cougs

i would scrap the dj. personally i can't see paying almost $1000 for a dj who probably won't have most songs i want to hear. we are going with our own ipod & docking station, because it was about $400 (for a bose system) and we get to keep it forever, not to mention use it in our room there all week, and we will have every song of our choosing. we already owned ipods. i believe if you don't want to buy a docking system, you can still rent their sound equipment to use with your ipod, and that way you'd end up still having a mic for toasts/speeches/intros but it would still end up cheaper than the dj. also most people here seem to avoid all the "legal" fees by doing the legal part at home before having the symbolic ceremony at dreams. for us, that wasn't really an option tho, so we're in the same boat paying around $700 for blood tests and translations!

yeah we're excited about being able to use it in our room all week as well, and also have gotten the carrying case. i thought $60 for a carrying bag was a bit much, but we saved about that much by getting our docking system refurbished, and from an outlet store. (fyi, the refurbished unit still has the bose warranty.) seeing another post here reminded me that i swear someone PM'd me about which outlet store we bought our BOSE system. i don't think i ever answered, and now i can't find the message? anyway, hopefully they'll see this: we bought ours at bose in the crossings outlets in tannersville, pa., however, i believe there's a bose store in the tanger outlets in rehoboth, delaware as well (and there's no sales tax in delaware)!

i've only been dress shopping once so far, and i'm just not convinced i've found "the one" ... hoping maybe to go somewhere else this weekend.

Quote: Originally Posted by Bisha I'm back and happy to report that I lost 2 lbs while on vacation!!! Whoo hoo! Really hoped for a bigger loss but, I'll take what I can get losing while on vacation is quite a feat! woo hoo!!!

lost another 1.5 this week somehow. i thought after last week's big loss i'd be doomed to a small increase this week, but not so! notyouraverageDW, it's comforting to see i'm not the only one here with a significant amount of weight to lose (judging this from your ticker). i know that sometimes that huge amount can seem overwhelming and insurmountable, but with the support of the girls on here (and biggest loser 5, 6, 7 ...) i know we can do it! it won't happen overnight, but every little loss counts. oh and just for the record, i started my ticker at the beginning of BL3, not *this* round.

Quote: Originally Posted by Kat81 I think since you have to get a lawyer anyway, why not hit him up for more child support while you are at it?! rock on, kat! that's *exactly* what i was thinking! seriously, i understand him maybe not wanting you to show up at the wedding to pick your kids up (it would probably be awkward at best), but why couldn't your dad or someone else pick them up and bring them to YOU for the weekend? you're their MOTHER!

just cleaning up the list a little ... deleted a few weddings that have already taken place! October 2008 Stacey & Ely - October 14th, 2008 November 2008 RJ & Stephanie - November 8, 2008 Kristi & Neil - November 10, 2008 Samantha S & Damon - November 20, 2008 December 2008 Brianna & Danny - December 6, 2008 January 2009 Kristy & Mike - January 16, 2009 Michelle (Michelle&Steve) & Steve - January 18, 2009 February 2009 Reilly (soon to be Mrs. Glasser) & David - February 23 March 2009 Angel & Sanford - March 1, 2009 April 2009 Diana & Anthony - April 25, 2009 May 2009 Jaymie & Ales - May 4, 2009 Kelly & Joe - May 13, 2009 Sylvia (cancunbride) and Albert - May 14, 2009 Marie (hartyt509) & Scott - May 15, 2009 Joanna (jhubert) & John - May 20, 2009 Lisa (mummergirl) & Tom - May 28, 2009 Tamika (quackquack) & James - May 30, 2009 June 2009 Jen (simbasim) - June 13, 2009 Gen Moriya - June 14, 2009 August 2009 Peggy (bbpacco) and Teddy - August 1st, 2009 Christine and Christopher (zorlack76) - August 14th, 2009 November 2009 Jodey & Simon - November 12th 2009

Quote: Originally Posted by DanielleNDerek come on and crash it. Your probably pretty close to it. It's at the Melting Pot in Philly. oooh the melting pot, i'm so jealous! i haven't been there yet and always wanted to. however, there's no way i'd be able to resist all that fondue, so i had better stay home!

