svetayasofiya

Good Morning girls! I hope it is sunny beautiful outside where you all are like it is here today! Spring has come so early to the East that I am going to have to mow the lawn soon! *Or make the husband do it, lol Interesting that a wedding coordinator would solicit business in a thread where all the brides ALREADY got married. *Weird Krista H- I saw the pictures of your AHR on Facebook. Looked like a great party!! What was it like for all of you who had an AHR to wear your dress again? Eric and I were talking about it last night because I guess someone asked him if we were doing something and then I mentioned to him should we have? I kind of regret it but in our case, I think it would have been a moot point. All my family is in Alberta or BC and everyone came that we invited except for an uncle and a couple friends (who wouldn't fly out to Mtl. for an AHR either). Locally... again, most everyone came, so I said- who'd we have this party for? 5 friends and your uncles who couldn't be bothered to even RSVP to the original wedding? So yeah, no AHR for us. Maybe if we had a ton of $$$ it would be fun to throw a party for all our friends (not just close ones)... I'd like to wear my dress again, but I don't think anyone cares anymore. lol Plus it's still lying on our guest bed in it's bag all dirty from the wedding day. So sad. Brooke- congrats on being a home owner! I would love to see before and after shots of all the work you guys have been doing. It's really rewarding to see all the results of hard work eh? We have been in our house for a year and a half and are still doing stuff. Room by room, every single wall, baseboard and ceiling needed to be painted. Every light fixture needed replacing. Soon we will be tackling the flooring in the basement. Yay renos! Have tons of fun at your AHR this weekend! I think it's cool your sister found out about your pregnancy. Are you planning on telling the family after Saturday? Krista B- sounds like things are coming along nicely. Don't fret over the vows, but dont be me either! It was something we couldn't decide on (or rather something I couldn't decide on). I knew Eric wanted to do vows, but I was on the fence because I was so determined not to cry, I just feared that if I said my own vows I'd lose it. So right up until our meeting with our WC we still hadn't made a decision. I left it in Eric's hands because he was the one who'd see the officiant before the ceremony started and could tell him our plans then. So sure enough half way through the ceremony there it was, the time when we had the option to say our own vows... Eric pulls all these papers out of his pocket, LOL he had written down the most beautiful speech. When it came time for my turn, all I could muster out was 'I love You' in a crackly awful voice as I had lost my voice that week. haha Then I managed to say a little something, but holy awkward! It was my own fault. Soooo definitely don't leave to improvisation like I did. Ali- yay Hawaii!!! Lucky girl!!! Did you get a chance to meet up with Timberly in NYC? Well girls, back to work. My co-worker is really driving me crazy. I am soooo not trying to stress about baby stuff and TTC but everyday all day I have to listen to her talk about her 'secret' symptoms from morning to evening. I have never met a more grumpy and pathetic person on top of it!! All she does is complain, complain, complain. I want to smack her! LOL H E L P

I used Samuel Luna. I would recommend him in a heart beat. No complaints! Professional, personable and when I booked him reasonable.

I think it's fun! My nephew and aunt's bday were a day before my wedding and we all celebrated. My mom's was 5 days later which was super fun too because we went snorkeling and had dinner together. Celebrations are great. You can never have too many at the same time, LOL

I finally got my pictures from Samuel last week. We are very pleased. We paid for the basic package of 5 hrs and got over 703 pictures (60 of which he digitally enhanced in his own artistic way). All our pictures are availble on his website (although not the friendliest to navigate). He sent us two DVD's with copies of our pictures via Fedex overnight. As I already said in my previous post he was great to work with, extremely professional but personable also. I would definitely recommend him to anyone wanting non-traditional wedding photos. My only complaint is we had to wait 8 weeks to see our pictures, lol Here is a small slideshow of 15 of my favourites: Picasa Web Albums - Christina - Wedding Febru...

YAY Krista! Sounds like fun! I can't to see the pictures! Dude, you should have taken today off of work. I got my DVD!! Actually 2! So that's cool, I'll keep one locked up at work for safe keeping. Can't wait to go through all the pictures. I'll make a new slideshow over the next week to share if you gals want to see more.

