Camy47

MJKH.....THANK YOU!!! Because of your message I went into Michaels again to see if on the off chance they had the right shade of purple in their new stock. Not only did they have the ribbon, they had all the flowers I'm using for my cocktail hr centerpieces on for 90% off!!!! Only down side is now I have a lot more to pack b/c I stocked up! haha!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

I agree with Torilynn....choosing a travel agent is VERY important. I unfortunately ended up with one that was awful and made my planning process a nightmare. In retrospect I should have gone with itravel2000.com; they had the same prices and had good customer service....I just opted for one with more 'freebies' which was my own fault. Make sure that you shop around as you will find there are big price differences. We had a $300+ range on our rates all for the exact same trip but different carriers. Also, ALWAYS ask for a group rate if you know you have enough people. We saved about $200pp with the group rate from Air Canada Vacations. Finally, if you find the best rate with a TA that isn't your first pick....don't settle for that TA....many places will price match. Oh...also make sure you ask about what promotions each TA, carrier AND hotel offer for weddings as well as what the restrictions are. We were lucky and ended up with promotions through each including upgrades to first class!

Butterfly67....Welcome to the group!!! I'm sure you will see very quickly why this such an amazing group of ladies!!! If you decide to go with the Venus dress I would recommend calling the store listed in advance. I found that a few of the ones on there don't carry the line any more. I saw you are from Ontario...let me know if you are either in London or the GTA b/c I did comprehensive searches for the best price! haha. I should also mention that the website does not do the dresses justice. The materials they use are gorgeous and all of mine turned out great. The chiffon ones are perfect for a DW! Janet....CONGRATS....you are almost there!!! Good luck over the next few days....very soon you'll be relaxing on a beach soaking in the experience!!! I'm SO excited for you!!! Let me know how the weather is....I leave for Punta Cana in 2.5 weeks!!! Eeeek! Quote: Originally Posted by Janet1480 Hi Ladies...you all have been busy the few days i have been offline! Thats a good thing...i like coming back to lots of BDW fun! Thats really awful about those dresses! I truly do beleive everything happens for a reason and even though it may be horribly upsetting now and be a disaster, your new dresses will be 100 times better and you will be thankful the disaster happened in the first place....positive energy your way 4 more sleeps including today and i will be a jet setting bride its coming quick...these last few days and the next few days will be complete chaos and hectic but i am smiling ear to ear and i cant put in to words how excited I am. I still have a few loose ends to tie up but i am pretty much ready!!! I really wanted to do a planning journal before i leave but not sure i have the time but i will definitely do an after the fact planning journal and share my journey and pics and ideas with all of you. I'm hooked on BDW and will definitely still visit even when my festivities are over so i can support all you wonderful ladies and live vicariously through you! wedding planning, even though stressful at times, has been so much fun and i couldnt have done it without all of you and your fabulous support and ideas. i will be back online before i go but in case something goes astray and i cant make it back on i will see you back here in early November a MRS!!!! XOX

Haha...glad you liked it....but I did warn everyone it was an addictive store!!! ) I was actually in the Pickering store on the weekend too and I think the North York location has more selection including favours and a small clearance section. The guy working said they are just getting stock in b/c it's only been open for a few weeks. Unfortunately they didn't have the ribbon I needed but I did find a nice money box! I wanted something to collect cards in and they had some nice cardboard ones that come flat so they would be easy to take with us! Does anyone happen to know any other stores in the GTA with a good selection of ribbon? I'm looking for a deep/royal purple wide satin ribbon for my cake and no one seems to carry it. With only 3 weeks left I can't even order it from the US! Any help is appreciated...

Great minds! I was checking Sears last night and there is this one as well: http://www.sears.ca/product/jessica-md-satin-waistband-faux-wrap-dress/648-000267591-WF09-JE40-2836 Another line you might want to check out is Venus Bridesmaids --> http://www.venusbridal.com/bridesmaids/bella-maids This is actually the line of dresses I got for my ladies and they are reasonably priced for bridesmaids dresses. The ones I got were $150 and I offered to pay cash so the store didn't charge me tax. I also needed a rush order and they had them to me within 3 months. There are several stores that carry this line in Alberta so maybe you'll have some luck and find some that are less expensive.

