torilynnsmith

Love these! So simple and very earthy!!! This looks great! I used the $2 vases as well and they worked great! We packed them in 2 small rolling carry on suitcases and then for the $2 they cost we just left them behind when we came home (couldn't be bothered) It is definitely the way to go!

These are really quite small. I saw them in person last year. They are like purse size. Would be nice and full of OOT stuff but couldn't be used as beach bags for sure! Hope this helps

Ceremony Our ceremony is on the beach at 3PM. We have chair sashes and Sheppard’s hooks with shell pomanders that well line the aisle. A Picture of the beach set up the resort sent me Pomanders on the sheppard hooks in my parents yard (we ended up spraying them white) -- we picked up the sheppard hooks for $1.25 a piece from Dollarama! It was a huge find! The Resort rents them for $20 a piece! Chair Sashes from http://stores.ebay.ca/vlovelife?clk_rvr_id=317181935137 AMAZING service!! $0.59 a piece and FREE shipping!!! Reserved Seating Signs for the Parents Shoes Optional Sign with Brush the Sand From Your Feet Brushes Here are some guest pictures of some of our decor We had Pastor Rick York perform the ceremony and he is AWESOME! He sent us a script right away and we made a few minor changes! All of our guests said how lovely the ceremony was and we were very happy with Pastor York’s services. Dinner Our dinner will be held at the steakhouse restaurant. It will be a semi private meal before we head to the private reception at the wetbar. Décor Centrepiece At Home (Candles are missing from the tealight holders) a guest shot from the wedding Cake We will be having a 3 tier cake. Chocolate with Banana filling, Vanilla with Strawberry filling and Vanilla with Banana filling. Here are 2 inspiration pictures Picture we gave as inspiration How our Cake Turned Out Our Cake Cutting - very simple but I was very happy with how it turned out! Music Since our reception can only go until 11 and about 30 mins of it will be taken up by the wedding formalities (dances, speeches, cake cutting, garter/bouquet toss) we really couldn’t justify spending the nearly $1000 for DJ mania though we have heard amazing things. I was really against the ipod wedding DJ idea as I was afraid people would go up and change the song, who would manage the music for our first dance etc. We found out that a family friend who is coming is actually a DJ on the side and asked her if she wouldn’t mind managing our music for us! We have created our own list but she will oversee that everything runs smoothly! This worked out GREAT! We have no regrets about going the ipod route but having someone “man†the ipod was definitely a huge reason this was a success! Here is our spreadsheet. We didn't choose everything but this was our "starter" list and then we cut down from there! Registry We registered at the Bay. We intended to do a no gifts “your presence is your present†but that was objected by both our parents so we decided to register. Wedding Party Gifts We purchased their outfits and pumped up their OOT bags a little bit. I made bracelets for my BMs to wear the day of the wedding and added some extra stuff to their OOTs. BM OOT BM OOT stuff Monogram This wedding has tested my talents and I have really enjoyed learning and developing my design skills. I created our monogram early on and though we didn’t use it on much as I didn’t want to “brand†too much of our wedding, I used the theme of it as a current throughout our day! That is all for now! If I think of anything else I will be sure to add it! Hope this helps!!!! Best of luck to all the upcoming brides, it has been lovely sharing this time in my life with you all! All the best!!! Tori xo Wedding Music - Spread Sheet Jan '12.xlsx

