sweetiecat

Heather, the sweet pea scent is my favorite Bath & Body Works scent, so I would be partial to that, but I think the coconut lime verbena would appeal to both men & women as a scent.

Thank you guys!

They look great!

Thank you!

They look great, and I love that you kept your theme/colors consistent throughout. It really looks like the ultimate vacation kit! I also love the "To have and to hold, to keep my beer cold." You had me laughing out loud with that one.

Very cute! Your guests will get lots of use out of them, I'm sure!

I think chocolate-covered macadamia nuts and small bags of kona coffee sound great! I'm sure your guests would really appreciate both.

It's beautiful! I say, if you love it, then it is the dress that you should wear.

Great ideas everyone! I'm hoping to just invite everyone to the beach party or one of the bars for cocktails on the first night for some mingling, so I'm not quite as organized.

Beautiful! They did a wonderful job with the centerpieces! I'm glad you had a great shower.

They look fantastic! You definitely picked the right picture with space for the text on one side and you two on the other.

They look great! I'm sure they will get your guests very excited for the wedding! Did you send out STDs first to a larger group of people to get preliminary RSVPs? Or did you just decide to send them out to 41 to begin with?

You guys had some awesome choreography! Very cute!

If using glass buckets, you can also freeze lemon slices or flowers into the ice cubes, but this might not be do-able with a destination wedding. Anyway, when I read your idea, I thought of this wedding: A Look Back At Our Creative, Crafty, and Cost Effective Backyard Wedding | Young House Love. They used recycled wine bottles to hold some nonalcoholic drinks on the tables and then had some galvanized buckets with ice to hold beer and soda. They dressed up the metal buckets by using a ring of whole lemons around the rim.

What great ideas everyone! I don't really like the idea of renting/buying chair covers, either, and the starfish look great. I guess you could do every other aisle row if you have lots of guests to save some $.

It looks terrific! I really like how you incorporated the raffia, and I love the color of the candle holder with everything else. If you don't have very much luck finding shells once you get there, the beach stores will have them relatively inexpensively, and you can negotiate a better price, especially if you are buying in volume.

I agree that cream or white calla lilies (or orchids) would look beautiful. Mini calla lillies would look great for the guys' boutonnieres. The best thing about large calla lillies is that the bridesmaids can carry one each if you want to keep costs down. Add blue or brown accents with ribbon. Centerpieces could incorporate brown through some stems/branches if you're going that direction, or blue hydrangeas if in season/available at your location.

I'd appreciate some information on this as well. I don't want to catch anyone off guard or make them feel like I'm pressuring them to spend the money to go.

Maybe you could suggest that they do it toward the end of the week (if you are getting married near the beginning of the week), when some of the guests would have gone home by then? That way, the guests that wanted to see the vow renewal could stay for it, but otherwise wouldn't have to. I don't know, I think it was a little rude for her to put you in this position. I wonder if it occurs a lot during destination wedding trips since the romantic resorts rekindle relationships in couples, and they get the idea of doing it once they are there. Does she really want a lot of people to witness the vow renewal, or would be just be a few people? I think if it were just a few, I would be more inclined to give her my blessing. Otherwise, I might feel like she were stealing the spotlight.

I don't think it is rude either. At the destination wedding I went to early this year, the bride and groom had a rehearsal dinner on Friday (people arrived either Thursday or Friday), afternoon ceremony and cocktail party on Saturday, dinner at one of the restaurants for a reception Saturday night. They also spread the word that there was an optional cruise on Sunday afternoon, but we decided not to go. Otherwise, people kind of split up and formed their own groups for activites (snorkeling, eating, going on excursions). There were ~35 people, and this was at an all inclusive, so it was easier this way. It was nice being able to run into people you knew and could talk to on the beach or at the buffet. It might be harder with people spread out at different hotels or villas.

If you decide to go with the rum cake, it is very rich and strong tasting, so it can be cut into smaller pieces. You could save on the amount of cake this way. Not everyone will like it though, so a traditional vanilla or chocolate cake would be a safer bet.

I've been to weddings with an amenities basket, and it really dresses up the bathroom a bit. I don't think you need to worry about decorating the whole bathroom, maybe just a basket with small deodorants, body spray, safety pins, mints, etc. and a scented candle or bouquet. Really though, it is just another detail that you could add but isn't a necessary item. I'm sure it would be appreciated by your guests though.

Very gorgeous! I love your color combinations!

Very cute and what a great idea!

You look fantastic! Congratulations on losing the weight!