MrsWeiss1211

thanks so much girls! here's what I'm thinking sister-in-law w/ twins sister-in-law w/ 2 sons matron of honor with son flower girl and ring bearer bridesmaid bridesmaid maid of honor ME!!!! fine. right?

Hi Everyone! T-5 months and my WC needs to know the order that our wedding party will march! Whaaaa??? So, here's our "wedding party" We have a Maid of Honor and a Best Man and 2 bridesmaids and 2 groomsmen. We are also including our sisters (my sister, my sister-in-law and my FI's sister). Their sons will walk them down the aisle (FI's sister will be walked by her 6 year old twin boys, my sister-in-law will be walked by her 6-year old and 4-year old and my sister is my matron of honor and will be walked by her 6 year old and will hold a bouquet). My 3 year old niece and his 20-month old nephew will be our flower girl and ring bearer. BUT IN WHAT ORDER??? I'm going to be walking myself down the aisle (I'm fiercely independent) so I want my MoH to be with me until the last minute. Any ideas???

best wishes!!!! have a fabulous time! we'll all be anxiously awaiting ur update girl!

I don't know why I'm not comfortable asking my guests for money :confused: kathy, right now the flights look like they are about $500 roundtrip. Did JetBlue offer you way better rate?

Hey KT, can I asked how you set it up? They told me that only 1 person could pay for the tickets. are you having your guests send you checks to cover the tickets? D

love that picture of the bride on the horse!!!!

hey girls, we just booked our wedding at O&O and I couldn't be happier! Here are a few of their requirements: during Low Season (not sure the exact times, but we're getting married Dec 3 2011 and that qualified) you have to book 30 nights worth of rooms to have your reception at the Versailles Gardens. We were nervous about this because the rooms are about $500/nite. Our friends have really rallied and we've got about 25 rooms already spoken for. For the dinner, the require a $250 per person food and alcohol minimum. My finacee is insisting on a 4 hour open premium bar which will run us about $72 per person so that meant we only had to spend $170 on food which included our cocktail hour hor d'vourves. It sounds pricey, but seeing as we are from Manhattan and have a ton of friend and family, we're totally making our like bandits by having our wedding their. PLUS, the O&O is incredible. It's small enough to provide emaculant service (every room gets a Butler!) while still providing incredible service. I've been working directly with the events manager on my wedding and while we have a WC on site, I find Jessi to be much more helpful in terms of getting what I want done. She's even thrown in so many discounts and extras! Hope this review helps any brides tittering on the decision whether to have their wedding her!

Thanks girls! Our guests loved them!

