echo2_62

and finally my real touch flowers that I just got in the other day. I'm debating on colouring some of them with a dark purple tint for my bouquet so that they stand out a little more from my dress (and please excuse the horribly messy desk in the background!!) my new carry on bag that I just bought - it's also bright turquoise which is one of my favourite colours. Enough so that my friends have re-named it "meghan blue" since we all know exactly the colour then! And last but not least a recent picture of FI and I because it's nearly impossible to get him to smile in pictures! So yes, I probably should have pulled together a planning thread by this point as well instead of wasting all our space here but I had already started posting before I thought of that! LOL!

my oot bags - they're brown jute with turquoise blue handles the stuff to go inside (includes a sudoku book, postcards for guests to write us a note, pens & pencils, some candies - halloween boxes were the best!, two mini rubber duckies, med bag, survival bag, hand lotion and antibacterial stuff, mugs and keycard holder) close up of our mugs! the meds the survival kits (with first aid kit, extra bandaids, aloe, ear plugs, kleenex, breathe mint strips, mini Axe spray, condoms and Hangover card) the hang tag for the postcards our favours - I made all these magnets for everyone. Not shown are the mini ones that also say Play Eat Drink and ones that have beach scenes. The larger purple magnet is purple like the first picture not blue-ish like the second the pillow boxes for the favours to go in... bought them in plain black at michaels and added the ribbon and labels myself (labels are printed on vellum) one more after this...

Okay so you wanted pictures... here we go... my hair trial my dress fitting with my niece (she was playing in all the veils!) roller skating at my bachelorette party my 'cup' for the night me 'n' suzy! more to follow...

YAAAAAAAY JENNA!!! Have a great time and a wonderful wedding!!! Can't wait to hear about everything when you get back!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by caribbeanLover I def wouldn't put a real candle, they'd be the LCD light, with the fake flicker. So in that case since it would be safe, do you think I should keep the 1 (yellow or orange) flowr and the LCD candle? Haha you beat me to it... try this out and take more pictures!!

I think for the candle on top I was thinking more of a tea light?!?! You could partially bury it in the sand so that the cheap metal edge isn't showing either. I guess that's why in my head there wasn't as much of a problem with the flower catching! LOL! But if you're thinking of doing the little LCD lights then it would work out alright too, and you could even add two depending on how close they are to each other.... they would also light up your flowers from the bottom a little bit which might look neat in the dark??

Tracy I think Erin had the right idea with the sand - I like that already! What about waiting until you're down there and getting some sea shells to add as well maybe? Oh yah and are the flowers from your bouquets or can they be separated? It is tricky to tell what the flowers are like from pictures (because you're worried they look tacky) but maybe you could put a single flower in the sand and angle it off to the side with a candle in the top of the sand as well? Just have to be careful that you're not going to set the flower on fire LOL! But if they're your bouquets then that won't work anyways - I'm just brainstorming!

Quote: Originally Posted by BeachBrideSoon Hi ladies! I've just come accross this forum and I'm super excited to see Calgary Brides! I haven't started too much, as I thought the TA was where to go first before starting the planning but nope, that's not the case. I will be contacting resorts now to narrow down my choices of countries(Dominican is what I've been leaning towards). I am wondering how to pick a date if you have people travelling there from all over Canada(Calgarians will depart a different day then BC or ON) or do you just pick a week? Also, November they say is hurricane season and so much can be pushed around(flights, cancellations etc.) any experiences, my other option is January 2011. I know this forum will be super helpful and I'm looking forward to it!! Thanks! Well it sounds like you've got a good start on picking a date already, just by narrowing it down to two different months. I think we started the same way. Choosing your resort is just a matter of knowing what options/ammenities you want (night club, a la carte restaurant options, proximity to shopping & excursions) and what is in your price range. Once you've got it down to a few resorts, try emailing the wedding coordinator to see if they can send you a brochure of the wedding packages they offer. I personally found that working with a travel agent wasn't the best option (for me) so I did the leg work of narrowing down which departure dates we liked best. We also had guests travelling from Calgary, Winnipeg and Toronto and wanted to have the option for direct flights from each city. In the end we had half our guests book through WestJet Vacations (highly recommended!!) on a Monday-Monday package, and the other half through Air Canada on a Sunday-Sunday package. We left it open to those two days so that our guests could determine for themselves if one day worked better than the other. Just about all of our guests were able to take advantage of seat sales so the prices worked out better than any quote I received through a few different travel agents. Another option is to inquire what kind of group rate you can get through your resort directly, and then book flights separately. This seems to be the typical approach for everyone in the USA but I find us Canadians typically go for the package deals through a vacation group such as Signature Vacations. Hope that helps get you started and you're right that you are definitely in the right place to get lots and lots of help!

