islandbride317

Wow, MarieSam! You are just a VISION......truly the quintessential beautiful bride - and we haven't even seen all of your photos yet! I've been checking everyday, anxiously awaiting your review! Your enthusiasm during your description of your trip has me wishing I had been there and now I find myself pining away for the day I will visit Akumal (which, yes, is now an absolute MUST!) That pic of the beach? I mean, come on -- gorgeous, right!?! Truly took my breath away...looked too perfect to be real! CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU and YOUR HUSBAND as you begin your "happily ever after", sweetheart! I'm overjoyed that it was everything you had hoped for AND MORE!

Thanks, TA Jennifer! Unfortunately, since I didn't think their rule on outside photographers was going to change anytime in the near future, I've already done research and have begun beefing up plans to do wedding photos after the ceremony off the resort -- BUMMER! But, that's awesome that you got clarification and passed on the information to all of us! You ROCK, and keep up the great work!

Alright, ladies...all of you who've posted have got me absolutely GREEN WITH ENVY over here! How blessed you must feel to have such beautiful photos you can look through year after year and relive the magic of your wedding day -- can't wait 'til I can join that club right along with ya!

STUNNING photographs of a STUNNING couple~!

YIPPEE!! Congrats on getting the piece of mind you've been so hoping for, Michele! With less than a year until your wedding, it's so important to know that you're both fully onboard....so glad for you!

I am so sorry to hear about all of this...I have one sibling (a sister), and when she said she didn't think she could afford to go to our original destination (St. Lucia) because of cost-concerns, we switched our island to Jamaica for her, and I thought that was generous! Wow, you've even offered to pay for their entire trip -- how amazing and thoughtful of you! Hopefully, they will give it more thought and will decide that your wonderful offer is too good to refuse, pride or not! (And if it makes you feel any better, I don't think my FI's sister and her husband will be coming to our wedding next year -- in addition to having a new baby, I just don't know if it would be financially possible for them.) Here's hoping everything works out...and if not, just try to remember she WILL be there with you in thought and spirit!

Ooohh...this is a tough one. Sorry I am late on this post, but as for myself, I find that a one year time limit is the longest I will ever hang onto anything from a past, personal relationship. That way, you can make peace with whatever feelings you might have that need to be sorted out or brought to closure. But, when it's someone else's stuff, especially your FI's.....hmmm. Well, I think if you really want to see what he would do with these pics and letters, you should "let" him find them. I'd just put the box with these things in them amongst a pile of other junk that either needs to be saved or thrown away and see what he does. Is that shady? Perhaps to some, but then you wouldn't have the outright confrontation and it wouldn't look like you had intentionally invaded his privacy. Chances are very good that he'll try to discreetly dispose of them (not ever thinking you'd seen them) so as to not upset you. But this is coming from me, someone who can be just as crazy-jealous as anyone when it comes to ex's! My FI is a U.S. mail carrier while he finishes his degree, and I wanted to freak out when I found out that one of his ex-loves (a girl he was with for a number of years in a rocky relationship) is on his mail route! I had all these crazy ideas and scenarios whipping through my mind, like that he'd be delivering her mail or a parcel and she'd want to try to rekindle their past relationship or some such nonsense! Nuts, right?! From what I understand, she's married with 2 kids, but that didn't prevent my imagination from running wild! At any rate, I think that it's easy for any woman, regardless of how strong she thinks she, or her relationship, may be to totally be "okay" with the thought of her man's ex(s). If you really love someone, you don't want anything or anyone to jeopardize that, and you're totally human to have been sort of taken aback by this discovery. I'm sure you'll do what you think is best, but when this all goes down, please keep us posted, because we're here for you, lady! The BDW has always got your back!

Hope you had the most magical, memorable wedding day ever, Mrs! You had to have been just positively STUNNING; can't wait to see your pics! And for all the thanks you sent out to the BDW community, let me just say -- right back at 'cha, lady!

Good looking out! Yet another reason why I am a big fan of Michael's....

Lovin' the mugs! Great job -- and one question: what type/brand of ink did you use to do them yourself? Since I don't want to spend a fortune on getting mugs professionally done if I can avoid it, I was just hoping you might have a tip!

Yup, now everything makes sense -- thanks for clearing things up!

Congratulations -- I'm sure it will be the experience of a lifetime! Yea for Jamaica!!

You look AMAZING -- perfect fit, too! Congratulations on finding your DREAM DRESS, Karima!

CONGRATULATIONS, jamaicabride10! I am sure you will come across a pic. of your room at some point, somewhere! And even if you can't find one, just rest assured that it's Sandals, so I am sure it will be phenomenal! Plus, I think it's great that you are booked so far in advance...it will give you the opportunity to save money and lots of time to take care of all the little details that will make your wedding uniquely yours! Look at it this way: I just booked my wedding (@ Sandals Grande Ocho Rios, Jamaica) for May 14, 2010 just about a month ago, and even though it's still so far away, I feel like I have to sort of "rush" to make sure that we've got everything on our checklist in order (ranging from choosing flowers and organizing OOT bags, to selecting our monogram, invitations, scheduling flights, pre-planning our at-home reception...aaarrgh! Tick-tock, tick-tock!) It's also a really great opportunity for you to simply enjoy being engaged to one another, as well, and March 2011 will be here before you know it! Just being a BDW member so far in advance will give you plenty of fantastic ideas to work on, and will certainly keep you busy!

They look completely professional and utterly GORGEOUS! Enjoy the shower of compliments you are receiving from your family, friends, and all of us here @ BDW...you've sooooo earned them all!

Great question...and great advice from all of the ladies who made suggestions! I'll be incorporating some of it into my own invitations now, for sure!