Hi Ladies, I'm happy to report that I completed my Save the Date Invitations and have gotten Stellar Reviews from our Guests!!! I'm going to list out each item, the supplies you'll need, how much the supplies cost and where to purchase them and of course how to put them together! Here's what the Finished Product Looks like! The Bottle Supplies: Bottles- cost $0.89-0.99 each (I got 60 of them) from www.SandArtSupplies.com and they come with their own cork. as you can see they are pretty small compared to an average size water bottle. Seashells- cost $4.50 per bag (I got 1 bag and have a ton left over) from www.SandArtSupplies.com. They are the perfect fit for the bottles Sand Dollars- $0.14-0.16 each (I got 120 for $18) from www.qualityshells.com. Make sure you get the 1/2-3/4" ones so that they fit inside the bottle Starfish- $0.04-0.07 each (I got 180 for $9) from www.qualityshells.com. They are called Tan Starfish and again are the perfect size for bottles Sand- I got 2 different colors (tan and pink) from a local craft store (Pearl, in Manhattan). The small bag cost $1.73 and the large bag cost $6.59. I made 60 bottles and had plenty left over. you could definitely got away with 2 small bags. Scent- I decided to soak the corks to add fragrance to the invites. Total Hit!!! Everyone commented on how amazing they smelled and said they felt that they were already on vacation! I got a bottle of Diffuser Refill oil (island scent) at Bed, Bath and Beyond for $14.99 Instructions: This was so simple! Each bottle took about 1 minute to make. I used a rolled up piece of computer paper as a funnel and added 1 tsp of tan sand and 1/2 tsp of pink sand to the bottle. Then I popped 2 sand dollars, 10 sea shells and 2 starfish to each bottle. The small amount of sand helps keep shipping cost down. (*hind sight- I would have bought a plastic funnel to make the process a little neater). For the corks, I added the corks to a plastic bag filled with a bit of oil and soaked them over night. The next day, I dried the corks by patting them dry with a paper towel and popped them into the bottles. The Message Supplies: Fine Parchment Paper in Ivory from Staples $16.50 Blue Raffia from Michaels about $5 Shipping Tags $5.79 for 100 (I ended up getting 3 packs because I messed up so many times printing the address labels and calligraphy numbers) Calligraphy Pens $16 from Staples Instructions: I did this in stages so it's hard to tell how long it took to make them. I designed the invitation myself on Word. it's nothing fancy, but it gave the pertinent information. I found the passion flower on google and just added it to the document. I printed them out 2 per sheet and sliced them down the middle with one of those paper guillotines. I then burned the edges of each (this take FOREVER and I'm sure I've increased my chance of lung cancer due to the fumes!) I wrote our wedding date on the shipping tag and glued a small starfish to each one. Some of my guests reporting not knowing that they needed to pull out the "message" so in the picture I've added Pull Me to back side of the tag. Then I rolled each one and tied one end with a small piece of blue raffia (nice pop of color) and the other end, I added the shipping tag to the middle of the piece of raffia and tied that end. Then I dropped the message into the bottle with the tag hanging out and recorked it. Make sure to slide the raffia with tag closer to the end of the message to make sure the tag's string is long enough to reach the sand. The Box This took FOREVER! And I had to endure burnt finger tips for weeks But... they were totally worth it! Everyone said how excited they were to open them! A few people (other wise well educated and cultured) had to break thru the box because they didn't realized it was an easy flap opening. Front view Back view (how you open the box) Supplies: Boxes- $0.44 each (I got 60 for $27) from www.sandartsupplies.com. they are a perfect fit for the glass bottles. Brown Ribbon- $5 each from Michaels (I bought 8 spools for $40 but had 1 left over). Brads/Fastners- $2.79 each (I got 2 packs for $5.59) Sticker Paper- I think it was about $8 for 10 sheets at Staples but I lost the receipt Glue Gun and Glue Sticks- $6 for glue gun and $2.79 for 20 glue sticks (I got 2 packs and that was enough) Brown Foam Paper- $0.50 each from local craft store (I got 8 sheets and used only 4 of them!) Straw- $6 per pack (I bought 4 and only used 2) at a floral outlet in the flower district in NYC Instructions: **Beware, this take forever!** I created "return labels" using word for the top of the boxes and printed them out on the sticker paper and I cut them out. I created a label for the inside of the boxes with our Website on it and printed it out on the sticker paper and cut them out. Then I folded the boxes (one side is white and the other is brown) inside out so that the brown side showed. I wish I had picture of this step. It took forever and they didn't fold nicely so I had to hot glue the ends together. Next I cut pieces of ribbon (2 for each box) in equal lengths. I sized them by simply measuring the ribbon around the box. I cut 1" strips of foam sheet (width wise) and then cut off about 1/3 of it. This was for the handle. Glueing the ribbon was the most difficult part and I burned myself on the glue many times. It took me 7-12 minutes each!!! And I made 60!!! I first dotted the line that I followed to make sure that I glue it in a straight line. I started at the back edge and worked my way to the top of the box and then glued the handle down and the ribbon on top of it. (***the post office gave me a hard time about the handles so I suggest making them small and not to flappy). I trimmed the end of the ribbon and glued it to the inside of the the box. Once the ribbon was glued, and handle attached, I used a knife cutter to make a slit thru the ribbon and handle to add the brads. I folded the brads and then cut the ends off. This part was also awful. The simplest part was adding the straw stuffing to the box, but this was the messiest part! Then came the address labels. I experimented with many options but ultimately, I found that cutest and most legible option was printing the addresses on the shipping tags and tying and glueing them to the boxes. It was really difficult to align them so I went thru many mess ups. I ended up printing the addresses on a piece of computer paper and then taping the label on top of the name (properly aligned) and reprinting the address this time on the label. Some sheets would get jammed or not print properly. So this step was pretty frustrating as well. But, it was ALL WORTH IT! Mailing them was pretty simple. I went to the Post Office in the middle of the morning and they weighed the boxes (about 3). Each box cost $2.50 (about) to mail and reached the guests in 1-8 days! And they arrived in perfect condition! We hand delivered about 10-12 of them so that help keep cost down. Grand Total- $400 Supplies $275 Shipping $125 Price per Unit- $4.58!!!! Price after Shipping- $6.68!!! And everyone said they looked like a million bucks! Hope this inspired someone!!!

