becks

Sorry for jumping in a little late. This is all very tension-inducing for me. My FI is catholic, previously married, legally divorced, etc. No kids, so that's not an issue, but this whole notion of "invalid" "unrecognized" etc. is so odd. FI doesn't speak to his ex at all (very contentious divorce), and while we've contemplated an annulment, it turns out that in order to get it thru, its (a) pricey - the church wants a significant donation to do it and ( once the application is entered, his ex has to fill out an enormous questionairre (20 pages or something), and I seriously doubt she'd do it - she's not catholic, so no benefit to her. And the guy who wrote that nonsense about "invalid" and "your fault" should go crawl back under the rock he oozed out from under. What an a**. Carly, and others, go talk with a priest. They'll give you good, reliable information - or better yet, have your FI do so!

My honey's such a romantic, and my engagement was absolutely everything I could have hoped for. So I wanted to share... We were travelling back to the west coast to have Christmas with my family. We went a few days early and had I had booked a night up in the mountains in Leavenworth WA, just to decompress, play in the snow, etc. Leavenworth is a bavarian village, up in the mountains - so cute, so romantic. If you ever get the chance, go! Little did I know that my FI had contacted the innkeeper, (love the Abendblume, Renee is so great!) and had arranged the whole proposal. We arrived and got settled in, went to dinner, wandered thru the village. When we got back to the inn, FI wouldn't let me play in the snow - only one snow angel!! I'm thinking he's being a total grinch... We go upstairs to our room - which has a big fire going in the fire place, wine waiting for us, Christmas music playing. We're having a glass of vino, snuggling on the sofa when FI shuts off the music, and tells me that he wants to watch SportsCenter (!!!!!). Then he says "do you hear that?" and goes out on the balcony. How fabulous!!! Carolers!! And they proceed to sing all of my favorite Christmas songs! When they are done, Renee (the innkeeper) turns on a sign - "Rebecca Marry Me?" in Christmas lights, out in the field, with 3 feet of snow to reflect the lights (see pic below). He actually had them build it for me! I burst into tears, he got down on one knee, it was fantastic! And, because all good stories have a punchline, while we're out on the balcony, we've left the door open and reversed the draft in the fireplace. One of the carolers asked if I said yes. My FI replies "Good news is she said yes... bad news is that we've set off the fire alarm!" Oh, and the quote in my signature? It's Romans 8:19. It was painted on the wall in the inn. How perfect is that?!

Congratulations on your engagement! Sounds like we're about in the same place. I'm still searching for venues in Mexico. I'm hoping that we can get it all sorted to have the wedding in July or August, because I really want my nieces and nephews there, and I don't want them to have to worry about school. Good luck! Let us know how you get on!

Hi Lili! So exciting to be getting married in Rome! I lived in Italy (in Siena) for a while... and I miss it terribly!!!! If you need any assistance with language stuff, tips on getting around Rome/Italy etc. Let me know, I'll be happy to help in any way I can. Where are you staying in Rome? So many fantastic venues! Last year my FI and I took his parents to Rome to do a renewal of vows for his parent's 50th anniversary. They're catholic, parents came over from Italy, etc. so it made great sense. We had the ceremony at the Basilica di San Silvestro in Capite - Fr. John Fitzpatrick. All in English (they don't parla), it was WONDERFUL!! I know you'll have the most spectacular experience!

Hi Sarah! Welcome to the forum.

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks so much for the ideas ladies! This is so much fun, and yet so frustrating. My FI is watching football... but he is getting dinner together. He occasionally peeks over my shoulder to see what I'm doing, and add his two cents, but we're definitely on our own with the crafty stuff!

Hi All! I'm working on a template for my STDs. It looks like a passport (I'm saving the boarding passes for invites - SO fab!), but its going to seem a little blah if its just the front/back. So I want to include something so that I can add couple of pages on the inside, but I'm stumped! Anyone have any ideas as to what I can include on the pages? I was thinking of making stamps or something, but that doesn't seem particularly interesting... All of this is completely preliminary, we don't have the hotel or a date picked out, but I'm thinking that once we do we're going to be scrambling. So I'm trying to do some of the design work first. Oh I wish I were more creative!!!

Hi Shelly - Welcome! I'm new too, trying to find a place in the Riviera Maya. so many decisions!

Welcome! I'm new, too, and have found this to be the most helpful forum! Everyone here is amazing!

Hi Pam! We're looking at Riviera Maya, too. And there are SO many places to pick from. The AIs seem to have the process down pretty well. I agree with the rec to find a travel agent. We just found one yesterday and are waiting to hear what she has to say. She's actually in Toronto! The agent we ususally use is a cruise expert, so he passed us on to his colleague who is a groups person. She seems to know everything in the RM. Something to keep in mind is that if you find a hotel in the RM that you like that isn't AI, many of them offer meal/beverage packages. Good news is it gives you more options. Bad news is... it gives you more options. At this point, I wish it was a choice between two or three, not 15 or 20!

Welcome to the forum. I just joined a few days ago and am already finding so much info! Everyone here is SO amazing!

Welcome and congrats! We're looking at the Riviera Maya, too!

Hi Neen! Welcome, and many congratulations!

Another option if you're looking for clip art is Microsoft's clip art gallery. Just use the keyword Palm. Then you can take them, rotate them, ungroup and reset things... And if you use the B&W images it isn't too tough to color them.

Carly: Microsoft won't let you zip things in their "window" folder (presumably where your fonts are). Just copy it (go to Edit-copy, it won't show up with a right click) and paste it into a different folder in My Documents or somewhere. You may have to go to edit-paste to get it to paste, as well. But once its there, it should zip with no problem. Good luck!!

Has anyone tried dresses from Sung Boutique LA? I found a couple of really cute shorter dresses there (and totally affordable), but I've never heard of them. Love this one: Ivory Halter Cocktail Dress from Sung Boutique Los Angeles And oddly, because we're thinking of going really casual, jcrew has a couple of nice ivory sundresses.

Hi All: I'm Rebecca, and Chris and I just got engaged over the holidays. We're still deciding details, but are leaning towards the Mayan Riviera over the summer (when nieces and nephews are out of school). Any thoughts anyone has on WOW! places, etc. are certainly welcome! Again, congrats to all of you!