J and G 2012

MY Dress Finding MY dress was a huge dilemma. I had gone shopping with my Mom and Mother in Law early in the planning stages. I thought that I wanted something simple (which was what we were planning for the wedding). I chose a straight, plain dress for a great price. But as our planning went on and I continued to see more dresses, I knew the first was not the one for me. I am so glad I went back out to try on more dresses because I did find THE ONE! With a few alterations I was really feeling like the bride I wanted to be! If you are not sure about your dress, go try more on! My jewellery was very inexpensive. Earrings were from Aldos and the bracelet from The Bay. The hair flowers were real and the hair dresser put them in last minute, I wasn’t really planning on wearing anything in my hair but I’m glad I did. I also had a red belt made to wear with the dress but decided against it on the day of. I kinda wish I wore it, but oh well. I do not like wearing heals and in the summer I always wear flip flops so I chose to be comfortable on my wedding day. I did however bling out my flip flops with a bedazzler! I did the same to the Flower girls shoes. The Rings His ring is titanium with laser Calladah because I am Scottish and Irish, and it’s also inexpensive, and he will lose it (again, his words). My jeweler made my ring using the gold from the first necklace DH gave me. I’m going to get an eternity band to match for 1st anniversary, fingers crossed! Photography This was a really tough decision for me (Here’s the link to my thread) but I think I made the right decision. We were on a very tight budget and really didn’t have a plan for the photographer. I knew that I wanted great pictures but wasn’t sure on which way to go. At first I played around with the idea of using a photographer down there but couldn’t find any info. about the photographer the resort uses. And we really didn’t like the vendor fee they charged to bring a photographer in. I got a few quotes from photographers down there with recommendations from this site, but nothing wowed me. I was I love we the work of a photographer that my friend used at home but I didn’t think it would be in the budget to bring them down with us. But then my TA came up with these cheap seats for our trip and we contacted them to see if they were interested. I can’t rave enough about our photographer! Samantha made us look good! She knew exactly what she was doing and told us exactly what to do! She completely captured the mood in every session! Now I haven’t received the whole lot of them yet, but what I’ve seen on her blog, I love! I can’t wait to see the rest! For anyone that is considering a TTD shoot, do it! I knew I wanted one, but I also knew that we would not look as good splashing around and laying in the water as some other pictures I’ve seen. But we got some great pictures! I love them because they are simple, capturing us on a more inimate level (without, having to be half naked!). Photographer's Blog The Wedding The Catamaran Reception The TTD Shoot Ceremony We wanted to keep this as simple as possible while still keeping certain traditions and personalizing it to make it feel special. We wrote the ceremony using bits and pieces from the Unique Ceremony Thread. A welcome and a few readings, not to long but personal. Communication with the WC wasn’t all that great (more to come below) and at about 1 hour before the ceremony I was told the officient wouldn’t follow our ceremony. I went with the “no problem†attitude and let it go, but my MOH asked my brother to MC the ceremony and it made our day that much more special. He had such a hard time getting through it without crying, so did the rest of us! You can kind of tell in this photo that DH has his back to everyone. I had told him that I didn`t want him to turn around until I was at the end of the isle. He took that to mean he wasn`t to turn around until I was right beside him!

I think Vista Print deserves it own section. Once I discovered how to use it, I got most my stationary there. It was so easy and inexpensive! Our Welcome Letter was on a regular size postcard, I would have ordered an oversized one if I did it again. The wording came from other brides on here, so thank YOU! Photo Share Cards with instruction on how to use Photobucket on the back side. Postcard Guest Book Great idea in theory but hardly anyone has sent theirs yet! I would have them fill them out on location and give them to you there instead of mailing them. I picked up a handmade photo album in Jamaica and am placing all the completed cards in it. Wedding Day and Week Schedule – Tried to keep in the same them as our inviatations. If I’m going to give any advice about the OOT Bags its better to buy stuff during the summer/end of summer clearance. I wanted Inflatable rafts etc. and could only buy them on line at an increased price. Our Wedding party This is a huge stress for a lot of brides, myself included. When I had finally made all my decisions a few of my good friends were hurt that they were not included,… but I didn’t feel I needed to justify my decision. Originally it was just supposed to be the MOH and BM, but FI kept asking everyone he knew! I think he was just so excited everyone was coming! I had asked the women that I love and were involved it our lives. In fact I had asked DHs friend who is a woman and she asked to be on the groom’s side! We had an uneven amount of Groomsmen to Bridesmaids, but that didn’t matter to us. The Bridesmaids wore the Victoria’s Secret’s Multi-way dress, I loved how they turned out! Each wore it a slightly different way to suit their own body. They wore whatever shoes and earrings they wanted. For their gift I gave them a beach bag with a few goodies in it, including the necklace that they wore to the wedding (bought from Etsy Seller BellaJewelsInc). They liked them so much that they wore them for the rest of the week! I also made ‘Bridesmaids’ tanks for the Jack and Jill and Jamaica. The Rhinestones came from Etsy Seller Rhinestone Wishes. I also DIY groomsmen shirts by printing on iron-on transfer paper. The Groomsmen wore Linen pants and a linen button up shirt from Old Navy, the best part was that they got a great deal on them at the end of the season! MOB wore a gold cocktail dress from BCBG. I had always pictured her in gold on my wedding day. Flower girls wore a dress that I found on sale a Winners, they just happened to have the same cute little white dress in two sizes for $15! Ring Bear wore a Children’s Place White Linen shirt and Mexx Linen Pants. I am so happy with how DH’s outfit turned out. I had bought him the Old Navy pants in white and beige and a linen shirt with some embroidery on it. One night when I wasn’t home and he was going out with his friends he decided it was a good idea to wear his ‘wedding shirt’! So then I was on the hunt for a new shirt in the fall, when there is no linen anywhere!. I bought a long sleeve linen from Tommy Bahamas but it wasn’t quite what I had pictured, so with a month to go before the wedding I ordered from Studio Suits. I ordered the long sleeve shirt and linen vest in his measurements, and it looked so good! With his hat on he was big pimpin (his words!). I love that he wore all white as well! For DH’s wedding gift I had done a boudoir shoot. I am so happy I did it! It was such a confidence booster as I had just lost 60 lbs and needed to feel beautiful and sexy again before the wedding. I also had a handkerchief embroidered with a card that read “To wipe the sweat from your brown or the tear from your eye. I love you and can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with youâ€. It was from Etsy Seller designsbyGloria . At first he thought it was a bandana to wear around his head!