Peach

Excellent! I got it and sent one right back!

I didn't send an RSVP with the STD, though many are thinking it is an invite. But I directed them to our website, and on there it does request that people tentatively RSVP asap... we just wanted to cut down on invites to make and deliver (MIB) So far only a few couples (4 plus us) have RSVPd to us, and of those, only one booked. Only one of those 4 couples was a surprise. We know the others will though; they are just waiting on vacation time confirmation. We know that some people we sent STD to will not come, and we know which ones, but we have not yet had anyone rsvp no to us. So I guess it was unsuccessful that way. Maybe they will yet. If not, the ones we are 90% sure won't come, even without a RSVP, will be getting smaller invites.I don't have enough bottles to make them for everybody.

Very cool idea... I wish I could help you with an idea though. Though that "Wear this sarong to cover your thong" idea is awesome! I was trying to think of something about wrapping it around... but my brain is not so creative today.

I just printed by hand my save the dates. I always print though. It is nothing fancy, but I was not too worried about it. I will probably do cursive for the rest of them though. I have printed off return address labels from vistaprint. I have also heard it is not great etiquette to print addresses from the computer. I must say though, every single wedding invitation we have ever received but one was printed from the computer. And we certainly did not care about any etiquette about it. No one in either of our families would be worried about it either. I also think it should fit your wedding. We are having an almost entirely DIY, casual wedding, so I think this was fine. If we were more formal, the addressing would have to reflect that I think. Just my opinion though!

Oooh the cover up is such an awesome idea!

Sure, why not? I am a big fan of, "Whatever works". In DW, tradition flies out the window. I am not sure when I will give mine... I am giving each a large beach bag full of goodies. If we were closer geographically, I would do it a few days before we go. I guess when we meet at the airport maybe? I don't know. I still have lots of time to decide though! So if you want to give them their gifts two months ahead of time, I say go for it! Maybe just mention that you know it is unorthodox, but you thought they may want them ahead of the trip.

Thanks! I just checked and I got the email too... Strange how sometimes the email notifications work, and sometimes they don't.

Bahahaha! I literally laughed out loud. That sounds EXACTLY like something my FI would do too. So funny!

Gorgeous! Is that your wedding dress that you wore for your TTD?

Well, I have not really lost weight, though some inches maybe, because I have been hearing compliments about it lots lately. Which is good, of course! FI bought me a townie bike that I have had my eye on for a few summers now. So I have been riding my bike EVERYWHERE... And there are a few hills around here too! So that, with watching my food and drinking lots of water, has been my focus. I would like the scale to mirror what people are saying though... Especially since I have BD pics scheduled in about a week! And I am nowhere close to where I wanted to be at that time. Yikes!

It sounds like you have a great travel agent then! Now that you can breathe the sigh of relief, what are you going to be working on / planning next?

I just have to smile today! One year exactly since I said "yes", and one year exactly till I get to say "I Do!". I cannot believe it has already been a year!

First and foremost, decide on the feel, look, mood.. whatever you want to call it. Like Branya said... When you picture your dream day, what do you see? Most brides, but not all, on here are looking at Mexico or places in the Caribbean. But you could really do ANYTHING. Have you and FI travelled in the past? What sort of places are you drawn to? Do you like places with history? Bustling cities? A great night life? Serene waters? Adventures? .... and on and on! For us, we wanted to go somewhere we had never been before, and relaxation and wow factor was SUPER high on our list... for that, we are sacrificing some night life and accessibility to shopping, etc. (Not that important to us, but is to some). It is also more expensive than, say, Mexico, but we have been to Mexico before (and loved it!) and thought, if there is one time to splurge, this would be it. HOWEVER, it does make travel a b**ch since it is longer, and has a stop over... BUT we do get to get married on an island with an acclaimed beach where the only thing there is our resort. So, decide what you want, prioritize, see what you are willing to give up... then google and search and flip through travel books and talk to everyone you know. And look on here! Haha! Good luck and have fun!

You are most welcome! Be sure to post pics when it is all done! I am sure a lot of ladies here would love to see them!

Yes, I have heard of brides doing that. Unfortunately, it won't work out so well for us. We need to have our numbers for our DW before April, and so our RSVP for that is March. I just think March is WAY too early to expect RSVPs for that AHR for us... I was not intending on sending them out until June. When are you getting them to RSVP by?