GM Outfits We decided that FI would wear a suit and the boys would do pants and shirts only (no jackets) so the hunt for linen pants was on. One day while we were out we saw navy dress shirts and FI thought that it would be neat for him to wear his white shirt and the guys wear navy so when I was at Winners one day I found navy Mexx linen “tuxedo style†dress shirts for $25 I picked them up. I wasn’t sold on them but figured we’d hold onto the until we found something else. I ordered their pants from Old Navy on a sale and I think they ended up costing me about $15 each and so I ordered old navy linen navy shirts at the same time. When everything arrived FI tried on both options and we MUCH preferred the Mexx shirts. I picked up leather flips flops for them at TJ Maxx in Buffalo for under $10 each! Flowers - Bouquet I always wanted white calla lilies and figured that would be a great way to tie the green in our colour scheme in. My mom was not a fan and so I kept looking, figuring I would go with Callas anyways unless I could find something else. I also intended to go with real touch bouquets to save some money. I came across Casablanca lilies one day and fell in love. I planned to do a plain Casablanca white lilly bouquet but thought I needed to add a punch of colour so will be incorporating the green orchids. I found this inspiration picture and have been obsessed ever since! It is costing us $100 upgrade from my included bouquet but I think it is so worth it! This picture is what first caught my interest in the white casablanca lillies! This is the picture I found that I fell in LOVE with for my bouquet! I am beyond thrilled with how both my bouquet and the bridesmaid bouquets turned out. Mine was basically an exact replica of the picture and I couldn’t have been happier with the end result! (This is a poor picture quality but you get the idea) Bridesmaid Bouquet Floral Arrangement Included in Our Package. Garter My Mom's Garter Ceremony Fans We decided not to do ceremony programs but will have a basket of fans for people to help themselves to. They were a gift from a friend of my mom and are really neat. They fold up and can be tossed in your purse or beach bag. We surveyed some of our gentlemen folk coming and they all said they wouldn’t use a fan so that is why they aren’t going on the seats but instead in a basket as we don’t know where the ladies who would like one will be sitting. We have about 60 people as guests at the ceremony and about 45 fans so hopefully it works out! In the end these were definitely not needed. The beach was SO SO windy the entire week we were there so none of our guests actually needed the fans (they definitely would have, had we got married in the gazebo) but they all loved that they folded up so most people took one anyways which was great! It was nice that everyone was cool and not hot during the ceremony as well! Place Cards Like most of my wedding these were another DIY project. I just designed a basket template that matched the rest of our stationary and went to work. Our place card holders are one of my favourite things. We designed them to match our shell pomanders that are marking the aisle so I DIY’ed 80 of these bad boys but it was well worth it I think! After dinner everyone took their placecard holder and name tag which was so nice. I guess the word spread that I had DIYd them and no one could believe it! I like that people wanted them as a souvenir of their trip and our special day! Guestbook Thanks to another bride on here (I am so sorry I don’t remember who) but we will be doing a whiteboard photo guestbook. My sister and best friend will be bringing their fancy DSLR cameras and we have 2 white boards that guests will write their message to us on and then have their picture taken! We thought it would be a great way to remember everyone who came! I had planned to frame the whiteboards and make them fancy but just ran out of time and energy near the end! My best friends husband got the white board guestbook going, honestly I was having too much fun dancing to be bothered with it and our amazing photographer had taken so many pictures I wasn’t worried that anyone got missed but I am really happy he did this. He will be sending me a disc with all the pictures but here is one that my sister had on her camera! We are really looking forward to reading everyones message when we get the disc, people really liked the idea and got into it which was awesome! Parents Gifts We have decided that we will do really nice coffee table style books with all the pictures after the wedding instead of a gift down south. OOT Bags Our OOT bags were definitely my baby. Not something I would have done had I not found BDW…. Though my wallet would thank me I think these are going to be a huge hit. I posted an extensive OOT thread when I finished them awhile ago so I will post the link so you can see the contents, price breakdown and where to buy. I love love love the OOT bags and am most excited to see what /our guests think! GM OOT Bags Kid's Bag Guest OOT Bag The OOT Bag packing madness Bridesmaid and GroomsMen OOTs More OOT packing madness!!! Welcome Brochure Our welcome brochure was another labour of love. I decided I wanted to do pocketfolds and of course I was going to DIY them. I designed the cards in powerpoint and create a template for the pocketfold and went to work. These were surprisingly faster than the boarding pass invites but I think they will compliment them well. I am excited for our guests to get these in their OOT bags! For our photoshare site we used yogile.com. For $25 we get one year of unlimited uploads. I also liked that guests did not need to create an account, instead they use the URL and a password we choose to view the pictures and can upload too! Photographer I cannot say enough good things about the amazing Amanda Shepard of BackRoad Photography out of Texas. My angel, my blessing, my saviour! After losing 2 photographers I was pretty much at a loss as to what to do. A facebook message from Amanda, one look at her work and I was sold. I immediately transferred her the money to book the trip. I think I was so wrapped up in it all that I never thought “what if she doesn’t show up†which was so kindly pointed out to me by my parents after I told them. Well I kept my fingers crossed and the night before we got married I finally got to meet the amazing Amanda who DID show up! LOL Amanda and her mom flew from Texas, to North Carolina and then to Punta Cana but even after a LONG LONG day of travelling they were nothing but the kindest, most polite and just lovely people we could have asked for! I still am waiting on all our pictures but since I am sure she took somewhere near 3 THOUSAND I am patiently waiting. Amanda literally photographed from 12noon until nearly 11:30PM and was always happy and smiling, she was SO easy to work with and was great about giving us guidance and direction for our poses! Like I said before I could not be happier with her as a photographer and I am so excited to see even more of her pictures from our amazing day. I will likely be flying her to Canada or maybe we’ll head to Texas for ANY photography we need as I just love her!!! Anyone still looking for a photographer PLEASE do yourself a favour and contact Amanda, you will definitely NOT be disappointed! Check her our on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backroadphotography Now a few pics from my sneak peek! **STILL More To Come**

