mochamakes3

Eskie, I think the only other option is to purchase one of the wedding packages. It is probably also the only way to ensure you will use the entire value of promo dollars.

Brandy, I think the color and detail is perfect for your theme. It adds some extra oomph without being overpowering.

Welcome Dan! It's great that you are helping out your future wife by investigating your options. We are getting married at a Palace Resort. We selected the complimentary wedding, and are paying an additional $300 for the civil ceremony fee to legalize the wedding. Palace Resorts has group benefits when your guests book through a group wedding contract. The benefits are as follows: 15 room nights = 1 free private cocktail hour 30 room nights = 1 free private cocktail hour + 2 nights comp 60 room nights = 1 free private function + 4 nights comp 75 room nights = unlimited free private functions + 7 nights comp The comp nights are refunded to you a few weeks after the wedding.

Woo Hoo! My dress has arrived. Now I just have to wait to get home before I take it out of the bag!

I understand that there is a lot of emotions involved. I think maybe you did react a little quickly canceling everything, but he was very hurtful to you. I think I would have been very hurt if my FI was unable to contribute to a down payment but still wanted his name on the title. I think he should have found a way to contribute something. Especially if he was able to find the money for diamonds and flowers. You had planned on marrying him, so of course you love him. But I think it will take time to get over the hurt feelings. It's good that you are taking some time apart. Sometimes people just need to figure out their sh*t. Maybe now would be a good time for you to keep moving forward with a plan to buy a home on your own. Good luck!

Meggers - I was just going to tell Lesee the same things! And the pashminas might be even cheaper than that. I was going to check after work (because apparently I don't have enough stuff to bring) I made my hair appointment way back in January. I don't even know what we are going to do, and I can't remember what time! Good luck with your color. As long as your extensions are real hair and staying dark it should be fine. Too bad Teira isn't here. She works in a salon so could probably help out. Lesee - I am so jealous that you have time off.

So that's it for what is currently complete. On Monday, I will come back and post the rest of what was "fingers crossed" finished over the weekend!

Attire: I could not find anything in any bridal store that I liked. I even went to a few where I didn’t try any on. After over 100 dresses, I knew time was running out. So I decided to take a leap and purchase a custom made gown from an online retailer in China. I purchased a ceremony gown and another dress from Monica Bridal, a seller on DH Gate. I was really pleased with the gown, but it required dramatic alterations because it was so large. After alterations, I decided I needed a crinoline to make the dress pouf. Before I started looking for dresses, I had always planned to have a separate dress for the reception so that I could be more comfortable. I ordered a second dress from Monica Bridal, this time with professional measurements, and got a perfect fit. By the way, never interrupt Call of Duty to ask your FI to take pictures, he won’t give you time to pose nicely. For my something blue, I decided to incorporate a garter featuring FI’s favorite team. I purchased this set from an ebay seller, she also had an etsy listing for the same product, but at a higher price. I paid $24.99 for both garters. I never loved my ceremony dress, so I kept looking, hoping to find something I loved, or even just really liked. Two months before the wedding, I decided to try another replica dress. This time I ordered from Babyonline another seller on DH Gate. I wanted the top from one dress, and the skirt from another. This is the overall look I wanted. The dress is supposed to arrive today, so I will post pictures after the weekend. Here is the inspiration photo I sent to them Jewelry: For my wedding day jewelry, I will be borrowing diamond studs from my mom. For a couple of years, I have been admiring a Swarovski necklace at Costco which I always knew would be perfect for our wedding day. BM’s Attire: It was very difficult to choose a dress since my MoH couldn’t find any sample dresses in her size. Eventually, we made it to David’s Bridal and selected a dress. We ordered this dress in Tangerine. I had one of my neighbors make custom jewelery and they turned out gorgeous. Again, pictures after the weekend. FI’s Attire: I wanted him to order a linen suit because I figured he would be more comfortable in the heat. He wanted a black suit, so eventually he was in the mood to go shopping and we found one he liked. GM’s Attire: In order to keep costs low for them, we decided they could wear black pants, white shirts and matching ties. MoB’s Attire: It almost seemed that the only thing my mom got excited about was buying herself a new dress. I was very worried that it would be too J Lo for my mom, but she looks great in it. MoG’s Attire: My FMIL never wears dresses and rarely even dresses up. She also hates shopping. We looked through several bridal magazines to help her decide on the type of dress she would like. My only comment to her was, no tiered skirt because I didn’t want her dress to resemble mine too closely. Of course the first day she went shopping she only picked out one dress that she wanted to try on. And it most definitely has tiers so she had to have it. Her buying this dress was the big thing that pushed me into ordering a second ceremony dress. It was easier for me to order another wedding gown?!?

