fmichelle

Brandy, and all those wondering about photographer timing...based on my experience with videography and weddings (one of my many side jobs) I would highly recommend AT LEAST an hour and a half to two hours before the ceremony for "getting ready" photos. You're probably going to want the photographer to capture you as well as your groom getting ready, and any other people who may be in the room with you and him. You'll have to account for time to travel back and forth between each room (not sure how big the distance will be, but something to take into account) Also, not sure if you're doing the BD book, but I plan on having my photographer give it to my FI that day and capturing his initial reaction. You're going to want some hair and make-up shots, even if it's just pretending doing touch-ups for the photographer's sake. Also, your photographer is probably going to want to get some photojournalistic type shots of your dress, accessories, and anything else you may have brought down (invitation for example) to create some sort of story with props. Then, you'll have your ceremony and you'll want to get pictures with the whole group, plan out who you want pictures with and in what order and have a list to give to your photographer that day so that it doesn't feel like organized chaos. You'll of course then do the photos with just you and your hubby. You'll probably want some pictures of your entrance into where ever you are holding your reception and definitely some shots of your first dance. I don't know if your cake is part of your ceremony like it is at my resort, but you can get some cake shots way before serving cake just so you have it and the photographer doesn't have to stick around till dessert time. Not sure if you'll want pics of the bouquet or garter toss, but those are usually moments to capture. Hopefully this helps.

Hey ladies, it is so hard to keep up with you all, I know we all keep saying it, but honestly, it's the truth. Just checked my countdown and 67 days till we leave! I bet these days are going to fly by! So, as for my weekend to do list, SHOP FOR FI's ATTIRE! If we can get that done this weekend, will be so happy. I'll save shopping with his mom for next weekend. On another note...my dad just heard from his walking buddies (I don't think they've ever been to the DR before, they're not really the adventurous type) that the DR is not safe and my dad should be worried not only about getting mugged, but getting robbed by a taxi, or even getting kidnapped and held for ransom!!? Umm, where does he think we are going?! Now he doesn't want to come! You know how the older generation is, they get an idea in their head, they search a couple pages on the Internet, only see the negative, fixate on it, and then make up their minds based on unfortunate misinformation. My FI has basically had it with my parents at this point for making me feel guilty from day 1 for choosing to have a DW. They told me I should have just eloped and not bothered anyone. Any suggestions? Should I try to convince him that the DR is safe and if so, how? Or should I just encourage them to cancel and try to transfer their room to my best friend who at this point can't come because of finances? I don't mean to sound selfish, but FI and I paid for their room because we wanted them there and hoped they'd want to share in this special occasion with us. Ugh! Sorry for the rant, just getting close now and really want to enjoy every minute of planning what is supposed to be something extremely special. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 This is kind of off topic, but figured since this was a recently active thread, it would be a good place to post this. So, I'm getting married at Excellence in April (yay! So excited!) I've had the whole thing planned for there since August. Well, my dad just hears from his walking buddies (I don't think they've ever been to the DR before, they're not really the adventurous type) that the DR is not safe and my dad should be worried not only about getting mugged, but getting robbed by a taxi, or even getting kidnapped and held for ransom!!? Umm, where does he think we are going?! Now he doesn't want to come! You know how the older generation is, they get an idea in their head, they search a couple pages on the Internet, only see the negative, fixate on it, and then make up their minds based on unfortunate misinformation. My FI has basically had it with my parents at this point for making me feel guilty from day 1 for choosing to have a DW. They told me I should have just eloped and not bothered anyone. Any suggestions? Should I try to convince him that the DR is safe and if so, how? Or should I just encourage them to cancel and try to transfer their room to my best friend who at this point can't come because of finances? I don't mean to sound selfish, but FI and I paid for their room because we wanted them there and hoped they'd want to share in this special occasion with us. Ugh! Sorry for the rant, just getting close now and really want to enjoy every minute of planning what is supposed to be something extremely special. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 You're welcome, Erin. So I took advantage of the Groupon for Mixbook and decided that my guestbook is going to be how I use our childhood pictures in conjunction with each other. I really wanted to create collages and use them for decorating, but since our wedding party is so small there really isn't a place for them and this way I'll have the pictures of us in a much more viewable and keepsake format. Now I just have to keep on my mother and my FMIL to pull pics from our childhood. I'm also planning on using pics taken throughout our relationship (especially because our engagement shoot didn't have very many salvageable shots.) Lisa, I really like the dress you've "created" and if you LOVE, you should totally go for it. My to do list still includes putting together our cake topper, glueing the glass in our sand ceremony frame, buying some kind of vase for the sand, putting the OOT bag pieces together, getting a portable sound system, and finish writing our ceremony. Our insulated mugs came early and they sent us even more than we anticipated! The workmanship is a little lower quality than I expected: the handle glue on the mug is a little messy, and the rubber seal between the lid and the mug is thinner than mugs we already own. We got them from discountmugs.

Quote:Originally Posted by lisadias I ordered them on Jan 31st, I think they were shipped on feb 6th so hopefully I get them soon but I am not expecting them until about two weeks from now. For some reason I thought it was a guy who responded to me. Did you like the look and quality at least?  Lisa, just keep track of the tracking number and if you don't see it arriving, keep on them. I just assumed it was a woman, I don't know why. As Erin said, the quality is good, only had problem with the shipping.

Quote:Originally Posted by lisadias oops seller lol  FYI I used them for lanyards and she didn't send the package when she said, like she made a label but forgot to mail it. I contacted her and she said she'd send "another one." But I had to email her again about sending it out because she didn't send it when she said. All in all the price was good but the shipping was SLOW, I left neutral feedback and she sent me a rather snippy email about not leaving me feedback. Just thought I'd share.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Whew, what a relief. I was hoping that a five star resort wouldn't be responsible for something like this. Nice work.

Oh vey, they all went to weddings there? Great. Wonder which resorts?

If anyone wants to order from Mixbook, they're having a deal through today (2/6) through Groupon, $15 for $50 worth. I researched a bunch of places and for the quality, this seems like the best deal. Just wanted to give you a heads up! http://www.groupon.com/r/uu1073872

Do you think he got more than his kidney taken out? Sorry, that was in poor taste, but I just had to say it cause I'm pissed off for you!! Contact him ASAP and tell him he needs to redo it based on your proof approval (hopefully if you have in it writing you can copy that approval in your new email) and ask if he would refund part of your purchase to make up for all the stress he has cause you. If that doesn't work, I'd file a report with eBay and have them give you your money back, that's just unacceptable!

 I also ordered from Discountmugs but the color I had ordered was out of stock. They offered me an alternate style, which I wasn't happy with, so they gave me the option of waiting till mid-Feb when my color will arrive in the style I want. Because of the hassle, they're sending me 10 extra mugs free of charge. I didn't do my own logo, I picked one of their pre-designed ones and added my own text. I'll let you know how they come out, I should have them by the end of the month. We are also doing an iPod docking station for our music. But since our reception is on the beach,I have to get one that runs off batteries as well. In terms of the microphone issue, I'm going to get a dock with an auxiliary input and I will plug in my own microphone (as I've mentioned before I work as a freelance Videographer and have a lot of my own equipment). The resort has these items for rent, but price wise it just makes sense to bring my own. Although, now I'm looking at the huge pile of "stuff" in my closet that I plan to bring down (not to mention my dress...) and I may have to invest in an extra large suitcase! Brandy, I can't believe the guy hasn't shipped yet! Perhaps you could send him a "friendly" email reminder? I had a similar issue with my lanyards, also from eBay, and she ended up sending a 2nd package (although I believe it was th first, she claimed that one got lost in the mail) You haven't left feedback yet, right? I can now say I am officially done ordering from Vistaprint! I received my 3rd and final order yesterday and that's it, no more stuff! FYI, I got a free keychain with this order and the printing on it is very low quality, not sure if it was a fluke, but I'm glad it's just something for me, not anything I'm giving my guests.

Quote:Originally Posted by Ellabaja1983 Okay, so I feel like the most accomplished girl alive (but I know I'm not!). (Thanks to Francine) I was able to place my LAST, I promise!, Vista Print order! I decided to do my English-Spanish translation, photo scavenger hunt, and restaurant options on the brochure, to save some work on my end! I also started going through a list of songs (that I have compiled from the "Anyone have an entire play list" thread on BDW! Yay! Being home sick from work is a wonderful thing I tell you!  You are most welcome, Erin. So glad o could help. I still don't know why they send me emails like twice a week! I totally know what you mean with ordering "your last!" vistaprint order. Brandy, I'd check if you can find any coupon codes for discount mugs. I think right now they're offering 5% off, which isn't enough, IMHO to order. If I get any emails with discounts, I'll post them on here. Congrats on you koozies finally shipping. Guess we were all wrong. Good thing you ordered early.

I don't know if anyone is still planning on doing a Vistaprint order, but here is the latest offer I got today: http://ebm.e.vistaprint.com/c/tag/hBNRqbqAZdBOAB8X629CUztHj0Q/[email protected] It includes free brochures, FYI. Erin, my vistaprint order with the inserts will be here this week, probably by tomorrow, so I should be able to put your package together by the end of the week, I'll let you know shipping. I feel like I have no free time these days, any time I get on here to post I spend all the time catching up on past posts and then I'm out of time! Guess I should have appreciated my free time when I had it. We still have to get my FI's clothes, FMIL clothes, put together our cake topper (have all the parts, just to need to do a lot of hot gluing), BD shoot, create the guestbook from the few engagement shots that are usable, make some final decisions on flowers and stuff for the resort, and put together some decoration things with photos from when FI and I were kids. I filmed a wedding once where the table numbers corresponded to pictures of the bride and groom when they were that age eg table one had pictures of each of them at 1 year old, table 2 they were two years old, etc. Even though they didn't grow up together, it was so cool to see how they aged and went through their different stages of life. Even though we're thinking of having one big table on the beach for our reception, I'd still like to create some little collages to put out. I have a feeling that this DYI project is going to be very time consuming. I've finally decided to put an end to the OOT bag buying, just looking at the huge pile of stuff in my closet makes me realize I won't be able to bring any clothes if I buy anything else! Thanks for the info on glamorose.com, I think I'll be purchasing some items for the BD shoot there. Their prices are extremely reasonable. Can't believe tomorrow is February 1st, we can say we're getting married in about 2 months! Time really does fly as we get closer.

Hey girls, I've been kind of MIA. Going back to work has seriously taken a toll on my wedding planning time, which is probably a good thing so I don't keep spending money! On a happy note, despite the fact that my parents were less than supportive on our last phone call, today I got a very nice happy call from them after they received my pre-travel brochure. They kept commenting how nice it looks and everything (they don't know how easy vistaprint is...and I think I'll keep it that way). Anyway, it seems like the pre-travel brochure is a good way to get people excited, my FMIL and FFIL were fighting over who could take it to work first to show their colleagues. Tenny, I know it's already been said a billion times, but that girl has no place in your wedding. It's your one day to make it all about you and if she has the audacity to invite her friends to come to your wedding, there's no telling what kind of other drama that will ensue. Welcome Apola, these girls are great (which I'm sure you already know by now) Laura, that is the hottest pic! I so cannot wait to do my shoot, only a few more pounds before I'm ready and then I know FI is going to love it! My final Vistaprint order has shipped, 9 days early! I will not buy anything else from them, I will not buy anything else from them, I will not buy anything else from them.... As far as FI attire, we have yet to get it, but he did show my some pictures online of what he wants to wear and it's basically linen pants and a linen popover type shirt. We still have to go to a store and try stuff on, he doesn't want to buy anything online without first knowing how it looks on him. He's probably going to be wearing flip flops too. I'll be in flip flops as well (blingy, but still flip flops) I can't believe it's almost February!!!

Quote:Originally Posted by Lua char - everything looks great!!!!!  that's nuts about the fedex fees and such... but at least it *is* still cheaper than the courthouse. I was looking aruond here and if we were to have a civil ceremony in the courthouse here, it's $150 for the license and I think $250 for the ceremony... don't you just love how anything "wedding" must cost us?? lol  Wow! That's some insane fees in Canda. We decided to do the legal here because it is so much cheaper than translating, notarizing, apostles, etc. To get married here the license and "ceremony" come out to around $150, versus the almost $600 it would have cost us to do it legally in the DR. Brandy, those guys are just lame then, to assure you they have them and then nothing?

I don't know if it's too cheesy, but will the guests have time to use it down there, I would also be concerned with getting it down to the resort without disintegrating. They do have a lot of cool stuff for Valentine's Day at Dollar Tree and .99 Cents store. Definitely go to a store in person and check it out. Brandy, great job on the OOT bags, sooo adorable. Lame about the Koozies. I'm still waiting on my mugs, but they were out of stock on my color and told me upfront they wouldn't be in until mid-February. Perhaps they're out of stock on your color and neglected to tell you? They should definitely compensate by throwing in some extras for free.

Tris, I TOTALLY forgot about pasta containers. I've been racking my brain for what to put the sand in before the sand ceremony and the pasta containers will have a screw top. I was at the 99 cents only store yesterday and they had these really cute message in a bottle valentines and I was tempted to buy them for the sand ceremony...but I wasn't sure they'd be big enough to hold all the sand we need to fill our picture frame. Good call. Welcome Purple Unicorn. Kathy, I lucked out with a really cute flower off of eBay, just search hair flower and whatever color you're interested in and you'll come up with a bunch of options. I wanted to share one of the very few good ones from our engagement shoot. I used it for the back of our thank you notes in my LAST (I mean it, LAST) Vistaprint order. Notice how small we are? We are tiny in most of the pics, this one it kind of made sense, but the others, not so much. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Greys, that dress is hot, it'll be perfect for your TTD. Mocha, I love to bake and do it all the time...but I wouldn't even know where to begin with something like that, VERY impressive. So, finally gave in and did yet ANOTHER VistaPrint order, now I know why they keep sending me emails...but this is the last one. I decided I needed these last two things. I tried to do my own inserts for the key cards but the blank business cards I had lying around were different than the templates everyone had on here. So, now I'm going to have 250! I didn't personalize them, so if anyone needs some still, I'll send them out and only charge for shipping. I'm doing two per key card holder (which finally arrived yesterday, BTW) So, I've also got about 30 or so extra vertical waterproof keycard holders and 30 or so extra royal blue all cotton lanyards. Let me know!

Quote:Originally Posted by SarahBen2011 Okay.... I'm trying to make sense of this as well! We're planning to have a friend get ordained and perform our "symbolic" ceremony at Dreams in PV. We'll get the marriage liscense before we go, and then can our officiant sign the papers at our wedding in mexico and drop it off at the county clerk after we get back? Does the court need to know (or will they find out) that we said our vows out of the country???  I'd rather not say our vows before we leave.... so tricky!     We wanted to do something like this as well for our Punta Cana wedding, but the fine print on the court webiste (may be different in Illinois) said that the marriage license has to be obtained in the county where the ceremony is to be performed. Because there are going to be legal documents showing we are out of the country on that date (ie passports) I wouldn't ever want there to be a reason why my marriage license could be invalidated. Once we're married we plan on having joint health insurance, filing taxes together, etc. and I wouldn't want to put anything important like that in jeopardy. I was also thinking of having a friend who isn't attending the wedding perform the ceremony here and then mail the signed license in to the courthouse to arrive the day we have our "symbolic ceremony" in Punta Cana in order to be married the day we're married. However, after speaking to an independent minister here, I found out that the day you sign your documents is the date they put on your marriage license, therefore the date you're officially married. All in all, we're just going to do everything at the courthouse, let the judge know about our symbolic ceremony at our destination wedding, and see if we can just sign papers and make that whole part as uneventful and cost effective as possible. We'll still celebrate our anniversary on the date of our destination wedding. At the end of the day, the marriage certificate is only a piece of paper that no one really looks at anyway (after you've changed your name with the Social Security office, of course) Good luck!

