RonNMel

I agree that knowing it's coming doesn't make it any less special. heck, I still tear up every time I think about it. Here is my ring:

Here is my engagement ring. It belonged to my late maternal grandma, and my mom decided that I should have it.

Here is the ring:

Thanks everyone!! I'm so happy. :-) As for the ring, I'll try to take a picture soon.

I'm ENGAGED!!! He proposed to me today, on Christmas morning. I'm so happy, and of course I cried. http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...6/#post1113771

I'm not ringless anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't have pictures of my ring yet, but here is the story of how he proposed. http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...6/#post1113771

I'm ENGAGED!!! We have been planning this destination wedding for months now, but I had yet to receive an actual proposal and ring. I'm not ringless anymore... Last night (Christmas Eve) we came home around midnight. His 10 y.o. daughter went straight to bed, and after she did we filled up all three of our stockings with the small presents. About an hour later we went to bed too. Of course this morning she was up bright and early, but we bargained for an extra 30 minutes of sleep and got up around 7:30am. We cooked a huge Christmas breakfast, ate it, then proceeded to the living room to open our stockings. His daugher and my FI both opened the extra presents that wouldn't fit in their stockings, then I opened all of mine. Now it was time for FI to reach into his stocking, but instead of taking the obvious gift that was hanging half out, he kept trying to reach INSIDE. That's when my sleepy brain started to get confused. Then he took out of his stocking a tiny brown box. Now I was even more confused, as I didn't remember putting that there and really had NO CLUE what it could be... ... and then suddenly it clicked!! My eyes teared up as he opened the box. He said that last year I gave him the best present by choosing to be with him, and then the rest is a bit fuzzy. He says he said something along the lines of "I'm hoping this year you'll give me an even better present". Then he dropped on one knee and asked me to marry him. I said YES!! I'm such a thinker, that I thought for sure I would "expect it" and not be surprised when he proposed. NOT AT ALL!! I was not thinking about it at all when he did it (okay, the lack of sleep might have helped that. LOL) Also I had asked him that the proposal be just between me and him. I didn't mind if we were at home or in a public place, as long as it was just the two of us, nobody else we know. His daughter was there, and though it was not what I wanted, I really don't mind it now. I understand how he would have wanted her to be there, and it did feel intimate anyway.

Congratulations!!!

My previous situation was a lot like Tifany's. My ex's family lived quite far away, so one year we'd spend xmas with my family (seeing my dad's side on xmas eve and my mom's side on xmas day, or sometimes both on the same day as they'd be celebrating in the same city), and New Year with his family (again seeing one part of the family on NYE and the other side of the family on New Year's Day. Then the next year we'd switch and do Xmas in his hometown and New Year in my hometown. We'd always stay close to a week in each place so that we'd have time to see everyone and relax with our immediate family as well. Now with my FI it's a bit different. On xmas eve we'll be having dinenr with my dad's family. It's gonna end early as my grandpa gets tired quickly and then my dad has to drive him home, thus ending the party. So then we'll be heading over to my brother's place to celebrate with him and my mom. On Xmas morning we'll be starting our own little tradition as a new family (with his daughter), opening the rpesents in our stockings while eating a big breakfast. And finally we'll have dinenr with his family. He has a huge family, but luckily both his dad's and mom's sides celebrate together!!

So gross!!! I really understand why would someone do that? How can you be that lazy that you won't walk to the middle of the street to go into those porta-potty thingies? Or why would you be so angry at the new owners, what have they done to you? Do you hate your job so much? And what really gets me is that it's a common problem Meaning a lot of workers are that lazy/disrespectful/angry/stupid

I'm an elementary school teacher.

Quote: Originally Posted by Barrierunner You can also use family members or friends. We have a really good camera and so does some of our friends. We will have them take some pictures if we decide to not bring our own photographer. That is what I did for my first wedding. A friend of mine used to do photography as a hobby and was pretty good, so he was our photograph. Of course it didn't look AS good as a professional, not all the traditional shots were taken, and there was not a lot of editing after, but the quality was good enough for me. It provided me with plenty of great memories of my day. I got 150 great pictures for free (he decided it was going to be my wedding gift). For this wedding I will do the same thing. Not the same person, as we haven't talked in years, but a few of my FI's friends have very good cameras and take lots of pictures for fun. one has even shot a couple of weddings helping out for another photograph. My step-dad also has a passion for photography and he has helped his son (who is a photograph but can't come) numerous times. Granted it wasn't wedding photography, but it photography nonetheless. I just can't afford to spend thousands of dollars on this. Even using the resort's photograph can get too pricey for me if I take too many of his shots (I'll look though and keep just the very best ones). All in all, I think the decison of using a professional photograph or friends depends on personality. If you don't care too much about details and about getting specific shots, and if your budget is small, then yes, friends photographing your wedding can be the right solution for you.

