echo2_62

Quote: Originally Posted by jen_in_negril Hi Everyone, I'm a newbie to the site but I'm getting married in April 2010 in Jamaica! Reading all the posts in this string has me nervous. We just decided and booked our wedding last month so all my planning has to be done within 6 months. All the info I get from this forum definately helps! Hey Jen, welcome to the site and to our AWESOME thread haha! As the other girls said, it's probably best that you get out to look for your dress soon but I know that many of the larger stores especially will sell off the rack so if you find the dress for you then you're set! I think you'll do just fine as long as you keep on top of it. And that's awesome you already have 15 guests booked too. It's so nice when people start booking their trips. Quote: Originally Posted by KimmyG Prices at our resort came down a bit so people are finally starting to book their trips! Did you other Mexico gals find this as well? I haven't checked the rates at our resort yet, but I know that I did get a good single night rate the other day when I booked the room for my photographer. I have a couple friends who have really been procrastinating about booking so hopefully this will tip the scales for them

I am totally stressing about what to do for my accessories, namely the bra and LACK OF PRESENCE! The back of my dress is really open so I won't be able to wear anything that wraps around my body, so I may be left resorting to the stick-on kind! While many would just suggesting I go 'au naturel' I'm just not sure if that's for me! (and Tracy, pardon my very poor french reference there LOL!). That and I still haven't picked out any jewelery which I find hard to do with such a vague idea of what my dress looks like on me and what it would match best with! I really hate my pictures of when I first tried on my dress so they really don't help me much! Aaaaaaannd, I haven't even decided if I want to wear a veil (although FI has already requested I not wear any of the styles that cover my face or are the birdcage style!!!). I guess I'm just thankful that I still have a good three months to figure it out since my dress isn't expected in until February!! Eeeek!

Don't forget that it's more likely once everyone actually get to Cuba, they will be having SO much fun and your wedding will be so wonderful that they will regret having ever thought about not going! We will all have our own stresses leading up to the wedding, which I've just come to accept, so it's all about making sure your wedding memories trump all the pre-wedding negativity!

lydiag - it sucks that people are questioning their decision to go to your DW if you're also having a small ceremony here for the legal part. We're not inviting anyone other than witnesses for our legal part, and pretty much just making it a paper work necessity. Oh and we haven't told anyone that the wedding in mexico isn't really the legal one!! I think that if you explain to your (nasty) guests that your wedding in mexico is the one that you intended to have the most meaning for yourselves and for your guests with, and that the ceremony at home is more about getting the paperwork out of the way then maybe they'll understand a little better. Maybe you could also mention that if you were sticking with just the intimate ceremony here, then they might not have even received any invite at all so they should be thankful to go to Cuba with you! Try not to let their comments get to you because really, it isn't their decision as to who you invite to ANY part of your wedding. If they feel that inconvenienced then maybe they should look into transferring their trip to someone who would be much more happy to celebrate with you!

tracy if you come out here it would have to be an arm workout - the kind you get from lifting a glass repeatedly And I bet we could hoop Suzy into a get-together as well, so long as it isn't within the next month while she's gone. But I'm up for it whenever!

Tracy - I'm glad to hear that you had some luck with the cloths. It just wouldn't be fair if you felt worse after your workout when it can be difficult enough to get into the workout in the first place! Keep it up!! Also, I'm not sure if any of you had seen the thread here for Jillian Michaels 30 day shred (it's a dvd workout) but I'm planning to start it this weekend and thought I'd see if anyone here wanted to start with me! They have levels 1, 2 & 3 but I've heard from lots of the other girls that level 1 kicked butt right from the start! You can pick up the dvd at chapters for sure, and I've heard Walmart sometimes has it a bit cheaper (and otherwise I didn't look around too much more). It's set up so that really you just need some hand weights and a floor mat and is about 30min long including warm up/cool down. Let me know if you want to go at this with me!!

Kim! You're pictures are beautiful and you look gorgeous!! The colours are so vivid and clear too. Wow!