Quote: Originally Posted by sasse75 Thank you so much Meghan.....I actually just found somewhere thanks to Tracy. You girls rock!!!! It's amazing how we are all in different parts of the country but we can all fiigure it Okay well just in case, my mom said go to 'Stitch It' in either Burlington or Mapleview mall.

Quote: Originally Posted by hoyt75 Meghan - I would be stoked to go to a Silversun concert. My fmil and I went the Paul McCartney concert at the new Cowboys stadium, we were 5 rows away from him and it was def the coolest thing I've ever done in my life. I hope you have a superb time tonight! Well the concert last night was a great night out! Silversun Pickups was only the opening band unfortunately so they only played a handful of songs and not an entire set. They were - as always - SO good though and seriously the base guitarist, Nikki, has smoking hot arms and is just amazing! FI was laughing at me because I was just staring in awe Oh yah and she also played the set in a dress and high heels even while jumping around - love it! I wasn't too sure on what I'd think of Muse. I figured I would only know the odd song but it turns out I knew about half their set. I think I've found a new appreciation for them but getting close to the end some of it just started sounding all the same. Honestly though it was better than I was expecting so I won't complain about it! Quote: Originally Posted by shortnsweet7675 I am totally a control freak too. I fussed at FI when we were putting together the OOT bags because he wasn’t trimming the edges of the bag tags right… and he had a paper cutter to cut them straight! (To SuzyQ76) Don’t worry, you’ll get it all done somehow. Especially with the help from Meghan, right? Haha that's totally me too! Getting all bent out of shape because he doesn't do it MY way and therefore it's not right I just figured, what the heck - at this point no one else will really notice and I just don't have the energy to care LOL! I'm happy they're done and I just need to hole-punch them today and get them attached to the bags. And maybe on Friday I can convince Suzy to pull out all her wedding stuff so that we can take pictures and get them posted for all of you. She'll probably read this today and kill me for suggesting it too LOL!!! We're such trouble for each other! Quote: Originally Posted by sasse75 Hey Tracy - where did you get your hankies embroidered, was it a local place or a chain? Thought I would ask in case I can find one here. I'm having such a tough time finding somewhere. Thanks Jill Hey Jill - I can ask my mom where she gets stuff embroidered. There's a place that used to be in Burlington Mall but I'm not sure if they've moved or what now. It's been so long since I was home!! She'll know where to go though I'm sure Quote: Originally Posted by hoyt75 Okay so I was really hoping to have a well developed planning thread created with wonderful excel attachments, but I don't forsee myself completing that within the next 24 hours. Therefore, I'm stuck posting just a few pics that I have taken and figured out how to upload. And for some reason, I still can't make stinkin' attachments (GRRRRR). Hey for someone who's leaving right away here, you're doing pretty good getting anything posted at all! I totally won't be getting my planning thread done until AFTER I get back and can manage to organize my pictures, my house and most of all my brain again!!!! Everything looks really great though and your guests are going to LOVE what you've put together for them. I can't believe you're down to your last day here too! Girls - IT'S OUR MONTH!!!!

