autjo

Thanks girls! Just got back from the vet and he says we are doing the right stuff and just need to be patient. We had the pheromone you spray and the one you put in their drinking water so I guess we now we'll try the plug in one too! Thanks for being so supportive ~ Autumn

my picks are already nominated!

I'm so happy you got your money back. Isn't BDW awesome?!?! You should totally take BD pics for your anniversary

We've all lived together for about 10 months and the whole hate thing started about 2 months ago. We've got 2 litter boxes and tried to keep them apart, but mine can open doors so unless we lock them its no use. Hopefully the vet will have some other ideas when we take her in today. I feel like such a bad cat mom.

Lauren's planning thread is the whole reason I am on BDW! FI actually found her thread when he was surfing for OOT stuff and I couldn't believe how awesome she made everything look. Thanks Lauren for being such an inspiration! Quote: Originally Posted by J&MWedding Lauren, I have to admit, once in a while, I always go back to your review, planning thread, and pics! It gets me more and more excited! I can't wait to see more reviews!

I totally don’t think it is rude to not have a rehearsal dinner. We are going to have a “happy hour†each night at one of the bars (Thursday @ Rendezvous, Friday @ El Patio) then if people want to go eat with us at one of the hotel restaurants they can. We know we probably can’t sit together but really can you talk to 50 people at one time anyways?!?! Basically our entire itinerary is just being available to our guests. We are letting people know where we will be and they can come hang out if they want – no pressure. We are going to get a cake to celebrate other occasions on Friday at happy hour. We have a bunch of birthdays, anniversaries and even a couple using the trip as their honeymoon so we thought it would be nice to take the spotlight off of us and thank our guests for taking time from their lives to be with us on our wedding. Quote: Originally Posted by J&MWedding On the rehearsal dinner subject - I was sent tons of quotes and info from restaurants and other BDW brides. There were some great rates as other brides have mentioned, but I think I came to a conclusion. We were going to take everyone out offsite to dinner, but I think we are cancelling it all. We will do the rehearsal and then whoever wants to just eat together at the resort will. My girlfriend said that it might be better for us not to have an 'event' scheduled every night -so that guests can have time to theirselves to enjoy their "vacation." We are doing a welcome gathering on Wed, wedding on Friday, so I figure have nothing scheduled on thursday so that guests can just go on excursions etc. etc. Does anyone feel like that is just totally rude not to have a formal rehearsal dinner? We will still go to dinner with our parents probably but just at the resort at one of the restaurants.

I totally agree. Go by yourself first! I went to a couple of places and everyone was super friendly except some snotty girl at Davids Bridal (but what do you expect from the Old Navy of bridal boutiques). I actually bought my dress at Davids so I'm not dissing them, but they certainly don't have the service found at smaller places. Back to the point... I fell in love with my dress that day by myself then invited my mom, aunt and fmil to go back and look at the ones I had narrowed down. It would have been crazy if I had all of them throwing things at me if I didn't have an idea of what I already liked. This way really was the most fun for me. Good luck and have fun!!!

just venting So the background is that I had 2 cats and FI had 2 cats (we both lived in tiny apartments and cats were a better option than dogs). We moved in together and now we have a zoo. 4 cats is crazy and one of mine just started hating one of his. He thinks his cat is the princess (god help us when we have girls) and does nothing wrong, although she is a total instigator. Anyways, mine always chases and bites her. It has gotten so bad that the one being chased won’t even use the litter box. And now for the second time in a month, she has been bitten and its gotten infected (both times). That’s another $80 vet bill and her getting hurt is just something that I don’t want to deal with. We have tried everything to make them like each other… discipline, rubbing both of them with the same towel, re-introducing them, separating their food/water/etc. but nothing works! Total sadness, but I think one of them is going to have to go live somewhere else. FIs mom offered to take his, but why can’t they just get along

true sadness these last couple of days. he seemed like a pretty cool guy on pitchmen.

I finally got caught up this weekend. Although I did have a freak out moment when I thought the DVR messed up the Wednesday show. Dude - Melissa is totally kicking butt! I didn't really like her at first, but am so happy that someone my age is rocking the show. If only I had her body...hehehehe

today starts my 2 a days! cardio, kickball, then upper body weights.

no clue on the ban, but it made me go back and re-read the forum rules. i just realized that i went back to a noob because i don't post enough - lol.

