clgriffi7

I am with niajs - my parents are going to contribute some money to the wedding fund so they will have paid for part of everything.

Navi - After reading your questions I figured I would just ask an Italian for you! I have a coworker that I am good friends with that lives in Verona, Italy (between Milan and Venice) and was able to instant message her at work to get her opinion. After copying your post to her, this is what she replied:  ok there are several things to consider  1. weather: it is normally rubbish in the north (all the places she listed are in the north but rome) it may rain a lot and be cold, I mean not NYC cold but last year it snowed a few times   12:25 PM  but not consistent pretty snow, right? so a lot of cold & wet days?   12:25 PM  yes, you may get a sunny day but odds are against you. I think that visiting all those places is feasible but implies some time spent moving from one place to the other and no way they could squeeze skiing in  if u want my opinion I would do the same trip in Apr/may  it isnt true that places are closed   12:29 PM  okay - so all of the tourist stuff would stay open year round  but it is probably true about the lines being shorter   12:29 PM  yes and yes     12:29 PM  np they would still love it  but it isnt as nice  the cold is bearable if they are from the North of the US    12:31 PM  btw vatican city is in rome and pisa isnt that great  but the leaning tower sounds like a must for tuorists  I have never been there  I am not sure it is worth the diversion     12:32 PM  rome florence and venice are on a straight line     12:33 PM  I would visit another place but thats just me you could recommend Siena (in tuscany) or bologna  between florence and venice  or verona  any of these cities is much nicer than pisa  but i can understand why they want to go  it is funny it is so famous abroad and you owuldnt find 1 Italian that would list it among his favorite 5   Navi - Sorry for the long post, but I figured it was best to just copy in what she said. Hope this helps!!!

I agree with all of the other ladies - perfectly acceptable!! As long as you and your husband are willing to spend some time with the larger wedding group, then there should be no issue. The bride and groom will certainly understand that if you were to take a separate honeymoon, then you would likely not be able to afford/have the vacation days to attend their wedding as well.

I say #2 as well. The extra detail of #3 would be nice, but I think it might be a bit much since you are going with the veil as well.

I wouldn't wear a necklace if I were you. Do you normally wear a lot of jewelry? Imagine looking at your wedding pictures...are you likely to think that everything looks a bit too busy? I think it is better to error on the side of simplicity compared to "busy". Â I don't plan on wearing one and my dress does not have any of the detailing around the top. But I normally do not wear earrings and a necklace and I think I will look at my pictures and not feel like they are "me". Good luck - your dress is beautiful and I am sure it will look wonderful whichever way you decide to go.

Since it is the first Monday night of the NFL season - tonight will be buffalo wings (from the freezer) and fries. I better enjoy eating like this while I can! My wedding will be November 2011, so I have committed to making an effort to eat better once 2011 starts. I know if I try to start behaving this early, that I will completely give up before the wedding. You have to recognize your limitations and work around them :-)

A lot of destination brides on this site have sent pre-wedding packets (about a month or so in advance of the wedding) to all guests who have booked. These packets normally include a packing list, information about the destination, and sometimes luggage tags. If you were to do a packet like that you could include a self-addressed and stamped post card (you could get them free from Vista Print) with the mailing. That way you are only asking the guests that have already booked to respond. Â If you already know which options you are giving your guests, and you think they will respond to an RSVP with the invitation, then that would be the easiest way to go. I do not intend to send an RSVP with the invites, because I think a lot of guests won't really know if they can make it when the invite arrives in the mail and then it will get lost. I will only assume someone is coming once they have put a deposit on a room. Â There is also the option of emailing guests after they book. Once they have put down a deposit, you can send the guests a personal email about how excited you are that they are coming and ask them what they would prefer to eat at that point.

I think I will now be incorporating a lot of the ideas from this thread! My baby was already going to be in the engagement pictures because that was honestly the only way I could convince my fiance to do them. Our feist (like a big jack russell) will be in 1/2 the pictures where we will be wearing our rival universities' football jerseys, then we will take the other half without him in nicer clothes. I had previously seen this cake topper from a BDW bride (I am sorry I don't have the bride's name to give credit!). The topper is from http://www.mrsclay.com/ I plan on ordering one as a surpirse for my fiance. I think it will make a great keepsake to keep next to the sand ceremony since they will make it with a replica of your wedding attire and hair (they ask for pictures). Â I love Andi's idea for the "Please Marry my Mommy" card - so I will have to do that for sure. I also love the idea of the mini-frames for the bouquet. With the exception of the engagement session, the other things will be a surprise for my fiance. Thanks for all the ideas ladies - keep them coming!