Shoes Those that know me know I have a slightly unhealthy relationship with shoes. The first time my mother in law saw my “shoe closet†I thought she was going to pass out. Though my “collection†could probably put our firstborn child through college, shoes are near and dear to my heart and therefore were VERY important when selecting THE shoes for my wedding day. I searched high and low for navy shoes, fell in love with d’ orsay CLs and couldn’t find them anywhere. Then I realized I was getting married on the beach and would likely not even wear my shoes, but the “shoe pictures†were still very important to me! I ended up finding navy pumps at Le Chateau for $50 and made satin shoe flower clips to give them the look I was going for. I am really happy with the end product and since I am only wearing them for pictures I am happy I didn’t break the bank on them. My mom picked up my sandals, which I will wear for the ceremony and reception in Miami. I wanted simple blingy sandals and am really happy with what she found for me! **a post wedding note about shoes** I could not be happier with my choice to go in flat sandals, no one sees your feet, it was so much easier to walk on the beach (I would have even gone barefoot instead) and I had no pain or discomfort at all! The flat sandals I chose however had all the little rhinestones and the little claws on each stone kept getting caught in the crinolin and tulle under my dress so I ended up taking them off and switching into a pair of gold leather (same style) sandals I had so not to ruin the underside of my dress. Just something to think about as it never crossed my mind before! Hair Inspiration I knew I wanted loose curls/waves and a side pony tail/ loose side bun depending on how my hair holds up when we arrive in the DR. I will be doing a trial the day before to see what I can do but here are some of my inspiration pictures below. The night before we were to leave we stayed over at my parents house and I tried my dress on one last time before leaving. I put my hair up in a loose low messy bun and REALLY liked how it looked with my hair flower so decided at basically the last minute to change my original plan. I was SO SO happy I did as it was VERY windy on the beach and also my hair did not hold curl at all while I was down there so my bun decision was a GREAT one! Here are two shots of my hair in progress to give you an idea. Makeup Inspiration One of my really good friends is very talented with makeup and so she will be taking care of me in that department. I have left it in her hands but plan for like golds, champagnes and bronzes. FI does not like a lot of makeup so I promised him no fake lashes! LOL Unfortunately I don’t have my professional pictures back yet so I don’t have a close up of the makeup but I was very happy with how natural it looked! FIs Attire We picked up his suit at International Clothiers at Square One in Mississauga on the recommendation of another bride on here. We knew he wanted a light coloured linen suit and he got the pants and jacket for about $100! We got his suit in the summer (as we knew any linen we wanted off the rack we needed to do then) and since then he lost a bit of weight so alterations were about $70 but still under $200 for his wedding suit is not bad! I picked up a white linen Michael Kors shirt for him to wear as we are going for a more unstructured look (no tie). We found Perry Ellis loafer like shoes at Winners (Marshalls for the US brides) for under $50. Most of the restaurants at our resort require closed toe shoes for men so we weren’t sure if he was going to wear these or his leather flip flops with his suit but we have opted for the shoes! BM Outfits I never realized it would be so difficult to find navy dresses. I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted but I knew I didn’t want them to cost $300 a piece. On a trip to buffalo we found navy dresses that my sister (and MOH) fell in love with so we bought three and between the sale that was on and our “Canadian†discount (gosh I love buffalo shopping) they cost about $50 each! I was thrilled! For shoes we could not find a nude wedge that wasn’t too tall or too short (my sister is 5’10â€) so I left shoes up the girls. They will go either barefoot or in the navy flip flops with flower shoe clips that I am giving them for the ceremony and then I said they can wear whatever shoes they like for the rest of the day! **More To Come**

