MayaLove

Wow, yeah she's crazy if she think she is getting a diamond necklace lol. I do think giving the parents some sort of gift is a good idea though. Even if they are not paying. I see giving the parents a gift as more of a personal thing and not so much a thanks for paying thing.

Congrats and good luck with your planning!

Welcome to BDW! Since you know it will be in either January or September, maybe you can start researching destinations and see which ones have the best/worst weather at those times. Also check to see what the off-seasons/less crowded periods are for the locations. You'll find some great prices during the off-season! Good luck with your planning!

like! straw hats?

soda : coke

I hope you had a beautiful and fun day! Congratulations!

cookies : baking

I voted for #3. #4 would be my second choice.

rain : soggy

leaving : sad

Jennifer Grey : Dirty Dancing

Ben Affleck : Bounce

carpet : preach

wave : hello

lol, I love those Skittles commercials. I would rather lose all feeling in my hands. I think if I lost all feeling in my feet, I wouldn't be able to walk too well if at all. Would you rather eat spoiled yogurt or spoiled sour cream?

bed : comfy

vampires : teeth

A little late but happy birthday! I hope your day has been great!

mosquitoes : blood

Paul Rudd : Knocked Up

ignorant : annoying

I'd rather have the drink spilled on it. Maybe you could cover it up and you may be able to get the stain out too. Plus it's more safe. You've been sentenced to five years on a deserted island. However, you can bring one person with you. Would you rather take your fiance/spouse or a survival expert(ex. Bear Grylls)?

Just be honest with them. What you just said in your post is perfect. Tell them you decided to have an intimate wedding with a few relatives and friends. Tell them the reasons that you and your FI chose to do it, if they ask. But you really don't need to and shouldn't feel that you need to explain much at all to them. Most will understand and be okay with it. It's going to be hard for someone to take it personally, imo. Now if you were having a large wedding and they were hearing about it but weren't going to be invited, that's a different story. But them knowing that it's an intimate wedding with those closest to you and FI should make it pretty clear and understandable that they won't be invited. Alot of people choose to have smaller, intimate weddings. Don't feel bad about it, even if they invited you to their wedding. It's your wedding and it's perfectly fine.

Hoopchic, sorry about your experience with them. I hope you will get it and on time. I'm going to look around for other companies as well. I think the hourglass is a great idea for the sand ceremony.

nothing to do : plenty of time