Maura

Quote: Originally Posted by becks I saw this in a magazine on a flight from NY to LA last weekend and knew immediately that I had to share. I was laughing (silently, but with the whole shoulders shaking thing), that the woman sitting next to me must have thought I was having convulsions. So, you tell me... bride?... or pro? becca, she looks kinda like a hooker.... definitely not a bride!

congrats myda,

oh stace, i think i just peed my pants a little, i was laughing so hard! and kate, i missed you and was wondering where you were. sorry to hear about the funeral and the dog's toenail...yucky

Here is the USCIS main page with all the immigration forms, plus a list of how much they cost Immigration Forms

Quote: Originally Posted by Raeka NO kidding! Me too. Gosh where was this thread 8 months ago? lol I was such a mess back then... I'm happy it's over with now. It's so nerve racking and frusterating. I was nervous about doing th paperwork properly but it's all ok. Are you filing for an I-131 (application for travel). That was scary it almost didn't come in time for us to go to Mexico for the DW!!!! I was a mess but thanks to the girls on the forum I held it together. Such a great support system. I hope I can support you girls with all my experience now. i dont think we need to do the I-131 for travel because my FI has a valid work visa that doesnt expire until like 2011...shit i didnt think about that. i better ask the lawyer on monday! Quote: Hmm.. is your general physician's practice authorized by the UCIS? They have specific doctors and only use their doctors. So messed up. i was mad because I had to pay to use their stupid doctor and drive 2 hours to get to their office. I was pissed. It was $150 for 10 minutes of the doctors time. USELESS! As for vancinations, my mom saved all my records of shots and my last ones Expire next month so i was safe. Just barely safe though heheh.He should be OK if he gets them all now. The vacinations don't expire for 10 years. shit didnt realize that you have to use specific docs they pick. guess i better find a list!!!! maybe we should start compiling links on this thread too for all the documents needed...

amanda i would definitely not tell you that brazilians are not that much worse. prepare yourself, the first time hurts pretty bad. but like everyone said, the more you do it the less it hurts!

Quote: Originally Posted by mitchell.johanna I'm dealing with the same issues/thoughts on the Catholic wedding. So will you have a Catholic wedding in the US? I'm still keeping my options open to finding a Catholic Church to get married in in the Riviera Maya area (problem is I'm having a hard time finding these churches except for the few that are on existing resorts). I haven't been able to figure out if this is legit, but I hope I can do a legal civil wedding in the states and simply a Catholic wedding in Mexico. With that as the case, I'm thinking that I won't need to do the blood tests and legal paperwork (but certainly yes, the Catholic paperwork). If all else fails, we will do Catholic and legal wedding in the US and stage something symbolic yet still religious at the resort/beach. Of course, my mother is balking at this idea but.... So I agree, this is challenging! If anyone has any insight I would love to hear about it. I've heard that Ajua Weddings has some expertise in wedding planning, particularly Catholic weddings. I might enlist in their services but honestly have no idea what they charge for their wedding coordination fees. hi johanna, another member, monika (adamsgrrl) got married in a catholic church in RM. monika is also from chicago so i know she would be happy to help you with that. i am doing exactly what your idea is -- a legal civil ceremony here and then the "legal" catholic wedding in mexico. and yes you wont have to do the bloodwork and all that junk to make it legal in mexico. but let me tell you that the catholic paperwork is no picnic! (also, we're having a chicago girls get together in march and you could meet monika in person search for a thread called Calling all CHICAGO brides)

im also a cabo bride! sorry though i dont have any answers for you about AI resorts, my wedding is at the westin.

Quote: Originally Posted by xJuicyJx I'm an esthetician and actually give bikini waxes.. yes, I inflict massive amounts of pain (on the other hand, I also give facials which I relax people hehe) and the best thing is taking an advil or two. Let your hairs grow - don't worry about them being too long bc being too short is much worse. Wear and old pair of underwear that you don't care about just in case she gets wax on it. Yes it will hurt but it's not THAT bad. Brazilians are much worse hahahaha You might bleed a little during the waxing but its normal since the hair is being pulled from the root. Also, you will be red and a lil bumpy. Put neosporin afterwards when you get home, it'll help in bringing down the redness. The next day it'll feel like a baby's butt hehe do you mean take advil before or after? my esthetician (thanks for correcting us with the proper word so i can stop calling her my wax girl haha) told me ibuprofen increases the chances of bleeding, and i noticed she was right the one time i thought well maybe shes wrong and took it anyway, i bled a bunch more than i usually do. what say you, miss waxing authority? hehe

my site also is providing a WC at no extra cost and ive booked most of my vendors on my own, so no i dont think youre crazy either. i just dont see a need for me to hire an outside coordinator. i also dont have a language barrier though and my FMIL is a professional event planner in mexico...so i do have those things helping me too. if you feel comfortable not having a WC, i say go for it. it will save you money and if you dont need it, why spend the extra $$?

we're doing the same thing, asking on the RSVP card that they do it on the website. all out friends are web savvy and the only adult invited who isnt a regular computer user is my grandma, but we already know she cant come due to health issues. we ran it by a few good friends for their honest opinions and they think we're likely to get more answers back quickly because people will do it on the web instead of forgetting to send in their card over and over again. does your website have RSVP capabilities?

