egsarah

Good to hear everyone's thoughts! We wanted to know early on as well just for budget reasons. We're trying to figure out if we can do a cocktail hour and what not and it will totally depend on how many people are coming. We figured it was totally appropriate to give an RSVP book date.

These are GREAT! I loved your TTD pictures..the ones underwater were SO cool!

That dress is gorgeous! I say you can trash the dress in anything. You could always get it bustled for the TTD too if you're worried about the train. Just a thought......

Congratulations on your recent engagement! That is so exciting. What worked for me in terms of choosing a location was making a list of what was important for ME. I wanted an all inclusive that would cater to myself and my guests and if possible had a more private wedding setting available. I then made a list of pros and cons fo each resort that met my short list of "basic" criteria and then the Paradisus just seemed to fall out as the most logical choice for me. I used trip advisor a bit as well but DON'T let it drive you crazy. Go by the general consensus. As for pricing..I agree with the other girls. Pricing will change for next year. I did work with my travel agent and she gave me a "predicted" price based on current prices and the the typical % increase she would see at that resort from year to year. Other than that just check at the board. The ladies here are fantastic! You will have more ideas than you know what to do with in no time! GOOD LUCK AND CONGRATS!!

Your pictures turned out spectacular!! You are SO naturally pretty..your FI is going to loooove these! The tie and glasses were my fav too...so fun! Glad they turned out well and you had a good time. You'll have to share FI's reaction.

So glad to hear it went well! I was a little worried for you at first. Can't wait to see some teasers!!

These are great! I love the first one in the jersey....SO cute! Your FI is going to LOOVE these!

Those turned out fantastic! Congratulations!!

The purse is gorgeous! If it goes with your general "look" for your wedding I would definitely use it. You may just want to bring it to the reception though so you don't have to worry about it during the cermony...maybe a close friend could bring it to the cermony for you?

I agree! Wear what makes you feel GORGEOUS! Its your day.

Congratulations Freckles!! So glad to hear that everything went well. Can't wait to see some pics!

I'm sorry to hear about your friend. I don't think you are being selfish, and its understandable that you are hurt, it is your wedding after all. I can understand her not being able to make it with the whole camp thing BUT she should have at least called you and told you what was going on instead of making you wonder. I had a friend that I did EVERYTHING with for two years, she met her now husband and basically disappeared of the face of the earth. I was in her wedding and spent a TON of money to go (it being very far away). She got married in 2007 and I have litterally hung out with her 5 times since (she lives 15 minutes from me). We still talk from time to time but I've kind of cut my loses. There were enough instances where I would feel hurt that I decided that it wasn't worth being friends with her anymore. I'm not saying that you should do the same but I'd think about who you really want to be friends with. I have very few friends but the ones I have would do ANYTHNG for me and are there for me no matter what. Just my thoughts but I don't like to see people upset.

I'm finishing up my invisalign now. It cost me about 3K with insurance coverage. The only "pain" I've had is the first day of new trays and its not even that bad, its more like discomfort than anything else. My only advise is MAKE SURE YOU WEAR YOUR TRAYS!! I would get lazy sometimes and forget to put them back in and got off my schedule. I ended up getting to the end and had to get re-molded because I hadn't been wearing them like I was supposed to. This time they are in my mouth like 23 hrs a day lol! But are DEFINITELY working. I think its a great alternative to typical braces.

Ah the NY cast is soooo one of my guilty pleasures. FI HATES it! So I watch it when he has boys night out Loove Loove Bethanny and Jill! I think Kelly is nuts too. Everytime she opens her mouth I wish I could tell her to shut up! Can't believe Luanne is getting divorced either! It will be funny if she is no longer a countess...ha!

Your dress is GORGEOUS! I would totally go for the dyeables purple. I think that shoe would look best with your dress and if purple is your favorite color GO FOR IT!!

I think we are just planning on going to the court house the week before to make everything legal. I'm probably going to get a pretty dress and FI will probably dress up. I don't want to say our vows there so that we can save it to make the DW really special. Just my two cents though............

Yikes! We are struggling with the same issue. Everything has a surcharge stated for 15% tip..so I'm wondering if its broken down on each item then does that mean it gets distributed to that service provider (ie florist, officiant, wait staff)? We were thinking of only tipping the external vendors that we brought in and our wedding coordinator. I can't see tipping additionally to packaged service when we already are paying a 15% SC. SOOO confusing

I agree, I'm getting married at the Paradisus and my reception will be outdoors. I did come across a lot of other resorts that would allow me to when I was trying to narrow down my options. Just ask and most of them will be very accomodating.

Dana the review was fantastic! It sounds like you had a really good time and you've reassured me that we chose the right resort. Thanks for the heads up on the dinner reservations too. Good to know that you can set them up for your whole stay at one time. I always lose track of time when I'm on vacation. On the palpa could it be used as a rain back up? It sounds so beautiful but I've always dreamed of getting married on the beach. However, I would prefer something somewhat outside if possible even in the chance of rain. You'll have to post some pictures when you get some time.

I'm sorry to hear that you had to cancel. I really hope that everything works out for you.

Girls you are all in my thoughts, and I really hope that everything turns out for the best. I keep hoping that all of this will blow over soon. From hearing from the other girls it sounds like things are okay in the resort region and my gut feel is that the media is blowing this WAAAY out of proportion. Keep us posted!

SOOOOOOOOOO....Perla JUST got back to me and I had to share....she is only making me pay the $300 external vendor fee instead of Swank's BS fees!!! I am SOOO EXCITED!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to ALL of you that have shared your experiences and told me to put up a fight! It really means the world to me! We are now able to get a DJ since it will fit into our budget! So again THANK YOU!!

I'm so sorry to hear this!! Its terrible! Like a lot of the girls have said the most important thing is that it is about you and your FI. Hopefully you won't cancel...I wish people wouldn't get so worked up about things sometime. I wish you the very very best!

Your dress is gorgeous!! Unfortunately I'm terrible with flowers also! Hopefully someone will give you some great recommendations. Sorry I'm not much help!

Have fun FutureMrsC! You'll have to give us a full report when you get back! Congratulations Julie! SOO happy that everything turned out well for you!