Wake up girls!! I don't feel like working, LOL My DVD should come today YAY Hope everyone had a good weeked. Can't wait to hear how Krista's AHR went.

ooooh wow, beautiful pictures! I love it all. Your dress is soooo fancy! WOW. Love the inspiration picture of the makeup, I wish I had done that... I only had for hair. I love flowers in hair, but I think a starfish hairpin would be lovely as well. It's really a personal choice. I have fake flowers in my hair from my MIL veil from her wedding. It was more sentimental than anything. I think in retrospect I would have preferred real flowers, like an organge daisy from my bouquet or a rhinestone hair clip. Keep in mind they won't do your hair that loose and flowy because of the wind from the beach. Mine was sooo sprayed. I really loved my hair until I saw my pro pics. I look like I have a helmet on my head made of hair, LOL

I feel sorry for anyone who has been mislead. I hope everyone gets to have their dream wedding with the gazebo!!! fingers crossed ladies! xo

I agree with the other girls, I would definitely look for a new job. Life is tooooo short to be unhappy 8 hrs a day. I am not a hygeniest but my dad is a dentist, my aunt is his assistant/office mgr, and my mom works there too! (In BC) lol My other aunt is a dental assistant in Edmonton. I have worked for my dad before and working in a dental office is such small and an intimate environment, if you don't get along with someone it can make for such a horrible experience. You definitely need to get out.

Thanks guys, I am so glad you like the pictures. They are growing on me. I still wish we had more posed pictures (my fault because we told him that wasn't what we wanted...) Oh well, lol I am so hard to please! I stupidly gave my photographer my home address to send us the pictures. He sent them via Fedex so they tried to deliver the DVD yesterday when I was at work. So I called them this morning and asked them to re-direct it to my work (the address I should have gave him in the first place, stupid me), but it's too late, the driver is already on route. Fedex is closed all weekend, so I can't get my pics until Monday. booooo Oh well, I do have them all online, but it would have been nice to have the DVD, lol So my co-worker is at it again! It's not even 9am and she's already bitching. Timberly- I might take you up on your offer! lol Erica- I don't know how old you are ( you look young ), but the only beauty of being 35+ is I don't have to wait a year. The doctor will see me in 6 months, because ''I don't have time to wait a year'' *as she so eloquently put it, lol. Anyway, I am sure it won't come down to that for any of us. Enjoy the gym while you can! I certainly am. Once morning sickness hits and the fatigue, the gym might be the last place we want to go. I looked at your pics on Facebook and I think they are great! You should be happy with them, and I am totally jealous of your BM's dresses. That is the colour I really wanted, but gave my girls free reign. The colour they chose really worked out well in the end, it brightened up the gloomy day. Krista (July)- I totally feel your pain! LOL At least you have us to gush all over you. Speaking of which, any updates on wedding planning? Don't forget to post pictures of stuff you are working on or bought. I dont think we have ever seen your dress!!! Do you have any pictures? If we all meet up in NYC in the fall, I have to no problems with you bringing the husband. He might though! LOL If he's the only guy. Krista (RIM)- have soooooooooo much fun at your AHR this weekend. I hope you aren't getting the rain we are. Enjoy every minute!!! I saw Brooke is in the middle of her move and renos via Facebook... good luck with everything if you are reading this! TGIF everyone!!

Kate.com said it perfect!!! I think what's important to keep in mind too is if they are Jamaican the fact that you are actually having your wedding in Jamaica must be HUGE for her. This does then unfortunately extend beyond a DW wedding... this becomes culturally significant to seom extent. Just keep that in mind. I really, truly think you should let her have her rum cake. She must be so excited her son is getting married in her/his country. Think about it! It's pretty cool. It's not just a beach wedding, it's home. Don't go over budget for anyone, but definitely pick your battles carefully and how you word things is SO important.

oh! and I have only been asked to be a BM once and in the end was un able to attend (I moved out of Province)... but I was fully expected to pay for the dress... and it wasn't my choice what dress I'd wear in the end either. On top of it, the dress cost $350!!! + alterations and this was like 7 years ago.................. that being said, had I stayed in Province I would have gladly remained her BM and paid the astronomical price of a dress I would never had worn again... She is still one of my bestest friends and I love her dearly. True friendship won't put a price tag on their love.