....you know you are addicted to BDW when you keep checking this thread to see if everyone else is as addicted as you are! ....you are truly addicted when you are perusing threads and click back to the main page to see who else is on right now and think to yourself "man i miss the shoutbox! if only i could shout at [insert your fave member here]" i love you guys haha

leia what a cute idea!

my FI has all but begged me to get a brazilian for the wedding, and i told him "i will if you will" hahahaha he was like wait, they do your buttcrack too right? yeah, forget it, count me out!

oh and wear soft sweatpants, DO NOT wear jeans or you will be so sorry afterwards! BTW, i also get my underarms done and its really nowhere near as bad as the bikini line. if you are feeling brave, try it out. i can go like 3 weeks without having to shave my armpits haha

liz, i get bikini waxes pretty regularly, dont stress its not that bad. definitely wear underwear that have soft edges, and that you are not terribly worried about destroying in case you get any wax residue on them. although your technician should be good enough that they dont leave wax behind. i think a regular bikini wax costs $40 where i go, and a brazilian is $80. you actually should not take painkillers beforehand, my wax girl says it can make you bleed more because it thins your blood. afterwards, they generally put some talc powder over the area or some lotion. you will want to keep lotioning there for a few days to reduce friction with your underwear because the skin will be slightly irritated for a day or so. i am not going to tell you it wont hurt -- it definitely will. oh! also, it is totally normal if during it you start to sweat. dont ask me why it happens but my girl says its totally normal and most people do sweat during and just a bit afterwards. they will give you some little paper panties that really look more like a strip of fabric with an elastic band to hold it up. the first time i went i was so nervous. but now that my girl has seen my cooter a buncha times, we can talk about the weather or whatever. i would definitely recommend going to someone that is recommended to you by a friend. a good wax person is crucial to your experience being somewhat enjoyable...well you know what i mean, as enjoyable as a bikini wax CAN be! haha

has anybody been assigned their WC at the Westin yet? Karina still hasnt given me mine because we had some contract issues--we paid our deposit and everything but for some reason karina still hasnt received our signed contract. but i was hoping to get some suggestions as to who yours is if you are happy with them etc etc. Let me know!

we're always happy to help. lots of RM brides here to assist you!

i just wanted to say also that i am so glad i started this thread because there are more of us out there than i realized. this can be such a scary/confusing process and i am so glad we can all offer each other support and advice from our own experiences. i dont know what i would do without BDW!

Quote: Originally Posted by Raeka Oops my bad.. yeah I meant the lawyer interview. He my offer goes out to you too Maura! If you want to even try and do the paperwork I'd be more than happy to assist you some way either on phone or chat/email. It can get confusing at some parts but for most it's just filling out your names over and over again haha. I recommend at least trying to fill out the paperwork yourself. Has he went for the medical yet?? You need to send that in with your I-485 thanks mel youre the best! i really want to try to fill out the paperwork so we dont have to pay someone else to do it. i think its stupid but my FI is so paranoid about it. i may just print out all the forms and fill it out without him knowing and then make him sign whatever. why pay an associate lawyer $170/hour to do something we can do on our own? so dumb. but my FI is afraid something will get screwed up if we dont use the lawyer. and no, haha he hasnt done the medical yet - we were just talking about that the other day... i need to get the list of all the things he has to have done for the vaccinations and stuff because he hasnt had any of them since he was a kid. he is so pissed about having to get them too. in grad school they required us to get vaccinations and send the medical record proof to the school, and he always just used to pay the $50 fine per semester to avoid doing it! he has not been to the regular doctor for a checkup in i dont even know how long, but if it says anything, he doesnt even have a regular doctor here in chicago and he's lived here for 5 years. i'm going to make him go to a guy doctor at my general physician's practice really soon though. is there a time frame within which he has to have the vaccinations or is it ok if he gets them now and files later? i'm not really sure how that part works

thanks abbie! we will be ordering them sometime in march or early april to send in mid may and they only take like a week or so to get, and of course the first thing ill do is take photos and post when they arrive

just picked mine last week and forgot to post! they're from ann taylor celebrations. i have 4 girls, so it would be cool if they add one more style with this color so each can wear a different dress. but the girls love these, so we're all happy about finally making a decision.

haha morgan those look great. i really always have wanted to learn how to calligraphy so i am going to buy some instructional books this weekend and start practicing since we're sending our STDs soon. thanks for sharing the photos, it gives me hope that i can pull it off!

Quote: Originally Posted by Raeka oh and I almost forgot... Good luck on your interview Maura!!! Thanks mel but my meeting on the 25th is just to meet with the lawyers about starting our paperwork, we dont have our first interview set up yet. I kinda wanna try to convince my FI that I can fill out the paperwork and maybe we can just have the lawyers submit it on our behalf...it sure would save a ton of money. I think you are thinking of Monica because she is waiting for ICE to contact her about her first interview!

Morgan, are you just basically trying to copy the strokes while looking at the style sheet? can you take a picture and show us how they look? haha i really want to calligraphy my envelopes on my own, and i was thinking about signing up for a class at papersource the other day actually