echo2_62

I had to laugh when I read the "May the fourth be with you" comment, even though I don't know who it originated with on here, because my aunt and uncle got married years ago on that date and it's always been a running family joke since! This is the first place I've ever heard anyone say it outside my family! LOL! Â

The pool terrace is not terribly private from what I'd seen. They set you up outside the adult pool just next to Oceana seafood restaurant. The main advantage for this one is that you're outside and won't have kids running around or anything so it would hopefully at least be relatively quiet. There is an outdoor washroom nearby but it's also a 'wet' washroom that everyone from the pool uses so I'm not sure if you'd want to be in there with your dress/fancy clothes and the next washroom is a bit of a walk inside. I'm not sure if you'd be able to use your own sound out there - someone who had their reception outside would know better. Â We had our reception in the banquet room and while there isn't any significant design to it at all, I wouldn't say that it was necessarily dated either. I think it all depends on how elaborate you want your decorations to be or how creative you are with them. We went fairly simplistic but it seemed to work as we had a pretty casual wedding over all. We had incredible rain and winds the day/night of our wedding and the huge windows along the one wall looking out at the ocean created all the decoration/scenery we needed! It helped as well that the room was air conditioned because with all the rain it was even more muggy out than normal so our grandparents were appreciative for the cooler air and I was *definitely* happy for the AC after getting so hot in my dress. And of course it was completely private so we didn't need to worry about other guests, kids or noise to interupt us. For sound, we just had an ipod connected to some small speakers in one corner and it was definitely enough so you really wouldn't need to worry about renting the sound system. Oh yah and we had the same number of people as you're expecting too so unless your group is REALLY rowdy then I'd say you won't need speakers. The main drawback to the banquet hall is that to get to the bathroom, you have to go outside and down the stairs. Now under regular dry circumstances it wouldn't be a big problem but in the pouring rain it can be a little slippery and our guests were all getting *quite* wet even in just that short trip. It's not totally unmanageable but definitely something to be aware of. Â Did Jacy mention the lagoon area to you?? It would also be a really nice option, it's on the quiet side of the beach on the ocean front and in good weather would be really nice. The sand here is a little more packed down than the main beach so it would be good for tables and chairs and you wouldn't feel like you were getting stuck and sinking down into the sand. Again however if it's really windy or raining then it won't be ideal for you. Washrooms are a bit of a distance away again too. Â Hope all that helps!! Â Â

I think the tickers are just down for a while?? Definitely not fun for everyone here that is yet to be married still - I measured so much with that countdown!! Hopefully the mods get it up and running soon for you!

I don't know about you girls but this new forum is tricky to navigate through! I'm sure there was a ton of work that went into it but I'm still so confused!!

No problem Linds! And sorry ladies I won't be around Thursday. I'll be on the lake in BC for the weekend!

Quote: Originally Posted by Lindslou Hey Meghan Do you need to call ahead to Connie's before bringing your dress there. I'm not sure if I want to get my alterations done at C&C just b/c of the cost. Will Connie take any dress alterations or does she need to see it before? I know that I called ahead but she didn't seem too strict on giving me a specific appointment time. It was more of a heads-up that I would be arriving around a certain time. I found that getting there right when she opened on Saturday mornings (9am) was the easiest for me. I'm not sure on her limitations for what she is or isn't willing to do so you'd likely be best taking your dress in so that she can actually see it and get an idea of what you'd like to do. I had thought/been told I would need my dress hemmed but instead she was able to add a few extra pinches into my pick-up skirt and voila it was the perfect length! The other great thing is that she can get your dress done quickly. With only 4-5 weeks left before my wedding, I thought it would be cutting the time super short when I took my dress in for alterations but Connie shocked me when she said my dress could be ready in just a week or two. That's not to say you should wait until last minute because my dress didn't need much work, whereas another dress might, but she does get her work done very quickly. We also had hubby's pants altered by her and she did a perfect job (we had some saggy pant crotch issues haha!) so they looked great on him!

I'd heard that there was a charge to use the sound system any time other than the ceremony but I'm not sure about whether it would be included in the packages other than the basic/free one that we went with. I took down a small set of speakers and plugged an ipod into them and because we were inside for our reception it was definitely enough for us. I think other than being inside/outside the next issue would be how many guests you had. Our group was about 35 people so even when we got louder, it still wasn't a huge racket. I think I spent about $40 on the speakers which obviously is a HUGE difference from the price it would have been for us to pay for their equipment.