Luvmoo, I agree with Kat....I would try and find a dress that they can all try on before they buy. I had the same issue with girls living out of town etc. so I actually picked the dress and found stores near them that carried that dress so they could try it on and see what size they needed. I ended up ordering them all from the same store to get a discount....but then got each BM their dresses the next time I saw them. OR you could get the dress from a chain store like David's, Sears or RW&Co. Stores like that can usually order the dress in if they don't have it in stock. The good news is you still have lots of time to get this sorted out. And I would call that company you ordered from and speak to the highest manager insisting a refund!!! Sorry to hear about what happened.....but at least you have an AWESOME cake topper! Love it!!!

The secret to Vistaprint really depends on what you want to order. If you have a LOT to buy I recommend using a deal that has 80% off most items and free shipping...this way you can order multiple sets of postcards etc. and get the quick shipping option for free. You can usually order the standard free items like pens or sticky's with this deal too so you might get 10-12 items for around $40. Then if you place several small orders with regular shipping and all the free items at the same time they will likely send them all in the same box. So for example I did one big order with the postcards and 10 other items and then 5 separate orders which contained a notebook, notepad, sticky, keychain and tote for each of my bridesmaids and they were about $7 each. They all shipped together within 14 days. Unfortunately you cannot get more than one of the free items in each order so you really have to do multiple orders. However, you CAN get multiples in some instances. So for example some templates for flat horizontal invitations, flat vertical invitations, and folded invitations are all the same dimension so you could use the same pattern for each and order 3 for free because technically they are different. I hope that makes sense. Btw, keep your old emails if a great deal seems to appear.....many don't expire so you can use them later on.

Happy Thanksgiving to all you Canadian Brides! Take some time off from wedding mania to enjoy the Turkey!!!

Here's the image from the Creativebags web site: They are called re-useable nylon shopping bags. I actually hadn't thought of these but was in the store with one of my bridesmaids and she recommended them. She got one from her sister and said she uses it all the time because it just folds up and fits in her purse! Best part is b/c they are so small they will take up virtually no room in my suitcase. For 99 cents they are decent quality as well. Colours in this pic aren't that great....the pink is actually a nice vivid hot pink (these are the ones I got).

Sooooo cute!!! Love it!!!

Beware Holly....they have some great stuff and it can be a bit addictive! I'm going to head back there after my wedding to stock up on xmas baking boxes and things for Christmas!!! )

I bought the bags at Creative Bags in Toronto. I actually bought all my candy bags, folding nylon bags for the OOTs, organza bags for my favours and all my ribbon here. They have great prices! They are also online at www.creativebag.com Not sure what they charge for shipping though. For ladies in the East end of the GTA they just opened a new store in Pickering!

Hello.... I just used the regular postcards that matched the rest of my stuff. I then rotated the text 90 degrees in Vista's advanced editing tool so I could just fold them in half once I got them. Quick tip: If Vista doesn't have a matching set in whatever pattern you are using just email them and they will create it! I couldn't find any I liked in the business card size so they created one for me....no extra charge!

How many are you looking for? I already had someone msg me, but depending on the amount I might have enough for both of you. I also noticed you are going to Punta Cana. If you are doing travel mugs I also have matching tags that say: To have and to hold and to keep your drinks cold! Welcome to Punta Cana!

Thanks everyone for the nice comments!!! Although it was a lot of work doing these....it was SO much fun shopping for everything!!! I hope my guests like them. The luggage tags were actually really easy and inexpensive. The inserts are business cards that I made on Vistaprint (the free ones with the blank backs). I then printed everyone's information on sticker paper and stuck it on the back of the business card. The sticker paper was the Sandylion warehouse in Markham, but you could probably just use large labels from the dollar store and trim them down once on. Dollarama sells packages of self-laminating cards 8 for $1....I think the make was Studio and they were in the stationary section. These went on pretty nice over the business cards. Just be sure to use a ruler to get out all the air bubbles. I then punched a hole in each and strung some ribbon through them and voila....luggage tags! Cost was probably about 25 cents each!!! As for the brochures, I made them on Vista so I don't have a template. However, I think I might have a Word doc with all the write-ups that I used. If I have it I will post!

So I was just on the Air Canada web site checking baggage dimensions and noticed that the executive class allowance has changed from 3 bags to 2 bags!!! Tickets issued before September 7 or travel before October 11, 2011 still get the 3 bags free. Just thought I'd let you all know b/c this might make a big difference to some brides flying on AC and planning on bringing decorations etc. down with them!

