goodtoglow

I love love Envelopments and the patterened paper you chose... great job!

Wow wow wow! Great job on everything! Your invites rocked - I had no idea that Michaels sold such great invites!

Great job! I love them!

Beautiful! I'm a huge fan on sparkly paper! The picture you chose is perfect

Getting to 150 posts seems to be taking forever for me! Congrats on making it!

Definitely the bigger item -- what girl doesn't love a Coach purse? Hopefully you can get to the outlet on a day that they are handing out 30% off flyers (seems to be every day, LOL)

I'm on the OP's side..... I think that the majority of my guests, if not all, will be bringing the items that are usually packed in OOT Bags, and a lot of the stuff will be useless or thrown to the side. Plus, a good quality tote bag is quite expensive, and the cheaper ones are more likely to rip apart if my guests wanted to use them as a day bag (not to mention I'm certain all of the ladies will have beach bags packed!) I'm going to give everyone a welcome letter, as well as a room directory, but other than that we won't be doing OOT bags. We did use cruise points for champagne and chocolates in each room, as well as an open bar cocktail party (cruises are not AA). Hopefully that will let them know how much we appreciate them coming. I'm glad I'm not the only one who dislikes OOT bags! I kind of thought I was alone and that my guests would be expecting something, but I'm relieved to see that is not the case!

I cannot see the photos either. It says they have been deleted from Photobucket

Shelley, Target IS coming to Canada! It is replacing Zellers..... should start seeing them pop up by the end of this year (I hope - although I'm sure that Target in the states will be waaaaaaay cheaper!)

I too am from Canada, but luckily I live only 40 minutes from the border, and there is a post office I can send things to (Mail Boxes International - $10/year and usually $2.50 per parcel). It is right over the border in Blaine, Washington. I've sent quite a few things there and have worked it into States shopping trips or grocery store visits (cheese is soooooo cheap in the States compared to Canada!)

Thanks for sharing the website! I'll be looking into all of the links posted here... for my BMs I was going to get them Coach wristlets (gotta love the outlets!) for their cruise room cards but the other guests will probably appreciate these...

I love those! My BM's would definitely appreciate them (they would prefer their first names since I am the first to take the big plunge!) BeachesSB1412, I work in the medical field too (Registered Psych Nurse... like an RN but in Western Canada we can do a psychiatric speciality) and seeing "BM" always cracks me up too!

I'm definitely inviting everyone - I'll put the AHR reception info on one of the cards for our pocketfold invites for those coming on the cruise, and then just mail out a simple AHR invite for those who are not coming to the wedding (we aren't sending out any invites until after the cruise has to be paid in full, which is 2.5 months before the cruise) I'm going to do it cocktail style as well, but I want to wear my dress again and have the bridal party wear their outfits!

What cruise/date did you decide to go with?

Congrats on booking!!! It is such an exciting feeling!

Oh, and for the guys..... I really have no idea and I doubt my fiance does either! We are going to buy them their ties.... perhaps their shirts too if I can find a good deal (may have to go across the border to Washington from Canada where everything is significantly cheaper).... they would probably love some of the pre-paid drink tickets you can buy before departing on the cruise!

I'm not certain yet because of costs (7 bridesmaids, 1 junior bridesmaid and 2 flower girls, plus 6 or 7 groomsmen) but ideally I would like to pay for the ladies dress material (and they can pay the seamstress) as well as their flipflops. I also want to go to the Coach Outlet and find wristlets for all of them (not matching - I'd like to pick ones that suit each of them individually) because we are getting married on a cruise so the wristlets would be perfect for their Room Key and small digital cameras! For the Junior Bridesmaid and Flower Girls, I want to find something that they can keep in their china cabinets when they are older. I know that I value items like these from when I was younger. I will also have to think of something more exciting for them for now.... although I know that they would love Coach wristlets too! (a 14 year old, 8 year old and 7 year old..... what have I done, influencing them to like Coach at this young of an age?!) Luckily, I am a makeup artist so I will be doing makeup lessons before we go so that everyone can do their own, and they will probably do each others hair since they will likely be hanging out at the beach after the ceremony (and getting ready again once we are back on the ship in the evening for the reception). When we were in Vegas last year for a stagette we all did each others hair, and it looked fantastic. They will save money this way!

