Opice34

Hi! I know gas prices are incredible right now, but I just can't believe the airfare hike for trips to Cancun! Has anyone found any reasonable fares? We are going down there with our parents in June (which is the high season, I know) and my parents had to pay $700/ticket from HOUSTON! That's less than a 2 hour flight and we're used to paying around $200! We're getting married in the low season (November), so I'm hoping rates will go down, but right now they are ~$500. The good news is we have a large Northeast contingent and they can get tickets for around $200. But the Texas folks are screwed! I tried to get a group rate through Continental and they said we could only do that if everyone was flying on the same flight. We have people coming from all over the place, so that won't work. Could a TA help with this? Even if everyone is flying from different parts of the country and probably on different days? We're expecting about 120 people, but with these rates we'll probably be lucky to get 10! Is anyone having the same issue?

Quote: Originally Posted by Morgan A great thing about a beach wedding is that you can find great dresses that aren't expensive. Also, when they are short they don't have to be hemmed. That's true! At least they won't have to pay for alterations! I'm still not sure what I'll do...

Double post.

I'm in! (For session 2; not the colonix.) I just don't think I can handle that yet. I vote winner takes all as that would motivate me much more! And I think we should take our pics in a bathing suit since we have all decided to have a destination wedding where all of our family and friends will see us in all our bikinied glory! Ann - I'll PM you!

Thank You!!!!

Morgan - I really wanted to just tell the girls to wear a black, knee or tea length cocktail dress of their choice. The only reason I'm thinking about not doing it is that it's a tropical wedding! But I still think that would be the easiest and everyone would feel comfortable with what they're wearing....I don't know... Part of me would like to buy their dresses too (if I pick one), but like you, I paid about $1,000 to be in all of their weddings. And now we're 30! They all got married when we were broke and their parents paid the bill.

Quote: Originally Posted by LC_Rachel Sarah- Where's the banana hammock pics? I told you I would be forced to post my really nasty one. This guy showed up uninvited to my friend's 21st bday party claiming to be our hired stripper. We always thought someone did this as a prank, but I'm not so sure about that now. I think he was just some perv trying to get his jollies with young girls. Sorry if I crossed the line and posted an offensive pic. Nothing is offensive to me so I have horrible judgement. That guy actually looks so familiar to me. I'm scared.

I just looked up the Kestrel - it looks beautiful!! I'm glad you found one that you liked even more! Hopefully I fall in love with something!

Hi! This sounds great! How do I sign up for session 2?

So pretty!!!! I love that!!!

Oh, I was maid of honor in 3 weddings while I was still in school and I accrued quite a bit of credit card debt to pay for them. It was RIDICULOUS!! I remember hating that I had such an important position when I couldn't really afford to throw them the showers that I really wanted to throw them, or buy them the gifts I really wanted to buy them....in the end, I did just about everything for them that I wanted to do. I put it on my credit card (which I do not recommend!) and paid it all off later. CC Debt is horrible and I would NEVER recommend going down that path especially if it's not for some kind of necessity to live. But I've never regretted spending money on my friends' weddings. And it is important to remember that, like you said, you're having a destination wedding and she's going to have to pay to come to your wedding too. Are there maybe some things you could talk to her about? Obviously you have to get the dress, but maybe you could ask her how big of a deal it is to have your hair done? Tell her you'd do a dry run yourself and show her a picture and if she's okay with it you could save money there? You're right, it is her day, but if you are really good friends, she'll understand you're a student and maybe she'll be a bit flexible with you. It seems like in every group of girlfriends there is at least one who's really good at fixing hair. Maybe there is one in the group who could help? How much do you think it's going to cost for her to come to your wedding? Is it comparable? And yes this is a good post to remind us all how to treat our bridesmaids!! Thank you!