holy crap girl - lotto is right!!!! That's insane how all your birth dates and anniversary dates etc worked out like that. Crazy!! I will do my best to post pictures but it most definitely won't be tonight because I am off to my trainers in a few minutes and then going to the Muse/Silversun Pickups concert tonight and I'm SO EXCITED! I actually saw Silversun Pickups in the summer and it was kind of supposed to be an anniversary thing for FI and I but then he had to work kind of last minute and couldn't go So now we're making up for it, despite paying way more for tickets and having it at a busier venue. I'm going to be EXHAUSTED tomorrow though because I won't have had any downtime today to recoup. Whoever thought I should squeeze in one last training session today (me!) was completely and utterly crazy LOL!

michele that's so awesome!! I didn't see your thread here initially but I'm so glad that you were able to post some pictures for us! Definitely too funny opening your gifts in front of your mom and FMIL! What a special day that must've been for you!

We've been tanning lately too and people think I've already been to Mexico and back - I love it! LOL! But yes a definite caution to those with fair skin to start off with way lower minutes - like the 3-4 that was suggested above. My sister typically has fair skin (before she spends summer outside with her kids!) and she gets excited getting up to 7 minutes without burning in the tanning bed. Me on the other hand - I'm at about 18 minutes now and will prob. go to 20 minutes this last week or so before I head down to Mexico. My skin just soaks up the sun so I'm pretty lucky - I've got the skin that makes most fair people hate me Haha and last time i was in Mexico, I actually stopped wearing my sunblock because after three days being there and wearing flip flops everywhere, I didn't even have the slightest tan line - or tan! Not the smartest thing I'm sure but I can't stand being there and not getting any colour at all. Someone had asked if you're supposed to wear sunblock on your face in the tanning booth, or some other type of self-tanner or anything and the answer is NO! You can buy tanning lotion that is made for the beds that still has an SPF count in it but just about every place I've been to has specifically said no self tanners. Any decent tanning place should ask about your skin type before you start tanning and be able to recommend a lotion for you as well as how many minutes to go in for.

We've got our wedding booked at Dreams Puerto Aventuras just south of Playa del Carmen. Initially I'd thought it was out of my price range, but after looking at the prices on westjet vacations (especially with seat sales!) we worked it out that we could get most people booked for around $1500pp. Some of our other guests booked through Air Canada or expedia and they paid a bit more overall but no one has gone above $1700 for sure. The prices were up and down a few times but our guests booked starting about eight months ahead up to about two months ahead. I definitely recommend checking through WestJet Vacations (or find out about group rates at a specific resort then book flights on west jet) to see if they have any of the resorts you like in their packages. Oh yah and we had guests flying from Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver - just to mix it up a little bit

difficult because as Mallory said above, Vegas is a hugely public place! But I think you could easily take a two step approach to this. First off, I'd try talking to one or two mutual friends - especially if they are in the wedding party and thus have a little stronger position - and ask them to casually and politely spread the word that only guests who have received invitations are welcome at any wedding related events. It's more of a passive way to handle things and might come across a little more gently. If these other few people don't get the hint at that point, then I think you would be ok to talk to them directly and say that while you can't tell them not to be in Vegas altogether, they need to respect that this trip is supposed to be for your wedding and not just some group party that they should be expecting to be a part of. Some people just don't realize how poorly they're behaving or what their actions are implying and they just need to be told. Good luck!

Just a thought but do you happen to have any older guests (who might not be staying out as late in the evening as the rest of your group) who wouldn't mind watching the kids, especially if they have a movie on or are even heading off to bed?? We had the potential for my niece and nephew to be coming to Mexico with us but my sister is my MOH and her husband won't be with us so someone would have needed to watch the kids a lot and our parents were happy to take that on since they knew it wasn't going to be a very late night for them. It may still mean that the kids are around a little longer than you thought, but it might still get you some of the "adult only" time that you want as well.

