DramaticAnnie

another vistaprint project for me to do! Love that it's free thanks to all of you creative minds!!

Wow awesome idea tweets! Roughly what size is a gift tag? If it's like the same size as a business card I don't see why ordering their free business cards wouldn't work..

Someone take a pic of those luggage tags, lol

Thanks for the site! There may be a world of possibilities here..

I like something like this wording, short and sweet: I do think that you guys should get the AHR though, and I'm very sorry your families couldn't get along. What about if you secretly worked with like your hubby and a couple of friends and planned a big party reception somewhere and invited your friends only, then you could tell your family your MOH planned it all and surprised you with it? That you had no idea it was going to happen, you were just supposed to meet for dinner,etc. Something like that...

Here's our little story, if it helps: We went on our first cruise 2 years ago, with my mom and a group of people from her work. My mom wanted me to come along, and she knew I wouldn't go without FI. So we had our own room, Mom had hers, we had a blast. But we felt so bad my Dad, brothers, sisters weren't there. So the next year we planned a bigger family cruise, my Mom and sister and two brothers, my other sister and her husband, my FI and I, more family friends, it was great. Still felt kind of bad my Dad wasn't there (he doesn't go anywhere) and his mother (she's all the family he's got). We also got engaged on that cruise. So at the airport on the way home as I'm showing off my ring and everything, people start joking about our next cruise being a wedding criuse. Haha, funny. We agreed we wanted to get married in 2012, we were thinking May 26, 2012. I even booked a reception venue here. Then some other friends of ours went on a cruise and this time we stayed behind because we wanted to raise funds for a wedding, etc. Then we started joking about the cruise wedding idea again - more haha, etc. Finally idk at what point but we looked at each other and said - why not? So we made a list. His #1 person, my #1 person, followed by #2, #3, #4 etc of WHO would absolutely have to be there in order for us to go through with it. My #1 was my Dad, and his was his mom, which we both had to then turn around and check if they would be medically able to travel as they are both getting on in their years and both have health issues. Then my #2 was my mom and his #2 was his best man, who he really didn't know if he would agree as he was out of work at the time (but has since started working yay). It was only after we went through the list and these very important people said that they WOULD attend.. then we started the planning process. Oh and we gave people over a year's notice so they have plenty of time to save up and everything. So now we're officially booked, its going to happen on my Dad's birthday, April 28th, 2012. Eeek! Excited. In the end, a DW was just more 'us'. And our family loves cruising, so why not the cruise ship wedding. I couldnt see ourselves getting married at home with everyone's kids running around (I think kids are great but I have been to weddings where parents let them run all around the altar and up and down the aisle through the whole ceremony and I'm sorry I really hate that) and then doing the limo and picking all the flowers and decor... Now that being said we are planning to do a big casual (maybe BBQ?) style AHR because there ARE some people who won't be able to come, whether theyre too elderly or financially unable to join us, etc. Don't have too many plans about that yet though. I'll have to talk to my MOH. So long story short, this definetely is more 'us' - so you do whatever makes you and your FI the happiest. Enjoy!

Oh Okay! Cool beans. I am undecided about getting married here beforehand.. we are Catholic, and we did want to have a Catholic wedding but you can't have one outside of a church, and I'm booked to get married on a cruise ship.. lol. Our parents want us to have the Catholic wedding too, but if we do even a small one beforehand, my Dad, who never travels anywhere, and his Mom, who never travels anywhere, won't GO with us to the cruise, which we're really looking forward to them coming and enjoying the whole week with us. Do anyone suppose I could get married on the cruise ship and come back home and have a small Catholic wedding? I always hear of people getting married in like every state or something like that... any thoughts? And as for my MOH.. I grew up with this one girl right from infanthood.. we were best friends, she's three years older then I am.. we've always said we'd be each others MOH, but we've really drifted apart the last few years. She had three kids, I don't have any.. I've worked hard on University then getting into a good career, I love to travel.. she hasn't done anything past high school and doesn't have a job, she loves talking about travelling but can never go through with it.. her main priorities right now are still who's going out clubbing on the weekend (and sometimes through the week) and I don't drink or have any interest in going to the bars, but I was STILL torn when it came to choosing my MOH, even though it was kinda obvious. But it sounds like you don't have that kind of a dilemma, so go ahead and have two MOH's. Sorry for rambling!

That looks awesome! Has anyone ever used those hangover things that are supposed to help you get over your hangover? What do they taste like/what do they do?? Is it basically like a vitamin thingy?