Quote: Originally Posted by amyrak I don't think it's going to be a good week for me girls. I was doing so good since we joined the new gym I had only missed one night in 2 weeks. Then Sat. I was cleaning the house and grocery shopping..etc (yeah, my fun weekend) and somehow pulled a muscle in my lower back so didn't exercise all weekend and went yesterday to try just to walk on the treadmill was painful but did 40 min. But woke up today and I think I'm good to go so I'll probably try the elliptical and weights tonight. wow that's a lot of exercise, even with a back injury in the middle! you get points just for persistence! the walking probably helped your back. glad you're feeling better. i'm no expert on the subject by any means, but aren't you supposed to leave a rest day or two in between so your muscles can recoup? i thought it was bad to go *every* day ... or was that just me rationalizing again? LMAO!

Quote: Originally Posted by carly I think I want a DRAMATIC change, so I am leaning towards the Katie one. I have 2 weddings this month and I'd like ot be able to just blow-dry my hair and go. But what if I look like a freak with bangs!? i find that when my hair is short it actually takes MORE time and maintenance than when it's long! i always *want* bangs and right after i cut them i'm sorry and pin them back until i can grow them out. never did a heavy bang like katie's tho! i say go for it ... it's just hair, right?

Quote: Originally Posted by DanielleNDerek I know i had to gain this week. I'm not looking forward to stepping on the scale 2morrow and seeing the awful truth. I hit the pizza hard on Sunday. And my bachlorette party is this upcoming saturday so i have to be really good until then. where's the bachelorette party? i may have to crash it, lol! just kidding ... have fun and don't deprive yourself too much ... you only get one bachelorette party!

i've been sick for several days now but went to the gym anyway last night and i have to say, it really kicked my ass ... i felt totally wiped about halfway through it. but at least i went, right? unfortunately being sick doesn't decrease my appetite at all. it just makes me want to lie around and do nothing. idleness leads to snackiness. *sigh* i eat "good" snacks, but the calories still add up and i've been eating at night which is a major no-no (hardest habit for me to break because i have a wacky schedule). guess it's back to the gym again tonite no matter how tired i feel! i don't expect a great week like last week again, but i do hope to still go down a little. gotta keep drinking the water ... that seems to really be key for me. best of luck tomorrow ladies!

those are great bags! i'm sure someone will snatch them up!

Quote: Originally Posted by AnnR Ok, I just wanted ya'll to know that the list is finalized now (finally!). I've posted the list of participants and the jackpot amount in the first thread as well, but here it is ... amesharpe (Amy) amyrak (Amy) Becksy (Erin) Bisha (Sabina) carly Christine Christy335 DanielleNDerek Dlyteful (Davina) EricaG hillary1 jessygrl75 (Jessica) jkcz0702 (Jennifer) jpitts78 (Joanne) jrodsgirl (Rosel) JulieG Kathie KLC77 (Kelly) LALA (Kate) Morgan mummergirl (Lisa) NotYourAverageDW (Sabrina) SBlake (Sarah) SgtPepperette (Melissa) TA Jill yamille ... for a total jackpot of $390!! that's a super jackpot AGAIN! now if i could just stop the nighttime snacking!

Quote: Originally Posted by zorlack76 Here is what she told me...they book 2 weddings per day. So, for those of you that think your wedding is the only one that day, your probably wrong. They only do two and they are at separate times. Mine is for 6:00pm because someone else already has theirs for 4:00pm. I guess that is not so bad. Gaby assured me that the other wedding party would not get in our way and that we would have 2 separate receptions. So, she said that she would send us a Q & A so we could tell her how many people were going to attend, where on the resort we wanted the wedding and reception, etc. After we fill that out, we send that back to her and she draws up a contract. She said that after the contract is finalized, the deposit would be due. I asked her again if anyone else could take my wedding date and time and she said she marked me down so no one else could take it. congrats on finally getting a date nailed down! best of luck ... what i still don't understand about the 2 weddings per day is that if they are only 2 hours apart, how can you be sure you will get to have your cocktail hour and reception where *you* wanted it? what if the other bride got her details into contract first? if their wedding is at 4, cocktail at 5, and reception 6-9, you clearly couldn't have your reception where theirs is because they'd overlap. honestly, there aren't that many options, and beach and ballroom were both out of the question for me, so personally i would have had to choose a different date in that scenario.

