NYCBridetoBe1909

Katie, Welcome! I'm getting married at the Sandals Regency St. Lucia in less than a month, so kepe in touch and I'll definately let you know how it is!

I had to shut my office door I was laughing so hard! This is a great thread. My pet peeve is that my FI is a hoarder. Not like A&E level hoarder, but pretty bad. Until he met me, he had NEVER (not exaggerating) NEVER given away a single piece of clothing in his life. He still had clothes from middle school, he's 32!!! Another symptom of his hoarding is that he is constantly, always buying sh*t. Like not important stuff, but sh*t. We go to the drug store, he comes out with not one, not two but THREE fans. We go to Home Depot and he picks up four different types of duct tape (who knew there were that many kinds). We're repainting our house, and we now own every single painting device and gadget known to mankind. I get so mad at him, and then I look cheap because I don't want to spend the $3 for a roll of tape. The upside is that there is never any random thing I need that we don't have. Although, does anyone really need eight pairs of scissors?

Jenn, Yes, we are staying in the Millionaire's Suite, actually doing the ceremony there, since all the beach weddings are public and as much as I like strangers, I don't like them yelling WHOO HOO at my wedding. I'll be sure to post pictures, I'm so excited. I've found tripadvisor has been awesome for info about the Millionaire's Suites! Tifany, I'm flying in a photographer from NYC, and I got the same in writing. TA Jennifer is my TA and I've also copied her on everything. I think the people at Sandals are scared of her (in a good way) she really gets things done! We're only having 14 people, so only 7 rooms, not enough for the free half hour reception or you better believe I'd be trying to get that thrown in too!

I should have been more clear, I am doing a two hour cocktail reception, and tables are NOT included for that, hence the $100 extra cost. For the sit down dinner, they are included in the cost. And yes, as my fiancee and I are both attorneys, I second mrsgoodrich, get EVERYTHING in writing, email is best. I can't tell you how valuable it was to be able to reforward an email (with a time and date stamp) where they gave me misinformation. In retrospect, the email threads are comical, but I noticed that I would ask a direct question, and Sandals would respond with a non answer. Example, I asked if there would be an ipod dock provided and Sandals said "they reccommend I bring my own." Which doesn't really answer my question as to whether they have them there or not. When pushed, they admitted they did, but I Had to ask directly three times. They are well trained there to promise as little as possible in writing, probably to avoid nightmare brides like me!

I just confirmed all my a la carte options and paid for them. Sandals Regency in St. Lucia was able to accommodate all of my a la carte requests, none of which are anything like Martha Stewart. I did have to get pictures in and have everything 100% paid for prior to today (although I think that's an arbitrary deadline and they seemed willing to work with me if it extended past that). You do have to push pretty hard, or at least I did at first, and I had to provide them pictures of what I wanted rather than them help you out by suggesting things. I had also sent an information request back in May re: flowers that wasn't responded to, so that may have had something to do with it (I.e. I argued that had they responded in a timely manner I would have already been confirmed on everything so they really couldn't be forcing me into something because of their mistake). Re: the beautiful beginnings, one table is covered in the cost. All other tables are $100 a piece. Each table seats 8 people.

As to whether you can plan what you want, the answer appears to be No. I just spoke with my wedding coordinator who stated that even the basic is a "Martha Stewart" and that therefore it could not be added to other than with other pre approved Martha Stewart options. Needless to say, I was infuriated, since although the combos are nice, they aren't what I was picturing for my wedding. Thankfully, I had saved email coorespondence from June that I forwarded her where I had requested specific flowers and told her that while I understand there is a transition, that I had booked my wedding prior to that transition and I fully expect to have my pink and orange roses! (Bridezilla moment) Her response was that they would see what the other Martha Stewart options are and then if my boquet isn't included we would "talk with her director".

Are you sure they won't allow outside photographers? I'm certain the policy on this recently changed. I'm getting married at Sandals Regency in St. Lucia and will be flying in a photographer from NYC. He has to be a resort guest, and has to stay 3 nights, but he's allowed.

Welcome to the forum!

Congrats and welcome!

Home Depot and Lowe's no longer allow registries. Trust me, I tried this week, going so far as to call their corporate headquarters. I registered on Amazon instead, which allows me to register for the same DIY stuff.

I just got mine from a lady here in NYC. THEY ARE AMAZING!!! She makes them custom to your head, and they are super easy to put in. MissM is right, they are pricey, I paid about $400 for mine, but they apparently last quite awhile. They come previously styled, so I'm saving money on a hair appointment once I get to the wedding. All I have to do is curl my own hair, put the clip ins in and I look like a mermaid. I know she sells on the internet too. If you google hair extensions and nyc it comes up.

Mango, that can be waived if you pay a $150 fee. I'm arriving on Thursday and getting married on Friday.

Mandy, Congrats on losing the weight! I also have PCOS so I know how hard it is to lose. About 7 years ago, I lost 160 lbs, so I know it's not easy. I've gained some back now, and I'm afraid to look but I would imagine I weigh about 175. I have never ever gotten below 155, even with working out and not eating for long periods of time. I think that ultimately you can do anything you want, but that giving yourself a timeline may end up frustrating you, depressing you and stressing you out. All of which, at least if you're like me, cause you to eat. You look amazing the way you are, I think you should just continue doing your thing until 6 months before the wedding and then by a dress the size you are then, knowing they can take it in when you lose more weight. Good luck!

Congrats and welcome! I thought about Sandals Antigua for awhile, the Rondovols look AMAZING. In the end I settled on the Sandals Regency St. Lucia, primarily because Sandals has three resorts on St. Lucia. If you're looking at Sandals, I would suggest talking to TA Jennifer. She's helping me with my wedding and has been a GREAT resource thus far!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! FI and I spent this weekend prepping our new rental house. It's newly renovated...kinda. What I mean by kinda is that it was renovated as a hobby by people with non-construction background. In addition to the structural problems (which I won't go into). It's FILTHY. I'm talking mop four times and the mop water is still black filthy. FI and I have decided to view all the problems as an opportunity. We know at some point we want to buy an older house and fix it up to our liking, so we're doing everything ourselves. From the cleaning to the regrouting. Which leads me to my problem.... My mom always cleaned up after me as a child. In college, I lived in filth. After law school and since then, I've had a maid come in every week to clean. See where, I'm going? I can't clean. Meaning, I don't know how. This weekend I managed to mess up simple tasks, like mopping (who knew you couldn't just slop water on the hardwood? or who knew you had to change the water often or you just redistribute the dirt?). I also can't cook. Well I mean, I am sure I can, I just never have, so I don't really know how. I'm the worst southern girl EVER. At this point in my life when I'm working, it's not as big of a deal. However, in the soon future, we want to have children and I won't be working anymore. Although FI says we can still continue to have a maid come in, I REALLY don't want to be staying at home and have a maid and ordering nightly takeout. That seems very wasteful to me. Soooo, the point is I need to learn how to do this stuff. Does anyone have anyone have any suggestions of like Martha Stewart like books to teach me? I'm talking like cleaning or cooking for dummies. Not even sure what to search for in amazon to pull this up? I can't be the only clueless woman....can I?