prettypigpig

Michelle, I know what you mean, carb lovers are very common. From asians who must eat 2 bowls of rice every meal to italians who would die if there is no bread and pasta on the table. Nicola, Once you get your date confirmed, you can add more info on the site. It is already a very nice site and I like the pics too. Quick question...Do you pay/plan to pay for your guests to goto Mexico? The reason I ask that is my dad thinks it is odd and not proper to ask our guests to pay for their trip.

Nicola, the flower is so nice! me too, I am looking into hair flowers, Jennifer Behr has some really nice designs, but the price of her items are insane.

Quote: Originally Posted by mexbride83 I'm trying reallyyyyyyy hard to bite my tongue on all this diet talk, but I am a Registered Dietitian and am working on my Masters in Nutrition, so sometimes I can't stop myself..... It is necessary to limit simple carbs in your diet (white bread, white pasta, white rice, sugar, etc), but you need complex carbs (wholegrains) and should never cut those out of your diet. So when you say to "limit carbs", you really should only limit the simple sugars. Limiting all carbs can lead to so many vitamin deficiencies, and worse yet, folate deficiency, which is incredibly dangerous in young women of reproductive age. Everything that RaychelRae said about exercise and weight loss is totally correct. You cannot say that "exercise leads to weight gain"... it's just people overeating after exercising that can cause a weight gain. And also, the gaining of muscle, which anyone who doesn't exercise regularly doesn't have much of, can cause it to appear that you aren't losing as much weight. But you are losing inches. Pay less attention to the numbers on the scale and more towards what you see in the mirror, how your clothes fit, etc!!! There is very mixed information on the link between green tea and weight loss. If you look up peer-reviewed studies from scientific journals (not just random websites on the internet), they've mostly found that if you don't normally drink caffeine, then drinking green tea does increase weight loss. If you do drink caffeine, then green tea has no effect. Therefore, its the caffeine and not the tea that is aiding in the increase of thermogenesis = fat burning. EGCG injected on its own has been shown to be an appetite suppressant, but there isn't enough of that in two cups of tea! Sorry to go off on all of these things, but there is nothing that makes a dietitian's job harder than fad diets and misinformation! Eat 5 fruits and vegetables a day, choose whole grains and lean protein sources, get 3 servings of dairy (which HAS been linked to weight loss!), COUNT your calories, and exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes a day and you will be on the right path to weight loss! Mexbride, WOW...the diet/regime seems hard for people to follow, especially in the US, I almost fainted when I saw my 12 inches sub and a 16 onze steak in the US. I work in the financial services biz, so I eat out 80% of time during lunch, was fed with resto food from age of 2-3 (my dad is a chef). 5 portions of fruit and vege = I eat that...mainly vege, because I am too lazy to peel fruits..and they don't taste that good up North. I don't eat carb, except in beer and soup noodles, the menu very blah in general....(since I was a kid, I don't like to bread, rice. ..pasta) My siblings too, somehow we don't like bread, pasta, rice..etc..we are all size 0. lean protein, I think I am the reason why Salmon and Tuna count is decreasing every year. Not counting my calories, I know how much approx...but if I wanna kill a HagenDaz..I will kill one pint in 30 mins. In general, I kill 2 pints per week, so far Mayan Chocolate and Rocky Road are my faves...heehee.. exercise...hmmm I do Yoga and Pilate..but definately didn't average out to 30 mins per day. As for the Dairy products, it was mainly Calcium that cause weight losses, so if I eat vege/drink Soy, like the cows did, it will be fine. I am lactose intolerant, it gets worst with age, since I can no longer to digest lactose.

Quote: Originally Posted by JuliaR I just bought these new $475 Santini Mavardi pink rhinestone sandals for $75 on an auction site! Wooohooo! Now eyeing the white Jimmy Choos. LOL Oh...they are gorgeous!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by jesmcan Hi Diane here are my recommendations based on our site visit FOR PRIVATE AND SEMI-PRIVATE RECEPTION SALADS Royal seafood salad perfumed with plum & peach oil (SP-1) Was very fishy and the one we had was infused with jasmin, the presentation is amazing but it did not taste that great Avocado stuffed with crab pulp au fresh dill vinaigrette (SP-2) This one the dill very over powering but again beautiful presentation Spinach soufflé with blueberry sauce au white wine flavor (SP-3) I think this is the best choice, fish can be hard not everyone likes it MAIN COURSES Shrimps au sherry served with jambalaya rice (SP-1) Red snapper Fantasy stuffed with seafood & black caviar cream (SP-2) Beef fillet tournedo with fresh wild mushrooms sauce (SP-3) The beef was cooked perfectly, presentation was amazing def! go with this one, you will love it, again the other ones are just tough because the majority may not like it DESSERTS Baked pear stuffed with almond mousse (SP-1) Paris chocolate shell stuffed with fruit au white Cinzano flavor (SP-2) The chocolate shell is amazing, they make it all right than and there. I can't remember where my presentation is but I have a link to pictures and this is one of them. It was an amazing dessert and would go perfectly with cake. Cannoli trio stuffed with praline & raspberry coulis (SP-3) here is the link for pics from my site visit - http://www.shutterfly.com/lightbox/v...bbd47cbb382743 hope this helps WOW!good review, thx for the info. Do you have to arrange anything with WC to have an onsite tasting?