My girlfriend and I are both getting married this summer but both had to limit the sizes of our wedding parties. Since we couldn't make it work to be in each others wedding parties, we're "assigning" each other a role to take care of a certain part of the others wedding. For example - I am the Wedding Reception Design Coordinator (haha, yes there was some wine drinking involved with this title!) and my girlfriend wanted me to be in charge of all her setup details because she knows that I'll be every bit as particular about getting things done as she would. Now I realize this wouldn't specifically work for a DW, but hopefully the idea is something you can use to include the girls in some way other than an "official" bridesmaid position.

Hey girls! I'm totally new onto this thread but after reading through it the last few days i decided to give this a try! I bought the Making the Cut book last night that I've just started reading through and I'm really interested in since FI and I have been making a point of trying to cook better meals every night for ourselves and i figured any diet changes would be easy enough to incorporate at this time. I bought the 30 day shred dvd as well of course but haven't started it yet although i'm totally determined to before the end of the week! I'm in this to lose about 14-16lbs which seems to be kind of the target weight loss for this book/dvd combo so I'm really hoping it works!!

Tracy - I think the job market here all depends on what you do. I've had friends who were laid off in February (or around there) and they still have not found work again. I'd imagine that your being able to speak french fluently may help but I really don't know for sure. I live in Calgary and despite how much its grown in the last few years I still really like it. I used to live in southern Ontario and would say that I definitely prefer it here, although I've started to realize some things that I really miss but not sure that I would move back for. There are still lots of opportunities around southern Alberta, and if you were willing to move out here anyways then you have the luxury of just going wherever the jobs are, as opposed to someone who wanted to be in a specific place. I would say that if you kept an eye on job postings/listings anywhere that you could for a couple months, you would probably get a feel for what is available pretty quickly. I can add, however, that the cost of living itself - housing and stuff - is higher than out east in general. I couldn't give you % rates or anything but I know that what we paid for our house here is more than what we'd pay in ontario for the same surroundings, neighborhood, access etc etc. Just something to keep in mind. OH and your comment on the 6mm or 8mm rings? Those are the most common widths for mens rings. So you would order a size 8.5 (measurement around the finger) and a 6mm width for example. Does that help? You can get womens bands in different widths as well of course, not just the mens.

I had initially wanted to go with a TA but in the end I did not. For all the prices that I was seeing in my own searches, it seemed as though the TA's were consistently coming back with prices at least a few hundred dollars ABOVE. With their rates, the resorts I wanted would essentially have been unaffordable for most of our guests. Plus i found that the travel agents were only providing quotes for a limited number of tour operators which I was not very happy with. We also had to consider that we would be having guests travel from three different provinces. In the end, we booked our own trip through WestJet Vacations and a number of our guests have done the same as WestJet has most consistently had the best rates. WestJet does offer group rates as well but we weren't able to take advantage of them. Also, we'd indicated our preferred travel dates to our guests but also gave them optional dates so they could book based on what worked best for their schedules. We've found that 95% of our guests haven't had any problems and have used a couple different airlines with various offers to book their vacations. Oh and TA's I had initially worked with said they would be able to put me in contact with the WC at our resort but beyond that everything else was up to me. In the end I didn't find the booking process a hassle at all to take on myself (and we invited about 50 guests) and it was honestly less frustrating than working with the TA. As some of the other girls have said, it just depends on how many guests you have, how much else you have on the go for planning, and your own preference! I feel that I'm typically pretty savvy when it comes to travel arrangements so maybe that helped me in this case!! Good luck!!