Nothing new coming from me, but I did not pay for their dresses. They didn't seem to expect it either and I apologized. My main reason for doing a DW was to keep things simple and inexpensive. I wish I could have paid for their dresses, but I didn't. I got them a cute necklace as a gift and I plan on making a nice digital album for them of all our pictures together from that day. I am not made of money, but it's easier for me now to make gestures like the album, but at the time of planning the thought of spending another $300-$500 to cover dresses was just really stressful. I gave them free reign over colour and style and price, but I had the final veto. I think they chose well and looked really cute. It wasn't a colour I would have originally picked but it worked so well in the end (especially after getting married on a grey cloudy day!). Don't lose any sleep over it.

Ok guys.... let me know if this works... I added some photos the ghetto way, LOL Picasa Web Albums - Christina - Wedding Febru...

I think you should stick with Zoetry, because it's sounds like you really really want this resort and I don't think at this point, anything else will compare. That being said, you need to accept the fact that alot of people you hoped would come won't be coming. I think you are probably ok with this though, because you had considered just going to Europe and eloping. In the end, I truly believe (from my own experiences) that people who want to come will come no matter the expense (even if they stay at a diff. resort). What you will discover later on in your planning, that your wedding is just not a big deal to most people. They will say it is, and pretend etc... but really, truly, it's not going to be their priority albeit financially or sacrificing vacation days. I am not trying to be harsh or insensitive, I am just telling you what I realized throughout and after the process. The sooner your realize this, the sooner you will be able to be at peace with your decision. I personally chose a cheaper resort so the max. amount of people would come, but in retrospect, those that did come, would have come no matter where I ended up having it (minus a few friends I would NOT have missed! lol). Good luck in your planning.

Quote: Originally Posted by TonyandTricia Chris- So glad you finally got your pics!! I was a little disappointed too that I couldn't find that one great picture frame shot, but as I look at them more I really like them. Believe it or not, but I think I have looked at all 703 pictures three and four times over already. I am way happier with them today then I was the first day I got them. I still wish there were a few more close ups and like I said that one classic shot, but there are a lot of good ones and really... out of 703 pics, 100 or so will make it to an album? and maybe two or three will be put in frames. So, I think he did pretty good. Unfortunately the pictures are available to me in a flash slide show so i can't link up the album or save the pics, but what I can do is print screen and save in paint, LOL HOW GHETTO. But maybe I'll do that for a couple pics to show you guys... until I have a proper slideshow to share.

