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Getting Engaged : Bridal Guide Magazine's New Etiquette for Today's Bride "Newspaper announcements usually run two to three months prior to the wedding, but they can be published up to a year in advance. Consider placing your announcement in your and your fiancé's hometown papers, as well as the papers that serve the community in which you now live. Don't forget to include your engagement news in any alumni and professional publications that publish milestone announcements as well." I'm not interested in publishing in our local newspaper. I don't know anyone who gets the newspaper here. I just want it in the towns we grew up in.

Newspaper engagement announcement ... | Brides.com They said even if you submit it 1 year in advance, some newspapers won't run it until 1-2 months before. I'll check with my local paper. But I couldn't find any guidelines as to when to do it.

I think its more fun to put it in right away. Maybe there aren't guidelines for when you put it in. I want to do mine in August once I have the pictures. I think I'll just do it then.

Quote: Originally Posted by beachbride Butterfly Release: According to an American Indian Legend, if anyone desires a wish to come true they must first capture a butterfly and whisper that wish to it. Since a butterfly can make no sound, the butterfly can not reveal the wish to anyone but the "Great Spirit" who hears and sees all. In gratitude for giving the beautiful butterfly its freedom, the Great Spirit always grants the wish. So, according to legend, by making a wish and giving the butterfly its freedom, the wish will be taken to the heavens and be granted. Temperatures should be at least 60 degrees F or the butterflies will not be as active. I was just reading about this on the knot last night so I thought I should pass it on. "Releasing farm-raised butterflies can be disruptive or even disastrous for local butterfly populations, especially if the just-released are a non-native species or diseased. Even if this isn't a problem, the butterflies you release don't have a great chance of survival. For an alternative, consider a dove release -- these domesticated homing birds will return to their handlers. (For more info about butterfly releases, go to NABA.org.)" The Knot - Green Weddings: Green Wedding Myths Busted

Maybe its not a common thing to do in some areas. My hometown newspaper engagment section is really popular. If you don't live in town anymore, you check it online. But it seems like people don't put it in as soon as they get engaged. They wait until 2 months before the wedding. So I wondered if this was how you are supposed to do it, or if thats just when people get it done. We are taking our pictures next month so I feel like submitting it after that. I'm from a small town so maybe that's why the newspaper announcements are so much fun. I always read them because I will know at least 1/4th of the people.

When should you put your engagement announcement in the newspaper. It looks like a lot of people do it a month or two before. Is this when you are supposed to do it, or did it take them that long to get around to it?

Thats a great thing to put in with the package. I hope it comes with mine.

I noticed you signed a wedding certificate. Do they have you do that in all ceremonies or did you have to request it? We are not doing the legal ceremony & I wondered if we'd still sign something.

I haven't decided on my wedding music, but I did recently make a CD of love songs for a CD club I'm in. The way the CD cllub works is there are about 12 of us in it. You make a mixed CD on your month & give it to all 12 members. Its great because you are always hearing new music & learning more about your friends. We go all out with making liner notes, etc. Here are the love songs from my CD. I was trying to find some more alternative, non traditional love songs. Then there are some standards on it too. 1.Scissor Sisters- Might tell you tonight 2.Third Eye Blind – I want you 3.U2- She moves in mysterious ways 4.Beck- Everybody’s got to learn sometime 5.Sade- By your side 6.Nil Lara- Fighting for my love 7.Paul McCartney- Maybe I’m amazed 8.Dave Matthews and Santana- Love of my life 9.Counting Crows- Colorblind 10.Blue October- Calling you 11.Neil Young- Harvest moon 12.Flickerstick- Beautiful 13.Coldplay- The scientist 14.Chris Isaak- Wicked game 15.U2- The sweetest thing 16.Live- I alone 17.Incubus- Stellar 18.The Verve- Sonnet 1.Deftones- No ordinary love 2.Dave Matthews Band- Crush 3.The Cure- Love song 4.Beatles- And I love her 5.Sting- Every little thing she does is magic 6.They Might Be Giants- She’s an angel 7.U2- With or without you 8.Violent Femmes- Good feeling 9.Barenaked Ladies- Call and Answer 10.Incubus- Echo 11.David Gray- Be mine 12.The Coral- Dreaming of you 13.Justin Timberlake- Like I love you 14.The Pretenders- I’ll stand by you 15.Garbage- I would die for you 16.Cheap Trick- I want you to want me 17.REM- The one I love 18.David Gray- This year’s love

I love the hand ceremony. How do you pick your ceremony? Do you meet with the WC when you get there & tell them thats what you want to do? Also, if you write your own vows do you let them know what so they can incorporate that into the ceremony?

Wow, those are great mugs at great prices! I might switch from tumblers to something like this with a lid. People could definitly use them after the wedding. Is it just me, or is it kind of funny to think of drinking beer through a sport top?

Quote: Originally Posted by Susan101207 I'm actually looking for something more like a big sipper bottle (with top and possibly a straw). Oh, these were just cups. I've seen those types of bottles on the various websites I was looking through for personalized cups.