Amjohnson, I know how much this sux...but unfortunately it is the reality of a destination wedding. We did everything we could to try and ensure certain friends/relatives could attend including letting them know over a year in advance, offering to help pay etc. and we still had some ppl drop out after they had told us they would come. One of these individuals was my FI's best man. Even though we knew that this could happen from the start, it was still hard. You just have to remember that regardless of WHERE you have your wedding, there will always be people who cannot attend. Stay positive....I'm still keeping my fingers crossed we win 649 before the wedding!

Thanks!!! And yup....postcards from Vista! If anyone is interested I will be selling a set of all my extra bags/labels in about a week. Just waiting for a few final RSVPs.

Here are some pics of my 'almost complete' OOT bags! Thanks to everyone on here for all the great tips and advice....you will see that I used lots of your suggestions!!! Portfolio contains: Welcome letter, DND door hangers, logo magnets, photoshare cards, 4 postcards, schedule of events, Spanish for Dummies card, bookmarks and Guest room list Other OOT items: La vie en rose bathing suit bags, playing cards, tip/key holders, bubba kegs Survival Kit includes: first aid kit, sunscreen, kleenex, hand sanitizer, OFF bug repellent wipes, Shout towelettes Hangover kit includes: Tylenol, pepto type pills, breath drops, pack of gum, drink mixes for bottled water, wet wipes I also put together pre-departure welcome packets which I'm mailing this week:

I was struggling with the exact same thing last month so you are not alone! I wanted to keep the bags a surprise, but I didn't know if I would have time to get them assembled between our arrival and our Welcome Dinner (only about 2 hrs). I also thought that if we handed them out in advance they might not have the same impact as distributing to everyone at the resort! So after a lot of debate with my FI, and one of my bridesmaids hitting me in the head, I decided to pre-assemble as much as possible at home and distribute when we arrive! My BM pointed out that although I wanted to keep things a secret, I was insane to try and do everything myself! After all, that's what my BM's are for! Soooo, I've had 2 of my BM's come over the past two weekends to help me pre-package everything. I bought really cheap candy bags and created a 'Wedding Week Survival Kit', 'Wedding Hangover Kit', 'Snack Attack Snack Pack', and a portfolio with all my misc. items. I'm also finding this easier to pack since everything is now the same size and lots of the bulky packaging is gone. When we arrive I'll grab my bridesmaids once again to throw one of each item and the travel mugs in each welcome bag! Hopefully this should go pretty quick with everyone helping. Of course I couldn't let my bridesmaids miss out on the fun....so I made up some extra special bridesmaid goody bags that I will add to theirs! *mua ha ha* I'll try and post some pictures later tonight of my finished OOT bags.

Random question...but does anyone know the best place to buy an iPod in Canada? My resort says we need to put our ceremony music on an iPod and I'm probably the only person left in Canada that doesn't own one! haha. I know nothing about them....

Janet....I LOVE your programs! They will definitely double as fans and this way you can have lots of info in them! I'm struggling with my fans since it limits your space significantly. Great idea!!!

PULL THE TRIGGER!!! I checked out the website and his work looks good! In fact, if I didn't already pay a deposit for a local photographer I would have seen if he could do mine! 2 photographers at the wedding, an informal shoot, a TTD AND underwater...that's amazing for $1500!!! As long as you like the pictures you have seen and you like his style....I don't think you can go wrong.

FYI...if you are planning on buying any OFF towelettes in the US, I just opened my packages and found coupons inside! There is a little booklet which includes a coupon for $1off your next purchase of the Botanicals (incl. towelettes). Maybe you could buy a box or two then use the coupons on a few more. Just thought I'd let you know....every $1 off helps!

Ok...so I was out in Newmarket last night for dinner and guess what I saw....a sign with 'DOLLAR TREE COMING SOON'!!!! That's right ladies, the best dollar store in the US is coming to Canada!!! I did some reading and apparently they bought the Dollar Giant chain so I guess they are slowly going to change them over to Dollar Tree stores. Unfortunately it's a little late for my OOT shopping, but for those of you looking in a couple months you might be able to save yourselves a trip to the US! Woo hoo!!!