nylalany

i like the jumping photo too - and the steel band looks fun! and you're making me reconsider the veil! it looks great on u.

I have 13 tables of 8 (more or less) and a sweetheart for us. The layout is bad though b/c the sweetheart is at the end of a sort of rectangle/oval area, so there are about 3-5 tables that are closer to us and the other 7 are on the other side. My bridal party is split across approximately 3 tables, because they are a mix of relatives and friends that we put with people they know. We have 2 parent tables (one on each side), but I feel like the parents tables should be close to the their contemporary relatives tables. So if I put our parents tables near us, we end up with all the older relatives near us, and the friends and wedding party on the other side. Maybe it doesn't matter b/c it is just dinner? It is very frustrating!!

I was pretty sure I got the link from you first!

Ok, updates (mostly for myself) DONE since last time -BM dresses are all purchased, received and given to BMs -MOH dress is purchased and given to MOH -BM necklaces purchased -GM shirts and pants purchased and sent to GM -Flower girl dress ordered and received -ordered Ketubah -music - decided on Jazz band + DJ, b/c never got rock band sample -flowers - decided on vendor and style, paid deposit -fans - wrapped 102 fans and gave to mom to bring down -OOT bags - silk screened 74 -OOT content - ordered maraca pens, travel candles, 2 postcards -bought some wedding lingerie options IN PROGRESS -working on finishing logo for stickers/tags -deciding on rings - hopefully will order today! -buying external hard drive and friend giving me 60 gigs of music- need to make playlists and write do not play lists for DJ -rehearsal dinner - got menu options, still having trouble getting in contact with event coordinator at resort -got quote for chocolate for OOT bags VERY UNDONE: need to get dress altered when it comes in need to find shoes need to buy rehearsal dinner and welcome cocktail dresses need to buy beachwear need to book honeymoon need to buy gifts for parents, MOH, ushers need to pick 1st dance song and father/daughter song need to make programs need to make welcome letters need to make spanish/english phrase page need to make stickers for candles need to make placecards need to make bag tags need to ask people to do toasts

BCBG and ABS are good for off the rack bridesmaid dresses and ABS will give you a 10% discount if you buy 5 or more - but they are both pretty pricey if the girls are buying them themselves. Another option for something fast (which I did, partially b/c we are paying for them and didn't want to spend $350 per dress) is JCrew - they are not fabulous, but they work fine, and are returnable if they don't work. If you have a Loehmanns or something like that sometimes they have many of one dress in the same color, for less. And yeah, there is always Macys and Bloomingdales.

You should also check with whichever credit card you have because some of them (like citicard) offers reduced mileage awards to certan destinations every quarter (like april-june). So instead of using all 35k or 30k, you might get a ticket for 28k or something. And it DEFINITELY depends on what time of year you're going - American offers reduced mileage on certain times or offers specials sporadically - just check on their site for more info, it is pretty detailed! You can also use them to fly other airlines if American doesn't fly there - we flew to Peru biz class on Lan Peru (the kind of seats that fold into beds, my 1st time!) for 60k miles each, which is pretty good!

Funny thing - it turns out that the newketubah.com owner/artist is my friend's best friend from high school. I didn't get a discount or anything, but she is fitting me in even though I'm so last minute (with a rush fee), and I figured a friend of a friend business is a good thing. We're going with the tree, and the secular text. I'm putting the order in tomorrow. What about you? May I mention you to her too?

yeah mine is brick, and only a 1 level house, but it is from 1929, and someone put in a gas valve not to code, and well, yeah, i just don't use it. if i were going to stay in this house forever, maybe i'd invest, but it is only 2 bed 1 bath 1000 sqft - too small if i want a family. but if you use it, which being in the northeast i bet you would - it might be worth it. maybe guests will give you monetary gifts?

My chimney repair estimate was $11,000. I decide screw it - do I really need a working fireplace?

Another option perhaps is to negotiate to have just Sangria and Margaritas or something like that during dinner, and then have open bar after dinner and during cocktail hour? Maybe because you are sticking to one type of drink they'd lower the price?

i LOVE your dress - especially on you - it is so what i wanted but didn't get!

