stina76

I got married in Islamorada at the Islander Resort in July and was really happy with it. It was affordable (well if you can call anything wedding related affordable! haha!) The Islander is right on the beach and has plenty of space for guests. We had the ceremony and reception on their beach. Right across the street is a restaurant/bar called Lor-e-lei that has amazing sunset views and had my rehearsal dinner there. My guests were happy that they didn't have to drive anywhere once they got there (it's about an hour and half drive from Miami.) I rented a party bus for about 20 friends that wanted to see Key West. It was a blast!

We grilled some burgers and I made some fresh cut fries. Not very healthy, but super good! : ) I've been wanting to try this recipe that I saw on allrecipes.com. Love that site!   Marinated Baked Pork Chops (You can use chicken also if you wanted to) http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Marinated-Baked-Pork-Chops/Detail.aspx  Â

I got married July 10th and I am having my AHR on Sept 11th. I invited everyone, but so far it looks like the majority of the guests that have rsvp'd are the ones who came to the DW! Haha, oh well it will be fun to talk about the wedding. My AHR is casual in my MIL's backyard. I am going to do a slideshow of the pictures of the wedding and the honeymoon and hopefully we will have our video by then too.

Are you going to have a tent? I am having a white tent and was thinking maybe we could use the side of the tent? Has anyone tried this before?

Wendyjd - You are only the 2nd person to say that have had that dress! I thought it would be more popular being from David's. I hadn't heard of anyone with it and then we when we got to Costa Rica for our honeymoon, a girl was getting married at the hotel and was wearing it! : ) Yes, I did take all of the tull out of it. It was just a little too much for me! : ) Are you keeping it in or taking it out?

WOW!!! That sounds amazing! How many people are you having? I did a destination wedding in the FL Keys so my guests weren't coming as far, but I didn't plan too many group activities. I had about 75 guests and they were only there for about 4 or 5 days. We did a welcome bbq the first night and rented a party bus to Key West the 2nd night. Then I had the rehearsal dinner for everyone also. I would have loved to do a catamaran or something one day but we just didn't have time or any more funds to pay for it!! : ) I felt like it was kind of hard to coordinate everything with so many people but maybe that was because I didn't have much help. I did everything myself and am really anal about being on time and schedule! It was fun though, everyone really enjoyed everything. I keep hearing how amazing it was and that they were so grateful that I planned so much for them to do. No one had ever been to a DW before. But I think your guests will be thrilled with all of that you have already done! Congrats!

Jszy10 - They were able to send them from the resort. I noticed a few people sent them when they got home though. Depending on where you are getting married (what country) it may not be as cheap for the stamps. I didn't really think about that. I had it easy in the US. I may have been upset if I took the time to find and pay the money for the stamps in a foreign country and people didn't use them! : ) If it's not a super expensive addition, I would say do it!! You will love the ones you do get back!

We put two postcards in each of the OOT bags, both were pre-stamped. But one had our address on it and the other was blank for them to send to whomever they wanted. I put in the welcome letter that we would like to hear how everyone liked the wedding trip when we got back. I LOVE that we did this!! It has been so fun reading the comments that our guests wrote. I have to admit I almost cried a couple of times reading a few of them! They were super cheap too! I made them on Vistaprint with a photo I already had of the beach we were getting married on. Then I put "Life is Good in the Florida Keys" and July 2010. I am going to keep them and put them in a scrapbook. I would totally recommend this!!

Just ordered 2 pair also! Thanks for letting us know about them!

Here are a few of my pro pics from my wedding at the Islander in Islamorada. McLaughlin Photo & Video were GREAT!! Julie was my photographer and she is awesome! I can't wait to get my CD with all of the pics! Should be here tomorrow! http://mclaughlinphotoandvideo.shutterfly.com/23 We are Christina & Joe (the first one)

Hello Girls!! I am back from the wedding and honeymoon! It was a GREAT 2 1/2 weeks! I loved every moment of it! Would totally recommend Costa Rica for a honeymoon! Kai - if you need any info on the Islander or the area, let me know!

Mystea - I looked at Old Navy today and didn't see them. I am looking for the ones with a little platform heel. Maybe 1 1/2-2 inches. I did call the Davids Bridal and they have them in Ivory with some rhinestones on the top (hate to spend $25 on flip flops!) that I think I am going to go with. We leave for my wedding this weekend so I didn't really have time to have any shipped. I should of started this search earlier! There are some really cute ones online if you have time. I just googled ivory bridal flip flops.

I ended up ordering the starfish from Oriental Trading and I have to say that I was glad that I ordered a lot more than I thought that I would need because a lot of them are VERY small. I have enough bigger ones for my place cards, but that's only because I ordered so many. They were very cheap (3.99) I am using some of the tiny ones for decorating other things so I guess it worked out. Also, they really smell when you open them up! I had to let them air out for a week! So just keep that in mind if you go with them!

Wow, you teachers that go until the 28th, when do you start school? I work as a school counselor in Chicago Public and thought that we went late (June 18th.)

I can't believe my wedding is in 9 days! I am excited, but very nervous! I am hoping that we get the guys pants today. We ordered linen pants from Studio Suits but fiance waited a little too long to get the guys sizes. I know that they have started the shipping process from India, just don't know how much longer it will take! We leave on Sunday so we are cutting it close! I also have to print out the place cards and attach them to the starfish. This process has been more difficult that I expected because I keep getting adds and cancels! Just yesterday I had 2 cancels and 1 add. I can't believe how rude people are! I guess it's easier to do that since our destination wedding is in the Florida Keys and not out of the country, but still you would think people would have their arrangements together by this time!!! Ughh!! I have to give my final numbers tomorrow so I hope I don't have any other changes! I'm just so nervous about forgetting something! Have any of you found packing to harder than normal? So you have all of the wedding stuff, then you need clothes for the week before the wedding, then wedding clothes, then honeymoon clothes! It's a lot of stuff! I just want to get down there, have a margarita and see a sunset, then I will relax! Good luck everyone!