Oh sorry I didn't see your question! I went to Connie's alterations for my dress. Her shop is on the upper floor in a small building on the south west corner of 14th Street & 2nd Avenue NW. There aren't any signs on the front of the building but there is chinese massage place on the upper floor and David Chung Photography is on the main level. (Google Map for Connie's Alterations) and look at the street view to see the place. You can park just behind the building off 2nd ave and there is a door on that same side of the building. Go up the stairs and she's the first door on your right. The only part I found frustrating was her hours only go until 4 or 4:30pm during the week and 9-12 on Saturday. BUT she did a really great job and had very reasonable prices for sure so I was a happy customer. I also have a number of friends who have gone to her for their alterations and everyone I know has been happy.

It's called Pashmina Group. The address is 129 7th Avenue SW between Centre & 1st Street on the south side (but a bit closer to Centre street I think). I had to think for a minute because while I haven't seen the store, I knew the Bay was on the sw corner at that intersection! My office is just a block away from there. I tried to check it out on google street view but of course the camera car didn't go down 7th avenue so you can't quite make the viewer zoom down from the intersection far enough. Hope that helps!! Also, I was married at Dreams Puerto Aventuras and it was a really nice resort! All our guests really appreciated it and even though you're not immediately in either of the main towns, we found it was super easy to get absolutely anywhere! Plus most of the excursion places were close by which I know people appreciated, and if you're thinking of catamaran trips then you can arrange them and leave right from the marina.

AGREED!! I totally don't think it's fair that Billy gets to stay another week just because he voluntarily kept himself from dancing this week. Actually I think that makes it worse! The doctors have totally cleared him and said that he's okay to dance so there shouldn't be ANYTHING stopping him. And it's so obvious that both Alex and Ashley would have continued to dance if there was any chance that they could!! Makes me so mad that the judges kept Billy around another week! Did anyone else notice the faces on Lauren, Adechike and Kent when they announced that all three guys are staying and that two people would go home next week? It's really unfair to them for next week's show too. No one looked very happy at all. And poor Robert! The guy has an AMAZING week and really good reviews from the judges but still winds up in the bottom three and gets told by the judges that he's not growing as much anymore? That totally came out of left field compared to what they'd been saying the night before. UGH! Hehe, yes I know it's just a tv show but I hate when politics get involved and exceptions start to be made. End of story, they should have followed suit from the other injuries and told Billy that since he didn't dance at all this week that he was cut from the competition. Stupid. Just stupid. P.S. I love Lauren too!

Yep - I'm officially not at all impressed with the results of last night's show.

OKay I'm only part way through the elimination show tonight but I'm already TOTALLY not impressed and I'm rather confused about some of the rules that I apparently missed on hearing. I won't comment so as not to spoil anything and of course to wait for the end of the show. This might be trouble.

I got my dress at Mena's and I think it was only $700 or so??!?! I did not have my alterations done there however so I can't comment on those costs (but I can recommend someone for that if you need it!). All I know is that when all was said and done, my dress was still under $1000 including having it cleaned once we got home! Hubby was very impressed as he assumed I'd be at least around $2000-2500.

Quote: Originally Posted by A_J_Mitchell Oh, you missed a GOOD one!! Ashley is now gone due to her injuries!! I think she hurt her ribs and has to rest for 5 weeks.. something along those lines. Aww that sucks, I really liked Ashley!! I understand that they can't really allow a contestant to continue "sneaking" through the elimination shows because of an injury, but I don't entirely think it's fair that they are given such little time to attempt any sort of recovery. Any one of those judges knows that even a few extra days can make a world of difference to an injury (good or bad) with the format of the show being live on back to back days, it's only too obvious that once you get injured then you're gone! I realize waiting an extra week would still be a bit of an unfair advantage for the other contestants, and the injured person could still be automatically placed in the bottom three of the following week, but with the kind of schedules they have in between episodes it just doesn't seem fair the way they have it now That being said, I don't think it would have made a difference for Alex due to the severity of his injury but for other more minor things it might give someone an extra shot! Oh well. I'll just have to try and catch this one on a rerun I guess! Thanks for posting the results

okay ladies I totally missed last Thursday's episode (and I don't have pvr or tivo) so who can give me a summary and tell me who is gone from the show now?!?!?!?!?!

The fans are available still - and I think I actually have 10 rather than 9 which I originally posted. PM me or send your postal code and I can get you a shipping rate.

I know its super frustrating for all those people who aren't rsvp'ing but it's just one of those things that comes with the territory of planning a wedding. We had a handful of friends that never did get back to us and I think just assumed that word would get passed along. I think about a month before our deadline, I sent out a postcard to those people who I hadn't heard from just to remind them that time was running out quickly. It got me a few of those 'no' answers that I'd already been expecting but at least now had confirmed. The people who are going to be there will make sure that you know in lots of time, whether they book early or not.

