cristinimartini

Yup, you totally win!!!! Gorgeous, GORGEOUS!!!! Melissa (the person who started this thread) was my wedding photographer in Punta Cana...I STILL get compliments about her work... <3 her...

I was a Monday bride (5/24/10) and it was AWESOME!!! Perfect for those who, like you said, just want to take a long weekend. Most family arrived on Thursday and left on Tuesday, some came Saturday...it really made it better for budgets! We could get a group rate though since not everyone was coming/going at the same time. I didn't care though. We were staying 9 days so we got the complimentary package for free and that was all I needed! We didn't send out STDs since we got engaged in January and our wedding was May. Our close family knew about it, but I made sure to send out our invites by the first week of March. I knew pretty much who was coming, only 2 surprises, which were welcome We ended up with 19 people, including us, so it couldn't have worked out more perfectly! Don't be sad about a Monday! It's a great day!!!! Congrats!!!!!!!!

Hi Ska Ska! Â The amount of time you need to be in the DR before you get married depends on if it's going to be a legal ceremony or a symbolic one. If it's legal, I believe a 3 business day requirement is mandated by the country, but if it's symbolic, then it's really up to you. Even though we did a symbolic ceremony, our WC (Sharron, who is no longer with DPC) suggested 3 business days (so we arrived on a Wednesday), just to make sure we had eveything squared away prior to the date, which was a Monday, and therefore the weekend was basically a wash for all things "business-related". But I got a couple extra days in paradise, so there was NO complaining from me! :-) Â C

The photos are really beautiful, Jackie!! And you both looked like you had SOOO much fun!! Â It's going to be a hard job to pick your favorites for printing!

I <3 bling, too!! I fell in LOVE with a Swarovski necklace that was some MAJOR bling, but I think I pulled it off. I justified the major pricetag with wearing it for my BD shoot as well as my wedding jewelry hehehehe  I needed a matching bracelet, so I ended up making my own and loving it so much that I made one for each member of my bridal party. People were asking where I bought them (even while we were still at the resort!) and so I decided to make them for other people too! http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/61582/amazing-swarovski-bracelets-cuffs  Here's a pic of me in mine: Â

Cin, fabulous job!!!! Everything looks sensational and I'm soooo excited for you and H to have your long-awaited day/week finally be here!!! You put a lot of hard work and time into this, and now it's your turn to enjoy it all! Â Congratulations and see you in the box!!! Â P.S. I wore the same necklace for my wedding!! TOTAL GORGEOUS BLING!! Between the necklace and the bracelet I made, my family, friends and even strangers at the resort could NOT stop asking about them! Be prepared to say "Swarovski" a whole lot!! It's hard when you've been drinking hehehehe... Â She really is a piece of art!! We ended up naming her "Victoria" LOL... Â Can't wait to hear alllllll about it!!!! <3 Â P.S. SOA!!!!! Let me know if I can help catch you up!

Jenise!! Â You KNOW I LOVE those pics!!!! Looking at them makes me smile again and again:-) I'm so glad you two had a fabulous time, but also more importantly that you're back!!! LOL... Â By the way, I have a bottle of B*tch...you want it? Â hehehehehe

I know this thread hasn't been active in a while, but I wanted to post something about what just happened to us regarding HOB. Â My younger sister is getting married in Orlando in October. My older sister and I ordered our dresses separately because I couldn't afford to place my order at the time she did. I knew I'd have to rush mine, and was content with that. My older sister ordered from HOB the beginning of July, got her order confirmation, payment was taken, etc. I placed my order with Dress for Less Bridal, put the rush shipment on it, and it was STILL less money than my sister spent at HOB. The kicker is is: She got an email YESTERDAY from HOB saying "sorry! the dress isn't going to make your event date. Here are some options that will ship quickly though". Seriously?! Â So I called up the gentleman that I dealt with (Tony at Dress for Less Bridal www.dressforlessbridal.com) and he made some magical phone calls and was able to super rush my sister's BM dress to have it ready and delivered to her on time!!! I was soooo thankful for his help and caring in our situation. He actually felt genuinely bad for us because he said that he's heard of this happening before from them. Â So ladies, just please be careful of dress order timing, and where you order from. Nothing is guaranteed unless it's in your hands! Thank goodness for Tony and his ability to help us out in this situation!!! I told him I wished I had more sisters so I could order more dresses from him in the future! Too bad my DW is over...I guess there's always the Vow Renewal!! YAY!!! Â Ok, vent over... :-)

Hi IslandBride!! Can your baker "practice" using some royal icing and sugar sprinkled on top for some added dimension? That's what it looks like to me. You could even practice at home and try it. Maybe save a few bucks by providing the decoration hehehe... I think the coral would be too delicate to have mailed. You could also try another bakery who may have an artist able to re-create that piece of your cake? Lots of luck!! It IS a GORGEOUS cake!!!!!!

