bahiabride2010

AMAZING! I think I'm going to use VISTA like you did to do our Meet the Guests page on the brochure. Love that idea!

Beautiful bouquet! I love the cover of the Boudoir book too! CONGRATS AND SUPER JOB!

My bridal store recommended 6 to 8 weeks before the wedding to have the first fitting appointment! So excited...mine's in a couple of weeks!

We got engaged in May of last year and will be married in July this year. I think time lines are different for everyone but we wanted to give our guests lots of time to plan and save for the trip so we went invitations in October.

Here's some pics of the headband that I chose! I'm not going with a veil...good luck with your decision!

Quote: Originally Posted by DWbridetobe We are doing the same thing. We have a relative that does photography, not professionally since she teaches as her career, but she's agreed to do some pictures for us. Between her, the Sandals photographer, and our guests, I'm sure we'll have plenty of pictures to treasure. For sure Brandi...Ive been talking to the resort photographer and I've seen their work! Sounds like we're thinking the same way...with so many friends...we will get those couple of shots that will be frame worthy! It will be such a wonderful day that I'm sure the pictures will be fabulous!

The Resort we chose is the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana. We’ve never been to the resort but have had many friends that have and absolutely loved it! It’s the type of place that people go back to year after year. Over the year of planning there have 3 different wedding coordinators at the hotel and they have all been very helpful. I’ve attached their Wedding Manual and some pictures here of the resort and the beautiful gazebo. We are using alternating orange and pink chair covers and the reception will be at the Garden Grill Restaurant. http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...BODAGAZEBO.jpg http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...learorange.jpg http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...nning/pink.jpg http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a.../buildings.jpg

We’re going with a picture mat for our guests book! I got the frame at the Great Canadian Superstore…we’re leaving the glass here and only packing the mat with orange and pink pens for people to sign the mat. http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/DSC00912.jpg I bought the Umbra Ether Frame in Expresso for our Sand Ceremony….we’re going to use pink and orange sand from Michael’s. Here’s a link to wear I bought it: Urbane Online Store-StoreFront Product Detail Page We’re doing the Raffia Fans from OTC and have attached the programs I made from VISTA. I bought the ribbon from Michael’s. Thanks to BRANDI for being my delivery girl. We are doing bubbles that will be on each seat at the ceremony. Only 9 for $1 at THE DOLLAR GIANT! We wrapped ribbon from Michael’s around. For wedding favours, we bought Pashminas for the ladies, thanks to HOLLY for organizing the group order, and are going to get cigars in the DR for the guys. I'm working on a cigar label right now! My amazing MOB did some serious shell collecting down in South Carolina and we will be incorporating the shells for our centre pieces. I have simple glass bowls…we will fill with Punta Cana sand, some shells and use a pink pillar candle in the middle! http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/DSC00917.jpg The name/place cards we made with Sanddollars we dried, scrubbed, bleached, and varnished. Mom did the calligraphy! 2 months before the wedding, we sent our confirmed guests a package with a brochure and luggage tags. These were a big hit! http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/DSC01232.jpg http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/DSC01233.jpg

Our OOT bags were so fun to put together! I ordered the bags from Sue at H2 promotions in Toronto! She was super to work with and the mugs and bags turned out wonderfully! We had an assembly party at my Mom’s with my BM’s and worked to put everything together! We spent about $35 a bag for our guests…we had to make 25 of them. http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a.../BagDesign.png http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/DSC01238.jpg http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/DSC01240.jpg OOT BAG CONTENTS: •Postcards – 100 free from VISTA •Snacks – Peanuts, Crispix Mix, Cookies, Gum from Sam’s Club •Survival Kit – Advil, Imodium, toothpaste, tissue, aloe, Hand Sanitizer, •Splash Bombs and Footballs – in the guy bags •Mugs •Customized Chapstick