hi Ali! I totally agree with you re. a fall get together in NYC. I live in Mtl. and it's really easy to get to the city. Not the cheapest weekend mind you, but any excuse to go to NYC!!! It's been 5 yrs... wow. So if you girls are in, I am totally there! I would love to meet you guys. Brooke and Sabrina will be pretty preggers by then too. Oh wait- yeah... then Brooke can't travel. I don't think you are allowed to fly once you are in your 7th month. Well, it's something to discuss anyway. I really want to use those cards!! Do you think printing 3.5x5 size pictures is cheap? (as in cheap on my part giving away such smal pics?) Can you still find frames that accomodate that size? For our friends... I am not sure they'll want a 4x6 of us on display in their house anyway... so maybe 3.5x5 isn't so bad? I'll have to see. As for what your gyno said Ali, yeah 6 months seems to be the norm. I wouldn't worry. I stopped worrying myself. I think I put all this weight into it right after we got back because I needed something to fill the void of my wedding being over. But now that it's been two months, I have settled back into reality and house renos etc... that I am more relaxed about it. Plus the trying is fun. I have to say, and yeah I know TMI, but man, we have had the best sex lately than we have had in years! haha We’ll both be joining in on the morning sickness soon enough. Oh but I HAVE to vent!! Sorry guys... I am a long poster, lol But this girl that works beside me is pregnant, but no one is supposed to know... I am NOT supposed to know, but she is a loud Italian and spends most her days on the phone talking to her husband and friends. SO annoying. Anyway, so I cracked the case a couple weeks ago and I think she is 10 weeks pregnant. I have to admit, I was a little jealous. She is just one of those people that always gets what they want but are so ungrateful for all of it. You know? And the timing of things between her and me just suck. I got engaged in July of 2008, she got engaged in August. Everyone at work fawns over her ( I think out of fear ) so everything always is about her all the time. Total Diva. Anyway, so she had her big Italian wedding last August (a yr later). For an entire year I had to listen to her planning her wedding on the phone all day, arguing with her controlling MIL. It's annoying, because all of her big moments have totally overshadowed mine. Petty I know, I admit it, but it's annoying. Especially when she is so ungrateful and claims hating being the centre of attention. *Yeah right. So the funny thing is we all know she is pregnant, but she doesn’t know that we know. At least once she makes her big announcement, no one will be surprised. lol Ok I sound like a real bitch but you just have to understand the situation. I mean, the day I get back to work from my wedding, instead of talking about me and my wedding, she had to show me her album she made from her wedding. Her wedding was 6 months ago!!!! Let me have my moment! So now she is back in the spotlight with her pregnancy and it just sux because she even said last fall she doesn't have a maternal bone in her body... lucky kid! Wow, so here is little Miss Diva again, getting everything she wants but complaining every minute of the day about it. You should have seen the scene she made the other day after she got back from the Doctors office. She had a huge fight with her husband because I guess he took the ultra sound picture to show his mom and his mom kept it. The whole office heard this argument, yet the fact she is pregnant is a secret. Anyway.............. all this to say..... it sucks to sit next to someone everyday who has upstaged me for the last three years in every big moment in our lives and listen to her complain and argue. It’s stressful. On a funnier note, I had mentioned to my husband last night about a possible meet up with you girls in NYC. He thinks I am crazy, but this is nothing new. Anyway, I said it’s a cool group and we all feel so close. I told him how two of the girls are already pregnant and how exciting it is for all of us to share these moments. Right away he’s like- they’re ALL pregnant already. LOL Like it’s a competition. I said no- only 2 out of what? 7 of us trying to conceive. He’s hilarious. I think men’s manlihood gets threatened or something if it doesn’t happen right away. All this being said…. I am NOT the jealous type and I am SOOO excited for Brooke and Sabrina. Sincerely excited. I just truly dislike my co-worker. Krista- what is up with your BIL and his wife I remember there was tension and drama but I can’t remember why? It boggles my mind to think a brother would not show up to his other brother’s wedding. So sad. She sounds like she’d get along really well with my co-worker. HAHA Ok guys, I gotta get a life and get off this board, lol My boss is out of town until Monday. Can’t say I am going to work too hard. Bad Christina! I finally got a raise last week after 2 1/2 yrs so I am pretty stoked. I better keep up the good work. Don’t want to get in trouble. Timberly- how do you already know your credit score has been affected? I don’t think we have the same system in Canada. If it’s a big deal I would definitely not let this drop.

Just a quick question guys- My intention always was to send a picture of us, and a picture of our guest in our Thank-You cards. We only had 37 guests so it's not that big a deal financially to do. I found these Thank-You cards that I just love, but they are 5 x 3.5. Is it cheap to print out pictures that small? I mean, obviously family will get more or bigger ones later on down the road, but 3.5 x 5 picture as a thank-you... is that ok? check out the cards... they are so cute!

