sweetiecat

You could also look into organza overlays for round tables. You basically would get a sheer "tablecloth" in a coordinating color to over your white/ivory linens that are supplied by the hotel. I've seen them listed inexpensively on the sites the girls have been ordering chair sashes from.

They look great! Thanks for the link. They definitely seem to have reasonable prices.

It looks great! Your photographer did a wonderful job with pictures. I agree that it is good you got this done right away, or else it would probably be put off and never get done. At least that's how I usually operate..

Congratulations on this awesome find! I'm sure it will definitely help the budget! I checked the site, and they take donations of wedding dresses (less than 3 years old) from brides: Donations This would be a great way to help others if you didn't want to preserve your dress or do a TTD (or at least a crazy TTD session, I know some of you said it basically just cleaned the dress).

Thanks, everyone. I talked to my mom again today, and we've decided to do the DW. Jamaica, here we come!

I agree, this thread has been very helpful!

Class A Diva - Thanks for the store recommendation! They have a lot of dresses that can be ordered online.

Thanks for the advice! My fiance has been joking that he will show up in a Hawaiian shirt and shorts - at least I hope it is a joke. I'd be fine with a dress shirt and khakis or linen pants though..

I'm sorry that I don't have any suggestions to make, but I just wanted to offer some *hugs* since I know you're probably feeling a bit down right now. Do you have a good relationship with your dad otherwise? If so, maybe you can dwell on that instead of if he won't be there..

Thanks, guys! This really helps me realize that I'm not completely off base here. Also, I hadn't even thought of the tax refund money. That's a great idea! I talked to her about using the money they get from my grandparents each Christmas but hadn't thought about the extra tax refund money that they could add in. I'm much more confident this could work out. For anyone else who happens to be reading - I'm still interested if you contributed financially (hotel, air, both, passports, whatever) if you had family that may have had a hard time otherwise.

Okay, I found directions on how to wire starfish and shells into your floral bouquet: Shell Bouquet I really like the finished look of this.

Great wordings, thanks!

I love micromanaging, and I would have loved to receive something so detailed as a guest to help prepare (as it turns out, I just researched everything online forever, which I know most people don't do). I look forward to downloading the template when I get enough posts. Thanks!

They look awesome! The flower adds so much, and the color combination is great. Also, thanks for the tip about the curved cuticle scissors - I remember someone asking about how the best way to cut out that section was in another thread recently and couldn't come up with any ideas for them.

They look great! Your guests will definitely get excited when they receive those!

Thanks everyone for contributing to this thread! It has such great ideas, and I just love starfish!

I'm a little worried about booking our DW since I'm not sure if my parents will be able to afford to come. My mom is certain they will be able to save up the money to come, but I'm worried that an unexpected expense will come up before the final payment is due, and it will either cause them to stay home or make it hard for them to come along. I've offered to make up the difference between the money they save and the total cost, but I won't be able to afford more than half of their (hers, my dad's, and my teenaged brother's) trip. A lot of our other relatives and friends are interested in coming to the DW, but we would have a small AHR picnic for those that couldn't attend. The only people I'm really concerned about attending the actual ceremony are our parents and siblings, since I wouldn't want to cause any long-lasting hurt feelings. Anyone else that booked would be a bonus. If we didn't do a DW, we would probably just upgrade the picnic we would have for the AHR but wouldn't spend a ton on an at-home wedding. I talked to my mom about our choices and just her know what I am able to contribute to their trip, but I'm giving her veto power on the DW because of the level of risk that they may not be able to make it. I know she really wants to make it happen since she's never been out of the country before and, of course, wants to party on a tropical island. Has anyone else been in my situation? Am I being selfish for wanting a destination wedding when I know that it may be hard for my parents to save (the wedding would be 14+ months away)? If you've had a similar situation, what did you do to help your parents make it, if anything? If your parents weren't able to come, were there any lasting consequences? Did you regret helping or not helping your family to attend? Thanks for listening guys - I've been a little stressed out about this lately. I know the destination wedding, once we make our plans, will cause me less stress (since I will be going with a package deal with just a couple of extras) - compared to planning a wedding with more people from a few states away.

Love those fishies!

Awesome! I love the colors.

Congratulations and welcome to the forum! Your wedding sounds like it will be awesome!

Congratulations on your engagement and welcome to the forum! Hopefully, you will find it as helpful as I have.

Good luck and have fun! Everything will be terrific, I'm sure!

Everything looks great, and it gives a great overview of the wedding for those who weren't able to attend. You are so crafty!

As long as your dress is comfortable, I say wear it for the whole reception. I imagine I would want to wear mine as much as possible since you only get to wear it once (unless you wear it for an AHR, which seems a little awkward to me). Edited to add: I am not judging anyone for wearing their dress to their AHR, but if I had an AHR, it would be fairly casual and I would feel weird. I guess I could show up in the dress and then change fairly quickly.

Both of those dresses are stunning! Definitely go with whatever feels right. I have a larger chest as well, but I am mostly looking at v-neck dresses - I think it will accentuate the right amount. I'm also not a fan of having to tug at the dress to keep it from shifting down, but I guess if it was altered correctly you wouldn't have too much of a problem. Don't let anyone change your mind once you have THE dress. Was the first store you went to a chain store or a local store?