OMG. Don't get me started on invites. My mom wanted me to send out Save the Dates only to people who had already said they would go to Mexico. Then send out invites to those same people. Then send out invites to a different list of people for the AHR that she is making me have. And then send out announcements to anyone else she thought was going to have their feelings hurt for not getting an invitation. I wanted to tell her to So instead of making thigs worse with her, I am trying to compromise. I am sending out 1 invite that includes the Puerto Vallarta wedding and the AHR. The invite has 2 RSVP cards so people aren't confused. And I am sending them to everyone that is on any of my mom's lists. At last count it was 170 invites and 300 people! But I have asked her to trim it down. In reality, I anticipate 50 people in Mexico and 150 at the AHR. I've actually enjoyed making the invites because FI has helped and really shown me a different side of himself. For most people, I think you need to send a "formal" invite even if you have already sent Save the Dates. But, by "formal" it could be as simple as an email, e-vite, postcard style, or even those super easy print at home kits from the office supply store. Quote: Originally Posted by cdnvb9 ugh, so your sending out invites? Is it bad if we don't I just feel like I could use that money for something else since people already accepted/booked if they are coming.

kdown - your wedding is coming up so soon! Congrats! I was wondering how the quality was on the stuff you ordered from islandimporter? I'm thinking about ordering the guys some of the linen shirts, but was worried about the quality and fit. Any insight or comments are greatly appreciated! Thanks a million! Quote: Originally Posted by kdown224 I ordered a "ready wear" shirt for my fiance, a custom shirt for my 10 year old son and a custom flower girl dress for my daughter from IslandImporter.com. They are based in Oregon and have several styles and colors that are ready to wear, but you can also request custom sizes and colors from them as well. Ryan in Customer Service has been great to work with throughout the process, and their prices are very decent.

Happy Monday girls! We're nearing the 5 month countdown... so far away, yet so close Thanks for explaining un-bridesmaids Nadine We sent our save the dates before we had rates too. It gives people time to save and plan. I got a bunch of stuff started this weekend and feel like things are actually coming together!! 1. Sent un-bridesmaid stuff and everyone got them and accepted - yea! 2. Started working on cake topper - making a monogram, not sure on how it will turn out. 3. Printed invites and working on assembly. 4. Got OTC maracas and trying to figure out how to decorate them 5. Finished Tears of Joy packets: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t44952 Still need to find FI and brothers in the wedding shirts. We are having a really hard time finding orange linen shirts that we both like (imagine that). Anyone heard of islandimporter.com? There are a couple of posts about them on BDW but they are older. I just ordered fabric samples from them and really like the guys shirts on their site. Guess we'll wait an see.

Quote: Originally Posted by budgetjamaicabride Did you print on them with an inkjet printer? Did you have any problems with it smearing if you did? They are great! I did print them on my ink jet. The first 2 got stuck and smeared because I forgot the put the paper setting to envelope. After I fixed that, I didn't have any other problems.

I just finished my super easy Tears of Joy packets and I think they turned out way cute. I've included pics and the template Here was the inspiration: Doodle Hearts Tissues- 10 Pack I purchased: 50 - 4 bar vellum envelopes ($11) 4 Bar White Translucent Vellum Envelopes - Paperandmore.com 3 - packages of 4 travel-size tissues from Target ($3) 2 - sheets of Avery sticker paper (left over from making invites) 1 - 1.5" Fiskar squeeze hole punch (left over from making invites) How to: Print the attached template directly onto the envelopes. Stuff the envelopes with 3 tissues from the travel packs (no refolding needed). Seal with a SNIFF sticker. And the pics and templates: Side Note: Mods - I couldn't upload my template in the DIY Forum so I put the post here. Feel free to move it if you want! envelope.ppt

Too funny! I know so many boys that would die before the first day was over. I just sent it to my mom and girlfriends

I'm with Jessica on this one. We are on a tight budget, but still wanted great pictures. We booked Nate after researching for several months. A lot of the photographers on BDW aren't based in PV so the travel costs were killing the budget. As for communication with other PV photographers, emails took a couple of days and if you really want a quick response - call them. Most of the people spoke English and its a good chance to practice your Spanish Good luck finding someone you gel with!!! Quote: Originally Posted by KarenM Congratulations on finding your photographer! I'm in the beginning stages now & you all are so right - it's ridiculously hard to find someone you can afford & whose pics/style you like. What's your experience been like in terms of cost & communication so far? Thanks!

