niajs

That's really great - thanks so much!

Wow - I am so impressed! I'd never heard of mypublisher before and I've even found a mypublisher UK so I can do it - yey! A couple of questions for you: 1. How did you get all of the little graphics in the background (the stamps and notecards etc)? Were they offered on the site or did you upload them yourself? 2. Were the photos your professional photos or did you just use ones that friends and family took over the week?

You make such a beautiful bride!

Thanks X-Chan, that's really helpful. Cutting the butter makes so much more sense than trying to spoon it out with a tablespoon measure! Who'd think it'd be so different between the UK and US?!

Hey all, I'm British and living in the UK (planning a DW in Australia). I love to bake and have just bought a couple of really great cookbooks, but they're from the US and the measurements are quite different! In the UK, we measure flour, butter etc by weight (grams or ounces) with a weighing scale. I just pour the flour into the big measuring bowl and that's it. I've noticed that all of the US measurements are in cups, which is fine as I have a set of cups (a gift from Disney World!), but I'd like to ask how you measure dry and wet ingredients. For example, do you put the cup into the bag of flour, or do you pour the flour straight into the cup (doesn't that make a mess?!). I've also seen, for example, 4 tablespoons of butter. Do you literally scrape a tablespoon off the block of butter?! Sorry if these questions seem stupid, I just want to make sure my cakes turn out right!

Fantastic job! My FSIL (who makes stationery for a living) will be making my passports, but I definitely want to include the envelope liners and wax seals - at last - something I can do myself!

Hi all, like lots of people, I'm planning on including postcards in my OOT bags, one to send back to us for our guest book and one to send to family and friends if they wish. A question for those who've done this - did you put a stamp on either or both of the cards? I tend to think that they're more likely to send it back if we put a stamp on it but should we stamp the additional one for family and friends or will this just be a waste of money?

If she's already mentioned details of the wedding to you and everybody else in your team is invited, then I'd also say it was an oversight (unless you've done something to upset her in the meantime!). I agree with the suggestion of emailing her - good luck!

I order from the UK site, so it may be different (in fact, the label says they're printed in Belgium!) but mine usually arrive in less time than 21 days. As I'm in no rush, I always pick the slow delivery, but it's usually here within 2 weeks, rather than 3. If you were in a real rush though, I would pick the quicker option.

I've always been a bit in two minds about it. We're not staying at a resort (we're in a city), so not all of our guests will be staying in the same hotel. This means that someone (FI hopefully!) will have to spend a whole day in a taxi driving round to people's hotels. Also, with not staying at a resort, we can't really include the fabulous things I've seen on here such as key card/tip holders, beach equipment etc. I've been to two DWs and haven't had anything like this (we didn't have favours at all). I think it's pretty unheard of in the UK, so I really want to make my guests feel special. I've begun ordering the free tote bags from Vistaprint and I think they'll be perfect for what I need. If I can include a welcome bag, some leaflets from the tourist office, a bottle of water and perhaps a local beer/wine and local snacks, I think that'll be fine. We'll be spending 3 weeks away in total and travelling around to different places, so all of my luggage space will be precious!

In the UK, we don't have bridal showers, we only have hen nights/hen weekends, which would be the equivalent of your bachelorette parties in the US, so there wouldn't be any gifts, just the cost of attending the party and the activity and accommodation if it's a weekend. My sisters in law are trying to convince me to have one, but I feel awkward asking people to spend money when they either can't afford to come to our DW/are already spending lots of money to come/are only invited to the AHR. A lot of weddings in the UK are split into "day guests" and "evening guests" where close friends and family are invited to the day, with the sit down meal etc and work colleagues etc are invited to the evening with dancing and a buffet. I hate being invited on a hen weekend when I'm only invited to the evening party. I feel like I'm being asked to spend a couple of hundred pounds, when they are not willing to spend £50 or so on inviting me to the day. That's what I feel my friends would say if I had a hen party. Perhaps I can work it so that I just do something in my home town, that won't end up costing a lot of money.

Wow - your planning thread is amazing!

Copacabana - Barry Manilow

LOvely thread - I really love your flowers! Where is the UK thread? I've never come across that and would like to have a look!