Oh, by the way... I have started my planning thread.

Bride’s Bouquet and Bridesmaid Bouquets: I purchased all the flowers from Afloral.com. I placed two separate orders and had 4 dozen small yellow callas, 3 dozen small orange callas, 2 dozen mini orange callas and 18 of the orchids. The callas were all real touch and looked great, I think. The orchids were a little less realistic, but I don’t think you can tell the difference in pictures. My bouquet was complete when I did my BD shoot, so we incorporated it and it looks fabulous in the pro pictures. I used the mini callas for boutonnieres because they were much too small to use in bouquets. I originally had 3 bridesmaids when I made the bouquets, but one got pregnant so decided not to attend. They were pretty easy to assemble. I just made small bundles and kept building them up using floral tape to keep them together. My mom suggested adding stephanotis to the bouquets, so I have taken them apart and added that to them. I also plan on adding the roses from my free bouquet to mine. My Bouquet Bridesmaid's Bouquet Boutonnieres - As you can see, I did make corsages for the mothers. But of course, FI's mom chose a dress that is completely out of our color scheme so I will be scrapping that.

Meggers - I didn't even include hair cut & color on Saturday, waxing, and making final decision on eyelash extensions. I tracked my dress, it is out for delivery today.

Because I was away from FI and away from home, I needed something to keep me busy. So I wound up spending a lot of time and money on DIY projects. Here are a few; All my DIY Projects: Personalized Tank Tops: I purchased the tank tops from Old Navy during a sale and only paid $1.50 each. The iron-on rhinestones were purchased from Michaels for $1 each. They didn’t have any that said bride to be so I purchased an extra bridesmaid one and rearranged the stones. Some of the stones didn’t stick so I had to purchase different glue from Walmart specifically made to adhere stones to fabric. Fuchsia Crinoline: After reading Vgirl's Moon Palace Wedding Review and seeing her dyed crinoline, I really wanted to have that pop of color and loved how it looked in other brides’ pictures. I wasn’t too keen on dyeing the skirt and wanted mine to be a little fuller, so I just purchased fuchsia netting and used fusible webbing to attach a few more layers. I purchased the crinoline from a closed bridal shop for $30 and paid about $10 for the netting. Bridal Bikinis: Another iron-on purchased from Michaels. Be careful with the iron and swim suits. I actually melted another bikini on my second attempt and ended up with a huge hole in the bottom and the rest was stuck to the iron. I also slightly melted this one, but don’t think it was too noticeable. If I could find another identical iron-on I would probably buy another bottom and reattempt it. I am aiming to get a second bikini that I will put the word BRIDE onto.

Our invitations: I always knew that I would DIY our invitations and once I discovered passport invites I was sold. Here is the link to the thread with my finalized invites. http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/65294/finally-posted-pics-of-my-finished-diy-passport-invite-mocha-makes-3 I got lots of great comments from our younger guests; the older ones didn’t seem to appreciate straying from the norm. I also have to comment that I wasted time and money on RSVPs. We only got back about 20% and I put stamps on 100! It really disappoints me that people couldn’t just be honest and say “no, we’re not going,†and send back the RSVP. I’ve since decided that if they couldn’t send back an RSVP they won’t receive an invite to the AHR. Photographers: This was one of our lucky things. I really wanted to get engagement pictures done but we were really constrained with time and money. I managed to find a Kijiji ad from a photographer looking to build her portfolio. Her husband was already a successful photographer and she was his assistant. At our session she asked if we were going to use the resort photographer and mentioned that they would do our wedding without any additional travel costs. We just had to book their 12-hour, 2 photographer package. The package included thank you cards, a hard cover album, a trash the dress session and a cd with all the edited images. After comparing the prices with the resort, we decided to sign a contract with them. Since we signed the contract, their pricing has significantly increased and doesn’t include any of the extras we are getting. After being on this forum for a while, I also decided to have a surprise BD shoot done for FI. Again, I was limited for time, but managed to schedule a date with our photographers. It was a lot of fun and I think it should be done by all women at some point in their lives. Even if the photos are only for yourself to see. At first, FI was angry that I would let a stranger take pictures of me barely dressed, but now he loves the book. I received a coupon from David's Bridal for a free hard cover 8 x 8 photo book so I used that to order. It did not arrive within the expected dates, so I got worried and contacted Shutterfly. They agreed to send a replacement and of course the original one showed up a couple of days later. So now FI has two copies to enjoy!