Awww, that sucks! I find it already hard enough having to wait until 2011, I can't imagine what it would be to have to push it an extra year! On another note, a TA I had met with contacted me by email today telling me that she just got news that she'd be able to get us a group rate for our May 2011 trip. This is much earlier than April 2010, which is the date everyone was telling that the prices come out. I'm anxious as to what kind of prices she'll come up with. There is another TA that we'd prefer to work with, so we'll email her and ask her if she too can give us quotes.

Quote: Originally Posted by SheriB They all sound so great and you read great reviews and then you hear one negative and you start to question your choice!! I have decided on Puerto Vallarta with an off resort wedding so I feel way easier about making a resort decision knowing I am not depending on them for the wedding to run smoothly. We are thinking Dreams Puerto Vallarta though to stay at as they seem to have the best beach around there. What two are you conisdering? We are wavering between the Iberostar Varadero and the Ibeorstar Laguna Azul. Both are in Varadero, Cuba. Basically we don't know between two of the same chain: the new one who looks absolutely amazing, but is so new that we can't know yet if it's going to be good (especially with the service) once it's been up and running for 18 months, or the tried and true that's #1 with over a 1000 reviews, but doesn't look as spectacular... As for the dress, yeah, I'm pretty confident I'll find a dress I fall in love with. Just hope it's one within my (very small) budget... LOL

Quote: Originally Posted by SheriB Me too!!! I have fallen in and out of love with several different resorts already so I don't want to have my dress too long so that I start second guessing it too! We too have fallen in and out of love with resorts. It's so hard!! And we get so influenced by the latest reviews on trip advisor... even though we know not to base everything on that. At least so far we are only wavering between two resorts, not more. Have you made a final decision for your resort?

I really really really want to go dress shopping, but I'm afraid if I do I'll fall in love with a dress and buy it. Then I'm even more afraid I'll fall out of love with that dress by the time the wedding comes around because it won't be "new" anymore.

Quote: Originally Posted by KJT1985 Yeah one nice thing is really what i'm aiming for. Honestly, there's nowhere to cut back on the budget. We want REALLY low key and CHEAP because we're paying for this ourselves and just bought a house a few months ago. We're doing the free wedding package at the resort. We spent $10-15 on each of the guys shirts from TJ Maxx, bought fake flowers for $100 total that we're taking with us, aren't having a reception there (just dinner together at the buffet). I'm not taking centerpieces, decorations, or even a cake topper. And what else is there to pay for? My dress, shoes, veil and jewelry was all under $300. So there really just isn't anywhere to cut a couple hundred bucks from for something like that (even towels would add up!). I also think I have to negotiate with my fiance and give this up because he's crying about paying for the girls to get their hair done! We'll for sure be doing a welcome/thank you letter but past that I don't know... IF I had the money and it was totally up to me, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But alas! I must compromise... That totally sound like my budget!!

We are suppose to get hit here too, but it will only start around 8am so everyone will be at work before it gets too bad. It's coming back from work that will be awful...

It's exactly the week we plan on going to ILA!! The very first week of May. Kinda weird to be talking with someone who could be getting married at the exact same time and place as me! Part of me thinks it's cool, and part of thinks "but it's my wedding day!" (though I very well know that I wouldn't be the only bride there.) LOL

What I'm doing is very slim down version of the OOT bags. I love the idea of it, but like you I want to keep my budget small, and I too was concerned about how to get everything down there. So what we are thinking of doing is getting everyone a beach bag (either a nice looking one bought on sale, or a plain one with a general logo, i.e. Cuba 2011) and inside will put probably a stadium cup (though not sure about that anymore as apparently our resort has bigger cups than most resorts) and a welcome booklet with the names of all our guests, a welcome letter, a map of where we'll be, excursions offered, and possibly some word games to keep them busy in the airplane (planning on giving it to them before we take the plane, we should all be leaving from the same airport at the same time).

Thanks for the pictures Anya! It's nice to know that there is an alternative place for weddings in case of rain. Can't wait to see the actual wedding gazebo though.

Another addict here too! Thank god I have a job that doesn't give much access to a computer, otherwise I'd be spending even more time here!!! Not only do I like all the ideas and advice I get from this site, but above all what I love the most is that it gives me a place to safely vent my wedding obsession without constantly annoying everyone around me. At least I know that here everyone is in the same boat as me, wanting to research and talk about their DW all the time. In real life, I'm trying very hard to keep the wedding talk to a minimum so as not to bore everyone with all the same tiny details over and over... LOL

The one we got is Yenny from Club Voyage at the Fairview Pointe-Claire. Though she doesn't specialize in DW, she has done a few in the past and has been a TA for 16 years. She seemed very knowledgeable when we talked with her.

Mine does that! Just not with the water running so hard. Though one time I had the water run that hard on his tail (because he wouldn't leave it out of the sink and I ended up spitting toothpaste on it!) and it didn,t bother him at all.

I love the dress! It's really close to the style I want, but unfortunately it's way too big for me (I'm a size 0-2!!) so I'm not sure it would look that good on my after having to be resized so much. Plus, it's already a bit over my budget, so with the alteration itd be too much. Good luck finding a buyer!!