YaelM

Jewelry Its Carolee brand I love it. I wear it all the time now and get compliments every time I wear it. I also bought matching pearl stud earrings * 1st pic by me 2nd pic by friend I also wore my late grandmother’s mother’s wedding band (which she gave me as graduation present from college) as my something old on my right hand - but no picture and last minute my friend gave me her anklet (which matched perfectly!) as my something borrowed Hair Inspiration I had a print out of the different styles I liked but of course I couldn’t find it at the last minute when I went to get my hair done. I just described what I wanted and I think she did a great job! I got my hair done at the Four Seasons Salon. My florist stopped by and gave me a real flower (at no charge!!!) to put in my hair Make Up I had Shannon from Flirt Make Up in Santa Barbara do my make up. I'm SO happy I got it done professionally because it came out amazing! She used Mac products and fake eyelashes Bridesmaid Dresses I told them to pick their own dresses – I just asked that it be teal/aqua color. My MOH got her dress at David’s Bridal (gasp!) – its the lighter shade one and my bridesmaid got hers from Anthropologie Groomsmen Attire We asked them to get long sleeve white linen shirts with khaki pants. DH provided the sunglasses as their gifts Venue We originally were suppose to get married May 8th in Mexico at Azul Beach. 4 days before leaving we had to cancel because of the swine flu hysteria. We ended up switching our plans and planning our “Wedding Take 2” (as we called it) in 6 weeks. We got married at the Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara, Ca and it was better than I could have EVER imagined. We hired a local wedding planner, Rebecca from Imagine... Weddings & Special Events, LLC who was a life saver! *pic from website Ceremony site We got married in the Mariposa Garden overlooking the ocean. Cocktail Hour We had champagne and a full bar with liquor and wine in the El Mar Terrace. 5 different appetizers were served Reception Took place in the El Mar Room and yes we splurged on Chiavari chairs and it was worth it!

Ok so I know this is late…I got married over 3 months ago but as they say better late than never! I got so many great ideas from this site and as I mentioned in my review: Best Destination Wedding Forum ~ The Ultimate Destination Wedding Resource I really owe my whole wedding to Tammy (host) and BDW. As a side note: We had to switch locations at the last minute (4 days before departure!) from Mexico to Santa Barbara, CA due to the Swine Flu fiasco that occurred last spring. Since I suck and didn’t take pictures throughout my planning process, 95% of these pictures are from the actual wedding and were taken by our AMAZING photographer, Nathaniel Thompson. So unless otherwise noted they are all by him Rings: DH proposed Oct 2007 on a look out view on our way to Amherst, MA. I was totally shocked and unprepared as you can see by my un-manicured nails. He got my e-ring from Blue Nile and I LOVE it *Pic taken by me His wedding band: Christian Bauer platinum wedding band (My DH has expensive taste!) but we got a good deal since the jewelry store was going out of business My wedding band: white gold channel set *pic taken by me Save The Dates For both Mexico and Santa Barbara we did email Save The Dates. Invitations We used Weddingpaperdivas.com and so happy with them. The quality is great, they are super fast and have great customer service! *picture taken from website, not our actual invitation but looks exactly the same Photographer As mentioned above we used Nathaniel Thompson who is based in Santa Barbara (lucky us!) I wrote a detailed review here: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...on-ever-44884/ He was AMAZING and I cant stop looking at all my 1062 pics We also did a day after shoot with him in Santa Barbara. Here is one of my favorites from that session Attire My dress which I loved was Maggie Sottero, Vernice. I wore a veil I bought at the bridal store and yes paid a lot but I loved it DH wore a tan linen suit from Nordstroms. His tie is Thomas Pink and his shirt is from Brooks Brothers which literary arrived the day before we left… Shoes Jessica Simpson brand – got them from Nordstroms DH again with his expensive/picku taste ;-) wore Cole Haan shoes. I think he got these like a week before the wedding.

Hahaha - love it

Congrats!!! Welcome to teh forum and happy planning! You will find so much useful info here

Love it! Its so fun and unique!

OOOO i love it! Cant wait to see it on you

Aww bummer - but i think in the end the location is more important that the date and if Grand Palladium is perfect for you guys I think you should stick with it. Now you can have a new date that will be memorable

I personally think its pretty rude, especially since you kinda know them but they arent inviited. But like the other ladies said as long she (and they) know they arnt involved in the wedding activities then its ok. Hopefully on your wedding day she will be helping you and not just lounging around with them

Glad to hear things are starting to fall into place! Good luck with everything and in the end it will be perfect

Have u guys noticed that these auditions they show a lot less of the annoying freaky ppl...i like it much better this way

Im confused...cant the other people book on a different airline? They may not travel on teh same flight as you or get the same deal but i feel like they could just book their plane ticket separately.

I vacationed at the Ritz in MB and it was SO nice!!! The food was seriously amazing...some of the best food i have EVER eaten. Also the service is impecable and the rooms are a good size. The only negative is the beach is kinda rocky so we spent 90% of our time by the pool rather than the beach. But its a great resort!

WOW that is really shitty! I *really really* hope things work our for you and your dad! Good luck with the mp office and keep us posted!!

As long as Little C never becomes a permanent judge...i cant stand him!

Congrats and welcome! You will find a ton of information the forum - happy planning!

Hi Ladies Im not in the competition but i wanted to post to wish everyone luck! I hope u dont mind me lurking as this thread helps motivate me Kelly - what you described is me to a T. I get really consistent for about 2 or 3 weeks and then something comes up like im sick or whatever i stop for like 3 months - and im back to sq one. I think like you I need a none weight goal

Happy Birthday!! Hope you have a FABULOUS day!!!

Congrats and welcome to the forum! Oh and GO RED SOX!!!!!

I dont know what financial situations your bridesmaids are in but I agree with Morgan and think 200$ for a dress is a bit much. If you are dead set on the dresses would you be able to pay for 50% of each girls' dress? For my wedding since i didnt buy the dresses for them, i let my MOH and BM pick their own dresses - i just gave them a color pallet, that way they could spend as little or as much as they wanted. I wanted to add - that in the end u know your friends the best and probably what they would feel comfortable purchasing - good luck!

Welcome Tara! You have definitely come to the right place. If you want to get legally married in Mexico all resorts have some sort of minimum stay requirement. A lot of brides actually get legally married at home and have a symbolic wedding at their choice resort. Getting married legally at home saves a lot of time, $ and hassle - most brides just don't tell their guests and dont make a big deal out of the legal home marriage...just an option!

My only suggestion would be to ask if you could do your dinner either super late or super early as to not interfere with "regular dinner hours" but most resorts are like this - otherwise no one would pay for a private dinner reception and I'm assuming its how they make most of their money Another option is to have everyone seated at teh same time but maybe at different tables next to each other?

Erin - I totally agree - its entertaining

We asked my MOH's husband and he was great. We gave him the list of names to introduce and told him how our ipod was set up. It was nice not having to worry about it

Wow all of this looks so great!! Your guests are super lucky!! I cant wait to read your review and see your pics when you get back and w00t to the Palo Alto shout out Thats where i grew up and live right now

I like # 2 the best