They are absolutely PERFECT! Congratulations, and I am so glad you were able to get the invitations you had been dreaming of!

Jeni -- I think that is hysterical that you saw something calling our bridal blitz of shows "wedding porn"! Classic...well, I guess I am an addict, junkie, whatever and PROUD OF IT! And absolutely, my dear Savannah! I feel it is my duty to spread the word on the shows that have found a home in my heart, not to mention my DVR! Some girls have weddings mags all over the house; the TV shows are the way I go! TONIGHT'S 6/21 BRIDEZILLAS episode: VALERIE goes ballistic and then gets blasted drunk! LOVED the irony of it all! She was so consumed with everything being perfect and looking platinum, and then she proceeds to get perfectly plastered at her reception and missed all but the first hour of it puking in the bathroom?! HAHAHAH! I mean, how psyched do you think all of the vendors she flipped out on were, calling each other or high-fiving during a viewing party when tonight's show aired and they all got to see her make a total spectacle of herself, falling all around wasted? Poetic justice! And a question about WHY these chicks sign up to do this show in the first place: do they get free stuff or an awesome honeymoon or something out of it? I can't imagine embarassing myself, my FI, and our families and friends like that on national television in the first place, but does anyone know if they get some other kind of pay off out of it, aside from just their 15 heinous minutes of fame?

CONGRATS and welcome to the ever-fabulous BDW site, AMY!!! You will love all of the wonderful women on this board, and you'll gain so many great new ideas to incorporate into your wedding (or share your ideas with others) -- this is, in my honest opinion, the BEST wedding site on the net! And my wedding is only a month after yours at SGOR...yippee!

Miss Savannah - I also adore Style Network, and pretty much any other wedding-related show! My FI just shakes his head when he hits the "My DVR" button on our remote and there is show after show of wedding stuff recorded! He has his sports, The Super Bowl and what not....I have what I call my weekly "Wedding Bowl"! To make it easier for you and the others to set reminders, here are the networks some of the shows I mentioned (and a few others) are on. Hopefully your service providers carry them! * Wedding Day (TNT) * Say Yes to the Dress (TLC) * Masters of Reception (TLC) * Wedded to Perfection (TLC) * Platinum Weddings (We TV) * Wedding S.O.S. (Fine Living Network) * Who's Wedding is it Anyway? (Style) * Don't Tell the Bride (BBC) * Wild Weddings (TLC...I think!) * Engaged and Underage (MTV) * My Big Redneck Wedding (CMT) * Rich Bride Poor Bride (We TV) - not on right now though/season just ended Hopefully, that covers most of them, and everyone feel free to correct me if I am wrong on any of the channels! HAPPY VIEWING!

You look incredible! Geez, even without a single edit, your photos are amazing...you're glowing! Perhaps the glow came from the wine, perhaps it came from the thought of your FI, but whatever it was, it worked!

I've always thought you were beautiful in your siggy photos, but whew! You're super-duper smokin' HOT, you little sex kitten, you! Grr-owl! And, on a more serious note, thanks for the pep-talk about how photogs will work with women who have body issues to make them feel as beautiful as their photos will look -- I despise the refused-to-be-toned back of my thighs, and before I thought BD pics were an absolute "no way!", but now I am warming up to the idea even moreso after taking a look at how STUNNING you look, lady! Your soon to be DH will be beside himself for sure! I am just positively THRILLED that your wedding is so soon.....only 10 days to go!

Yes, Savannah -- Platinum Weddings angers me, too! I can't even begin to fathom what it might be like to have a $750,000 budget for a one day event! With so many people suffering in the world, not to mention the U.S. economy in shambles, it is truly disgusting to see all that money spent so frivously, but it's their money, so it's their right....right? I firmly believe that the only reason the brides on Platinum Weddings don't behave like the girls on Bridezillas is because they (or their rich Mommy & Daddy) are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for everyone to say "YES, Miss! Whatever you like" to their every whim...no one tells them no, so there is no reason for them to pout or stomp their feet! The majority of the girls on Bridezillas don't have a wedding planner either, more or less a team of experts, so there in lies a lot of the other stressed-to-the-max behavior we all witness! There are so many wedding shows I love: Who's Wedding is it Anyway?, Don't Tell the Bride (on the BBC), Say Yes to the Dress, Wedding S.O.S., Amazing Wedding Cakes, Wild Weddings.....but I still have to say that Bridezillas in one of my absolute faves!

All I have to say is that chick "Valerie" from the new season (who is turning into a 3 episode bride, because I guess the standard one or two just wasn't enough to capture all of her insanity) is the train-wreck I just can't seem to look away from! Between bashing her flowers all over the driveway, to screaming "I WANT MY CHOCOLATE CAAAAKKE!" and smashing her hand through that cake on the table (which, from what I saw on previews, first she wanted chocolate, then she changed her mind and wanted vanilla, and then lied to the shop clerk and insisted it was chocolate....Ugh!), I think she will end up going down in BRIDEZILLA history! Yes, yes, my friends -- I am a completely unapologetic Bridezilla show fan! And, you better believe that occasionally I will have my FI watch a few minutes of the show from time to time with me and the result is always the same: he ends up hugging me and thanking me endlessly for NOT being one of those total psychos! Stay tuned: More lunacy is surely in store for us loyal fans of those crazed ladies (if you can call them "ladies", that is)!

HILARIOUS! A very creative, personal touch for your OOTs, and your guests will certainly have lots of unique memories...not only of your beautiful wedding, but of the way you incorporated such a fun touch! Your FI will appreciate your recognition of his fallen sandals, as well! Geesh...men, right?!