I had the same problem with my fiance, except that the engagement shoot wasn't included in a package so we were going to have to pay for it separately. So you get a guy who doesn't like photos, doesn't understand the importance of them to a bride, AND who is cheap....not an easy task. My fiance is in love with his dog - I have asked many times if the house was on fire and he could only save one of us, which would it be. After a first "joking" response of "well you could get yourself out", he says he would save me. At which point I glare at him So I knew the dog was my route to the engagement pictures. He agreed to take them as long as some of the pictures include the dog. Â That type of ploy won't work so well for you when you are so far from home. Do you think he would be tempted by going to a really cool landmark or park so that the photos feature the location as much as the two of you? I am planning on going to a local park that has an old mill (the kind with the water wheel) and I think having this type of feature in the background will take some of the focus off of us as a couple (in a good way) because neither of us are terribly photogenic. Â Good luck!

I think you will have onlookers at almost any resort if you are getting married outside with a great ocean view. I am looking into Dreams Cancun because you certainly won't have as much of a problem. Here is a link to their photo gallery. Their wedding gazebo is on a point so onlookers can only watch from behind. And there is a smaller pool behind the gazebo, but you can look at their pictures to see how far away as you can be sure they angled it to be just out of view. http://www.dreamsresorts.com/drecu/photo-gallery.html  The Dreams resorts are definitely family friendly and the prices are reasonable. Hope this helps.

Based on what you have said I would recommend narrowing it down to the Bahamas, Jamaica, or Las Vegas. Next I would ask are you thinking beach fun or city/nightlife fun to either rule out or select Las Vegas. If you chose beach fun, then one thing that could help sway you between the Bahamas and Jamaica could be flight prices if you are trying to keep the budget in check for your guests.

You are right - if he won't accept you the way you are then you do have a problem. But I think most of the ladies try and drop a few pounds for themselves and not for their fiances/husbands. And honestly I think the weight loss is more for the pictures than anything else. This will likely be the most photographed day in your life so you want to feel as good about yourself as you can. But of course that feeling of confidence and beauty doesn't necessarily have anything to do with your weight. So it is a personal choice and if you don't want to put yourself through that extra hassle during one of the most stressful (and wonderful) times in your life, then by all means don't do it!

I will be in somewhat of the same boat as you - but you are taking it much better than I would. I completely understand that they couldn't make it to Cuba as destination weddings are quite expensive for guest. However, they have no right to be upset at you about it - as it is your decision. As for the open house - it has nothing to do with where they live, but everything to do with where you and your husband live. I think it is rather lazy that your family won't drive 3 hours to see you (I would be upset at that) - but once again they have no right to be upset at you for it. I think it is very nice of your parents to hold a dinner - but that requires you to drive 3 hours, where is the fairness in that one? My first thought was why would you give them gifts when you are making all of the effort and they are being unreasonable - but then I considered that maybe they got you wedding gifts. If you received gifts from them, then I would give them something. I would probably take the wedding photos with me to the restaurant and just see what the vibe is. If they are truly there to celebrate your union then they will be happy to see them. Remember this is YOUR wedding and they have no right to have any expectations. Â My situation will be a bit different in that my extended family on my father's side (aunt, cousins, and their kids) live about 5 hours away. My AHR will be more of an AHP (at home party) and I would hate for them to drive 5 hours each way for some booze :-) I plan on organizing a nice lunch in a city in between (3 hours for us and 2 for them) so they can see the photos and such. I am planning on doing this, but I would be very pissed off if I heard they were upset about my other plans for MY wedding. Â Sorry for the rant. You are a much nicer person than I am!

Wow - I am truly sorry you are having to go through this...especially with only 3 months to go. This girl really sounds like she has changed - that it was all about her when it was her wedding and now it is still all about her. My hope is that your fiance and his best man can find a way to keep their relationship strong. It sounds like a controlling situation where she is telling him he can't spend money or can't take any time off of work. If she doesn't want to take off and come to the legal ceremony then okay, but how can she tell him he isn't allowed?! Sounds like the best man needs to stand up to his new wife now before it is too late.... Â I wish you the best of luck and I hope there are some ladies that can offer you good advice (my wedding is still over a year out - so I haven't had to deal with this kind of drama yet).