Thanks for the websites, the medications thingy is proving hardest to come across... My brother's friend who used to work in a doctor's office said that they do get sample packs of meds, but he doesn't work there anymore sooo I can't ask him to ask his friend to ask the office.. lol

Oh these are very cute. I like the 'in case you injure yourself - or somebody else' touch - I think I will be stealing that

This is great, even if I don't get a good deal on little sunblock, I definetely want to include aloe. On our last big trip, everyone brought sunscreen.. and we all used it.. or most of us did anyway.. but then we went swimming, snorkeling, and everyone was sweating a lot.. lol.. most of us were crispy, at least in some area of our body, and we all spent tons of money on the only aloe thing available on the cruise ship, so I definetely want to get this. Thanks for that website! I still have some time but I will bookmark the website and if I don't find anything.. I'll make an order. Another thing I was thinking of was to buy those huge bottles of aloe gel and then the little travel size bottles of stuff from the dollar store you can fill with your own shampoo, etc and put labels on them, but that's just an idea for now... we'll see if I run into any sales of the big bottles of stuff.

Hi All! I found out about the pioneer group on a Friday night and emailed them that night to see if they would ship to Canada - at this point I wasn't even thinking about doing pashminas because I wasn't willing to pay like $5-$10 for one. When they emailed me back they were so easy to work with I ordered 2 dozen (even though I might only need 18-20, figured it would be better to have more then not enough) in my wedding color of turquoise. Looking back I should have ordered probably one dozen in turquoise and one dozen in black, but oh well. It came out to about four bucks for one I think, with shipping and tracking and all that jazz, so if you can pick them up or get someone to pick them up it is definetely the better deal, but still a good price and easy people to work with. And while I was a little apprehensive because they didn't respond to my email right away (it was a weekend), once Monday hit they were responding within the hour to every question, etc. I'm still waiting for them to come in, but the tracking number says it was received into and then cleared by canada customs on Friday, so I'll check it again tomorrow to see where it's at. Very exciting. Now I just need a cute little 'to have and to hold' tag to put on them.

I wasn't even going to have a program until I saw this thread! And I was going to order fans to keep people cool anyway, I love this idea, already googled 'decorative brads' to put in the little hole in the bottom and visions of those starfish charms... lol Thanks for the ideas, ladies!

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but isn't there only one spot on the marriage certificate/paperwork where the maid of honor signs/witnesses and then the best man does the same?

Personally, I like the idea of the livestrong bracelet. You could turn it into a whole speech kind of thing, explain the background story of how your fiancee gave it to you when you first met, and it's supporting a good cause to boot.

Oh sounds awesome! Take a photo for us pleasie?

Personally, I love the idea of OOT bags. Yes, as my guest list total is climbing, it is getting scarier, but that doesn't mean every single person needs to get their own bag, I can divide it by couple or even by family (i.e. my sister has her husband and four kids coming). I have to say, I'm as excited about these OOT bags as I am the trip itself. When I found out what OOT bags even were, I spent days if not a couple of weeks poring over these forums and searching everything OOT-related. We are getting married aboard a cruise ship (my family loves cruising) sailing out of Florida on a Caribbean cruise. I am super excited about the guests getting their bags, I am going to try to keep the contents secret from everyone until I absolutely have to (I will be asking some of my guests (brothers, MOH, etc) to put the OOT stuff in their luggage so they might catch a glimpse of it). The way I see it, we're not paying for anyone's cruise (with the exception of helping my future Mother in Law pay for hers, who financially would not be able to do it on her own and that's my fiancee's only family member coming so we wouldn't even do it without her) so why not treat the guest to a special bag of stuff? I have seen OOT bags that are small and sweet, with a dispoable foldable bag, some resort or wedding information, welcome letter, and a few small things inside. Then I have seen the giant ones with towels, spa wraps, insulated mugs, first aid kits, toys, etc. (To be honest I love those ones) but you should figure out what your guests are going to need. If you were a bride that lived in and were getting married in, for example, San Diego, California - and people were coming from all over to be at your wedding - you would give them an OOT - out of town - bag that would be conveinient for them - bottles of water (travelling makes everyone thirsty), some sweets and treats (so they can avoid the mini bar prices at their hotel), maps of your city and detailed information about your wedding. The OOT bags that are going to these resorts and other places are kind of the same thing. Some resorts, I guess you don't get the big towels, so people put those in, and plus they'll take them home (at least you hope they will). For me, the cruise ship supplies you with big towels in your room and you can take them where-ever. The resorts, while you can get unlimited drinks, the cups are small. So many brides include big cups, or insulated cups so you can have those filled instead of getting refills every few minutes. Myself, on a cruise drinks are not all-inclusive, so I am not getting insulated cups for everyone, but my fiancee wanted to get Bubba Keg Mugs for his best man and groomsmen, so I ordered a few of those, at least it'll keep their beer frosty cold while they're out doing whatever. The little packs of medication I like too. Last year when we were on a trip in the caribbean someone had an upset stomach or something and when we were at one of our stops, I just didn't trust the medication they had - it may have been fine, but to me it was like imitation pepto bismol, I wanted the actual pepto bismol brand and they only had their version of it... so we didnt get it. So I will be packing little med kits in with my OOT bags as well. Even if nobody needs advil or immodium, I'd rather they have it then not! And if you take it back home with you it's not like you'll throw it out, keep it in your travel bag or medicine cabinet for when you do need it. Other things I'm planning to include in my OOT bags are the free notepads, postcards, notebooks and pens from Vistaprint. I ordered Save the Dates magnets from there and for our little welcome note, we used the 'rack cards' from Vistaprint as well. Since they're free I've also ordered 'Bridesmaid' printed hats and stuff like that, and pay for the shipping. Canada Post is getting rich off me and my mom this year. If I went to a DW, I wouldn't be disappointed that there was no bag of goodies, because I'd be enthralled with the idea of being on vacation. However, I would also be really appreciative if there was a bag of goodies. Just saying.