Quote: Originally Posted by lucy106 I just joined the BDW biggest loser too! Need motivation, I thought seeing the ticker at 6 months would motivate me, but not yet. Our colors are apple and fuchsia. Just decided on those about a month ago. Do you know what you want? Oh, that sounds pretty!! I've been struggling with color because I really love purple. But not so much the tropical shades of purple....I love plums and aubergines...and I was struggling with such a deep, fall color at a tropical wedding. We're getting married in a garden overlooking the ocean, so it will be very colorful with the green grass and the turqouise water. I'd like something that would contrast the green and the blue. So...I'm thinking of still going with a deep purple but having really bright colored bouquets with some orange in them. I think orange or a berry color would be really pretty against the blue and green but most of my girls wouldn't want to wear something that bright. So, I'm thinking of a more muted color with bright accents... Have you picked your bridesmaids dresses yet?

They just opened up a new gym right by me! They have classes of 6 and you get 10 sessions for $297! I can't believe it! The girl who started it said she was doing private lessons and recognized that there were a lot of people who wanted to take reformer classes but didn't have access to them, so she started this gym. I AM SO EXCITED!!!!! AND - I just moved to this city and this gym is 5 minutes from my house! Feels like it's fate! But I do think the Winsor DVDs are great too!!! I feel like this girl should franchise this concept. I think there are so many people who would want reformer classes! Especially at this price!!

Quote: Originally Posted by lucy106 That dress is gorgeous!! Have a great time in Cancun! That was my theory when I went to DR ( I am at my heaviest weight right now), being tan made me feel a little better. If you get to try on that dress take pics, we love them here!! Maybe I will post pics! Maybe you guys could help me make my decision! That's a good idea! We'll see if I feel comfortable in any of them... Thanks for all of the support!!!

Ooooo....maybe I'll join the BDW Biggest Losers too! That would be great motivation for me! I honestly wanted to wear my trusty SPANX to go dress shopping, but I'm sure that'd be a little weird!! Do you have your colors picked out?

Has anyone done these? I just started this week and I have my 3rd class tonight. My, my, I must say it's amazing! I've done the Winsor Pilates DVDs, but working on the reformer machine is an incredible work out! I already feel tighter in my stomach! I highly recommend these if there are any classes near you! I'm so excited about them!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by lucy106 Opice, I hope you have a chance to enjoy the process. With the help of everyone here you will be sure to get it all done with as little as stress as possible. Any idea what kind of dress you want? I can't figure out how to use the multiquote button. Thank you!!!! I just started looking at dresses and am starting to get an idea of what I want. I had been feeling very unfeminine because everyone seemed to expect me to have picked my dress out when I was 12 years old. When I'd say "I have no idea" they'd look at me like I was crazy. Also, I'm fat and pale right now and the thought of trying on WHITE dresses and standing on a pedestal in front of a 360 degree mirror while a bunch of women poke and prod at me has sounded like one of the worst days ever. But I think I've finally decided that I need to go dress shopping now! FI and I are going to Cancun this weekend for another wedding, so at least when my mom and I go dress shopping the next weekend I'll be fat and tan. That should make the process a bit better! But there is a store in Houston (where my folks live and where my job is) that has a great destination wedding line, so I'm making an appointment there. Winnie Couture I really like this one and I'm hoping to try it on... Danielle - you mentioned that you're starting the dress hunt soon, too, right? Sounds like we're about on the same schedule! Are you nervous or do you have a good idea of what you want? Sorry for the thread hijack!!

Quote: Originally Posted by DanielleNDerek Wow opice34, you have a lot going on. if there's anything i can help you with, let me know. Awww...thank you! It has definitely been an exciting year, but it's all good things!

Quote: Originally Posted by soontobeamrs Congrats to you too! We looked into getting married there first but yeah, way too expensive!!! How's the wedding planning going for you now? Have you narrowed it down? We have an ETA of Feb 27, 2009... but the resort prices aren't published for '09 yet and rediculous... so we are hanging tight for a few more weeks to find out what our guests can expect. Good luck@ Hi! Well, we got engaged in October, so we've had a bit more time for planning. (Although I haven't done much other than pick the spot!!) We're getting married November 15th at the Hilton Cancun. What are you thinking so far? I would have loved to get married in Beaver Creek. It is just so beautiful there. But yes, prices were insane!!! And we thought it would be a bit of a logistical nightmare with people having to fly into Denver and drive 2 hours. We're going back there for a vacation in July and I'm excited! We're staying at the same place we did when we got engaged. I haven't even started dress shopping yet, so I have a ton to do! Are you thinking Mexico or somewhere else? I'm so excited for you! Congrats again on the engagement! It sounds like it was a wonderful day!