YAY I am not alone in cyber space today!!!! God I don't think I have done anything at work today but look at my pictures... LOL I like them, I do... I think the problem is there are so many that it's a bit overwhelming. Once I get the DVD I am going to select my favourites and create a slide show for people to see. My mom agreed, we don't want the unflattering ones circulating around our friends and family haha. We are so vain. I really wasn't expecting ALL our pictures to be up online. I didn't want to share them all, LOL I don't know why. Maybe I won't care in a couple of days. There are alot of pictures of this one friend of mine... kind of annoys me. Anyway, she really wants to see all the pictures but I don't want to show her. She has this way to make everything about her and what she likes/wants. So I am being a byatch and am not sending anyone the link, LOL I wonder if I can link a few here? It's a flash slideshow so maybe not... I'll try! In any respect, he is sending the DVD via fedex so I am sure I will have it really fast. Sabrina- your idea of him photoshopping stuff out would be nice, but I think all his after work on the pictures are done. There is a lot of work for me to do. A lot of cropping etc... before some of these pictures make it into an album. I have to re-iterate Timberley's question... what company are you all using for the albums? I have seen ones done by snapfish and they are cheap... but I think I want something more fancy for my wedding album. I found an amazing Canadian company that does really preofessional leather bound books with 40 dbl sided pages, but I really can not stomach spending $300 on an album. Especially when I have to make three! (One for us, and noth sets of parents). I think it would be fun to do a small album for my bridesmaids with all the silly fun pictures he took of us. Most of those won't make it into a 'serious' album, haha Sorry to hear you are starting to feel nauxious. That is no fun. Especially if you have a long commute. I don't know what I am going to do if I get morning/anytimeofday sickness, lol. I have a short 1/2 hr commute but it's on an express bus and there is no stopping once I get picked up. It's also standing room only by then too. It will certainly be an adventure! 8 weeks... wow. So exciting. I hope you continue to update us. I have to admit, I am feeling the same way as you about all these girls and their planning. I wouldn't say I am jealous, just a little melancholic I suppose about the whole thing being over. I woke up this morning and told my husband I feel depressed. He's all and concerned and aske why? in a way that was questioning how I could possibly be sad. I know in my heart it is/was because we finally got the pictures so now the whole thing really is over. I am still gutted we didn't have sun on our wedding day, LOL *Get over it I KNOW!! I wish we could have afforded to do an AHR. Just wasn't in the budget and we would have been back to the same problem we always had- everyone is spread out all over the country... Erica I can't wait to see more of your pictures. I'll have to check out your Facebook when I get home. oK lovely ladies, I suppose I should get to work, but really, I am probably going to go look at my pictures again!!! My sig pic and avatar are the best ones btw... Kind of sad. *Sigh

Hey guys! First things first- Susie... I totally feel your pain. I lost my grandpa last April. He (like the rest of my family) lived in BC, so I was not around when it happened. I didn't fly home either. It wasn't going to bring him back, and much like you, when I said good-bye to him the previous summer... it really felt like good-bye. It's strange how our intuition almost knows... I can still see him waving to me from his window. He was a month shy of turning 88. We can't live forever. My thoughts are with you. On a different note... I finally got my pictures yesterday. I'll hav eto wait until the DVD comes before I can share them. He put all 703 on his website and they are not all good so I only want to share with people the good ones. lol I am a little disappointed in some of them. I guess I expected all our pictures to look like the ones in his portfolio, but like my husband says... how many thousands of photos did he take to get those 50 or so pics he has on his site? true enough. I'd say of the 703 he took, only one is worthy of being in his portfolio. That is not to say the rest are not good, they are just not what I thought they'd be. I haven't looked at them yet today, so maybe I will be less critical. I just wish he did more close up shots. They all seem so far away and there really isn't that one classic put in a frame shot of me and the husband. Not with noth our eyes open anyway... we'll see. It's going to be a lot of work going through all these pictures. I feel I need to crop a bunch and photoshop a bit. I am probably being overly critical because I have a passion for photography and would have lined up some of the shots a little differently. All that being said- I hope he doesnt read this post!!! LOL Overall he was great to work with, extremely polite and professional and his pictures are good. I just have to get over my insecurities (like the fact that I have wrinkles and never knew this until last night!!!!haha) and you can actually see the gray in my hair in a couple shots. Pretty hard to look at 600+ pictures of yourself and NOT be critical. I love the reception pictures he took. They are a lot of fun and turned out well so I am pretty excited about those.

Nope! Just got the three on April 01st. Still waiting. Still no email responses. This Thursday will have been 8 weeks! *Not happy....................................... How are you feeling?

Erica- that pic is really beautiful! Can't wait to see more. What's it like to have your wedding photos? LOL

Gorgeous! Congrats on your engagement!

They were on the Today show awhile back and re-created it. I think the wedding was real. The spoof in the divorce court is not them. I love the Office and when they did that I was laughing my ass off!!

I used Tripadvisor a lot, especially to get more current up to date images of the rooms, grounds and beach. Everyone has different expectations and needs of what makes a perfect vacation / wedding. I appreciate all reviews but take them with a grain of salt. It's like movies critics... how many times have movie critics hated a movie I liked? it's all very subjective. Anyway, I read your post, and while your experience was not what you wanted/expected, I don't think it would have necessarily deterred me from that resort had it been my choice. You know? It's an honest opinion and I don't think you said anything too horrible. The more info people can get the better, good or bad or not. That being said... people need to keep in mind when reading reviews on places like Trip Advisor, is more people will write a negative review about something than they would a positive review.