I have a question Patti.. That postcard on Vistaprint that you attached to your bags.. HOW did you get the words to be on a slant?? Like the Welcome to Paradise part and the Los Cabos part?? I'm on vistaprint now trying to copy your card and it's driving me nuts, lol

I got the bubba kegs as well, well I have a raincheck for them, and I was planning to get them engraved with the gentleman's name, not with our names. Has anyone gotten theirs engraved? I was just going to take them into Things Engraved or someplace like that and get them done.

No worries, they send you a seperate GST invoice but it is for your informational purposes only. I've ordered tons of times and just paid the shipping & hst...

I really like your little message about being 'green'. Cute cups too! I think they will do nicely. I just wonder if you could've found something for the $3.33 you spent on each cup. But then again if you only needed a small quantity, probably not. Cute find!

Thank you so much for this post and this thread! This will be great for the 'newsletter/facebook/who's who' thingy I'm making up for the guests.

I'm doing like a facebook sort of information thing too, with pictures and little information, since not all of my guests know each other, I'm doing it in Microsoft Publisher under their 'newsletter' thingy. I have no idea how many pages it's going to end up being, but I do know it'll take me a few months at the rate I'm picking away at it...

I think most of the free shipping offers are if you spend like $40 or more... and 99% of the time my order comes to "FREE"... soo :/ I was just at the Dollarama this evening looking for self-seal luggage tags I bought last summer for my nieces party (I couldn't find them, boo) but I did see these packages of flip flops - you get a pair of flip flops, two nail polishes, a nail clipper, a foot file thingy... and something else, I can't remember, for $2. I wanted to get them for the young girls coming to my wedding.. then I was like no maybe not... and there was a bunch there.. so I left without them. There was actually a price tag on the back for $10 from wherever it is Dollarama bought them from I guess. The nail polishes were like a glitter nail polish and I think that's what turned me off.. oh and they came in their own bag... I just thought I'd share! I have to go into town again tomorrow and I think I'll pick one up for my Jr. Bridesmaid anyway.. i'm already being eaten away by guilt for not picking at least one up today lol

I love that postcard/bookmark and key holder idea as well. I already bought vistaprint business cards for the key holders but there's going to be a ton left over. I think I will try it the next time I Vistaprint.. which is like at least once a week lol Regarding those card holders: I am a Canadian bride to be also, and I bought mine on ebay, from umm.. seller gcishoponline http://cgi.ebay.ca/50-Business-ID-Card-Badge-Holder-w-Zipper-Vertical-ZH-/130482071528?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e615667e8 There's a link to 50 horizontal card holders with the zip top, but he has vertical ones too. He also sells them in sets of 25, 100, whatever. Cheapest place I've found anyway. He also does lanyards for cheap if you want to go for those as opposed to the coil wrist ones.