kellygrrrl

hey, jlr - thank you so much for suggesting this. I hadn't heard of carolee before but saw White House Black Market was also carrying their jewelry. I've just ordered the earrings below. : ) thanks again!

hi jmilka - you've been added to the clear starfish list. thanks for providing all your information up front. I'm glad you were able to fit in the December slot. : ) kellygrrrl's CLEAR starfish lineup User Name Travel Dates Resort Resort Location Home Location Amara3CUS July 15 - 31, 2011 Moon Palace Cancun, Mexico New Mexico Mallory57 August 11 - 21, 2011 Moon Dance Cliffs Negril, Jamaica Philadelphia, PA subbi September 13 - 21, 2011 Dreams Punta Cana Punta Cana, Dominican Republic Montreal, Canada Kathie October 14 - 28, 2011 Aruba Boston, MA Jmikla November 27 - December 11, 2011 Dreams Puerto Vallarta Puerto Vallarta, Mexico Calgary, Alberta JayKay January 9 - 16, 2012 Gran Bahia Principe Montego Bay, Jamaica Alberta, Canada Brenners February 8 - 15, 2012 Barcelo Maya Beach Resort Riviera Maya, Mexico Minneapolis, MN jbmarch2012 April 9 - 16, 2012 Larimar Punta Cana, Dominican Republic Philadelphia, PA kellygrrrl May 1 - 15, 2012 The Royal Playa del Carmen Playa del Carmen, Mexico Austin, TX

the best place to start is with the Resort Reviews (third tab in the main navigation, the brown bar at the top of your screen). there you can read testimonials from brides at any (and every) resort.

ya 25 guests - I've been saying that's my cutoff, as in if we get 25 people, I'll hire a DJ. however, I think also the age of people plays into it, as does your level of comfort with loading up an ipod list. other brides have said that the dinner took awhile, and there was really only an hour or so of DJ-inspired dancing after eating, unless you extend the reception for the extra hour, which means more money, etc. ; ) I think it just comes down to who your guests are and whether or not you (or someone in the wedding party maybe?) has the time to work on a playlist. let me know what you decide!

hey jszy - you and I are exactly the same size, and I completely know what you mean about the belly. have you tried insanity? it's all cardio, and I swear, in TWO WEEKS any belly flab I didn't like was GONE. my stomach was soooooooo flat. I loved it! for the remaining 7 weeks, I gained muscle and lost inches around my thighs and butt. but nothing was quite as amazing as those first two weeks. now I'm thinking of switching over to the 30 day shred, so I'll check in once I'm working out again. I need the outside temperatures to be below 100 before I seriously consider it (69 days above 100 degrees here in austin, texas this summer - arrrrgggghhhh!!!)

L-O-V-E! : ) Quote: Originally Posted by Camy47 I just stumbled across this thread and I HAD to show my shoes! I have a wee bit of a shoe obsession...so this was a very important part of my wedding attire! I actually ordered these from Paris and am dying b/c I can't really show anyone here until after the wedding....so thank you for the release! btw...this thread is great....so much fun seeing what everyone is wearing.

for the US brides, I'd recommend checking your local walmart(s) now that it's the end of the season and the summer things are on sale. on my third try, I found a store with TONS of stock of THREE sizes, and the prices were phenomenal: 18oz - $3 each 34oz - $4 each 52oz - $5 each I bought 25 of the 18oz tumblers without having any idea how many people are attending, but it was sooooo worth it for $3 mugs. : ) please let me know if I can help anyone out, and happy shopping! -kelly

got it, thanks. I'd be curious if anyone has tried this in a more windy situation? I realize that if the sides are being blown in, the lanterns won't have enough hot air to lift off the ground but am unsure what the breeze is like elsewhere (specifically playa del carmen in may).

hey US brides - just found a killer deal on waterproof wallets. the Kiwk Tek Dry Pak alligator wallet is $4.69 on amazon.com with free shipping on orders over $25. I don't even know who's coming to our wedding, and I've already ordered 6! : ) http://www.amazon.com/Kwik-Tek-Dry-Alligator-Wallet/dp/B000BJ7WHE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313593375&sr=8-1

you'd have to buy an international postcard stamp locally. shouldn't be too hard to find in the tourist areas - many of the shops that sell the postcards also sell the stamps. at least, that's been my experience previously.

