Jo 2010

They look so amazing - you must be stoked Congrats!

I love thewaist details - its so pretty! Congrats on finding the one!

its so pretty! I love the little buttons down the back and that fabic is gorgeous!

They look A.M.A.Z.I.N.G !!!!

They look amazing - you must be stoked I love the ones with the orange sun coming through the trees - the lighting is spectacular!

hmm well our engagement party was a massive celebration with 160 people, and it was understood that the engagement party was so big because we were having a smaller destination wedding... We have been working out the costings over the weekend, and after finally putting a dollar figure on the wedding per head - I have no hesitation NOT inviting them! I also discussed it with a coulpe of mutal friends who will be coming to the wedding, who will bring up "how much it is per head to have people come to the wedding, and how they can't believe that it will be more than a wedidng at home". That way if she asks where her invitation is, the budget explaination should suffice...

hmm its a difficult situation becasue if they go alone, the costs of accomodation (paying for a room all to themselves) are significantly higher than other guests.. In our case, we have lots of single friends going (and we mat most of them while travelling) so we are pairing (and tripling) up people to share accomodation to cut costs for them... But if they are already a group of friends they should be able to sort accomodation out amoungst themselves. I dont think there is anything wrong with just address the invite to them alone =- especially since they seem to be your mum's guests - not really yours... Good luck!

oooo good question - we are debating this right now at home! Yes, but it depends on the situation and the friendship since the relationship. Would you get you Fi's name tattoo'ed on you??

The wind in the Coral Coast in Fiji doesn't die down until 4pm, so we wanted to have our ceremony then. Our proposed schedule would be: 2:00pm Getting ready photos in rooms 3:00pm traditional wedding shots of bridal party and couple on the beach and in the gardens 4:00pm Ceremony 4:30pm - 5:15pm Congratulations and group photos of guests with bride and groom 5:15pm - all guest to reception venue for cocktail food and drinks - photos of darren and I alone on the beach until sunset 6:15pm bridal couple arrive at reception venue Speeches and Cake cutting 7:00pm mains served 7:30pm first dance and dance floor opens (live cover band) 8:00pm dessert 9:15pm woodfire pizzas (late night snack) 10:15pm last drinks 10:30pm - everyone heads upstairs to the balcony nightclub for the afterparty. For anyone that has been married - am I being completely naive with this schedule?? I'm totally expecting it to go off course, and i'm not the kind of person to stress about it - its more to have before hand as a guide for all the staff and photographer and band...

So we were thinking of getting our 'couple' and bridal party shots that are usually taken between the ceremony and the reception, done BEFORE the ceremony... We just dont want all of our guests waiting around, and more than that, we dont want to be missing out the party... Is anyone else thinking of doing that? Did anyone already do this? Did it work? My only hesitation is that I miss out on that moment when my FI's sees me walking down the aisle for the first time...

I think you need to give the dress the best chance possible to impress the socks off you Do you hair, do your makeup, have the dress ironed, and your shoes on... Try it on, and if you dont love it, then consider your options. My best friend thinks I'm ridiculous when we go dress shopping and I have on full makeup and have done my hair all nice (by the end fo the day I look like a dishevelled mess) but the point is to give the dress the best chance possible to wow me

Oh! an alcohol is really expensive on the islands - however we did see quite a lot of young people with cases of beer travelling out the islands The Ferry leaves from Denaru - which has a shopping centre there to buy it... Not sure if thats the kind of thing your guests would consider doing, but it was a smart idea for the big drinkers that we met out there!!

Hey Elizabeth Are you still struggling for a photographer?? I saw Yoshi of Ocean Studio Fiji in action while I was over there last week and thought he was brilliant - and I checked out his website and really loved the colour and composition. Immediately tried to book him and he is unavailable for our date we are gutted - but thought you may like to know about him anyway!! We actually caught the ferry that goes to Castaway on our trip around some of the islands. it was very nice - packed though! Basically the Ferry (luxury big catamaran) stops near the island and little boats come up to it to pick up the people that have to get off at the little islands... Castaway looked beautiful!