other than not wanting my mom's dress color to totally clash with the wedding colors, i could care less what she wears. she'll probably end up wearing a beige/tan color. if FMIL wears the same color i honestly don't think either of them (or anyone else) would be bothered by it. i don't know that you can be as picky at beach wedding as you can be elsewhere, since most people only like to wear light colors outdoors in the heat ... so that really narrows it down. i say "most" people, since our good friend harty is wearing a black wedding dress, and her FI is wearing a kilt. total awesomeness, but can you say sweaty? LOL

what you do online doesn't actually REGISTER you. you are basically just filling out the voter registration application online, which they will then send to you or allow you to download in its completed form. you still need to mail it in, postmarked prior to your state's cut-off date (i was unclear from your post whether it was jersey or pa ... they have different cut-off dates).

Quote: Originally Posted by jhubert We're getting there on the 17th and leaving on the 24th for Riviera Maya for our honeymoon part! Maybe will be able to catch one another the day you arrive! very cool! i hope we all can meet up and take a photo for the forum (you'll find this group is never satisfied unless they get pics)! be sure to add your screen name, real name, and wedding date to this thread http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t24950 (copy latest post and insert your info). we're trying to keep it up to date but i know we're missing quite a few!

Quote: Originally Posted by Jenn3878 We are going to get cigars outside of the resort for sure!! I am also thinking of DIY matchbooks with our logo?? before doing all the DIY work, i'd check into whether you'll be able to take them with you to mexico ... i thought i read something on here before about not being able to take matches on the plane? maybe it was just carry-on rules?

i love the new hair and it's still just long enough to pull back for the wedding if that's what you want. i've been growing my hair too and i can't stand it. totally can't wait to hack it off again LOL i keep telling my fiance that the day after the wedding i'm handing a pair of scissors to the first random mexican i see and letting them chop away! LOL

Quote: Originally Posted by jhubert Hello everyone, My name is Joanna and I'm getting married at Dream Cancun May 20th I think... hi! how long are you guys staying? we arrive on may 23 and i'd love to get together for drinks with the other BDW brides there! harty will still be in cancun then, and quackquack arrives around that time too ...

no matter what you choose you won't please everyone so do what *you* want. i took price for our guests into consideration because it was very important to us that our close family and friends were with us. we actually *wanted* them all at the same resort with us (i know, we're insane, LOL). like harty, part of our reason for dreams was children, and i don't think any are coming. in fact, the people we did the most to accommodate are the ones who now won't be coming. we just got lucky that in the process of trying to make others happy, we still ended up with a resort we loved. just make sure your wedding resort will allow you to get married there even if the majority of your guests stay elsewhere. i think some places insist on 80% of your wedding guests staying on property. and like others have said, make sure guests staying elsewhere are aware of the cost of day passes ... it could end up they aren't actually saving that much by staying somewhere else, between transportation to and from the resort and the day pass, ya know?

i tried on the "plus size" version of that dress that has the empire waist and spaghetti straps (just not sure it's "the one" for me tho). but i have to say i am really still in LOVE with that floral burnout pattern. i think it's really different and so tropical looking yet elegant. nice choice! you look great!

ok not to confuse you more but i just looked at playa fiesta and totally LOVE it LOL! i'm sure no matter what you choose it will be beautiful

i was interested in the idea of a villa, but our families really wanted an all-inclusive resort, and our guest list (or at least the number we *thought* would be coming) was a little too large for a villa. turns out we might have been able to get away with it after all! if a resort just isn't your thing for the wedding, have you looked at las caletas? there are a lot of brides on here who went that route and i think it's beautiful and more private/intimate than the huge resorts. choose what suits you! obsessions are ok!