Hi Everyone, T-7 months and I'm a busy wedding bee! Here's my lasts task: scoring discounted flights for our guests! I've always heard that if you have a large group flying on the same day and time, airlines would give you a discounted price. Well, after the day I've had, I'm not so sure. Here are the companies I've tried: US Airways- They require 10 passengers flying on the same itinerary. (didn't work for us, as 4 out of 10 guests are arriving before and leaving after). Jetblue- 10 passenger minimum, but they want 1 designated person to pay for all the flights!!! Bahamas Air- 20 passenger minimum. I haven't heard back from them yet. Anyone successfully arranged discounted flights??? If so, how did you manage?? D

had another thought! what about tweeting updates??? you could sign up and make your wedding have it's own account! Name is something super cute (ex: MaritalBliss, SayingYes, BetterNBahamas...) and share it with your guests to "follow" your tweets which can include anything from where you will be to updates/changes in planned events, to quirky inside jokes. if your guests are already getting wi-fi then this may be a fun option! May do it myself!

I hope everything worked out. What did you ultimately decide to do?

Hey Girls, Thanks for the additional input! Just a thought for the communication issue Steph was having. I know lots of people are getting Ipads. Ours was awesome when we went down in February. Since we have 4G, we were able to use skype anytime anywhere. It was like having a cell phone. If that's not an option, maybe you could find out if the voicemail system at Atlantis allows you to record messages. Once you get your room number, you could always make sure your guests have it and have them call and leave messages. And Heather, I love the idea of having a theme party for the reception!

Hey guys. I found this picture too! It's perfect since we sent Message in a Bottle STDs I showed it to my florist and she's agreed to provide the glass bowl and sand. And since they are so cute, my fiancée and I decided to use the as a guest book of sorts. We're going to have the guest's name and table number on one side and then have them write a message (like a wish or piece of advice) on the other side. We've toyed with a few ideas on what to do with them after the wedding. I love the idea of reading 1per year and then throwing it into the ocean.