Di - I'm glad to hear that you talked with FI about this last night and let him know straight how out you feel about the situation. I really do think it'll save a lot of potential for headaches and misunderstandings down the road, especially being one week before your wedding. sjmacphe - I totally agree that sometimes I wish FI was as jealous as I am! I have never really been a jealous or possessive girlfriend but this is the one relationship where I most definitely am! It would just be nice if he got as nervous and uneasy about the thought of some other guy (ie. male stripper) giving me a lap dance or something as I get at the thought about him.

Wow apparently yesterday/last night was totally a photo night and I missed out I love seeing everything coming together finally! Tracy - I love the labels you made for your first aid kits! I hadn't seen those ones before I don't think. I got lazy and just left the kits black without any label since SO much of my other items had labels too For my hankies, I stole an idea from someone else here and had the woman doing my alterations use material from the shawl that came with my dress (that I didn't even know I was getting!) to make little dresses on the hankie. I wanted to get them embroidered but not sure if there is room on them (she made them a little small) or if I have time left even to do it. I wanted to get Mother/Grandmother of the Bride/Groom on them but we'll see. I still have other material left over so I might try to work something out. That's only a project I'll take on once everything else is done though! Natasha - your dress and your bridesmaids dresses are really pretty! That deep red colour is very stunning and of course matches very well to your garnet rings I love seeing all the original ideas that everyone has had for their rings, including yours! And it is such a great feeling when you know that your dress is really fitting the way you want it to and you don't look at it thinking "if we could just change this little thing" as much anymore. I picked mine up on the weekend and had to hug my alterations lady because I was so happy with it! I also received my real-touch flowers last night and I'm really surprised by how spongy and neat they feel! For some reason I wasn't expecting it I guess LOL! The lovely delivery man probably got the crap scared out of him by my dog jumping at the door and as revenge he left the box standing up on end so the flower heads got a little smooshed because of it but I think they'll be fine now that they're laid out flat again My dog is the biggest lap dog you'll ever meet and if we're home is more likely to lick someone to death - but when we aren't around she really is a wonderful guard dog!!! My broken blinds are proof HAHAHA and I also had FI helping me with some DIY stuff last night. Turns out asking him to cut evenly around an oval shape is not as easy as it sounds. I wound up going back around them to cut off all the angles that he'd left and fix them up a little bit! Because I'm a control freak, I seriously almost wanted to tell him to stop so I could reprint them and cut everything myself but I thought at this point - why bother?!! They're just the name tags for out OOT bags so it's not the end of the world. So we used the self-laminating pouches from the dollar store and sealed them up - all ready to go! I'm just using some ribbon to attach them to the bags before hand and all my ziplocks with the OOT contents are labeled with the guest names as well. It's kind of weird though because the bags are so much bigger than the contents going into them! Oh well - it's all good

Honestly I have to say that I like the first dress the best! And wow does she ever have some stunning dresses! I almost wish that I'd known about her line when I was still looking :S I know it's hard to compare the two dresses when one is so obviously used and the other has just come in pristine as you said, but I think there's a reason you went back to the first dress again! The only dress I ever went back for was the one I bought! None of the others really had that draw for me. Good luck deciding! And just go with what feels right!

Hey Janna... okay so if you have a photobucket account then you can upload pictures from your email if that's where you've already got them. On the home page in your pb account, there is an "upload photos by" section in the middle of the page. If you click on the Email option, it gives you an email address (that uses your pb login i.d.) to use so that you can forward any emails with pictures directly to an album in pb. Does that make sense at all?? It's just like forwarding any other email, but this one happens to upload your photos for you It takes a few minutes at least for them to be sent, but you'll get a confirmation email back at your regular account. I've also figured out this is a good way to upload if you don't have access at work like me!!! Then you just go into pb and click on any of the images to get the IMG code that you need to copy into your message here for us to see!! I hope that helpsyou and sorry it took me so long to pull it up. I was always remembering right when I got to the office and had no access

thanks Di! FI and I are getting through things a lot better now than we were a few weeks ago when it all happened, and you're right that he's most definitely learned his lesson. The issue I have right now is all the other guys that were there (every single one is a mutual friend and in committed relationships!) and it'll just be a matter of time to be able to forgive them again. I think one of the parts that bugs me the most is one of the guys still hasn't bothered talking to me or even tried to apologize for (accidentally?!?!) hurting my feelings - and he's in our wedding party!!!!! Basically FI is the one who's had all the contact with him and I hate to admit that I'm stubborn enough not to bother talking to this guy unless he comes to me first. And that includes going right up to and through the wedding. It should be interesting since his wife and I are friends and I talked to her about all this and we agreed to keep my issues with her husband separate from our friendship as much as possible. Stupid, stupid actions with difficult consequences. I just don't need them!