DIY Boarding Pass Invites This was the first project I took on, even before we booked the resort and travel. I spent hours searching BDW for inspiration and ideas, downloaded the Ayleebits (ayleebits.com) template and used it as a reference tool. I moved it into powerpoint to start my design work. After about 25 different invite designs I FINALLY settled on one that I loved! Not realizing I had messed around with the template when moving it to PP (distorted size) I had to basically redo everything I did. Once I got that all figured out I had my invite design and finished the rest of the pages. I expected to just do 1 page front and back for our invites but ended up doing a FIVE PAGE boarding pass invite. We went from not even having invites (FI and I had planned to only send them out to people who booked and just do an email, facebook, phone call initial invite) to this labor intensive creation. I am SO SO SO SO SO happy we sent real invites with mail back RSVPs as the response was great and everyone has a tangible reference about the wedding and a keepsake for those who would like it. Dare I say the Inlaws and Parents were right! You can check out my Boarding Pass Invite thread here: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/73661/my-boarding-pass-invites-lots-of-pictures Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue Something Old – I will be wearing my Mom’s keep garter from my parents wedding (I will have my own keep garter and throw garter as well) Something New – What isn’t new? My Dress, my hair piece, my shoes… the list goes on! Something Borrowed – I have had a hell of a time deciding on earrings and finally ended up borrowing some from a friend! Something Blue – All of my garters have a blue ribbon, bow etc. in them, as well my shoes are navy! The Dress I tried on dresses when we first got engaged but nothing jumped out at me. I then saw the Mikaella 1406 gown and fell in love with it on another bride. When I tried it on I was happy with it and so I figured it would work. I went again in June to try on dresses with my mom, girlfriend (also engaged) and her mom and tried on the mikaella again. The reaction was less than exciting their faces said it all and I was crushed. They thought it was a nice dress but it definitely did not have any wow factor that I feel your wedding dress should have. The other dress that was always in the back of my mind was the first dress I ever saw in a bridal store when I went with my best friend to try on dresses for her wedding and also the first dress I ever tried on, the Pronovias Galante. When I saw it on another bride (Brit…) on this site I knew I had to try it again and when I did the reaction was SO different from mikaella that I knew this was my dress. I wanted to remove the straps and turn the gown into a true sweetheart neckline. We went to another bridal store so I could try on the Pronovias and the Mikaella for my mom and myself one after another (they were always at separate shops before now) and there they had a special collection pronovias gown (not shown online) which is basically a strapless version of the Galante. Can you say “everything happens for a reason� It was PERFECT! It was what I envisioned and all the changes were already done! My dress is called Amaya by Pronovias! Here is a few pictures of me in my dress on my wedding day. I absolutely LOVE my dress even more and more when I look at the pictures and could not be happier with my selection. The Bridal Store FI and I moved to Peterborough from the GTA in March, the only bridal store I found that had both of the dresses I wanted to try on was in Elmira, a small town outside Waterloo Ontario. Mom and I went out one day, I fell in love with the Amaya and the store! Taylors Bridal is where I got my dress and I cannot say enough good things about Linda and her team. From beginning to end I had the MOST positive experience and recommend to ANYONE in the GTA or further who is willing to make a trip to Elmira to check out Taylors Bridal! You will not be disappointed! Also, if you buy your dress on your first visit you save a couple hundred dollars! www.taylorsbridal.com/ Jewelry I am not much of a jewelry girl, I have my “staples†that I wear day in and day out but I am not one to add and remove pieces for different outfits. This made jewelry selection tough but I knew I wanted simple simple simple! I decided that with the deep sweetheart I would not wear a necklace so I am just going with earrings that I am borrowing from a friend. I may wear a bracelet but am still undecided! **More To Come**