Hey Everyone, My FI and I just got back from a close friend's vow renewal in the DR. They got married 5 years ago in City Hall and finally got around to planning a real wedding. Since the bride is from the DR, they chose to have the wedding there. I don't know if I was more critical since I'm planning a DW (probably) but here are my observations on a few of our experiences. Room Blocks The couple were very disorganized and we actually didn't have a reservation when we showed up. They told all of us (about 25 of us traveling from the US) that we could call the hotel and mention that we were attending their wedding to get a discounted room rate. We attempted several times without success. They hotel staff spoke poor English and even though I speak fluent spanish, they could not coordinate our reservation. It was frustrating to say the least. However, once we showed up, they were helpful and friendly. I noticed that the whole weekend, the waiters and hotel staff had to chase after guests that had not signed their checks. It was really chaotic and disorganized and often times we ended up paying for other people's drinks (not that big of a deal when the drink cost $3 and when other's were accidentally paying for your's). **I have stressed how important it is for us for our guest to have a smooth booking process with our Wedding Coordinator. The OC and Atlantis have been provided us Group Codes to pass along to our guests so that when they call the reservation desk, they will have access to our Group Rate. **In order to prevent check confusion, I'm going to meet with the staff at the Ocean Club and request that all checks be closed when food and beverage is served and that open tabs be held with room keys. To avoid having to pay for our guests' every meal and cocktail, I have added a clause in our Event Contract stating that we shall not be financially responsible for any food or beverage outside of our room or events without prior authorization. Transportation to/from Hotel The couple had different arrangement to help guests get from the airport to the hotel. Only about 30% of arriving guests had a seamless ride. Our ride was 30 minutes late, while another couple's ride never showed up. Our last day there, the couple arranged a bus to take us from the beachside brunch to the airport. This was great as none of us had to coordinate pick up times or locations. **My fiancee and I have decided to allow our guests to make their own way to the hotels. It's helpful that Atlantis and the Ocean Club have direct shuttles for guests. We are arranging 2 shuttles on the Sunday after our wedding to help guests make their way back to the airport. Guests will have a choice of which time they want to leave at in order to make their flight. Location Since the bride is from Santo Domingo, they chose to have their wedding there (at El Museo de las Casas Reales). The venue was beautiful but the town was run down and quite frankly dangerous. I'm used to traveling alone and I must say, I felt safer traveling around Guatemala alone than walking home at 1am with 2 men. There were beggers and hustlers everywhere that would follow you relentlessly. The hotel was situated on the canal and a freight ship ended up docking there almost the whole weekend, spewing petrol fumes right next to the pool. It was almost unbearable to sit by the pool. **I think a better situation would have been to have us all stay at the nearby beach resort town Boca Chica (about 30 minutes away from the venue) and bus us all in and out of the wedding. I know we would have enjoyed hanging out on the beach than sitting at the concrete pool deck getting high off fumes. Welcome Bags We received a small make-up kit like bag with the Bride and Groom's initials embroidered on it. My initial thought was "what am I going to do with a make-up bag with someone else's initials on it?". Another female guest mentioned the same thing to me later. Inside the bag was: 1 bottle water, 1 8-oz bottle of Dominican Rum and 1 8-oz bottle of honey. We actually never drank the rum and had to smuggle the honey back since we didn't want to check bags. Big things that was missing: THE WELCOME LETTER and ITINERARY! No one knew what time the events were or where they would be at. We didn't know where to meet or how long things would last. My FI and I were often asked about details as we were the closest to the couple. It was hard for us since we felt like we responsible for providing information to other that WE weren't even sure of. And apparently not all guests received Welcome Bags which I'm sure was just an unfortunate oversight. **I still haven't decide what exactly we will do for our welcome bags. The Ocean Club provides each room with a beach bag and I will probably arrange to use those bags and stuff them with things that the guests will enjoy during our weekend wedding (pack of cards, fans, soaps, in sickness and in health kits, bug spray and sunscreen- no food or water in these since the OC gives out bottle of water like candy and provides every room with fresh fruit). For our Atlantis OOT bags, I was thinking of canvas totes with the word "Paradise" and the Date 12/3/11 embroidered on it. Anyone have a recommendation where I can get these? For the Atlantis bags, we are definitely going to focus on waters and snacks since they are so expensive there. **The Ocean Club is so small that they are willing to help me stuff and deliver all the OOT bags but at the Atlantis, they want to charge me $6 to deliver each bag and will not be able to do so until after 6pm on the day the guests check in. I'm thinking about asking members of our Wedding Party who are staying in the Atlantis to help us deliver the bags as guests check in. **As for our Welcome letter, I am going to have Wedding Stationary made up and handwrite a Welcome Note for each room. I feel like since our wedding will be small (60 people or so), it would be a nice way to reinforce the intimacy of our wedding. For the itinerary, I've listed it on our website but will also have a print out included in the bag. I also have considered doing a Wedding Facebook with a few lines about how we know our guests and a photo of us with them. This seems like a tall task and I haven't yet decided if I'm going to go through with it or not Activities The couple arranged a unique itinerary for their wedding. The rehearsal dinner was on Thursday night with the actual rehearsal at dinner (those involved in the wedding practiced in the back room while the other guests waited in the dinning room with drinks but no food or music). After the dinner, we all went out in the Colonial Zone to bars that were completely empty. It was really hard to muster up the group's Energy as the guests were divided by language and age. The next day (Friday) was a free day... all day. Besides a 2 hour tour of the colonial zone (that started at 3pm), nothing, not even dinner was planned. I spoke with the hotel concierge and arranged to have a taxi take us (plus 5 other guests) to Boca Chica for the day. The driver was paid to not only drive us there, but also wait for us and bring us back home. We all enjoyed the day laying out, kayaking in the sea and enjoying some tasty food and cocktails. The bride left early that morning to see the videographer and did not return until late in the afternoon as she decided to go get her hair done and visit with her friends from home. She was really visibly absent from the weekend. As dinner approached, my FI and the groom made last minute arrangements for the group to have dinner as many of the guests felt uncomfortable going out on their own. The bride was not pleased as she had apparently not wanted to eat dinner again with her guests. It ended up being my job to take her into coming out. **While we don't want our guests to feel abandoned, we also don't want to make them feel like they are on a tight schedule. We also don't want to blow our budget on extra activities. We decided on the following: **Thursday night we are having dinner with our immediate family and then meeting the rest of our guests at the casino at atlantis. We are including $15 worth of chips in the welcome bag to cover their first hand. while we are at dinner, we are going to arrange private classes on either black jack or craps. This will be a fun way to get the party started especially since drinks are complimentary in the casino **Friday we are letting guest decide what they want to do. We are offer suggestions like a trip out to Bay Street, hanging by the pool at the Ocean Club (for those guests staying there) or enjoying the water park at Atlantis. Our rehearsal is going to be at 3pm to make sure none of the guests that aren't involved in the wedding aren't inconvenienced. We haven't made out all the details of our rehearsal dinner but we would like a casual beach affair with a steel drum band and fire dancer. **Saturday is our wedding and it will be at 3pm. Our guests will be encourage to enjoy the day. We will be arranging transportation for those guests coming from the Atlantis to the Cloisters. The guests staying at the OC will arrive by Golf Carts. **Sunday morning we are having a breakfast on the Beach deck at the Ocean Club before most of our guests head back home. These are the major things that I noticed and would change. Anyone else been to a DW recently and if so, what was your experience like?