great job this weekend erin!! Wow! Your flowers and bouts look GREAT and I hope that mine come out as nice! And I really like both your rings too! My FI got a tungsten one that is mostly black as well and he was SO happy that it's not a "typical" looking band. I have half of my OOT bags done now (yep, I packed the contents in ziplock bags so that we can pack the actual bags nice and flat and just fill them once we get down there!) and then I also finished my favours as well. Haha they're in ziplocks too because it's easier to pack everything that way and assemble quickly at the resort. If my girls help me out it should only take about ten minutes! I'm trying to leave as little as possible for once we're down there because I don't want to take away anyone's time in the sun - including my own!! The only two real items of my DIY are my little gifts for the mom's and gramma's (hankie boxes that I'm making) plus my flowers of course which are being delivered TODAY! YAY! I'll be putting FI to work tonight cutting out the little name tags I made to put on everyone's OOT bags as well so hopefully that should do it! I've realized that I'm horrible at getting my pictures posted but I'll try this week now that things are all coming together!

well even though I'm having serious issues dealing with all this stuff, I'm still really glad that FI told me. If he hadn't said anything about it, I would always have been suspicious wondering either which way and for sure my mind can make up a LOT worse anyways. And I'm sure that part of him telling me the truth was to cover his ass in case some details slipped out down the road but as much as he knew he didn't really make the best decision, he at least still knew that it was better to be honest with me about it. And let's just say that there are a number of new RULES in place for dealing with any sort of related event that might come up in the future - including not attending other bachelor parties if another stripper is planned. It just really sucks because I'm *SO* sensitive about the topic still. I had to get up and leave the table the other night when some friends from work (who weren't in any way connected to FI"s weekend) started talking about bach. parties. I just can't handle it! SOOO not the way I wanted to feel when it's this close to the wedding!

Yah that's basically the kind of stuff that happened at my FI's bach. party... and NY bride is right that once the money comes out, all bets are off. I just knew that my line ended with the lap dances and once the guys convinced him to do that - it was more than enough to put me over the edge. I know none of the guys would have tried to have sex with her, but even my FI said that if someone there had been willing to put up the money for "happy endings" and that sort of thing, the girl would totally have done it. Honestly because of all this I am totally now the wife that WILL say what he can and cannot do because clearly my last attempt at telling people I was uncomfortable was not direct enough to be taken seriously. So this way if he *still* feels some reason to go through with something like this, or if the guys in any way think that its okay to impose another situation like this - the rules are clearly stated!!! I never, ever wanted to be that kind of girl but with this one incident ruining a lot of aspects in my life lately, that's just the way it goes. I'm glad that we had five weeks before our wedding for me to get over it! Basically I told FI that if the wedding had been any sooner then we'd have either been telling everyone not to bother showing up, or we'd have been changing our plans so they weren't involved in any way. I agree there definitely needs to be a buffer zone between the two events!

It's awesome that you're all getting limos to the airport or to your resort. FI and I live less than a ten minute drive from the airport here so the only reason it would really be worth it for us would be if we had all of our friends that are leaving with us that day to take it as well - and that's not a half bad idea either! A few of them are probably leaving their cars up near our place as it is to save on cab fair once they get back ($25 including tip and airport exit fees!). We also had our transfer included from the airport to the resort in MX and figured that since there is such a good size group of us together anyways, the bus ride would just be more entertaining than going by ourselves!