To be honest, I've never found a VS bra that actually fit me well. They always just seemed to be a little bit off. Okay so maybe I have no idea how to fit myself properly or something, but regardless I can still tell what is comfy or not! I'd love to get a little boost! And I got the room booked for my photographer this morning, after deciding that I was probably better to go the safe route and book it while there was a good sale on instead of waiting until last minute to try and save a few bucks but risk not getting anything. AND I had remembered that my girlfriend booked a previous trip through itravel2000.com and received a discount for phoning to book instead of going online, so I did the same thing this morning and got an extra $20 taken off the posted price! So IMO it was money well spent. The funny thing is, since FI was so opposed to getting a photographer in the first place, I didn't even tell him that we'd have to cover the room charge on top of it (resort requirements) so this will just be one of those things that slides under the carpet for a rainy day in 20 years when I can say 'remember when...' because it will be all said and done! LOL! Shan - glad to hear that Brian picked his ring out! We still have to find mine, and figure out if FI wants either the 6mm or the 8mm. I think he'll end up going for the 6mm though because he doesn't really wear jewelery of any sort in which case the 8mm might be too much for him.

Hahahhaa! I'm going to turn into a Tootsie Roll by the end of the week! I Looooooooove them so much!

I'm not sure how your numbers would work out but what if you just mixed up the wedding party altogether? On your side have guy (cousin), girl, guy and then on your FI's side have girl, guy, girl... or something along those lines. That way you wouldn't have to worry about having your guy cousin feel out of place? And I agree with the other suggestions to maybe try incorporating your younger cousin in to the wedding somehow if you're just not comfortable with having him as part of the wedding party. As for your two girlfriends, I think that if you can explain your dilemma to them, they should understand. It is difficult to choose between the long-time friends who you may not see as much and the right-now friends who you see all the time but it sounds like they would know you well enough to realize that you aren't trying to favour one over the other. Although my sister is mostly recognized as my maid of honour, I don't think I ever officially stated that, simply because I felt that if the girls were in my wedding party at all then they didn't need a ranking or title beyond that.

Oh I'm so glad that she checked out ok for the most part! Obviously it's not that uncommon for an outdoor cat to get fleas anyways but I think you just have to make sure to wash your clothes in hot water that have come into contact with her just to be safe? As for GC's 'baggage' I think you'll find in time that it will definitely be manageable. She may not have been abused but sounds like she has learned to be untrusting of people and their approach at any rate. If she's still purring and everything then that is definitely a good sign, and if you can handle the occasional chomp that is a bit harder, I think the consistent handling of her will start to take its effect. You could also try associations more, like reaching down to hand-feed treats so that she begins to connect that a hand/arm reaching towards her is an okay thing and can even be rewarding! We've learned lately that our kitty has moods about the level of attention she wants from you. There are some days when she'll flop right over and snuggle against you and let you pet her belly, while other days she simply wants to be near you and not have you pet her (at which point she rather gently 'bites' at your hand so you know to please stop!). It really sounds like she just has conflicting instincts of whether to trust you or not which, like people, can only be established over time. It may take a bit of time but keep at it and I bet that she'll come around soon! Thank you SO much for the update! It really is wonderful to hear how things are going! Can't wait to see pictures!

It IS really nice that we live close by. There seem to be a number of BDW girls here in Calgary and more around the area as well but we don't know them as well. Suzy and I met up for coffee the other night and I can tell you, we spell trouble for each other!

I'm having this same problem as well because although our invitations did not include '& guest' for any of our singles, we've had a couple friends that have just assumed they can bring someone if they want to because they are paying their own way. I agree that for the odd person this wouldn't be a problem because they aren't part of our "normal" group so they won't know anyone at our wedding really... but a couple of these people we hang out with ALL the time so will have no problems fitting in. I don't want to be mean and say that they don't deserve to have a guest come but at the same time we're trying to be conscious of our numbers too. We only invited 50 people as this was the high end max for us and we knew that it was likely we'd get close to that number based on the specific people invited. Arg... not sure what to do!

