echo2_62

S2 is one of the bridal stores here in Calgary. They are owned by the same people as another store called Sonia's. Basically S2 is a slightly more trendy or upscale version of the more traditional wedding gowns at Sonia's. S2 actually had a decent selection of destination dresses actually! There were a couple there that I liked, but I'd already found mine I'm glad both Jenna and Janna had good luck there!

tracy, have you seen the little fake tea lights that you can get?? they might work in your paper lanters -Flameless LED tealight candle Not sure if you've already purchased anything yet but I'm going to order some things from http://www.lunabazaar.com because they have tons of colours and reasonable selections. I was looking at either the 10in. square lanterns in plum purple with the little tea lights in them or the white 8in. rectangle lanterns that have a better base and light already with them.

oooh, I just found a page that might help add an extra touch to any centerpieces... on a bit of a tangent google search I came across a webpage that has different little LED lights that are battery operated and some of them can go into water as well, and come in different colours. The prices aren't that unreasonable from some other options that I've seen and they ship to both Canada and the US without any problems. Floral Lights Erin - I thought of you because you were thinking of adding the floating candles in the top of your vases, but with the water submersible lights here, you could have the whole vase lit from the bottom, and just hide the little light thing in your rocks or whatever you decide to put in the bottom of the vase itself. They seem to have a pretty good battery life so even if the vases were assembled the morning of your wedding, they should still be good by the evening.

Thanks Kim!! I'll start looking around to see what prices are available through them. I don't think there is too big a hurry so hopefully I can get a sale price along the way.

Very pretty! I really like the beading on it!

OMG I AM IN LOVE!!! I used to work with Boxer Rescue Ontario and I know a number of our members (lotsa foster mama's!) were also fosters for the BT rescue there, and I think may have worked with your rescue along the way. I have to say that boxers take my first place because of their size but BT's are absolutely right up there and I'm trying to convince FI that we should get one from rescue if the situation was right! They are SO CUTE and I absolutely love your pic of Roja!!! Thank you so much for being a foster mommy as I know the ins and outs and how difficult it can be sometimes. I hope to get back into it one of these days.

I was thinking of looking for acryllic vases instead of glass ones if I go this route for the centerpieces. I know they are still a little bit heavy, but might not be as much so as glass ones would be, plus you wouldn't have to worry as much about them breaking. I think both Superstore and Walmart had some, the last I can remember. You could also ask your wedding party to each carry a vase in their bags so that the weight of the heaviest items is distributed out a little more than taking all of it yourself.

I'm hoping that I can get some advice relating to etiquette for an engagement party of a close girlfriend, even though she's not having a DW. Honestly, I've only had a few friends locally who have been married recently (many others have but in a different province) and none of my married friends here have had an engagement party. So now I've got an engagement party coming up this weekend and I'm wondering if we're supposed to bring a gift of any sort? As best I know they haven't registered anywhere yet so that option is a bit restricted anyways, but I know another girlfriend who received a LOT of money at her engagement party so I don't know if that is the standard. I would just feel bad if I showed up empty handed without realizing that I was breaking some rules, especially since she is a close friend (and both she and her fiance are attending MY DW in the spring, before having their wedding in late summer).

Quote: Originally Posted by Rainfall I went with Ellite Travel they are out of Florida. I couldn't book one night through the website either, I've never even called them i've only gone through my TA. My wedding is on a Friday too. It actually came to to 420 USD fo 2 people in a garden view room for one night. Hahaha, maybe I should just get your TA to book an extra room for me and I'll take care of the price! LOL! How did you find this TA if they're booked out of Florida.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jenna20 Hey Ladies...Great info! Ive done some looking around in Calgary at the Dollarama and Dollar stores. Walmart sounds like an awesome place to get things. I had seen during back to school large packs of hand sanitizer at Staples. Meghan those bags sound super cute! I wish I could get started on this...dragging still with not knowing when and how many guests. eek! I realized the other day that if I can hold myself off a few months then Christmas will be a great time to pick up smaller sized items because they'll all be out for stocking stuffers! So Jenna don't worry that you can't order things right now, it might work out in your favour anyways! The bags are going to be my biggest challenge I think. I'm picky about colours and function too. We'll have to see how it goes.

Amy - you might have to call to find out the coil keychains but check out: Party Packagers - toronto party supplies. I'm not familiar with the store personally but someone else posted the link previously and I kept it just in case.

Well it is a little bit odd that you'd have to get your measurements done at Sonia's but when I was there, part of the store was an alterations room so I imagine that it's just easier for them to coordinate, plus then the person doing the measurements is also doing the alterations for you? And they prob. don't do appts. because a fitting takes so much less time than trying on a bunch of dresses! It's just a matter of getting all your info written down. Good for you trying to stay positive and patient selecting your resort. It is a big decision and in the end you want to do what works best for you all around, not just in one aspect. Kepp at it

Yay Christina! I just had my 7-month last week and I was totally excited too!