Hey Ladies! here are some of my engagement photos taken by Dede Brown ([email protected]) in the bahamas. She's a new local photographer!

Hey Stacy! I've tried to reply a couple of times, but I keep getting censored. Here's Dede's email for anyone who wants to contact her. [email protected] her rates are amazing!

Hey Girls, I tried to post a review on my photographer, Dede Brown but it was erased because it should have been posted under the Reviews thread. I'm waiting for Dede to be added so that I can post my review. Until then, I'll add a couple of pictures and let them speak for themselves. I think I'm allowed to post her contact email, but I'm not sure. If you are interested, send me a pm and I'll send it to you. So glad that I've been able to help you girls. Wedding planning has been so much fun! mrs w

shoot! We're less than 8 months out from our wedding (12/3) and I'm just now sending out our STDs. How soon after the STD's do you send out Invitations??? I guess I could do it in May and request RSVP's by August... That gives people the summer and hopefully the warm weather will get them in the mood

so sweet!

i'm so sorry to hear all these horrible reactions! Our families weren't thrilled but they were still supportive. My MIL was a little upset that all her friends from temple couldn't come but we made a compromise by promising to have an AHR when we got back from honeymoon. We're planning a 3-hour reception with passed hor d'oeuvres and open bar. Hopefully that won't cost an arm and a leg! We're still over 8 months out so hopefully we won't have any of these horrible tales... but who knows.. in the end, as long as my fiance is there, that's all that matters

Hi Ladies (and any Gentlemen on this site)! So, my biggest worry from the very start of our wedding planning was which Photographer we were going to use. I wasn't thrilled with any of the photographers that my WC suggested and after pricing out how much it would cost to fly someone in, I almost cried. While meeting with Jose Ageeb, our DJ, he gave us the name of a local artist that had recently gotten into Wedding Photography. Enter DeDe Brown! We met with Dede Sunday morning and after a brief meet-and-greet and a quick view of her portfolio, we got a great feeling from her. We couldn't believe our luck or her talent! We made the decision to have Dede Shoot our Engagement Session that evening. We headed out to Cabbage Beach (where the Ocean Club is situated), and spent an hour or so, frolicking and photographing! My only critique of Dede is that since she's new to bridal photography, she's not as assertive as she will be after a few more shoots under her lens. We planned on making our decision based on the turn out of our engagement photos. So, after almost 2 weeks of waiting (she had a vacation scheduled the week after our shoot), we finally got them in! We love them so much that we've moved forward with hiring Dede for our wedding! So for those brides, who like me, where stressing out, Worry Not! Here's Dede's email: [email protected] And BTW- her rates are amazing!!!!

but what are you supposed to do with it after your wedding?? I get it has sentimental value, but I'll never wear it again (at least not out of the house). And let's be honest, how many daughters want to wear their mother's dress???

We're definitely stopping by the grocery store on Bay St to help fill our OOT bags. We stayed at the Atlantis, and while we had a great time, we were shocked by the price of food and beverages! We're going to put 2 bottles of water in each bag and we're thinking about purchasing tortuga rum cakes for each one...

Porcell, I don't know if you are using Jose Ageeb as your DJ but he's awesome at coming up with great party suggestions. I'm thinking maybe you could ask him where to have your Bachlorette Party. I know he DJ's on the island and might be able to hook your group up. Also, I'm starting to think about Rehearsal Dinner Venues. Since our wedding is going to be on the more formal side, we were thinking some causal, like a beach bonfire or at the very least a fire dancer. Anyone have any recommendations? D