For our GM’s, we bought their outfits, got them engraved flasks, bottles of rum (going to buy in the DR) and Cocktail for Dummies Books. For my parents, I created a photo book of our best family photos and ordered it through SNAPFISH. Here’s a link to the book! I also made hats for our Dad’s and shirts for the Mom’s to wear while getting ready on our wedding day! http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/DSC00931.jpg Snapfish: Projects: Share: MemoryBook: Registration For my FI, I did a Boudoir shoot with Renaissance Swank Studios. Renaissance Studios Photography - Wedding, Maternity & Portrait Photography in Toronto & GTA, London, Milton, Kitchener, Chatham, Ontario, Canada This was one of the best parts of the whole wedding process! What a fabulous night it was! I highly recommended Clint and his team! They were super! The shoot took place at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto and provided a beautiful back drop for the shots. I’m so happy with how the photos turned out. All of those squats and lunges paid off and I can’t wait to see my FI’s reaction when he opens it! It started as a gift for my FI but it ended up being a fabulous confidence builder for me! To build up some suspense, I’m going to make a puzzle out of one of the photos. For the week before we leave, I’m going to give him a puzzle piece a day with the last piece being given with the book on our first night in the DR! Here are a few of the shots that I really love: http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...6_img_8792.jpg http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...img_8732bw.jpg http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...7_img_8665.jpg

A big part of our wedding planning was selecting and choosing just the right gifts for our Wedding Party, Parents, and Guests. Because of our choice to have a destination wedding, I think these choices were extra important. For my BM’s, we paid for their dresses, got them a small clutch, nail polish, notepad, jewelry, and made them shirts. The tanks I bought at Old Navy and were 2 for $10. The Iron On’s came from Michaels’ and were only $1 a piece! http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/DSC01225.jpg http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/DSC01228.jpg http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/DSC01230.jpg Pictures of the Shirts – made a couple for me too!

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/DSC01233.jpg http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/DSC01234.jpg Luggage Tags and Tags for OOT Bag Items – 250 Free http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/DSC00930.jpg Hats for Our Dads – Each one free

Onto the world of VISTA! This is one of the best things I learned from BDW…what a hidden gem Vistaprint is! Here are some of the projects I created with VISTA. For those that don’t know…sign up for the website and every once in while you will get an email saying everything is free. Save this and when you want to order the products you’ve created click on the link in the email…amazing! http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/DSC00914.jpg Our OOT Bag Postcards – 100 free http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/DSC00970.jpg http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/DSC00968.jpg Our Pre-departure Brochure – 25 free http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/DSC00929.jpg Our Thank You Cards -10 free…actually bought 70 more!

The Groomsmen outfits were a great find while on holiday in South Carolina. We found the Shirts at Steinmart for $25 and the pants at the Haggar outlet for $25. The guys are buying their own brown sandals. Here’s one of our GM’s modeling! http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/DSC01274.jpg http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/DSC01259.jpg http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/DSC01261.jpg My FI’s outfit was mostly found last labour day on a power half hour shopping trip before we were heading to watch the Wolverines play football. The pants are IZOD and were on sale for $25 at Macy’s. His 1st shirt in the first picture was found at Target for $20 but we ended up finding a different one which was a better fit at Steinmart and was $25 and the sandals were $10 on sale from JC Penny’s. We figure he’ll wear the other shirt to a shower or the rehearsal dinner.  http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/DSC00430.jpg

As for my ordering my Bridesmaid dresses this became a bit of a nightmare. I would NOT recommend ordering from J Crew. Out of 5 girls, 4 had problems with their dresses. One got the wrong colour delivered initially, one’s order was cancelled, one received a coat instead of a dress, and the list goes on. We got them during a sale which meant a great price(less than $100 a dress) but for the quality of the dresses I would not order at full price. After many calls to customer service, the problems were all resolved and all o my girls got the right dresses. Customer Service was good about sending the girls $50 gift cards and giving them free shipping for the errors. In the end it worked out but I wouldn’t go with J Crew again. 3 of my girls are in the Tea Rose…all different styles http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a.../pinkdress.jpg 1 is in Sweet Cantaloupe… the Juliette Dress http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...coraldress.jpg 1 is in Marigold…the Juliette Dress

For make-up, I did a couple of trials! First I went to Sephora and booked a consultation with a makeup artist. There I got some FREE and wonderful tips on the products to use and on how to apply the look as well. Some of the products that I’ve absolutely loved using since: Urban Decay – Eye shadow Potion – it’s eye shadow primer that is amazing! My eye makeup looks super and stays on all day. Even after a sweat-dripping, but-kicking workout! Urban Decay – Gold Shimmer – I want to bathe in this stuff! Smashbox Makeup Primer HD Foundation http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/DSC00982.jpg http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/DSC00979.jpg I also booked an appointment at the Mac Counter where I bought my eyeshadows and powder.