Quote: Originally Posted by Melidell I need to start Christmas shopping, too, because I'll have to mail just about everything out. FI and I agreed to take it easy this year with the wedding coming up. We tend to go a bit crazy at Christmas so this is overdue anyway. Still, I can't wait- it'll be the first Christmas in our new home so I don't feel like I'll need much more than that! We had our first Christmas in our new house just last year too! It was the only excuse we had for FI to NOT make it home for the holidays and seriously ALL his family commented on it at some time. Guess what, people miss a christmas now and then when they aren't 15 yrs old anymore! I personally haven't been home for Christmas in like five years We've been trying to establish our own tradition of going skiing/snowboarding for a week at christmas/new years but it sounds like this year we won't make it. FI's niece is having her first christmas (although he doesn't entirely care - his family expects us there) and then friends are getting married at new years eve. Oh the decisions. Either way, I need a real tree and my stocking hung and stuffed full! You'll have a great christmas in your new house, I'm sure of it! Quote: Originally Posted by SuzyQ76 Ok, this will be quick....I promise - for those of you anywhere else in the world here is MY brief experience with our medical system in Alberta: 1. Go to the doctor for an ulcer 2. Get Bombarded by my Strong Eastern European Doctor about my thyroid and requisitioned to immediately do a full blood analysis/urinalysis/pelvic ultrasound?? (not sure where that came from?) Hope you all have a fabulous Halloween! ) I tried to make it quick, sorry...just ask Meghan, this is pretty good for me! lol ;o) Hey Suzy! Okay i'm kind of giggling that you forgot to tell your doctor why you were there but it doesn't surprise me because of how much your brain jumps around LOL! Okay mine too! And the req. for a full blood test and ultrasound is normal and good too. I had all of that stuff done when I was getting tested as well. It's not entirely crazy afterall

No problem!! I realized it just puts it into perspective really quickly looking at it that way! And I love that my smiley face guy on the end is doing jumping jacks too!

Update: Price has decreased to $65 CDN for all ten lanterns.

Okay so motivation time!! April 1st is in exactly 22 weeks (yesterday!). So I'm going to assume that each workout we do is 30min. minimum whether its a run on the treadmill or elliptical, some weight lifting, stair climbing etc. and do some basic math for us all. # workouts/week = # hours workout time left until April 1 1 workout/wk = 11 hours total workout time (barely more than you spend at work in a day, including some commute time) 2 workout/wk = 22 hours total (still not even time between two breakfast meals) 3 workout/wk = 33 hours total (now we're getting there) 4 workout/wk = 44 hours total (getting the idea here??) The reason I wanted to point this out is because I wanted to show that we need to be doing our workouts, even a short half hour at home, as frequently as we can because just putting in an hour per week right now means that we're saying that we can't commit the equivalent of ONE FULL DAY to working out and getting in shape for our wedding day. And the memories and pictures from our wedding day will be part of our lives forever! I will admit that after work in the evenings, I am more than content to sit down and watch tv and let my brain just turn right off. But when I worked out the other night i was almost doing the same thing. I was totally distracted watching tv, except that I was doing my crunches, squats etc on the floor instead of doing nothing on my couch. And I realize that I'm lucky because I don't have kids to worry about but I think we all often forget how easy it is to get that little bit of time in, even while relaxing! HOW'S THAT FOR MOTIVATION!?!? HAHAHA!!!!!

Stina - I don't think it's crazy at all that you want your BM's to enjoy their gifts!! It would be be really strange if they all loved the exact same things anyways! I don't think you have to get all three of them identical items, but you can still get them the same item to suit their style. For example, you could get them all earrings, but for the partier go with big hoops, the artsy one get handmade glass beaded ones and the fancy one go with drop earrings with crystals or stones. So they're all getting the same object - earrings - but you can personalize them to each girl. I personally think that in choosing your gifts to suit each person, they'll appreciate them more knowing that you tailored the gift especially to them.

