BillysBride

I look at the whole thing this way any how; we are going to be newlyweds. EVERYone has to come in knowing that. Therefore, we aren't making excuses or trying to be subtle when we want to set off on our own during the trip. MOST people with any sense will already know we don't want to be "under" them while we're there, before or after, but we're going to switch resorts to be on the safe side for the last four nights of the trip. Still, before the wedding, or in the two nights we'll have with everyone after, if we don't feel like being bothered, we simply won't. People have to understand....if they don't, that's definitely not your fault.

Am I the only one who mentally refers to Phyllis as Syphilis?

I agree with the other gals. You don't have to have an even number on each side. I'll have four bridesmaids and FH is only having his brother stand up with him because he feels like it's overkill to have anyone involved he isn't truly close to. As for your FI's sister....leave it be. You can't guilt her into going and NO WAY should you ask her to reconsider in my opinion. A baby is a huge responsibility, and it's good that she at least admitted what a huge task it would be to pull off coming to the wedding now that she's going to be a mom, even if she did need to be reminded of it.

I'll be a Maggie bride! My dress is Sandrina, in all ivory. I tried it on in a local shop first, but then saved about $230 by buying it from a reputable online dealer. Sandrina- by Maggie Sottero

I have SO been needing to update this thread. I ended up ordering a different dress. I know, I know....but I just wasn't all that into this one. I was more into the deal I got. lol I sold this one though, and now I have one of the first gowns I picked out (that I told myself was out of my price range) on the way. It should be in by the end of March. Since we had the date change, I knew I had more time and figured why not have a dress I was truly in love with, not just one that I liked and got a good deal on. Anyway, I'll (ofcourse) post pics when the gown comes in. The great news is that I sold this gown for more than I actually paid for it (not intentionally, I just did an Ebay auction and let girls fight over it, lol). So I'm not out any money, and the proceeds can will go back into the wedding account.

Quote: Originally Posted by Kristy! Wow, I feel cheap. I'm not big on the two ring look and my engagement ring came with a simple band, so I'm going to use that and get them sodered together. I looked at some other rings, but felt they took away from my E-ring. FI wanted a simple white gold band. I believe the size is 6mm. Anyway, it's usually $295, cash price was $200 (the jeweler is a family friend). So to answer your question, we spent a total of $200 and we're both super happy. I never thought we'd get away with spending so little! Don't feel bad, cuz maybe I'm your cheap chocolate cousin. I got his dream ring (he specifically wanted one with the sign of the cross involved in the design, in white gold) for under $200. I'm not sure what he paid for mine, but its my dream ring (even though like any woman on earth, I'll always be open to upgrading the diamond) and I am for SURE it was under a thousand. I'm not big on big name stores, as long as quality is there. I dont' think you have to spend a lot of money to have beautiful wedding rings. Go into the experience knowing what you have in mind, and SHOP AROUND above all else. Unless it's a one of a kind design, chances are you can find it (or something extremely close to it) for a fair price.

It's GORGEOUS...I love it. You'll be oh so damn caliente..lol Plenty of folks know about my dress struggles. I bought one I'm not using now too, so I definitely know how ya feel. But I'm happy now with my new choice and don't even feel the need to look anymore. You did the right thing in going for a second dress since it makes you HAPPY!

I've basically been in the same boat. I don't have a favorite color either. The only thing that helped me FINALLY come to a decision I was 100% comfortable with was looking at swatches. It helps a lot to see things in reality, not on a computer screen or in your head. Since the bridesmaids dresses will play such a big role in how things "pop" during the ceremony, I picked dresses that I liked first, then looked at the colors they came in...from there, I called the shop and made sure they had swatches for all of them. I'm not big on bright, but didn't want things to be too dark either. After much posting and hitting my girlfriends up for thoughts, I've settled on ivory, gold and chocolate. I figure they are also colors that will play well off of what's around us...trees and sand, as well as letting the natural beauty take center stage.

GORGEOUS!! What a beautiful bride and lovely couple. Congrats!

**spoiler alert- if you don't wanna know what's coming, don't read any further** So. I talked to Daniel (Cane)last week and he did confirm some stuff. He said that the week of February the truth about Chloe's baby will be revealed to everyone. ALSO, last week he and Christel Khalil (Lily) shot a scene that he said "Would make last year's Valentine's Day episode fail in comparison." And that THAT episode will air on March 2nd. The "sources" the spoiler sites have been talking about are his official fan site, which I update for him. Umm...do y'all remember last V-Day for Lily and Cane? Homina homina homina! It was FIRE! Just wanted to let you Cane and Lily fans know ....relief is coming. This storyline has been KILLIN me for months. I swear I freakin HATE Chloe's ass.

