Vikki

I like the second one best but the first one would flatter a wider range of body types so I would probably base my final decision on who would be wearing the dress.

Wow-lots of "YAYs" to go around. Let's see: Annie: Legal Day! Woot - it's official now girl. Congratulations, I hope you have a wonderful evening with your special celebration. It's cool you can spend that time with family that can't attend the wedding. Ash: Good luck on the make-up. That's one of my To Do List items this weekend. Melissa: You are a tease! I'm so glad your dress is working out. I think the alterations will be perfect, plus they will personalize the dress to you. Can't wait to see it. I hope you have a night full of drunken debauchery and scandalous events that you selectively remember!!! Keira: I'm with you-can't sit still and get anything done. I think we're going to complete 99.9% of our packing this weekend as well. We leave on Wednesday. Oh and my BD book came in today! I thought I would just edit this post with a couple pictures. I just snapped these on the bed so they aren't real great shots but you can see an example of the book :-) I had a really frustrating experience with my photographer but I'll go through that in my planning post. Basically I designed the layout for the book. The photos are her work but everything else is mine.

Most of my family has been supportive. I get asked and my answer is always the same: "A destination wedding is a great way to politely un-invite a lot of people and I want a small wedding without feeling like I'm leaving anyone out" The trade off is we're having a large reception when we get home so that helps too.

Beautiful pictures! Looks like you had a wonderful time. Congratulations on being back and on being a Mrs!

I doubt anyone will notice Ashley. You should post a picture! I'm sure they look great.

I got a letter in the mail from my mom today. It started out with "To my lovely daughter, soon to be a lovely bride" and I instantly knew it was going to make me cry. And I wasn't disappointed. I wanted to include a couple of her words to me. "Such a privilege to be the Mother of the Bride! To be part of the fun and discovery of the unique path to your wedding day. A path I never got to take with my Mom; which makes this so much more meaningful for me." I've gotten a small gift for her and was planning to write a letter of my own so I guess we both think the same way. I think this whole thing is sinking in, I'm getting married!

Quote: Originally Posted by SgtPepperette A Vikki, I love those! Do you mind posting the etsy sellers name? I may just have them shipped to the house we are renting down in Florida. Here's a copy of the paypal invoice. 370228657387 Fabulous Five Piece Feathered Hairpin Set 1 $12.00 USD Payment To: Terry Kowalczyk (The recipient of this payment is Verified) Seller's ID: craftkitt Seller's Email: [email protected]

Ashley-sorry you're having so much stress but it sounds like you're in a better place this evening. I promise, it will all be worth it in the long run, you'll remember your wedding day forever and you'll forget the money issue. Shoes....B's shoes came from zappos.com. They're Giorgio Brutini and we ordered them Thursday of last week so the shipping time was super fast. Melissa-I ordered these off Etsy for my hair. I think they cost about $12. And I LOVE your shoes! Those will be perfect with your dress.

Watch? You were wearing a watch? One week from now I leave. The resort we're staying at offers a unique service. Their marketing guy will call your significant other and read them a "love" letter that you write. I thought was a cool idea so I scheduled a call for Brandon the morning we leave while I'm out running around. I just want him to know that even though I'm stressed and things are frantic (because I know I will be) I haven't forgotten the real reason we're going and how much I love and appreciate him. I'm excited to see how he responds :-) B's shoes came in yesterday. They are literally pimp shoes.... I LOVE them. It gives him a fun flair to his outfit. I don't know how I'll feel about him wearing them on our TTD....but we'll see.

Those are super sexy pics! I guess I might end up at a make-up counter this weekend. I do want to make sure I have my own essentials so I will probably have to buy some eyeliner and lipstick.

Everything looks great, I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time. Not much longer now.....

Those are really great photos! I agree, you should show them the rest of the pictures. Out of curiosity what lens did you rent?

Mel-wow, everything looks great I can't believe how well it's all coming together! You are definitely the queen of DIY girl. Love the new dress-the old one looked good but this one will fit your personality better and wow....it's super sexy too. Amandseth: Don't try to take on too much - it's going to be perfect. I think guests don't even no all these little wedding details anyway. They'll just be happy to be on vacation for your wedding. And you're only going to have eyes for one thing on your wedding day and sounds like you've already decorated him lol. What's everybody doing for make-up? I'm torn between doing my own or having it done. I have a really light foundation that should hold up under the humidity so I'm definately taking that. And I want to bring my own lip color for touch-ups. So I'll probably also bring my eye color. The problem is I'm not really that great at applying eye color. I never seem to get the accents right and I see the potential for some stress. But, I'm not sure if I want to have it done either. I pulled some copper streaks through my hair (well, my stylist did) and it looks awesome in the sunlight. I have dark red hair so it just shines. I can't wait to see it on the beach. I'm taking a ton of sun protector for it though. I'll post a picture later. We've been doing little stuff....bought gifts for the resort staff-just little stuff recommended on the resort's message board. I ordered a couple of snorkeling kits since the resorts are limited use. They should be here soon. We still need to put our music CD together and finish our vows. We may actually wait to do the CD until we get there and have our meeting with the wedding coordinator. We're bringing our laptop so it would be easy to just load it on the Ipod or burn a CD at that time. We've got 4 days leading up to the wedding so I think it would be fine. The first 4 nights we're staying in a block of rooms next to our parents and my sister then moving to a beautiful room with a big balcony overlooking the Caribbean ocean on the wedding day. I asked my mom to get together with my sister and FMIL to do some decorating for us so when we go back after the wedding there are some special Intimate touches. I've started taking pictures for my planning blog post. I'm going to put it here and also on my wedding website. I have a couple aunts that are really into keeping up on the progress since they don't live close. Oh yeah, did I say we LEAVE IN 9 DAYS! Deep breath. I mean, I've only waited all my adult life for this.