Erin - I totally understand what you mean about having a 'loop' of the stem and whatnot and I would love if your flower lady could take pictures as she goes (and I'm sure a few others here would too!!). Christina - I found that the inkjet printer was the way to go for printing my invites, even though it was a little slow. I tried doing mine on the laser printer at work and because each page is spit out so quickly often times the ink will smear from page to page. It was a serious headache. jerseykitten - I would have definitely sent my parents the envelope with the upside down address!!! They'd have thought it was just perfect especially because it was of all the attempts to have everything else just right. And thanks to all of you for the support with the FIL. You'd never have guessed that FI's brother and SIL had their own DW close to three years ago and the family was apparently SO supportive and all thought it was definitely the way to do a wedding. I guess they also meant so long as it was up to their standards! Arg. Sorry, it's a new topic in my head still. Thankfully FI is being GREAT at dealing with them so it totally makes me worry less.

Awesome find Tracy thanks!! If anyone else wants to order dark purple ones, let me know. I need maybe 40 total? Kind of guessing because I don't know my numbers yet...

Quote: Originally Posted by doblauvelt My parents and FI parents still haven't done a damn thing though lol. Oddly enough, we thought that my parents were not likely going to be able to come to our wedding (damn economy) and that FI's parents would be the shoe in to book soonest. Turns out that my parents decided to surprise me and book almost right away, while FI's parents are the ones giving us a ton of pushback about everything (yep, good ranting material right there!) and we're not even sure when they're going to 'bother' booking. My quote the other day was "it takes getting pissed off at someone else's family to suddenly realize that your own family is actually pretty cool". I am so happy that my parents have booked their trip!! Enough said

Quote: Originally Posted by mskimmy Hey guys I am a April Bride kinda new to all of this... We are getting married at Sandals Montego Bay on April 17th at 3:00. Just kinda figureing out what to do now Quote: Originally Posted by ebredhawk michele, i can't believe you addressed those suckers by HAND! you're nuts! did you order address labels from vistaprint? so my flower lady just put together a trial centerpiece for me (since my own trial was an epic fail) and i LOVE it! she said the vase needs to be bigger (hers is an 8 in. cylinder vs. the 11 in. square i have) so just imagine more space in there! plus i'm adding the floating candles too. what do you think? Kimmy - Welcome to the site! If you're feeling a bit overwhelmed then you're in the right place! LOL! All of us here have had our moments along the way but just know that each of us is at different stages in our planning even with all our weddings in the same month. It works out really well because we can all draw on each other when we need some advice. Speak up when you need something! Erin/Tracy - I might be the other end of the spectrum that I gave my guests until January 31 to RSVP so they do have lots of time still to get back to me and I really don't want to wait that long!! LOL! Come on people, I have OOT bags to order things for!! I guess what helps me is that for all the people that it is really important for them to attend, we know where they stand whether they are booked or not (some just confirmed). I think it's really unfair that so few of your guests have booked. If you have a wedding website, I'd be starting some countdowns of like 6 booked, 37 to go! Or I know on my website you can create polls for people to vote on, so that might be a tool you could use to get an indication of who is planning to go but is basically just being stupid and sitting on their hands. Erin - I LOVE YOUR VASES! They are super pretty! I almost think that you don't even need the floating candles in them, but since I haven't seen what they'd look like I'm sure they would be awesome either way. Now, did your flower lady show you how to accomplish this look on your own, because otherwise I'm missing something on how these end up at your DW location!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by Crystalballl Glad I found this thread. After hearing some issues with the Marriage certificate and getting your name changed, or having to translate it (which can be pricey) I am now thinking of the idea of doing it 'legal' here before we leave. I think it would be totally hush hush too. But this may sound stupid, but I have no clue where we can legally have this done?! I live just a little east of Toronto. Can anyone be of some help?! Thanks! CrystalBall - I didn't see that anyone had answered your question of where to go yet! Where are you east of Toronto? I lived in Burlington for a long time and my family is all still around there! I found a couple of websites that should hopefully give you the info you need. The first is for the immediate Toronto area: City of Toronto: Registry services, Marriage licence requirements The second is a basic FAQ document from the Ontario Government website: Ontario FAQ And the third is using the link within the above pdf document (but navigated through a couple pages for you): Marriage Certificate and Ontario Marriage License Application Overall, you should be able to go to any city hall in Ontario and obtain the necessary paperwork and information on who/where you can be married in the province. Hope that helps!!! Quote: Originally Posted by DarcyJAde My grandpa is not able to make it anymore (health issues) so the 3 of us went to City Hall last night. We did excahnge rings (for the day). No one else knows though. It was so quick it doesn't seem real. I love the idea of taking your grandparents!! Unfortunately mine are both unable to attend the wedding but they also live in another province so this likely won't be an option for us but what a treat for them! We're doing the legal part in hush-hush after getting back from Mexico partly so that our guests don't feel cheated but also so that the first exposure to our marriage will be our ceremony in Mexico!! We'll probably just invite people if we need to bring our own witnesses but otherwise it will likely just be the two of us.

