islandbride317

Bobbysgirl, I want you to do a "Call of the Night" post - I know that a few of us is in the Sleepless Sisterhood would be keeping watch! And yes, you're absolutely right, I feel 100% BLESSED to be alive, with all of my wits and faculties about me -- I appreciate the reminder of how lucky we are all to be planning our weddings!

Preachin' to the choir, sista! It's 5:43 a.m. and the damn birds in my area are ready to start "singing their songs of spring!" right now, but I would pay anything just to SHUT THEM UP! Sleeplessness continuing....

Mumms, you're TOTALLY right! But as we are all busy, Brides-on the-go, oftentimes, we don't have time to read the fine print, hence, why we are HARASSED! If only we would have known better before -- you're great! THANKS!

YUP, I second the WTF!!! Okay, breathe, .....and then laugh your ass off! Sometimes it takes things like that to make me feel really "normal"! Ugh, you're a saint!

Bobbysgirl -- INDEED, the freaks come out at night (but, damn it, they don't stop coming out in the day, either! But, so glad to be part of a Sisterhood, right! We're SUPER lucky to have each other here within the BDW! Love you, ladies!

NEVER feel bad about your weight...it's just a trivial number! I am 5' 6", and weigh about 155, which for me is not good on my body type (it's, sadly, mostly in my hips!) but it really all comes down to YOUR body type and what is healthy for you! If you really want to track calories, I'd do it on a treadmill/stair climber/elliptical machine! There are so many variables when you go hiking/climbing, that I don't know if there are accurate ways of calculating "calories burned". Anywhoo, you look so BEAUTIFUL already! Enjoy what you've got!

Goldstein to Be -- of course, it's easy to get caught up in the "I have to give them something, right? " line of thinking, but I stand with everyone else who has said that they never expected to receive anything as an attendee of a bachelorette party! Actually, it's always been quite to the contrary, in my experience! As a multiple-times BM, myself and the other girls always had to come up with the money for EVERYTHING for the Bride (meaning, paying for her "part "of the limo, the cover-charges at clubs, her drinks ALL NIGHT, which can get extraordinarily costly if the bride is a lush!) and other assorted little gifts/fun things for the bride! Last bachelorette I went to, I spent atleast $100 on her and would have been UTTERLY SHOCKED if she had given me a gift! But, that's where you could be AWESOME, though. You'd be the first bride I know of that actually gave a gift of appreciation to all those that did so much for her bachelorette! Can't wait to see what you officially decide!

EEW, YUCK, RIGHT?! I have been dealing with the very same nonsense....I want to scream, "leave me alone, you badgers!" Multiple mailings everyday, countless unsolicited emails, but only one or two phone calls from David's Bridal themselves to tell me I won some sort of bridal make-up party or something. I just delete the emails and recycle the mailings, and go on about the day, trying not to be annoyed, but it's sooo not hard not to be at least a little!

Since I am not planning on having any bridesmaids, I will be basing my color selection on the color of the flowers I've chosen for my bouquet (Plumeria, Stargazer Lillies, and green Cala Lillies...) My colors will be Fuschia/HotPink, Lime Green and White!

Thanks for the head's up, Sunshine! I plan to head to Target this weekend to see if the deals are available at my local store.....

Thanks, and it FEELS AMAZING to find a bargain! Especially when everytime I turn around, my list of things to buy keeps getting bigger, as my budget seems to be getting smaller! (I'm sure you all know the feeling...!)

Quote: Originally Posted by lgarner83 It will be gorgeous!!! Is it similar at all to your real wedding gown? or totally different? Not that it matters, I'm just curious! Well, I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but it's actually quite similar to my real dress -- both strapless with straight cut across the top of the dress, and both are without a train, but the TTD dress has a lot more beading etc. and is "flashier" than my dress for the ceremony, which I wanted to be clean, classic and simple. THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR AMAZING COMPLIMENTS, LADIES! Whereas before I was a little nervous about it, now I am psyched and ready to see it in person! In my opinion, B.D.W. should also stand for "Best Damn Women!" on the Net because you really are! (Wink!) SUPER-HUGS and high-fives to all!

Thanks bunches, Beach2009...I'm feeling better with every reply!

MarieSam, you're the best! Thanks so much...this might be hard to believe in this day and age, but of my long history of online purchases, I've never bought ANY type of clothing on the internet (more or less a wedding dress)! Bless you, dear!