Windows Movie Maker comes free with most Microsoft enabled PCs. Start --> Programs --> Windows Movie Maker I've used it several times and it's great! I've downloaded music from iTunes into it, but I don't remember how right now. I googled it to find out. I'll see if I can find it later tonight, but I think I put "upload iTunes Windows Movie Maker" into google and a found a blog about how to do it... Good luck!

Okay - I finally finished reading this thread. Sarah I love your FI!!!!! He sounds wonderful!!! It sounds like he has a wonderful relationship with his parents and he is also very supportive of you and wants to make sure that you have the wedding you want! What a great guy! It also sounds like your future in-laws are wonderful people too and it's clear that they love you very much. I think it is GREAT that you have a relationship where you can talk as openly as you have been. Some people don't even have that! I was wondering if maybe your FMIL was a bit thrown off by the email that Maura drafted for you. It was a GREAT email, but the tone was much different than anything you would have written before, so it may have caught her off guard and consequently she didn't handle it very well. It sounds like they truly want you to have a wonderful day, but they are stressed out about it as well. I'm sure having a child get married is an emotional and stressful event - something I have no way of understanding! She may not be handling things as best she could, but it really does sound like she has good intentions. Maybe it's time to sit down face to face and have a heart to heart talk? Sometimes these things are better over the phone or in a real conversation? Things can get so out of hand over email. (Although I think FI's email was perfect!) Big hugs to you. I really hope this all works out. Before that last chain of emails, I was going to say I agree with Ana and you should just tell them you're going to pay for the whole thing yourselves. That way you don't have to answer to anyone. But after reading the email from FFIL it sounds like they genuinely want to do something nice for you...maybe they just don't know the best way to go about it. Sounds like everyone is just over-stressed. I think it's great that you all have such an open relationship and I would hate to see anything come between that. But at the same time, you guys do need to stick up for yourselves. And sounds like FI has that under control! I'm sure everything will end up okay! It sounds like there are 4 reasonable people involved who are just having a misunderstanding! Let us know how it works out! HUGS!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by Alyssa ok, i am late to this thread but i just read through it all. Sarah - you have to stop apologizing to her and giving her power over you and your decisions - it will only get worse when you get married and have children. believe me, you will not want your MIL buzzing around telling you how to live in 2 years!! I'm late to this thread too. My first thought in reading this was that I love candy bars and I think they are a GREAT idea, but it wouldn't be worth fighting with my FMIL over. I don't like confrontation and always try to find some middle ground. BUT, Alyssa's post changed my mind....she's right. Today it's a candy bar, then it's how to decorate your house, then it's how to raise your children. I could see it spiraling out of control if you don't start sticking up for yourself. So, the earlier the better! Sounds like you're on the right track! Good job!

WOW!!! Good luck! That's awesome!

I found this dress online at Newport News. I almost bought it to wear to a wedding, but I'm too fair-skinned to wear this oatmeal color. But it's very similar to a BCBG dress that someone posted earlier, but the price is probably much nicer! (This is my first time posting a pic (woo!) so here's the link if it doesn't work.) Newport-News: Women's Clothing, Sportswear, Shoes, Jeans, Special Sizes, and more | Product Page

Quote: Originally Posted by JamaicaBride062108 FYI - this is $119 from metrostyle.com Women's apparel: Suits, Tops, Pants, Skirts, Dresses This is kind of similar to what my mom's suit looks like. Her sleeves are a little shorter and the sheer jacket just covers her butt. That pant suite is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!! Very elegant and classy! And I clicked on the link and saw Danielle from America's Next Top Model!