Sapphire723

Wow! What great news! Congrats Lacey. How wonderful... enjoy that pizza for us.

I meant for the shower.... oddly enough, I received pearls from all three brides for being in the wedding.

Been a bridesmaid three times and never received a gift from the bride nor did I expect it. I think a nicely worded thank you card is all that is needed.

At Dreams, I think it would be just fine. However, I would say "this is where we're having dinner, if you'd like to eat at the same restaurant." It isn't as if they eat at the same table as you do in a normal reception anyway, so if you make more of a point to spend time with them during the cocktail hour or during the week, I don't think it's rude. They can eat anywhere on the resort, so they're not going without dinner.

Wow... that is cute! Maybe you can find it on clearance at an outlet store in a few months when the season is over?

Great job, Ashley! Kim - AF is here for me too... that makes it so much harder to not eat chocolate all the time, plus that water weight hurts the scale too!

If the dress is unique enough that it would be recognizable as someone else's design and was created without the designer's permission, then I would consider a rip off of someone else's hard work and intellectual property. I, personally, am not ok with that as a consumer because I would not be ok with that if I were the designer. Also, when dresses or purses or other goods are produced and distributed illegally, there is no protection for the consumer. It makes it very difficult to force someone to give you a product you paid money for or return a product for poor craftsmanship. "The counterfeit business also takes billions away from legitimate companies. Industry and trade associations estimate that counterfeiting and piracy cost the U.S. economy up to $250 billion a year and a total of 750,000 jobs. About 5 percent of all merchandise sold worldwide is counterfeit, industry estimates show." "The majority of these items are manufactured overseas, and they're imported or smuggled into the U.S.," he said. "The money generated by selling shoes, sunglasses and purses often funds more serious criminal activity," the agent said. "People involved in the narcotics trade or weapons trade or money laundering are in those trades to make money. They get involved in counterfeiting for the same reason," Wallrapp said. Purse Parties Funding Organized Crime? - Irresistible Headlines News Story - KETV Omaha According to the NY Times - "Some officials say that it has ties to organized crime, the drug trade and terrorism, and is a prime user of sweatshop labor." The Knockoff Squad - New York Times Overall, I feel that market for knockoffs is detrimental to the economy, environment, and consumer and human rights. I invite all of you to research the subject more thoroughly to form your own conclusion. I agree that you don't need to drop several thousand to look beautiful on your wedding day, but it is possible to look great for cheap without buying knockoffs.

You could make all of them your MOHs. That way they all feel good! Or have all of them be BMs who share the MOH responsibilities. Whatever way works for you is what you should do.

I said semi-illegal, because if you own two or more fake items, you can be brought down on trafficking charges, but the likelihood of a cop coming into your home when you're otherwise law abiding or a DA prosecuting you over this is slim to none. If the knock-off seller is using a designer's photo, it's also violating copyright laws in addition to any trade dress laws. Many of the major bridal manufacturers police the internet for unauthorized photos. Maggie and Mon Cheri are vigilant with their designs and photos as are many other bridal manufacturers. If the original manufacturer finds a knock off of their design, they'll have the auctions taken off Ebay. If you ordered from that company, you risk NOT getting your gown or not getting the protection from Ebay on the sale. It does not have to say the designer's name on it to infringe on the rights of the original designer. Walmart has been sued more than once by Adidas for selling non-Adidas brand shoes that look like Adidas. As far as borrowing designs from other BDW brides, most of us give permission for you to use any original designs, because that's not our main source of income.

YAY! Problem solved! I'm happy for you.

Totally not too late! I saw a TTD in NYC for a couple that waited 2 years before shooting it. Have fun.

In addition to the question of quality, I feel that it's a bit of a question of ethics. Part of the reason that designer dresses are so expensive is because someone takes a lot of time and effort to come up with an original and beautiful design. The knock-offs are cheaper because they don't have to waste time designing anything if they can just steal someone else's design. It's also semi-illegal to buy knockoffs. I say semi, because some of the designs are not unique enough for trade dress laws to apply, plus they usually don't prosecute consumers in the US, especially if you only own one knockoff. Better off buying an original at a sample sale, imo.

You should totally market that. I really want one... mine is a year away!

Are you doing a sand ceremony? You could put them in charge of that or have them stand up along with the rest of their immediate family as a "this is our family blending with your family" sort of gesture. Or you could have them announce the first dance since a lot of the DW DJs don't emcee. Or you could have them usher or pass out favors or help guide people from the wedding to reception/cocktail hour.