The Resort We decided on a destination wedding at an all inclusive before we were even engaged, but when it came time to choosing the resort we were at a complete loss. I was dead set on not having the wedding at the “Big 3†as I called them; Cuba, Mexico, Dominican Republic. I have been to all three countries and thought it would be great to travel to a new place where I hadn’t been before. We decided on Jamaica as a great possibility as we wanted a reasonable price for our guests but with 5 start amenities and service. Once we started looking I feel in love with the Iberostar Rose Hall Suite/Grand but once we got quotes back we just couldn’t ask our guests to spend the money. We had to go January/February as FI is an accountant and so tax season is totally out of the question for us. We also wanted to book a time that most people would want to escape the awful Canadian winter and would likely be going away anyways to make it as manageable as possible for everyone. We went back and fourth for awhile until a girlfriend recommended we check out the Majestic Colonial, a friend had attended a wedding there and raved about it so I took a look. After hours on facebook thanks to an amazing facebook group “Majestic Colonial Brides†that provided a wealth of information I was sold! We were upgraded to a 1 bedroom suite on the fourth floor, it had 2 balconies, an outdoor Jacuzzi tub and just a ton of space! Here are some pictures of our amazing upgrade. The Living Room Front Balcony Side Balcony with outdoor Jacuzzi Indoor Jacuzzi and Bedroom Bedroom The Swans! The Travel Agent I will not spend much time on this section other than to stress the importance of choosing the RIGHT travel agent! Looking back on this process, we unfortunately did not select the right TA for us, but that is no ones fault but our own. We should have been communicating with and working with TAs well in advance, we left it and once we were ready to move forward, we consulted 5 different people and chose the best communicator but we were in a bit of a “rush†to do so and the communication fell short once we had paid our deposit. I cannot stress enough the importance of a good travel agent so I have put together a few tips from my planning experience that will hopefully help future BDW DW brides! Tips for Future DW Brides when selecting your TA INTERVIEW YOUR TA – they are working for you and you will likely be making them a significant amount of money. Most wedding groups can be anywhere from 20 to 100 people and that is a SIGNIFICANT number of people to get the commission off of booking! You need to find a travel agent who’s demeanor, personality and style works for you and your guests. There is nothing wrong with meeting with and talking to several different agents to see what they are all about! ASK QUESTIONS! – we did not ask enough questions of our TA but we also never thought we would need to. Here are some sample questions I would ask if I knew then what I know now! - What hours do they work? - Who is your point of contact should they be sick, away or on vacation? - Do they have any vacation scheduled over the next 90 days (generally your booking window for your group rate)? - How will deposits and room selections be confirmed? Is there a point of contact in the accounting department? GET REFERENCES! – and CALL THEM!!!! This is something we did not do and I regret it immensely! We took the testimonials on the website to be positive and went from there. Had we been put in touch with the couples directly we may have gotten a better idea of what we were in store for. I know a lot of this sounds standard and that we may sound like Rookies for not thinking of some of this before but when you are wrapped up in the excitement of booking your wedding some things fall off your radar! The Colours I am sure 99% of our guests will be shocked that PINK is not one of our wedding colours as I am a pink girl at heart. For our 2nd valentines day FI got me the Pink kitchen aid artesian stand mixer and I cried lol. But, for my wedding I wanted a classic elegant look and feel and I am huge on neutral colours but knew I didn’t want black on the beach. Navy seemed like the next best thing and I have always been obsessed with apple/lime green tones so we went with that! FI was happy that the colours were not “girly†and I was happy that our pictures would be classic! As my planning process progressed I realized that a lot of the items (chair covers, linens etc.) included in our package would be white. I decided to embrace the white and am really excited about it! I love the idea of all the white on the beach and think the navy and green will just add a nice “pop†of colour! Inspiration Boards Here are a few inspiration boards I found to get me started And here is an inspiration board I created early on in my planning process