One of my bridesmaids convinced me that giving out Bubba Kegs to our guests as a pre-wedding favour would be an awesome idea. We brought Bubba Kegs onto the cruise we went on in February and couldn't live without them (especially since we also brought Rum Runners too!). I emailed Bubba Keg about bulk pricing and they offered $5.75 for these: http://shop.getyourbubbakeg.com/Items/casku5477?&__utma=78413314.1854421628.1290807455.1290807455.1290807455.1&__utmb=78413314.1.10.1290807455&__utmc=78413314&__utmx=-&__utmz=78413314.1290807455.1.7.utmcsr=bubbakeg.com|utmccn=(referral)|utmcmd=referral|utmcct=/&__utmv=-&__utmk=214091793 They come with a lanyard (which is nice, because the older style had a handle which we liked but these are much more modern looking). They also offered the 18oz Tumbler for $5.75 or the older style 20oz Travel Mug for $5.99....... I am going to get stickers made to put on them and try to hand out as many as possible before we leave on the cruise. We will likely have to bring a 2nd suitcase filled with wedding items so any extra will squish in there. I will have to place a little note inside of the kegs saying that these are our wedding favours in advance!

Here is the cake order form I received from the groups rep.... since the Steakhouse has such an amazing dessert menu, we will probably just get a 2 tier cake for up to 50 guests. I doubt anyone will be eating the cake since they will be so stuffed from dinner! ______ Item #GS1 - Small specialty two tier cake (up to 20 guests) - $ 50.00, plus 15% service charge ______ Item #GS2 - Large specialty two tier cake (up to 50 guests) - $ 75.00, plus 15% service charge ______ Item #GS3 - Three tier specialty cake (up to 75 guests) - $125.00, plus 15% service charge ______ Item #GS4 - Four tier specialty cake (up to 150 guests) - $175.00, plus 15% service charge Please select one (1) of the following cake flavors: ______ Butter Vanilla ______ Chocolate ______ Mixed Tiers - Butter Vanilla & Chocolate (tier flavor order/combination, at Chef’s discretion) Please select one (1) of the following cake fillings: ______ Vanilla ______ Chocolate ______ Strawberry Special Note: Your cake will be decorated with a smooth white butter cream frosting. Layers are placed atop one another; we do not have push pillars. Other color, flavor, style, or filling selections are not available. In addition; Tiered Cakes do not come with a cake topper. Guests will have to bring their own.

This is what we have done! We are using an on-island coordinator in St Thomas (Island Bliss Weddings) and then after the ceremony everyone will have the remainder of the day to do as they please (and we are giving plenty of notice so everyone can plan their day, as well as making sure taxi's are available to drive everyone to wherever they would like to go). We have rented out the entire Steakhouse on the ship (Harry's Supper Club on Carnival Liberty - it seats 108 and we have 80+ coming, so we figured we may as well rent the entire thing out). We are going to purchase wine packages and drink coupons so that the liquor doesn't cost us too much during the reception. The only downside is that in order to get the complete Steakhouse menu (the group one is so small and is missing all of the good parts about the Steakhouse!) we have to compromise with our seating times.... so at 6pm the bridal party and their significant others will go in... at 7:15pm family will come in.... and then we are having our friends come and have a few drinks at the bar at 8pm and they will be seated as soon as the restaurant can seat them.... we will have to start speeches while the final seating is eating, however our friends won't mind and that way our family doesn't have to sit there for hours waiting for our friends to eat before speeches and the first dance! And of course it will be a long night for our wedding party but that is what an open bar is for!

Looks great! We are going with Bubba Kegs too. I contacted Bubba Keg about bulk pricing and they can do 24oz Chugs or 18oz Tumblers for $5.75 each! We need to get about 80 so it is going to be a very expensive favor, but we absolutely loved using them on our last cruise and know our guests will find them useful for our wedding cruise!

Sposa Couture is in White Rock right along Marine Drive.... a bit of a trek to get to but it's so pretty down there and it's a nice excuse to go for a walk along the water and lunch. If there is a dress you really want to try on, they can always bring it to the Sposa in New West for you, just call a few days in advance (I know Sposa Couture carries Enzoani - the regular, more expensive collection - they carry 2 other brands but I forgot which!!)

I can't believe you did those yourself! They look fabulous. You should have no regrets!

I love these! What an awesome idea to put it in a hardcover book.

I like what you said. That is so true! It is such a special moment!