We are getting ready to leave for our dream wedding in just over a week. Before we leave, I have decided to start posting my planning thread. Since I still have a lot to finish this weekend, there will be more posts and more pics. Now, let's start with the many thanks! Most importantly, thank you to the wonderful Tammy Wright for allowing us to use her forum to maintain our sanity with other brides that are supportive through our sometimes difficult planning period. Although I didn't use a TA, if I even need one, I will contact Tammy for a referral. Secondly, the most active people in my wedding planning were the amazing April 2011 Brides! I ran almost all my ideas past them and they always had great opinions and offered the best advice. We had a rough engagement, planning a wedding while you are 3000 miles apart from your FI and family is not something I ever planned and hope no one ever has to go through. I think the main reason I survived was with the April ladies. I really hope we can keep in touch throughout our AHR planning, and into the next phase of baby making. I know that I can't wait to exchange wedding photos with all of you. Our Initial Meeting: I was sent to a remote worksite to relieve a coworker for a week. We instantly became inseparable. Unfortunately, I was only there for a week. We decided to remain exclusive and maintained a long distance relationship over the next 8 months. We saw each other about once a month for either a long weekend, or if we were really lucky a whole week. When he finished his job posting I asked him to move to Niagara to live with me while he finished school. About 4 months later, we purchased a home together. The week before our wedding we will have been together 3 years. Our Engagement: FI surprised me with a hot air balloon ride for my birthday. I was so excited, but also a little sad because I was awaiting a proposal and figured there was no way he would propose after spending so much on the private balloon ride. I was wrong. He proposed at 3000 feet in the air with a beautiful Tacori e-ring that I had told him I loved. Even though we had to leave at 5 am that morning to get to the site before sunrise, for a moment I considered putting on makeup and wearing something nice. Of course, I was lazy and it was chilly. So I look horrible.

Lisa - Still No Dress! Hopefully this morning. It will be tough not to try it on in the work bathroom! So maybe if I run through my to-do list now I will get more of it done this weekend! Last weekend before we leave! Finish labeling and assembling OOT bags Finish bling bearer shirt Purchase a few more items for bridal party survival kits Assemble bridal party kits Finish last BRIDE bikini Figure out how to pack bouquets for carry on Assemble Ceremony Programs Find a unity vase for sand Find paper for petal cones Complete Hair Flower Complete Just Married Parasol Complete Assembling Place Cards Find and Purchase ties for FI, GM and FoG Find Table Number Holders/Frames Find Cake Knife One more bandeau bikini Sandals for me to wear throughout the week Try on old dress to make sure it fits, just in case new one doesn't show up. Wow! How am I ever going to get all this done?!?

Congratulations Tenny! Welcome Back! It's so strange to have you ladies already coming back married! It doesn't seem like that should already be happening. It's so fast.

That is a beautiful dress. Worth the wait.

Amy, good luck to you too. My FI thought I was going to start crying on the phone when I was arguing with the courier people. My stress levels are way too high right now.

Meggers, if I had the time I would make bridal wear for each day we are away! Be very careful! Not sure if you remember but I melted completely through one and singed a second one. It probably would have been cheaper to buy the gun made for iron on rhinestones.

Thank you Court. I guess it's what I deserve for not making my wedding dress a priority and trusting that they would deliver on time.

Manni - it is somewhere in Canada. Hopefully it will arrive at my office today. Since Babyonline screwed up and sent it to the wrong address, I had to contact the courier company and request to have it redirected. The courier company didn't do this and it was signed for at the old address. So now that person is forwarding it to me. I'm trying to prepare myself for the worst, but right now I'm worried I will have to wear a dress that either doesn't fit or looks horrible.

Ladies, we are leaving in a week for our Moon Palace wedding and I wanted to give you all a hint. If you plan on using vacation dollars to pay for something specifically for the wedding, have your WC confirm that in writing. Up until a few weeks ago you could use vacation dollars to pay for your wedding photography or video, that changed unexpectedly and I know that there was a few upset brides. I think I will be spending the next week printing emails from my numerous Miami contacts. Thank goodness the ladies coordinating in Cancun have been amazing!

Just do a google search. It's the easiest way to get a link.

Congratulation Cindy! I know my FI is worried it will happen right away, and I am nervous that it will take forever. It's great to hear your baby is healthy, hopefully you start to feel better soon.

Starrysim - If you are hard on your hands, like it sounds, don't do the bead set stones. It doesn't hold diamonds very well. I have a bracelet that had to be replaced because one of the stones fell out and my e-ring had to have a stone replaced too. Go for the channel set, it is more durable.