I just have to share this because I keep giggling at my desk. So FIs brother/best man is way high maintenance and keeps complaining about petty things – why did you pick that date for the wedding… the rooms only hold 3 people… I told him and my brothers (they are standing with me instead of bridesmaids) that we were going to buy their shirts and flip flops for the wedding and asked them to send me their sizes. FBIL starts throwing a hissy fit saying that not all flip flops fit the same. He and his wife are giving FI a hard time saying that they don’t understand why we would want to buy his shoes. Well excuse me for trying to be nice – guess those Reef bottle opener flip flops were just too trashy for their high maintenance lives. Whatevs, so to be just as annoying I told him that I decided that the boys have to wear sombreros during the ceremony. And that I needed them to also send me their sombrero hat sizes. Now FBIL is really appalled and telling us that everyone in Mexico is going to spit in our drinks. So we just keep pushing it. I sent them a sombrero website and told them to pick out the ones they wanted. And yesterday we were in a store that had mini sombreros so we took a picture with it on and texted it to him asking him what he thought. My family thinks the sombrero idea is hilarious so I’m actually going to have to buy them some (but not for the ceremony). We are thinking that we might even mail FBIL a sombrero with a note saying not to forget to pack it for Puerto Vallarta. Evil – yes. But it makes me laugh because FBIL and wifey have complained about the dumbest things for our wedding. Heheheheh

Did legs and back yesterday. Going to step it up to the double P90X workouts since my BD shoot is in 5 weeks. Yikes!

Like most people on here, I am going to have the Mexican trio (included in the Ultimate package) play during the cocktail hour. Then I asked Rebeca to hire a DJ to play during the reception. As for the packages, I did a ton of number crunching and found that for the 50 people I think will be attending the Ultimate package was a total steal. The only outside thing I am coordinating is the photographer as most will agree that the resort provided photographs are not very good. Ceremony, cocktail hour and reception are included for 20 people, then you pay extra for the people over that and a few add-on details. Even then, the numbers were better with the biggest package and you don't have to coordinate things like food, flowers, hair, makeup, etc. becuase Rebeca does it all for you! Don't worry about the price for your guests becuase if they want to be there they will. My mom cried for 2 weeks when I told her I was going to Mexico becuase she said no one would come. Well, I already have 35 people booked and still haven't sent out the formal invitations Quote: Originally Posted by aprilmay I sent in my request for one yesterday! Is the ultimate package the really good one with the mariachi band? If you did have them were they good? (aka - worth it?) Good to hear you've had a good experience with the Dreams WC. I just need to get a good TA so my guests can get the best deal possible cause there are some complaining about the cost. I'm not too concerned with any other extras, I'm happy with the palm tree design they do around the arch-thingy. But I do think the mariachi trio would be pretty cool. What are you doing for the reception? Is it included in the package? And how bout music & dancing for later? Jilll - I am jealous too! We'll have to combine our guests so it looks like 70 people are there Quote: Originally Posted by J&MWedding I have to admit, I get a little jelous when I hear about all you SD girls having over 70 ppl coming... but of course, I'm happy for you girls too! Jess - I thought Dreams made you rent the dance floor for the beach? I was thinking that was one of the reasons I didn't do the reception on the beach... I know I have an email from Rebeca at home. I'll see if I can find it. Quote: Originally Posted by Jess I posted this on another thread - but for those of you with receptions on the beach - did/are you getting a dance floor? It's so much $$ but I feel like it is necessary...is it?

Cute thread! Wednesday, June 24th @ 2:35 pm - at work avoiding real work by surfing BDW

Hi April You should contact one of the TAs on this site. Mine got me a discount on the Ultimate wedding package and I didn't even do a group booking. ~ Autumn

Congrats! Everything was beautiful, especially your dress