Wow - you are so talented! Can you let us know how you made your bookmarks? I would love to make some for my OOT bags.

I went to my first semi-dry wedding a couple of weeks ago. The bride doesn't drink, although the groom does. The bride's parents don't drink, but her brother and sister do. Whereas usually there'd be wine on the tables, there was only fruit juice, water and sparkling soft drinks. There was no bar available. However, when the meal finished at around 7pm, they opened the pay bar, so guests could buy their own drinks. FI and I are both quite big social drinkers and do enjoy a few drinks at a wedding (it's the only way I can get up and dance!). We were on a table where we didn't really know any of the others and I think we took longer to loosen up than we otherwise would have done. There was a lot of hanging around when the bridal party were taking photos and we just had to stand there and wait. Had we been able to have a drink, it would have at least passed the time (I have to clarify here that there were no soft drinks available either, just standing around!). I think you'll find it hard to control in an AI resort. There's no reason why you need to have wine on the tables, but I don't think you'll be able to stop people going out and getting their own drinks. Good luck and I hope it works out for you.

I hope you can help me! For our DW, we'll have around 60 guests, which is great. We'll then have an informal AHR for around 200 guests. FI's gran is in a nursing home and is confined to bed. She and FI's grandad are quite religious and were regular churchgoers until she went into the home. FI now takes his grandad a couple of times a month. As FI has become quite friendly with the vicar in the church, he'd had the idea of having a small blessing in his gran's room at the home. (Our DW will be legal for us) I then suggested that we'd perhaps invite my gran (who is also quite religious and not coming abroad). I now wonder if we should have a bigger blessing in the church (and in his gran's room another day) so that we can invite close family (aunts/uncles/cousins) who can't make it out to our real wedding (e.g. my closest auntie and uncle who would have loved to have come out but can't because they have to look after my gran.) I'm fully aware that, by choosing a wedding abroad, lots of people won't be able to make it, but... The question is: Is this a nice idea? Will those people who have shelled out to come abroad think "why did we bother if they were doing it all again at home?"

Hi Karyan, I'm getting married in Sydney (it's all booked - yey!). Other than close family, I don't think it's going to be feasible to have everyone stay in the same place. As we've given plenty of notice, some people are using it as an opportunity to have a "holiday of a lifetime" and will be staying out there for a month or so, which means they'll be moving around a bit. I think, logistically, it would be a bit hard to arrange for people to arrive on different dates. Plus, some people have family in or around Sydney who they'll be staying with. I get so frustrated when I see great ideas on here which won't really work because of the way our wedding is going to be. Whereabouts are you in Australia and where are you getting married?

Great brochure, but even greater choice of menu - can I come and eat any leftovers?!

Great idea for a thread! Our wedding is still so far away that I haven't even bought my dress yet, so it depends how early people are starting to plan. Although we have no idea of final numbers, we do have a rough idea of how many we'll have. I've been ordering free tote bags from vistaprint, along with free pens, notepads etc as and when the offers come up. I think I'm on my 4th now, but when I get close to the number I think, I'll stop until I have final numbers. At least it spreads it out a bit this way. I've also been collecting ideas from magazines and websites for my bouquet, hair and makeup inspiration, bridal party outfits (inc shoes and accessories). I've been collecting ideas for my invitations, and other DIY projects and saving the templates to be used when we know more numbers and details. I've considered what music and readings I want at the ceremony. Let's keep this going!

I like murmel's suggestion, but if you just have to email people, I don't think that's a problem. I think that we think too much about getting things to match and everything looking amazing, but, as murmel said, they'd rather have the choice. When I went to a wedding in Italy earlier this year, the bride asked people their dinner choices via facebook! If you're artistic, perhaps you could type up the menu nicely and attach it as a PDF, so that your guests have something nice to look at?

work: boring

Excellent news! Thanks jszy10 - you've really inspired me to do mine. Just wish my wedding wasn't quite such a long time away!

Can you change or remove the cover picture on the Aylee template? I'm British, so want to find a picture like on the front of a British passport to put onto the front, instead of the American one. Do you know if that's possible? I'm hoping that I can still pay the $10 to get the template even from the UK, but I don't want to spend it if I can't change the picture. Can anyone help?