nylalany

yey thanks!

ah. well if you have energy, i'm on westcoast time and would probably place the order after i get home tonight if you write tonight. otherwise i'll look first thing in the a.m. thanks so much!

oh please lmk as that would be the deciding factor for me!

I'm thinking of purchasing the Fiesta Maraca Pens from OTC since I'll probably make the make your own crossword puzzle and word find if I have time- but I'm wondering if they are practical - I fear that since they don't come with a pen cap, they'll get all over the OOT canvas bags if I put them inside. Any experience/ideas about this?

These are what my florist is doing (hopefully):

amyh - wow, your centerpieces are amazing - did you make them or are you ordering them down there? if you made them, how are you bringing them down

My mom, sister, and aunt threw me a shower in the NY area (at my parents' house) - it was an opportunity to see my friends & relatives from the area, as well as my mom's friends, especially since some of them won't be able to come to the wedding. It went by too quickly though - I didn't even get to eat dessert since one of my friends forced me to open presents (she got me frilly hot pink lingerie and wanted to see my face when I opened it in front of everyone). They all said, well, it is practice for your wedding day (when you don't get enough time with everyone). This reminded me of one reason I'm having a destination wedding! I thought I'd share some photos... My aunt and sister planned the menu and then my mom had it catered. It was Mexican themed - but upscale. white sangria: avocado mousse: toasted plantains with pumpkin mousse: My mom forwarded the caterer my original turquoise vase and red pincushion protea centerpiece inspiration (which I had to throw out since they can't get red pincushion protea in Mexico), and the caterer totally went the turquoise-red-brown them and floral inspiration at my shower! My sister and aunt made the favors (my sis wanted Caribbean blue-green boxes like my invites, but she ordered off the internet and they ended up being a weird darker green - color problems run in our family I guess - but I'm happy she tried!). The boxes are tied with brown ribbon, and have a photo sticker of my FI and me inside, with Mexican wedding cookies my aunt baked, and red, brown, and white candy inside!

RE: GIFTS 1. Just b/c you've lived with someone or even on your own does not mean you have everything you need. I have hand me down pots and mismatched plates and silverware, no small kitchenware, etc., b/c I've spent $/time on furnishing my house, etc, and whatever - it just not always correct to assume this. 2. Even if you register for stuff, people will still give you non-registry items. I got so much lingerie, and then some things like bath products and vases and cookbooks and stuff, so at least if you register, maybe you'll get less of these things perhaps. (I like lingerie, but only a little of what I got fit since I'm so small, and some people didn't include gift receipts). RE: SHOWERS 1. A shower is not just about gifts. It is a chance to hang out with your girl friends and relatives and be girly and have fun. At my LA shower of about 15 gals, we ended up playing games, which I thought I was against, but the main game turned out to be great! It was based on my cousin interviewing my fiance with 25 questions. At the shower, she read each question, asked the girls to guess if I'd know the answer or not, and then asked me for the answer. This game tested how well I knew my fiance, how well my friends knew me, and helped everyone get to know my fiance more without him even being there. Several gals quizzed their sig others when they got home! 2. My NY shower offered a chance for some of my old friends and many of my mother's friends to catch up with me since they were not able to come to Mexico for my wedding (although they were invited, per my mother's insistence). We were going to have a small shower, which I would have preferred, but these women actually asked if they could attend a shower if there was going to be one, since they wouldn't get to see me at my wedding. So go figure! 3. At both showers, there was a nice luncheon provided - my friends made the lunch, my mom catered hers, so people could enjoy a nice lunch together. I have been to showers with "no gift" requests, so you can in theory do that too. And the charity option is always a nice one.

I registered for Dibbern Black Forest bone china: But I may also add L'Object White Aegean limoges as another set. More beachy vs. modern.

I said no. If any of my guests back out last minute for work reasons, I'll change my response based on not wanting our $ to go to waste.

I've taken non-drowsy dramamine (or something starting with a but it was DEFINITELY "less drowsy" and coupled with a couple drinks it was actually "fall asleep" drowsy. I've also used the bracelet thing and it seemed to work but maybe that boat trip was on calmer seas. I've heard the patch works for some people but I know people have had allergic reactions to it so I'd test it first.

I had my bridesmaids try on all the styles of espresso dresses from JCrew in silk chiffon and espresso. Since they are different than your styles, I can't totally comment, but even though I had picked JCrew so that they can pick different styles, but they all ended up with the same style - Sophia silk chiffon - for their 4 different body types! The 2nd one you have there looks like the Sophia - is it the Janey? Either way, that style looks best on people. I do love the first style though . Maybe you can let them wear either one?

(that would work with a disposable bag tho!)

but what if there are 2 single people sharing a room who are just friends? who gets to keep the bag?

Did per couple but to give an idea of our ratio, I'm giving 70 bags and I have 96 adults - so not a very coupley wedding!

Yari, I guess I'm too late to give my 2cents, but I liked the original invitation - and agree that maybe sparly crystal stickers would work to hide spacing issues if you really hate the spacing - but the font and everything was really cool and modern. However, if you are going for a more classic look, the new design is perfect! And I'm glad you came up with a reasonable solution to make you happy! I know you were supportive of me making changes or redoing my bags if I'm unhappy with them, so I'm glad you are taking action if you are unhappy with your invitations. Of course, I haven't made a decision yet since my mom loves them and thinks I'm crazy . I'm starting to appreciate the bags a little more.

ooh good idea!

NYJen - thank you. If I did redo them, I'd do a one color version, as I think that maybe they are less jarring (like Sarah's red cabo design). But maybe I'll get used to this and I appreciate your opinion. Again, I think I need to sleep on it b/c everything is worse until you sleep on it (of course - w/o much sleep on a 5 hour flight, it may be worse tomorrow!)

(since I'm going to NY on redeye to see them tonight)

Thanks Yari. I think I'm going to show them to my mom and sis tomorrow (so that I've let it sit with me another day) and then try to make a decision.

yes that is correct - in Santa Monica, right? I just couldn't remember which place I told you - I just looked in the mailroom and it didn't come today . Maybe there will be more mail after 5? I'll look again then.

the dresses are actually brown . it is more that the other stuff i was going to put in there doesn't go anymore. oh well. i guess i'm a freak. thanks you guys for being sweet and i will hopefully learn to live with them. if i can't within a few days, maybe i'll splurge. i'm not sure what i'd do with the rest - maybe give them to all the friends who couldn't make it to the wedding?

My FI told me he would willingly pay the $ to make me happy...

They are too blue and too dark rather not not blue enough . But thanks guys. I guess it really is stupid of me to care. It is mostly that I'm the friend/relative with the "cool" design sense with my house and clothes and invitations and all that, and to fail on this just because I didn't insist on a few iterations of samples just bugs me so much! I really wanted something that I would want to carry around - I really should have stuck to 1 color (like 1 brown or 1 red). I guess I should just stop thinking about it.

Ok, well I don't want you guys to think I'm bridezilla (I think I'm a designzilla), and who knows what the photos will look like on your screens since they already look a tiny bit better on my screen than in real life. But, I just looked back at people's pretty all red designs, and how much I like my idea of darker turquoise with red flowers, or at how well brown and caspian blue work in my invites and I'm wondering what I was thinking in trying to get this whole lattempt at medium turquoise (it turned out too dark) with red (too neon) to work. Sorry if the photos are too big: