fmichelle

Hey ladies, in case you have more stuff to offer, I went through this website: http://www.techbargains.com/vendor_detail.cfm/422/VistaPrint-coupon-code and clicked on "Top 10 Products Free" and was able to order 140 Return Address Labels (using as actual address labels), 150 full color postcards (attaching to OOT bags), 1 packet of sticky notes (leaving on our door at the resort so people can leave us notes), 1 pen, and 1 small tote for on $10.45 shipping costs. The trick is to do one item, then go back to the link on the first page and when you make the second item, it will be added to your cart along with the first item you already made. If you try to buy two of anything (I thought I was being smart and going to get more than one bag) it charges you for one of them, so I had to delete them both and start over. Apparently they always change the things that are free, so if you can start ordering things early and be patient, it's a great way to save money!

I was randomly searching the internet and came across a page with some funny stuff about marriage. It's probably geared towards guys, but I'm sure you'll appreciate it as well. Enjoy: 10 Merry Accounts of the Experience of Marriage: 1. Getting married is very much like going to a restaurant with friends. You order what you want, then when you see what the other person has, you wish you had ordered that. 2. At the cocktail party, one woman said to another, "Aren't you wearing your wedding ring on the wrong finger. The other replied, "Yes I am, I married the wrong man." 3. After a quarrel, a husband said to his wife, "You know, I was a fool when I married you." She replied, "Yes, dear, but I was in love and didn't notice." 4. A lady inserted an 'ad' in the classifieds: "Husband wanted. "Next day she received a hundred letters. They all said the same thing: "You can have mine." 5. A little boy asked his father, "Daddy, how much does it cost to get married?" And the father replied, "I don't know son, I'm still paying." 6. Marriage is the triumph of imagination over intelligence. Second marriage is the triumph of hope over experience. 7. If you want your spouse to listen and pay strict attention to every word you say, talk in your sleep. 8. First guy (proudly): "My wife's an angel!" Second guy: "You're lucky, mine's still alive." 9. How do you scare a man? Sneak up behind him and start throwing rice. 10. What makes men chase women they have no intention of marrying? The same urge that makes dogs chase cars they have no intention of driving. Italian Wedding Jitters A young Italian girl had finally married her Italian beau. They did not have enough money for a honeymoon so the mother of the bride offered for the couple to stay in her home, in the guest bedroom until they were able to get on their own feet. The young bride was very nervous about her first night along with her husband. He took off his shirt, and revealed his hairy chest. The young bride gasped, and ran down to her mother. She cried, "Momma! He has hair all over his chest!" Her mother looked up at her and said, "Don't worry my daughter, all good Italian men have a hairy chest. Run back upstairs he take a good care of you." The bride got back to the room, and her husband took off his pants, and to her amazement, hairy legs. She ran to her mother and cried "Momma he has big hairy legs!" The mother looked at her daughter and said "Don't worry my daughter, all good Italian men have big hairy legs. Run back upstairs he take a good care of you." The daughter went upstairs, her husband then took off his socks. Under those socks he only had 7 toes. The daughter ran to her mother she cried "Momma! He has a foot and a half!" The mother looked up at her daughter, pushed her out of the way and said "Stay here my daughter, this is a job for Momma!" Bill and Hillary Bill and Hillary were married for 40 years. When they first got married Bill said, "I am putting a box under the bed. You must promise to never look in it". In all their 40 years of marriage Hillary never looked. However, on the afternoon of their 40th anniversary, curiosity got the best of her and she lifted the lid and looked inside the box. In the box were 3 empty beer cans and $1,874.25 in cash. She closed the box and put it back under the bed. Now that she knew what was in the box, she was doubly curious as to why. That evening they were out for a special dinner. After dinner, Hillary could no longer contain her curiosity and then confessed, saying, "I am so sorry. For all these years I kept my promise and never looked into the box under our bed. However, today the temptation was too much and I gave in. But now I need to know why do you keep the cans in the box?" Bill thought for a while and said," I guess that after all these years you deserve the truth. Whenever I was unfaithful to you (and had an improper relationship) I put an empty beer can in the box under the bed to remind myself not to do it again." Hillary was shocked, but said, "I am very disappointed and saddened, but I guess that after all those years away from home and on the road, temptation does happen and I guess that 3 times is not bad considering the years." They hugged and made their peace. A little while later Hillary asked Bill, "Why do you have all that money in the box?" Bill answered," Whenever the box filled with empties, I cashed them in."

Thank you for a great review! Although we're getting married at Excellence, we're moving to the Elegance for our honeymoon. It's great to hear that the upgrade to the Elegance Club is worth it. We are looking forward to it!

Hey Milakd, I was going back and forth with all the same resorts and ended up choosing Excellence as well, I'm April 25th. We upgraded ourselves with the Excellence Club so we could get the discount on the wedding package, dollar for dollar it made sense. We've had some people opt out of coming because of the adults only issue, but a close friend is considering coming down with her in-laws, staying at another resort, then staying at Excellence with her husband at Excellence the night of the wedding (which also avoids the guest pass fee for us) while her two kids stay with her in-laws. Any other creative ways you've figured out how to incorporate those with kids?

Ugh, that does suck! Just another reason why we're leaning towards doing the legal thing here first. My WC hasn't informed me of this yet, but I'm sure they won't be absorbing the extra cost. Glad your TA is on the ball. Thanks for sharing the unfortunate news

I think it's really hard to tell your true feelings on the first dress because it is unaltered and because it needs to be steamed. You have to think back about why you fell in love with that dress in the first place and what is it about the second dress that makes you think it's more appropriate. With the second dress, there's no reason you can't but that one or one very similar pre-owned as well. I bought my dress pre-owned, really didn't see a reason to spend so much on something that was only worn for a few hours. Don't let the salon's pressure tactics make your decision, you make your decision. They're both really similar, and if you really like the single strap idea, I'm sure who ever alters the dress can add a strap. Just my two cents. I think they're both beautiful and I think you will look perfect on your day either way.

Thanks Amy, that's the package we were looking at (as well as doing a TTD...but again, budget depending) I was worried that two hours wouldn't be enough, but it looks like you got a ton of shots. We are doing the upgraded package at the resort that includes photos (we opted for the Excellence Club for 7 nights to get the discount there) And thanks so much for the heads up on the 10%, did you pay with US dollars, or did you have to exchange your money for pesos? Thanks again, and congrats!

Hey Sarah, I checked out that site, very interesting and cute stuff. May sound like a silly question, but are the prices in canadian dollar? Did you find a way to change the prices to the American dollar?

From my experience, if your FI is telling you it doesn't bother him, than it shouldn't bother you as much if his parents do not come. It seems like he's more concerned about your worry of the legal ceremony first taking away from your wedding in Punta Cana. Did his parents express any kind of desire to partake in something? We've actually gone back and forth on this for other reasons and most recently we've decided to just to legal paperwork here before heading to the DR. We may have someone be "deputized for the day" who can just sign papers for us (we won't do vows, we won't exchange rings) and then have it mailed to arrive at the courthouse on the same day as our ceremony in the DR so we are legally married the day we are ceremonially married (if that makes any sense). Maybe if your state has the option, you could deputize one of the in-laws and that way their signature would be on your marriage certificate and the other in-law can be one of the witnesses. Check withe the website for your local court and see what options they have. That way you wouldn't REALLY be legally married until the paperwork is actually filed with the court.

For the medically inclined on this forum, would extra bottles of sanitizer be a good idea or would that just be paranoia? I've heard they only kill bacteria for a short period of time anyway, but just thought I'd ask.

The process in the US (I'm not sure about Canada) usually starts with your local social security office. Once you get your marriage certificate (in English) you take that to your local office with an application from their website requesting a name change, and then they send you your new card within a couple of weeks. Then you can take the social security card to the DMV to change your driver's license. The application to change your passport can either be found online or at your local post office, and if you're changing your name on your passport within a year of getting your old one, there is no fee. They'll need you to do the whole picture thing again and they'll need a photocopy of your marriage certificate. For all other things (credit cards, etc) some do it over the phone, via an email request, or sending them a copy of the marriage certificate. Hope this helps.

As you can probably figure out from the above responses, I would say it's probably resort based, especially if you're doing a symbolic versus the legal one. Which resort are you getting married at? You could probably find a thread on that resort specifically and find someone there who has had/will have the same issue and get it resolved that way. Good luck, and congratulations!

Is there any way (since the insurance won't be back dating any way) that you could get a new marriage license here and just do something with a Judge to make it legal in the states? I'm sure that's not the answer you want to hear, but besides the advice above (DR consulate in the states and or US Embassy in the DR) I'm not sure who else could help you. Is there any way to get in contact with the Judge's office who does the ceremonies? If your resort has stopped responding, perhaps you could contact another resort as a sort of inquiry to see if they have any contact info. How does the state know that you're married and not to give you benefits if you don't have proof of the marriage? We've been going back and forth on whether to do the legal paperwork here or not and your story (I'm so sorry to hear BTW, totally unnecessary stress and unfortunate) has helped in the decision. I'm sorry again But congratulations on expecting, that's awesome!

Is La Sirena closer to the resorts than Higuey? It would be a nice peace of mind thing to know that in case anything vital was forgotten we wouldn't have to pay an arm and a leg for any necessity on the resort itself.

Lisa, you're going to have an excellent time in Greece, and that's the perfect time of year to go, before it gets too hot for summer. Two weeks is a good amount of time, but my suggestion would be to go to a fewer number of islands as the boat rides between them are rather long. My post college backpacking trek only allowed me enough time for one island and I have been dying to go back and explore more. I have heard great things about Santorini and Mykonos, both are extremely beautiful. You don't need too much time in Athens, mainly to hit the few basic sites and then get out to the islands. Just my two cents. Congrats on picking such a wonderfully romantic and adventurous place, you're going to have a blast. Like tris, my FI and I are staying on the DR for our honeymoon, just switching resorts for a change of scenery. We do hope to get to Europe sometime before the babies come!

One more thing, which photographer from Photosouvenir did you use and which package did you go with? My friend may not be able to come now so I'm trying to figure out all our options and considering prices into our budget and all. Thanks, congrats again!

Hey everyone, I'm really in a rut here. I completely busted my ankle last week and I'm still hobbling around. BTW, if you're using the Shape up shoes or anything like them, please be very careful, that's how my ankle got really twisted and my whole foot blew up to twice its normal size Anyway, any suggestions for some kind of cardio workout? I'm obviously still eating how I eat, but I'm definitely not burning enough. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Congratulations Amy! So sorry to hear that your sick. The weather looks like it was absolutely perfect for your wedding day. Great photos, you really have some great moments captured on film. Get well soon!

Oh, thanks so much for the offer. I actually ended up deciding to go with a nice insulated mug through discount mugs and I'm either going to do really cheap beach type bags or even just disposable bags. I've ordered/bought all my other things for the OOT bags themselves, it just a matter of figuring out budget-wise what's left. When's your wedding? I will definitely have left over blue cotton lanyards, zipper locking badge holders, and possibly others depending upon our final numbers. It was cheaper to order in the larger quantity, of course. Good luck with your planning!

Awesome job! Totally thorough and well put together. BTW, love the flower girl outfit, absolutely adorable. Everything is going to be absolutely beautiful, congratulations!

Hey ladies, it turns out that we've decided to do the legal ceremony here in the states before leaving. I figured the money spent to do all the translating and paperwork (his foreign birth certificate, my divorce papers from a previous marriage) and then translating back to English would be better spent on OOT bags and making our trip as fun and memorable as possible. We also have the issue of wanting to get on the same insurance as soon as we're married, and since the Spanish marriage certificate could take weeks and then the extra time to translate back to English and then file in the states....you get the idea. I was really set on making that moment in the DR when we say "I do" be THE moment, but a friend suggested having whomever performs the ceremony here mail in the certificate so that it arrives at the courthouse on the day we're "married" in the DR so it actually gets filed on the same date. May be complicated, but I guess less complicated than all the paperwork and translations.

Hey Diva, Based on my correspondence with Photosouvenir, they basically are holding the date for me since I told them about my wedding at Excellence and they said I could decide on which package I want when I get there. I imagine if I were doing a video, I would probably mention that in the initial correspondence since it means an extra person. FYI, I emailed them through their website and was corresponding with Reno via: [email protected] Hope that helps. Saw on another forum you're doing the legal thing first and very soon, how exciting! We actually went back and forth on this and now after spending so much more than expected on other things, I think we're going to do the legal thing here first as well.

Like most everyone, I'm all about number 2, probably because of the flowing chiffon. Did you end up buying this one at David's Bridal? If you haven't bought it yet, you can also try their style V9409, very similar, a lot of the same qualities. just another alternative. Good luck!

Hey sltrotter, sorry about that. You're best bet before you buy anything online is to do a search in google with the name of the store and then the words "coupon code." Most often it leads to dead ends, but sometimes there are awesome surprises. I would have posted the coupon code sooner, but I just found it on Saturday when I decided to buy mugs.

Hi April Brides, while we're on the topic of OOT bags, I wanted to let you all know that if you're planning on including personalized mugs of any sort, discountmugs.com has a 20% off coupon that's good through today (type "lastcall" in on the checkout page) and for a limited time all mugs are free shipping (I'm not sure about shipping to Canada though). Even though my RSVP date isn't until next month, I ordered the minimum amount of 25 which should cover everyone who's coming. They also have personalized bags as well for the 20% off. Other than the insulated mugs I ordered last night, I've only purchased reed diffusers (I've been told the humidity in the rooms can cause a somewhat musty smell at times). I plan in doing a first aid kid, along with some basic meds, and some stain wipes. You all are so on the ball, it gives me motivation to always be on the lookout. Thanks ladies.