Quote: Originally Posted by KristinaM Debs- I researched this too when I first got Daisy and opted out. I heard alot of stories of things not being covered, people have issues being reimbursed, etc. In my research, many people recommended an alternative-- a savings account-- which I decided was a better option for me. I opened an online savings (I chose HSBC online at the time) and put $50 or so in it each month. This way, if something comes up where Daisy needs it- I can take it out and use it for that purpose and if she *god willng* lives a long healthy life with no major health problems.. I still have the account rather than throwing the premiums out the window. That's a really great idea. Lots of online accounts don't have fee and what a great way to sock away some money toward your pet's care.

We're using a lady from Negril, Misha Earle. She's been wonderful to work with so far and she's going keep our request in mind. We'll discuss more on the wedding day. We've booked her for a 2nd session the next day to do the TTD shots. I just thought it might be fun to get suggestions from someone who has been there before or knows the area :-)

I think the bigger issue is that you don't feel you can communicate with him about this in a way that will satisfy you. I doubt it's that big of a deal but the communication issue is key because stuff will pop up all the time and you have to have a way to discuss things that are bothering you. As for the ticket stub I wouldn't let that bother me too much. My FI still has pictures of vacations he took with his ex and their wedding on his computer. They certainly aren't cycling through his screen saver or anything but he doesn't want to get rid of his history completely and I have never questioned that decision for a moment. I actually have some old stuff from ex's around somewhere in a box under the house. It didn't even occur to me that it might not be appropriate. I still have an engagement ring from my high-school sweetheart..... That being said I am 100% in love with my FI and would never consider leaving him for a moment. The little things I have just remind me of different times in my life, both good and bad (usually bad). It's a reminder of how much I've grown and where I've come from. All of it fits in one medium sized box so it's not like I'm a complete packrat.

We're getting married in Ocho Rios. I don't want to have my TTD session on the resort, I'd like something a little more exotic but without a ton of people so the DR Falls is out. Can anyone suggest any close locations? I would love to be near the water but would give that up for a really unique setting. We do have a photographer and have posed the same question to her but I thought I'd ask here as well. Thanks in advance!

Those are great, very classy!

Quote: Originally Posted by KLee147 It was Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend and it was my first year hosting it. That was stressful but it turned out good. The best part though was getting our wedding gift from my mum and Steve's parents. They got us a red Kitchen Aid mixer!! Woot woot! I've already used it to make brownies and I love it, love it, love it! They are WONDERFUL if you spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I just got my Kitchen Aid at my bridal shower-I've been waiting all my adult life for it lol. There's a family tradition of receiving a kitchen aid as a wedding gift so I've been threatening to get married just to get one for years now. (I'm almost 30.) And I finally followed through. Now that I've got the mixer I can call the whole thing off :-)

Quote: Originally Posted by SgtPepperette Thanks everyone. I really dont have any other options so Ill have to deal. I need to get the right undergarments and shoes and see how it goes. Its about 1/2 inch longer than I expected, and thats with 4 inch wedges. OY! Honey you look amazing! That dress will be so beautiful outside in the daylight. What I think I like best though is how awesome your tatoos look with it. I'm not sure why but for some reason I just really like the combination of the dress and tats :-) I agree with Erika, when you have the hem done play around with the bodice a little bit and see if softening that line helps you feel better about it. Either way you will be a princess.

So what's the rest of the story? Did they not want to be in your wedding or were you obligated to ask them for family reasons? I agree what they did is ridiculous but what caused it all-you don't just show up and behave like that without a reason. It might be a childish one but still they had to have some reason for it.

Quote: Originally Posted by SgtPepperette I went over my sisters tonight to help me put my dress on (mixed feelings on it), and she gave me an early wedding present. She framed our invite That is so beautiful! And we want pictures of your dress.....I'm sure it looks great!

I'm so sorry for your loss. We're going to have a 7th chair (I have 6 guests) that will be left empty in honor of family members that have recently passed away. I will also be bringing photographs for my photographer to include in some of my "details" shots with my flowers and our rings, ect.

We leave in 15 days. And I am good for absolutely NOTHING at work. I have a sneaking suspicion this lack of productivity will continue to worsen as I check the days off my calendar. Thank god my boss is on vacation! *sigh* I think most of my stuff is done. Just have the welcome letters, gifts for the "moms" and getting the wedding music into one place. I am just sooooo ready to go.

Great job Melissa! I can't believe how well those turned out since you had so many issues with the printer.