You can buy rolled sheets of magnetic backing at craft stores like Michaels. You just roll it out, press down what you want to make into a magnet, and cut out. I would actually recommend cutting strips of the magnetic backing, though, and attaching those little strips to the boarding passes themselves. It won't cover the whole back, but you will save on a lot of backing with less surface area... and that saves money too.

One thing I am playing with adding to our guest book table at our AHR, which could totally work in your passport, is a page each for "Things You May Not Know About Him/Her", with little tidbits about each of you, or "About Us"... since not all your guests would know little details. I incorporated that into a puzzle in our welcome books... things like, the first movie we watched together. Some easier stuff too, like name our pets. I am not sure how much that would fit for you though. I am a teacher, so I put an information packet together about the country and region. You could do something on a smaller scale on a page. Or trivia. In my classroom I have a daily "Did You Know?"... So I put a Wedding-themed "Did You Know" together as part of our one-month mail-out too. Things like, where certain traditions come from. Like why we wear wedding bands on our 4th finger left hand. Or the percentage of men who propose on bended knee. Or wedding traditions around the world. This could be very cool if you include your family histories in them too. Um... You could add a couple engagement pictures, if you did those. Did you want to include any note about photographs? I am not, but I have seen brides request, on a page, that wedding details be kept off facebook and other social media sites. Or to share pictures after the big day on shutterfly or whatever. Or how about an RSVP page? Hopefully some of those ideas helped! Good luck!

No worries! I am not sure about the other ladies on here, and mine were rather simple, but I can give you a start anyway. I had some clear line at home. It looks like fishing line, and it is used in quite a few jewelry projects. I have even seen it at the dollar store, so it is not too expensive at all. You can get stretchy stuff (maybe at Michaels in the jewelry making section) for a bit more as an option too. I used beads I already had, but if you wanted to do the one with a larger bead (which I think looks pretty cool, but I didn't do), you could do that too. I just played with them, but I will let you know how I did it. I used my own foot for comparison... My sister (MOH) and I have the same feet, my mom's is the same length but wider and has a much wider ankle, my FMIL has long and slender, and so does BM. If you were doing a whole bunch, or as favours, you would probably need to just guess on sizes. Okay. I cut the line an approximate length, based on wrapping it around my foot the way I wanted it to go, and adding a little more just to be safe. You can always cut some off... You cannot add more. Then fold the line in half. This is going to be behind your toe. Thread little beads onto the line, making them meet in the middle. When you have enough to go around your toe, add a bead to BOTH ends at the same time (so the line will be parallel to itself). Then push that bead down to meet the ring you created. This joins the two ends and keeps it from moving, so fiddle a little now to make sure it is in the middle. Then you just add beads to either end, joining every few again with a bead in the centre. This is the part that goes up your foot, so if you wanted to add a big bead, this would be where to do it. Okay, once you are at a place near where your foot and ankle meet, or where you want to start the line going around your ankle, place one more "joining/centre" bead, and then start adding beads to each end until you are at an appropriate length on each side to go around the ankle. Then joint the ends and fasten. I did this by pushing the same ends through beads on the other side and tying off. Like I said, I just played around. Someone might be able to give you MUCH better instructions. It is hard to explain without pictures too, but believe me when I say it is actually quite easy. I would look at lots of pictures first to decide what you want before you start creating. If you would like clarification, let me know!

Oooh, very tricky. With his mom, could you two invite her but NOT offer to pay for her to come? Just not even make it an option. Chances are, you said she wouldn't be able to afford it, so she won't come anyway. Then that also takes away some of the drama for his sister to come too. But, at the end of the day, it should be his call. There are family members I am not inviting... upon requests from my parents. And, in fact, I might not have ANY family there at all. But I want to make sure it is their call not to come, not mine. I guess I would just make sure that your FI won't end up regretting it. But if he is sure, then go along with it and don't stress about it. This is about the two of you... no one else. Another question... are you have an AHR? If so, they could maybe come to that? A compromise possibility, anyway.

