about the ring or the wedding, its about the marriage.

I was sick when I went in for jury duty so they sent me home.

Quote: Originally Posted by Tlseege According to a lot of wedding timelines you are supposed to take care of that around 9-6 months before your wedding. plus, the newspaper might be able to only put them in once a week, or maybe only four couples at a time... and so they may wait awhile to put it in. My paper runs about 10 every Sunday. I've decided to submit it right after we take our pictures & just see how early they run it. I am a grad student at Duke & the university has a beautiful garden. A friend is going to take our pictures in the garden next month. I can't wait! For 3 years I've been trying to get good pictures of us in the garden, but we are always in really casual clothes when we go & my hair is never fixed.