AlexsBride

Congrats! We are also planning a wedding in 2011 in Cuba. Hope we can help each other out as we plan our big day!

Karma is a bitch when it is paid back. That's too bad.

Good for you for pressing charges. I remember buying a camera on EBAY a few years ago and the seller never sent it to me. I filed a complaint and went through all the steps and managed to get most of my money back, but it really does leave a bad taste in your mouth and I have never bought anything online again. I'm really sorry this has happened to you and the warning is good because it saves other people from going through the same thing with the same person.

The most important thing to remember is don't dwell on the past or what you "should have been doing" or what you weren't doing or how you gained the weight or let yourself go. Just focus on the tomorrows and making the right choices and moving on from THIS moment! That's what I am trying very hard to focus on for myself and know that I deserve it!

Are any of the bouquets still available? I know this thread is from last month, but just checking!! How much would you want for the bridal one and one of the BM bouquets?

I love this thread! I have been trying to narrow down our resort as well and am not even close to making a decision. We have three kids (Two are his from a previous marriage aged 8 and 4 and then we have our daughter, 18 months) So going somewhere where kids stay free would be awesome. How do those work though? Do you just pay their flight and that's it? Is it that you get a free kids stay with each paying adult? That wont be a problem because we have several adults coming with us. (I dont think it would be a problem at least!) I think I will go to a TA and get some of the books to look through. I just wish you could plan a wedding last minute because man the prices go down so much for last minute trips. I saw some Iberostar Veradero trips in the travel agent window for under 500 plus taxes!

I've had some success with WW in the past and have jumped back into it with both feet! After having my daughter and being lazy with watching my diet, I gained all the weight I lost back along with 10 extra pounds! So I am back to the start and would like to lose 50 lbs over the next 6 months. I lost 5 in my first week *thanks to all the fruit smoothies I've been inhaling! This is great to have some motivation on this thread.

Those are beautiful! I know that I would be so excited to get one of those in the mail!!! Question about Ana's work...I noticed that all of the passport invitations that I have seen are based on USA passports. Any chance to get them done based on Canadian passports since we're from Canada?

I've been lurking around on your posts Amy, You were so organized for your wedding and it looks like it turned out beautifully. We are planning a Cuba wedding as well, but have not settled on a resort yet, but this looks like a wonderful option!!

That's a beautiful dress and OMG, if Only I could pull off a size 8 and a stunning hair piece like that! And to the above poster, she wants 1300 (says on the previous page!) Good luck selling it, it will go I'm sure!

Too bad its not the same beading! Have you found another dress? What size is the one you are looking to unload and how much do you want for it?

You guys have the greatest ideas! I'm so glad I found this forum in the very early planning stages of my wedding!

Thanks girls! I think being that I am in Canada...there is less places to buy things, buying online is expensive because of shipping from the states. I just thought that since I am probably only needing around 20 of each, it might be a little cheaper to buy them. Ahhhh. I guess I have lots of time though, so plenty of research can be done in the meantime. I saw some templates online but I just have not that much time since I spend most of my day chasing after my 18 month old daughter! And I'll be honest...the computer designing portion of it scares the heck outta me. I can put our names and all that stuff but to make them look gorgeous and WOW...that's a whole other thing!

I love all the creative boarding pass STD's and Passport invitations that you ladies have made! I just have a quick question (and if it has been discussed before, my apologies, I searched and didn't find the answer to this particular question) We will be having a small destination wedding, under 30 people joining us. While I love the idea of making my own STD's and invites, I think that by the time I buy all the tools and printer ink, plus all the time it will take (I am not that handy on computer graphic programs!) that since I need so few it might be cheaper to have them made custom by an actual invitation artist! What do you think? Cheaper to DIY or Buy? I know that by doing my research the boarding pass STD jackets are actually more expensive than just the pass, so maybe I could make my own jackets? I'm on a tight budget, that's why I am asking...

I am in Ontario...I narrowed the list down to the DR or Cuba because I lived in the DR for three years and Cuba is just a beautiful place. I think we are leaning more toward Cuba though...who can resist those gorgeous white sand beaches. Yes I have done a bit of traveling. More like I've been a bit of a gypsy and moving place to place. I lived in California and bummed around LA for awhile and then NYC for four years, working in the TV industry and then moved back to Canada and moved straight to Sosua, DR. Everyone always said it would take a good man to settle me down and they were right. Funnily enough with all the different places I have lived, the man I am going to marry is from the same small town of 2500 that I am from! I look forward to getting to know you all a lot more in the coming months...But I warn that I am on dial up internet right now (live out in the country!) So I may not be as active as I would like!!!