Quote: Originally Posted by 562Bride OMG!! My wedding will be on August 6th and I haven't been keeping in touch on the forum! I feel so stressed out... But I love the maraca ideas! Question, what's the deal with the photographers? Are you charged extra for not using the resort photographer? At DPA, if you want to bring in an outside photographer then you are required to book them a minimum of one night's stay in the resort if they are a Mexican resident. A few of the girls had been able to contact the resort and get local rates for the room which was cheaper than booking through a travel agent or online from what I heard. Of course if you're bringing a photographer that is from the US then it's likely they're already booking into the resort and therefore would not pay anything additional. You cannot bring in a Mexican photog. resident on a day pass. Hope that answers your questions!

Yay! Glad all your girls got your stuff in the mail Aly - hopefully we can meet one of these days (might not be too hard if you pass by my place all the time!).

I'm totally going into spoilers here so stop reading if you haven't watched last nights' show yet!!! Okay ladies! What did you think There are going to be a LOT of people who will be really upset if Alex has to leave the show because of his injury. It makes sense because it totally wouldn't be fair to the other dancers if he got a "free" ride through any elimination weeks but at the same time I can't imagine him being in the bottom three for any reason of his own doing. And after giving up his place in the ballet school, it's got to be such a crushing ordeal for him. I really like both Ashley and Lauren and I hope they hang on a little longer for the girls side of things. I don't know if Jose or Adechike are going to be around a lot more and if poor Robert is in the bottom three again it will be so sad!! And I hate to say this BUT the first dance that Billy Bell did last night actually suited him and was the first where I could kind of agree with everyone who loves him. But the second dance he did was AWFUL and I'm so glad the judges didn't (all) think he was brilliant for a change. Oooh, plus it was awesome that they had Katy come back for an all-star role as she was most definitely a favourite of mine!!! I was really bored with the judges comments last night. They all seemed to be saying the same things for each dancer but maybe twisting the words slightly differently. It seems that more and more each week they end up with something in focus such as getting into the role, being believable, adding the in-between bits etc. and that's what they go on and on about in the entire episode. I hope it doesn't continue the same way until the end of the season Oh yes! And some of you had mentioned wanting to see choreography from Mandy Moore and she does two or three routines this week and of course they were really great!

Ooh I like the paper lanterns on the chairs like that! I think it's definitely do-able! My only additional thoughts are that you might want something weighted in them in case it's a bit windy. They might just pick up the breeze so easily and fly away on you!

Slippers, iron-ons, neck pillows and first aid kits are now sold. Everything else is still available!

Ugh we're still just finishing up our thank you's as well I did an order online and had to wait nearly two weeks for those to come in and they were awful looking (although hubby couldn't figure out what was wrong with them! oi!) so I had to redo my design so that I could save it in the proper format for a NEW order, which I bought a sample first (add more wait time) and then it was good so I had to put in a whole order (add more wait time AGAIN). So after nearly two months of waiting on orders to come in, I've got most of the envelopes addressed and stamped, plus a few pictures for everyone printed off. Last night I handed hubby the group that I wanted him to do and he says "I have to actually WRITE in these things?! We don't just sign them and that's that??" OMG, I nearly flipped out and couldn't believe that he didn't know better. And then I got in trouble for not giving him the kind of job that he could do - like stuffing pictures in to the envelopes :S Sheesh! Tracy! I'm glad to hear that you're feeling alright these days and that your stitches are out now And I think it was for the best not to have an AHR right now with your surgery and house stuff in full swing. Maybe let your mom plan one for your 1yr anniversary when things aren't quite as chaotic! Oh and yes the boat (well, barge I guess?!) we'll be out on is for a party. One of my bridesmaids is getting married in about 7 weeks so it's for her stagette that we're going. The boat sleeps about 16 people, has a full kitchen/bathroom, has a hot tub, and slide off the back. So you drive out on the lake and there are a bunch of places that you dock on shore over night and then head out driving and goofing around on the lake during the day time. It is lots of fun but can be a little crazy too so I'm trying not to think about it too much and just be happy for my girlfriend!

Quote: Originally Posted by chell44 If the first aid kits fall through, I'll take them! Where did you find them? The first aid kits are sold at most of the chain dollar stores here. I know lots of US brides have been able to find them pretty easily from what I remember.

Fantastic pics Taylor!! I'm so glad to hear that you had fun and just let the extra details slide on by. Looking at your pics made me a little more excited for a houseboating weekend I've got coming up that I've been kind of reserved about. Thanks for the boost!