Well like many many many other BDW brides, I have absolutely LOVED planning threads and so I have dedicated a great deal of time putting mine together! I started this planning thread not long after discovering and contributing to BDW so different parts were written at different times. Those brides that know me know that I am a little (too) detail oriented and have been known to make a lengthy post or two, so for those of you looking for a short winded planning thread you are in the WRONG place! That being said if you know I am long winded, you also know I LOVE LOVE LOVE pictures in posts so rest assured there will be TONS and TONS of those!!!!! Well I want to start by thanking Tammy for having the vision to pull together this amazing resource for DW brides EVERYWHERE. I truly don’t know where I would be without it…. Actually I do… I would have spent the last 9 months sitting on my couch crying because “google†didn’t have the answers! I also want to thank the Mods for keeping things going and and all the wonderful BDW brides out there that have been SO amazing with their information, posts and sharing over the last few months! It has been so much fun getting to know everyone and hearing about their planning. I can’t name everyone that has been along for the ride as I am too afraid I would forget someone but I would like to give a special mention to my fellow Canadian Brides and My fellow February 2012 brides. I found myself in those threads more than anywhere else and I am so looking forward to seeing each and every one of your days come together. I know how much hard work everyone has put in to making their Wedding Days perfect and I can hardly wait to see those visions executed. The quote of my wedding planning experience has been “Everything happens for a reason†there have been several bumps, hiccups and complete disasters but I just kept saying to myself everything happens for a reason and now that my wedding day had come and gone, I truly believe that everything did happen for a reason and it all worked out in the end! Engagement – July 18th 2010 FI and I had been together for just under 4 years, living together for over 3 years of that time (yup we moved quick!). We had talked about engagement for about a year prior to getting engaged, we had looked at rings, tried rings on and discussed what I liked and what he liked. FI is a pretty laid back guy, he lets me make a lot of the decisions and pretty much goes with the flow so I was very surprised when we were out “ring shopping†how opinionated he was about what he liked and what he didn’t like. I always said that I would know in the moment or day that the engagement was coming, FI isn’t great at keeping secrets and he doesn’t realize but he drops “hints†in his words and conversation so I had a feeling it was coming up. My birthday was approaching and I had a feeling so was our engagement, but when my birthday came and went without anything (including a present) I figured my “engagement radar†had been off and that either the end of August (we were going back to Ontario to visit our families) or Christmas would be the next possible times to start anticipating again. We went on with our lives like normal, I had a late meeting 4 days late and so I told FI to meet me downtown and that we would just go for a quick dinner after my meeting. We had a great dinner down on the Halifax waterfront followed by a walk along the boardwalk before heading home. I took our 3 dogs outside and FI went in the house. As I went inside I heard music playing but didn’t think much of it, FI and I have been known to dance at home just the two of us so I just thought he was ending the evening off on a high note. Little did I know just how high a note it would be! FI was down on one knee and I was asking “What are you doing†as he said all the right things and opened up a ring box with a sparkly diamond inside! I don’t remember much except saying “That’s not my ring…. What … what?!†FI says to this day I still haven’t said yes! It was very private, I was VERY surprised and it was very us! Turns out FI had intended to propose on my birthday but after some bumps with the jeweler and a delay with my ring my birthday came and went. When he got a call on the 18th to go pick up the ring, he didn’t want to wait any longer, so not even our families knew! FI was leaving to go play hockey in the states in September and I was moving back to Ontario to be closer to our families, so our engagement, as one of my girlfriends so eloquently put it was him “pissing on meâ€. Engagement Photos Our engagement photos were actually a gift from my best friend for my birthday. I had wanted to do a photo shoot of us with our dogs for some time and so she gave me that as my birthday gift. It worked out great as four days later we were engaged so we did it as a combo thing. Had she not given me that I doubt we would have done engagement pictures but they’re nice to have. We did these at the Dingle Park in Halifax just before we moved back to Ontario. Jaclyn Doyle was our very talented photographer who we were lucky enough to work with when she was just starting out! Jaclyn Doyle Photography -- The Rings Who knew choosing a wedding band would be so hard! I have a slightly tapered solitaire band and was adamant that I did not want a jacket wedding band (one with the small dip so that they fit flush) as I wanted to be able to wear my wedding band on its own. I don’t know why I was so set on this as I never take my e-ring off so the likelihood of wearing them separately is slim but this is what I had in my head. I really like pave set eternity style bands and so that was what I thought I wanted. I tried them on here there and everywhere and just before Christmas started working in a jewelry store. I thought I had decided on my band and went to buy it (not from my store but the store my e-ring was from) there was some problems with their cash and so they asked if I could come back the following day, no problem. I went to work that afternoon and we had just got in these new pave set “luxury†anniversary bands, I tried one on and fell in love. In the store it looks like a shiny disco ball and I am sure everyone thinks I am nuts but with my ring I just love it and it is very much me! Not a traditional wedding band and not what I thought I was going to get but I am very very happy with it! FI chose a simple tungsten band, he likes the darker tone and the wider width so this worked out well for him! Patrick's Ring My Rings My Rings photo credit Amanda Shepard - BackRoad Photography 2012 **More to Come**