Quote: Originally Posted by Nicyx Mischaka... I know what you mean with the dress shopping and the dresses only being for "smaller" brides.... so annoying, the only up side is it makes me that wee bit more determind!!!!! Here is my website with a few pic of me and hubby to be added as suggested by a few ladies on here... not sure if i like it with the pix of us in there? Just cant wait to add dates and times etc now, anymore suggestions or is this ok? Our Wedding | Welcome | nicolaandstephen2011 Thanks again x Nicola, This is not true, a size 10 dress isn't really for small brides! Life isn't easy for a small bride neither. I needed to hold on every dress that I tried, if not they would fall off. This is the same dress that I posted a few page ago...a view from the back. It was a size 8. The other girl who was trying a Pronovias dress next to my fitting room was 2 size away from the sample dress, so they pinned the dress, and she was screaming at the end as she was having an aculpuncture session for free! ouch..

Quote: Originally Posted by Linhy do you all think this look cheesy? nope, it is very practical. Goldfish are good snacks with a good cold beer! also great on road trip/excursion, when your guests feel hungry, they can munch on goldfish!

Linhy, Are you going to ship your stuffs in a container?! MOUHAHAHA... the OOT bags, the gold fish biscuits, the table clothes.., the letter and schedule..the mugs...

Quote: Originally Posted by Linhy It doesn't even look like a notepad... Oups...somehow it looks like those super natural, organic, handmade paper notepad to me! heehee Geez...how can u print ur letter and the schedule on that....I am not that far yet...as u can see...I am still slowly..folding paper airplanes.

Quote: Originally Posted by Linhy Here are my welcome letter cards for my tote bags! I am taking stationary paper and cutting into halves then pasting it into a cardboard. boy.. this is a lot of work. So my welcome letter will be on the front and the schedule will be on the back. Thx Linhy, OH WOW..that is a lot of work!....nope..my guests aren't getting any notepad! heehee...

I have their catalogue/ portfolio, if any of you wanna take a look, PM me. So far, after seeing so many pics from photographers, I have to admit, that I won't hire them, if they are included in my package, I may just choose to "lose" them. The 3 who Ivan recommended are actually very NICE. Ivan too, is an amazing photographer, and very reasonable priced. If you are not too into photos, don't like to pose or make posters/postcard out of your wedding pics, Funever is a fine choice.

Quote: Originally Posted by CaraW Bonnie - I am not trying to SCARE the ladies, I am trying to give them a heads up. Bottom line is, no tour operator - be it Signature, Transat, anyone has any packages a year in advance. I'm not saying don't book, put down a deposit to hold your spot (which is what we did, and it was refunded to us after Signature wrecked all of our plans). Just know that NO ONE can know what kind of flights or accomodations they will have available a year in advance. The reason why I "ended up in this mess" was because Signature decided all of a sudden not to renew their contract with the Barcelo... and they told us all along we were booked. I'm not trying to say this is going to happen to anyone else, everyone just needs to know that nothing is guaranteed when you are booking so far in advance. It's all only a guess........ I know! This is always an unknown, beside the tour operator, the hotel can go bankrupt, and the airline too (remember JetsGO?), it is a risk that all destination brides have to take, especially in this fragile economy. The bright side is..at least we are not getting married in Greece, Spain...Portugual where everyone is on strike! You can still book your trip/package with Air Canada or Air Transat. Stay positive whenever there is a road block!

Due to Tiffany's influence, I started to my STD, so far, 7 of them are made, with 2 failures...sigh...I am glad that I am not having a big wedding! Raychel, I know what you mean, it all depends on where is your departure point. If u are at a healthy weight, wanna get toned muscle...I would totally agree with your suggestions. It is all about self-disciplined.

Quote: Originally Posted by Linhy Tara! You look so flattering in that dress! it's so pretty! well fitted with your body. haha you're funny Bonnie! Linhy, It is true, I read that research on CNN website. The reason behind it was people tend to "compensate" their efforts after gym time, and they tend to feel more hungry too. Thus, more gym time, and still the same or more weight. A Cosmo is 250-300 calories, so a happy hour with 2 Cosmos = 500 calories..(Strawberry Daiquiries are even worst) now that is excluding those snacks and finger food. Michelle, No, this is not my dress, it is very nice, but way too big for a destination wedding.

Tara, Beautiful dress! La Sposa does have amazing dresses! I think I tried a similar dress/same dress today (don't remember after trying on so many), so you look much better in it (compared to me..heehee)

Ok ladies...when it comes to lose weight, u have to motivated, determined, and driven (I know I sound like telling you girls to be investment bankers or smth). tip #1, cut the carbs. no Ban-Mi, Pho, whole wheat pasta...are border line tip #2, at least of 2 cups of green/white tea per day tip #3, if you wanna drink, stick to the red wine, no Cosmo..no Strawberry Daiquiri... tip #4, if u wanna exercise (research shown that exercise will increase weight and not decrease...YES, it is proven, people gain much more weight/ didn't lose any) MAKE SURE you don't eat/binge/no starbucks within the 2 hours after the exercise.