OMG JENISE!!!!!!!!!! I can't stop smiling!!! I know how nervous you were, but like I said Jen freaking ROCKS!! What truly amazing pictures...I'm so happy to hear how thrilled you were. These pictures ROCK!!!! Trust me ladies, the Jen and Oksana team is out of this world good! LOVE LOVE LOVE the fridge pic!!! Were you wearing a frilly little apron?! Hahaha... Oh, and nice bling on the shoes and the wrist ;-) I need stories!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi RunningBride!! The dress looks really similar to the original!! They did a great job! In my opinion, the reason the beading part doesn't "wow" you is because they applied it to the fabric. On the original, it looks as though the beading is directly on the skin (or at least on a very thin piece of fabric). To be 100% honest, I think you can find brighter and shinier appliqués (the beading part) at trim stores, or online. I think it would take someone maybe an hour or two to apply new appliqués if the straps were thinner, or removed altogether. I'll try and do some searching to see if I can find anything that will work. But the beads they used on the KO are more white and iridescent, whereas the beads on the original are silver and crystal. The dress also sits up higher on the mannequin compared to the model in the original, so that may be why it looks a little different too! Really nice job!! I would be very pleased if that were my dress...minor modifications and it will really "WOW" you!!

I feel like I've missed so much, it made me smile when I logged in and saw the May 2010 Brides thread on top :-D Happy belated birthday to you, Amy!!! We share the date!! I turned the big 3-0, and it was WONDERFUL!!! My husband (lol! it still makes me smile to say that) planned a huge surprise party for me. The premise was we were going to my aunt and uncle's house to "help them fix their pool", which was totally legit bc the last time we were there, we were talking about how to fix it and do it before the end of the summer. The whole morning Will was asking me "do you want to spend the night" --Not really, I'd like to sleep in my own bed..."do you want to bring the video camera?"--NO! What are we going to tape? My ass sweating off from all the manual labor in 100 degree heat? No thanks... We show up at their house and Will goes out to help my uncle start "fixing the pool" while my aunt asks for my help in the basement with going through my cousin's college dorm stuff to pack and send off again. This was a massive undertaking! Everything was so disorganized. She goes to get me a Diet Coke and about 20 minutes later I realized she hadn't returned. I went upstairs to see what was up...no one was in the house. So I went to go outside to see what was going on and I smell the BBQ going. I turn the corner of the house and about 50 family members are there singing Happy Birthday to me. I was shocked...stunned...embarrassed...you name it! Thank God it was 100 degrees out because I was sweating I was so embarrassed. My sunglasses hid my tears really well, too! Hahaha... SOOOO while I was in the basement, they were all orchestrating this production, complete with a massive white tent, food all over the place, balloons, streamers, music, etc. That was awesome!!!! Came pretty close to my surprise wedding!! Guess my family is big on the surprises for me. Like you Amy, the 4th of July usually takes precedence over any bday plans, but this year was awesome!!!!!!! Will tricked me...and then I got a little mad that all I had was the bathing suit I was wearing and nothing else. No bed, no change of clothes, no toothbrush, NO CAMERA! About 40 people ended up staying the night, and we resumed BBQ-ing the next day, too! Good times... We currently have Will's 8-year-old daughter with us for the summer. She lives in a small town in Indiana and doesn't get to experience what I like to call "life". I had been telling Will for over a year that we need to take her home with us to see that there's more to life than what she's seen. We've totally blown her mind while she was here and I think she'll never be the same. The one thing having her here has taught me is that kids are cute, but A LOT of work. Even at a functional age of 8, she's still a lot to take care of. I keep telling myself it's because I never got to ease into the role of "mom", but I'm not really keen on it right now. I've had the cravings for a baby, but with her being here, they've definitely taken a back seat. My family adores her and they're actually scheduling time with her for crabbing, boating, amusement parks, lakes...and I enjoy the free couple of hours that I get when they do. I didn't think I'd be that way, but boy is it tough. I've always been in the mind set that I want at least 3 kids, so there was never a "side". I am the middle child of 3 girls, all close in age, and I love it! I always said I either wanted no kids, or lots of kids...I think once she leaves though, my family is going to be on me to have them. They already ask if I'm cooking anything yet (weird, I know), but it makes me feel like I have the total support that I need...now I just have to actually start the process. I'm super scared now though. I never was until we took Sasha. It's definitely a conversation that will take place multiple times and then we'll just let the chips fall. I'm on the pill (which I HATE) so I feel like getting off of it will make me feel so much more like me, and actually be happier. So we'll see... My parents were young when they had me, and I remember as a little girl saying "I don't want to be an OLD mom...I want to have ALL the kids I'm gong to have by 30!". Hahaha...hmmm...things certainly change But I'm glad I have an 8 year old, so that means I am a "young" mom in a way too! I'm glad all you out in California are okay after that quake!!! I felt the one that happened in Canada a couple weeks ago! My first!! Is it bad that I actually thought it felt cool? It was like I was on the subway and my chair was rocking. We were obviously far from the center, but I can see how that gets super scary!!! Especially if things were falling off of the walls and alarms were going off!! I need to do a lot of catching up on these threads....

Annnnd the slideshow has been posted!!! Slideshow Posted From Punta Cana - Destination Wedding Photographer |

Thank you, Eliana!!! (I hope everything worked out well with the wedding on Saturday!! WE MISSED YOU!!!!!) I <3 Melissa and Summer...they really were the icing on my cake and completed my dream wedding. I am soooo proud of them and their phenominal work!!!!!

I had a great time, ladies!!!!!!!! You were all just and gorgeous, friendly and helpful in person and you were online! That was the first time I ever met someone who I only knew from an online encounter! From all the help I've been given on this forum, I felt like we were all old friends, LOL... Sign me up for the next one!!!