We dont have our professional pictures yet but here is one of our groomsmen and our entire wedding party so you can see the grooms outfit. Groomsmen -shirts mexx -pants old navy -flip flops Panama Jack (TJ Maxx) Groom -suit international clothiers -shoes perry ellis -shirt michael kors

I had many many centrepiece ideas and went through a million different concepts. We ended up going with something VERY basic and I am happy with how they turned out! I probably wouldn't even bother with centrpieces if I were doing it over but they were still nice to have

Here are a few pictures of the front and back of our bridesmaid dresses! We had a terrible time finding navy dresses I liked and ended up finding these at Macy's off the rack! I wasn't sold on them right away but my sister (MOH) insisted they were right so for around $50 each we just went with it. I am really happy with how they turned out in pictures and all the girls were really comfortable in them!

We kept it basic with our cake - sorry the picture is sideways!

We did the same thing and I laughed and giggled through the whole thing!!! We were adamant that that was not our "wedding" but I must admit it was nice to have a sort of "run through" before the REAL big day!!!!! So glad you have arrived after a little flight drama! I do not think I would have been able to start my vacay/wedding week that way!! Do not worry about a thing, your wedding will be perfect, the wedding coordinators at the majestic are phenomenal and I cannot say enough good things! Who is your wedding coordinator? PM me any questions or anything as the PMs come to my email and I will answer right away!!! SO so excited for you, I wish we overlapped at least one day!

Just wanted to post an update now that our wedding has come and gone. Our OOT bags were a HUGE hit! I am so pleased that our guests loved them as much as I loved putting them together. I heard throughout the week from different people what they were using. -- Bubba mugs were awesome, we had other resort guests coming up to us asking where we got our mugs! They kept drinks nice and cold and were great for minimizing trips back and fourth to the bar! I think the 18oz were the best size as you really have to be committed to the 34oz drink choice! -- I was nervous of my selection for the key card holders and had started to wish I just went the badge holder/key coil route but then I saw just about everyone of our guest use the pouch at some point through their vacation so that made me really happy! They weren't water proof but some of our guests still swam with them and said they loved that they could! -- The sewing kits are neat but I doubt anyone used them, I hope they throw them in their purse or something when they get home! -- Almost everyone used their OOT bag beach bag! We had several guests who forgot beach bags so it was even more of a bonus that we could help them out! Ladies keep your eyes peeled for the dollartree $1 jumbo totes, they are perfect but sell out FAST! -- The first aid kits probably could have been left out as long as we had put bandaids in the survival kit, I think that is what most people used out of those! -- An addition I would make would be immodium, we included pepto but 2 immodium tablets would likely have been a welcome addition~ If anyone has any questions please do not hesitate to ask, I am so happy we went with OOTS and think people were thrilled with this as their favour! The luggage to bring them down was well worth it in order to surprise our guests!