We are doing a group with them, yes, and put deposits down for 10 people (well, us and 8 others), which was the minimum group number. This is part of our gift to the first people who book... namely, FI's family and our bridal party. So I REALLY don't want to lose those deposits. I did know that they can run out of Superior Rooms. I am not super worried about that, since FI and I are upgrading, and we are not expecting a large number of guests to come... we are guessing 15-20, including us. We are also travelling in the off season. Oh I really hope everything works out... but I am glad that we have a travel agent, so we don't have to worry about this stuff so much on our own! I am so glad that you found a way for yours to work! Whew! Sigh of relief, right?

I am working on our invite mock-up to our AHR, which is going to take place August 17, just about a month after our DW. Here is my concern. We are doing a fairly traditional, though somewhat casual, AHR. We WILL need numbers. It seems that most research I have done is saying to set the RSVP deadline a month ahead of time, which would take it to July 17... We are getting married on the 18 in the Dominican, and will be gone from the 13 to the 27. So I really cannot make the RSVP deadline for AFTER we get back, since that will not really allow much time... Do I make it for BEFORE we leave, and then call the stragglers when we get back? Or do I make it for during the time that we are gone and just deal with it all after we return? That would not be my favourite option. Thoughts? I am trying to get as much as humanly possible done this summer, since I don't work during summers.

Oh no! I am glad that things turned out okay for you, but what a nightmare! When is your wedding date, out of curiosity? I am really worried now. We are travelling with Air Canada... They are the ONLY ones that come from Calgary. None of us live in Calgary, it is just the closest airport... still hours away. So it is REALLY our only option. WestJet sometimes goes, but we do not know yet. So we booked with Air Canada. Now I am worried. I hope it is okay. I will keep my fingers crossed.

Welcome and congratulations! Okay, so, take a deep breath. Then, imagine your dream wedding. Is it big? Intimate? Do you already travel a lot? Do you want to be someplace you have been before or do you want to try someplace new? Look at some reviews (but be wary of tripadvisor... take with a grain of salt). Ask around. This is what we did, which may help you out. We have been to all inclusives before, and knew that is what we wanted. We have been to Mexico before, and decided we wanted to go somewhere we had never been, and somewhere we probably wouldn't go back to in a while, so we ruled out Mexico. We wanted to go somewhere with spectacular beaches. A lot of Caribbean places filled that requirement. We wanted to go somewhere FI's parents had not been before either... So that also ruled out Cuba and Jamaica. Well, not ruled out, but we leaned away from it. Then, we started looking at the Dominican. At first I was looking at Dreams Punta Cana and was pretty much sold. FI and his dad also were looking at different places online. A bunch of people we know had stayed at different Gran Bahia Principe places before, and I had only heard good things about that chain, so we started looking at more of those, out of curiosity. Then we saw GBP Cayacoa, in Samana. We liked that it was different, off the beaten path, and pictures looked lovely. That led us to Cayo Levantado, which is on its own island. Well, after FI heard that, he was sold, and I loved that it was somewhere totally different. It is not too big, not too small, and seriously into the relaxing vibe. We are lay on the beach people, big on relaxation, and this place looks great for that. If we were into partying big time, it would not be such a good place. So, decide what is important to you. Do you want a huge resort, where you may or may not bump into your group? Do you want lots of meal options? Maybe near some great excursions? Do you want to be in - or near - a city, or in the middle of nowhere? Jungle? Beach? Mountain? Maybe once you start ruling out what you DON'T want, it will be easier to figure out what you do. For us, as soon as we started researching our location, we knew it was "the one". Haha!

Good choice! I have been to fewer weddings recently with even numbers than uneven one. We are doing 2 for me, 1 for him. I think it is silly to ask someone to choose someone to stand up with them who is not as important, just to get an even number. I watched a show recently, where the guy was calling his friends to try and get someone to be a groomsmen to get an even number. He said something like, "Hey Mike, it's Sam, from High School..." Silliness.

Thanks for the tip. We have found LOTS of peach. But peach, despite my name, is not our colour. The coral that we want is hard to find in non-bridal stores, which is where I am shopping to save costs. Cost is very important. Very tight budget. Also, we want more casual than what there is in a lot of bridal shops... not that we have a lot of bridal shops in this area. FI is actually more concerned about the right colour of coral than I am, which is a little funny. I just think he is avoiding how some look so pink. Aritzia and ASOS - I will definitely check it out.