becks

I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!!! We go to the closing in 2 hours!!! But oh holy hell has it been chaotic!! We thought we'd close in Mid-June, and then the bank came back to us and told us May 20. I've spent the last few days trying to organize movers, closet fitters, cable, utilities, etc., etc. Amazing what happens when you go from 3 weeks to 1 week! The movers arrived this morning and the FILs are supervising (god bless them!) the packing, and they move us tomorrow! Woo hoo!

Quote: Originally Posted by phoebe75 Hi Becks, Wow it sounds like you were really pleased with everything. Your hair looks great! I am going for my 1st visit in June and I can't imagine that I will be disappointed. I read some bad reviews on trip advisor which got me a little nervous but I sort of feel like sometimes those are not accurate. Are you doing your reception dinner in L'hermitage? I read that in a past post. If so, are you doing one of the meal packages that is like $70pp? I'm just wondering how it works if you use a restaurant as opposed to the "imperial seating" situation on the terrace or beach. I'm happy and excited for you! Having seen trip advisor, ignore it. It's just a place for people who are cranky and bitter to vent. By the way, if you can, stay in the Royal Service - IT IS SOOOOO NICE! I am doing my dinner at L'Hermitage. We are pulling from their existing menu, with an app, and a choice of 3 entrees, and the profiteroles for dessert (in addition to cake) - we're skipping the soup because who wants soup in the middle of August. We are paying a fee of $70 per person. I don't know if they will let you use a banquet menu or not - they are really, really protective of L'Hermitage - there was actually a question of whether or not they would let my nieces and nephews in (in the end they did, but it is a no-kids restaurant during regular dining). If it wasn't for the heat, we would have gone with the terrace dining, but we've got some cooler-weather fans and didn't want to have anyone melt during dinner.

No idea about Dreams Cancun. However, I met with Carlos over the weekend and he is the NICEST guy you could ever want to meet. And he's great with extrapolating on your ideas. We were talking about our cocktail hour and mentioned Sinatra-esqe music and he rattled off 25 other artists without batting an eye. It was great. So, we actually signed him up to do the whole kit and caboodle from the pre-ceremony cocktails right on thru to the last dance.

Kate your venue looks amazing!!! I think your parents are awesome! That is so generous and sweet of them to have put aside money for your wedding. Congratulations - and give the parents a big hug for me!

Yay Ann!!! I'm so glad to hear that everything is well! Where in California are you? I have several friends to travel quite a lot for work and might be able to loan you a room. And Gwen is a stunner!!! Excellent work!

Oh Jamie!!! What a mess! And I'm sorry - that is such a crappy thing for them to do so close to your wedding. But I agree with what everyone has said. If you have a signed contract in place, they are obliged to support it unless it specifically states that prices are subject to change. Chin up. We're pulling for you!!!

I just flew back on Monday night. No problems at all with the carry ons. I had my roller bag and a big beach bag and no one blinked an eye. One thing to note, security opened EVERYONE'S luggage at the gate before we boarded. So don't pack so tightly that you have to sit on your carryon to close it.