I was reading in the 'What I would and wouldn't do' forum (EXTREMELY helpful if you haven't yet read it), and nearly every bride mentions her OOT bags being a hit. there were a couple specific ideas I thought were great: * including a CD and stamped mailer so that people could send you all the digital photos they took (cost on this is maybe $2 each with 88 cent postage, so it may be better to just hand those out to guests who are taking a lot of pictures) * adding a Mexico postcard (stamped) for people to send to their loved ones back home (maybe $1 each including ~ 70 cent international stamp) * including a US postcard for guests to fill out with their best wedding memory and send to you after you're home happy planning, ladies! : )

omg, I get teary every time I even think of this. how amazing!! one question for proti007 - was wind a factor? did you have to go away from the beach to set them off?

I can't believe how long it took me to find this (and to read through all 65 pages... hee : ), but WOW, what great info. some of my favorite tips were: * having bottled water at the ceremony site * adding a basket of toiletries (deoderant, hairspray, powder, tampons, etc) and monogrammed towels in the bathroom near the reception * bringing dessert boxes/tupperware to pack up the extra cake (for guest favors) - in fact, I'd like to see the cake served alongside dessert * putting flowers in bloom boxes so guests can take them if florists need their vases returned * wearing light blue flip flops during the reception as your 'something blue' * including blank CDs and postage paid envelopes in the OOT bags so guests can mail you their pictures (GENIUS!!) * including stamped postcards in the OOT bags - one from Mexico that guests can send to their friends and one from the US that guests can record their favorite memory on and mail to you * buying glow necklaces for the reception (target ususally has these in their $1 bins around summer) there were so many more - those are just the highlights I noted down. again, WOW. LOVE this forum. : )

that makes me so sad. : ( why won't even his parents come?? I think the guys will tend to take it easier than us girls. for us, it more of an emtional thing, whereas for them, I think they're apt to be excited about the beach and hotel and beer and everything else going on - they're not going to count the number of people coming obsessively like us. ; ) if he's anything like my FI, he'll have a blast no matter what, even if it doesn't seem that way initially. I'm sure that all he wants is to marry you on the beach. : )

oh yay - it was david's so I should have known. ; ) we were just talking high level, and truth be told, I don't mind if there are small visual things to get the nice bustle. we were also discussing bustling the veil and affixing it to the dress with clear snaps, so I'm sure you will see something up close. it's just not a huge deal for me - I'd rather have that than than a veil in my face a dragging dress. ; )

oh, and there was a period of time around March 2008 where people who booked on third-party sites (expedia, travelocity) were getting bumped from the Royal, but I haven't heard about it since then. also, the reason the wedding planner asks for the names of everyone in your party is to ensure this does not happen to you and your guests. when I mentioned to ana that we were using an external site, it didn't raise any flags. and booking.com is just an intermediary - your reservation is held with the hotel, and the hotel processes the payment, etc. so if booking.com did disappear tomorrow, the hotel would still have the reservation. it's something I carefully considered before recommending that site to our guests, but I think it's the best option. also, it was the only way we could cancel and rebook without penalty if the rates fall again. I thought that was worthwhile. waaaaayyyyyy back on this thread, there are a number of postings from a bride who was working through a travel agent and the airline they had all reserved flights on went out of business. long story short, everyone was left scrambling, and there was nothing the agent could do to help. originally, I would have thought that would be one of the most compelling reasons to go with an agency, but I just don't know if they have additional resources to deal with the unexpected. again, this is all speculation on my part. it's just something I've always been wary of, having never used a travel agent in the past.