Just wanted to thank Norma and the other Canadian brides for the well wishes. We had a wonderful wedding day and lucked in with our weather for sure! I will be posting my planning thread (after the fact obviously) once I received some of my photog pictures back! Congrats Krysta on booking a photographer, I truly believe everything happens for a reason and though we lost 2 photographers Amanda Shepard of Backroad Photography who ended up coming with us was ABSOLUTELY the best we could have had! If anyone is looking for a photographer definitely check her out!!!

We leave on Thursday Morning! Wedding on Saturday! We are all packed and ready to go! I can't believe we're almost there!

You look awesome lady!!!! Your husband is going to love love love his surprise!

WOW! You look AWESOME!!!!!! So so exciting!!!!

As a two shoe bride myself I say go for it... Kat said it best.... Men just dont get it! LOL I love a) but the Bestseys are super cute too Thanks for sharing your story, i think you dad was definitely telling you that you did the right thing! I think you could easily replicate these with a flat you LOVE and then either turn to etsy to have beautiful butterfly shoes clips made or search for some great broaches yourself. I know I am not the only one to suggest this but I wanted to make sure you knew so u dont give up our your butterfly shoes, I think it would be an amazing nod to your dad in your wedding and something special for just you two! I hate to be the bearer of bad news but they are definitely fakes/knockoffs/replicas. If you are ok with that do some serious research into the site. I had a friend order her wedding shoes (Not the same brand) from a site she found them cheaper. It was in China and they never shipped and she has no recourse... they jsut took her money. I feel like it is a buyer beware thing. If they have paypal you likely have better protection!

It is hard to believe how quickly it came, MNtoMX is the day before me so she will be the first Feb bride as far as I know! I feel pretty ready and am DEFINITELY ready for the vacation... I fell off the insanity workout train. The plan was to start the program again in January after the holidays and well here I am January 24th and nothing. I am so so mad at myself, I notice a huge difference in my body and was so pleased with what my "beach body" was going to look like before I quit! I want to spend the next week doing it everyday but I am just so so busy right now that I don't know when to find the time. I feel exhausted and so I want to sleep but then when I dont get up to workout I am mad at myself... catch 22 but I am sure I am not alone here! Bride2012 your motivation with insanity has been such an inspiration but I just do not have your drive!!! I am so impressed with your amazing results!!!! Looking forward to sharing pictures and seeing everyones big day! It feels like it came quickly but at the same time as if we have been waiting forever!!!

Hi ladies, Here is just one link to the "brides entourage" iron ons from ebay. If you just do a search they seem to have lots! http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Bride-Bridesmaid-Gift-ideas-Rhinestone-IRON-HOT-FIX-shirt-tote-bag-/220877260374?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item7915806c5c#ht_3220wt_1002

You can get the crystals at michaels and there is a special heat tool that attaches them. They are in the bead aisle. Sorry I dont know the exact name but it is pretty cool!

First of all take a deep breath, I know EXACTLY what you are going through as with just a little less than 3 months to go our photographer who we had booked 10 months in advance also had to cancel. It is a gut wrenchingly awful feeling, I was in tears, I was angry, I was frustrated I was sad.... I think I was a little in denial. The whole experience was less than positive BUT you will figure it out. We lost another photographer before finally ending up with our current photographer and I have to be honest I sort of feel like everything happens for a reason. I learned a lot about my original photog during the "difficult" time and realize that maybe they werent the right fit for us afterall! Our New and wonderful photographer has been an absolute dream so far and though I have never met her in person (and some people may think that is crazy) I am very very excited to work with her! I am so glad to hear you got your money back for the travel which you paid for, that is a HUGE sigh of relief. Now you have a few options 1) Hire someone local to your destination 2) Find another photographer from close to home who you may take with you 3) Find another photographer who's work you love and fly them in! Our new photographer is coming from texas but I adore her work and it is well worth it for us! I am sure everyone on this thread can give you many many suggestions to solve this dilemma as soon as possible!! DONT WORRY, though it is hard to believe right now as it is a total shock it will all work out in the end and everything happens for a reason!!! Sending lots of well wishes and positive vibes your way!!! Let me know if you want any photographer contact info!!!! PS. I am off to check out this "Robert Bradley photo" doubt he'll be in business after this stunt!