echo2_62

hehehe Tracy I'm going to be no help at all on this one!! There's so many details that I haven't told my bridesmaids specifically because I want them to get some of the surprise part for the wedding!! So I've made random comments about gifts for the guests, or thank you cards etc without ever actually mentioning that I'm doing an entire OOT bag for everyone! My sister might know but that's it Or I'll work on half a project with one girl, and then finish it alone, or with one of the other girls so that none of them really know what I'm doing! Hehehe, I did all the labels for my med. packets (Advil Imodium etc) with a couple girls who are coming to the wedding and just said "oh, my friend was having problems with her printer so I said I'd help her out!" so that they wouldn't know for sure if it was for me or not But that's just the way I like doing things. If it doesn't directly affect them (such as their dresses) then I'd rather leave it a surprise. Okay SO... you could say something along the lines of "The clock is ticking down quickly now that we're in the last couple of months and that means I'm going to need all the help I can get! I've got a (small) list of tasks/items/jobs/projects that need to be finished so I'm hoping that we can go through them to decide which of you can help me and pick a time to do them. The sooner we can knock these off the better (and who says we can't knock back some drinks along the way to make it all a little more fun!) so let's get started!" I dunno... something like that?!?!?!

Thanks for double checking Raykel!! I only need to order 50 mugs I think but it's good to know what numbers they have in each package. My friend in Florida would just end up sending them to me here as she isn't able to come to the wedding... but judging by some of the other boxes she's sent for me the shipping might end up being close to the brokerage fees anyways. Now i just have to figure out whether it would be worth the shipping price to leave out the middle man step. Hmmm? Having that info from you definitely helps though so thanks again!!

Thanks for double checking Raykel!! I only need to order 50 mugs I think but it's good to know what numbers they have in each package. My friend in Florida would just end up sending them to me here as she isn't able to come to the wedding... but judging by some of the other boxes she's sent for me the shipping might end up being close to the brokerage fees anyways. Now i just have to figure out whether it would be worth the shipping price to leave out the middle man step. Hmmm? Having that info from you definitely helps though so thanks again!!

I give up! LOL!

they're taking him away for a ski weekend. That's the big secret. All this mess over a weekend away skiing. And p.s. Michele - I am SO jealous that you're done work now until your wedding! I would love to have the time off and just feel like I've got hte time to get my home life in order again!

OMG the guys are going to love the masks! What a fantastic idea!

#1,6,13 & 15 are my fav's! I can't decide between them

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Well the crappy news was that I'd already told my friends that I couldn't believe they wouldn't tell me and I was completely serious when I said that I wanted to know. And still nothing. The GOOD news is that I've got the very best sister in the entire world. We talk all the time and are really close so as soon as she figured out *something* was bothering me she called to find out. I was a little hysterical by that time but as soon as she heard the way people were acting and why I was so upset she pretty much instantly told me exactly where the guys were taking FI and what the general part of the plan was for the weekend. I started feeling calmer almost instantly just because I finally knew!!!! My sister felt so bad that I'd gotten so upset and she said she never really understood either why everyone was going out of their way to be secretive. I feel so much better now although I'm still not sure if I'm terribly happy with my friends of course! I'm just going to try and let it all go now since I got what I was after in finding out where he'll be. And I'll be damned if I'm the one who ruins his surprise after all this mess!! Thanks everyone for putting up with my freaking out the last few days about all this! This is probably the first real insane moment that I've had since we dealt with FI's parents about five months ago! Let's hope that's the end of it!

Holy Smokes!!! FIVE DAYS A WEEK with a trainer?!?!?!?! That's CRAZY! You're going to look totally fab by the time you walk down the aisle. Way to go on another two pounds too!

hey Mel can you double check that link you posted? I can't get it to work and I'm not sure if its my work messing it up or no... thanks!

ha, dbl post explaining the dbl posts!

The dbl posting is because the mods are trying to update the server and tons of people have been having issues in the process. I think they just can't sort through all the issues quickly enough. Strange thing... I thought I'd totally figured out how to delete the dbl posts because I managed to delete one earlier today, but now it won't let me so go figure. I've been getting TONS of dbl posts for my messages but trying to be patient!

okay weird.. I thought I had solved the mystery of how to actually DELETE double posts but now it won't let me do it Sorry!!

Mel that sucks about the mugs. I'd been looking at the same site but could just never settle on anything. I've been trying to work through promopays.ca but their replies are VERY inconsistent lately. They've got one guy who handles western canada and he'll email back most of the time when I send in a question, but he doesn't answer very clearly with much details. So then I have to reply and request some clarification and I never get it either So while I could totally get some decent prices through them (maybe not as good as discountmugs) it will take a while to sort things out. I have to say however that promopays.ca has much better selection than discountmugs so I'm hoping that we can work something out. And another update here... I was whining and bitching about my friends the other day who were totally keeping any details about FI's bach party from me, and laughing because i was getting upset. Well a g.f. of mine (who is attending the wedding with her b.f.) who is also in my office brought u p FI's thing when we went for coffee this morning and she flat out told me that she wouldn't be giving me details either. So now I'm even more annoyed because nevermind that the people planning it are keeping me in the dark, I have a strong feeling that in the email to all the guys they made sure to tell everyone to keep it all from me as well! At this point I'm feeling so let down and it's like no one else could care at all because they're all in on it. I know that the girls might still be planning my party sometime the same weekend but nothing is for sure yet and right now I honestly want to tell them NOT to book it then so that I can ditch town and go back home to Ontario for the weekend and hide there. I honestly just don't get why they're so set on even telling me where they're going! It isn't like I can't be without him for the weekend, and it's not like I've never spent time apart from him.... I just always knew where he was!! And I'm feeling like I'm taking this WAY over the top now because its bothering me so much and I feel guilty that I want to say Screw You to all my friends who are attending our wedding and doing all this planning!! What a mess this is!!