We did a trial run using Office Max to print. Not sure how their prices would compare to your print shop.

I am making one per person for all of the adults. (I would make them for any older kids too - but only toddlers will be joining us)

wendjd - I am with you about David Tuttera (sp?) coming and fixing up my wedding. What David accomplishes is phenomenal. My fiance even asked me to look up the show online and submit a request. They were only looking for brides in California for early 2011 at the time. I might tryand check back later - but I doubt it will ever request destination weddings in Mexico!

Hopefully you can support your fiance - as he must be really hurt. I wouldn't show it to him, but I would be really angry. It is one thing if they were afraid to fly or something like that - but having just gone to the Caribbean?! No Way! Hopefully others will talk some sense into them in time for them to join you for the wedding.

So I just checked my email and found my latest Vistaprint offers and started wondering how I could use something free from them to make a Shoes Optional sign. Here is what I designed (thanks for the wording from dianep!): Â The dashed line is simply because I did a screen capture to get the picture while it was in editing mode. This background is one of the standard ones for Vistaprint, so it will not cost extra. Without a free email this sign would be $11.99 + $2.99 for the stand + $8.99 for shipping. So I now have this saved in my account and next time I see a free sign offer come through I will be buying it for ~$12.

I hope to not turn into a Bridezilla - though I am sure I will be more high strung and demanding than normal. But I would expect my fiance to step in and tell me when I have crossed the line. I do think a wedding is a stressful situation at the start of a life together, but I think it is also a good measure of the person you are marrying. Men need to look at their women to see if they become Bridezillas or are unable to reign in the spending. And women need to look at their men to see if they are uncompromising and too tight with the money. Arguments will undoubtedly arise during the wedding planning process and how a couple deals with them is a good indication of how things can be expected to go once married.

I have 2 big fears for my wedding: 1) weather - part of the reason I am choosing a destination wedding is for the gorgeous venues (I will be getting married at a seaside gazebo and have the reception on the beach) so I would be heartbroken if I ended up inside due to weather 2) that in this economy I will lose my job between now and the wedding and I will have to do without a lot of the extras that I will want to make my day special (my company has been doing layoffs for the past 2 years, so this is a reality for me)

nessa0308 - $1.09 is obviously a great price, but the shipping is $3.59. Was there any discount in the shipping for multiple items purchased? Thanks for the info.

My wedding isn't until Nov 2011, so I have been thinking about the timing for STDs and invites as well. My current plan is to send magnet STDs out 11-12 months prior to the wedding date. I am doing magents over postcards in the hopes they will end up on refrigerator doors so guests won't forget. I plan on sending invites out at about 6 months which will give time before the resort group booking ends approx 3 months before the wedding. My invites will not have RSVPs in them as I think guests won't really know how to respond. There will be a lot of friends & family that will want to come but won't know for a while if they will have the money or will be able to take the time off of work to travel. The only real RSVP I will trust is either a booking or a "no" via the website. Those that have not responded by the 3 month cutoff will get emails/phone call so I can know how many OOT bag items & chair sashes to order. I also plan on sending out AHP (At Home Party) postcard invites with a website or email RSVP about a month before the wedding/party.

This is a tough situation, but you are right that you have to get this worked out now...before you are unhappy with your wedding day photos. First, I would call and tell her that you are not happy with the photos and ask to book another engagment session. As most sessions last about 2 hours, you did not get the full amount of time that you should have been allowed. In order to make this non-confrontational (I am not the kind to really speak up either), you could possibly offer to pay say $100 for this second session since she will have to travel to a location again. Tell her you would like to meet her ahead of time (at a place & time of her convenience) to show her some examples of her work and the work of other photographers that you like. I would recommend printing out both engagement and wedding pictures from her website and other photogs so she knows what you like. But I would emphasize multiple times that you really liked her work on her website (compliment while criticizing). Good luck - let us know how it goes!

My dress is so structured that it will never show panty lines, so I ordered one of these (in light blue) with my fiance's last name on it: Â http://www.etsy.com/listing/51334389/bride-to-be-panties Â