My hair I want in a low, curly, beachy looking chignon. Here are some pictures I used for inspiration. I had a hair trial with my hairdresser here. One of my BM’s came with me and took lots of pictures of the steps to show the ladies down at the Gran Bahia. http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...ddinghair7.jpg http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...ddinghair6.jpg http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...ddinghair5.jpg http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...ddinghair1.jpg

Onto my favourite part…the wedding attire. I absolutely loved wedding dress shopping and knew that choosing my wedding dress was one of the first things that I wanted to do in the early stages of planning. After visiting a few bridal salons in Toronto, I ended up at Bridal and Beyond in Mississauga. This is where I had my first Maggie experience. After trying on her dresses I was hooked. She really knows how to create wonderful shapes and accentuate the female body. My MOB and I knew when I first put on the Zuri dress that it was the one. So light but fitted, so flowy yet structured, so beachy but still wedding! It took 7 months to come which was a long wait but well worth it. Here are some pictures when I picked the dress up and a link to Maggie’s site. Zuri - by Maggie Sottero http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...ing/dress1.png http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...ing/dress7.png http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...ing/dress6.png My Dress I bought my Tiara at a little store in Port Credit for $70 and my earrings at David’s Bridal for $10. http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/DSC01246.jpg

For our flowers we ordered a package through Roberta at Plumerias Wedding Boutique. She was amazing to work with. Just a side bar – she does fill up super fast! I booked my flowers in September of 09! The flowers arrived in early may and look amazing! They are real touch. We got my bouquet, MOH and 4 BM’s bouquets, 3 wrist costages for the mom’s, 9 bouts for the guys and our dads! Here are some pics of the inspiration. http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a.../Mybouquet.jpg http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...rlsflowers.jpg

Next for invitations, we were so lucky that one of my childhood friends is an amazing artist and offered to design our invitations for us. I directed him with the colours but he came up with the images and our beautiful monogram. We ordered the paper and had the invitations printed through Cards and Pockets. The colours we chose were Soft Coral Mats, Cream Puff for the inserts, and Watermelon for the Pocket Fold. They were wonderful to work with the invitations came so quickly. We sent these out in October and chose not to do Save the Dates. My Mom did Calligraphy on the outside of the Pocket Fold and addressed the envelopes too! Gotta love my talented MOB! I bought seals from Michael’s to close the pink Pocket Folds. Just a heads up…if you go with the pocket folds be prepared to spend on postage. They are beautiful but heavy! It took two stamps to send them. Dan’s started his own invite design company…check him out on his website. PaperHeartSoul http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a.../SmallIcon.png Our Monogram http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC00561.jpg http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC00558.jpg http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC00559.jpg

I knew right of the bat that I wanted to have Orange and Pink as my wedding colours. I thought they would look beautiful with the contrast of the turquoise Caribbean sea! Here are some of the inspiration boards I liked and took some inspiration from. http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...ationBoard.jpg http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...ationBoard.jpg http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...ationBoard.jpg

Alright ladies….it’s my turn to add to the amazing resources here on BDW with my planning journal. This last year has been an amazing one for my FI and I. I have especially enjoyed the friendships and amazing sharing that goes on here. I can honestly say that BDW has helped me with so many details related to planning our wedding. Thank you to Tammy and to all the mods for helping to keep the forum friendly and fun! Here we go… First up the rings…my E ring was designed by my FI and the jeweler and I absolutely love it. Two wedding bands have been made that fit on either side of my ring. My FI’s wedding band was way more difficult to choose but in the end he chose the Argon style of Tungsten ring. We ordered his from World of Tungsten and highly recommend them. http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/DSC00791.jpg http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/DSC00792.jpg My Rings http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a.../mikesring.jpg My FI’s Ring

Quote: Originally Posted by Ayita But I found this "trick" 3 weeks ago and since I've been using it, I'm off 10lbs (in 3 weeks !!) You can't keep that a secret! What's the trick? I'm happy today because I had my bridal shower last night!

Bridal Shower tonight! Conference today and off on Monday...gotta love a four day weekend!

30 minute interval run and weight training circuits with my trainer for 1 hour and 15...good workout today! Tomorrow night is my first Bridal shower so needed a good calorie burn today!