Ok, so here's the situation. We had an engagement party with about 150 people. In a lot of cases, if we were going to invite my FI's close friends, and the friend's parents, we would also invite their siblings (and partners). Now I am not a fan of one of my FI's close friend's Brother's girlfirends (can you guys follow this??) but they have assumed that they are invited to the wedding and is gushing about how excited she is for the holiday in Fiji to anyone that will listen. So not only would I be not inviting her to our wedding, I would also be uninviting her from a holiday that she is really excited about. She may not be my favorite person, but the main dilemma is that she is detested by some people in our circle of friends, and I would most definately kill her if I was stuck in the same resort as her for a whole week. They were only invited to the engagement party in the first place as his brother and parents were invited - and despite the fact that my FI and I don't really know them that well, we just thought it would be a nice gesture. So what do you do? Crush her and cause awkwardness at social gatherings in the future - or have someone at your wedding that noone really likes and has no real connection to you and your partner (paying for them at the wedding, and welcome dinner, and afterparty bbq and welcome home party)?

Oh my god, I can't believe that she is causing all this drama. I think the first thing that need to be rectified - the ultimatums come from YOU, not her. I know she is your mother, but given your relationship and her behaviour - I can't help feeling that she will ruin your day at all costs. Hardball is the only way to play this one I feel. Something like - Your my mother and I love you, but my wedding is the start of my new life. The choice is yours whether you would like to be part of that life or not. Should you decide that you would like to be present at one of the most important days of my life, The I only ask 1 thing: 1. You will be supportive from the moment you get on the plane to leave, until the moment the plan lands back home afterwards. Your wedding is reserved ONLY for people who are supporting me, and celebrating my relationship and my marriage. Mum, your opinion has been heard. Loud and clear. I understand that this is not the way you want things to happen. I understand this is not the decision you would make. Now you need to understand that this is my life - and if you would like to continue your part in it, then bite your tongue. If you feel that you can meet my one demand, then I would love to have you at my wedding. If you cannot, then its best that you stay at home. Goodluck! xx

I'm sooooooo excited! Tomorrow I leave with my MOH to a site visit to Fiji to book the wedding and get all our arrangements done... oh yeah and to laze on the beach

Island Princess - Love the dress and the deep sweetheart looks great I'm so convinced... Now i've just gotta narrown it down form the 50 or so dresses that I'm in love with

Melissa it looks beautiful! and you look beautiful in it! The sweetheart neckline was a great addition - adds a little va-va-voom I agree about it being done up tighter. There has been a massive difference when i'm dress shopping between someone who really knows what they are doing with a lace-up corset back, and those who dont. Get your sister to go dress shopping with you (pretending you don't already have an amazing dress) and get her to be (sneaky) super watchful of how they do up the corset - its not all about tightness either - its also about the ratio along the lenths - my dresser was telling us that the top one should be twice the width apart as the one right the the part where your waist clinches, and then get bigger from there - she said thats how you create the hourglass. I was totally against strapless dresses until she showed me the difference between brides who just yank them closed as tight as possible (not shapely, side boob etc) and those who use it to create the shape... I'm sure with practice she will be able to master it, and I think you will be happier with your shape in the dressa nd the way it sits when its done up perfectly You have so convinced me to get one too Islandbride - Can't wait to see yours! How have you found the customs in OZ - are you getting charged??

what a greats deal. I'm with roo66 - so unfair!

Melissa (SgtPepperette) your killing me! Have you got it yet??

Love the coloured ones also LOVE beach chic attire :) so cute

Melissa and tanga - I keep checking here everyday hoping that your desses have come so I can check them out I'm so excited for you both

That must be so frustrating for you! Maybe do some postcards up on Vista - pretty cheap, good reminder of the holiday and have the back with all the details of your travel agent and all the travel details should they wish to take this card to their own travel agent. I'd even put a cheeky line in about deals getting more expensive and not wanting anyone to miss out on the fantastic offer you got them! If you make it all about benefits to them, it wont be you pesting them cause you want to know numbers, and it may be the push that people need to get booked.

Oh my god what a hard choice - I usually love these questions as I will have a strong feeling either way - butwith this one... I love them both too... For me - I have voted no 1. I think it is beautiful, fitting with a destination wedding and also I love that it symbolises you as a woman. It's one of the things I have tossed around with, but I ended up decided that when I though about marriage when I was little, it was all about me - me in the princess dress. Now that I am a woman getting married, I know that it about us, and the growth that we have to undertake together in order to make a marriage work. So I decided to go with the dress that make me feel like the strong confident woman I am that being said, they both look amazing and I dont really think you can you wrong either way

Hi Aussie Bride Where in Australia are you having your wedding? I'm from Wollongong in NSW