thanks, andrea - I've honestly never worked with an agent before, and at the end of the day, I just don't trust it. there is NO reason for my fear, just the certainty that I feel when booking directly through the hotel. I'd never want to disadvantage my guests, but I don't mind picking up the details. our website is pretty thorough (http://jdandkellyswedding.weebly.com/), and we've suggested people make reservations on Booking.com ASAP so they can lock in the rate before the planned September 1 increase (no fees, cancel >48 hrs before without penalty). our wedding will likely be much smaller (estimating 15 - 25 people, max), with most being family, and I'm comfortable regulating the travel. also, I think many of our guests are frequent travelers and anticipate they'll book through their own means. I just didn't want to get into deposits and deadlines and potentially non-refundable circumstances if I didn't have to. I hope this is the best decision for us - and we have so much time before the wedding, I hope that makes things easier, too. thanks for the advice, though. I'll definitely keep it in mind if the demands become overwhelming. ; )

apologies for not multi-quoting here... I think it depends on your skin tone. personally, I don't wear ANY white. ok, the occasionals t-shirt or pair of shorts, but that's about it. the idea of a gleaming, brilliant white dress was daunting. also, I have very fair skin with olive undertones, so white would have just washed me out more, whereas ivory is a much better complement (I feel most comfortable in earth tones). there's a whole science of coloring based on seasons (spring, fall, summer, winter) that may provide more professional guidence. you can try googling if you need the validation, but honestly I think you chose your color (even instinctually) for a reason and it was the best for you. : ) best of luck!

PS - I still love your dress starfish. wanting to try it on locally... ; )

ya, not sure how they typically handle those things, but I'm sure a seamstress (or bridal salon rep) could advise. I think the scarf would accentuate the back and maybe not require any type of train to match. or layering both might look nice as well (and with a veil, too). decisions, decisions... ; ) also, a bustle is added to nearly every type of train so you don't have to worry about dragging it through the sand during the reception. they keep trying to push me toward the under-bustle (mine is a simple dress like yours), but I prefer the side-swept one. only issue is that requires a noticeable hook-type closure added to the dress. again, a seamstress will be able to advise, just know you won't be stuck dragging it around all night if you do opt for a train.

what about mkaing a train ffrom extra fabric? similar to this Pronovias gown? though maybe it would compete with the shoulder... depends if you wanted the shoulder or the train. http://www.pronovias.us/wedding-gown/paola2012.html

based on the promotional videos (somewhere in Insanity, I think), the asylum looked like super track star athlete training stuff. I dunno...

the same thing happened to me. the first time I did the fit test, I nearly passed out. but by the second time, my cardio was up to speed. I couldn't believe the transformation. and then once I was in month two, plank positions felt as natural as standing upright, and my reps flew, especially on the tuck jumps. it was amazing to be in such great shape. even now, I've probably been out of it for a couple of months. I was doing it every few days but stopped a few weeks ago when we went to London. that said, I think I'm as thin as when I was doing Insanity. it's good to know the results stick around for awhile. I know things aren't as good as when I was working out daily, but I'm ok with that. I live in texas, and with so many days over 100 degress, it's just gotten too hot to exert myself to that level. I'm hoping to keep it up once it cools off a bit. there is a huge forum on here re the jillian michaels program. anyone tried it? I'll probably want to do something different prior to our wedding in May.

thanks, denielle. love your website, too. : )

also, there's a pair at david's that resembles the ninas which may be more comfortable because the platform is higher. you can try them on in the store to ensure you get the fit/sizing right (they don't allow returns, everything at david's is final sale). those are the ones I went with, but it took a couple tries to find a pair that didn't rub the top part of my foot: http://www.davidsbridal.com/Product_Satin-Peep-Toe-Platform-High-Heel-with-Bow-Maribelle_Accessories-Shoes-All-Shoes