I considered him up until we had our date change. He was very quick to respond with information and seemed nice. Ultimately, I went with another photog just because I think FH will be more comfy with a woman and I really liked her work (on top of getting a fantastic deal with a lot of hours included). I definitely think he's worth consideration. Can't wait to read your review, Kathy!

Girl, holy crap it feels GREAT. I mean, it's been such a big part of the worry and stress...finding someone I whose work I was comfortable in trusting that I could AFFORD. Whew! I feel like now I can move on to other things to obsess about. I'm 100% confident in her. Huge relief.

I'm wondering why on EARTH I didn't think of this before lol..I just figured we would do it before hand, even though I thought it was sort of anti-climactic for the wedding ceremony. But I do like the idea of doing it after...having the first time we say vows be during our actual ceremony. I think he'll like that more, since he disliked the idea of having to be "married" by some courthouse officient that would disregard the spiritual side.

I'm SOOOOO excited to get Misti Abner (ExpressionsbyMisti) to shoot our wedding next year! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! Take a look at her work if you haven't seen it before, http://www.mistiabner.com/ Her destination wedding stuff is in the galleries tab. I think her style is absolutely PERFECT for us, and I can already tell she's so laid back, Billy will be able to relax with her.

Hmm...I think C would look just WAY cool floating in the water.

Interestingly enough, I found a few different color schemes for "sunflower weddings" online today. I still think I'm going to stick with the truffle/chocolate and ivory though. I'm not real daring when it comes to colors. lol THIS I thought was very striking and actually like it. But I think I'll be wanting to stick too many earth tones into my AHR to do this, but it's still really pretty. Here is a sunflower themed bridal party with the truffle color.. Considering that my dress is going to add ivory into the mix, I think I'll stick with this. I'm definitely open to other yellow flowers mixed into my bouquet and the arrangements, as long as the sunflowers dominate. Maybe have the moh's bouquets be the opposite? Dunno. I'll figure it out as I go I guess. And thanks for the heads up on the chair covers. It may not end up mattering overall. I guess I was just thinking of initial impression and those long shots/wide angles of the ceremony. I noticed last night that with so many different ivories, it's going to hard to match the dress. Bah! The devil is always in the details, huh? I do think I'll try to use the chair sashes though, with some type of small sunflower arrangement on the backs tied in. I just can't see plain, stark white chairs. It is more brown than I'd anticipated, but as long as the brown is livened up with the arrangements, I think I'll like it well enough. I've got time, so maybe I'll play around with some stuff.

Quote: Originally Posted by soon2bePowers First, I like all of the ideas you are talking about. I am attaching a flower thing I got off the site a while ago, I am not sure if it is what you are talking about. You DOLL! Thanks, that's it! It's Cabo, but I figure it's probably a fairly safe bet that the RM would have similar availability (I hope). I also just did one of those live chat thingy's (yea, I'm sure that's what it's called lol) with a florist shop in Cancun....they said it wouldn't be a problem to get them so I'm guessing my hotel wedding coordinator can get them from whatever area florist she works with. They are dirt cheap here in the states so I'm hoping they are inexpensive in Mexico as well. I'm gonna just plan to recover the chairs...Ebay has some great deals all the time on chair covers and bows. So for now, I'll plan with ivory covers and chocolate (or "truffle") chair ties with sunflowers worked into the knot. Thanks chicas!

Thanks girls. Assuming I can confirm the sunflowers in Mexico theory, I'm gonna ditch the gold and just go with brown and ivory w. yellow as the accent color. That will leave me open for other flowers as well if it turns out I can't use the sunflowers. Is it anal that I'm thinking of buying my own chair covers if the resort doesn't have ivory? My dress is going to be ivory and I think it would irk me to have the chairs be pure white.

Quote: Originally Posted by Tlseege First of all, I think your choice for brown bridesmaid dresses with ivory and yellow accents will be very lovely. Next, have you verified that you can get sunflowers in mexico? I honestly don't know, but that doesn't seem like a tropical flower to me! Finally, the set up is really beautiful! I actually like the gold ties, but if they have brown that'd be really pretty too. Or even brown with a little yellow flower where the bow ties? And then what about having the three big arrangements in the photo be sunflower arrangements? Maybe with ivory roses? That would be pretty. I know! I'm trying to get a friend of mine who is a florist to look into it for me. I know there used to be a list somewhere on the boards (flowers available in different locations I believe it was) but I can't find anything now. The only thing that even made me consider them is that I was looking through some articles about flowers and their meanings and I saw that sunflowers are thought to have first been domesticated in Mexico. So I'm thinking that bodes well for their availability?? If I DO use the sunflowers, should I keep the gold? Just seems like it would clash. Maybe do brown tulle on the chairs (assuming I could bring it with since I doubt the resort has it, but I'll check) and do a sunflower tied into the back of each?