Cruising is a great idea and totally manageable for the switch. I think the only problem you might run into is that some people are wary of seasickness and might choose not to attend. I personally like Princess cruises. They attract an older crowd (think senior citizen), but their service is amazing (they strive to be perfect, not just good) and their food is great. If you want more of a party or something that's cheaper, Carnival's your line. NCL has a lot of cruises from NYC, and I've heard good things about Royal Caribbean and Celebrity (although, I've never been on either. My MOH has been on RC and Princess, and she prefers Princess). Good luck deciding!

I've been to DT, and we loved it. It is kinda off on its own, but it was nice and private which we enjoyed. In my opinion, we didn't feel the need to leave the resort for anything, so it doesn't really matter how far away anything is.

Haha, that cake is AWESOME! Thanks for the review... you look fantastic.

I just caught this site from an ad on Facebook. They have some cute OOT/Bridesmaid bags for $5! $ 5.00 only Tote Bags - Sale ends February 16th, 2009

Hi Guys, I've been considering putting together a master list of the resorts of this area if anyone would be interested in having it. I want to have one place for us to be able to access info to compare one resort vs another when it comes to average cost, star rating, traveler rating, cost per plate of person, outside vendor fees, etc. Let me know if anyone else would like me to do this, and if you have specific information about a resort's fees, leave a message on here. Hopefully a compiled list will help newbie brides with narrowing their choice down from so many awesome resorts.

Haha, yeah, the lingo is a bit much at the beginning. TTDs are very common on here, because so many brides are in such a beautiful setting. If you search around, you can see some beautiful pictures from them. The below photog has some that I like: StillMotionBlog.com trash the dress As far as wearing your dress -- I'm planning on wearing mine! But if your budget can afford a second dress, it's always fun to get to pick out another one.

You're right about Miss Manners. Technically, you can't say "No Gifts" politely, because telling people that you don't want gifts means that you expect that they would otherwise bring you a gift and expecting gifts isn't polite. However, it's pretty obvious that people bring gifts to weddings, so in my personal opinion, it's silly to think that no one would. There's a post card floating around (one of the BDW girls has it in her siggy) that says something like "Our travel expenses will be your gift." I think something along the lines of "Your presence is our present" in your FAQs is polite enough.

Haha, you're right. I did see this on facebook from a lot of my friends, and then I saw a link to a Times article from another one of my friends: Facebook: 25 Things I Didn't Want to Know About You - TIME It's funny to me how every trend always has someone commenting on it.

Quote: Originally Posted by Betsy I'm sorry you are having a rough time! DH and I rarely fight - unless I spend too much money - then it is a HUGE fight! I think that is the root of all evil LOL! I do know this will pass and you guys will make up and look back and maybe even laugh about the huge fight you got into 2 weeks before your wedding ! I'm sure the stress levels are high anyways with it being just around the corner - but you both love each other and trust me, everything will work out! Good Luck sweetie! We found a money system that works well for us. We both make around the same amount of money (within $5k), so we split the amount we put into our joint accounts. We have one joint checking for the mortgage and household bills (like utilities and taxes) and then we have a joint savings for the wedding. We each put our portion into the accounts every month. What we have leftover from our paychecks goes for whatever personal bills we have (like cell phones or car payments) and any misc. stuff we want (clothes, video games, renting a movie). This way we don't get upset if one person is frivolously buying stuff with money that's meant to pay bills. We've decided that if one of us starts making significantly more money than the other, then we'll change the amount we each put into the joint accounts by a % of total income instead of splitting it equally. Of course, each couple has to find a system that works for them, and even with a system that works, you'll still have spats over wishing you could spend money that you don't really have or wishing you had more money to spend. I'm sorry you guys had a fight. I hope your week gets better. :-)

I would be wary of places that sell copies. First off, counterfeit items are generally illegal to buy, sell, and own, especially if they're being sold as like "Amsale" dresses. Some clothing items aren't considered unique enough to qualify under trade dress laws without their label, but if a site is telling you that it is a specific designer's design, it may be actionable. If it does fall in the realm of illegal business, you can't go after them for your goods or money back if they don't perform the services you expect from them. Secondly, part of the reason why wedding dresses vary so much in price is because of the quality of materials used. It may look similar to an Amsale dress, but it's probably made with a much cheaper fabric or with many more visible flaws. I don't know if I would trust someone willing to rip off another person's work with the biggest day of my life. I think you'd be better off buying a sample or a used dress.

Makes sense, Ann. Thanks for the explanation. So, I tried 30 day Shred this week. OUCHIE! I made the mistake of doing some strength training earlier in the day, so I ended up doing twice the lunges and twice the number of bench presses. I did it on Wednesday, and I'm still sore despite a little more working out, hot baths, and lots of stretching. I'm giving it another go today. Anyone else feel weird about working out in front of your fiance/husband? I usually go to the gym to work-out, but I felt REALLY weird doing Shred with John in the room.