Hi Ladies!!!! I'm back and it was GREAT! We arrived Friday, sat by the pool, I had a trial with my hair (notes below), Chris got sunburned, had dinner at Sumire (YUM!). Saturday we spent most of the day with Elisa finalizing plans, menus, etc. She is still absolutely WONDERFUL!! Had dinner at L'Hermitage (still fabulous!). Sunday we sat by the pool and did a whole lot of not very much. Dinner at the reef grill - the rib eye steak is to DIE FOR! Okay, some details and thoughts: General Planning and Prep: If you can, go down to finalize your plans. Elisa spent ALL day with us, showed us 10,000 photos of things that they've done and can do. If you don't want to bring your centerpieces down, they have SO much stuff there, but you have to be able to prep for it, so a visit is great. They also have a swatch book of about 500 fabrics, and they can get more, so linens and such are also available. They will work with you to do almost anything. If you do go, bring photos with you of things you like. We brought photos of some cakes we liked. she made notes and passed the to the pastry chef. I've no doubt the cake will be just perfect. The Beauty Salon at the Spa They are GREAT. Leticia did my hair trial. She doesn't speak a whole lot of English, so bring photos, but there are people who can translate for you if you need something communicated well. I brought photos, she looked thru them and I pointed out a few things I liked about each. She played with my hair a bit to figure out how much curl it had, how well it held up, etc. And she then did a great job. I think, having seen it, I'll go a little smaller, but I asked for lots of volume and she did EXACTLY what I asked. Food We tried about everything on their events menus. The really interesting thing was that the Mexican food was almost universally not so great. The cheese and mushroom empanadas were really the only exception. I think it's because each of them needs salsa and guacamole to make them great, but for finger foods, that's not always idea. The cactus with crab was good, but we are having them do it without the cream cheese. The asparagus and ham was great. The melon and proscuitto was great, but they put little bits of maraschino cherry on top which wasn't great, so we pulled that. The sushi is really good, and they do a lot of non-traditional sushis, including one entirely of fruit which was yummy, but Chris wanted more traditional so that was out. In the end, we will have california rolls, tempura rolls and eel rolls. And we ate a bunch of it with no side effects. For warm apps, we are doing the cheese and mushroom emanadas, the chicken satay (so good!), and the quesadillas (mostly for the kids). We also have a big platter of traditional Italian antepasta. Music We met with Carlos of Mannia. He is DELIGHTFUL. Having met with him, we decided to have him do everything - from the pre-ceremony cocktails right on thru to the last dance. We would throw out a few suggestions with regard to what type of music we wanted for each of the segments (cocktails, ceremony, etc.) and he would rattle off 15 other things that all worked well. Can't say enough. Other than that, here are a few photos - my camera battery died - so I only got the two hair photos and about 3 taken from the balcony of our room.

Quote: Originally Posted by Morgan Thank you so much rebecca. I can't believe you'd loan it to me before your wedding. That is so kind of you! I'd be worried about getting it to you in time. If it was deleyed in the mail or anything I'd be really worried. I do already have a package addresses to you & ready to ship after my wedding so you can get my starfish. These are the closest things to smiling ferrets to pick from. No worries! I'm sure it would get here, but I hear you. Also, having just caught up (I've been away), if you're concerned that your friend's veil is too ivory, then mine probably would be too. It's definitely more ivory than diamond white. I haven't had a chance to see Tami's pics yet, but it sounds like hers is just what you're looking for. Of course, now I'm going to have to figure out what to do with the matching outfit I'd had made for Nibblet.

I just got back from campaigning in Mexico for ferret travel. And am glad to see you've kept the fire alive! Yeah, that's what I was doing, campaigning....

Okay, so I am ALMOST finished. Read most of it by the pool in Mexico - probably have 50 pages to go. Don't wait for me. I'll join in when I'm done.

Oooooooh! I like your centerpieces! And I loooove your wedding band! We got back from Mexico late on Monday and have been running around getting ready for the move tomorrow. We are going ultra simple for our centerpieces - mostly because we aren't doing anything at the restaurant, so it's only the cocktail tables at the reception - so we have bright pink rose petals in water with floating candles on top. Easy, simple, and all I have to bring are the candles!

It's funny. I totally don't care that there's going to be a massive blow up. I am all set to look at them and say, "guess what... I'm getting married. You all need to shut up and let me have a wonderful time. And if you can't do that, than I'd like you to leave." Because, being a big Italian family, there's always a bit of drama at family dinners and such. Normally, I just sit and watch, but at my wedding, I get to tell them to put a sock in it. Mmmmmm... so sweet...

