cougs

just got back from my vacation at st. james and it was AMAZING. you girls will not be disappointed in your choice of resort. actually, we felt like it made where we got married look kinda like a dump, haha! there were a few weddings happening while we were there, but only one of them seemed to have a set up for guests viewing it. that was the beach setup like in the pics kaycag linked you to below. there are curved concrete pathways leading out to the beach gazebo thing, so brides you can feel free to wear heels easily if you wanted to. the guests' chairs would be set up in the sand in front of it. the other gazebos are more out on the water, and would only have room for bride groom and maybe a couple of witnesses. i didn't see any receptions, so i can't say where they would have been set up. food was really good, but also for the most part *really* spicy. i love hot stuff so i was in heaven, but i think if you have less of a tolerance for spice, you might have difficulty. beach is loooonnng but only a few feet of sand before you hit water in most parts. much wider, less rocky beach area on the wild orchid side, which is no problem since you can use all of both properties. we loved the main pool on the st. james side because we were looking for fun. miss donna at the swim up bar is the best! the pools on the wild orchid side were much quieter/relaxing, if that's your thing. i will write a full review and post some pics as soon as i get a chance. overall, we LOVED the resort and can't wait to go back someday!

hi girls! i am vacationing with my husband and another couple at secrets st james this summer, july 21-26. if any of you would like info or photos of anything specific there, i'd be happy to help out. anyone getting married there during my stay?

that is beautiful, lovepea, and SO flattering (though i don't know what you looked like in any others)! i think you look fantastic. and it's a good idea to buy it in a size that fits you now. you can always take a dress IN, but can't always let them out. congrats on finding THE dress!

45 lbs since January is fantastic! you should be proud!

lisa you better get your butt back in here!!! just to update, i've lost around 20 lbs so far on ww! and i joined a gym recently, and yesterday my husband decided to join too! woot! hopefully we can help get each other's asses to the gym on a regular basis.

hello to my curvacious girls! the hubs and i joined weight watchers online last tuesday! i am finally finding the motivation to DO SOMETHING! disney was a rude awakening for me in that it was a whole lot more fun 5 years and 50 lbs ago. this time, it was just plain exhausting. so i'm doing it to honor my dad who passed earlier this year from brain cancer (he lost 85 lbs on ww himself, and kept it off for over 10 years, so if he can do it, so can i!), i'm doing it because my 40th bday is just shy of 15 months away (can't do anything about getting older but i don't have to be 40 *and* obese, right?), and most of all, i'm doing it for ME! it's hard to wear hot sexy heels when your ankles have to support so much weight. it's no fun to go to amusement parks and not fit on half the rides anymore, it's embarrassing to barely fit in an airplane seat, it's not healthy to look in the mirror and hate what you see (or worse, see pics and not even recognize yourself!), etc., etc. ... so i've finally made up my mind. now's the time! i hope you guys will help cheer me on and keep me on track! funny thing from my recent disney trip: we've discussed "chub rub" in here a million times haha so i know you girls know what i'm talking about ... i got it pretty bad on day 1 of our vacay (bad news when you're going to be walking your ass off every day for the next 4 days), so i ended up wearing my husband's under armour boxer briefs the whole trip, lol! he didn't have enough packed for both of us, so i had to wash them in the sink every night (hey it was either that or he'd have to wear MY underwear, haha!) ... happiest place on earth + wearing men's underwear = sooooooo sexxxxaaaayyyyyyyyy!

V, i finally got around to checking out your planning thread and it's amazing! love your shoes, your dress hanger, your bouquets, bloom boxes, etc., and can't wait to see what mishka does for your maracas! glad we (and our husbands, haha) could help you win! your wedding was soooo far away for so long ... i'm so excited for you that it's finally HERE! you're going to be the most beautiful bride and i know you and A have many years of happiness ahead of you!

i am at my all-time heaviest (gosh, it seems like i'm always saying that!). i am going to enjoy my vacay next week (a last hurrah, if you will) and then it's really time to get serious about some weight loss. it's one thing not to look good but i don't even feel good anymore and that's a problem. no issue with being curvy, having meat on my bones, etc., just married a younger man and would like to grow old with him.

Great bump, Lisa! p.s. I will be in Toronto July 1-4 ... I'd love to finally meet you while I'm in Canada if possible!

hehe maybe you two should be each other's new MOHs! it sucks when we find out exactly where we stand with some friends. trust me when i tell you that you will not think about the people who chose not to attend your wedding ONE BIT on wedding day. it somehow works out that exactly the right people will be there.

takes a brave (or insane) woman to let paint get anywhere near her wedding dress! maybe i'm just saying that bc i am the world's messiest painter, but i thought having to ink my thumb to thumbprint my legal documents during the ceremony was bad enough! and seriously, what if the painting came out like sh*t? (i mean, how good is it going to turn out unless you spend half your ceremony painting it? haha and then you would feel like you had to display it no matter what it looked like, because you painted it at your wedding. no thanks ... not for me, and i'm an artist! definitely different, tho!

that is a very very good point, E! this site does not exist primarily as a marketplace, so everything is buy at your own risk! it's not like ebay or other sites with buyer protection. there aren't even seller ratings to check out who you're buying from. please be smart and when you do purchase something from another bride, shop around first. and obviously never give personal financial info to anyone. use paypal.

well, then it just sucks that having that venue & date was more important to her than having you at the wedding. i'm sure she has her reasons why august (or any other month) was out of the question. maybe too many other people would have been unable to make it in august (lots of people do vacation then). bottom line is you can't expect someone to change their wedding to accommodate a few people. i know waaaay too many people had opinions on where/when i should have mine to best accommodate them! and as a bride, you simply can't make everyone happy. but as a friend, you can at least be happy for her, and celebrate with her. if she really had been planning on asking you to be a bridesmaid, she's upset you can't be there too.

if she's always been dying to get married, she's probably had that one specific venue in mind for awhile; especially since she has friends getting married (i.e. YOU), it probably sparked her interest in looking at places. if that's her dream venue and it's only available on that date, you cannot expect her to change it bc you (one guest of i assume many) can't make it. although she has no right to ask you do to so, maybe she's hoping you'll bail on the other commitment for her. i don't necessarily think you *should* bail on the other commitment, but if it's your FI's friend, not yours per se, i'd send him to that wedding and stand for my friend as a bridesmaid. will it suck to go stag to a wedding? absolutely. but it's the only way i see to cover both and keep friendships. it's not like the small wedding has already given a headcount to the caterer, so you wouldn't be screwing her over. in fact, she may be happy to have an extra spot open to invite someone else. it's hard to keep a guest list down to 30-40! and in my mind, if anyone, a bride should understand that being a friend's bridesmaid trumps being a +1 on a guest list.

if a person hasn't used an item (and yes, sometimes stuff DOES go unused), why wouldn't they try to break even on it? especially at the holidays. let's face it, weddings are expensive, and some people really do need to do their best to recoup some of their costs. for example, girls who buy several dresses before settling on "the one" ... they now need some of that money back to pay for other wedding expenses. you should always weigh your options ... that goes without saying. if you can get an item cheaper elsewhere, by all means, DO SO. maybe the sellers you encountered didn't shop around themselves, and that's why they are now stuck with overpriced stuff. however, i don't think you should make a blanket statement that everyone on here is out to make a buck ... i know of MANY instances where brides have passed along their items for free, or lent items, simply out of the goodness of their hearts. maybe the issue is that you are still so new to the forum ... give it a chance, and don't get discouraged by your perceived image of just a few posters. lots of amazing girls here!

Dress #1, no question.

manders, you could turn anything into a dog-fest!

awesome!