What a great idea, I just emailed her to see if she has any weddings coming up and she could possibly do mine. What a sweetheart!

I like that if you have 17 guests at the Melia Veradero, the wedding package is free. That's a pretty good deal. I know we will be having at least that, possibly more. Does this resort allow children because there will be at least 3 little ones coming along. I am also having a really hard time deciding on what resort to have our wedding at. We are thinking of Feb. 2011 (I know I am starting the planning process very early!) and I would be open to suggestions. Cost is a factor, we are on a budget. But I would like the best, most beautiful place our meager funds will allow!!

My Fiance is divorced and it seems like it gets a bit more confusing as far as legalities! Is this all done ahead of time with the help of your travel agent? And the birth certificate, it's the small card size one correct? Darn him for being married before!

I was searching Maggie dresses just yesterday and I know that one of the ones I saw was a used Jean! And now I can't find out what site it was on...Have you tried the preowned dress site? I will keep looking and let you know if I find it! It's a beautiful dress.

What a nice group, thanks for the warm welcome. I am sure I will have plenty of questions as we start to plan our wedding. I was most nervous at bringing up the idea of a DW to my Mom (who thinks we should just have a backyard bbq and nix the whole idea of a wedding!) But she said she understood and that its our day and she will support whatever we end up choosing.

These are so nice, you guys are crafty! I wish I had a steady hand and had more time to do my own invites. But I think since we will only be needing 15-20 I will just pay someone to do them (that doesn't have a minimum order requirement) Makes more sense than to buy all the supplies for that small amount.

What a wonderfully detailed review...thank you! You were a gorgeous bride, you look absolutely stunning in your pictures. Punta Cana seems to be a great place to have a wedding!

Aww this is a great story. Those tropical vacation romances rarely turn into anything, so yours is an amazing testament to how you guys must be perfect for each other. Congrats!

Facebook is a wonderful thing! Alex was the object of my teenage affection when I was 15 years old but he was too old for me back then (he was 20) We lost touch after I graduated from high school and he found me on Facebook years later, when I was living in the Dominican Republic. He swept me off my feet when he came down for a vacation, we fell in love very quickly and I moved back to Canada and in with him about a month after he left. We found out we were pregnant only five months after we started dating but we weren't freaked out about it because we knew we were right for eachother. We just got engaged last week and we've been dating for 2 1/2 years. Seems like a lifetime though! haha.

My boyfriend and I did things backwards...first had a baby, then bought a house and JUST got engaged. We knew that we were going to be together, but life got busy when our baby girl arrived, money got tight when we bought our house, so we weren't in a big hurry to get engaged and planning a wedding. We had plans to get a big group family photo taken with my boyfriends side of the family...his Mom, Dad, brother and sister, their spouses and children and us with our daughter and my stepchildren. So lots of people! We hired a professional photographer and had our photos taken on Thanksgiving Sunday (Canadian one for all your American girls!) After getting some of the big group, we broke off into smaller groups to get photos of our families taken. We got some taken of my boyfriend and me with our daughter, and then one of the three of us with his two children as well. His brother and his family had one and sister and her family...Near the end when we were done all the smaller groupings, he turned to me and said "Lets get one of just the two of us" I said no because in the back of my head I was thinking that we would just get photos taken when we get our engagement pictures taken...haha. But he insisted and the photographer talked me into it. I gave in and started to pose with him and that's when he got down on one knee, held the ring in his hand and said his little speech. I barely remember the words but the photographer was videotaping it and snapping pictures, so we will have it as a memento. The ring was beautiful, custom made (I pretty much told him exactly the ring I wanted!! I have to wear it forever, so I wanted to love it) Of course I said yes and then the photographer had us take some engagement photos, showing off the sparkly ring. We are going to have some more photos taken in a few months, but it is nice to have some taken from that day. Afterwards we all went home and I hosted Thanksgiving for 20 people! It was a great, memorable holiday for us.