 Thanks guys, that definitely makes me feel better (not that I'm happy your P's weren't totally on board, but the fact that they came around) I guess it also makes the fact that we're doing the legal thing here first and not telling anyone nor including them easier too. I honestly believe that once we're all down there they'll finally get why we chose this route. Hopefully ;-) I also forgot that we're doing door hangers as well.

 Goo morning! For our OOT bags we're doing one per room, but if it's a couple, they'll get double of some of the things. Here's what we've got to put in them so far: Insulated travel mugs Reed deodorizers Welcome letter Postcards First Aid Kit Hand sanitizer Ginger candies (for nausea) RU21 (anti-hangover meds) Natural anti-diarrhea pills Emergen-C Lanyards Ziplock keycard holders I may hit the dollar store again for some travel game books or maybe decks of cards, but I don't want to have to ask anyone to bring anything down since we want to keep it a surprise. On another note, I finally got the disc from our engagement shoot and both FI and I are glad it was gratis. Since she is trying to build her portfolio and start doing this for money, do you think there is a polite way to let her know our true thoughts? FI and I do photoshoots together (headshots for actors and such) and he is a wiz at Photoshop, so I don't know if we're too cryitical perhaps? I mean, in so many of the shots the point of focus wasn't on either one of us! There were a couple nice ones, but the majority were disappointing. And finally, had a very disappointing call with my parents last night. They basically told me that we probably should have just eloped as it would have been easier for everyone. I'm not really sure what part has been difficult for them...I'm doing all the planning, I booked their trip, FI and I are even paying for their hotel stay, all they have to do is show up at the airport. Just venting and disappointed, that's all :-(

I have absolutely no idea! I ordered business cards from them a couple years ago and haven't used them until I made my first two orders for the wedding and now I get these crazy deals a couple times a week. Regardless, I am happy to share! I too had issues with TA's and decided to just do it on my own. Our group isn't very big, as you can tell by my sig, and everyone is coming and going on different days from different cities, so it just made sense to do it myself. Sorry for all your woes

I noticed what made the difference for me is getting my heart rate up to VERY HIGH levels. I did YEARS of going to the gym and doing the elliptical and only keeping my heart rate in the "fat burning zone" and it did nothing. Once I finally started working out HARD (and only for 20 minutes, the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred) I finally saw weight coming off. You just have to push and get your heart rate up, let it lower, then get it up again. Track your calories and make sure you're not eating too little, so your body doesn't go into starvation mode and start "saving" the fat. Hope that helps!

Hey vistraprint ladies, here's a link to an AWESOME email deal I got this morning, which includes FREE uploads. http://ebm.e.vistaprint.com/c/tag/hBNNtYuAZdBOAB8Xd78CUztHjbj/[email protected] I think I have to make my 3 (and hopefully FINAL) order today. Just waiting to see if my engagement shoot photos arrive so I can use them in a product or two.

Wow, I feel like I miss so much being on Pacific Standard Time! Good morning ladies, sounds like you've all been active and busy. I just wanted to let you all know that I received an AWESOME deal email from Vistaprint this morning that included FREE UPLOADS! That's huge because even with all the free things they offer, they always get you with the uploads. If anyone is thinking of ordering anything from vistaprint, use this link: http://ebm.e.vistaprint.com/c/tag/hBNNtYuAZdBOAB8Xd78CUztHjbj/[email protected] If it doesn't work, you can PM your email address and I will forward it to you. Just a few things included, free brochures, free oversized postcards, free premium mugs, etc. My wedding band came yesterday! I procrastinating leaving for work and when I finally decided I had to leave, the FedEx truck pulled up just as I was leaving my driveway. It came out exactly how I expected and I was able to stay below my budget by ordering online. If anyone is still looking for deals on wedding bands, you should try e-weddingbands.com The selection is kind of limited, but they were able to make something custom that I found somewhere else and at a MUCH lower price point. I'm really hoping the DVD of photos from my engagement shoot arrives today, the photographer said she put it in the mail on Friday...we'll see. I'm planning on yet another vistaprint order and with free uploads, I'd like to use a picture or two from the engagement shoot. Still waiting on my key card holders from China...I will definitely have some extras of those, so if someone is still planning on ordering, let me know. I also have extras lanyards, they're all cotton and royal blue.