Wow...what a freakin SAGA for you! Sorry to hear about all the trouble you've had with what SHOULD have been just a wonderful experience for you to remember. I definitely think it's an individual store to store thing. Problem is, it's a chain, so there is no real vested interest INSIDE the store from the people working there to make sure service is a good reflection on David's as a company. I think that's why bridal shops treat you better. They are usually independantly owned and operated and those sales people WANT you to be happy and spread the word. I just got fitted for a bridesmaids dress (I'm in a last minute wedding in April) last Thursday night, and the funny thing is that my friend, the bride, just emailed me saying that David's is STILL calling and bugging her about this $130 tiara she told them Thursday night that she did NOT want. They also tried to force her to buy the store sample gown she tried on...luckily, she had ALL seven of us maids with her and we put our foot down and got kinda snarky about it when they said they wanted her to take that one. Finally, the associate was like "Oh, yea..we can order another one for you." My question was, "Why on earth would she want a used ass gown that a thousand ladies have tried on for the same prices as a brand new never-worn gown?" Maybe it would have been different if they were offering her some kind of price reduction on the sample, but they weren't. That's just appalling to me. At any rate, glad you got some second opinions from your family and seem comfortable with your gown. If you seriously want it taken in, consider an outside seamstress (outside of DB I mean) who comes highly recommended or something. They charge way too much for basic alterations at DB.

Heya ladies! I'm a second time arounder (we've had to change our wedding date as it was previously set for '09), now planning on getting married on Isla Mujeres (island off of Cancun) in May 2010. I've sorta been through this junk before, but it's no less frustrating the second time around. Here's something you might want to think on. You can get prices for the locations you're are considering THIS year to use as estimates/ball park rates for your guests. There will absolutely be price increases from this year to the next for most hotels, but you can normally assume it won't be an outrageous increase at least in terms of hotels. What I was told last year was to cushion estimates with a ten percent increase and I'd be safe looking ahead into the next year. Also, keep in mind your wedding dates if you are concerned with being kind to your guests wallets. If you are dead set on your date, then by all means run with it! It's your wedding! But if you have any flexibility at all, try avoiding the early part of April. Good Friday falls on April 2, with Easter being on April 4 next year. A travel agent advised me to book MINIMUM of two weeks beyond Easter in terms of rates. I also figured in the college averages for spring break and just decided to avoid the month of April altogether. Our new dates is May 8, 2010.

I'm still trying to work out the kinks here, so bear with me. And go 'head and be brutally honest...my brain is about to explode trying to come up with color combos. My maid of honor nearly died when I told her I was thinking of tangerine and yellow, so I ditched those. They actually looked great together against each other in the shop, but the more I thought on it, the less I wanted to give these girls dresses that they would be afraid to ever where in public again. lol Those are pretty bright colors. So anyway, what I'm thinking of now is chocolate/truffle and ivory with a few gold accents. So, here's the dress...(and don'tcha just loathe David's Bridal for not letting you copy?) David's Bridal - Cotton sateen strapless dress with ruching and in seam pockets. And here are the flowers I'm thinking of having duplicated for my bouquet: Sunflowers are pretty non-traditional for bridal bouquets, but that's part of what's appealing to me about them I guess. And the fact that they actually have brown as a naturally predominant color without having to dye or dip them. And here is the standard wedding set up for the hotel....they just so happen to have it set up with gold bows in the pic, but I'm wondering if that would just be too much. I think it would most likely...bah! Trying to picture it with some sunflower arrangements over head and flanking the stairs. What do you guys think? If the flowers are ok, what should I have done with the chairs? Has anyone ever seen chocolate tulle?? lol

Do you have an date estimate yet? I'd really like to do this..timing is everything though. I have trips in May and June.

We have been living together and raising kids for a few years now. So...probably. lol But I did mention the tradition to him, and told him it's up to him. He just sorta looked at me blankly....so I figure we'll be in the same room. I'd actually like to go our seperate ways after breakfast though and avoid each other as much as possible.

Never too early! I agree with dennita, the sooner you start researching, the more time your guests have to pay for the trip. That's the biggest consideration to me since I do not come from a loaded family. Broke folk need time to pay for things (and I'm one of 'em). Just a head's up to the newbies...IF money is a consideration for you, be careful planning around Easter/Spring Break. ALL of the rates will be up considerably around that time. First thing I checked when trying to nail down a new date (this is our second go round) was what date Easter falls on in 2010. It's April 4, with Good Friday being April 2....I'll be avoiding that like the plague. My travel agent advised me that its a good idea to book at least TWO WEEKS AFTER Easter for the rates to calm down a bit. Just a head's up!