OMG your pee pictures made me laugh so much!! I've been out dress shopping with a few different girlfriends and I think with everyone I've reminded them to consider how easy/difficult it will be for them to go to the bathroom!! I'm happy that my dress doesn't have TOO much length or size to it and I should be good to go myself - unless I get a few too many drinks in me that is

This was SO the perfect time to find this thread! I've really been debating how many Bm's to ask especially because we didn't want to get into too big of a wedding party. So far I have two (and I might not actually declare a MOH because I can't decide on that either!) and I'm still really stuck between the other three friends that top my list. At least now I won't feel like I'm the only one with different numbers. It sounds like there are a few of us going a more unconventional route anyways. If you can believe it, I'm not even having my dad walk me down the aisle even though he's attending the wedding! He gets really uncomfortable in front of groups so I figure why put him in that situation?! This is supposed to be a RELAXED event for everyone involved so as long as he's there to give me a big hug and hand me over (ha!) then I'm totally fine with that.

Yah, we put the 360 website on our wedding website too for all our guests so I hope everyone gets to check it out! My mom is SO excited and always tells me when she's watching Say Yes to the Dress, and Wedding Planner SOS etc. so it doesn't surprise me that she found that site! And I couldn't find Jamie's reviews either...

Quote: Originally Posted by Jenna20 Hi All, Havent been on in awhile...STILL have not selected a resort ye! :S I was really hoping to have finalized something last week...and so my hopes are now this week. Meghan...update - just need to get fitted and place the order for my dress!! Hoping to do that on Friday after work. By the way, the wedding expo is this weekend at the round-up centre at stampede park 10:00-5:00. I hope your planning is coming along well. Oooh! Jenna, are you getting the dress that you saw at S2?? I'm so excited that you've found the one! YAY!!! I haven't heard anything from westjet at all so I'm assuming that they completely lost my request a while back. Since we're getting close to sending out the invites, I should probably call again and see what pricing they can do right now. I've been totally consumed by the invites lately... Are you STILL waiting on them to help determine which resort you go with?? I can't believe they're taking so long! And Thanks for reminding me about the wedding show this weekend. I'd honestly completely forgot. I am hoping to pick up some accessories at a good price!

Wow! I can't even imagine going through the things you have been over the last month (and longer!!). I absolutely feel sympathy for you as we're in the middle of an argument with my FIL's at the moment, although nothing as serious as your own situation. I think that despite some of your FI's more passive actions/behaviour regarding his parents, his willingness to continuously work through this with you as a couple shows that he really does care for you and want a future with you! I hope for your sake that his parents don't bother coming to Jamaica at all and that you get the beautiful wedding that you've dreamed of (pre-outlaws!). Take strength in knowing that despite all their negativity, you'll be surrounded by your parents and friends who truly do love and appreciate you and will stand by you in support. My only advice is that if the outlaws do end up coming, I would contact your WC as soon as you find out and make sure (she) are aware of the situation. It might be worthwhile to find out if the officiant should know ahead of time as well so that if, in some terrifying moment, they try to interrupt your ceremony then you have a plan of action in place already. I think the outlaws have proven to only be reliable in their awful behaviour so if you can take a few preventative steps to find a small piece of your own sanity then I think it's well worth it. Please, please enjoy your special day and know that you've got a whole lot of us here cheering you on!

Having gotten to the assembly stage of my own invites, I can say that DIY are a good way to go, but with the understanding that while most tasks involved are not difficult they can be a little time consuming depending how many you have to make. I found that doing a little bit every night has worked fairly well and I'm finally seeing the results! Invest in a good trimmer!!!!! The rotary one I got wasn't the same brand as my regular trimmer and I really wasn't impressed with the quality. And Tracy has it right - a home printer is a big help if your ink is all topped up! There are so many great ideas and advice in the Invitations section here that I'm sure you'd have no problem doing them!

Quote: Originally Posted by jerseykitten Tonya - I think it's nice to not want gifts - we don't either, but if you have a shower, people will bring them, regardless of whether or not you tell them to. If you want to go with Emily Post, you aren't supposed to mention gifts at all in any invitation, but you can spread the word and put it on your website if you have one that you don't want any, or go with Meghan's idea or ask for donations to a charity. FI supposedly picked out wedding bands for us when he picked out my e-ring - I have no idea what they look like but he did a great job with my ring, so I'm going to trust him with this. right now I have my invitations in my living room and need to address them but I can't get motivated to do it! And my ticker says 6 months 2 weeks 5 days, but my countdown clock on Facebook says 200 days, which seems like an important number doesn't it? First - I apparently am the poorest person with etiquette so I can see why its suggested that you don't even mention it. I guess it all depends on who is planning your shower and how good they are at passing on messages to your guests verbally. That's awesome that your FI picked out the wedding bands at the same time for you guys! Mine was just too wrapped up in getting the e-ring in the first place. As for the invites, I just figure that the quicker I can get them done and sent out then a) it's one less thing to be working on for the moment but all your guests get to see them and I can definitely bet that it will make them all the more excited for your wedding! I asked one of my girlfriends to be a bridesmaid the other day and now she can't stop talking about our wedding! It's such a milestone to officially have them sent out!! And if you still need motivation beyond that, I'd say leave them for tonight and call a girlfriend to come have a glass of wine while you do them