Quote: Originally Posted by ebredhawk melidell, it's about time we got into the 5 month range!!! we're some of the last in the month! meghan, i know i'm coming into this a little bit late, but have you shown your FI moments that matters work? that's what tipped the scales in my favor as far as photography goes. these will be your memories of your day and you don't want to have to settle!! let us know what you decide! i'm right there with you on the christmas shopping too! i hate being stressed at the last minute and not being able to enjoy the season! I wish it was only as easy as showing FI the MTM photog. work! He's got a bit of a preconceived notion of a DW based on his brothers from a few years back. THEY only had pictures taken by friends and family and those turned out just fine, so why would we be different. Plus, he thinks that no one even bothers hanging any pictures after a few years so why does it matter having them stuffed into an album someplace. And, why pay all that money when you really only need four or five pictures. YES, I'm seriously repeating his words. Us & parents, us & wedding party, us... oh, so I'm only at three... you get the idea? So I'm hoping that just having our photographers for a couple hours and not including the ceremony (or guests honestly) then he'll be more agreeable. Plus I told him he doesn't have to smile for all of them either Quote: Originally Posted by doblauvelt Meghan- I don't think I'll be Christmas shopping this year -=X With the wedding coming up FI and I are totally at a financial crisis... we already decided we weren't going to get each other gifts. Maybe just gifts for our families. OH, I should've mentioned this earlier. Last Saturday I had my "surprise" bachelorette party. I'm still waiting on pix but I had a wild night that included male strippers and bar hopping lol. I'm not all for the male strippers but the experience was fun, although I was pulled up on stage for a lap dance. Oh god, can't wait to show you guys pix whenever my friends post them. FI doesn't seem to think we're doing gifts but I still will, even if they are more limited than other years. I'm a HUGE stocking person so he knows that I better have one stuffed and overflowing on Christmas morning as a minimum! LOL! Plus, if I get it started early then I can check people off and not even think about it as the holidays get closer. And I got a laugh about your bachelorette party! I wasn't planning on anything traditional (i want to go winter paintballing!) but I still know that my sister and my BM's are TOTALLY in cahoots planning something for me. I'm a little scared! I'm glad you had a great time though, even if it was just for the experience!

Awesome thank you!! There are a couple of us girls in Calgary that have been looking for mugs in Canada. This is great!

Shoot, Tonya I forgot to quote you in on this but I like the one on the bottom right the best, but maybe I would just adjust the position of your wording or flower image so that they don't overlap quite as much - just so the flowers show in the gap between your details for the group activity and the welcome dinner. But I love the orchids with it and I think that image shows your colours the best and the red centers give it a little bit extra too!! And I'm totally going to save your template too since I'm not quite sure yet what I want to do for a brochure, or welcome, or even just an insert in the OOT bags so that everyone has an idea of the few things we've scheduled for the week. Thanks! Quote: Originally Posted by staceyg Ahhhh...yes that makes much more sense now! I agree with CaribbeanLover - if it were me I'd book in the room for the photographers at the cheaper rate it is at now - better safe than sorry. Would hate for there not be any last minute deals or rooms available at the last minute. Plus, while it sounds like having additional photographers there to get more photos would be nice, I'd be concerned that there could be discomfort or even confusion among them. Thanks for mentioning about the confusion or discomfort. I definitely hadn't thought of it that way and you make total sense. I'm going to call the tour operator that I found the deal with and see what options they give you if a room comes up cheaper down the road. I mean, the hard part is that I'm not sure if my photographers will be able to use the room over night because their schedule is super busy already, but I guess that's just one of those things that I'll have to live with to get the pictures I want!! Thanks for all the other comments too! I'll likely be booking today! Quote: Originally Posted by Melidell Check it out -my ticker is in the five month range now! Whoo hooo! Isn't that exciting! Mine bumped down just over a week ago and I did a little dance. For me personally, I have to be under the x months, 2 weeks mark to really feel like I'm that many months away though. Haha, and yet I'm still trying to convince FI that 5 1/2 months is soon! I'm totally in a hurry up and wait mode lately though so I can't wait to get into that four month marker (even though it'll be CHRISTMAS at that point!). Has anyone else here started their Christmas shopping yet? I'm totally determined to get it done by December 6. A weird date I know, but that's the first weekend in December so that's my final weekend to get it done. I doubt that FI and I will do too much for each other but we have to send most of our family's gifts away so I need to have them early.