OMG! After going through over TWO YEARS worth of everyone's pets (which I loved doing!) I had a huge list of favourites that was too big to reply to!! I loooooove seeing all your animals! And here's a few of my own to add. Our boxer is Jessie, she's about 7yrs old we think. Got her from Boxer Rescue Ontario as a foster dog and ending up adopting her! We kept fostering for a while and I miss it so much! We were told she wouldn't be able to live with other dogs or cats but as you can see, she doesn't mind so much Our first cat Zissou (pronounced Zee-Zoo - from the Bill Murray movie the Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) is the orange one and I got him for FI as a Christmas present - taken directly from a friends barn! He's just over two but he's a big boy. Our second cat Onxy (or Ony, Puma, Lemon) was rescued from my sisters neighbors house in -30deg.C winter weather. She was living in our bathroom in this picture because she had to be checked out by the vet still. After we adopted her she lived in the basement for a little over six months before she would come up to the main floor. It's been over a year now since we got her and she still barely goes up to the top floor of our house. She's about average size but she is so light and tiny - we have no idea how her last owner could have just abandoned her.

I don't think it would be a big deal to have both events at the same bar. I'm sure over the course of the week you'll be at all of the bars a number of times (if you're anything like me that is!!) so at least this way you will be consistent which might be a nice bonus for your guests. They won't have to think about which bar they're supposed to be at on which day - they just show up at the same one every time!

double trouble

Tracy - you're right that the beaches on the Puerto Vallarta are not as nice as the ones down the Mayan coast. The ocean isn't nearly as nice either... much dirtier and darker etc not the beautiful shades of blue and green that you see in the Caribbean and not as warm either. There's lots of reasons for that... currents etc but I won't bore everyone!! LOL! For anyone that hasn't been to MX, you have to make sure that you go right up and down the coast (Playa del Carmen to Tulum is I think 40 min on the bus?!) and also get over to Cozumel. We rented scooters on cozumel last time and booted around the roads along the shoreline for the day and had the most amazing time. Apparently on a good day you can do some surfing too which we're hoping to get this year!!!! The beaches are incredibly hot so make sure to take a big towel to sit on!!

well as much as Erin seemed to know they didn't want to do Mexico, we knew that's where we wanted to be! I'd heard from a number of people that the "all-inclusives" and resort standards in DR or Cuba arent' quite comparable to the ones in Mexico, simply because each just has their own ways of living. Nothing wrong with any place, just different. And we kind of liked the familiarity of going back to the Mayan Riviera since we already know all the fun things we can, and will, be doing!! We also knew that we didn't want to go down the Puerto Vallarta coast because that's where FI's brother had his DW a few years back and I've been battling enough trying to make this our own, and not have it as an event that their family just compares back all the time. In that regard it would have made sense to choose Cuba or DR but we're happy with our choice!

I'm really sorry that you've had to go through all this and I can guarantee and good number of the ladies here have gone through something similar. You've probably heard the saying "weddings bring out the worst in people" and unfortunately DW brides are no exception to that rule! We had problems with FI's parents to the point that they refused to speak to us for six weeks (a long time by his mom's standards) and even after the fact FI isn't sure how much of a relationship he wants to have with them anymore. If you and FI are honestly happy with the plans that you've made so far, then I would simply explain to his parents that there are reasons you had asked for their input from the beginning and that you'd done your best to accommodate the family and still have the kind of wedding that you both will be happy with. If they can't understand that six months after the booking is too late, then that's their own fault. For us, FI's parents knew that they would never be able to live with themselves if they missed their youngest sons wedding (he's only got one older brother too) so they came around eventually. You just have to agree between the two of you on what you really want and put your foot down. Let them be the ones to screw up and don't feel guilty for it at all!!!

True Mel... you do have the longest cold season out of the group... but I know Calgary was as cold for a while there like two months ago or around that! It was when degrees celcius were the same as degrees fahrenheit!! Super yucky! The last (and first) time I went to Mexico was also in April and while we were down there we heard from all our friends that it was snowing and cold and pretty awful so we were all dreading the return home more than usual. BUT, just our luck a chinook happened to blow through in less than a day before we came back so straight off the plane I was in jeans and a t-shirt... which isn't too bad to deal with at all! It's no bikini and +30 but for calgary it was great!

dbl post sorry

LOL - Suzy's future job: lobbying Canada Post on behalf of brides across the country to have year-round wedding stamps at various rates with a reasonable selection of pictures! p.s. I think I actually snorted from laughing at myself for this comment

haha okay that makes sense then! It sucks that they won't use USPS! I'm half tempted to send it to my friend in Florida since there is free US shipping right now and then have her pass it on. At least that way I know I won't get the brokerage or custom charges!! But at that point it almost seems to work out close enough to the price for ordering from promopays.ca. Plus discountmugs didn't have quite as much selection as the other... why is there so much detail for such a simple purchase!!!!