Are you wanting to personalize them or just give them a big cup? I was thinking 22oz cups would be great for not needing to make frequent refill trips. Target has 4 packs for 99cents right now in a variety of bright colors. I'll look for a thread I started about cheap personalized cups & post it here.

Your ceremony was wonderful!!! I cried & I don't cry at weddings. I loved the hand ceremony. I also thought it was great how both parents walked you down the aisle. Really, everything about your ceremony was so special. The flower girls were so cute! OK I got teary again. Great job putting together an amazing wedding. Thanks for sharing that with us!

They always say to avoid mentioning gifts in an invite even if it says "no gifts please." This is why I love having a website. I felt like it was more opportunity to express how we feel than on an invite. We have a section about our decision to have a destination wedding & how we understand if people can't make it. Then there is a section explaining how we don't expect gifts.

Hey, we were writting the same thing in our post at the same time.

Then what about including a handwritten note in the invite saying something like "We realize you will not be able to attend...we completely understand...you will be missed...you are special to us so we still wanted to share our invite with you."

I would prefer to not get the invite after saying I wasn't going. Being the age we are, I'm always getting invites to weddings, baby showers, kid's 1st birthday parties, etc. I live out of state from most of the people sending invites so they make me feel a little stressed. I wonder if we need to send them all gifts, or if they just sent it to us to get a gift. I figure most people just want us to feel included, but I don't mind being left off invite lists. I feel included when someone sends me their website of the wedding & pictures afterwards. I also like when people mail or email me pictures of their kids growing up. So in my opinion, getting things that keep you intouch with someone is great for feeling included. Invites don't really do that for me.

I don't think favors would be expected. Just do them if you want to. An OOT bag is definitly enough. I'm more concerned with having more stuff to pack.

Quote: Originally Posted by mlb36 I started a weddingannouncer site. Someone described the complications with the RSVPs. Can anyone explain this more to me? They said you need a private access code to RSVP. Do you get to pick everyone's access code? Could you make it their initials or something easy so you wouldn't actually have to give them the code? Morgan I'll answer my own question now that I know how it works. It does assign a PIN number for you so you can't opt for something simple the person would already know. I am not using the RSVP feature. I'm asking guests to post in the guestbook if they think they are coming. We are not planning to have a lot of people, so hopefully I can keep track of it without an RSVP section. Other than that I love weddingannouncer.com. People have been so impressed by my page. I haven't felt limited by the features on the site at all. I have been able to customize it as much as I've wanted to. Best of all its free & there are no adds! There is a message board section that has been great for planning adventures. People are disscussing places to visit & things they want to do. Its great seeing my family & friends interacting already before the wedding.

Quote: Originally Posted by JaimeLynne Wow Morgan, those are some great prices!!! Is the hotel called Catalonia Riviera Maya or is that just a specific location? Yes, thats the hotel name. Its in Puerto Aventuras, south of playa del carmen. Keeping it affordable for my guests was my top priority. I was still able to find a place I really like. I searched for package deals on funjet & sorted by lowest price. I went down the list eliminating the bad places & narrowed it down to a few, less expensive places. This one was my favorite. I don't know what kind of prices people will get by booking so far in advance, but I know if you book 1-2 months in advance its really cheap. Mostly its because the cheap charter flights become availble. My travel agent said people can book in advance and if a cheaper flight becomes availble she can switch them and refund the difference. So I hope it works out good for our guest.

I think they are all great. I voted for #4, but I like them all. It might help you decide to look at chain length. I think it would look nice if the necklace falls above the dress. I'm thinking about wearing a gold starfish necklace. I thought my dress had gold starfish on it, but I found out they were flowers. They look like starfish on a vine with leaves. I'll call them starfish flowers. I like your bridesmaids dresses.

Welcome! I chose Riviera Maya because its very affordable for out guest. Most will be flying from Houston & you can often get $200 nonstop flights. I think our guest will pay about $650 each for a 3 night stay, but its hard to tell. Last week you could buy a package to this hotel for $400 including flight. I also like Riviera Maya because it has both beaches & jungle. I wanted a place where we can have adventures. There is a lot of things to do in the area. My mom said she wants to ride a zipline in the jungle! I made a page of adventures on my wedding website & our guest are already really excited about the location. There is a lot of great info on this forum & very nice, helpful people. You should be able to find just the right place to suite what you are looking for. Good luck & let us know what you decide. Morgan

I think its because I'm doing computer crafts now. I'm not good with making stuff with my hands, but I'm much better at doing something on the computer. My latest project is making picture montages.

Thanks! I had a lot of help from people in the forum to get it just right. I posted the template on a post about monograms. I want to print it on the canvas bags & use it for my invites. I made a simpler, 1 color monogram for printing on plastic cups. I didn't think I'd be into all this DIY wedding stuff. I'm not a crafty person. I think its finding this forum that has made it so much fun. I'm spending all my free time making something for the wedding & its a year away.