Super exhausting after dress shopping trip #1. At the end of the day,I felt all dresse look the same....

Nicola, LOL! Colorblind females are rare, because it is a recessive trait, and the gene is only on the X chromosone. If you get boys in the future, they will be 100% colorblind, and 100% of your girls will not be colorblind, just carrier of the trait (if your mom isn't colorblind, she is probably a carrier of the trait). Poor you! There are a few shade of Aqua...and I know you must be..not sure..hmmm. I gave my grand mom a sapphire ring, and she kept saying ..the Ruby has a very nice red hue. My dad once bought a can of WASABI green paint...and definately it wasn't the desired color for our living room (at least not for non-colorblind folks).

Quote: Originally Posted by missyri We are hoping to get a resort booked soon, but we are having a hard time since we cant really afford to take a trip down to see the different resorts, and finding pictures of wedding reception sites is near impossible. I cant believe these resorts dont have nice pictures of their wedding reception sites and set ups, would help sell it you would think! This forum is super helpful, you can check other threads for reviews, and sometimes, you can find photos of real actual wedding at the resort that you are looking/researching. One of my friends went to the Princess resort, she said it is a nice one. I remember that it isn't too far from the airport, quite new and big.

Quote: Originally Posted by Linhy hahha yeah! hahhaa thats funny Bonnie! How many do you have coming again? Just close family is around 20+, then friends and kids...should be around 30-50.

Quote: Originally Posted by missyri Hey we're getting married in Riviera Maya may 2011. We're stuck between Grand Riviera Princess(family) and Valentin Imperial Maya(adults). We have a few young nieces and nephews and cousins we would like to come (and their parents!) but we have been having trouble finding that family all inclusive that meets our needs, so far GRP is all we have come up with. We wanted to do a destination wedding to ease up on the stress and its still pretty stressful! Melissa Melissa, I know! I went thru the same stage...pick the right resort, can take kids, and still very lux, nice and romantic. I picked the Royal Playa Del Carmen (adult only), with its sister hotel the Gran Porto Gran next door that can take kids and budget constrainted guests.

Quote: Originally Posted by Linhy I am now working on table cloth. I think we are going to bring our own since the dreams seems to charge every little detail you do. Plus we can reuse the table cloth afterward. I went to the fabric store yesterday and found this pretty olive green for the table cover and a dark brown chocolate color for the runner. The 2 together looks really classy and elegant. LOL...since you will have one big rectangle table, I guess it is fine, and you will have the exact color that u want. I won't bring tablecloth with me for sure...plus my dad, my aunt and my grandmom are color blind! It is better and easier to use the white one provided by the resort.

Quote: Originally Posted by Linhy ugh is frustrated that I haven't heard from the WC for weeks now she was supposed to send our contract for the deposit of the resort. I already booked my rooms and air though. I called her a couple times and she said she is going to send it out to be soon and not to worry but that was weeks. I just don't understand why don't they hire a assistant for theses WC. I even hear that brides that have upcoming wedding this year and she hasn't been behind with everyone. When we were gonna stay at the dreams in Cabo the wedding WC was quick. Maybe there were on-site weddings, you know Dreams is a popular choice for destionation brides. Like the Barcelo, I used to wait weeks to get a reply. Ocean Turquesa is better, 2-3 days max, and The Royal Playa Del Carmen has a WC dept in USA, so they reply me in 2-3 days max. Therefore, those WCs have to coordinate on-site weddings (sometimes like 3 weddings per day)..and reply to hundreds of emails/inquiries from anxious future brides.

Quote: Originally Posted by CaraW Just be careful ladies if you book too early, we booked in July of last year with Signature Vacations and they told us that we had rooms at the hotel, flights lined up and everything. They were just waiting to give us our flight schedule. All we had to do is pay the $150 deposit, and pay in full on March 17th. But this past week they told us they don't have rooms with the Barcelo because they've decided not to renew their contract with the Barcelo. Just like FutureMrsG said, the prices (and usually anything) is subject to change until full payment is made. I know this probably doesn't happen too often, but it was a terrible situation to be in. We had to change our wedding date and everything! You can read my review of Signature Vacations under "Bride Referrals" where it gives a more detailed explanation fo what happened. Just be careful when booking so early. We wish we waited until the our operators had their flight details, and packages available otherwise they're just making a guess on what it could cost you, and when you'll fly, but once they get their packages for that month your wedding is in, it could COMPLETELY change. Cara Cara, Don't scare the ladies. The reason why u ended up in this mess is because Signature was acquired by Sunwings (a lower quality tour operators in Canada), and they re-structured their hotel offerings. My TA told me that Signature used to offer the best wedding packages and has the best brochure for destination wedding, but she can no longer give me the brochure because she isn't sure what will have to Signature offerings once they are fully intergrated with SunWing Vacations.

I found out that the luxury package's private reception menu has 4 courses (much fancier stuffs too), and the eternal romance or classic package's upgraded private reception has 3 courses...Of course I can add more $$$ to get to the 4 course menu!