Obviously I checked the website, it just wasn't very clear - maybe it is Solidaridad? Al Cielo Carretera Federal Cancun-Tulum KM 118 Xpu-Ha Beach 1.5 CP 77710 (Riviera Maya) Solidaridad, Quintana Roo Mexico I'm getting legally married in Los Angeles, but want my symbolic contact to be accurate for what I'm counting as my real wedding day .

I'm getting a Ketubah (Jewish marriage contract) and it asks for the city and state where I'm getting married - I'm not sure what to put on it since Al Cielo doesn't seem to be in a specific town? Does anyone know the area better than me in order to provide more info? It is on Xpu Ha Beach, next to Esencia... Or I could put: Riviera Maya, Mexico Riviera Maya, Quintana Roo, Mexico Xpu Ha Beach, Riviera Maya, Mexico Xpu Ha Beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico ??

In my experience, rehearsal dinner is for all out of town guests. We're having everyone come to the rehearsal dinner. However, it is costing a fortune considering we're doing it at the AI and it still is costing $85 a head for food/drinks. I'm thinking maybe it was a mistake to do it!

your cake is really cool too - art deco-ish! did you deal with heels in the sand, b/c i saw that you were wearing heels and they look so nice on you... i'm having an impossible time finding wedges to match my dress.

Nope, dark brown tiffany chairs, but yes, it was for the seat cushion only. I'm just going to live with the non-matching seat pads at this point. People's butts will be on them, hiding them, right?

oh wait - i guess the pashminas receipt is the paypal receipt. but still - the bags were $$$ - what did you all do?

For those brides who already dragged stuff down to Mexico - can you bring in $300 worth of goods per person, so that my FI can bring $300 worth of goods and I can bring $300 worth of goods? And how do you fake receipts - the out of town bags I bought are more that $300 after shipping/tax/handling (before screenprinting, but I can totally ignore that part). Unless I just show them the receipt for the screenprinting and they can think the bag cost is inclusive? And I don't have a receipt for the pashminas because I bought them through you gals... Sorry, getting worried!

Is it $300 per person (in stuff you can bring in)?

I sign it just from me because it is a shower and a girl thiing and the guy wasn't invited. However I did get cards signed from both (which I thought was confusing, but I guess some people do that too.

From what I remember: appetizers - seared tuna squares on little corn chips avocado mousse plantain chips with pumpkin mousse and pumpkin seed smoked mushroom bourekas (totally forgetting what you would calls this in Mexican terms) quesadillas triangles with some nice type of cheese lunch - sweet potato and goat cheese tamales some sort of grilled white fish (mahi mahi maybe?) with herbs and tropical fruit salsa herbed rice roasted root vegetables (mini squashes and the like) some sort of eggs with black beans dish chopped salad of apples, carrots, vegetables (was supposed to have jicama, etc, but not sure if it turned out how my aunt requested), on a bed of lettuces I'm probably forgetting something dessert: fondue with cumin covered marshmallows, assorted fruit (grapes, kiwi, strawberries, etc.), and pretzels coconut and mango sorbet (coconut is my fave) - by the former owner of Ciao Bella Mexican pan dulce (breads that are sweet and for dessert, not so great though)

I have mine too - yey!

nice if your DC ones will come up!

Yeah, I've flown to SO many weddings in my life and have NEVER assumed that it would be alright to invite a random date. IF I've had a relatively serious boyfriend, I'd ask if I could bring him (if I wasn't invited with him), but I would ASK. Not sure what all these people are thinking! We ended up with extra guests b/c people invited the people they were dating (that we didn't know about), which we decided was definitely fine even though being asked might be nice, but guests inviting "guests" that are not even someone they are dating seems odd to me.

Aw, well you get to spend more time with everyone this way, and maybe save some $? I was even upset that a lot of people I thought would come are not coming, so I guess we're never satisfied! I think it helped that I picked a really inexpensive resort - it was hard for people to pass up spending $85 per person per night AI (for the cheapest room). Most of the friends who aren't coming can't come b/c of work/vacation time issues, rather than $ issues. But you are having a more intimate wedding and staying at a gorgeous highend resort - so there are payoffs!