Hi, everybody! I need your expert opinions, please! My drama with my Mama about doing a TTD in my actual wedding dress has come to an end as of this morning! HOORAY FOR eBAY, I SAY! I feel like I searched the far reaches of the planet (well, of the internet anyway) to find a dress for less than $100 that wasn't completely hideous, and I had a little luck! Taking the advice of some of you who highly recommended looking on eBay for a cheaper dress for the TTD worked out beautifully. I ended up being the only bidder on this dress, which just so happens to be in my size, for only...drumroll, please --$75! The seller is even covering shipping costs! But, I wanted to post it on here and see what everyone thinks before I get too excited, you know? BE BRUTALLY HONEST, BDW Ladies! Here are the pics the seller took of herself in the dress: Detail on bodice: Shot of the side: And here's the back! Whatta ya think?

Lookie what I FOUND, Ladies! eBay saved the day...check out the dress I just bought for my TTD for only $75! The seller also paid for the shipping, so I think I got an awesome deal! I think it will be a blast to splash around in this shiny dress! Here are the pics the seller took of herself in the dress: Detail on bodice: Shot of the side: And here's the back! Best wishes to everyone on finding the best deals possible! I swore the only way I would do a TTD is if I found a cheapie dress for under $100 - MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

You poor, sweet lady! I wouldn't give up, or think that his decision is "final", at this stage of the game...try to sit down and have a conversation, just the two of you (see if someone can watch your kids for a few hours, so you won't have interruptions). Maybe then you can start to dig into whatever the "REAL" problem is... I agree completely with EVERYTHING MarieSame has said. Reread her post and try to really internalize what she told you, because she's dead-on with her opinion/advice. Stay strong, and we're here for you!

My nominations are.... B2B - Billysbride (she's not only hysterically funny, but she has a lot of really great insight and advice to offer, as well!) MRS - Amarillis (seeing so many of her previous planning posts will prove to be invaluable to me as I prep for my own wedding. Doesn't hurt that she's a total sweetheart, either!) Good luck to everyone, and all of your nominations are completely well-deserved! Christie

Awesome tips, everyone! Oh, and Angel: thanks for the reminder about using good, old fashioned Baking Soda and peroxide! I forgot about the possibility of using something that I've already got right here at home! I'll give it a shot, and let ya know how it worked out! Christie

Glad to hear there are others in the "Gotta find a CHEAPIE TTD dress" boat, as well! Trayce and KimmyG --Thanks for the links; I plan to check them out asap. Additionally, after the crushing blow of realizing that the site I found wasn't as noteworthy as I had originally thought, I remembered that a lot of consignment shops (probably at least one or two in your local area) sell wedding dresses for cheap (and then you don't get stuck with the S&H charges!) Ah, the quest lives on! Let's go get 'em, girls! Christie

YUCK - so, it appears that the site does offer the dress itself at a VERY low cost, but they sock it to you with the shipping cost. A $20 dress ends up being well over $100 after shipping costs. But, if you register with the site, you can probably still find some other really good buys, so it's not a total loss! MY APOLOGIES for not doing more thorough research before getting everyone excited -- won't happen again! My mission to find a super cheap TTD dress continues... Christie

Oh, no -- maybe it was too good to be true! Man, do I ever feel like a bonehead! I went back to the site and saw something about it being a business-to-business wholesale site! I am still going to try to sign up and see if I can do it anyway, but maybe the dream of finding a super cheap TTD dress is already over before it began! SORRY girls, if I jumped the gun and wanted to share what I thought was the find of the century....I'll let you know! Christie

Hi, everyone! Since (as some of you may have seen in another thread I'd posted) I have come up against some opposition from my mother regarding doing a TTD in my actual gown, I've been looking for alternatives. So, during one of my tireless searches for a super cheap dress for the TTD (must be under $100), guess what I found? I FOUND A SITE WITH, LIKE, A ZILLION CHEAP DRESSES (some starting as low as $12.00 -- you read that right, $12! And for that price, naturally the quality of the dresses will NOT be the best and there is a possibility it could fall apart, but for that low cost, you could actually throw the dress away after you're done your TTD! Here is the site - China Wholesale, wholesale products from China - TradeTang.com GOOD LUCK, LADIES! ~ Christie P.S. I'll let you know which dress I end up buying, and post pics too!

Know EXACTLY where you are coming from, Bobbysgirl! I also work night shift from 3pm-11:30pm, and aside from the fact that I feel like I hardly ever see my FI (who's on 1st shift), people think it's so incredibly strange that I go to bed around 6-7:30 am and wake up around 1:30 pm to get ready for work! And yes, we have a snowball guy that drives through my apartment complex, but thankfully it's during a time when I am already up, so the kiddies in the neighborhood and I are both content! Ugh, and I also can't wait for the mowers and maintenence guys to start all of their long-awaited summer projects, either! Hopefully, I'll be back on a 1st shift schedule by then! Hang in there, sleepless lady! Christie

#5 looks awesome -- you should be PROUD of yourself! Christie