There's no doubt that the FILs will know that the boyfriend is coming before we get there. But I sure as hell don't want to be around when they find out. There will be angst, rending of garments, excommunication... oh yeah, we're in for a doozy. The husband is totally okay with all of this, apparently. Don't ask me why or how, but that's what I'm told. But given that I've met 3-4 boyfriends over the last 2 years, and have never met the husband, I guess it is what it is.

Woo hoo!!! I'm SO glad to hear that your photog has the proofs! And it's good to know that Tom gets it, because we'd have hated to have to rough him up... but we would have.

FI would KILL me if he knew I was posting it, but I just find the whole thing SO FUNNY!!! So if you ever meet him, you know NOTHING about this. So, a bit of background, FI's parents are very, very Italian catholic. As in, when I moved in with FI, they didn't come to visit for about 6 months! When we stay with them, we sleep in different rooms. FSIL is married. Nominally. She and her hubby live in the same house, but sleep in different rooms, have been talking about divorce, etc. for several years. She dates, and I've met several of her boyfriends. They also have an adorable 6 year old daughter. So, the save the date was sent to FSIL and her daughter, but didn't include her hubby. Yesterday, I asked her to forward me information on their flights to the wedding so that we can arrange transportation to the hotel for them. I get the flight confirmation and she's booked flights for her, her daughter and HER BOYFRIEND!!! I called FI and told him - his response to me was not to tell his parents, and that the next time he felt like getting in an argument, he'd call his sister. OMHFG! His parents are going to FREAK OUT. As far as they are concerned, she's married. End. Of. Story. And she's bringing her boyfriend to our wedding AND the two of them are staying in the same room with her daughter. You guys want to see some good family drama? Pull up a chair and bring a camera because it ain't gonna get any better than this!!! Frankly, I like her boyfriend. He's very nice. I might like him more than I like her, so I really don't mind that she invited him, but DAAAAAAMN... when FILs find out I won't need to hire a pyrotechician for the wedding - we'll have all the fireworks we need!

oooooh! Preeeeety! I LOVE the red!!!!

I am so, so sorry to hear about your father! My heart is just breaking. I wish I had some great bit of wisdom or insight to help you get thru this. Know that we are all here for you, and will help in any way that we can. Be strong. Take time to heal and don't rush things with the wedding planning.

Hi Sarah!!! We missed you!

Quote: Originally Posted by NYJen I agree, NYer's are crazy!!!! LOL!!!! Rachel, if you ever want to come visit again, you can stay with me. And we could go crash some of these $100,000 weddings and put pink flamingo's all over the place. LOL!!! Oh yeeeeees!!! Count me in! I will even provide the pink flamingos! I would so love to put a little fun into some of these uptight socialite events! And, yes, NY is crazy. FI and I thought about doing a local wedding. We called a couple of "moderate" venues and (no joke) the rental fee for a Friday or Saturday night was between $5,000 and $8,000 - and that was just to unlock the doors and turn the lights on!!! Um... hellooooooo Mexico!

Love it!!! I think the signs indicating what each candy is will be nice. Spreading it out a bit will be good, but be sure to leave some clear space where people can work on putting their bags together.

I'm glad you're okay!!! And seriously, there are some people in NY that just don't get it. You fell... you're a bit bumped, but you're going to live. Get up and get a move on already!!!

I have dry skin. Like, creepy dry skin. I have the red blotchy, too, but I just assume that's related to the dryness. My normal moisturizer is a neutrogena clean skin one with spf 15 (soooo important)! But when it's really bad, I use cetaphil, which I LOVE. But it's heavy and can leave you skin a bit shiny all day. Also, Cetaphil makes one with sunscreen, but I don't like it as well. But, for me, the key to younger skin is to moisturize ALL THE TIME and sunscreen is your best friend.

Hi Nicole and Phoebe! Welcome to the paradisus party! We all loooove the Paradisus (as you can probably tell). I'm going down tomorrow to finalize all of our plans - I'm so excited!!! I'll come back with all sorts of ideas, I'm sure.

YAY!!! Congratulations! Such a relief!!!